British Regiments at the Front, The Story of Their Battle HonoursHodder, Reginald
History
British Regiments at the Front, The Story of Their Battle Honours
Hodder, Reginald
Great Britain -- History, Military; Great Britain. Army
The Connaught Rangers are called "Garvies" because their recruits, when
first the regiment was raised, were both lean and raw. Now a "garvie"
is a small herring.
"The Blue Caps."
At the time of the relief of Cawnpore, a despatch of Nana Sahib was
intercepted, containing a reference to those "blue-capped English
soldiers who fought like devils." These "Blue-Caps" were the Madras
Fusiliers, then a "John Company" regiment, but now the 1st Battalion
Royal Dublin Fusiliers. The name was later stamped in perpetuity by
Havelock, at the bridge of Charbagh. The question was put to him by
Outram as to who could possibly carry the bridge under so deadly a
fire. "My Blue Caps!" replied Havelock, and his faith in them was
justified, for they carried it against overwhelming odds. The Bombay
Fusiliers (another "John Company" regiment) now the 2nd Battalion Royal
Dublin Fusiliers, have an equally distinguished record. They have been
known as "The Old Toughs."
BRITISH REGIMENTS AT THE FRONT
THE 5TH DRAGOON GUARDS
(CADOGAN'S HORSE).
The 5th Dragoon Guards were raised by the Earl of Shrewsbury to support
James against "King Monmouth" at Sedgmoor. For the same reasons that
"Britons never, never will be slaves," they refused, on consideration,
to support James, and sided with William, for whom they threw in their
weight at the Boyne. They were also at a former siege of Namur, and
bore themselves bravely at Blenheim.
The story is told that, after that battle, a Sunday Church parade was
called, in which the British army deployed to fire a volley of victory,
and Marshal Tallard, who was a prisoner, was reluctantly present on
that occasion. After the volley, the Duke of Marlborough turned to
Tallard, and asked what he thought of the British army. "Well enough,"
replied Tallard, shrugging his shoulders, "but the troops they
defeated, why, those are the best soldiers in the world!" "If that is
so," said the Duke, "what will the world think of the fellows who
thrashed them?" All obvious enough, but the Duke would never have slept
quietly in his bed if he had left it unstated.
At Salamanca, with the 3rd and 4th Light Dragoons, the 5th Dragoon
Guards carved their way through a treble thickness of French army
columns, under a heavy fire. For this marvellous achievement
"Salamanca" is writ large on their colours.
* * * * *
THEIR BATTLE HONOURS, ETC.
MOTTO.--"Vestigia nulla retrorsum."
BATTLE HONOURS.--Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, Malplaquet,
Salamanca, Vittoria, Toulouse, Peninsula, Balaclava, Sevastopol,
S. Africa 1899-1902, Defence of Ladysmith.
UNIFORM.--Scarlet, dark green facings, red and white plume.
THE CARABINIERS
("TICHBORNE'S OWN.")
"It is your sex that makes us go forth to fight....
It is your sex who cherish our memories."
_Nelson._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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