British Regiments at the Front, The Story of Their Battle Honours — John Shaqi
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
This help in the time of extreme peril was balanced by the Royal Scots
at the battle of Lundy's Lane, where they arrived in the nick of time
to make up 2,800 British against 5,000 Americans. After a hard fight
the enemy was driven back, but they opened again with a devastating
fire of musketry and artillery, following it up with a most determined
charge. So desperate was their onslaught that the British guns were
captured, and immediately following on this, the Royal Scots performed
a deed which is underlined in history. They recaptured those guns, and
left the enemy bewildered. This was the closest fight imaginable. In
the thick of it, the opposing cannon almost spoke into each others'
mouths. So close they were, that neither side could say, "This is my
gun." In point of fact, in the heat of the moment a British limber
carried off an American gun, and an American a British gun. On that
field the contact between British and American was extremely close. In
these days it is just as close, but not exactly in the same fierce
spirit.
One of the foremost of the exploits of the Royal Scots was the defence
of Tangier against the Moors in 1678. In Port Henrietta some 160 of the
Royal Scots had been isolated. In order to facilitate their escape
their comrades in the town created a diversion by leading a general
attack. In the midst of this the Scots got as far as the first trench
surrounding the fort, but, at the outer one, which was 12 feet deep,
they came into close grips with the enemy. There it was sheer
knife-fighting, and many Royal Scots went to the bottom of the pit. One
hundred and twenty of them filled it full, and over that bridge of
silence forty survivors hewed their way through.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account