DESPERATE DEFENCES OF COLOURS.
At the battle of Dettingen, 27th June, 1743, Cornet Richardson, of Ligonier’s Horse, now the 7th Dragoon Guards, carried one of the standards. He was surrounded by the enemy, and called upon to surrender; but refused, and received upwards of thirty sabre cuts and shots in his body. The standard was much damaged, but with manly fortitude, and with the soul of a hero, he succeeded in cutting his way through a host that threatened his destruction. This dashing young officer recovered from his wounds, and was presented by King George II. with the standard he had so nobly defended.
In the action at Rusheck, 18th May, 1794, Private Michael Mancely, of the 8th Royal Irish Hussars, received several wounds while defending the standard of his regiment; although desperately wounded, he retained possession of it; his horse was killed under him, and he then defended himself and his standard on foot. He managed to carry it off and hand it over to one of his officers, and then lay down and died.
I must here give a brief account of the heroic defence of the colours of the 3rd Buffs on the field of Albuera. Ensign Walsh prevented the colours of his regiment from being taken at this battle. The staff was broken by a cannon ball, and the young hero, dangerously wounded, was left on the field for dead. He had more thought for his precious charge than for his life; and, with what little strength he had remaining, he tore the flag from the broken staff and concealed it in his bosom, next his heart, where, next day, when his wounds were being dressed, it was found. The other colour of the regiment was defended and preserved in the following heroic manner. The Sergeants who defended the colour were all shot down, and the enemy’s Hussars surrounded the officer, Ensign Thomas, who carried it. He was called upon to give up his charge, but that noble son of Albion’s answer was “Never but with my life,” and his life was the forfeit of his refusal, but he lived long enough to know that the colour was eventually preserved. It was re-taken from the enemy in the headlong charge of the 7th Royal Fusiliers, which charge supported by the 23rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers changed the fortune of the day. Sergeant Gough, of the 7th Royal Fusiliers, was the man who re-took the standard, for which he received a commission, but the chief honour is due to Lieutenant Latham, of the Buffs; he saw the danger of this colour being borne off in triumph from the field by the enemy, and his whole soul being alive to the honour of his Corps, he ran forward to protect it. The devoted officer who had defended it was lying apparently dead. Lieutenant Latham arrived at the spot in time to seize the colour, and defended it with heroic gallantry, surrounded by a crowd of assailants, each of whom wanted the honour of capturing it; the Lieutenant, bleeding fast from wounds received in defending his precious charge, armed only with his sword, refused to yield. A French Hussar, seizing the flag-staff and rising in his stirrups, aimed a blow at the gallant Latham, which failed in cutting him down, but sadly mutilated him, severing one side of his face and nose. Although thus wounded his resolute spirit did not shrink, but he continued the struggle with the French horsemen, and as they endeavoured to drag the colour from him, he exclaimed, “I will surrender it only with my life.” Another sabre stroke severed his left arm and hand, in which he held the staff, from his body. He then dropped his sword, and seizing the staff with his right hand continued the struggle, until he was thrown down, trampled upon, and pierced with lances. At this moment the British Cavalry came up, and the French fled. Then on came thundering “the astonishing Infantry,” the Fusilier brigade; inch by inch, and foot by foot, these heroic regiments gained the blood-stained heights, and thus redeemed the fortune of the day, which all beside thought lost. It was the present General Sir A. Hardinge’s father who led that noble brigade, but more of that in its place. The gallant Latham recovered from his wounds and lived for many years after. The officers of the Buffs, in recognition of his bravery and fortitude, presented this noble hero with a gold medal, worth one hundred guineas, on which the preservation of the colour by Lieutenant Latham was represented, with the motto “I will surrender it only with my life,” and Lieutenant Latham had Royal authority to accept and wear it.
BATTLE OF ALBUERA.
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When all his comrades fell around, The gallant Ensign kept his ground; “Your Standard yield,” the Frenchman cried; Brave Thomas answered “No,” and died. Walsh, when he felt the hostile dart, Preserved the colours next his heart, And as he sank, by wounds oppressed, Still held them closer to his breast. |
The colours of the Grenadier Guards had a narrow escape at Inkermann, where this distinguished Regiment fought desperately. Only about forty men were left to defend the colours against a host, but with a ringing cheer they forced their way through a mass of the enemy at the point of the bayonet, and down the hill they had to go again.