OSPREY· MEN-AT-ARMS SERIES

,

Text by CHARLES GRANT

Colour plates by MICHAEL ROFFE

"

MEN-AT-ARMS SERIESEDITOR: PHILIP WARNER

olds/ream

Text by CHARLES GRANT

Colour plates by MICHAEL ROFFE

OSPREY PUBLISHI TG LIMITED

,

Published in England byOsprey Publishing Ltd,P.O. Box 25, 707 Oxford Road, Readjng, Berkshire© Copyright 1971 Osprey Publishing Ltd

This book is copyrighted under the Berne Con­vention. All rights reserved. Apart from any fairdealing for the purpose of private study, research,criticism or review, as permitted under the Copy­right Act, '956, no part of this publication may bereproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or trans­mitted in any form or by any means, electronic,electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical, photo­copying, recording or otherwise, without the priorpermission of the copyright owner. Enquiriesshould be addressed to the Publishers

SBN 85045 057 8

The author and publishers would like to thankThe Guards Museum for their kind assistance withthe illustrations.

Printed in Great Britain byJarrold & Sons Ltd, Norwich

~nck's%iment

Of all places which have given their names tofighting units, there can be fewer of less impor­tance than the village of Coldstream. Situated onthe Scottish side of the River Tweed, which formsthe ancient border between Scotland and England,the name of this little village is part of the title ofHer Majesty's 2nd Regiment of Foot Guards,which has distinguished itself in some of thegreatest battles in Britain's history.

To find the reason why the 2nd Foot Guardsshould be called the Coldstream Guards, we haveto seek back to the later years of the English CivilWar. In June of 1650, Cromwell the Lord Pro­tector wished to create a regiment of foot to becommanded by George Monck, a fine soldier whohad originally fought on the Royalist side but wasnow a staunch Parliamentarian. It seems that thefirst regiment to which Monck was tentativelyappointed was not too enthusiastic about havingan ex-Royalist colonel, and the problem wasconsequently solved by the creation of an entirelynew unit. Five companies were taken from each

CJhe Colds/ream guards

of the foot regiments of Sir Arthur Hazelrigg andGeorge Fenwick, stationed at the time - that is,just before Cromwell's advance into Scotland - atNewcastle and Berwick respectively, and amal·gamated into one unit. In due course thesecompanies joined up and marched northwards inthe army of Cromwell as Monck's Regiment ofFoot.

In July 1650 the Parliamentarian army passedthrough Berwickshire and Edinburgh, and withMonck's regiment well to the' fore, met the Scotsat Dunbar. The battle was a complete victoryfor Cromwell. In the battle Monck distinguishedhimself by advancing half-pike in hand at thehead of his regiment. According to later corre­spondence of Cromwell himself he had much to

Gen. George Monck, Duke of Albemarle, first Colonel ofthe Coldstream Guards - then called Monck's Regiment­:1650'-'70 (Nadonal Portrait Gallery)

3

do with the direction of operations which defeatedthe Scots in 'less than half an hour's disputc'.

There was still much to be done, for numerousgarrisons in various strong places were holdingout dourly against the forces of the EnglishParliament. Monck, who had been promoted togeneral's rank, was busily occupied in reducingthe garrisons of these fortresses. He besiegedEdinburgh Castle which, despite its reputation forimpregnability, capitulated; as did TantallonCastle the following year, famous in Sir WalterScott's Marmion. On all occasions Monck's Regi­ment of Foot was with him, and he was in the actof laying siege to Stirling Castle when the resus­citated Scots army marched southwards intoEngland on the invasion which was to end in theirdefeat by Cromwell at Worcester. After this battle- a near death-blow to the Stuarts - Monckcarried on with the business of pacification, andaccepted the surrender of Stirling Castle. He thenmarched to Dundee, which he seized, followed inquick succession by the taking of Montrose,Aberdeen and Dunbarton. Then, enjoying the

considerable status of Commissioner for ScotsAffairs, Monck returned to London in ,652,leaving his regiment in Scotland. During the timehe was away from Scotland he served with somedistinction at sea, but he was back in the northwhen the Lord Protector died in ,658. It was asGeneral Commanding in Scotland in fact that hereceived the news of Cromwell's death, and inthat capacity he proclaimed Richard Cromwell asLord Protector in succession to his father.

However, it became rapidly evident that littleof the authority of the first Lord Protector haddescended to his son. Discontent was rife, and inOctober 1659 Monck found it necessary to addressthe officers of his regiment in Edinburgh, makingit clear that he was for constitutionally appointedauthority and against the use of military force toinfluence Parli~ment, as it seemed was threatenedin London. But events were moving rapidly to­wards the point where some decision would haveto be made if civil stability was to be maintained,and in December he assembled his entire com­mand at the village of Coldstream, where his own

Pike drillLeft: 'Draw your aword and order your pike'Right: 'Order your pike'

Two of the compUcated lD&D(2uvres whereby the pike­D1.aD prepared to meet hi. enemy

. 4

regiment was already stationed. On New Year'sDay, 1660, like Caesar before the Rubicon,Monck made up his mind and marched his menthrough the little village whose name his regimentwould bear for centuries. They crossed the RiverTweed, now swollen and straining at its bankswith winter rain al1d snow, then marched south toLondon. His. regiIhent, leading the little army,must have"'ffiade a' brave sight - uniforms of redand green, and the colours of the companiesboldly fluttering over the pikemen's steel 'pots'and the broad-brimmed hats of the musketeers.Durham was passed on 8th January, and threedays later Monck's men entered York. To increas­ing support from the population Monck pressedforward steadily through snow and blizzards, hisown regiment always in the van. At St Albans hewrote to London asking for billets to be preparedfor his meri, and on grd February 1660 he enteredLondon and his troops went into quarters atSt james's Palace.

Soon the good behaviour of his men and theGeneral's patent sincerity won favour among thepreviously somewhat suspicious Londoners, whoapproved when Monck was created Commander­in-Chief of the Army. It is no part of our story todescribe the subsequent political manceuvrings,and it is enough to say that the end of May wassignalled by the Restoration of the monarchy, andGen. Monck was created Duke ofAlbemarle by thenew King, Charles II. Although the New Modelarmy of Cromwellian days had to be disbanded, itwas decided that - alone ofall the regiments offoot- Monck's should be retained on the establishment.On 14 February 1661 Monck's Regiment wasmustered on Tower Hill, and ordered to lay downits arms and to be declared formally disbanded.Immediately this had been done, the order wasgiven to retrieve the weapons and the regimentcommanded to take up arms as the Lord General'sRegiment of Foot Guards. At this moment theregiment was officially born. Hats were flung highinto the air, the drums thundered and echoedacross the Thames, and the soldiers roared out'God Save King Charles the Second'.

CJhec3eventeenthGentury

Active service was not long in coming to the newGuards regiments. In the beginning of 1664, 500men were recruited as marines on board ships ofwar, and these men - or some of them - fought inan engagement off Harwich against the Dutch.Their commander was the Duke of York, laterJames II. In the same year a detachment ofColdstreamers formed part of an expedition toNorth America; and during the ensuing few yearsparties of the regiment were involved, as marines,in many sea actions of all kinds. In one suchencounter off the coast of Denmark, their com­mander was none other than the Colonel of theRegiment, the Duke of Albemarle - soldier andsailor, too - who, as a result of the rather heavylosses incurred, was castigated for over-boldness.To this censure it appears the veteran returned afairly dusty answer.

The Coldstreamers were now recognized as thesecond senior regiment of Foot Guards. The 1StGuards - the Grenadiers that were to be - hadnot been previously on the official establishment,but took priority as representing the bodyguardabout King Charles before his restoration. Theuniform of the Coldstreamers remained the same ­the musketeers clad in red with green facings, thepikemen in green with red facings. It would not

5

6

Musketeer x669, sh.owingrear view of tlte bandoleerof cartridges - tlte 'twelveapostles' as they wereknown

Each. of tlte twelve cartridge-eases held onecharge of gunpowder, and all were suspendedfroDJ. a crossbelt or bandole~r.This could bepulled round over tlte left shoulder a8 eachcase becam.e eDJ.pty following the firing of theznatch10ck DJ.usket. Also attached to thebandoleer was a bag for carrying .lD.usketballs, a flask containing fine prl.m..lng powderand a spare .m.atch. Wh.O.e fit tlte process offiring, tlte musketeer would usually carryseveral musket baDs in his .lD.outlt for speedwhen recharging the .lD.usket

be many years, however, before the rapid im­provements in muskets caused the latter type ofsoldier to disappear from the ranks of the Cold­stream Guards and indeed from every otherregiment.

In 1670 General Monck, Duke of Albemarleand Colonel of the Coldstream Guards, died atthe age of sixty-two. His body lay in state atSomerset House, and was buried with full militaryhonours at Westminster Abbey. His appointmentas Lord General was not passed to any lesser man,and the Earl of Craven was made Colonel of theRegiment. It appears that from this time theregiment was officially known as the ColdstreamGuards.

For some time detachments of the Cold­streamers continued to serve with the fleet asmarines, but in 1678 the regiment was sent toFlanders. During its short stay there - it returnedthe following year - it was brigaded with the 1stGuards under probably the most distinguishedBritish soldier of all time, John Churchill, thenEarl of Marlborough. This was the first occasiollthat a brigade of Guards took the field. About thistime the regiment consisted of twelve companies,each officially numbering 100 men.

In 1680 a composite unit known as the King'sBattalion was raised from the Guards and otherinfantry units for service at Tangier, which hadcome to this country as part of Catherine ofBraganza's dowry. To this battalion the Cold­stream Guards contributed two officers and Igorank and file. Two years later the battalionreturned to England, reduced by disease to barelya third of its original effective strength of600.

When Charles II died in 1685 the new King,James II, confirmed the Foot Guards in theirexisting status and privileges, and they were em·ployed in the short campaign against the Duke ofMonmouth, Charles II's illegitimate son. The'pikemen had now disappeared from the regiment,and bayonets were issued for the first time;in 1686./

The Regiment had a conflict of1qy~esin 1688_when William of Orange landeli, and King Jamesfled to the Continent. The OSlonel, the aged and I

bellicose Earl of Craven, had to be particularly.ordered by the fleeing king not to attack theDutch troops moving to take possession of StJames's and Whitehall. Indeed, James made a

Colours of the Coldstream. Guards, 1670

In AprU 166c) a Wardrobe Warrant authorized the issue oftwelve colours to the regbnent, 'the colours of the severalCaptains to be distinguished by figures'. The colours wereblue, plain for the Colonel'., the others bearing the redcross of St George edged in white as for the IJeutenant_Colonel. The Major had a white flante In the canton, andthe Captain's colours bore tbe appropriate rOlDannwnerals in white. The cords and tassels were of blue,red and white silk

point of saying farewell to the officers of theColdstream Guards at Rochester before takingship for France.

It might have been in spite of, or because of, theregiment's obvious loyalty to the exiled King thatboth battalions were soon posted out of the coun­try. In Flal)ders, the traditional 'cockpit ofEurope', the" regiment was speedily in action. In168 t fougllt against the French at Walcourtwith great distinction under the command of theEarl of Marlborough, with whom the Cold­streamers were to serve on more than one lateroccasion. Two years of comparative inactivityfollowed. In 16g1 King William took commandof the army, and in August of the following yearthe regiment saw more action at the Battle ofSteenkirk. In 16gs, at the Battle of Landen, theColdstreamers seem to have come under KingWilliam's personal command. They fiercely de­fended a position against combined Frenchcavalry and infantry forces in a very superiorstrength, but the odds became too great, and the

•

Colonel's

Major's

Lieutenant-Colonel's

First Captain's

Plug-bayonc.t, 1680-1'100

The earliest type of bayonet,adapted frOID the crossbow­maJl'S knife made at Bayonne.It was fixed to the musket byinsertion of the wooden gripinto the DJ.uzzle. However, thisproved a DJ.ost unsatisfactoryarrangeDJ.ent, for the presence ofthe bayonet prevented theweapon being fired; it was oftendifficult to unfix; and, thirclJy, ifit were not securely fixed, itmight be dropped. or left in thebody of the enem.y. It was la.168g at the Battle of Kllliec:ranJdethat the plug-bayonet waslargely responsible for thelnaSliacre of a British anny. Thebayonets bad becom.e wet andswelled in the m.usket barrels,with the result that not a shotcould be fired against the Scots

Allies were forced to withdraw. However, a proudsouvenir in the shape of a standard captured fromthe French Household Cavalry was carried offby the Coldstreamers.

The following year the command of the regi­ment was conferred on Lord Cutts, who had atremendous reputation as a fighting soldier, andwhose conduct in action had gained for him thesobriquet of 'Salamander Cutts'. He was to provehimself in command of his new regiment thefollowing year at the siege of Namur. The Cold­stream Guards, operating for the first time in abrigade of the three British Guards regiments (withthe 1st Guards and the srd (Scots) Guards), to­gether with a battalion ofDutch Guards, advancedinto the teeth of a murderous fire from the out­lying fortifications of the enemy position. Holdingtheir fire until their musket barrels actuallytouched the enemy fieldworks, they delivered adevastating volley and then charged with thebayonet. They forced their way over or throughthe French breastworks; then, pouring over asecond line of defences, they finally drove theFrench right up to the walls of Namur itself. Thistremendous exploit was not accomplished withoutthe heavy toll of dead and wounded this closetype of fighting entailed, and the Coldstreamerssuffered severely. After this action Lord Cutts wasmade Brigadier of the Brigade of Guards, anunprecedented honour, for no man had everbefore held such an appointment.

7

Iling-bayonet, 1689-17o~

The first attachm.ent allowingthe :musket to be fired with thebayonet in posldon. The loose­fitting rings had obviousdisadvantages - the bayonet was:more often than not sbot fro:mthe :musket by tbe force of theblast

Following this action the regiment was em­ployed in the continuing siege. Service in thetrenches alternated with guard duty on the personof the King, until the French Commander, thefamous Marshal Boufflers, surrendered to theAllies.

Until the war ended with the Peace of Ryswickon 10 September 1697 the regiment was basedabout Ghent, whence it returned to England inNovember of the same year.

The regiment was based in England during theearly years of the War of the Spanish Successionwhich broke out in 1702, with their headquartersat Somerset House barracks. But several con­tingents of Coldstreamers participated in smallContinental operations, one of them in the sameyear the war began: six companies were includedin a provisional battalion of Guards which was

8

involved in a singularly ill-conceived and badlyexecuted expedition to Cadiz and Vigo in Spain.This proved totally abortive, and the Cold­streamers returned to London within a fewmonths.

In 1704 another sea-borne expedition wasmounted, the initial destination being Portugal.Four hundred men of the Coldstream Guardsformed part of the British force which landed atLisbon in September, only to be re-embarkedalmost at once and directed towards Gibraltar.The Coldstreamers formed a combined battalionwith some 200 men of the Grenadier Guards.Mter having been at some risk from pursuingFrench men-of-war, and in fact only just escapingcapture, the troops landed at Gibraltar on 20January 1705. The French and Spanish Govern­ments had not taken kindly to the British posses­sion of such an important strategical feature asGibraltar Rock, and their forces were pressing itssiege most vigorously. Several all-out attemptswere made by the besiegers to carry the defences,but all were foiled. Nor were counter-efforts lack­ing in enterprise. One well-conducted sortiedestroyed a considerable stretch of the siege-works.A particularly fierce enemy attack was launchedon 7th February, but the Coldstreamers stood totheir defences and with other units drove off theassaulting troops with volleys of musketry. Theenemy's losses were so severe that they raised thesiege in April and withdrew.

The Coldstreamers - still part of the Guardscomposite battalion - next saw service in Spain.They occupied Barcelona throughout a Frenchsiege of the city which lasted until April 1706. Amonth later· the battalion was moved into theprovince of Valencia, where it took part in theill-starred campaign of 1707, during which theAllied leaders were sadly at odds with each otherand non-cooperation was the norm. This state ofaffairs reached a climax at the Battle of Almanza(25 April 1707) when that portion of the. AlliedArmy which included the Guards was..Jllct by theFrench and Spanish Army under the Duke ofBerwick and crushingly defeated. The Cold­stream Guards suffered the most cruel losseswhich, added to the diseases the troops hadexperienced in Spain, more or less terminatedthe career of the contingent and indeed of the

battalion as a fighting force. We hear no more ofit.In the same year the legendary 'Salamander'

died. There seems to have been a pretty widedivergence of opinion regarding his character,but his bravery was in no way questioned. He wassucceeded as Colonel of the Coldstream Guardsby Gen. Chartes Churchill, brother of 'CorporalJohn' and a very distinguished soldier in his ownright,..The war'in the Low Countries had been inprogress for some years, and the battles of Blen­heitn and Ramillies h\ld already been fought,when in 1708 the regiment was in action in the

Matchlock. The operadonallDcchanJSID of theJDusket in use during the seventeenth century. Itwas subject to serious drawbacks, the anain. faultsbeing that it took far too Jong to load; the Ughtedslow Ulatch proclahned to the eneIDy the presenceof the Dlusketeers; there was always considerabledanger of alDlDunit:lon being exploded accidentallyby these lighted matches} while wet weathermight put the whole army out of aedon

Flintlock. This firing tnechanism was in usc inthe eighteenth century and ahnost up to the.m.iddle of the nineteenth. The ftintlock Dlusket wasrather lDore safe to fire, the use of the tnatchhaving been dispensed with. During the latter partof Q.ueen Anne's reign, the word 'Tower' firstappeared on locks. This indicated that the Dlech­aniSIn had been inspected and approved byGovernm..ent officials at the Tower of London.The most popular flintlock musket was the'Brown Bess' (below) of which variedes were inuse from 1750 to 1840

third of Marlborough's great battles - Oudenarde.On this occasion the regiment was represented bysix companies, brought up to battalion strengthby the addition of a number of men from theGrenadier Guards. Oudenarde was an extremelyhard fight, but at the culmination ofsome brilliantmanceuvring by Marlborough, the French underVend6me were thoroughly beaten and drivenback in disorder by the Allied troops. The Cold­streamers figured prominently after a long andexhausting forced march to reach the battlefield.

The following year reinforcements were sent out

Cartouche or arnmunidon bag. The cartoucheattached to the crossbelt replaced the bandoleer,and was introduced when it became clear that itwas much more convenient to carry the chargesreadily assen:t.bled in a cartridge paper than looseon the bandoleer. Each charge consisted of thecorrect aDlount of gunpowder, and a musket"'baU,wrapped together in greased paper. This wasram.med into the barrel in one acdon

9

to the regiment. This brought the six companiesup to such strength that the composite battalionwas no longer required, and in 1708 the Cold­streamers fought at Malplaquet as a separate unit.

This was by far the most bitterly fought andbloodiest of any of Marlborough's battles. Com­manding the enemy was Marshal Villars, whoseimmense popularity with his men contributed

. much to the sustained defence carried on by the. French. The Coldstream Guards were in the veryforefront - the right centre of the front line. TheFrench had erected field fortifications betweentwo woods, which provided protection for theirright and left flanks, and these were the scenes ofthe most violent fighting. A tremendous cavalrycombat in the centre of the battlefield resulted inMalplaquet being another victory for Marl­borough, although his army had suffered farheavier losses than had the French. The regimentwas in the heat of the fighting, exchanging the

George n at Detd.a.geD.t 1743, from. aD oU painting byJohn Wooten. This was the last occasion when a BritishDlonarch personally commanded an anny in the field(National Arm.y MustlUDJ.)

point-blank musketry which the tactics andweapons of the time demanded. At the end of thelong day it was recorded that, of the twentyBritish battalions taking part, the ColdstreamGuards had sustained the heaviest losses.

Campaigning continued until the Peace ofUtrecht in 17'3, when once again the regimentfound itself in London. The regimental strengthat this time was fixed for both battalions at eighteencompanies, which remained the formal establish­ment for some eighty years.

Mter the War of the Spanish Succession theregiment enjoyed a prolonged period of peacetimeduties which lasted for almost thirty years. Theonly undertaking during this time was theemployment of some companies in anotheramphibious operation (to Vigo) of no greatmoment.

On the commencement of the War of theAustrian Succession in 1742, the 1st Battalion of

• 10

the Coldstream Guards was sent to Flanders tojoin the Allied Army fighting for the cause ofMaria Theresa of Austria. In the following yearKing George II took command in person, the lastoccasion when a British monarch commandedtroops in the field. Led by the King, the AlliedArmy was retiring.along the northern side of theRiver Main when they found their progress barredby a Fre~ force at Dettingen (27 June '743). Atthe same time another French army was comingup fast in the rear, and to add to the Alliedpredicament they were under fire from Frenchartillery on the other side of the river. The positionwas not an enviable one and the resulting battlewas an untidv, scrambling sort of affair with thehonours going mainly to the British cavalry. TheFrench were driven off, but the ColdstreamGuards forming part of the rearguard were littlemore than spectators, although keeping the Frenchat a respectful distance.

For some two years the Coldstreamers livedthrough the uneventful round of camp and garri­son duties at Brussels and Ghent. Then early in'745 the Duke of Cumberland was appointed tocommand the Allied Army and at once preparedto take the field against the French, now underMarshal Saxe. In April the campaign opened withSaxe's laying siege to the important fortress ofTournai, whereupon Cumberland and his associ­ated generals determined to march to its relief.On 'Ith May Saxe and Cumberland faced eachother at Fontenoy, where the French had takenup a very strong position. Saxe had increased itsnatural defence potential by throwing up re­doubts at various positions along the line andfilling them with men and guns. With the armiesin position, the British portion of Cumberland'sarmy faced that section of an 'L'-shaped Frenchline which lay between Fontenoy itself and theWood of Barri nearby, both occupied by theenemy. After attacks on both extremities of thisline failed it was decided to launch an infantryattac.k, although it must have been obvious that,with Fontenoy and the wood on the flanks held instrength by the enemy, this would be a verydangerous undertaking. In two long lines the massof scarlet-clad infantry moved off up the slightslope towards the French, the Goldstream Guardsin the right centre of the front line, flanked by

Officer'. epontoon, 170Cl0-'92The spontooD, or half-plke,was the WUp'oD oC allcompany offiCers exceptthose of light companies.Officers also carried asword, but ceased to carrythe _pontoon in 1792when it was issued tosergeants to replace thehalberd

their comrades of the I st Guards and the ScotsGuards. The two lines advanced steadily for overhalf a mile, coming under increasingly heavycannon fire and musketry. Men began to falleverywhere, but the regiments maintained theirforward progress, each unit meticulously keepingits dressing and filling up the gaps in the ranks asthey appeared. On they went, scourged by theflanking fire from Fontenoy and the Wood ofBarri, until they were only thirty yards from thelong lines of French infantry. These lines includedsome of the most renowned French units - theGardes Fran~aises, the Gardes Suisses, and infantryregiments such as Courten and Aubeterre. Ahasty volley swept the British but it must havebeen discharged by nervous and apprehensivemen, taken aback at the sight of the grimly silentline of red-clad soldiery facing them but a shortdistance away, and it did less damage than mighthave been expected. The next second a perfecthurricane of fire struck the French as the Britishvolleys thundered and roared along the line.

In that moment the entire French front linewas swept away. Whole regiments were destroyedby what must surely have been the most destruc­tive volley in the whole course of eighteenth­century warfare. Nearly 700 men of the GardesFran~ises fell. Forward pressed the Britishinfantry, a further 300 yards into the heart of the

II

Colours of the Coldstream Guards, 1750 ~

The 1746 Colour Book shows the crims :Colonel'scolour displaying the Garter Star and croWD, the Ueu­tenant-Colonel's an eight-pointed sta.. within the Garter,ensigned with the crown and bearing a small Union in theupper corner, and the Major's colour the SaDle as for theColonel but with the small Union having a gold flamespringing from the corner. The Captains' Union colours­the cross of 5t George and white cross of 5t Andrew - dis­played each a company badge with the croWD in thecentre, and a company numeral in gold rom..an figures inthe canton

First Captain's

Ueutenant-Colonel's

Major's

Colonel's

I st Battalion was engaged in a landing on theFrench coast. In July 1760 the 2nd Battalion,brigaded with two other Guards battalions underMaj.-Gen. Julius Caesar, left for Germany toserve in the Allied Army under Prince Ferdinandof Brunswick.

At the Battle of Wilhclmsthal in June 1762,when forming part ofa column under the Marquisof Granby, the Coldstream Guards were involvedin most bitter fighting with some crack FrenchGrenadiers, causing many of the latter to laydown their arms. On 2 I st September in the sameyear at the action of the BrUcke MUhle, the Frenchfought with special gallantry to capture animportant hill named the Amoneberg, after PrinceFerdinand's failure to provide adequate supportfor the troops holding it. This was the last engage­ment of the Coldstreamers in the Seven YearsWar, which ended soon after; and in the followingyear the Coldstream Guards returned to England.

In the next decade the Coldstreamers againTypical infantry soldiers' coats of the middleeighteenth century. In the 1742 pattern thewaist-belt is worn over the coat, while under itin that of 1750. Cuffs are very full and the buffbelts broad and heavy

French poslllOn, but now they found themselvesisolated. With neither flank nor rear support thesituation changed radically; and what had seemedimminent victory now became probable defeat asMarshal Saxe flung counter-attack after counter­attack at the diminishing British regiments.Steadily and without panic, the infantry began tofall back, maintaining perfect order and disciplinebut leaving the Fontenoy slope strewn thickly withred-coated dead and wounded - 250 from theColdstream Guards alone. It was the first of aseries of defeats that the Allies were to suffer at thehands of the brilliant Saxe.

Shortly after Fontenoy the great bulk of thearmy made a hasty return to England to deal withthe Jacobite invasion of the Young Pretender,Prince Charles Edward Stuart. The'45 Rebellionwas put down in the following year, and in 1747the 2nd Battalion of the Coldstream Guards wassent back to the Low Countries where it remaineduntil the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1749. Nineyears of home service followed, until the war withFrance was renewed in 1758, and in that year the

12

Battalion corporal's coat (front and rear), :1788

The coat of a corporal in the Coldstreamers atthe end of the ~ighteenthcentury was m.ade ofred cloth, with dark blue facings, white laceand a stand-up collar. The buttons are pewterand the junction of the skirts blue, with whitelace. As a corporal only one fringed epauletteis worn on the right shoulder. A private's coatwould be identical, but without fringe oneither epaulette

prepared for war, this time in America, where thecolonists had decided to opt for independence. Ason previous occasions, a composite battalion wasformed from the three regiments of Foot Guards,with the Coldstream Regiment contributing nineofficers and nearly 300 men as well as the com­manding officer, Colonel Edward Mathew. Onarrival in America the contingent was divided intotwo battalions with Mathew as Brigadier. Duringthe next few years the battalions saw a great dealof arduous and exhausting service, as well as muchhard fighting. In June 1778 at Freehold the Cold­streamers, under Sir Henry Clinton, won greatpraise for carrying out a successful attack on amost stubbornly defended enemy line, in such heatthat men dropped in their tracks from exhaustion.The regiment was also represented at the WhitePlains fighting, and distinguished itself at thefording of the Catawba. The men waded throughthe swiftly flowing river, holding their fire under ahail of musket balls until they reached the furtherbank; then they drove off the enemy with a rapidsuccession of well-aimed volleys. At Guildford it

was the same procedure: the Coldstreamers heldtheir fire in the classic British manner until closeto the enemy so that the first volley could do themaximum damage, and then completed the opera­tion by charging home with the bayonet. LordCornwallis, the Commander-in-Chief, conveyedto the regiment hi, appreciation ofits behaviour.

But the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at York­town marked the end of hostilities, and theestablishment of the new American republic.It had not been a war which allowed the Britishsoldier to show himself to his best advantage, andit must have been a relief to board the transportsback to England.

Private (light company), :1792, frOID a painting by E. Dayes

The light company was one of the two Hank companies ofthe regiment, the other being the grenadier compllJ1y.Both 8ank companies were distinguished by the large,winged epaulettes, and Ught COUlPllJ1Y troops worebreeches of buckskln, strapped beneath their boots andbuttoned up each side to just below the knee. No gaiterswere worn. The Ught troops acted as sJdrmJshers andwere pres1UDed more nimble than their fellows (NadonalArUlY Museum)

13

pte~oleonic 'Wars

The French Revolution, breaking into its full furywith the execution of Louis XVI in 1793, markedthe beginning of nearly a quarter of a century ofalmost continuous fighting against the armies ofRevolutionary and Napoleonic France. WithBritain firmly committed to the anti-Frenchalliance, the Guards regiments were put on a warfooting and the first battalions of all three regi­ments mobilized. At the same time their grenadiercompanies were united into a single grenadierbattalion to form a species of elite body of shocktroops (a common arrangement throughout theeighteenth century). Later a fourth companyconsisting of the light troops of all three secondbattalions was added to the grenadiers, the wholefonning a complete battalion.

The Guards Brigade was quickly moved to theContinent, and was posted to face the northernfrontier of France where, on 8th May, the Cold­streamers went into action. Flung into the attackagainst well-defended French entrenchments ­which had already repulsed three assaults by otherAllied troops - the 600 Coldstreamers went in withgusto. At first they drove the enemy back, butcombined musketry and cannon fire from acleverly concealed flanking battery caused heavylosses and forced them to retire with 70 casualties.

14

Sergeant (centrecom.pany), 1792, (rom.a painting by E. Dayes

This, and other paintingsby Dayes, show the ordenof dress for the Cold­&treant Guards and pro­vide one of the bestsources of JD.ateiiaJ. forthe period. The longhalberd (left) of the1:7°00-92 pattern i. carried,and it was with thisweapon that sergeantswould fonD. up around thecoloun to ward oft' acavalry attack. Out ofaction, it. uses wereprim.arily for dressing thetroops and UUlrldng whenon parade. In I7l)a ser­geants ceased to carry thehalberd, and it was:replaced by a half-pikeor .pontoon, earned. byN.C.O.s of grenadier andcentre com.paniea only.Ught com.pany N.C.O.•carried rifted m.uskets.The half-pike wa. Dot usedafter 1830 (Nadonal AnnyMUSCUDl)

The Coldstreamers were next employed at thesiege of Valenciennes but were soon detached tojoin the force detailed to besiege Dunkirk. Thispart of the campaign was grossly mismanaged anduncoordinated, with plans being made only to beabandoned. On 18th August the Guards had to goto the assistaJlee of some Dutch troops undersevere enemy pressure at Lineelles. The Dutchmade"'fomethihg of a precipitate retreat, leavingthe British to face the music; but, advancing withlevelled bayonets, the Coldstreamers and the restof the brigade dashed at the French and sent themoff in great confusion.

The two years which followed were miserableones for the British Army in the Low Countries,with lack of provisions, poor clothing and frequent

Left: Sergeant (grenadier company), I790Right: Private (grenadier company), 1790

bad weather. Diseases reached epidemic pro­portions and men died in hundreds from illnessand exposure. Medical supplies and facilities weremore or less non-existent, and men being conveyedin wagons to rudimentary hospitals sometimesfroze to death before they arrived. Finally therewas no option but to abandon operations and apainful retreat was made to the port of Bremen.There the Coldstream Guards embarked, andreached England in May 1795.

The Coldstreamers returned to Holland in 1799,forming part of two Guards brigades which foughtwith distinction at the Helder, Bergen and Alkmaar,before being recalled to England.

Calls upon the regiment for active service fol­lowed each other rapidly and in 1800 the 1st

Although a flintlock Dlusket was carried at this period,the D18.tch case was still worn on the crossbelt purelya5 an ornament eN.donal Arnty Museum}

IS

Battalion sailed with the expedition to be madeagainst Vigo. When this proved impracticable thefleet continued on into the Mediterranean, boundfor Egypt, for the troops to form part of Sir RalphAbercromby's army. There followed tediousmonths at sea until a landing was made at AboukirBay on 8 March 1801. The disembarkation washotly disputed by the French occupation forces,and the Coldstreamers in their landing bargescame under intense fire from all arms as theyapproached the beaches. The operation, begunduring the hours of darkness, was carried out withthe greatest discipline, the men sitting courage­ously in their frail craft as the water arounderupted with shot and shell. Once on the beachesthe Coldstreamers shouldered muskets and ad·vanced resolutely up the sandhills, whose summitswere crowned by strong enemy forces. The fightingwas severe, but ultimately the British bayonetscarried the day, the French were driven off and

Left: Drurnrner (centre co:m.pany), 1792; right: Private(untre company), 1792 (National Anny MuseUDl)

the beachhead firmly established. During the nextfew days the army moved forward and, on meetingthe French drawn up before Alexandria, set towork to fortify a position facing them. The expectedattack came on 2 I st March, in the early hours.The Coldstreamers were on the extreme left of theBritish line and it was on this flank that fightingbegan, but almost at once the whole line was understrong and sustained attack. The Coldstreamerscame under heavy canister fire which causedmany casualties. Following this came an infantryassault which they drove back with heavy losses tothe enemy, and at length the French broke off thefighting and withdrew in good order. The battlecost the life of Abercromby, who died of woundson 28th March.

Alexandria surrendered on 1st September, andat the conclusion of the campaign the ColdstreamGuards returned to England, with a short stay atMalta en route.

-16

Two expeditions were made by the I st Battalionduring 1805 and 1807, the first to Bremen and thesecond to Denmark; but on both occasions theyreturned to England without having been activelyengaged. In January 180g, however, the battalion- numbering some 1,100 officers and men - bri­gaded with the I s Battalion Scots Guards, sailedfor the Spanish peninsula, for the long series ofoperat:ionr~hich were to culminate four yearslater with Wellington's drive across the Pyreneesinto France. In May the brigade was at Coimbrain Portugal, the starting-point for the Britishadvance to Oporto. In the following action thelight company of the Coldstream Guards was firstacross the River Douro, before the whole regimentunited to chase the French through the streets andinto the open country beyond. The enemy madegood their retreat by burning their baggage andescaping on goat tracks through the frontiermountains.

On 27th and 28th July the regiment formedpart of the centre of the British Army facing apowerful French force at Talavera. During the twodays of the battle, three concentrated attacks weremade on the British line by almost the entireFrench infantry. At one point only Wellington'squick action in moving his small reserve preventedthe complete dislocation of his line. Another timethe Coldstreamers, having halted an enemy thrust,rushed forward with the bayonet into range ofenemy cannon fire, and counter-attack by foot andhorse. Despite heavy losses they restored thesituation, and after regrouping they returned tothe offensive with a rush, driving the enemy beforethem. The regiment's casualties were very high,however, with 36 officers and men killed, and 263wounded. Wellington, never lavish with his praise,included in his General Order on the battle adescription of the charge as 'a most gallant one'.

Two further companies of the GoldstreamGuards, this time from the 2nd Battalion, cameout to Spain in March 1810 and were sent toreinforce the British garrison at Gadiz.

With Marshal Massena, one of Napoleon'sablest paladins, in command, the remorseless tideof the French Army now rolled across Spain until,on 26th September, it was halted by Wellingtonon the rocky slopes of Busaco. For two days theBritish held off the French attacks, with the Cold-

streamers active on their stretch of front, untiltheir position was outflanked and they drew backto the fortified lines of Torres Vedras in Portugal.Over the next few months frequent sorties weremade to keep the French on the alert, and inNovember 1810 the Coldstreamers participatedin a very successful harrying attack. At last, withall provisions exhausted and his army reduced todesperate straits, Massena began to retreat on5 March 181 I. Efforts were made to convert hiswithdrawal into a rout. The Goldstream Guardstook a prominent part in the pursuit, which was soclose and sustained that the French had to destroyall their baggage and much ammunition whenmaking good their crossing of the River Goa.

Meantime, on 4 March 181 I, the two com­panies of the 2nd Battalion from Cadiz had had asplendid fight at the Battle of Barrosa, taking partin a dashing charge which overwhelmed a strongforce of French and drove them from the field.

On 3rd May Massena turned at bay anddelivered a series of tremendous attacks onWellington, whose army was about the village ofFuentes d'Onoro. Assault after assault broke uponthe British, but all were beaten off. Mter a day'srespite the battle was renewed on the 5th. TheGoldstreamers were posted at some distance fromthe main scene of action and consequentlysuffered only slightly, although at one stage havingto drive off with musketry a French cavalrycharge. At length Massena, not daring to maintainthe struggle and running short of ammunition,withdrew on 8th May with far heavier losses thanWellington.

Gaming out of winter quarters for the 1812campaign, the regiment was employed in siegeoperations - first at Guidad Rodrigo duringJanuary, then for the murderous business of thesiege of Badajos, which fell on 6th April.

The summer was occupied with the operationsagainst Marshal Marmont, a clever and accom­plished soldier now in command of the FrenchArmy. The opposing armies, after some pre­liminary marching and manreuvring, came togrips at Salamanca on 22nd July. For onceWellington abandoned his traditional defensiverole, and at precisely the correct moment sent hisarmy like a thunderbolt into the French as theywere engaged in a dangerous flank march across

17

First State Colour of the Coldstream Guards

In addition to the ordinary colours, the Idstream.Guards have two much larger colours - the First StateColour and the Second State Colour. The First was pre­sented to the regbnent by Queen Charlotte (Consort ofGeorge m), and consists of two sheets of crim.son taffeta,embroidered in gold with the exception of the sph..i.n.zes,which are silver. The crown and Garter Star are in fullcolour, and the blue scroD below the central device bearsthe word 'En'Pt' worked in purl and spangle. Both theFirst and Second State Colours were carried on pikes

British to consolidate the crossing during thatnight and the following day. By 27th March theblockade of Bayonne was complete. This was theGoldstream Guards' last action of the war. TheBattle of Orthez on 27th February had alreadybeen won by Wellington, and on loth April heattacked the French at Toulouse. It was a costlyencounter, more so to the British than to theFrench, but it was nevertheless a victory - the lastof the Peninsular War. In July 1814 the Cold­stream Guards returned to England after nearlysix years of the hardest campaigning the regimenthad ever experienced.

Meanwhile, on 13 December 1813, six com­panies of the 2nd Battalion had been sent toHolland. On 8 and 9 March 1814 they were inaction against the strong fortress of Bergen-op­Zoom, an ill-judged venture; the British forcessuffered extremely heavy losses, and the attemptwas a failure. On 4th August, however, the sixcompanies were moved to Brussels and shortlyafterwards the battalion was completed by thearrival of the headquarters component and the

the British front. Much of the heaviest fightingtook place about the village of Arapiles where thelight company of the Goldstream Guards wassubjected to repeated attacks. They held outstoutly, and the regiment was the subject of ahighly laudatory reference by Wellington in hisreport on the battle. Altogether it was a tre­mendous defeat for the French who lost 12,000 menin killed, wounded and prisoners, as well as manyguns and two of the cherished regimental 'eagles'.

The year's campaigning ended with the un­successful siege of Burgos, after which the armyreturned to winter quarters.

In the spring of 1813 the British were quicklyon the move again, and on 21stJune the victory ofVittoria was the immediate preliminary to a cross­ing of the Pyrenees. To secure his rear, Wellingtonlaid siege in August to the great fortress of SanSebastian, a castle surrounded by the town of SanSebastian which itselfwas protected by stout walls.As soon as a breach had been opened in the townwalls by artillery bombardment a detachment oftwo officers, two sergeants, a drummer and fiftymen of the Goldstream Guards volunteered totake part in storming it. The 'forlorn hope', as itwas appropriately named, was the first unit intothe maelstrom of fire blasting through the narrowconfines of the breach. Time after time the menforced their way over the heaps of rubble andruined walls to mount the defences, but time aftertime they had to give way as their ranks wereswept by musket fire. Finally on 31st August thedefence cracked, the British poured in, and thetown was taken. The castle surrendered some dayslater, but more than half the Goldstreamerdetachment had fallen dead or wounded.

The battalion rejoined the field army nowpressing forward through the mountain barrier,and before long France lay before the invadingarmy. First came the crossing of the Nive, then theNivelle, and the British columns were marchinghard for Bayonne. By 23rd March the troops wereapproaching the city, but first the River Adourhad to be crossed on pontoons. Among the leadingtroops to cross, the light company of the Gold­streamers, together with men of the Scots Guards,were attacked by French infantry, who after avolley came rushing in with fixed bayonets. Aftera hard fight the French retreated, leaving the

18

, 1[; .' , ,

® "

four other companies from England. It was thushappily at full strength when the news sped acrossEurope that Napoleon had escaped from banish­ment on the island of Elba and had arrived inParis. Again battle had to be joined and at oncethe battalion was moved to a more advancedposition at Enghien. There it remained until16 June 1815 when the fury of Napoleon's on­slavght.....fell u'pon the scattered British andPru~sian Armies.

Everywhere the roads of Belgium resoundedwith the thud of boots and horses' hooves, and theiron rumble ofguns as the troops poured along thedusty highways to Iheir concentration positions.At Quatre Bras Wellington grimly held off afurious attack by Marshal ey while his support­ing brigades and divisions made forced marchesto join him. Roused before daybreak, the Cold­stream 'Guards - forming the 2nd Guards Brigadewith the Scots Guards - pushed tirelessly alongthrough the dawn mist at a great pace. Theymarched twenty-five miles through the heat in fullmarching order to arrive at Quatre Bras at4.00 p.m. For hours the men with Wellington hadheld on under continual attack from cavalry andinfantry, and the issue was in the balance. Butwhen the Guards arrived the scene changed,defence became offence, and in support of theI st Guards Brigade the Coldstreamers surgedforward. It was the turning-point of the battle,and everywhere the battered enemy fought to thepoint of exhaustion.

But the success at Quatre Bras was counter­balanced by Napoleon defeating the Prussians atLigny on the same day. When news of this wasbrought to Wellington on the 17th, he gave ordersfor retreat to the Waterloo position. There, on themorning of 18th June, the British general drew uphis somewhat heterogeneous army to meet thelast grand attack of the Emperor of the French.

On the right front of the Allied position thefarm - or chateau as it can also be called - ofHougoumont had been occupied by the lightcompanies of the four Guards battalions, thatfrom the Coldstream Guards being stationed inthe buildings and gardens of the farm underLieut.-Col. Macdonell. Loopholes had been madein the walls, and the gates barricaded. The rc­mainder of the Coldstream battalion was on a

'.

Officers, Coldstream Guards, :r8u t from. a painting byDighton

ThCfiC belong to a battalion company, thus wearing theshako as headgear. It was not until 1832 that the 'rcgin1cntentire' was ordered to wear the bearskin cap, formerlythe prerogative of the grenadier company. Left: lieutenantIn half dress, wearing undress coat and hessian boots;right: lieutenant-eoIonel in full dress, his rank indicatedby the two gold-fringed epaulcttes. All captains in theFoot Guards were autoJnatically given the rank oflieutenant-coloncl (National Anny Muticum.)

ridge just behind Hougoumont. Shortly after11.00 a.m. the first attack on the farm was madeby troops of Napoleon's brother Jerome. It wasintended by the Emperor to be a diversionarymove, but was converted into an all-out effort bythe young man burning to make a name for him­self, and continuous assaults brokc upon the farmbuildings for many hours. Skirmishers creptthrough the undergrowth of the nearby woods tofire at short range. Some Nassau infantry takingpart in the defence were driven off, but Macdonelland his Coldstreamers counter-attacked immedi­ately. They gained at least partial relief, but soonmasses of French infantry occupied all the out­buildings of the farm and actually burst open thegreat gate and broke into the main courtyard.Again Macdonell and his men were on the sceneand managed to close the gate.

19

At this point reinforcements, including a com­pany of Coldstreamers, carne to the hard-presseddefenders and, together with the original garrison,they charged and drove· back the French. Theofficer commanding the Coldstream Guards, Col.Woodford, brought four more companies of hisregiment into the fight. He made a truly desperateattempt to drive the French out of the wood aboutthe farm, but the odds were too great and theColdstreamers had to fall back into the buildings.Hour after hour the battle continued, with volleysat close range and hand-to-hand fighting withbayonet and musket-butt. The defence hung oncourageously throughout the long day, halfblinded by the great clouds of billowing smoke.

Evening came at last and with it the defeat ofthe French Imperial Guard. The French began tofall back, slowly at first but then in completedisintegration. Hougoumont had been held but ata fearful cost - the Coldstream Guards had lost8 officers and 300 other ranks killed or wounded.

The battle over, the regiment took part in theadvance on Paris which was entered in July. Itremained there until February 1816 when it wasposted to Cambrai. The regiment returned toLondon in November 1818.

Pie Grimea

The period of European peace following the Battleof Waterloo lasted for nearly forty years. Duringthis time the Coldstreamers had only one shortperiod of operational service: the 2nd Battalion

20

was sent to Canada in 1838 to assist in dealingwith a minor rebellion which had broken out inthe province of Lower Canada, inhabited almostexclusively by French settlers. Discontent hadbeen brewing for some time, and in November1837 this flared into open revolt under a certainPapineau; at the same time another rising occurredin Upper Canada. These events greatly disturbedthe British Government, and 800 men of theColdstream Guards, together with the 2nd Batta­lion Grenadier Guards, sailed from Plymouth on17th April and arrived in Canada on II th May.

They landed to find that there was nothing forthem to do, the uprisings having already beeneffectively put down by the troops in situ; andalthough there was a disturbance not far fromMontreal in November the Coldstreamers were notcalled upon. The battalion remained in Quebecuntil 1842 although there was little but garrisonduties to occupy them. Some found life in Canadato their liking, and a number of discharges on thespot were permitted. It was made known that'this extensive indulgence' had been assented to'in consequence of the very exemplary mannerin which the Guards have conducted themselvesduring the time they have performed Colonialservice in North America'. Thus spake the voice ofmilitary high command in the nineteenth century.

In 1854 carne the outbreak of the war withRussia - whose Czar had ten years before in­spected the 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards andspoken of them in glowing terms. Britain, Franceand Turkey (unusual allies) decided upon aninvasion of the Crimea with a view to seizing thegreat naval base at Sebastopol. In February aGuards brigade which included the I st Battalionof the Coldstreamers was put on a war footing, andgoo of the battalion sailed on the 22nd of themonth for Malta. There the brigade was concen­trated under Maj.-Gen. Bentinck of the Cold­stream Guards, forming with Sir Colin Campbell'sHighland Brigade the 1st Division un~er theDuke of Cambridge. From Malta t~ne)(t stop •was Scutari; after six weeks there - during whichtime the more knowing marked the significantlack of transport and the inadequacy of medicalsupplies - a landing was made at Varna inBulgaria, where the business of concentrating andorganizing the entire Allied Army was undertaken.

Coldstream Guards Band, c. 1830

The negro musician carrying the fJingling Johnnie', or setof Turkish bells, was characteristic of all guards bandsat the time. The Coldstream Guards had three negromusicians as far back as 1790. The last was dischargedby tlte regim.ent about 1840'

Conditions were bad, and over fifty men of thebattalion died from typhoid and cholera. Finallyan embarkation was made for the long-awaitedinvasion, and aftcr some further delay a landingwas made on 14th September, some twenty-fivemiles from Sebastopol. The British force was onthe left, the Turks on the right, while thc Frenchformed the centre. The Russians offered no resist­ance, only a few patrolling Cossacks watched thedisembarkation. The same day the GuardsBrigade marched some three miles inland andbivouacked for the night.

Within a few days, however, the main enemybecame apparent - the variety of diseases whichwere to cause far heavier losses than the guns andmuskets of the Russians - and everywhere menbegan to fall out with debility and recurringcholera.

On 20th September the first contact was madewith the Russian forces. Some 40,000 men werestationed on the crest of a strong, hilly position infront of which ran the River Alma. The Frenchcrossed the river and scaled the steep slopes facingthem with little opposition, for the Russians hadpresumed them impassable and had covered themwith only the minimum troops. The leading regi­ments of the British moved up the easier slopeswhich were swept by concentrated enemy fire.

umerically, the Russian Army was slightlyinferior to that of the Allies, but the British section

faced the greater part of it. The attack.waslaunched by the Light Division and the 2ndDivision, while the 1st Division with the Cold­stream Guards waited in support with long-rar;geroundshot leaping and bounding through t eirranks. The order for them to move finally cameand at once the Coldstreamers started across theAlma. Having reached the further side in somedisorder they waited until, with parade-groundprecision, their markers were called out to thefront. The men formed up on them, dressed theirranks, and the advance then proceeded in amanner that would not bring discredit upon theGuards.

There was intense fighting going on across thecrest of the hill with the Russians hanging on totheir position with great tenacity. But now theColdstreamers were sent forward up the slopewith their drums rattling and the colours bornehigh by their ensigns, firing as they advanced untilthey reached the crest. Volley after volley crashedinto the massed Russians, doing tremendous exe­cution. At last the enemy wavered. At this, with atremendous cheer, the Coldstreamers levelledtheir bayonets, and drove forward to send theRussians reeling from the field in disorder. TheColdstreamers suffered only a few casualties; theother regiments of the brigade had many more.The Russians retreated from the Battle of theAlma in confusion, but there was no pursuit.

Following the Alma a partial approach wasmade to Sebastopol, but time was wasted beforethe blockade got properly under way. ThroughoutOctober the Coldstream Guards were engaged inentrenchment work, supplying troops for theconstruction of gun batteries, working parties andguards to hold offsorties from the garrison.

Meantime Russian reinforcements continued toarrive in the Crimea and on 25th October theBattle of Balaclava was fought, with results toowell known to recapitulate, the infantry engagedin the investment of Sebastopol being too far awayto make any effective intervention, although theGuards did march out but were not engaged. Theincidence of sickness was rapidly increasingthroughout the army, not least in the ColdstreamGuards, and dozens of men were admitted everyweek to the makeshift hospitals.

At dawn ·on 5th November, however, routine

21

was rudely disturbed when the Russians attacked,achieving almost complete surprise. Heavy snowlay everywhere and there was a thick mist whenthe enemy came on in dense columns. The greatestweight of the offensive fell on a thin line of Britishtroops on Inkerman Ridge. To the rear of theridge lay the Goldstream Guards in a supportposition. The storm of the attack fell first onseveral British line regiments; guns were lost andretaken, but in less than three-quarters of an hourthe enemy had been forced back. The GoldstreamGuards took advantage of a short lull to move upinto the line, but simultaneously the Russianslaunched a second attack and gained a hold onthe plateau forming the main Inkerman Ridge.So as the Guards came up they immediatelycounter-attacked against deadly enemy fire. Witha storm of musket balls smashing into the Britishranks, the men of the Guards regiments lost touch

ColdetreaDl Guards at the Battle of the Abn., 20 Sep..tember 1854 (Mary Evans Picture Ubrary)

22

with their commanders, and without battalion orcompany control fought in small isolated groupsunder subalterns or sergeants. They were greatlyoutnumbered and, as one officer said later, thestruggle was 'hand to hand, foot to foot, muzzle tomuzzle, butt end to butt end'. Further confusionto both sides was caused by the fog, and oftenpursuers of broken enemy units would run intopoint-blank fire from reinforcements which seemedto appear from nowhere.

Further British infantry regiments came up atlength to assist the hard-pressed Guards, thoughsome of these fresh troops advanced over-boldlyand had to fight their way back to the ridge afterbeing cut off. With the arrival of British andFrench reserve artillery the Russian attacks cameto an end, although a number of eager Gold­streamers fell in on the right of some Frenchinfantry to join with them in a counter-attack. By[.00 p.m. the enemy was in retreat. Fatigue andheavy losses prevented any pursuit and the Britishposition remained on the Inkerman Ridge.

The losses of the Goldstream Guards had beenthe severest of any regiment. Only four un­wounded officers answered roll call at the end ofthe battle, and the battalion's total casualties were84- killed and 123 wounded. The trials of thewounded had only just begun, for the congestedand inefficient hospitals allowed many men toperish whose lives might have been saved byproper medical care.

Inkerman was the last major field engagementof the war, but throughout the appall~ng winterthat followed the troops suffered almost as muchas they had done in action. For months the Gold­stream Guards were in the Sebastopol trenchesbefore being moved out to rest and reorganizeat Balaclava. The battalion returned to thetrenches in June 1855, and took part in a deter­mined assault on the fortress after a series ofbombardments. But the British were unable tocapture the massive defence works known as theRedan. The other key point of t defencesystem, the Malakoff Redoubt, was captured bythe French on 8 September [855, and the samenight the fortress was evacuated by the Russians.It was in effect the end of the war, and when theTreaty of Paris was signed on 30 March 1856 theGoldstream Guards returned to England.

Martini-Henry dOe, 1871, with triangular Martini-Henrybayonet (left)

The Martln1-Henry was a haDunerless, single breech­loader with an ejector worked by a lever behind the tdggerguard. It was sighted up to 1,000 yards

Of the 2,060 men who had served with thebattalion in the Crimea, 699 were killed or died ofwounds or disease. It was a heavy price to payfor the little that the war had accomplished.

egypt, cJudan, andcJouthu1frica

It was not until 1882 that the regiment again sawactive service. In that year, the revolt of ArabiPasha against Turkish rule in Egypt raised aconsiderable threat to British interests on the Nile.After the refusal of the French to act in concertwith the British, and severe rioting in Alexandria,it was determined to send an expedition to restorethe situation. Gen. Sir Garnet Wolseley wasappointed to the command of the British forces,

and as part of a Guards brigade the 2nd Battalionof the Coldstream Guards, some 750 strong,arrived at Alexandria on 13th August. The brigadeconcentrated at Ramleh. From the outset it hadseemed that the enemy would make a stand atTell el Kebir, on the road to Cairo, and the BritishArmy moved forward to Isma'ilia.

After some sporadic fighting the entire forcewas concentrated at Kassassin on 12th September,ready to strike at the enemy grouped some eightmiles further on at Tell el Kebir. Before dusk theregiments began to take up their positions for thenight approach, and at 1.30 a.m. the marchbegan across the silent desert. They marched allnight in total darkness, and the leading Britishtroops rushed the Egyptian lines at first light,about 5.00 a.m. The defences were penetrated atonce and the enemy quite overwhelmed. TheColdstreamers came up fast in support under aheavy ifill-directed fire. They were just in time tocomplete the clearing of the works, losing only ahandful of men in the process. It was an unquali­fied victory. In less than a fortnight control hadbeen re-established throughout Egypt, and aftersix weeks in Cairo the Coldstreamers returned toEngland in November.

Two years later the Coldstream Guards wereback in Egypt, this time as a result of the religiousdisturbances engineered by the Mahdi, a fanaticalMoslem leader. In October 1884 the first draft ofColdstreamers consisted of ninety-two officers andmen who were to join a camel corps destined toassist in the relief of General Gordon, who wasbesieged at Khartoum in the Sudan. The reliefcolumn, including the Guards Camel Regiment,started from Korti on 30th December. There was

23

a fierce action with dervishes at Abou Klea, whenthe violence of the enemy attack was quitetremendous, but the British managed to fight themoff. Further attacks made to impede the progressof the force were more easily dealt with. But theeffort was in vain for it was learned that Khartoumhad fallen and Gordon had been killed. The reliefforce had been sent a month too late.

A powerful force was assembled for the followingyear's campaign, and early in the spring the 1stBattalion Coldstream Guards left for Egypt. Thebattalion arrived on 8 March 1885 at Suakin toform part of what must have been one of theearliest Commonwealth forces, for it includedIndian troops and Australian infantry andartillery. Although it housed Army Headquarters,Suakin was in a constant alarm from Arabinfiltrators who crept past sentries at night andmurdered soldiers as they slept. About 7,000dervishes were concentrated at Tarnai, a villageabout sixteen miles south-west of Suakin, whileanother 1,000 were located at Hasnin, fromwhence came the night marauders. On 20thMarch an expedition was mounted againstHasnin with the Coldstreamers taking part. Theattack was successful, the battalion had only a fewcasualties, and no further intruders came fromthis direction.

The advance was now directed against Tarnai,centre of the enemy resistance, and for severaldays there was a great deal of confused fightingbetween Tarnai and Suakin. The enemy wereadept at concealment in the scrub and under­growth, and more than once fell upon Britishtroops with the advantage ofsurprise. The fightingcentred at a place called Tofrek, and on 23rdMarch the Coldstreamers moved up to reinforcethe British encampment there. After a lengthy firethe dervishes came in to close quarters in one oftheir terrifying charges. The Coldstreamers coollyheld their fire until the enemy were close at hand,and then fired a deadly volley into their ranks.Only a few reached the British, to perish on theirbayonets.

By now enemy activity was lessening and, aftersome ponies had arrived, reconnaissances made bymounted infantry detachments found only scat­tered parties of dervishes. Later a camel corpstook over this duty, with thirty men seconded from

24

the Coldstream Guards. Further convoy duty wasthe lot of the Coldstreamers, and sporadic engage­ments continued until 2nd April when Tarnai wasoccupied. The Coldstreamers then returned toSuakin and after six weeks there went on toAlexandria and Ramleh. They returned toEngland in September.

In 18g7, during a period of peace, the regimentwas augmented by the addition of a 3rd Battalion.Colours were presented to the new battalion byQueen Victoria in July 18g8. The creation of athird battalion stemmed from a plan to quarter aGuards battalion at Gibraltar, and the 1stBattalion Coldstream Guards left for that fortresson 10 March 18gg. But they were not allowed toremain for long at Gibraltar. During the summer

Tropical hebnet, ISw-Il)OO

The white Wolse1y foreignservice helmet with whitepuggaree was worn byofficers and IDeo alike. InI8c)c} when going l.a.to activeservice in kba.k1 wdfoftn, akhaki cover was wornover tbe hel.m.et by rankand fi.le. Officers, however,purchased hebnets of theirown nu.de endrely from.khaki. DW'ing service inEgypt a brass chain andspike of bright metalmounted on a bright domebase were worn

of 18gg relations between the British Governmentand the Transvaal grew increasingly strained,and as a precaution a Brigade of Guards was ear­marked for foreign service. War was .indeeddeclared on 12th October, and eight days later the2nd Battalion embarked at Southampton forSouth Africa. The I st Battalion sailed fromGibraltar for the same destination about a weeklater, and both arrived at Cape Town in mid­November, within a few days of each other. By18th November they were encamped at OrangeRiver Station, forming part of the I st GuardsBrigade in Lord Methuen's 1St Division. Tpeirtraditional scarlet coats had been left beJW:id, mrdthe Coldstreamers paraded in khaki, with a whitehelmet and puggaree substituted for the bearskin.This new headgear was ornamented with a smallred plume, on which officers wore a small Cold­stream star in silver. To assist in camouflage,sword and bayonet blades were painted brown.

I

I Musketeer, 16782 Pikeman, 16683 Drum Dlajor, 1670

MlCI1•••H ROfFE

3

A

B

1 Grenadier, 16842 Private, 17423 Grenadier, 1747

,

2

3

MICHAEL RQFF{

MICHAfl ROfFE

•

I Private, grenadiercompany (full dress), 1760z Sergeant (half dress),17893 Drum.mer(servicedress),1790

c

o

1 Officer (half dress), 17902 Grenadier (haH dress),18083 Colour sergeant,grenadier cOlD.pany(hall dress), I8IS

I Dnun anajor (servicedress), ISIS2 Officer, flank coanpany(cloaked), ISIS3 Officer, grenadiercoanpany (half dress), ISIS

MfCHAEL ROfFE

3

E

F

1 Colour sergeant (fulldress), 18312 Private (service dress),1831

3 Officer (suJ1lmer dress),183 1 3

MICHAEL ROFFE

,

I Pioneer corporal(sum.mer dress), 18312 Officer (winter dress),18403 Private (winter dress),,866

MICHAEL ItOff£

•

G

H

1 Ensign (State dress), 1970"2 Guardsman, 19703 Drum major (Statedress), 1970

MlCHA.El AOHf

Early on 2ISt November the troops marched offto the relief of the besieged town of Kimberley.On the following day they arrived at Belmont'sFarm, where a substantial force ofBoers with someartillery was stationed. As dawn broke the follow­ing morning the British launched an attack butwere met by, heavy fire from the Boer sharp­shooters. ,Initially, the Coldstream battalions wereheld - n reserve, but were now ordered forwardagainst a Boer-occupied 'kopje' (low hill). After asteep climb, the Coldstreamers fixed bayonets anddashed up the last few yards to the summit. Theyfound the position empty, for the Boers had sud­denly decided not to resist the charge and gallopedoff on their ponies.

The Boers fell back from Belmont, failed tomake a stand at Graspan, and retreated to theModder River. There they made their last attemptto hord up the army moving to the relief ofKimberley, at the point where the Modder joi.nsthe Riet. Instead of basing their defences solelyupon a line of kopjes, the Boers determined to holdthe river, and lined its banks with hordes of rifle­men, who were concealed by the bushes and scrubalong the banks. The British general, LordMethuen, believed that the Boers were simplycarrying out delaying tactics, and were about toslip away to the north; but before he could orderany move his troops came under artillery fire fromacross the river. At the same time they were struckby a storm of rifle-fire from the invisible enemyalong the river-bank. Men of the Guards fell indozens, for there was no natural cover of whichthey could make use. Crawling along the ground,the 2nd Battalion came to a stop about half a milefrom the river. Their right-flanking regiments ­Grenadier and' Scots Guards - were also broughtto a halt. No proper reconnaissance of the areaseemed to have been made, and when the IStBattalion of the regiment tried to outflank theBoers on the right, they found themselves con­fronted unexpectedly by the broad waters of theRiver Riet, flowing northwards before making asharp westerly turn to meet the Modder. Anattempt was made to cross, but the few Cold­streamers who succeeded in passing through thechest-deep river were brought back. The battalionstarted to 'dig in' at the point where the Rietmade its westerly bend, but the shallow trenches

they were able to dig afforded little protection.As the day wore on the heat became almost

unbearable, and hunger and thirst added to themen's discomfort. But there was no respite untildarkness. The Boers kept the 'no-man's-land' sweptwith rifle-fire, sometimes slackening as if toencourage an advance, but blazing up withredoubled fury at any brave spirits who attemptedit. At one point two batteries of field artillerycame galloping up to give close support, theirguns and gun carriages bumping over the roughground, but their fire seemed to have little effecton the well-concealed Boer infantry. It was a bitterand fruitless day and cost heavy casualties in bothColdstream battalions, including the 2nd's Com­manding Officer. During the ensuing night, how­ever, the Boers again decided to evacuate theposition, and when Methuen ordered his guns toopen fire next morning, it was revealed that theenemy had (fortunately) made off during thenight, leaving their virtually impregnable positionundefended.

After the Modder River battle the enemy didnot fall back towards Kimberley, as might havebeen expected, but moved eastwards. Reinforcedby troops from Mafeking, they decided to makeanother stand on the Magersfontein Heights.There, at the end of the first week in December,they had a force of nearly 9,000 men and twelveguns under their famous leader, Cronje. Methuencarried out some intensive scouting of their posi­tion and realized that the Heights were wellfortified, but failed to discover a well-concealedsystem of trenches some 150 yards in front of theHeights. In spite of the lesson he should havelearned at the Modder River, Methuen decidedto make a frontal attack on Magersfontein Hillitself, the key to the Boer position. On lothDecember he made a demonstration towards thesouthern end of the hill and, during the afternoon,an artillery bombardment of the Heights. Thiscaused no greater inconvenience to the Boers thanthe wounding of three riflemen, but it gave amplenotification of an imminent attack. During thenight, when the troops were on their way to theirstart line, a tremendous thunderstorm broke uponthe armies. The British advanced almost blindly indrenching rain, the only illumination coming fromthe sheets of lightning, and occasionally from the

25

distant Kimberley searchlights probing the skywith their signals. By first light on the II th thestorm had passed, but the ground was very muddywhen the Highland Brigade put in the first attack.Their regiments rushed bravely forward into aheavy fire from the hidden trenches in front of theHeights, but it was an unmitigated disaster. TheHighlanders were stopped in their tracks. Advanc­ing with all speed to their support, the Coldstreambattalions also came quickly under rifle-fire, whichmounted in intensity through the morning. TheBoer snipers were particularly deadly, picking offany officer who made the slightest move. By2.00 a.m. it was evident that no further advancecould be made.

The Coldstreamers lay in what rudimentarydefences they could construct, scorched and thirsty.During the night they drew back from theHeights, and next morning the Boers were stillsecurely ensconced. The army reluctantly with­drew further to the Modder River to regroup.The Coldstream Guards indeed stayed there until18 February 1900, by which time the GuardsBrigade had been transferred to the main army ofLord Roberts. And it was in this army that theymade, during the spring, the historic advance byway of Poplar Grove and Driefontein to Bloem­fontein, which was entered on 13th March. The2nd Battalion covered forty-three miles in undertwenty-eight hours during the final approach, andthis on half rations.

The Coldstream Guards remained in Bloem­fontein until 1st May. Then, as part of the 11thDivision, they left with Lord Roberts on the firststages of the march on Pretoria. There were manyskirmishes with parties of Boers, especially on theVet and Zand rivers, but losses were relativelylight. Kroonstad was entered on [2th May,Johannesburg on the 31st. After a short rest thearmy started off for the Boer capital where, on4th June, both battalions were engaged in thesharp fighting which was the prelude to theenemy's evacuating the city. On the following daythe 2nd Battalion led the advance into Pretoria.

Although the war was to last for a long time yet,there were no further major battles for the Cold­streams. On 12th June both battalions were in theDiamond Hill action, and on 26th August theywere engaged at a place called Belfast; losses were

2.6

Drum. major and drwnm.ers, ColdstreaDl Guards, c. 1900.From an original photograph (Radio TiDIes HultonPicture Ubrary)

small at both places. On 27th September thebattalions returned to Pretoria by rail-. Therethe Guards Brigade split up, and both 1st and 2ndBattalions operated on anti-commando duties inCape Colony until the end of hostilities on 31May 1902. No major action occurred throughoutthis long period, but it was an exhausting dutyto counter the constant raids of the elusivecommandos.

The battalions arrived back at Aldershot withina few days of each other in October 1902. Itwould be twelve years before they agai1f"wouldmarch to battle.

WorldmrI

On 4 August 1914 Great Britain went to war withGermany. In the scale of its operations and thenumber of dead and wounded, this war surpassedany previous conflict, and for the first time inBritish history the Government had to resort toconscription. It was a war in which traditionalmanceuvring - on the Western Front at least - wasimpossible, for from Switzerland to the Channelthe fighting was confined to a mass ofcomplex andgenerally almost impregnable trench systems.

Within a fortnight of the declaration ofwar, thethree Coldstream Guards battalions were mobil­ized at Le Cateau in France. Like many otherunits, their first action was at Mons when thetremendous German offensive was rolling forward,and soon the Coldstreamers were caught up in theretreat. The first battalion to be engaged was the3rd, their first taste of battle; they were attackedby German cavalry and infantry at Landrecies on25th/26th August. The action took place at nightand bitter hand-to-hand fighting went on forseveral hours before the enemy was repulsed. Theywere again in action at Villers-Cotterets, with the2nd Battalion in support. The battle took place inthickly wooded country where isolated parties ofColdstreamers, on occasion cut off from the mainbody, forced their way through the encirclingGermans under subaltern or N.C.O. command.Fighting lasted until the late afternoon, when theenemy was driven back and the British retreatcontinued.

The three battalions were south of the Marnewhen the long retreat ended and the Alliedcounter-attack was put in motion, with theGermans falling back all along the line. At thecrossing of the Petit Morin on 8th September itwas the turn of the 2nd Battalion; they made abrisk attack, capturing many prisoners and anumber of machine-guns. The battalion crossedthe River Aisne on 13th September, but waswithdrawn to the south bank, leaving only a smallbridgehead on the further side.

On 14th September the 1st Battalion was inaction on the Chemin des Dames, with an attackon an enemy-held village and factory. Part of thebattalion was surrounded in thick fog by strongenemy formations, but was able to cut its way outduring darkness and rejoin the battalion. But itwas a day of heavy loss, II officers and 360 otherranks killed or wounded. Thrusting forward fromthe Aisl}e, both 2nd and 3rd Battalions were heavilyengaged and lost severely. By this time autumnrains were beginning to convert the area into amorass and movement was becoming next toimpossible. It was stalemate for the time, andtrench-digging began at once. These trencheswere often turned into veritable rivers by the rain,and although no major battle occurred there waslittle relief from the continual raids, counter-raids,and bombing expeditions.

A few weeks after the Battle of the Aisne theColdstream Guards were moved to Flanders, andalmost at once were engaged in the I st Battle ofYpres. On 29th October the I st Battalion was inthe line when its right-flanking neighbour regi­ment broke and the Germans poured through theresulting gap. Attacking the battalion from allsides, they practically destroyed it. Only a lieuten­ant and eighty men were able to extricate them­selves. Even so, with replacements of but 100 men,the battalion returned to the line almost immedi­ately, but again suffered badly and had to bewithdrawn for reorganization. The 2nd and 3rdBattalions continued in action at the famousPolygon Wood, and the 2nd was able to withstandrepeated enemy assaults in drenching rain andthick unde~rowth. No further advance waspossible and again the men had to entrench. On17th November the Coldstreamers were relieved.

The winter of 1914-[5 was a hideous experience.

27

In a wilderness of mud and water-filled shell-holesthe fighting went on every day. In late Decemberthe 1st Battalion suffered casualties of almost 50per cent at Givenchy, and in January '9'5 theyheld off fierce German local attacks at Cuinchy.For the remainder of the winter the story was oneof daily small actions against the enemy trenches,with casualties mounting steeply. In one month,without having been engaged in any major battle,the three battalions lost 20 officers and 600 otherranks.

During the summer of '915 all the Coldstreambattalions, together with the recently formed 4th(Pioneer) Battalion of the Coldstream Guards,were incorporated into the Guards Division. Thiswas the first occasion when the regiment hadmustered four battalions for active service. Duringthe Allied offensive in September at Loos, the 1StBattalion was in the fighting about the notoriousHill 70. Advancing across open country swept bymachine-gun and rifle-fire, it assaulted a heavilydefended wood and drove out the German occup­ants. Although suffering substantial losses, thebattalion held on to the position it had won. The4th (Pioneer) Battalion was also concerned in thebattle, working on the lines and constructing com­munication trenches. On 8th October the srdBattalion was in the fighting north of Loos whenan N.C.O., L/Sgt. Brooks, won the Victoria Crossfor clearing a party of Germans from a section oftrench.

1916 was the year of the Somme. The winter hadbeen spent in the Laventie area, with alternatingspells of trench service and rest, but all the Cold­stream battalions were brought south to share inthe Somme offensive which opened on 1st July.Despite the preparations and the strength of theattackers, it was the most appalling waste of life.Without achieving a breakthrough the cost incasualties was measured by thousands daily. TheGuards Division went into action on 15th Sep­tember at Ginchy, supported by tanks, but thesebroke down or stuck in the thick mud. None of theenemy strongpoints had been silenced when, forthe first and indeed the only time in the regiment'shistory, three Coldstream Guards ba~alions - 1St,2nd and srd - advanced together in line. Veryheavy losses were sustained in their advanceagainst heavy hand-fire and artillery, and the

28

dead and wounded, as they fell, frequentlydisappeared into the engulfing mud.

The first objectives were seized, but there was aserious holdup on the right flank, and the advanceground to a halt. The main resistance came froma complicated and extensive trench system calledthe Quadrilateral, from which a withering firepoured forth at the Coldstreamers. However, laterin the day, it was penetrated and neutralized byother Guards units, and the Coldstream battalionswere able to resume their forward movement.Within an hour the secondary objectives weretaken and held, in spite of the most furious resist­ance. The three Coldstream battalions sufferedcrippling losses, no less than 40 officers and I,S26rank and file killed or wounded. The Com­manding Officer of the srd Battalion, Lieut.-Col.John Campbell, was awarded the Victoria Crossfor his gallantry, rallying and encouraging hismen with blasts from a hunting horn.

Despite their shattered condition the Cold­streamers were back in the line within a few days,but were relieved on 27th September when thedivision was withdrawn for a spell in generalreserve.

The winter of '9,6-'7, again a hard one, wasspent in the normal routine of the trenches, ifnormal can be considered an appropriate word.On the Somme sector weather was very bad, andthe entire area had been transformed into a sea ofmud where movement was impossible. In March'9'7 the Germans withdrew to their system ofdefences named the Hindenburg Line, and in Maythe Guards Division moved to Flanders for thesummer offensive. On 27th July the srd Battalionand the 4th (Pioneer) Battalion forced a crossingof the Yser Canal and established a bridgehead,which was shelled heavily by the Germans untilthe S1St when the main British attack was launched.The 1St Battalion was in the thick of the resultantrfighting, pressing on through the stiffest opposi- I

tion, in which Private Whitham (the .rank oflGuardsman was not instituted until J,9,(8)' gained.the Victoria Cross for capt.uring a German Imachine-gun and crew single-handed. Taking,over from the 1St Battalion, the 2nd pushed on for,more than two miles beyond the Canal, and heldthe line until relieved a few days later.

After two months of rest and training, the Cold-

The Band of the Coldstream Guards changing the Guardat Buckingham Palace (Crown copyright)

streamers were back in the line at Poelcapelle. On9th October, in spite of more torrential rain, the2nd Battalion moved off to the attack, sometimeswading through waist-deep water in the craters.The 1st and grd Battalions 'leap-frogged' throughtheir comrades to carryon a successful operation.

In November the Guards Division moved southfrom Flanders for the ncxt Allied offensive, whichwas to be the last battle of the year - Cambrai.When a powerful German counter-attack brokethrough the lines and settled in the houses ofGouzeaucourt, the 2nd and grd Battalionsadvanced against this village. Without artillerysupport but under heavy shellfire, they dashedthrough the streets and cleared the Germans fromthe strongpoints they had made of the houses. Allthis day and the next the enemy made franticefforts to retake the village but were· utterlyunsuccessful. On 6th December relieving troopstook over. The three battalions had lost nearlygo officers and almost 1,000 men in the fighting.

For the Coldstream Guards 19[8 was markedby the great German spring offensive which camenear to achieving a complete breakthrough, andthe last week in March and the first in April was aperiod of immense. peril. For ten days the threeColdstream battalions fought, dug in, marched andfought again, all in conditions of the greatestconfusion, the 'fog of war' being everywhere. Thenthe German attack seemed to lose its impetus tosome extent, but on II th April the Guards weremoved to Hazebrouck to counter yet another

thrust. Here the grd Battalion fought for threedays against terrific odds, parties of men being cutoff and attacked from all sides. Finally reinforce­ments arrived and what was left of the Guards4th Brigade was united into a single provisionalbattalion. The grd Battalion had lost 12 officersand 471 other ranks in three days of fighting, andwell deserved the Commander-in-Chief's com­mendation: 'No more brilliant exploit has takenplace since the opening of the enemy's offensive... .'For the culminating Allied offensive, the GuardsDivision on 21st August found itself on familiarground, between Arras and Bapaume. During thefirst few days of the attack the 1st and 2nd Batta­lions had to fight hard, but the tempo of theadvance was mounting and prisoners were beingtaken in increasing numbers. By early Septemberthe Allied guns were thundering against theHindenburg Line, and two weeks were occupiedin preparing for a break-through assault. On thecrossing of the waterless Canal du Nord by theI st Battalion against determined opposition,Victoria Crosses were won by Capt. Frisby andL ICpl. Jackson for destroying enemy machine­gun posts. It took the whole day for the crossing tobe made good, but many prisoners and muchequipment was taken, although the battalion lost150 casualties.

Between 9th October and 11th November theColdstreamers continued their steady advanceagain.st last-ditch enemy stands. The 1st Battalionhad stiff fighting before reaching Maubeuge, buton 10th November the Guards were on the banksof the Sambre and on the following day, at 11.00a.m., the Armistice took eflect. A week later theGuards set off for the Rhine, and within a monthwere stationed around Cologne. The regimentwas now part of the Army of Occupation ofGermany.

Following the Armistice, the Guards Divisionspent two months at Cologne, and the only war­time formation of the Coldstream Guards - the4th (Pioneer) Battalion - was disbanded on18 February 1919. In England the regimentreturned to peacetime duties.

29

'World 'War II

Between 19 I 9 and 1939 the three battalions allhad their stint of service abroad. The 3rd served

. at Constantinople in 1922-3 as part of the Armyof the Black Sea. The 2nd Battalion was in theShanghai Defence Force - first Coldstreamers tobe stationed in this area - from 1927 to 1928. Thenthe 1st Battalion was in Egypt and the Sudan in1932-3. The 3rd Battalion was in Palestine for aspell in 1937, but almost immediately after itsreturn to England it went back again to theMiddle East.

Although Army cutting-back had been merci­less in the mid-thirties, by 1938 it had becomeobvious that a modern Army was absolutelynecessary, and to that end, among other things,battalion transport was motorized. On 3 Septem­ber 1939 when World War II broke out, theregiment was as ready as ever to take its place inthe line.

Both 1st and 2nd Battalions quickly moved toFrance and by October were on the borders ofBelgium, not far from Lille. When the Germaninvasion burst upon the Low Countries in May1940, the two battalions were involved at once,the I st fighting on the north-western outskirts ofLeuven along the River Dyle. Falling back inaccordance with orders, the Coldstreamers re­pulsed the most determined enemy attacks, butsoon they retired back to the French frontier.From this point onwards it was a matter of battling

to maintain the shrinking perimeter of the Dunkirkpocket. Everywhere the refugee streams pouredalong the roads, immobilizing troops and trans­port, under the attacks of the ever-present dive­bombers. The 1st Battalion was able to get awayfrom Dunkirk after a sharp fight north of Veurneand was reunited with the 2nd, one of the lastunits to leave the beaches, in England at thebeginning of June. In the few weeks of fightingthe two battalions had suffered 444 officers andmen killed or wounded.

The 3rd Battalion had been in Egypt since [937.In 1940 it was in the Western Desert as a partiallymotorized battalion, where it was engaged infrontier patrol duties as part of the 7th ArmouredDivision. It fought brilliantly when the ItalianArmy made its advance in September of that yearand then took part in Wavell's great desert offen­sive. Then it joined the 2nd Scots Guards in theNile Delta to form the 22nd Guards Brigade.

After intensive training the brigade was on theLibyan border in April 1941, coming face to facewith Rommel's Afrika Korps, which was pressing

Dram. IDaJor, present-day dress. The Baud of the Cold.stream Guards at the Duke of York's Headquarten,Chelsea (CroWD copyright)

eastwards. During April and May the srd Batta­lion was continually in action against the Germans,and for eleven days held the important HalfayaPass until ordered to withdraw. Subsequently thebrigade was completely motorized and settleddown to further training in the rear areas.

In Auchinleck's November offensive the srdBattalion was quickly off the mark, forming partof'a nl6"bile column sent directly across the desertto Ajdabiyah to cut off the enemy retreating fromBenghazi. In January 1942 the Afrika Korpsattacked with very strong armoured forces, andthere was no alternative but to withdraw toGazala, forty miles west of Tobruk.

In May 1942 Rommel was again on the offen­sive, battering remorselessly at the British de­fences. The srd Battalion was now in the famous'Knightsbridge Box', a defensive area fifty milessouth-west of Tobruk, and for seventeen daysresisted everything the Germans could throw atthem. Every day saw the enemy tanks drivingrecklessly up to the Coldstreamers' lines, poundingthem with shells while enemy long-range guns alsojoined in. The Coldstreamers stuck it out but,when both adjoining positions had been aban­doned or overrun, they were ordered to retire.The battalion moved back into Tobruk itself andwas there when the fortress surrendered. But as noorders had been received and complete confusionprevailed, several companies of the battaliondecided against submitting to the surrender,manned their trucks and drove off at speedthrough the encircling Germans, finally joining themain British Army many miles to the east.

In October the now re-styled 201 GuardsBrigade moved to Syria for rest and training andto await replacements from home.

The 2nd Battalion landed at Algiers in Novem­ber 1942 as a part of the Anglo-American invasionforce, and immediately moved off towards Tunisiawhere a fierce battle was in progress. The Ger­mans were reacting strongly to the pressure fromthe west, and an Allied attempt to seize Tunis wasunsuccessful. The Coldstreamers lost heavily inthe fighting for a topographical feature named'Longstop Hill'. There'followed a period of armyreserve, involving rapid switches from one part ofthe front to another as successive attacks weremounted; the Germans' aim was to force back the

1st Army before the 8th could intervene from theeast. In April I94S the Coldstreamers becamepart of the 6th Armoured Division which made adramatic thrust through the Fondouk Pass to linkup with the 8th Army. Slowly but surely thepincers were closing upon Tunis, and Allied troopswere soon only a few miles distant.

Meantime the srd Battalion had rejoined the8th Army from Syria and on 6 March 1945 it washotly engaged with the German forces at Mede­nine. The advance rolled on, and in the assaulton the Mareth Line the Coldstreamers had toattack a series oflow hills - the 'Horseshoe feature'as it was called - which were strongly defended byextensive mine-fields backed up by machine-gunposts. It was finally taken at the cost of heavycasualties, but despite these losses the battalionwas in action again at Enfidaville at the end ofApril. By now both the 2nd and srd Battalionswere splendidly reunited in the 6th ArmouredDivision, and took an active part in the finalassault on Tunis. When the city had been occupiedboth battalions swept south to encircle the Germangarrison of Enfidaville, but the enemy made ageneral surrender on the 12th, and the desert warwas over.

The srd Battalion took part in the Salerno land­ing on the west coast of Italy on 9th September.The success of this enterprise was for some time indoubt, and for nine days, until the Germans gaveway before the threat of the arrival of the 8thArmy from the south, the situation was fraughtwith the possibility of failure.

From this time onwards the battalion washardly ever out of action, fighting its way north­wards through hilly country across the RiverVolturno, up to the Garigliano, and to the moun­tain known as Monte Camino. Before this positionwas taken, two very bitter battles had to be foughtagainst the most determined opposition, andsuccess hung in the balance until I I th Decemlier.After this victory and a short period of rest the srdBattalion was engaged in the crossing of theGarigliano at the end ofJanuary 1944, and then alengthy period ofhammering at the enemy, whosedefensive tactics were splendid and who took aheavy toll of the Coldstreamers. After more thantheir share of fighting they were relieved for atime, but in April the battalion was part of the

31

24th Guards Brigade right in the heart of theApennine Mountains at Rionera. Mter the fall ofCassino, the Allied advance gained a degree ofmomentum and on 6th June the battalion passedthrough Rome. But from there on the advanceslowed down, and heavy casualties were sufferedduring the fighting at Florence on the River Arno.Mter a month of rest and regrouping the battalionwas again on the Arno at the end of August andsome time later found itself in the mountainsthrough which passed the road from Florence toBologna. Bad weather hampered operations and

nt Battalion ColdstreaU1 Guards in Norway) March 1969.A secdon pauses for observation during an advance toforward posldoD8 in the m.ounta1a.1i (CroWD copyright)

the passes were strongly defended. Preparationswere made to mount a major attack, but it wascancelled by extremely bad weather, and thebattalion was withdrawn from the line for the lasttime on 16 February 1945. They sailed for homeon I st April.

The 2nd Battalion landed at Naples on 5 Febru­ary 1944, part of the I st Guards Brigade. It wasimmediately sent into action beyond the Garigli­ano, where a most bitter battle was in progress inthe mountains. For twelve days the fighting wenton in appalling conditions of cold and rain, withheavy losses being suffered against a dogged Ger­man resistance. In April the battalion was in theruins of Cassino, by this time a mere collection ofheaps of rubble. In April and again in May thebattalion held the line at Cassino, until on 17thMay the Germans withdrew. By 18th June theyhad reached Perugia, and there was heavy and

32

prolonged fighting at Monte Pacciano, but by theend of August the Coldstreamers had fought theirway up to the Gothic line. The enemy had with­drawn beyond it in many places, however, and the2nd Battalion pushed on through the mountainsbetween Forli and Bologna. Mter a very welcomeperiod of rest in Florence, efforts were made tomaintain the general advance, but the country wasunder several feet of snow.

In February 1945 the battalion was withdrawnfor reorganization, but by 1st March it was againin the field, fighting at Lake Commachio, forcing away through the Argenta Gap into the Po Valley.The battalion crossed this famous river on 26thApril and reached the vicinity of Venice by 29thApril. On 2nd May the surrender of the Germanforces in Italy brought hostilities to an end, withthe Coldstreamers at Gorizia, some thirty milesbeyond Trieste.

The I st Battalion, re-formed after the debacle ofDunkirk, underwent a very long period ofwaiting,but was finally converted to an armoured battalionand incorporated into the Guards ArmouredDivision. In 194' the 5th Battalion ColdstreamGuards was formed and included in the divisionalinfantry component. In 1943 the 1st (Armoured)Battalion was equipped with Sherman tanks, andsoon after D-Day (6th June) the whole GuardsArmoured Division was in Normandy. During thehard weeks of the beachhead fighting the I st and5th Battalions were heavily engaged. Slowly atfirst, but then with a rush, they gained ground. Bythe middle of August the 'Falaise pocket' wassealed, and there began the dash across northernFrance. The 1st and 5th Battalions now fought as amutually supporting group, and together theyentered Brussels on 3rd September. After the longpursuit, fighting became harder as German resist­ance stiffened, but nevertheless the Albert Canalwas forced and the Coldstream group mounted anattack on Bourg Leopold. The enemy's defencewas too strong for only two battalions, and the 5thsuffered especially heavily. Next came theAr'nhemoperation, with the Guards Armoured Divisiondriving north in an unsuccessful attempt to contactthe airborne forces. This was followed by intensivefighting for the 'island', the area between Nijmegenand Arnhem.

In November the Coldstreamers were on

German soil just north of Maastricht, and much ofthe winter was spent in training, sometimes in deepsnow. On 5th March the 5th Battalion, supportedby the ,st, attacked a German bridgehead whichcontrolled the Wesel crossing of the Rhine, and atthe cost of many casualties broke into the de­fences. That night the enemy evacuated the posi­tion and withdrew across the Rhine, leaving theleft bank ~ar. Soon tanks of the Guards Ar­moured bivision were roaring into the very heartof Germany, heading for Bremen. On 3 April '945the River Emms was reached, and here" CaptainLidell of the 5th Battalion won the Victoria Crossfor his share in the capture of a bridge over theriver. The Coldstreamers were now facing some ofthe best troops in the German Army - mainlyparachute troops - and these did not give wayreadily. Every foot of ground had to be fought forwith the greatest courage and determination. Butnothing could interfere with the momentum of theAllied advance. At the beginning of May the ,stand 5th Battalions entered Stade on the Elbeestuary. On 5th May the German Army sur­rendered, and the Guards Armoured Division tookpossession of the great naval base at Cuxhaven.

Lastly there has to be told the story of the 4thColdstream Guards (Tank) Battalion formed in'940, first as an infantry unit, next motorized,then re-formed as one of the regiments of thc 6thGuards Tank Brigade and equipped with Churchilltanks. The battalion, after its years of training andwaiting, landed in France at the end ofJuly '944and within a few days played a vital role in thebreak-out from Caumont. Fighting raged for twoweeks in the difficult Normandy countryside, whentank stalked tank to pound each other at point­blank range. In this fighting the heavily armouredChurchills excelled, but when the pursuit acrossFrance began, it was decided to leave them in therear for they were not fast enough. The battalionremained on the Seine until September, when itmoved up to the forward areas.

Throughout October the battalion was con­tinually fighting in Holland, first in the Overloon­Venraij district, west of the Meuse, then atTilburg, which was occupied on 27th October. Aperiod of training was interrupted by a call toassist in repelling the German offensive in theArdennes, and it was then transferred to

Maastricht. In mid-January '945 it was engagedin clearing the enemy from strong positions on theleft bank of the River Roer. During the followingmonth the battalion was engaged in Operation'Veritable', the clearing of the enemy from thearea between the Meuse and the Rhine. TheChurchill tanks were not used in the initial Rhinecrossing, but three days later they drove forwardthrough many well-defended positions to arrive atMunster on 2nd April; then on the Celie andnorthwards to Velzen. The town was occupied on,8th April, and the lower Elbe reached shortlyafter. Next was the city of Hamburg, whichsurrendered on 3rd May. On 8 May '945 (VEday) the tanks of the Coldstreamers rumbled intoKiel, headquarters of the German Navy. It wasthe end of the war.

C]lie Plates

AI Musketeer, I678At this time the infantry arm was composed of twotypes of soldier - the pikeman and, as seen here,the musketeer. He is armed with a matchlockmusket, 4 ft. in length, a short sword, and oftencarried a wooden fork rest on which to place theheavy musket while recharging it. The long uni­form coat is of red cloth, with a white collar andsash, fastened at the front by a single row ofbuttons and has a buttoned-down pocket flap oneach hip. The back skirt is split to the waist andalso buttoned in a single row. Breeches and stock­ings are of the same colour as the coat, while the

33

Officers' gorgets - WUUa.m m and Queen Anne patterDil.

The gorget was the last relD&iniJ:ll' piece of snedievalannour to be WOrD by officers, and indicated the bearer'srank and that he was on duty. Capt:a.iJu of foot recbnentswould wear a gold gorget, Ueutena.nts one of black studdedwith gold, and an ensign'. gorget would have been blackatudded with silver

cuffs, coat lining, garters and shoestrings aregreen. From the musketeer's left shoulder hangshis bandoleer of cartridges - the 'twelve apostles'as it was known. This effectively prevented hismoving without an accompanying rattle, thusinhibiting night manceuvres in secrecy. As well asthe twelve cases, each holding one charge ofpowder, there hangs from the bandoleer a priminghorn or flask of fine priming powder, and a bagfor musket balls and a spare match. This 'match'was a piece of cord, usually dipped in vinegar orlees wine to encourage it to burn more fiercely.

A2 Pikeman, 1668Complementing the musketeer in an infantryregiment was the pikeman, but with increasinglyeffective and efficient fire-power he was soon todisappear from the army. A pikeman in the Cold­streams was clothed almost totally in green, hisfull coat having red lining and cuffs only, and theworsted stockings bearing red garters. The coatbuttoned at the front with a single row of pewterbuttons, as did the split at the back of the skirt.There were two pocket flaps, one on each hip, andthese were fastened down with four buttons. Asteel corselet (back- and breastplates), andcombe-cap (a lined steel helmet) were worn, thesebeing more often than not blackened to preservethem and to prevent the reflection from brightsteel giving away a position unnecessarily. Gen.Monck is reported to have said that his pikemeneven made a practice of using the backplate as adripping pan in which to cook. Accoutrements

34

included a buff belt and sword 'frog', from whichhung the broadsword, a white fringed sash andthe 18 ft. pike. This pike was less unwieldy thanmight be thought from first sight of its length, andthe fifteen complicated drill orders for pikemenfrom the New Modle army drill book of the time,and it could, indeed, be shorter depending uponthe taste of its owner.

A3 Drum Major, 1670Much less elaborately costumed than later suc­cessors, the drum major of this period is ratherplainly clad in red coat and stockings, his cuffs andcoat lining being green, as are the shoestrings. Acrimson sash hangs from his right shoulder, onwhich is also a decoration ofgreen cords. The staffis of brown or black Malacca cane and has a silverknob.

Bl Grenadier, 1684This figure shows the original 'grenadier' - the big,powerful man selected to throw the first primitivegrenade, and from whom the later grenadier - theIlite soldier - developed. The head-dress is madefrom the old red stocking, or fatigue cap, and inthe case of the Coldstreams this cap had a greencloth front and back added to it, edged with wideyellow lace, and bearing the royal Cypher ofCharles II and the fleurs-de-lis on the front. Thishead-dress was originally designed for the purposeof allowing freedom of movement when throwingthe grenade with an overarm action, and, later,when slinging the musket over the· shoulder - thegrenadiers being the only company to have a slingon their firearms at this time. The broad-brimmedtricorne would have been readily dislodged by thisaction. The full red coat is worn buttoned up thefront with pewter buttons and yellow-lacedbuttonholes. The yellow lace and green cuffs arestill distinctive of the regiment, although thiscolour would be changed to blue before long. Abroad buff crossbelt was worn, with a largeleather pouch for carrying grenadn'and matches.The belt about the waist had a 'frog' fastening tohold the short sword and plug-bayonet. I

B2 Private, 1742The uniform shown is that recorded in the firstofficial regulations, the Representation if the Cloathing

ofHis Majesty's Household, published in accordancewith an order of George II. The head-dress is asworn by the centre companies of the ColdstreamGuards, consisting of a black felt tricorne hat,turned up at both sides and at the back, the brimof which is edged with white lace. On the sideover the left eye appears a black silk Hanovercockade, bearing a gold loop over a regimentalb~tto'li:' The red coat has blue lapels edged withwhite lace, the buttons and buttonhole lace beingarranged in pairs. The lapels and skirt are but­toned back, probably to save any hindrance whenmarching, and reveal the red waistcoat and bluecoat lining. The blue breeches are of the colourworn by the Foot Guards and all 'Royal' lineregiments, and long white spatterdashes (orgaiters) cover black shoes. Equipment carried atthis time included a bayonet suspended over theleft hip from a 'frog' attached to the waist-belt, ahanger (or short cutlass), a cartouche (or ammuni­tion bag) and the flintlock Tower musket knownas the 'Brown Bess'.

B3 Grenadier, 1747A change has occurred since 1742, the waist-beltnow being worn over the waistcoat and under theunbuttoned coat. The 'mitre cap' is similar to thatof the grenadiers of all three regiments of FootGuards, and the White Horse of Hanover appearson the front flap. The grenadier carries a basket­hilted sword, and while gaiters were generallyworn - white for dress occasions and grey or blackotherwise - occasionally it seems that stockingswere worn by themselves. Over the left shoulderis a buff crossbelt, which still bears the matchcase - a relic of the days of the matchlock musket,the flintlock 'Brown Bess' now being carried in itsplace. Suspended from the crossbelt at the righthip is the cartouche or ammunition bag.

Cl Private, Grenadier Company (full dress), 1760The red cloth coat is that worn by all privates andis long, loose fitting and with blue lapels, theselatter extending well below the waistline, turnedback and fastened by ten pewter buttons. Thesebuttons, arranged in pairs, are edged,with whitetape and white buttonhole lace. The skirt is alsoturned back, lined white and held by a smallworsted grenade where each side joins. The back of

the skirt has ornamental pocket flaps, decoratedwith white lace and four pewter buttons, againspaced in pairs. The grenadier is distinguished bythe projecting winged epaulettes offlank companieswhich are blue, and decorated with six smallwhite lace loops in pairs. The waistcoat, buckskinbreeches and full-dress spatterdashes (a type oflong gaiter) are all white. For service dress blackspatterdashes would be worn. The head-dress ofthis period is a bearskin cap, shaped as a mitrewith the fur brushed upwards. The back of the capis of red cloth with a grenade embroidered in thecentre, while at the front is a copper plate, blackjapanned and embossed in white metal. On thecrest is a scroll bearing the Hanover motto: NeeAspera Terrent. The kit carried by a grenadierconsisted of a white buff waist-belt, on the left sideof which was a 'frog' fastening that held thebayonet and hanger. This belt was worn over thewaistcoat but beneath the coat. Attached to theback of the buff crossbelt was a large blackcartouche box decorated with the Royal Cypher inbrass. The short Land pattern musket of 1750 iscarried, with a socket-bayonet and short cutlass orhanger.

C2 Sergeant (half dress), 1789The sergeant, who belongs to one of the battalioncompanies, carries the traditional halberd of the1700-92 pattern. In 1792 sergeants ceased to carrythe halberd, and it was replaced by a half-pike orspontoon. He also carries his cane, suspended by acord from a button high on the left lapel. The hatis plain, but ornamented with looping and a whitefeather, and rank is indicated by the single fringedepaulette worn on the right shoulder. The laceand buttons are now arranged in pairs - indicatingthe wearer belongs to the 2nd Regiment of FootGuards. White breeches and waistcoat togetherwith short black gaiters are worn, and the crimsonsergeant's waist sash is beneath the coat andknotted on the left hip.

C3 Drummer (service dress), 1790This figure shows the beginning of the character­istic drummer's uniform, with great similarities tothat of the present day. The head-dress is a blackbearskin cap, with the fur brushed upwards con­cealing a red cloth crown, and bears a black metal

35

plate with the Royal Cypher and regimental titlein white metal thereupon. A red-and-white plumeis on the left side of the bearskin - the plume beingred at its base - with white cap lines attached. Thered coat is almost entirely ornamented with whiteregimental drummer's lace - the Guards' patternfor this lace being made of white worsted uponwhich are worked blue fleurs-de-lis. The blue collarand flank company winged epaulettes are fringedin plain white and blue, and the cuffs and lapelsedged with plain white lace. Upon the lapels arefive pairs of buttons and white-laced buttonholes.The turnbacks to the coat are false and made fromwhite cloth, again edged with drummer's lace.There are two buttons at the back waist seams,and a pocket flap on each hip decorated with laceand two pairs of buttons and laced buttonholes.Lace also ornaments the back and sleeve seams.The waistcoat and breeches are white, and in fulldress white spatterdashes with black straps be­neath each knee would be worn. The drummer inservice dress shown here wears black gaiters. Adrummer's kit was, necessarily, centred around hisinstrument. The drum is blue-fronted and bearsthe Royal Arms and Garter Star; the hoops arewhite, edged with red and have a central wavyblue line. One regimental peculiarity is that thedrum sling is of the fleurs-de-lis pattern. The cross­belts have a 'frog' fastening on the left hip for thedrummer's sword or hanger, and also attached ishis fife case. The hilt of the hanger was brass, andhad a curved blade 27t in. long contained in ablack leather scabbard with two brass mounts.

DI Officer (half dress), 1790The scarlet coat has a stand-up collar - the coatcollars of other ranks at this time being of theturned-down type, although worn fastened up ­and the cuffs, collar and long lapels are laced withgold. Buttons are spaced in pairs, as are the giltlace loops, and a gilt gorget - indicating that thewearer is on duty - is held in place by blueribbons and rosettes. Knee-length black boots areworn with halfdress, while full dress would includethe thigh-length, white spatterdashes. The crim­son waist sash is knotted under the coat on theleft side, while the sword is suspended from awhite crossbelt. No hat feather was worn at thistime.

36

D2 Grenadier (half dress), 1808The uniform is that of a grenadier at the height ofthe Napoleonic Wars. The front of the short jacketis ornamented with buttons and lace arranged inpairs. The blue-winged epaulettes of the flankcompanies are laced with white, and the bearskinis ornamented with white cap lines, a white plumeand bears a small brass plate in the front. Thebearskin itself was not issued to the whole regi­ment until considerably later, the battalion com­panies wearing the standard shako of the period.A brass plate is placed at the junction of the whitebuff crossbelts, and the musket is the celebrated'Brown Bess'.

D3 Colour Sergeant, Grenadier Company (half dress),1815

In this figure the elaborate badge, peculiar to theGuards and denoting the wearer's rank orfunction, is seen on the upper right arm, but wasworn on both. It consists of three gold lacechevrons bearing the King's Colour with crossedswords beneath and surmounted by a crown.Indicative of the company to which he belongs, thecolour sergeant wears a small silver grenade oneach epaulette. The red coat is single-breasted,fastens in front with five pairs of regimentalbrass buttons decorated with gold lace, and hasthe skirts turned back to reveal white lining.There are two buttons at the back waist seams, andalso two pocket flaps edged with gold lace in fourpanels, each panel having a brass button in thecentre. A crimson sash is worn around the waist,knotted on the left hip with two tassels hangingdown at the side. In half and full dress the 12-in.­high bearskin cap bearing the Royal Arms andregimental title on a brass plate is worn, while onservice this would be replaced by the Wellingtonshako with a white plume. Full dress would alsoinclude the thigh-length white spatterdashes inplace of half-dress gaiters, while on active serviceyet another difference appearing by this \imewould have been charcoal-grey trousers oW'l"blkkgaiters. Weapons included - for Foot Guards andsenior N.C.O.s - the sword of the 1803 pattern,with brass hilt and fishskin grip bound by twistedsilver wire, and having a slightly curved bladeencased in a black leather scabbard with twobrass mounts. The topmost of these mounts bore a

stud which fitted into the 'frog' on the crossbelt.The most distinctive weapon is the infantrysergeant's pike - regulation issue from 1792 to1830 - known from 1803 as the spontoon.

£1 Drum Major (service dress), 1815Like aU drum majors that of the ColdstreamGuards ~e a richly ornamented uniform. Thescarlet coatee has a blue coUar and cuffs, aUedged with gold lace. The front of the coatee issingle-breasted, has three rows of brass buttons,arranged in pairs, and gold lace bars and button­holes stretching the width of the chest. The sleevesarc decorated with rows of regimental gold lace,and this lace also extends down the outer sidescams. There are two buttons at the back waistseams and two pocket slashes decorated with fourpanels of. gold lace, arranged in pairs with abutton in the centre of each. Gold lace also orna­ments all the back seams. In 1812 the WeUingtonor Belgic shako was introduced as a head-dress,and this, too, is very elaborately ornamented.Made from black felt, it has an 8t-in.-high falsefront and bears a brass plate in the shape of ashield surmounted by a crown with the GarterStar in the centre. On service the drum majorwears, as seen here, black gaiters; in full dressthese would be replaced by long white spatter­dashes reaching almost to the thigh, with buffstraps below each knee. Over the right shoulder isa white crossbelt, in the centre of which is an ovalplate of brass bearing a Garter Star, and on theleft hip a 'frog' for the sword. Over the leftshoulder is the drum major's blue baldric, edgedwith gold lace and bearing the Royal Cypher,Garter Star and two smaU drumsticks. Indicativeof aU drum majors is the mace, mounted with goldand wrapped with gold cords and tassels. In Statedress the drum major would wear a uniform hatand coat very similar to that worn today, the onlydifferences being white breeches instead of blue,and a buff crossbelt with a sword.

£2 Officer, Flank Company (cloaktd), 1815The greatcoat with cape introduced during theNapoleonic Wars is worn' over the officer's service­dress uniform. Previous to this period there was nosimilar garment.

£3 Officer, Grenadier Company (half dress), 1815This officer, in service or half dress, weass adouble-breasted scarlet coatee of the 1812 pattern,with two rows of ten gilt buttons arranged inpairs. The coat is buttoned over so that the facingsand lace are almost concealed, with the exceptionof the blue lapel facings, but the collar is left opento show a white shirt frill, below which is worn asmaU gold gorget. This latter was indicative of theofficer's status and derived from the last article ofmedieval armour to be utilized. -Its presenceusually indicated that the bearer was on duty. Atthe back of the coatee there would appear twobuttons at the waist seams, and two pocket flapsedged with gold lace, bearing four buttons spacedin pairs. A characteristic of all flank companieswere the winged epaulettes. Those worn by thegrenadier company were liberally laced in goldand bore a small grenade worked in gold wire.Around the waist is a crimson net sash, knottedon the left hip, with four tassels. When openedout, these tassels would appear at each corner,and the sash was often used to carry woundedofficers from the field of battle as weU as for puredecoration. In full dress this officer would wearwhite breeches and long white spatterdashes,buttoned on the outer side of each leg, extendingto the thigh with a blue garter and gilt buckleworn below the knees. In half dress either blackgaiters would be worn or, as shown here, blackhessian boots with gold tassels at the front.

FI Colour Sergeant (full dress), 1831The figure shown is in the full dress of the period ­a period notable for the increasing elaboration ofmilitary uniform. The taU bearskin cap is 21 in.high, swelling out at the top, and has a crown androse badge at the front. A smaU leather peak isalmost totaUy covered by long fur. The scarlet cutfeather plume has two large gold tassels, and the

Regim.ental button, 1820.Prior to this date theGarter Star lDotto wasreplaced by the wordscColdstraun Guards'

37

curb chain is of interlocking brass rings {)n a blackleather backing. The double-breasted coat iss_carlet (not the normal other ranks' medder red)and is embroidered in gold. Gold lace panelsappear on the blue cuffs, back pocket slashesand skirt turnbacks. These latter are white clothand fixed at the bottom with a Garter Star. Thecollar is 3 in. high and has a gold lace gorget em­broidered on each side. Epaulettes are also ofgoldlace with heavy fringe, and bear a brass crescentand silver wire rose on top. On each arm is thedistinctive rank badge - three gold lace chevrons,decorated with the King's Colour and crossedswords, and surmounted by a gold crown. Thewaist sash is crimson, the knots falling at the lefthip, and the trousers are of a 'dark mixture'without the red stripe. The colour sergeant carriesa sergeant's carbine - a smaller version of theIndia pattern musket - with a 37-in. barrel and0·65-in. bore. A socket-bayonet was used at thistime, and the sword is that of the Foot Guard18 I 6 regimental pattern with a brass hilt, blackgrips and a black leather scabbard with two brassmounts. The equipment consists of two white buffcrossbelts - one supporting the black leathercartouche bearing a brass Garter Star, and theother over the right shoulder holding the 'frog'fastening for sword and bayonet. On the left hipwould be a white canvas haversack, while awooden water-bottle can be seen on the right. Ablack valise upon which is painted a white GarterStar is worn on the back, supported by two buffshoulder-straps with a third strap passing acrossthe chest under the crossbelts. Rolled on top ofthis valise is the greatcoat, attached to which is amess tin. When the greatcoat was being worn, themess tin, in a black cover, was fixed to the top ofthe valise.

F2 Private (service dress), 183lThe private's uniform was much the same as thatof the pioneer of the same period. He wears theordinary ranks' double-breasted red coatee, withblue cuffs and high Prussian collar ornamentedwith plain white worsted lace. The epaulettes arewhite cloth with heavy white worsted fringe, andthe coat buttons are pewter. The only differencebetween the coats of pioneer and private is theomission of the badge, bearing the crossed axes,

38

from the arms of the latter. In service, or winterdress, the private wears blue trousers with a 2-in.red stripe. The knapsack bears the Garter Star inwhite, and the long, 1780 India pattern musketand socket-bayonet are used. The crossbeltwhich, unlike that of the pioneer, has a brass starin the centre, is fitted with a small chain with abrush at its end, its purpose being to clean thetouch-hole of the musket which rapidly fouledwhen fired several times. Neither a sword nor asash were worn.

F3 Olficer (summer dress), l83lThis officer wears the typical tall bearskin cap,2 I in. high, swelling out at the top and bearing agilt rose and crown badge on the front. On theright side is a scarlet cut feather plume, 12 in. long,with two gold bullion tassels. The curb chain isofgilt interlocking rings, backed with black leatherand lined with velvet. The double-breasted scarletcoatee has a 3-in.-high Prussian collar, fastenedat the front, and a gold bullion gorget patchbearing a Garter Star embroidered on each side.The coatee buttons are gilt and have the patternof the Garter Star upon them. Two gold laceepaulettes are worn, with bullion fringe and aburnished gilt crescent and silver wire roseembroidered on the top of each. The cuffs are blueand have four gold wire panels extending upwardswith a gilt button in each panel. The skirts arelined white with false turnbacks, at the join ofwhich is a gold embroidered Garter Star. At theback waist seam are two gilt buttons, and twopocket flaps also ornamented with gilt buttons andgold bars. Between 1st May and 14th Octoberwhite, summer-dress trousers were worn, winterdress having blue trousers with a 2-in. scarletstripe. The State sash is crimson and gold andworn about the waist with the tassels falling at theleft hip. A white buff crossbelt bears a giltrectangular plate with a silver Garter Star in thecentre, and attached to the belt is a 'frog' fromwhich hangs the 1833 pattern swordJOr iirfantry.officers. This sword had a gilt half-basket hiltwith the Royal Cypher inserted between the bars,a black fishskin grip bound with gilt wire, and abuffsword knot. For State dress this knot would begold. A 32t-in., slightly curved blade was con­tained in a black leather scabbard with three gilt

e=_._..~_:::s o

The Lee-Metford rifle, 1888, and bayonet. This was thefirst m.agazine rifle to be produced in Britain. The bayonetwas of the type also used with the long Lee-Enfield ri.8e

mounts. he company officer, as shown here, hada stM on the top of these mounts by which thesword fixed into the 'frog' on his crossbelt. A fieldofficer, who did not wear a crossbelt but a beltbeneath the coatee with two sword slings attached,would have had a ring on the top and centremounts of the scabbard for fitting into these slings.

Gl Pioneer Corporal (summer dress), 1831The pioneer was the soldier who marched at thehead of !he regiment and, traditionally, used hisaxe and other tools to break down any obstacles.Each infantry unit had its quota ofsuch men. Theuniform of the pioneer is distinguished rathermore by accoutrements than clothing. The Cold­stream corporal here wears the normal otherranks' double-breasted red coatee, with a 3-in.­high Pmssian collar of blue cloth, and blue cuffs.On each side of the collar is a worsted star with aGarter Star and St George Cross of pewter in itscentre, and upon the white epaulettes appears anembroidered white worsted rose. The turnbacksare of white cloth, again decorated with a worstedstar with a Garter and St George. The figureshown here is in white summer-dress trousers;winter and service-dress trousers would be bluewith a red stripe. A pioneer's kit was quite exten­sive; two crossbelts are worn, of which that pass­ing over the left shoulder carries a cartouche,while the right strap has a 'frog' for the bayonet.About the waist is a black belt, at the back ofwhichhangs a bag for tools and another 'frog' fasteningfor the sword, this being the 1831 regimentalpattern pioneer's sword, with brass hilt andslightly curved 26-in. blade. The back of the bladeincorporates a crosscut saw, and the whole issheathed in a black leather scabbard. The front ofthe uniform is almost entirely concealed beneath aleather apron - the 'trademark' as it were of allpioneers, together with the great axe. The pioneeralso carries on his back a handsaw in a blackcover, and, often, in place of his axe an additional

accoutrement was a shovel, strapped together witha pickaxe.

G2 Officer (winter dress), 1840This uniform is almost identical to that of thesummer dress for 183 I. The long-tailed scarletcoatee - distinctive of officers at this time, as allother ranks wore coats of medder red until scarletwas introduced for them in 1873 - is worn, orna­mented with gold lace and bearing gold-bullion­fringed epaulettes. Winter-dress trousers are darkblue, with a 2-in. scarlet stripe along the outerseams of the leg. State-dress trousers would bear astripe of gold lace. The figure shown wears thenormal or service dress waist sash of crimson,knotted at the left hip, and beneath this sash isworn the crossbelt from which is suspended theinfantry officer's sword of the 1822 pattern. Ascan be seen from the figure in summer dress, 1831,the waist sash worn with State dress would be ofcrimson and gold with gold tassels.

G3 Private (winter dress), 1866The private is shown wearing the grey greatcoatand white kit of the period. This equipment in­cluded a white crossbelt with a cartouche boxattached, white buff waist-belt fastened with aregimental patterned belt plate, and, at the rear, a'frog' fastening to hold the socket-bayonet for hisSnider breech-loading rifle. Valise, haversack andwater-bottle worn on the back would appearexactly as the equipment ofa private of 1831 - thatis of black leather decorated with a white GarterStar. Beneath the greatcoat the uniform tunicwould be of medder red, edged with white pipingand having a single row of nine brass buttons ­eight in pairs and a single flat button wornbeneath the beltplate. The back of the tunicwould have two buttons at the waist seam and twoslashes decorated with four panels of white tape,each panel having a button in its centre. Theepaulettes would be blue, edged in white piping

39

and decorated with a white worsted rose. Cuffswere also blue, slashed, edged with white piping,and decorated with four panels of white tape witha pair of buttons in each panel. Dark blue winter­dress trousers with scarlet stripe are worn, and theblack bearskin cap bears the scarlet plume of theColdstreams.

H[ Ensign (State dress), [970This officer carrying the colour 'at ease' is inpresent-day State dress - scarlet beaver cloth tunicwith blue collar, cuffs and epaulettes, and dark bluetrousers with a 2-in. scarlet stripe. The single­breasted tunic is edged with gold piping, andfastened with four pairs of large regimental brassbuttons, with a further single, Rat brass button atthe front waist seam. The back skirt has scallopededges embroidered in gold wire, the embroideryarranged in four blocks spaced in two groups oftwo with a regimental button in each block. Tworegimental buttons also appear at the' backwaist seams. The cuffs, too, have these scallopedslashes sewn in at the forearm seam. The waistsash is crimson and gold - for State dress - while fornormal duty a crimson sash would be worn. Thecolour belt is white buff, with an oblong gilt platebearing the Garter Star, and the sword slings andknot are ofState dress gold. On the right side of thebearskin cap is the scarlet cut feather plume of theColdstream Guards.

H2 Guardsman, [970Each regiment of Foot Guards is identified by thearrangement of buttons at the front of the tunic ­single for the senior regiment, the Grenadiers, inpairs for the second, the Coldstream Guards, inthrees for the Scots Guards and so on. The Guards­man here is shown in full dress wearing the redbeaver cloth tunic, edged with white piping andhaving four pairs of large regimental brass

buttons, with a single, Rat button worn at thefront waist seam. The trousers are blue with a2-in. scarlet stripe on the outer seam. The familiarblack bearskin cap is lIt in. in height at the front,and 16 in. at the back, with a plume ofscarlet cutfeathers on the right side. The curb chain is ofinterlocking gilt rings on a leather backing, andlined with velvet. The Guardsman carries themodern self-loading riRe, wilh short bayonetfixed.

H] Drum Major (State dress), [970The uniform is traditional to the regiment of FootGuards - the hat and coat dating back to about1640, and worn at the coronation ofJames II in1685. The jockey type or 'old English' cap is madeof cork, has an extra thick cork peak, and iscovered in blue silk velvet with a quartered domeand a ventilator at the top. The entire three­quarter length coat of crimson cloth is heavilyembellished with I-in. and 2-in. gold lace and goldgimp. A gold embroidered St Edward's crownsurmounts a gold-embroidered Royal Cypher inthe centre of both back and front of the coat, whichis fastened with hooks and loops below the frontCypher. The fastenings comprise three button­holes and three gold wire netted buttons, and thereare also three such buttons on each blue silk cuff,sewn between the two upper bars of the sur­rounding gold lace. About the waist i~ worn a largecrimson sash, fringed in gold and bearing theregimental brooch (the Garter Star). Over theleft shoulder is a wide drum major's baldric, onwhich are the Royal Cypher, regimental badge_battle honours and two small drumsticks. Th,~

breeches are blue and worn with long whitespatterdashes - first worn by drum majors about\1712 - which have buff straps below each knee.The staff is shoulder height and ornamented witha heavy gilt knob.

Scanbots are your friends

Men-at-Arms Series OBEY 1HESCANBOlS

Each title in this series gives a brief history ofa famous fighting unit, with a fulldescription of its dress and accoutrements, illustrated with eight colour platesand many drawings and photographs. Collectors of militaria, war-garners, andhistorians will find no other series of books which describe the dress of each unitso comprehensively. The series will range widely in time and terrain, with aspecial effort to 'include some of the lesser-known armies from other lands.About twelve titles will be !,ublished each year.

TITLES ALREADY (>UBLISHED

THE STONEWALL BRIGADE John Selby

THE BLACK WATCH Charles Grant,·FRENCH FOREIGN LEGIO !.Iartin Windrow

FOOT GRENADIERS OF THE IMPERIAL GUARD Charles Grant

THE IRON BRIGADE John Selby

CHASSEURS OF THE GUARD Peter Young

WAFFEN SS Martin Windrow

THE COLDSTREAM GUARDS Charles Grant

FUTURE TITLES INCLUDE

ARGYLL & SUTHERLAND HIGHLANDERS W. McElwee

U.S. CAVALRY John Selby

30TH PUNJABIS James Lawford

THE ARAB LEGIO Peler Young

CONNAUGHT RANGERS Alan Shepperd

ROYAL SCOTS GREYS Charles Grant

NAPOLEON'S MARSHALS Peter Young

CHARLES GRANT has had a lifelong interest in militaria and is a passionatewar-garner. He has written for many military publications including theJournal of the Society for Anny Historical Resr •. ". 0 ~.. ".~.

of the Society of Ancients; and is a regulabooks to be published shortly on modernScottish-born, and a retired officer of thmarried with two children and now live.

£1·25 net (in UK only)