LORD CLYDE, COLONEL OF THE COLDSTREAM GUARDS.
The Guards of the present British army, comprised in three regiments—the first of which containing three, and the others two battalions each—were raised about the year of the Restoration, 1660. The union, and consequent intermixture of the peoples of the two, nay, of the three nations, has so assimilated the composition of our regiments, that, whatever may have been their origin, it is exceedingly difficult now to discover aught of the ancient landmarks—national or county—which once characterised them. Still, it is our business, in the present undertaking, to trace these originals, and do justice to the land, whichever it be, that, in earlier years, contributed its mite to lay the foundation of the present renown of our army.
From the intimate way in which our Guards have always been associated in duty and a brilliant career of honour, we have preferred briefly to sketch their history together, rather than separately and severally. In such a narrative as we have entered upon, it is scarcely possible to avoid repetition, many of the regiments having seen the same service. It must therefore be admitted as a necessary evil; we only trust the good old story of our nation’s glory will not suffer by being twice told.
The Coldstream, or Second Regiment of Guards—which, although second in the Army List, is nevertheless the senior—was raised by General Monk (afterwards Duke of Albemarle) about the year 1650. They were principally formed from Fenwick’s and Hesellrigg’s Regiments, and took their name from their having proceeded from Coldstream on their famous march to restore the “Merry Monarch!” Born during a time of war, they were early initiated into its bloody toils. They formed part of the army of General Monk, which, in name of Oliver Cromwell, subdued and occupied Scotland. With the Scottish army, they marched into England in 1660, were quartered in London, and there effectually helped to maintain peace between the factions of the Parliament and army, which then struggled for the dominion of the State—vacant by the death of the Protectorate. Ultimately, the intrigue of General Monk effected the present deliverance of the country from the disorders which distracted Government, by the restoration of the monarchy in the person of Charles II. On the disbandment of the army, Charles, grateful for the good offices of Monk, retained his—the Coldstream—regiment in his own service. The alarm attending the insurrection of Venner, in 1660—a fanatic preacher, who was ultimately overpowered, and his followers, about thirty in number, nearly all slain—presented a favourable opportunity, which the King was not slow to improve, for insisting upon Parliament granting him leave to raise money to maintain an additional military force for his own and the nation’s safeguard. The result was the formation of a chosen body of troops, chiefly composed of Jacobite gentlemen who had shared with him the vicissitudes of exile, and so constituted the First, or Grenadier Guards, under Colonel Russell. Two years later, 1662, the resistance which the unreasonable demands of the King upon the Scottish Presbyterians stirred up, induced the formation in Scotland, amongst other troops, of a regiment of Scots Foot Guards—the Scots Fusilier, or Third Regiment of Guards—the command being conferred on the Earl of Linlithgow.
Whilst a small body of the Guards were hotly engaged on the shores of Africa, heroically defending against the Moors the fortress of Tangier—the profitless dowry of the Queen of Charles II.—the main body of the Grenadiers and Coldstreams, or, as they were then called, the First and Second Regiments of Guards, were employed at home sustaining the tottering throne of the monarch. Failing to profit by the lessons which a recent adversity were so well fitted to teach, Charles, like the rest of his unhappy race, devoted to his own indulgence, plunged heedlessly into all the excesses of folly and passion. Casting aside or neglecting the cares of his kingdom, so far at least as they interfered with his own gratification, he consigned to creatures of his pleasure, to the bigotry of fawning Jesuits, or the blind fanaticism of a cruel brother (the Duke of York) the interests, the business, and the duties of royalty. Amid such dissoluteness and misrule, the Guards, whilst fulfilling their duty, must ofttimes have been forced to witness the dark intrigues of a licentious court; nay, more, they were frequently called to obey officers who had obtained commissions from their having ministered discreditably to the passionate appetites of superiors, or as being the fruit of some unhallowed intercourse. Their duty, too, required they should guard not merely the Sovereign of a great nation, but his seraglio—the abandoned crowd who, dishonouring themselves, dishonoured their sex, preyed upon the honour of the nation, with undisguised effrontery daily glittered in finery, and disgraced the palaces of royalty by their presence. Gladly might the brave and honourable soldier welcome a respite from such irksome duties and the influences of such evil examples on the field of battle; but these were times of comparative peace. It was not until Charles had sunk into the grave, the victim of his own indulgence, and his brother, the Duke of York, had ascended the throne as James II., that the peace was disturbed—and then but for a moment—by the pretensions and rebellion of Monmouth, speedily terminated by the battle of Sedgemoor, in 1685. During the reign of James II., who departed not from the evil ways of his brother, but added injustice and cruelty to the lengthy catalogue of royal iniquities, only one incident would we notice as belonging to the history of the Coldstreams, and as emphatically declaring how far even these stood apart from the sins of the age. James had committed to the Tower the Archbishop of Canterbury and other six bishops, who dared respectfully to remonstrate with the King on behalf of their Protestant brethren, injured by the pretensions of the Roman Catholics. Faithful to their duty, the Coldstreams nevertheless received these martyrs to their ancient faith with every token of respect and reverence. From the heart of many a soldier ascended the prayer, and from his eye dropped the dewy tear, as he guarded the gloomy dungeons of their prison.
At length, when the cup of royal iniquity was full to overflowing, when the follies and cruelties of the race of Stuart had alienated the affections of an otherwise loyal people, then the oppressed, called to arms, with one voice drove the last and worst representative of that unfortunate family from the throne. Then, even then, when all else failed him, even his own children—the Duke of Grafton, Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, deserting—the Guards, the Coldstreams, remained faithful, and with their Colonel, Lord Craven (appointed on the death of Monk, in 1670), at their head, refused to give place to the stranger. Nor did they forsake the unhappy prince, or for a moment belie their allegiance to him, until his pusillanimous flight had rendered their services no longer of advantage to him. Then only did they make their peace with the new Sovereign—William, Prince of Orange. Respecting their constancy to the fallen monarch, and recognising the Guards to be men of worth, the Prince—now the King—retained their services, nor hesitated to confide his own person to their keeping, as the faithful body-guard of a constitutional throne.
Aware that an officer, well versed in military histories, and to whose kindness we are largely indebted for much valuable information embraced in this compilation, is now preparing the annals of the Guards, in separate volumes, we forbear saying more of the Grenadiers and Coldstreams, esteeming the history of the Scots Fusilier Guards sufficient for the purposes of our present undertaking, as being the one regiment of the three undoubtedly Scottish.