A History of the British Army, Vol. 1: First Part—to the Close of the Seven Years' WarFortescue, J. W. (John William), Sir
History
A History of the British Army, Vol. 1: First Part—to the Close of the Seven Years' War
Fortescue, J. W. (John William), Sir
Great Britain -- History, Military; Great Britain. Army -- History
The two troops of Life-Guards--the first the King's, commanded by
Lord Gerard, the second the Duke of York's own--took precedence
in like manner of Monk's Life-Guard; and after long existence as
independent troops, blossomed at last into the First and Second
regiments of Life-Guards that now stand at the head of our Army
list. They were composed of men of birth and education, and
for more than a century were rightly called gentlemen of the
Life-Guards. Cromwell too had possessed such a guard, for he knew
the value of gentlemen who had courage, honour, and resolution in
them. Thus they stood apart from Lord Oxford's regiment of horse,
which is still known to us from the colour of its uniform by its
original name of the Blues. This corps was almost certainly made
up of disbanded troopers of the New Model, of which there was no
lack at that time in England;[203] while its colonel brought to it
traditions of still earlier days in the honoured name of Vere.
But there was yet another regiment to be gathered in from the
battlefield of Dunkirk Dunes, this time not from the defeated but
from the victorious army. In view of the peril of the King from
Vernier's insurrection, Lewis the Fourteenth was requested to
restore to him the regiment of Douglas, the representative of the
Scots Brigade of Gustavus Adolphus; and this famous corps, having
duly arrived in the year 1662, became the Royal or Scots regiment,
and took the place which it still occupies at the head of the
infantry of the Line under the old title of the Royal Scots. It
returned to France in 1662 and did not return permanently to the
English service until 1670, but it retained its precedence and it
retains it still.
[Sidenote: 1661, October.]
So far for the King's provision for his own safety. But it was also
necessary for him to provide himself with money, and this he did in
the simplest fashion by marrying an heiress, Catherine, Princess
of Portugal, who brought him half a million of money, Bombay and
Tangier, to say nothing of promises of pecuniary aid from Lewis
the Fourteenth, who encouraged the match for his own ends. Tangier
being in constant peril of recapture by the Moors was a troublesome
possession, and required a garrison, for which duty a regiment
of foot and a strong troop of horse were raised by the Earl of
Peterborough, the recruits being furnished mainly by the garrison
of Dunkirk. These corps also survive among us as the Second or
Queen's regiment of Foot, and the First or Royal Dragoons.
[Sidenote: 1661-1665.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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