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Scots Guards (1642)
Encyclopedia
The Scots Guards trace their origins back to 1642 when, by order of King Charles I
, the regiment was raised by Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll
for service in Ireland
, and was known as the Marquis of Argyll's Royal Regiment. It spent a number of years there and performed a variety of duties, but in the mid-1640s, during the English Civil War
, the regiment took part in the fight against James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose
who was fighting on the side of Charles I. In 1646, Montrose left Scotland upon the defeat of the King in England
.
In 1650, a year after the execution of King Charles I, his son, Charles II, arrived in Scotland
to ascend to the throne of Scotland. That same year, the regiment became the Lyfe Guard of Foot of His Majesty King Charles II. In July that year, Oliver Cromwell
, a leading figure of the English Civil War, and now leader of England, led an army into Scotland. Late that year, the Scottish Royalists, led by David Leslie, confronted Cromwell's English Army at the Battle of Dunbar
. It would turn into a victory for Cromwell's Army, and resulted in over 3,000 men of Leslie's Army being killed and many thousands more captured. The following year the regiment took part in the invasion of England which was led by the newly crowned King Charles II of Scotland. The regiment took part in the Battle of Worcester
which again ended in a defeat for the Royalist forces, with King Charles II subsequently fleeing
to France
. The regiment ceased to exist.
When Oliver Cromwell died in 1658, his son Richard Cromwell
succeeded him but proved to be unsuccessful and abdicated in 1659. The following year, Charles II returned to England upon the Convention Parliament declaring him to be King. In 1661, the regiment was reformed as the Scottish Regiment of Foot Guards. That same year, Archibald, 1st Marquis of Argyll who had been ordered to raise the regiment by Charles I, was executed for high treason. The regiment was used against the Covenanter
s in Scotland who had begun an uprising in 1666 in response to many oppressive measures taken towards them by Charles II. That same year, the regiment took part in the Battle of Rullion Green
which ended in a defeat for the Covenanters. In 1679, the regiment once more confronted the Covenanters in battle, at Bothwell Brig, which also ended in a defeat for the Covenanters.
landed in England, forcing King James II
to flee England after the English Army changed sides and joined with William. The following year, William, along with his wife Mary
, became joint ruler of England and Scotland.
In 1688, England, along with many allies, was involved once more in a war on the continent, the War of the Grand Alliance
, its adversary being its old enemy, France. The war also reached North America
where both sides' colonists fought each other. The regiment saw action in the Low Countries
the following year at the Battle of Walcourt
, in which an Allied Army defeated the French, though defeats for the Allies would soon follow. In 1692, the regiment took part in the bloody Battle of Steenkirk
. The courage and professionalism of the Allied soldiers was truly proven in that bitter battle, though it ended in a defeat for the Allies, with both sides suffering heavy losses. The following year the regiment took part in another bloody engagement, the Battle of Landen
. The Allies stoutly stood their ground against the attacking French, though they could not hold forever, and French cavalry broke through the Allied defences, forcing the Allied Army to withdraw. As at Steenkirk, the battle resulted in heavy casualties for both sides.
In 1695, the Guards regiments displayed unswerving courage and ferocity during the Siege of Namur
, which ended in September with the Allies capturing the city, in what is now Belgium
, from the French. The Guards regiments suffered heavily during the siege though constantly showed their professionalism and courage. The regiment gained its first battle honour
for the Siege of Namur but their second would not come for many years.
company, complete with the many traditional accoutrements of a Highlander. In 1707, England and Scotland, with the Act of Union, joined to become the Kingdom of Great Britain
, with Queen Anne
becoming the nation's first Monarch.
In 1709, a number of years after the War of the Spanish Succession
had begun, the regiment deployed to Spain
and in 1710 took part in the Battle of Saragossa
which ended in a victory for Great Britain against Franco-Spanish forces. That same year, the regiment took part in the Battle of Brihuega
, when a British force was surprised by the enemy and defeated despite putting up a valiant fight. The war would not end until 1713 with the Treaty of Utrecht, ending the war favourably for Great Britain. Change came to the regiment when its name was changed to the 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards, a name they would take into the 19th century. In 1714, the Highlander Company was disbanded.
In 1740, the War of the Austrian Succession
began, which pitted Great Britain and her Allies once more against France. In 1743, the regiment took part in the Battle of Dettingen
. This was the last time a reigning British Monarch led an army into battle. The British and her Allies defeated the French Army
which was led by the Duc de Noailles. In honour of the victory, the composer Handel
wrote Dettingen Te Deum
. The battle gave the regiment its second battle honour.
In 1745, the regiment took part in the Battle of Fontenoy
in the Austrian Netherlands between a British and Allies force and the French. The British and Allied force were under the command of the Duke of Cumberland
while the French force was commanded by Maurice de Saxe. The British and their Allies, despite performing valiantly, lost the battle to the French with both sides losing many men. The battle was quite fierce, and the 3rd Foot Guards suffered quite badly, losing over 100 officers and men during the engagement. The regiment subsequently had a brief period back in Great Britain during the Second Jacobite Rebellion which was led by Bonnie Prince Charlie who claimed the throne of Great Britain, aided by France. The regiment was soon back in the Low Countries though, and in 1747 took part in the Battle of Lauffeld
which ended in a defeat for Britain and her Allies who had been outnumbered by the French. The long War of the Austrian Succession would finally end the following year.
coast. However, this first expedition was abortive and was cancelled, with the troops and ships eventually returning to Britain.
A second expedition
was launched in August, and British forces, including the 1st Battalion, 3rd Foot Guards, landed near the port of Cherbourg in Normandy
. At the landing site, the Guards battalions dispersed a few thousand French troops who had been there to oppose the landing. The British force soon marched on Cherbourg which duly surrendered. The British subsequently destroyed many French warships as well as the port facilities at Cherbourg which would not be fully repaired for many years. They then re-embarked aboard their ships and in early September landed a few miles from St. Malo in Brittany for an assault on that port. However, the assault was deemed to be impracticable and the fleet that had landed them was forced to sail from its position to Saint-Cast
due to bad weather, thus forcing the British troops to march there so that they could re-embark. On 12 September, the British rearguard, consisting of over 1000 Guards as well as the Grenadier companies of the infantry battalions, were attacked by numerically superior French troops. The rearguard stoutly defended their position but they were only delaying the inevitable and eventually they fell back, rushing to embark about the ships. The British lost several hundred men killed, wounded and captured during the engagement, including the commander of the rearguard.
The 2nd Battalion also saw service abroad, being part of a Brigade of Guards
force sent to Germany
where they fought under the command of John Manners, Marquess of Granby
. The battalion took part in the Battle of Villinghausen
in 1761, in which an Allied force, under the command of Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, defeated a numerically superior French force. The following year, in June, the battalion took part in the Battle of Wilhelmsthal in which a heavily outnumbered Allied force defeated the French after some bitter fighting, of which the Guards battalions saw much of it. Later that year, the battalion took part in the Battle of the Brücke-Mühle, the battalion's last action during the Seven Years' War
, which would end in 1763.
, declared their independence from Great Britain during the American War of Independence. In response, fifteen men from each company of the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards, Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards and the 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards, formed a composite battalion of Foot Guards to be sent to North America
. The composite battalion was subsequently split into two battalions, with both battalions seeing action at the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of White Plains
that same year. The following year, in September, the composite Foot Guards took part in the Battle of Brandywine
. The British and their Allies, the Hessians, were slightly outnumbered by the Americans, though the British and Hessians did triumph, with both sides sufferering large casualties. Later that year, both composite battalions took part in the Battle of Germantown
which also ended in a British victory.
In 1781, the two composite Foot Guard battalions took part in the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. The force was commanded by General Charles Cornwallis
and had 1,900 troops while their American opponents numbered 4,400. The Foot Guards were in the thick of it for much of the battle with exceptional professionalism. During the course of the battle, the Foot Guards were involved in a very bitter struggle with American Dragoon
s after being the subject of an attack by the Dragoons from the rear. The Americans also launched a counter-attack and chaos ensued. General Cornwallis made the difficult decision to fire grapeshot
into the intermingling masses of the British and American troops. While the British troops took heavy casualties from the grapeshot, the Americans were forced to withdraw. The Foot Guards suffered quite heavily, losing many men killed and wounded, their commanding officer, Brigadier Charles O'Hara
of the Coldstream Guards being severely wounded.
The composite Foot Guards, due to the casualties that the Guards had suffered, was reduced to a single composite battalion. Later in 1781, the composite Foot Guards took part in its last engagement, at the Battle of Yorktown, which began when Yorktown
was besieged by the Americans. The British defended their positions with great courage into October, but the British commander, General Cornwallis, on the 19th October, marched out, along with his army, of Yorktown to surrender to the Americans. The Foot Guards would not depart America until 1782, finally returning home to Great Britain in 1783. The composite Foot Guards were disbanded that same year and the men were returned to their previous regiments.
began. In 1793, the First Coalition
, which included Great Britain and continental European powers, was created to combat Revolutionary France. The 1st Battalion took part in the Battle of Famars
on the 23rd May and the Siege of Valenciennes
which began that same month, with the town eventually falling to the Allies in July that year. The battalion also took part in the Battle of Caesar's Camp at Bouchain
and the Siege of Dunkirk
which ended in September.
In August 1793, the 1st Battalion, along with the 1st Battalions of the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards and the Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guard', took part in the Battle of Lincelles
. The Guards, only just over 1000, were tasked with recaptururing the village of Lincelles from the French, over 5,000 in strength, who had re-taken it from Dutch troops. The Foot Guards advanced valiantly and professionally on the freshly captured village, coming under horrendous artillery and small-arms fire, suffering heavy casualties. The Foot Guards performed ferociously with bayonet upon storming the village, being engaged in some bitter fighting with the French, causing heavy French casualties in the process and clearing the village of the French, with the Guards capturing the village. The regiment won its third battle honour for their part in the battle. The regiment took part in further engagements in 1793, including at Lannoy. The battalion's last engagements came the following year.
In 1798, the Second Coalition against Revolutionary France was formed. That same year, the 1st Battalion's light companies took part in a raid on Ostend
in what is now Belgium
. The raid had the objectives of destroying the lock-gates and sluices of the Brugge
to Ostend canal. The expedition was supported by a bombardment from Royal Navy
(RN) warships. The raid was abortive and ended with surviving British troops being captured by the French. In 1799, the 1st Battalion took part in the landing at Den Helder
in the French puppet-state of the Batavian Republic
, in what is now the Netherlands
. An Anglo-Russian force took part in the campaign there, which had the intentions of restoring the exiled Dutch King, with the hope that the population of Batavia would be keen on such a move after suffering bad times economically due to France forbidding any trade with Great Britain. Shortly after the landing took place a large number of warships of the Batavian Fleet surrendered peacefully to the British. In October, the Foot Guards, along with many other regiments, were involved in the engagements of Egmont-op-Zee and Alkmaar
, the latter of which ended in a British victory. In 1800, the 1st Battalion took part in the expeditions against the coastal Spanish cities of Ferrol, Vigo
and Cadiz
, the latter of which would become more prominent during the Peninsular War
only a few years later.
In 1798, France invaded Egypt
intent on conquering the country, a move that would have posed danger to Great Britain's position in the Mediterranean as well as to India
. The following year, Admiral Lord Nelson
decimated the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile
, effectively trapping the French in Egypt. In 1801, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
was formed and just a few months later the 1st Battalion was part of a British Army expedition, under the command of General Sir Ralph Abercromby, to Egypt, landing at Aboukir Bay on the 8th March, with the amphibious landing being very successful despite being opposed by French defenders.
The battalion also took part in the Battle of Alexandria
on the 21st March, with the British force numbering about 14,000 and the French around 20,000. At the latter engagement, the British forces displayed much heroism and valour, with the Guards Brigade, in the center, acting in a highly professional manner against the French forces, which ended in victory for the British. The British suffered just under 1,500 killed, wounded and missing, including their commander, General Abercromby, who was mortally wounded during the battle, while the French suffered just over 4,000 casualties. Cairo
and Alexandria
soon afterwards, with the whole of Egypt being recaptured by late 1801. The regiment gained its fourth battle honour with the Sphinx
being placed on its Colours with Egypt superscribed on it.
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
, the regiment was raised by Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll
Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll
Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, 8th Earl of Argyll, chief of Clan Campbell, was the de facto head of government in Scotland during most of the conflict known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, also known as the British Civil War...
for service in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, and was known as the Marquis of Argyll's Royal Regiment. It spent a number of years there and performed a variety of duties, but in the mid-1640s, during the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, the regiment took part in the fight against James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose
James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose
James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose was a Scottish nobleman and soldier, who initially joined the Covenanters in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, but subsequently supported King Charles I as the English Civil War developed...
who was fighting on the side of Charles I. In 1646, Montrose left Scotland upon the defeat of the King in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
to ascend to the throne of Scotland. That same year, the regiment became the Lyfe Guard of Foot of His Majesty King Charles II. In July that year, Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
, a leading figure of the English Civil War, and now leader of England, led an army into Scotland. Late that year, the Scottish Royalists, led by David Leslie, confronted Cromwell's English Army at the Battle of Dunbar
Battle of Dunbar (1650)
The Battle of Dunbar was a battle of the Third English Civil War. The English Parliamentarian forces under Oliver Cromwell defeated a Scottish army commanded by David Leslie which was loyal to King Charles II, who had been proclaimed King of Scots on 5 February 1649.-Background:The English...
. It would turn into a victory for Cromwell's Army, and resulted in over 3,000 men of Leslie's Army being killed and many thousands more captured. The following year the regiment took part in the invasion of England which was led by the newly crowned King Charles II of Scotland. The regiment took part in the Battle of Worcester
Battle of Worcester
The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 at Worcester, England and was the final battle of the English Civil War. Oliver Cromwell and the Parliamentarians defeated the Royalist, predominantly Scottish, forces of King Charles II...
which again ended in a defeat for the Royalist forces, with King Charles II subsequently fleeing
Escape of Charles II
The Escape of Charles II from England in 1651 is a key episode in his life. Although it took only six weeks, it had a major effect on his attitudes for the rest of his life.-The fugitive king:...
to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. The regiment ceased to exist.
When Oliver Cromwell died in 1658, his son Richard Cromwell
Richard Cromwell
At the same time, the officers of the New Model Army became increasingly wary about the government's commitment to the military cause. The fact that Richard Cromwell lacked military credentials grated with men who had fought on the battlefields of the English Civil War to secure their nation's...
succeeded him but proved to be unsuccessful and abdicated in 1659. The following year, Charles II returned to England upon the Convention Parliament declaring him to be King. In 1661, the regiment was reformed as the Scottish Regiment of Foot Guards. That same year, Archibald, 1st Marquis of Argyll who had been ordered to raise the regiment by Charles I, was executed for high treason. The regiment was used against the Covenanter
Covenanter
The Covenanters were a Scottish Presbyterian movement that played an important part in the history of Scotland, and to a lesser extent in that of England and Ireland, during the 17th century...
s in Scotland who had begun an uprising in 1666 in response to many oppressive measures taken towards them by Charles II. That same year, the regiment took part in the Battle of Rullion Green
Battle of Rullion Green
The Battle of Rullion Green in the Pentland Hills, Scotland on 28 November 1666 was the culmination of the brief Pentland Rising . At least 3000 men of the Scottish Royal Army led by Tam Dalyell of the Binns opposed about 900 Covenanter rebels.The Pentland Rising was in the context of the...
which ended in a defeat for the Covenanters. In 1679, the regiment once more confronted the Covenanters in battle, at Bothwell Brig, which also ended in a defeat for the Covenanters.
A Grand Alliance
In 1686, the regiment was placed on the establishment of the English Army and the word battalion was first used. In 1688, William of OrangeWilliam III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
landed in England, forcing King James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
to flee England after the English Army changed sides and joined with William. The following year, William, along with his wife Mary
Mary II of England
Mary II was joint Sovereign of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband and first cousin, William III and II, from 1689 until her death. William and Mary, both Protestants, became king and queen regnant, respectively, following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of...
, became joint ruler of England and Scotland.
In 1688, England, along with many allies, was involved once more in a war on the continent, the War of the Grand Alliance
War of the Grand Alliance
The Nine Years' War – often called the War of the Grand Alliance, the War of the Palatine Succession, or the War of the League of Augsburg – was a major war of the late 17th century fought between King Louis XIV of France, and a European-wide coalition, the Grand Alliance, led by the Anglo-Dutch...
, its adversary being its old enemy, France. The war also reached North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
where both sides' colonists fought each other. The regiment saw action in the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
the following year at the Battle of Walcourt
Battle of Walcourt
The Battle of Walcourt was fought on 25 August 1689 during the Nine Years' War. The action took place near the ancient walled town of Walcourt near Charleroi in the Spanish Netherlands, and brought to a close a summer of uneventful marching, manoeuvring, and foraging...
, in which an Allied Army defeated the French, though defeats for the Allies would soon follow. In 1692, the regiment took part in the bloody Battle of Steenkirk
Battle of Steenkerque
The Battle of Steenkerque was fought on August 3, 1692, as a part of the Nine Years' War. It resulted in the victory of the French under Marshal François-Henri de Montmorency, duc de Luxembourg against a joint English-Scottish-Dutch-German army under Prince William of Orange...
. The courage and professionalism of the Allied soldiers was truly proven in that bitter battle, though it ended in a defeat for the Allies, with both sides suffering heavy losses. The following year the regiment took part in another bloody engagement, the Battle of Landen
Battle of Landen
The Battle of Landen , in the current Belgian province of Flemish Brabant, was a battle in the Nine Years' War, fought in present-day Belgium on 29 July 1693 between the French army of Marshal Luxembourg and the Allied army of King William III of England...
. The Allies stoutly stood their ground against the attacking French, though they could not hold forever, and French cavalry broke through the Allied defences, forcing the Allied Army to withdraw. As at Steenkirk, the battle resulted in heavy casualties for both sides.
In 1695, the Guards regiments displayed unswerving courage and ferocity during the Siege of Namur
Siege of Namur (1695)
The Siege of Namur, 2 July–1 September 1695, was the second siege of the city of Namur in the Nine Years' War. The Allied forces of the Grand Alliance retook the city from the French, who had captured it in the first siege in 1692...
, which ended in September with the Allies capturing the city, in what is now Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, from the French. The Guards regiments suffered heavily during the siege though constantly showed their professionalism and courage. The regiment gained its first battle honour
Battle honour
A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags , uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible....
for the Siege of Namur but their second would not come for many years.
Wars of Succession
In 1704, a further company was created for the regiment, a HighlanderScottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
company, complete with the many traditional accoutrements of a Highlander. In 1707, England and Scotland, with the Act of Union, joined to become the Kingdom of Great Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
, with Queen Anne
Anne of Great Britain
Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...
becoming the nation's first Monarch.
In 1709, a number of years after the War of the Spanish Succession
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...
had begun, the regiment deployed to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and in 1710 took part in the Battle of Saragossa
Battle of Saragossa
The Battle of Saragossa took place on 20 August, 1710, between the Spanish-Bourbon army commanded by the Marquis de Bay and a multinational army led by the Austrian commander Guido Starhemberg during the War of the Spanish Succession.-Prelude:...
which ended in a victory for Great Britain against Franco-Spanish forces. That same year, the regiment took part in the Battle of Brihuega
Battle of Brihuega
The Battle of Brihuega took place on 8 December 1710 in the War of the Spanish Succession, during the allied retreat from Madrid to Barcelona...
, when a British force was surprised by the enemy and defeated despite putting up a valiant fight. The war would not end until 1713 with the Treaty of Utrecht, ending the war favourably for Great Britain. Change came to the regiment when its name was changed to the 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards, a name they would take into the 19th century. In 1714, the Highlander Company was disbanded.
In 1740, the War of the Austrian Succession
War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...
began, which pitted Great Britain and her Allies once more against France. In 1743, the regiment took part in the Battle of Dettingen
Battle of Dettingen
The Battle of Dettingen took place on 27 June 1743 at Dettingen in Bavaria during the War of the Austrian Succession. It was the last time that a British monarch personally led his troops into battle...
. This was the last time a reigning British Monarch led an army into battle. The British and her Allies defeated the French Army
French Army
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
which was led by the Duc de Noailles. In honour of the victory, the composer Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
wrote Dettingen Te Deum
Dettingen Te Deum
The Dettingen Te Deum is a canticle in D major composed by George Frideric Handel in 1743.-Background:On 27 June 1743, the British army and its allies, under the command of King George II and Lord Stair, won a victory at the Battle of Dettingen, over the French army, commanded by the Maréchal de...
. The battle gave the regiment its second battle honour.
In 1745, the regiment took part in the Battle of Fontenoy
Battle of Fontenoy
The Battle of Fontenoy, 11 May 1745, was a major engagement of the War of the Austrian Succession, fought between the forces of the Pragmatic Allies – comprising mainly Dutch, British, and Hanoverian troops under the nominal command of the Duke of Cumberland – and a French army under Maurice de...
in the Austrian Netherlands between a British and Allies force and the French. The British and Allied force were under the command of the Duke of Cumberland
Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland
Prince William , was a younger son of George II of Great Britain and Caroline of Ansbach, and Duke of Cumberland from 1726. He is generally best remembered for his role in putting down the Jacobite Rising at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, and as such is also known as "Butcher" Cumberland...
while the French force was commanded by Maurice de Saxe. The British and their Allies, despite performing valiantly, lost the battle to the French with both sides losing many men. The battle was quite fierce, and the 3rd Foot Guards suffered quite badly, losing over 100 officers and men during the engagement. The regiment subsequently had a brief period back in Great Britain during the Second Jacobite Rebellion which was led by Bonnie Prince Charlie who claimed the throne of Great Britain, aided by France. The regiment was soon back in the Low Countries though, and in 1747 took part in the Battle of Lauffeld
Battle of Lauffeld
The Battle of Lauffeld, also known as the Battle of Lafelt or Battle of Maastricht, also Battle of Val, took place on 2 July 1747, during the French invasion of the Netherlands. It was part of the War of the Austrian Succession...
which ended in a defeat for Britain and her Allies who had been outnumbered by the French. The long War of the Austrian Succession would finally end the following year.
Seven Years' War
In 1756, war flared up once more between Great Britain and France, though this time the war would reach many parts of the world, in effect creating the first ever 'world war'. In June 1758, the 1st Battalion took part in an expedition against France, landing at Cancalle Bay on the BrittanyBrittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
coast. However, this first expedition was abortive and was cancelled, with the troops and ships eventually returning to Britain.
A second expedition
Battle of Saint Cast
The Battle of Saint Cast was a military engagement during the Seven Years War on the French coast between British Naval and Land expeditionary forces and French coastal defence forces....
was launched in August, and British forces, including the 1st Battalion, 3rd Foot Guards, landed near the port of Cherbourg in Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
. At the landing site, the Guards battalions dispersed a few thousand French troops who had been there to oppose the landing. The British force soon marched on Cherbourg which duly surrendered. The British subsequently destroyed many French warships as well as the port facilities at Cherbourg which would not be fully repaired for many years. They then re-embarked aboard their ships and in early September landed a few miles from St. Malo in Brittany for an assault on that port. However, the assault was deemed to be impracticable and the fleet that had landed them was forced to sail from its position to Saint-Cast
Saint-Cast-le-Guildo
Saint-Cast-le-Guildo is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Bretagne in northwestern France.-Population:Inhabitants of Saint-Cast-le-Guildo are called castins.-External links:* *...
due to bad weather, thus forcing the British troops to march there so that they could re-embark. On 12 September, the British rearguard, consisting of over 1000 Guards as well as the Grenadier companies of the infantry battalions, were attacked by numerically superior French troops. The rearguard stoutly defended their position but they were only delaying the inevitable and eventually they fell back, rushing to embark about the ships. The British lost several hundred men killed, wounded and captured during the engagement, including the commander of the rearguard.
The 2nd Battalion also saw service abroad, being part of a Brigade of Guards
Brigade of Guards
The Brigade of Guards is a historical elite unit of the British Army, which has existed sporadically since the 17th century....
force sent to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
where they fought under the command of John Manners, Marquess of Granby
John Manners, Marquess of Granby
General John Manners, Marquess of Granby PC, , British soldier, was the eldest son of the 3rd Duke of Rutland. As he did not outlive his father, he was known by his father's subsidiary title, Marquess of Granby...
. The battalion took part in the Battle of Villinghausen
Battle of Villinghausen
The Battle of Villinghausen was a battle in the Seven Years' War fought on 15 and 16 July 1761 between a large French army and a combined Prussian-Hanoverian-British force led by Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick.-Background:...
in 1761, in which an Allied force, under the command of Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, defeated a numerically superior French force. The following year, in June, the battalion took part in the Battle of Wilhelmsthal in which a heavily outnumbered Allied force defeated the French after some bitter fighting, of which the Guards battalions saw much of it. Later that year, the battalion took part in the Battle of the Brücke-Mühle, the battalion's last action during the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
, which would end in 1763.
Seeing the New World
In 1776, the American colonists, in PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, declared their independence from Great Britain during the American War of Independence. In response, fifteen men from each company of the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards, Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards and the 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards, formed a composite battalion of Foot Guards to be sent to North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. The composite battalion was subsequently split into two battalions, with both battalions seeing action at the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of White Plains
Battle of White Plains
The Battle of White Plains was a battle in the New York and New Jersey campaign of the American Revolutionary War fought on October 28, 1776, near White Plains, New York. Following the retreat of George Washington's Continental Army northward from New York City, British General William Howe landed...
that same year. The following year, in September, the composite Foot Guards took part in the Battle of Brandywine
Battle of Brandywine
The Battle of Brandywine, also known as the Battle of the Brandywine or the Battle of Brandywine Creek, was fought between the American army of Major General George Washington and the British-Hessian army of General Sir William Howe on September 11, 1777. The British defeated the Americans and...
. The British and their Allies, the Hessians, were slightly outnumbered by the Americans, though the British and Hessians did triumph, with both sides sufferering large casualties. Later that year, both composite battalions took part in the Battle of Germantown
Battle of Germantown
The Battle of Germantown, a battle in the Philadelphia campaign of the American Revolutionary War, was fought on October 4, 1777, at Germantown, Pennsylvania between the British army led by Sir William Howe and the American army under George Washington...
which also ended in a British victory.
In 1781, the two composite Foot Guard battalions took part in the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. The force was commanded by General Charles Cornwallis
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis KG , styled Viscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known as The Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army officer and colonial administrator...
and had 1,900 troops while their American opponents numbered 4,400. The Foot Guards were in the thick of it for much of the battle with exceptional professionalism. During the course of the battle, the Foot Guards were involved in a very bitter struggle with American Dragoon
Dragoon
The word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel...
s after being the subject of an attack by the Dragoons from the rear. The Americans also launched a counter-attack and chaos ensued. General Cornwallis made the difficult decision to fire grapeshot
Grapeshot
In artillery, a grapeshot is a type of shot that is not a one solid element, but a mass of small metal balls or slugs packed tightly into a canvas bag. It was used both in land and naval warfare. When assembled, the balls resembled a cluster of grapes, hence the name...
into the intermingling masses of the British and American troops. While the British troops took heavy casualties from the grapeshot, the Americans were forced to withdraw. The Foot Guards suffered quite heavily, losing many men killed and wounded, their commanding officer, Brigadier Charles O'Hara
Charles O'Hara
General Charles O'Hara was a British military officer who served in the Seven Years War, American War of Independence, and French Revolutionary War, and later served as Governor of Gibraltar...
of the Coldstream Guards being severely wounded.
The composite Foot Guards, due to the casualties that the Guards had suffered, was reduced to a single composite battalion. Later in 1781, the composite Foot Guards took part in its last engagement, at the Battle of Yorktown, which began when Yorktown
Yorktown, Virginia
Yorktown is a census-designated place in York County, Virginia, United States. The population was 220 in the 2000 census. It is the county seat of York County, one of the eight original shires formed in colonial Virginia in 1634....
was besieged by the Americans. The British defended their positions with great courage into October, but the British commander, General Cornwallis, on the 19th October, marched out, along with his army, of Yorktown to surrender to the Americans. The Foot Guards would not depart America until 1782, finally returning home to Great Britain in 1783. The composite Foot Guards were disbanded that same year and the men were returned to their previous regiments.
The French Revolutionary Wars
In 1789, the French RevolutionFrench Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
began. In 1793, the First Coalition
First Coalition
The War of the First Coalition was the first major effort of multiple European monarchies to contain Revolutionary France. France declared war on the Habsburg monarchy of Austria on 20 April 1792, and the Kingdom of Prussia joined the Austrian side a few weeks later.These powers initiated a series...
, which included Great Britain and continental European powers, was created to combat Revolutionary France. The 1st Battalion took part in the Battle of Famars
Battle of Famars
The Battle of Famars was fought on 23 May 1793 during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition. An Allied Austrian, Hanoverian, and British army under Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld defeated the French Army of the North led by General François Joseph Drouet Lamarche...
on the 23rd May and the Siege of Valenciennes
Siege of Valenciennes
The Siege of Valenciennes, also known as the Siege of Utrecht, took place from November 1676 to March 1677, during the Franco-Dutch War. A French army besieged the city of Valenciennes, which was then a part of the Spanish Netherlands and defended by a small army of the Holy Roman Empire. The city...
which began that same month, with the town eventually falling to the Allies in July that year. The battalion also took part in the Battle of Caesar's Camp at Bouchain
Bouchain
Bouchain is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It lies halfway between Cambrai and Valenciennes. Bouchain is a former part of the County of Hainaut.-Heraldry:-References:* Halesworth and Eitorf are twinned with Bouchain....
and the Siege of Dunkirk
Siege of Dunkirk (1793)
See also the Battle of HondschooteThe Siege of Dunkirk took place in 1793 when British, Hanoverian, Austrian, and Hesse-Kassel troops under the command of Prince Frederick, Duke of York besieged the fortified French border port of Dunkirk as part as the Flanders campaign of the French Revolutionary...
which ended in September.
In August 1793, the 1st Battalion, along with the 1st Battalions of the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards and the Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guard', took part in the Battle of Lincelles
Battle of Lincelles
The Battle of Lincelles was an action that took place as part of a larger manoeuvre on 17th August 1793 in the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition...
. The Guards, only just over 1000, were tasked with recaptururing the village of Lincelles from the French, over 5,000 in strength, who had re-taken it from Dutch troops. The Foot Guards advanced valiantly and professionally on the freshly captured village, coming under horrendous artillery and small-arms fire, suffering heavy casualties. The Foot Guards performed ferociously with bayonet upon storming the village, being engaged in some bitter fighting with the French, causing heavy French casualties in the process and clearing the village of the French, with the Guards capturing the village. The regiment won its third battle honour for their part in the battle. The regiment took part in further engagements in 1793, including at Lannoy. The battalion's last engagements came the following year.
In 1798, the Second Coalition against Revolutionary France was formed. That same year, the 1st Battalion's light companies took part in a raid on Ostend
Ostend
Ostend is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke , Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the largest on the Belgian coast....
in what is now Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. The raid had the objectives of destroying the lock-gates and sluices of the Brugge
Brügge
Brügge is a municipality in the district of Rendsburg-Eckernförde, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.Its small church and market square are noted for their beauty....
to Ostend canal. The expedition was supported by a bombardment from Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
(RN) warships. The raid was abortive and ended with surviving British troops being captured by the French. In 1799, the 1st Battalion took part in the landing at Den Helder
Den Helder
Den Helder is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula...
in the French puppet-state of the Batavian Republic
Batavian Republic
The Batavian Republic was the successor of the Republic of the United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on January 19, 1795, and ended on June 5, 1806, with the accession of Louis Bonaparte to the throne of the Kingdom of Holland....
, in what is now the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. An Anglo-Russian force took part in the campaign there, which had the intentions of restoring the exiled Dutch King, with the hope that the population of Batavia would be keen on such a move after suffering bad times economically due to France forbidding any trade with Great Britain. Shortly after the landing took place a large number of warships of the Batavian Fleet surrendered peacefully to the British. In October, the Foot Guards, along with many other regiments, were involved in the engagements of Egmont-op-Zee and Alkmaar
Battle of Alkmaar (1799)
The Battle of Alkmaar was fought on 2 October 1799 between forces of the French Republic and her ally, the Batavian Republic under the command of general Guillaume Marie Anne Brune, and an expeditionary force from Great Britain and her ally Russia, commanded by Prince Frederick, Duke of York...
, the latter of which ended in a British victory. In 1800, the 1st Battalion took part in the expeditions against the coastal Spanish cities of Ferrol, Vigo
Vigo
Vigo is a city and municipality in north-west Spain, in Galicia, situated on the ria of the same name on the Atlantic Ocean.-Population:...
and Cadiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
, the latter of which would become more prominent during the Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
only a few years later.
In 1798, France invaded Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
intent on conquering the country, a move that would have posed danger to Great Britain's position in the Mediterranean as well as to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. The following year, Admiral Lord Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...
decimated the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile
Battle of the Nile
The Battle of the Nile was a major naval battle fought between British and French fleets at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt from 1–3 August 1798...
, effectively trapping the French in Egypt. In 1801, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
was formed and just a few months later the 1st Battalion was part of a British Army expedition, under the command of General Sir Ralph Abercromby, to Egypt, landing at Aboukir Bay on the 8th March, with the amphibious landing being very successful despite being opposed by French defenders.
The battalion also took part in the Battle of Alexandria
Battle of Alexandria
The Battle of Alexandria or Battle of Canope, fought on March 21, 1801 between the French army under General Menou and the British expeditionary corps under Sir Ralph Abercrombie, took place near the ruins of Nicopolis, on the narrow spit of land between the sea and Lake Abukir, along which the...
on the 21st March, with the British force numbering about 14,000 and the French around 20,000. At the latter engagement, the British forces displayed much heroism and valour, with the Guards Brigade, in the center, acting in a highly professional manner against the French forces, which ended in victory for the British. The British suffered just under 1,500 killed, wounded and missing, including their commander, General Abercromby, who was mortally wounded during the battle, while the French suffered just over 4,000 casualties. Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
and Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
soon afterwards, with the whole of Egypt being recaptured by late 1801. The regiment gained its fourth battle honour with the Sphinx
Sphinx
A sphinx is a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head or a cat head.The sphinx, in Greek tradition, has the haunches of a lion, the wings of a great bird, and the face of a woman. She is mythicised as treacherous and merciless...
being placed on its Colours with Egypt superscribed on it.