TffiSTORY BRITO ARMY 'Blackje tTerntr Ir Son. il6Ji THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARiMY BY LlEUT.-COLONEL C COOPER KING, F.G.S. WITH PLANS AND ILLUSTRATIONS METHUEN & CO. 36 ESSEX STREET, VV.C LONDON 1897 IN TOKEN OF A LENGTHENED FRIENDSHIP I DEDICATE THIS STORY OF HER MAJESTY'S ARMY TO ITS COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF F.-M. THE RIGHT HONOURABLE VISCOUNT WOLSELEY, K.P., G.C.B., G.C.M.G. PREFACE I HAVE endeavoured in the space at my disposal to show how the British Army has grown up. I have tried merely to tell a " story," and therefore omitted much that might have been said regarding the noble work the Queen's Army has done. As regards the opinions advanced, I have always, as far as possible, given the reasons for my views and the authorities which induced me to form them. I have adhered to the principle of using the old regi- mental numbers, for the sake of continuity ; though, after the date when these were altered, I have, in most cases, added their present territorial titles. I wish to express my great appreciation of the courtesy of the Colonel and the Officers of the Lancashire Fusiliers (2Oth), South Wales Borderers (24th), and the Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire) Regiment (i 4th), in allowing me to sketch the uniforms of their men from the interesting histories of their respective regiments, and to E. C. Brett, Esq., for permitting me to copy the suits of armour that I have chosen as types from his father's magnificent volume on Arms and Armour. KlNGSCLEAR, CAMBERLEY, March 1897. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I. THE ARMY OF THE PEOPLE TO noo . . . i II. THE ARMY OF THE NOBLES TO 1500 . . . .14 III. THE PURITAN HOST ....... 35 IV. THE ARMY OF THE KING TO 1701 ..... 55 V. MARLBOROUGH AND HIS MEN TO 1714 .... 72 VI. THE EMBERS OF THE CIVIL WAR TO 1755 . . . -87 VII. THE ARMY IN AMERICA TO 1793 ..... 107 VIII. THE ARMY AT SEA TO 1815 ...... 128 IX. THE PENINSULAR ARMY: (a) ITS MAKING 1793-1808 . . 155 X. ,, (i>) ITS TRAINING 1808-1811 . . 173 XI. ,, ,, (c) ITS REWARD 1811-1814 . . 191 XII. THE ARMY IN THE NETHERLANDS WATERLOO, 1815 . . 206 XIII. THE ARMY AFTER THE LONG PEACE THE CRIMEA, 1854 . 236 XIV. THE ARMY IN INDIA : (a) THE EAST INDIA COMPANY, ITS RISE 1600-1825 . 264 XV. THE ARMY IN INDIA : (b) THE FALL OF THE COMPANY AND AFTERWARDS 1825-1858 ..... 277 XVI. THE ARMY IN INDIA : (c) THE ARMY OF THE QUEEN-EMPRESS 1858-1896 ........ 318 XVII. THE ARMY IN THE FAR EAST 1819-1875 .... 33 6 XVIII. THE ARMY IN SOUTH AND WEST AFRICA 1834-1836 . . 35 i XIX. THE ARMY IN NORTH AFRICA 1867-1896 .... 374 XX. THE ARMY AS IT is . . . . . . . 39 6 APPENDIX I. THE PRINCIPAL CAMPAIGNS AND BATTLES OF ,THE BRITISH ARMY SINCE 1658 ..... 407 APPENDIX II. THE LIST OF REGIMENTS WITH THEIR PRESENT AND FORMER TITLES . . . . . .411 APPENDIX III. LIST OF BADGES, MOTTOES, AND NICKNAMES OF THE ARMY ....... 416 INDEX . . . . . . . ' . .424 LIST OF MAPS, PLANS, AND ILLUSTRATIONS LEADERS PAGE FIELD-MARSHAL VISCOUNT WOLSELEY, K.P., G.C.B., G.C.M.G., etc. Frontispiece THE DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH (from an old print) . . . -73 THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON ....... 209 ARMOUR NORMAN (from the Bayeux Tapestry) . . . . . .10 PLATE ARMOUR, circa 1500 . . . . . .23 ,, ,, AT BARNET, 1471 ...... 29 HALF ARMOUR, 1640 ... . \" . . -35 UNIFORMS PRIVATE SOLDIER, i4TH REGIMENT, 1712 ..... 72 ,, ,, 24TH REGIMENT, 1751 . . . . . 104 ,, ,, i4TH REGIMENT, 1792 ..... 126 ,, ,, 20TH REGIMENT, 1812 ..... 200 ,, ,, 24TH REGIMENT, 1840 . r~ . 239 OFFICER, LIGHT COMPANY, 20TH REGIMENT, 1853 . . ' . . 260 PRIVATE SOLDIER, 14 REGIMENT, 1864 . > , . . . 322 ,, ,, 24TH REGIMENT, 1879 ..... 370 BATTLES THE LINES OF BATTLE AT BARNET, 1471 -. . .32 ,, ,, NASEBY, 1643 ,\ . . .43 ,, ,, BLENHEIM, 1704 . . . -77 ,, ,, WATERLOO, 1815 . . . . . 228 ,, ,, TEL EL KEBIR, 1882 .... 383 GENERAL MAPS ENGLAND AND WALES ........ 5 HASTINGS .......... 7 QUEBEC .......... in SPANISH PENINSULA ........ 173 SALAMANCA ......... 198 BELGIUM AND WATERLOO ....... 208 CRIMEA .......... 250 INDIA . . . 266 ARMS MUSKETS, ETC. ......... 125 FIELD ARTILLERY ........ 38 HALBERDS AND PIKES ........ 24 SWORDS .......... 231 THE BRITISH ARMY CHAPTER I THE ARMY OF THE PEOPLE TO IIOO ALL nations have passed, more or less, through the same stages in the up-growth of that military system which is as essential to the political security of the mass as the formation of a police force is necessary for the protection of the individual in civil life. From the out- set, the history of human existence has been one of combat. First, in the earliest of primeval days, archaic man had to contend with mammoth, cave bear, and all the host of extinct mammals primarily for food, and then for safety when the need for clearing them away became more and more apparent as population increased. With this increase in numbers grew also the instinctive hostility between man and man. The desire for conquest is one of his strongest attributes. The stronger has always tried to make the weaker subservient ; and as time went on, that desire was accentuated by the wish to possess the women or slaves the terms were then synonymous of the weaker family. It was no mere poetic statement, therefore, that the head of a patriarchal household felt safe with a body of stalwart sons, and was not afraid " to speak with his enemy in the gate." That old-world text tells volumes, behind which lie sinister pages and details of family feud and rapine. i THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY But families segregated together and became tribes ; these in their turn formed clans under a general head, and this led to the further development of inter-tribal and clannish contest, of which the greater wars of the present time are the natural outcome. Still, throughout all this pre- historic or semi -historic time, there was no organisation of what is called an army. Every able-bodied male was bound to join in the defence of his poor village or district, or, on the other hand, to acquiesce in the general desire of a more courageous or dominant group, and share in the attack on, and despoiling of, some other group weaker or richer than itself. A king of men, a stronger soul, a man with more ambition or more boundless energy than his compeers, carried his fellows, by the divine right of leadership, to war. Except as a conse- quence of his greater bravery, he stood in no one place higher than those he led. The fighting was individual. There were no tactics ; there was no systematic military organisation. All fought singly, with a view to the common end of success. It was only when the character of arms themselves advanced, as civilisation and greater inter-dependence of peoples increased, as communication from point to point improved, rendering combined, operations possible, that systematic war began. Even then, there was much of the personal element in the matter. The known chief planted his standard, and round it gathered, at first, a mass of sub- ordinate units, led by their chosen sub-chiefs. But even this was the beginning of greater things. Organisation, on which the real art of war depends, had arisen. The chief now directed subordinate commanders, and command became subdivided. He no longer led only; he directed, in addition to infusing courage into his men by his personal bravery. So it has been with the successive races that have fought in those early days on British soil. The first real military system worthy of the name was that which brought woad- clad Britons in collision with the military might of Rome. But wonderful as the Roman organisation was, it seems to 2 THE ARMY OF THE PEOPLE TO i.ioo have left but little permanent trace on the people it had governed and civilised for four hundred years, from the time of Caesar's first landing to that in which Honorius recalled the last legion from the deserted province of Britannia to assist the main trunk of the empire. There is little evidence that the Saxons met with any more valuable opposition than mere courage, an attribute of little real permanent import- ance against a foe that had at the least a sort of military organisation. For that the Saxons had such is clear. They had learned from the Romans indirectly if not directly ; and there is a distinct trace of Roman influence in the way they arranged a battle. This applies still more to their fighting organisation after they had conquered and subdued the effete defenders of Roman Britain, before the Danes came. Though they, too, had succumbed to the enervating in- fluence of peace, they had established a genuine system which had in it the elements of the army as it is, or at least some portion of it. For the army of Saxon England was, in all essential respects, a militia ; that is to say, a body closely resembling the tribal array, but better organised. Against these came the Danes, whose methods were those of the early Saxons ; that is to say, tribal leading under re- nowned chiefs. But the stronger and more correct principles that underlay the Saxon organisation triumphed in the end ; and the raids of Danish hordes were beaten in detail, and became absorbed in the Saxon stock, to revivify and strengthen it. The Roman was an alien, and remained so ; but both Saxon and Dane had the same racial origin, became, finally, part of the nation they had conquered, and were absorbed by it, to form the English, when the still stronger tone that Norman soldiers gave coming also, be it remembered, from the same group of peoples had borne fruit. The story of the Saxon conquest and of the Danish invasion contains few points of military interest, though that period was the cradle in which the future army was to be reared. Still there is one battle of that time which should rank with the decisive battles of the English world, 3 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY for it stemmed the tide of Danish success, and led to the amalgamation of the hostile sides against the next new comer. This turning-point is the battle of ^Escesdune, or Ashdown, fought most probably on the Berkshire hills. The Saxon had retained, somewhat, the Roman fighting formation, as they had utilised Roman villas in Britain, and altered them to suit Saxon tastes. A spearman one of the hastati, say, of a Roman legion required for the free use of his weapons a space of three clear yards round the spot on which he stood ; l and it is more than probable that the later Saxons had adopted some of the Roman methods. The arms varied little from those in use during the Roman invasion. The spear or javelin and arrow showed no change ; the sword was broad and two-edged, with a heavy pommel ; the favourite Saxon weapon, the axe, was either double or single, like the Gallic Francisco,? The body armour and head armour was of leather, strengthened in some cases with iron, and the chief defence, the shield, was of wood with bosses or umbos of iron. Their skill with the latter, as tradition tells it, seems fabulous : it is even stated that Harold, surrounded by ten archers, was able, his back being protected by a tree, to intercept every shaft aimed at him. Until later, both antagonists fought mainly on foot. Turn then again to the battle of Ashdown, and let the Saxon chronicler, Bishop Asher of Sherborne, tell the story of the last great Saxon fight, but one, on English soil. The next was to show the descendants of the combatants at Ashdown united against yet another invader and the last. " The Pagans, dividing themselves into two bodies of equal strength, draw up their lines for they had there two kings and several jarls and they give the central part of the army to the two kings (Baegsaeg and Halfdene), and the rest to all the jarls (Fraena, Hareld, and the two Sidrochs). When the Christians perceive this, they, in the same manner, divide themselves into two bodies, and draw themselves up 1 Polybius. J One of the latter was exhumed some years since on the field of Hastings. 4 OUTLINE MAP O f ENGLAND &WALK. -2- U~> THE ARMY OF THE PEOPLE TO uoo with equal diligence. But Alfred comes more speedily and readily with his men, as we have heard from trustworthy reporters who saw it, and arrives at the place of battle ; for his brother, Ethelred the king, was still remaining in the tent in prayer, hearing the Mass, and declaring that he would not depart thence alive before the priest should end the Mass, nor would desert the divine service for the human. And he did as he had said, which faith of the Christian king availed greatly with the Lord, as in the sequel shall be fully shown. The Christians, therefore, had decreed that Ethelred the king with his own forces should fight against the two pagan kings ; but Alfred his brother with his companies would know how to try the chance of war against all the leaders of the pagans. Thus strongly were they placed on either side when the king was lingering long in prayer, and the pagans were prepared and had hastened to the place of conflict. Alfred then being second in command, when he could no longer endure the ranks of the foe, except he either retreated from the fight, or dashed forward against the hostile forces before his brother's arrival, at last boldly, after the manner of a wild boar, guided the Christian forces against the foe as had been determined, though still the king had not come. Thus relying on the guidance of God, and supported by His help, with the lines drawn up closely, he moves forward the standard with speed against the enemy. But to those who know not the place it must be explained that the site of the battle was unequal for the belligerents, for the pagans had occupied beforehand a higher position; but the Christians drew up their lines from a lower place. There was also, in the same place, a single thorn-tree of very small size, which we ourselves have seen with our own eyes. Around this, therefore, the hostile armies, all with a great shout, meet together in conflict, the one acting most wickedly, the other to fight for life and friends and country. And when they fought for some time, fiercely and very cruelly on both sides, the pagans, by the divine judgment, could endure the attack of the Christians no longer ; and the chief part of their forces being slain, they 5 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY took to flight disgracefully. And in this place one of the two pagan kings and five jarls were slain ; and many thousands on the pagan side, both in that place and along the whole breadth of the plain of ^scesdune, where they had been everywhere scattered, were slain far and wide. For there fell their king Baegsaeg and Jarl Sidroc the elder and Jarl Sidroc the younger, and Jarl Obsbern, and Jarl Fraena, and Jarl Hareld ; and the whole army of the pagans was put to flight till the night, and even to the following day, until those who escaped arrived at the citadel, for the Christians pursued them until night and overthrew them everywhere." " Never before or since," says a Saxon writer later on, " was ever such slaughter known, since the Saxons first gained England by their armies." All the next day the rout was followed up, until the shattered remnants gained the shelter of their fort. Whether it was absolutely aban- doned by the Danes after their defeat is doubtful ; but it is recorded that fourteen days later Alfred and Ethelred suffered a reverse at Basing, which shows, at anyrate, that some portion of the enemy's forces had retreated to the south. To meet the last invasion of foreign blood, the Anglo- Saxons had, by that time, a military organisation which differed but little from the hosts that William of Normandy brought against Harold the king at Senlac. There had been much intercommunication between the British Isles and the mainland. Both armies were armed and equipped in much the same way. Their leaders wore the same kind of armour, and there was little to distinguish between them, save that the Norman's chief strength was in his cavalry, that of Harold in his infantry. The Bayeux Tapestry shows both Harold and William clad in the same attire. The Saxon fighting system at Hastings differed little from that of the mercenaries of the most varied character that followed the banner of the Conqueror, except that on Harold's side there was union of men, then of the same nationality to a great degree, against a mere collection of adventurers. As to the political situation there is little to 6 X Stolyill'' 1 ' ' 'A"" Harolds Standard. A. Genera/Line o{ English. .. a. Scale 4 In. to I Mile. THE ARMY OF THE PEOPLE TO noo be said. The true history of the eleventh century is still, and ever will be, unwritten ; the most reliable account is after all largely, if not entirely, traditional. It is poetical rather than actual. It is based on " hearsay " rather than fact. Yet, not- withstanding, before real recorded history was, tradition had to take its place, and this is what it and legend have to say of that great conflict which destroyed Saxondom in Britain, and which placed William the Norman on the English throne as king. This, then, is what the fighting seems to have been. Curiously enough, Harold selected the defensive, as did Wellington, as a rule, seven hundred and fifty years after, and fought on foot while fortifying his front with pali- sades ; while the Normans attacked in a series of lines, much as was done by British troops before the intro- duction of the breech-loader led to the abandonment of " linear " tactics. The last of the Saxon kings had chosen for his stand for crown and kingdom the hill where Battle is now built; but there was one vast difference between the opposing leaders. On the one side the Saxons feasted and made merry, though there is little evidence that Harold made any effort to rouse the enthusiasm of his men as his adversary did. In the Saxon camp there was wine and wassail, and in that of William penitence and prayer. William knew the guiding spirit of the art of war of the time, the infusing into his host that religious fervour which later on made Cromwell defeat Royalists as physically brave as his own Ironsides, and the instilling in their minds confidence in their own powers, which has been at the base of every English victory since then. The Saxons were " slow to find out they were beaten " ; x but the Norman enthusiasm was raised by the duke's address on the morning of the fight, in which he recalled to their minds that the Normans "had won their land in Gaul with their own swords ; how they had given lands to the kings of the Franks and conquered all their enemies everywhere ; while the English had never been famed in war, the Danes having 1 History of the Conquest of Granada. 7 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY conquered them and taken their land whenever they would." All this may be fable, and probably is, but what we know of William tends to show it was likely. Even omens he turned to advantage. He fell on landing, but, rising with his hands full of English soil, he exclaimed, " What is the matter? I have thus taken seisin of this land, and so far as it reaches, by the splendour of God, it is yours and mine." He put on his mailed shirt back in front, only to laughingly exclaim, as he reversed it, " A good sign and a lucky one : a duke shall this day be turned into a king." All this evidences genius for war such as Harold never had. His bravery is undoubted, but mere bravery counts little against bravery plus skill. So it was that, armed with sword and priest-blessed relics, protected by the " conse- crated " banner of Pope Alexander, and bearing on his finger a ring set " with one of St. Peter's hairs," William went into battle with not merely an army of sixty thousand men, to whom success meant profit, but to whom death meant falling in a holy cause, and to whom the very battle itself was a crusade. Everything was in his favour, when, singing the battle hymn of Roland, he moved his three lines against the hill on which Harold's royal standard was planted. The details of the battle are of little interest. It was one of hand-to-hand fighting. " The English axe, in the hand of King Harold, or any other strong man, cut down the horse and his rider by a single blow." The personal element entered largely, as it did later, into the contest. The fall of the leader led to the fall of the army. Where Harold was, where his standard flew, there was the- " tactical key " of the field of battle. True tactics do not depend on the death of the king, or the capture of so many yards of silk embroidery. But true tactics, rightly understood, were not in these days. The duke formed his army in two wings and a centre, each of which seems to have advanced covered by archers, supported by heavy infantry, and strengthened by the main arm of battle, then the mailed cavalry. The left wing, 8 THE ARMY OF THE PEOPLE TO uoo composed of men from Ponthieu, Maine, and Brittany, was led by Alan ; the right, adventurers from Picardy and France, was directed by Roger de Montgomery; and the centre, comprising the flower of the Norman host, was com- manded by William himself. The bowmen covered the advance by arrow fire, and seemed to have produced little effect; but towards the end of the day they, possibly and apparently from the flanks, 1 poured in a vertical fire, and so covered, without interfering with, the attack of the main bodies, and it was from this, in a sense, long-ranged fire that Harold received the wound that disabled him, caused his death and the ruin of the Saxon cause. Whether the statement that William, by a feigned retreat, drew the Saxons from their entrenchments in pursuit and then turned on them with success, is true or not, may be open to doubt. Harold's tactics and his method of entrenchment all point rather to passive than active defence. His best armed and best equipped men were in the centre, round his royal standard, armed with javelin, axe, and sword, and covered close by the large Saxon shield ; on his flanks were the less reliable and poorly armed " ceorls," who could not be trusted to meet the main brunt of battle. It is quite possible, however, that these less disciplined troops may have been decoyed into a pursuit which was counter attacked by the cavalry, and thus the flank was turned, and with it the line of obstacles along the front, whatever they might have been. Be that as it may, it is most likely that the traditional termination of the battle is in the main correct, and that William, by his "high angle" fire of arrows, was able to " search " the ground behind the stockade, and that the last Saxon king received his death-wound in the eye from one of these missiles. It would have been better strategy on his part to have fought a merely rearguard action at Hastings, and, falling back, have both weakened his adversary by the guards he must have left on the coast, and increased 1 Atlas des Batailles, Kausler. 9 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY his own power of resistance by the aid of the reinforce- ments that were coming up. So night went down on the bloody field of Senlac, where Harold lay dead with fifteen thousand Normans and " threescore thousand Englishmen," though the latter statement is, on the face of it, exaggeration. But the fight had broken the Saxon power, and the Conqueror as William of Poictiers says refused his royal brother burial, swearing " that he guarded the coast while he was alive, let him thus continue to guard it after death." None the less, it is believed he was buried eventually at Waltham, and William the duke passed on to cross the Thames at Wallingford, seized London, and become William the king. With Senlac perished the militia system of the Saxon rulers of England. The new-comers had brought with them the elements, though not the completion, of the feudal system that was to follow and be the outcome of the Norman Conquest. As a matter of fact, the invading army that William led was only after all a gathering of armed men under leaders of sorts. Its very origin prevented the full organisation which means a real or regular army. Mercen- aries, men who had never before the war met the chiefs who were to lead them, in rare cases religious enthusiasts, who believed that the cause of the Pope and the Normans was the cause of God, mere soldiers of fortune, who thought from the fair English land they might obtain fortune even more than fame ; these were the men who were to break up the Saxon kingdom, still existent more or less, and were to weld into one homogeneous whole the English race. Never has the end better justified the means. Never have the means themselves in 1066 been more ignoble. The Norman host as men had scarcely a redeeming feature. To count descent from them, is to count often enough from the meanest social ancestry, though age has made it venerable and respected. Some of the noblest of English families trace, or rather claim, descent from men of the lowest origin, who rose from such a place as that of " Hugo the Dapifer," to be the rulers of England and replace Saxon jarls whose descent was more distinct, and on whom the Norman parvenu 10 of ( Frojn, Bcvfeiwc Tapestry ). THE ARMY OF THE PEOPLE TO noo looked down. It cannot be too definitely expressed that to " have come in with the Conquest " is only a confession that those who use the expression are ignoring the fact that many a Saxon thane could show a family title far deeper set in the history of England than any of the men who usurped and trampled on those whose pedigree went back to the days of yEscesdune, before the soldiers of fortune of the Duke of Normandy had emerged from their original obscurity. None the less the new invaders were " men," and had a " man " to govern them, while William, the king by right of everything that in those days made kingcraft, ruled. " Stark was he," says the English Chronicler, " to men that withstood him ; none dared resist his will. Earls that did aught against his bidding he cast into bonds ; bishops he stripped of their bishopricks and abbots of their abbacies. But stern as his rule was, it gave peace unto the land." This was William. " Out of the strong cometh forth sweet- ness," out of the horrors that followed the Norman Conquest came the English people, and, as time went on, that army which has mostly conquered, often suffered, and generally met disaster with a bold front. And so the new, or rather the last successful invaders seized the fair isle of Britain, added their names to old place-names of Celtic or Saxon origin as an affix, converting", for example, the " town by the water" of Ashton into " Ashton Tyrrold," and, holding the richest lands as their own appanage, raised the massive frowning towers of Norman castles at all important strategic points throughout the country, marking their conquest as by a sign-manual that they held the land, as they had gained it, by the sword. Notwithstanding that the Norman had many friends in England, it was long before the whole country was subdued. There was fighting in the north of England and on the marches of Wales ; there was prolonged resistance by Here- ward in the Fenland and central forests, until, in 1071, the " Wake " surrendered, and became the " king's man." There was much still to settle, and William settled them in his own stern way. So much so that his own often parvenu barons B II THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY revolted, and for many a century rebelled against the royal authority, which, backed by the clergy and English, won in the end. Ralf Guader was quieted in 1074, and Robert of Belleme, with Robert Mowbray and Prince Robert, were beaten in 1078. Similarly, when Rufus reigned, the same Robert Mowbray, with Odo of Bayeux and others, held their castles as rebels until they were stormed in 1095. The Celts of both Wales and Scotland proved trouble- some, so to hold the latter frowning Norman castles were erected at each end of the neck between North Britain and England at Carlisle and Newcastle, while the former were shut in by a chain of similar fortresses from Cheshire to the Severn valley, along which hostilities continued for many a year, to the territorial aggrandisement of the defenders of the " Marches." Henry l.'s marriage, uniting the old royal race with the new, much pacified matters, or at anyrate gave the king still more aid from the English people as distinct from the Norman barons. Again Robert of Belleme on the Welsh border revolted, but was driven into exile by the sovereign : in the claim of Robert to the throne, Englishmen sided with Henry, and for the first time served abroad to defeat the pretender at Tenchebrai. But Henry left no male successor, and Matilda his daughter was distasteful to the barons, who chose Stephen, grandson of the Conqueror, as king. This created two factions that of Stephen and that of Matilda, the first of the great Civil Wars (for now the " English " counted for much more than heretofore), and the king, unlike his predecessors, unwisely allowing the barons to build castles on their own lands, paid for his over- confidence. For Matilda's party, led first by the Earl of Gloucester, formed in the west of England, assisted by David King of Scots in the north. Stephen advanced against the latter, defeating the former at Northallerton, and after many vicissitudes on both sides, the war ceased by the retirement of Matilda to Normandy. So in anarchy and suffering suffering so great that it was said " that God and His saints were asleep," so terrible were 12 THE ARMY OF THE PEOPLE TO uoo the wrongs done in the land the Norman power as such ceased to be, and Plantagenet kings (no longer Norman but English) reigned over the realm for more than three hundred years. Out of that time grew up the system of feudal levies, that is, of men who served as the personal retainers of some baron or overlord, and who fought therefore no longer as freemen, fighting freely in their country's wars. Military service long remained personal rather than national. CHAPTER II THE ARMY OF THE NOBLES TO 1500 WITH the rise of feudalism arose a further expansion of the principle of subdivision of command, though in its earliest days it degraded fighting to the mere personal prowess of the individual, and tactics as an art of war consequently made little, if any progress. Armies were built up much as before, and were still in many respects a species of militia. The knightly tenure was one of personal service for variable periods, generally of about forty days, d uring which the knight received no pay, and beyond which the king or over- lord was supposed to defray the cost, and too frequently didn't. Sometimes he compounded for service by a money pay- ment to the king, which enabled the latter to pay others to do his work ; this indirectly leading to the mercenary soldier, or one who serves for pay. Throughout all the feudal times armies for foreign service therefore had to be paid, as campaigns could never be concluded within the period of free service. Hence they were composed partly of feudal retainers, partly of forced levies or mercenaries raised by some knight or gentleman, expert in war, to serve the king at a fixed rate of pay, which was often higher than that of a day labourer at home, with the prospect of adventure and booty. There seems to have been little difficulty in thus raising recruits. The money for this, which was paid in advance, was raised from the royal revenues, crown funds, fines, or parliamentary grants. These armies were dis- banded, therefore, directly the war ceased. It is calculated that this system produced a levy of about 60,000 knights and men-at-arms, and the country was THE ARMY OF THE NOBLES TO 1500 divided into areas or " knights' fees," each of which provided one armed man. The main " arm " in battle was the mailed cavalry, and infantry was long thought little of; but in England speedily grew up the steady and trustworthy bowmen, the foundation of that infantry which has carried the national flag to victory in every part of the world, and which had no counterpart in those days in foreign armies, such as France, where the foot- men were, till much later, merely armed serfs or dependants, armed indifferently, and treated with contumely. In England it was otherwise. There were both greater free- dom, and better, because more independent men. The trust that successive governments had in the people is best evidenced by the fact that all classes were armed. As far back as the reign of Henry II. it had been enacted that every man should possess at least a bow, and it is said that a good bowman could fire twelve shots a minute at two hundred and forty yards. Archery and archers were encouraged on the one side of the Channel, and on the other looked upon with contempt. Nowhere is the difference between the English and foreign footmen better shown than at Crecy and Poitiers ; and the former is a type of the fighting of the period immediately before the active employment of gunpowder. The political events which brought about the battle need not be detailed here : it will be sufficient to bear in mind that the " Hundred Years' War " with France commenced by the claim of Edward in. to the throne of France, and the corresponding effort on the part of Philip to possess Guienne, which the King of England held in fief as Duke of Aquitaine, one of the six "peers of France." After sundry fruitless expeditions, Edward landed at St. Vaart on the nth October, with an army composed of 4000 men-at-arms, 10,000 bow- men, 12,000 Welshmen, and 6000 Irishmen, and one of his first acts was to bestow on his gallant son, the Black Prince, the honour of knighthood. 1 1 The rates of pay, per day, at this time were : . 3d. I2d. 3d. 2d. Knight . Esqr. and Captain . Mounted Archer 2S. Is. 6d. Foot Archer Gunner Welsh Foot IS THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY It is interesting to notice how even at this date footmen and infantry formed an important part of the British army, which, after advancing almost to the gates of Paris, was compelled to fall back to the coast for many reasons, among which want of supplies predominated, and finally, after a brilliant skirmish in crossing the Somme, took up a position at Crecy-en-Ponthieu whence, even if defeated, it had a secure retreat through Flanders there to give battle to the French. When day dawned on the 26th August 1346, the battle was formed on the slopes of the Valle des Clercs, with the right flank resting on the village of Crecy, situated CL cheval the river Maye, a shallow stream some ten feet broad. The left flank was protected somewhat by a belt of trees near Wadicourt, and the position about a mile long faced south-east, and was held in three bodies ; the first, on the right, under the Prince of Wales, with Lords Warwick and Oxford, was composed of 800 men-at-arms, 1000 Welsh infantry, and 200 archers, with 2000 Welsh and Irish in- fantry in support ; 1 the second, on the left, commanded by the Earls of Arundel, Northampton, and Willoughby, with Lords Basset and Ross, contained 800 men of all arms; while in rear of the right wing was the reserve, 1700 men- at-arms and 2000 archers, commanded by the king in person. The baggage was securely packed in a wood in rear of all. Each of the wings was arranged with archers " formed in the manner of a portcullis or barrow," and the men-at-arms dismounted. The king utilised the steadiness of the dis- mounted men-at-arms to resist the charge of the enemy's cavalry, while shaking and demoralising him in his advance by fire. It was not unlike the " Battaglia " of the civil war in principle, which were composed of " pikes " in the mass and " shot " at the angles. The longbow was no bad weapon as time went. It could range four hundred yards, was silent, and rapid to shoot, and, like modern smokeless powder, did not obscure the field of view. There is little doubt that the real formation was that of a line of men-at-arms, flanked by two wings of archers, thrown forward, and with a central body of 1 Mr. Hereford B. George gives 1200 to 1600 men-at-arms and 3000 archers. 16 THE ARMY OF THE NOBLES TO 1500 archers forming a " herse " by the meeting of the inner wings. 1 Cannon, in the shape of six small pieces slung to a beam, and called " brakes," were used for the first time, and both entrenchments and abattis seem to have been made along the front. Philip himself, with an army estimated at as much as 120,000 men, was meanwhile advancing from Abbeville with 15,000 Genoese crossbowmen, forming an advanced guard, led by Antonio Doria and Carlo Grimaldi, followed by 4000 men-at-arms and foot soldiers under the Dukes of Alengon and Flandres, behind which came the remainder of the army in four lines, under the command of the king. The march was disordered and confused. " There is no man," writes Froissart, " unless he had been present, that can imagine or describe truly the confusion of the day." It was a case again of "those behind cried Forward, and those in front cried Back " ; and while the masses surged backward and forward, under contradictory orders and want of plan, a gathering thunderstorm burst with peals of heaven's artillery, and the driving rain lasted long enough to wet the bowstrings of the crossbowmen and render them of little use. The superiority of the longbow was fully shown then, for the English were able to keep the bows cased and the strings dry until the moment for their use came. And come it did ; for the sunshine again broke through the clouds, and now full in the faces of the French. Other omens too were there, which in days of superstition helped to raise the courage of one side and depress that of the other ; for over the French early gathered great flocks of ravens, which "was deemed," so writes De Mezeray, " a presage of their defeat." When, therefore, the Genoese were ordered to attack, they did little execution, and under a fire of clothyard shafts so heavy that " it seemed as if it snowed," they fell back in panic and disorder. Whether Edward's artillery had any real effect is doubtful, but the noise of the new weapon, probably firing stone shot, may have tended to add to the debacle, even if the actual loss it caused was small. The 1 The Battles of English History, by Hereford B. George, p. 62. 17 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY Genoese were between two fires. In front were still the English line, cool on the defensive, as they have always been ; behind was Alengon's cavalry, who cared but little in that chivalric age for mere men on foot. " Kill me those scoundrels," said Philip, " for they block up our road without any reason. " Truly," also answered D'Alencon, " a man is well at ease to be charged with these kind of rascals who are faint, and fail us now when most at need ; " so through the flying men rode the French knights, whilst over the dis- ordered crowd still fell the heavy rain of English arrows. To add to the confusion, too, the Irish and Welsh infantry, though they were of little value apparently otherwise, joined in the mele'e, to slay with their long knives the dismounted knights, whether wounded or not, "nor was any quarter given that day by the victors." But when the French cavalry had cleared a way to the English line, they were a mere crowd, and the Black Prince advanced his line to counter attack. But there was no lack of bravery in his antagonists. They fought brilliantly and well, and so far succeeded as to place the prince's command in some danger. And while the French knights assailed the flanks of the English right wing, a sharp attack was made by some German and Savoyard cavalry which broke through the bowmen, and even engaged the men-at-arms in rear, To his aid, therefore, pressed Arundel's left wing, and soon the French second line also fell back routed, leaving its chief behind dead. It was too late to retrieve the disaster, and it is somewhat pitiful to read how at that moment the poor old blind King of Bohemia turned to those around him to say, " Sirs, ye are my men, my friends and companions, I require you to lead me so far forward that I may strike one stroke with my sword." Verily there were men in those days, and two knights did not fear to humour him ; so, tying their reins to his, they led him into the thick of the fight, where, seeking death, the king " struck a stroke with his sword, yea, and more than four, and fought valiantly, and so did all his company ; but they adventured so far forward that they were all slain, and the next day were found in the place about the 18 THE ARMY OF THE NOBLES TO 1500 king, with their horses tied to each other." His was a valiant death, and though his son, the King of the Romans, had fled, with him fell the flower of the French army, the King of Majorca, the Duke of Lorraine, the Count of Flanders, the Count of Blois, eight other counts, two archbishops, 1 200 knights, and 30,000 men. The loss on the English side is not recorded, but was probably small, and the battle was won chiefly by the fire of infantry, in this case, arrow-fire, as modern battles are mainly decided by the bullet. Among the spoil of eighty banners was captured the banner of the King of Bohemia, charged with three ostrich feathers, and the motto " Ich Dien," though the statement that the Black Prince thereupon adopted them for his crest and motto is probably mythical, as many such stones are. Philip seems to have been stunned by the disaster, and long refused to leave the field. When late that night he reached the castle of La Broyes, he had with him, of all his armed host, but Sir John Heynault and five barons. On the other hand, Edward had the joy of embracing his victorious son, with the words, " Persevere in your honourable career. You are indeed my son, for valiantly have you acquitted yourself this day, and shown yourself worthy of empire." When the sound of conflict ceased, even Edward did not then know the magnitude of the victory he had gained. And the night passed without festivity, while the king himself " made frequent thanksgiving to the Lord." The battle of Crecy is a marked stage in the history of our own army, for it shows clearly the value of the English infantry of the past, the importance of infantry fire, and the dawn of the employment of artillery. But by other nations and in other parts of the world, too, had the value of resolute infantry been recognised, except in France. The age of chivalry so called had increased, and fostered the use of body armour. Its very dead weight literally and metaphori- cally prevented the growth of tactics. There was no real organisation in the crusading hosts ; they were but gatherings of armed men such as William led at Hastings, and battles were but a series of incidents of rivalry between leading or 19 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY ambitious chiefs. The age of chivalry was an age of vanity, both of deeds and of iron clothes. Magnificent was the armour of the knight ; magnificent, too, his inordinate desire to be noticed ! These were not the days of personal interviews, daily papers, or self-advertisement ; but Sir Galahad, going from tournament to tournament to show he was a stronger man, or with a Christian desire to hurt somebody, did his best in that line none the less ! The Irishman who drags his coat along the ground at a fair another sort of tourna- ment in the hope that somebody will tread on the tail of it, differs little from the challenger at Ashby de la Zouche. There was the same human nature at the bottom of both each was spoiling for a fight ! Still the spirit of the time sensibly increased the military spirit. To individual prowess was open the tournament where doughty deeds, or what were considered such, met with immediate reward and encouragement. No better school for mediaeval war ever existed than that in which men learned to fight under the personal criticism of women. Vanity, pride, love were all brought to play in these contests, and poetry spread far and wide through the songs of the troubadour the deeds of the valiant, the defeats of the weaker " Throngs of knights and barons bold, In weeds of peace high triumph hold, With store of ladies, whose bright eyes Rain influence, and judge the prize Of wit, or arms, while both contend To win her grace whom all commend." War was for long the only career open to men who did not care to don the cowl of the monk. It, therefore, in the Middle Ages, was essentially the one pursuit of the gentle born. It tended in a brutal time to lessen some of the evils of war, which "is a barbarism which civilisation only intensifies." " Vce victis" was softened by the feeling that the conquered opponent could be held to ransom and treated gently. The very training of the knights combined the religious, the romantic and combatant elements. The right of conferring it from time to time varied. Before 1 102 abbots 20 THE ARMY OF THE NOBLES TO 1500 of the Church had the power to bestow the golden spurs. Hereward the Wake received his knighthood from the Abbot of Crowland. But later on, only bishops, princes, or knights themselves were permitted to bestow the honour, and, with them all, great care was exercised that the recipient should be worthy thereof. Considering the value of money in those days, the costs were heavy, the robes alone amounting to 33. The golden collar of SS. or Esses, part of the knightly decoration, must have been costly. Its origin is very doubt- ful. Whether from " Souveraine," from " Sanctus Simo Simplicius " (an eminent Roman lawyer) or in compliment to the Countess of Salisbury, has not yet been determined. The knightly duty was laid down with exactness, though probably few carried out all the wholesome rules in their entirety. " They must learn from the beginning to labour, run, carry weights, and bear the sun and dust; to use sparing and rustic food, sometimes to live in the open air and some- times in tents ; then to practise the use of arms." The " true merit of a knight is correctly stated by the Troubadour Arnaud de Marveil." It is "to fight well, to conduct a troop well, to do his exercise well, to be well armed, to ride his horse well, to present himself with a good grace at courts, and to render himself agreeable there. Seldom are these qualities in the same person. To unite martial habits and vigour with the courteous elegancies of polished life, could not be often accomplished in a half-civilised age." His oath declared his duty to be " To defend the Church, to attack the perfidious, to venerate the priesthood, to repel the injuries of the poor, to keep the country quiet, and to shed his blood, and if neccessary to lose his life, for his brethren." But if his duties were grave, his privileges were great. Knights were freed from all " gelds " and taxes and from all other services and burthens by Henry I., in order " that being so alleviated, they may instruct themselves in the use of horses and arms, and be apt and ready for my service and the defence of my kingdom." Salisbury also mentions that knighthood " rejoices in many immunities and more eminent privileges, and has not to provide horses, 21 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY carriages, and other sordid burthens." Yet another advantage, of doubtful value perhaps, was that of being rated at a high value when taken prisoner in war. His ransom, always higher than a less titled personage, sometimes amounted to ten thousand crowns, but if of higher value than that, the captor was obliged to surrender him to the king. Those who were knighted for valour on the field of battle were empowered to use the square instead of the swallow-tailed pennon, as knights banneret, and had the privilege of a war- cry. From this came the mottoes of the modern " coats of arms." The history of knighthood is a part, and a very important part too, of the history of arms. To its institution can be traced many of the decorations and forms of the arms and armour of the Middle Ages. The honours it offered were so great and highly prized, that it increased martial enthusiasm and encouraged military exercises ; and the part taken by women in rewarding the exertions of the knights both in the tournament and in battle, exercised an enormous influence over the warlike portion of mankind. Where the prizes were so great, attention to arms of offence and armour of defence became natural and right. The chivalric feeling engendered by knighthood and knightly exercises was not confined to joust and tournament in times of peace. It was a useful and valuable adjunct to personal bravery in war. " Oh that my lady could see me now ! " said a knight as he successfully led his men to the storm of a well defended breach. The spirit thus aroused was due to the knightly customs of the times. But this " chivalrous " and in a wide sense " cowardly " system was to receive two rude shocks. The first came from the Swiss mountaineers, who with the pike grievously routed the gorgeous knighthood of Charles of Burgundy, and the second from the results of the brain-thought of the peaceful chemist who rediscovered gunpowder. That cavalry were useless against determined infantry was a new and lurid light to the iron-coated feudalist, and led to a considerable increase of foot-soldiers and the use of the 22 Complete Plate (Ci THE ARMY OF THE NOBLES TO 1500 half pike. As the firearms improved, so the unhappy knight tried to meet the bullet by thickening his armour of proof, until on foot he was helpless, and mounted not much better. Armour, therefore, had much changed since the Conquest, and was still changing. The Norman knight was chiefly clad in mail, composed at first of rings sewn side by side on quilted cotton or leather, rings overlapping (jazerant), scales overlapping (lorica), or square plates overlapping (tegulated) ; to be followed by rings set edgewise (as single mail) ; and finally regular double mail extending over the head and entire body. Over the mail coif was worn a conical helmet with a " nasal " or nose-piece, followed by a cylindrical flat- topped helmet over the coif; and finally the latter was replaced by a round topped helmet from which depended a mail cape or camail. Similarly as iron replaced mail for the headpiece, so were knee-pieces, elbow-guards and neck-guards of plate added. The foot-soldier wore an iron headpiece, and now and then a back and breast plate, but he was generally badly provided with defensive armour, and relied on the leather " buff" coat or clothing of quilted cloth. But the armour from the end of the fourteenth century to the beginning of the sixteenth century became more and more massive. At first mixed armour, mail and plate, then plate armour chiefly. In the former period more and more pieces of iron plate were used to cover weak parts, such as knees, elbows and shoulders, cuirasses, leg-pieces, thigh-pieces, gorgets (for the neck), shoes (sollerettes], and gauntlets for the hands, appear successively, until the only mail armour was that hung from the waist in front, between the plate cuisses that protected the outer part of the thighs. The helmet or headpiece also became gradually closer, with a visor that could be opened or closed at will, until it completely covered the face, so that by the fifteenth century, the whole of the armour was practically plate. Underneath the armour was generally worn a leather suit, and over it the "tabard," which not only bore the wearer's coat of arms, but protected him from the sun. Arms remained much the same sword, lance and dagger chiefly for the mounted man, with at times 23 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY the axe and mill-pick ; on foot the two-handed sword, with halberts and partisans of various types, such as the glaive or byl, together with sword or dagger. The missile weapons, the longbow and crossbow, were still common, though giving way slowly but surely to the firearm ; and the former was long more formidable than the latter. It could be discharged much more quickly, it was less liable to get out of order, it did not require heavy stores of powder and shot. The arrow missiles were twofold in character. " Flight " arrows had both heads and feathers small, and were used for ranges up to two hundred and forty yards. " Sheaf" arrows were shorter in the shaft, were heavily feathered and pointed, and were intended for close range. Even when this ammunition was expended, there was no lack of similar missiles to be found, either in the bodies of the slain or sticking in the ground. Moreover, the flight of the clothyard projectile could be directed over the heads of the men fighting in first line, and reach therefore the reinforcements hurrying up in rear. Still the firearm slowly gained ground, and the extensive use of body armour practically lasted until the end of the sixteenth century, though by that time leg-armour was generally falling into disuse. During this same period there was a corresponding growth, in addition to the increasing appreciation of infantry already referred to, of permanently organised armies. Their origin as " Free Companies" from the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries was probably largely due to the constant state of war and political contests that characterised the time. A numerous soldiery, disbanded after the termination of a campaign, were only too eager for further employment, however hazardous. Their mode of life had destroyed their peaceful instincts, and so as paid soldiers they served under the banner of any of the unscrupulous leaders, often of noble birth, that such a condition of affairs was likely to force to the front. Thus arose the mercenary soldier, the forerunner of the paid soldier ; and from the continuous training the former per- force received also came the permanently embodied armies of later days. The system insensibly influenced the feudal 24 THE ARMY OF THE NOBLES TO 1500 levies, for among them served many others besides knights who made a profession of arms. Finally, the practical value of a permanent force was recognised in France, when "Compagnies d'ordonnance " were raised by paid officers and composed of paid men. So things and matters went, until the first of the great civil wars brought into the field English armies that fairly typify the final development of the feudal system that had been growing up. It differed much from what obtained elsewhere still. There were but few mercenaries in England, at least of foreign origin. The native independence of character had produced a splendid infantry as times were. And with the Wars of the Roses terminated mediaeval tactics and its warfare, as with them finally came in the dire foe to feudal knight and iron-clad noble, that " villainous saltpetre " which was to revolutionise war and abolish armour altogether. So when, on the I3th October 1453, a prince, Edward, was born to the feeble Henry VI. of Lancaster, the hope Edward of York cherished of peacefully succeeding to the throne was rudely destroyed. Before him lay the chance of a long minority under an imperious queen, Margaret of Anjou, a prospect that pleased neither the duke nor the people. Many who would have otherwise lived and died peaceful, un- warlike, citizens sided, half in apprehension, half in sympathy, with the " White Rose," a feeling which acquired political importance by the temporary appointment of the Duke of York as Protector during the king's mental feebleness and his son's minority. " This Richard of York was a personage to be reckoned with." And political excitement was soon followed by a political badge, as in later days the primrose became a party emblem. In the gardens of the Temple so tradition has it the white and red roses were plucked and worn by the spectators, the latter by those who fol- lowed the reigning house of Lancaster; and from this small beginning, from this outward and visible sign of internal disagreement, sprang an internecine contest that lasted for thirty years, brought about on English soil twelve pitched battles, more than decimated both branches of the royal 25 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY family, all the noble houses, and for savage rancour and hideous cruelty is unequalled in the world's history. Yet it is not a war as modern military historians would class it : there was little method, no " plan of campaign," worthy the name. Where " armies " or rather, bodies of armed men gathered together, there a similar body went to fight them like two pugnacious cocks in a farmyard. Not that Richard of York began with any certain idea of kingship, though his son, afterwards to be Edward IV., was less scrupulous. After the first battle of St. Albans, 1 matters went quite mildly to begin with. Henry VI. was made prisoner, but was treated with courtesy, and but for his determined queen, whose influence on his weak character was as that of Jezebel on Ahab, the end of his reign may yet have been peace. She was naturally despotic, and a conspiracy to seize the Yorkist leaders drove them again into open revolt, and gave them a victory at Blackheath in 1459, but much panic and some treachery led to the dispersion of the Yorkist soldiery at Ludlow the next month ; to be followed in February 1460 by a complete victory at Northampton, in which Richard's son Edward, Earl of March, with Warwick the Kingmaker, led the hosts of the White Rose, and Henry became a prisoner once more. This led to a second temporary compromise, whereby the Yorkists were promised the succession on the death of King Henry. But it availed little. The war-spirit and the blood feud were 1 The site of the first battlefield of St. Albans is situated south-east of the town, on its present immediate outskirt at "Keyfield." It evidently was fought across the London Road, one force (the Yorkists) trying to debouch the other (the Lancastrians), to prevent its advance. The ground was undoubtedly grass land leading down to a small brook, and sparsely crossed by fences, which were probably plainer then than now. A row of poor cottages called " Key Terrace," marks probably the centre of the fight. That of the second battle is north of the town, on land that is still open heath more or less. It is slightly undulating clay land, dotted with thin scrub and bramble, and probably was always so, fences being even now rare. There was no well-defined ' ' position " in either case, a common fault on such soils, and here again, a force advancing from the north drove in a force occupying the town, and based on London, and which met its antagonist for battle on the northern road. 26 THE ARMY OF THE NOBLES TO 1500 aroused. Wakefield Green witnessed the defeat and death of Richard of York, and the cruel murder of his twelve- years old son, Edmund of Rutland, by Lord Clifford. The cruelties of the Lancastrian party, the systematic pillaging which their soldiery recruited often from the ruder North so often indulged in, alienated the sympathy of the London men ; while the more commercial spirit of Edward of York also tended to strengthen the party of the White Rose, to keep alive and embitter the strife, and postpone the long- looked-for peace. The country had practically subdivided itself into geographical as well as political factions. The North and Midlands sympathised with Henry, who had there the support of the landowners, the nobles, and their retainers ; the south more or less with Edward, with whom the great towns, such as London, Bristol, and Norwich sided. Hence, after the latter had been proclaimed king, there was still a powerful army of some sixty thousand Lancastrians at York that had to be dealt with. And dealt with it was, by the new king and Warwick his Kingmaker, who at Towton won one of the most decisive and bloody battles during the struggle, and drove Margaret first to Scotland, and then to exile. Much as her character may be disliked, and she was after all only a type of the imperious feudal " divinely-appointed " ruler, her dauntless energy and courage cannot but meet with sympathy. So exile meant with her but reculer pour sauter le mieux, and in France such poor supplies as she could raise enabled her to make one despairing effort for her son's sake, and she landed in Northumberland in 1462 ; but nothing came of it except dispersion again and despair. Unhappy queen ! unhappy more by her own faults than aught else. The legal claim of her branch to the kingdom was never seriously contested. Her method of asserting that claim was contested, and with results fatal to her and her line, together with fateful results to her people. Commercial Edward was more likely to develop English handicraft and English trade than pious Henry. As later the divine right of Tudor, and still more of Stuart, had to give way to the rising spirit of freedom from auto- C 27 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY cratic control, whether of king or pope, so out of the Wars of the Roses began to sprout, from the soil of feudalism, broken by many a sword, manured by the best of English blood, the plant of English liberty. Yet one more great contest between rulers and ruled, and that plant was to spring into full and vigorous life, of which we now see the matured and widespreading tree. The nation hardened under the troubles of that stormy time ; and, hardening, grew to stout manhood. In thinking this we see that Margaret unknowingly helped to make it. For " God fulfils Himself in many ways " ; and by many means, often seemingly of the meanest, do great things come. Not that Edward was faultless, it was rather the other way. His private conduct was not beyond reproach ; his marriage with Elizabeth Woodville, and the rise of that lady's family, alienated many of the leading nobles, Warwick among the number. So the smouldering embers of civil war broke out again into flame, and now Margaret had to help her the mighty power of Warwick, with and by whose direction her next descent on England was to be made. But this, too, availed nothing. Though first so successful that Edward fled, later on, he too returned, but, unlike Margaret, to conquer. For at Barnet the great earl fell, and with him the last hope of Lancaster. This remarkable battle is instructive as showing how slow was the change in tactics during feudal days. There was still the feeling of personal chieftaincy, so strongly held, that the result of the battle depended largely on the life of one of its leaders. With the death of Warwick the battle became a rout, and the feudal retainers fled when the head of their house fell. Again, to deal with the special political details which brought about the great fight would be foreign to the object of this book. The battle of Barnet must be taken as a type of the progress, such as it was, that had been made in the art of war since Crecy and Poitiers had been won. It began thus. Edward, after a five months' exile, had landed at Ravenspur, and by the time he reached Not- tingham he had raised an army of about ten thousand men, with, it is said, three hundred Flemings armed with hand- 28 (From n, M.S. al> Ghent J THE ARMY OF THE NOBLES TO 1500 guns, and apparently some other artillery. On the other side, the Lancastrians, about equal in strength, had also some artillery, and had taken up a position on Gladmore, or Hadley Heath, north of Chipping Barnet, and awaited the approach of the Yorkists. The night preceding the battle was dark and gloomy, and the morning broke in heavy mists and rain ; notwithstanding which the troops engaged between four and five o'clock on the morning of Easter Day, the I4th of April 1471. Warwick had at first his artillery on his extreme right, and this fired through the gloom, but with no effect, as Edward's right wing did not extend so far, and was overlapped by the Lancastrians. This army was commanded by the Earl of Oxford, who led the van, and by the Marquis of Montagu, who led the second line ; the left wing was commanded by the Duke of Exeter both wings being largely composed of cavalry. The extreme left was occupied by archers and pikemen entrenched or palisaded in a small wood. This probably extended at that time from Wrotham Park to the column now marking the site of the battle, and near which tradition says Warwick fell. The centre, consisting of bows and pikes, was commanded by the Duke of Somerset ; and behind this there appears to have been a reserve under Lord St. John, Sir John Conyers, and, for a time at least, Warwick himself. The order of march of the host was with the right wing leading and the left closing the column of march. On the other side, Edward from his initial dispositions similarly outflanked the left of his antagonist, opposite which was the Duke of Gloucester commanding that wing, and presumably the artillery, if any. The left wing was led by the Marquis of Hastings ; and, as in the Lancastrian army, both wings were mainly composed of cavalry. In the centre were the Londoners, infantry armed with bows and bills, and in general reserve was a force commanded by Edward himself. Some writers speak as if the armies were formed in three parallel lines, but it would seem that the formation customary for long after Barnet was that of two wings and a centre. 29 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY It is impossible otherwise to account for the curiously isolated and impulsive attacks on either side by Oxford and Gloucester. Still, it is practically certain that each of the three bodies into which the army was divided was more than one line deep. Thus from the outset these dispositions show a tendency to employ infantry in battle with cavalry and artillery on the flanks, but the feudal idea still pre- ponderated, and paramount importance was still attached to the mounted arm, which on both sides, as in all cavalry actions, simultaneously took the offensive. One point, however, is especially noteworthy, and that is, the appearance of London citizens in Edward's righting line. Though not strong in numbers, they none the less repre- sented the beginning of a new era, which was to see a citizen soldiery formed of London trained bands even more important in the next civil war, and which was to find its climax in the later citizen soldiery, the Volunteer Army of modern England. The natural result of such a primary disposition of the troops on either side was that the right wings of both armies, practically equal in number, gained a temporary success. The battle began by Oxford's attack on the wing opposite him, which actually routed it and dispersed it ; but the value of a reserve in the hand of the general was never more clearly evidenced than when, during Oxford's absence and ill - advised, because too prolonged pursuit, Edward launched his reserve against Warwick's then exposed flank and the left centre. To the suddenness of the attack was added the demoralisation caused by imagined treachery. On that misty Easter morning it was difficult to distinguish between the badges and banners of one side and the other. The dress was not a different-coloured uniform, as later on ; it had only the uniforms of iron and steel. A false war- cry was easily raised, the Oxford banner with a " star " not readily distinguishable from that of Edward with the " sun." So that when Oxford returned to the fray, he fell on his own centre and produced the cry of " Treachery ! " which was always likely to be raised in an army composed of selections from two factions deadly hostile to one another, and in 30 THE ARMY OF THE NOBLES TO 1500 which the Lancastrians especially looked with something more than doubt on their new friends, once the followers of hated York. So that confusion began and spread. Somerset did little, and soon the centre and right dissolved, and only on the left assembled round Warwick the relics of the beaten host, and defended the entrenched wood. Here it was essentially a foot encounter, with London archers and bills against Lancastrian bows and pikes, aided by dismounted cavalry and supported by mounted troops, threatening the flanks and rear. It is said even that Edward's artillery was brought up close to aid in destroying the defences ; but the defence only delayed the inevitable end. The battle was lost already, but it wanted yet one death to make it a type of the death of a system. When Warwick dis- mounted of his own will, and after slaying his favourite charger, so that no retreat should be possible, took up his position with his friends and personal retainers in the wood at Wrotham, and fell there, axe in hand, he did something more than destroy the last practical hope of Lancaster, for with him fell the feudalism of which he was so magnificent an exemplar. No such man or soldier was ever afterwards to hold from his own remarkable personality such a position as his. Cromwell's resembles it only in his becoming a great and prominent leader in a civil war. Warwick, and nobles such as he, fought as much for their order as \ their king ; all succeeding soldiers fought more for a cause than either. Meanwhile, Margaret and her son had landed in the West at Plymouth, to be present at the fatal fight at Tewkesbury where defeat was followed by the death of her son, whom Edward struck before subservient attendant lords and stabbed to death, the imprisonment of the queen, and, later on, the death of Henry vi. in the Tower. Neither he nor all the house of Lancaster had been able to save his order from decay. Edward, too, according to his views, had unconsciously aided its downfall. His death was illumined only by the lurid light of an ill-spent life. However enthusiastic in bygone years was the following of the Earl of March, he ' THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY played the game so badly that with him the feudal spirit practically disappeared. No son of his succeeded. No kindly thought clung round the last of the Yorkist line. For he was practically the last, inasmuch as his son was king but in name, his brother Richard but a transient star. When on Bosworth field Richard III. died, with him finished the civil wars of mediaeval England and the feudalism that had accompanied them. In Henry VII., a personality of no great merit, though he certainly instituted a nucleus of the future army in raising the " Yeomen of the Guard," fifty archers strong, was united the two Roses; and then was born the nation that in the next civil troubles laid the foundation as far as England is concerned of modern life, modern armies, and modern war. Never had a class suffered so severely as that of the nobles in this prolonged struggle. Many of the royal princes, half of the nobility and gentry of England, and quite a hundred thousand men had fallen in the great wars. At Barnet the loss was accentuated by Edward's own orders. So many of the leaders of the great houses had been killed, murdered, or beheaded, that the very decimation of the aristocracy rendered the growth of the middle class more easy, its fusion with the higher class, as time went on and wealth increased, more possible. The knighthood of men of low degree was rare in feudal days ; the Tudors were to extend it to the merchant princes who developed English commerce sword in hand, and taught foreign nations the prowess of the English race. But there is also a marked distinction between the conduct of the battles of the houses of York and Lancaster, and those of the Stuarts and the Parliament of England in the next civil war. Up to Bosworth, armies raised at a convenient feudal centre advanced, when " mobilised," against another army collected in a similar way at another place convenient for the faction to which it belonged. They met as soon as they were ready. They selected no " position for defence," a primary tactical law for a weaker force, which by so doing enlisted on its side the elements afforded by such a selection. 32 J,TW BBM iTifarttiy I -I Formation, of L in&s of jBattte at THE ARMY OF THE NOBLES TO 1500 This was chiefly due to the fact that the bulk of each army was still cavalry, but the other " arms " were increasing in number and value, though still not fully appreciated by the mounted men. The two battles of St. Albans and the fight at Barnet fully show this. In both of the former the combatants met en plein face. The one was making for London, the other stopped him. In the second battle the Lancastrians tried to check the opponent, and failed in preventing his advance, both armies in which mounted troops predominated. There was nothing but a mutual offensive, the system that was at the basis of feudal tactics, and which crystallised in the personal battle between knight and knight in the lists. Strategy in its best sense was not, neither were tactics, for tactics mean the development of a means of equalising the deficiency of one side in numbers, arms, or morale. So long as a battle depended on personal prowess, the personal fighting power, or even the personal domestic influence of a leader, so long were battles often a mere matter of chance. When Warwick fell, Barnet was lost. The next civil war changed this : neither the death of Falkland nor that of Carnarvon at Newbury affected the fight seriously in one single degree. Finally, as a rule throughout all these days armies moved in order to subsist, and supply trains were rare. Thus true strategy was barely in existence yet, but shock tactics in battle were just beginning to give way to the fire tactics of bow and musket. As regards supplies in the Wars of the Roses, it must be remembered that, as in later times, notoriously in the Peninsula, when the armies had at times to collect the enemy's shot and bullets, the weapons of either side were interchangeable. Doubtless at certain places castles or fortresses the actual munitions were stored. To these the armies must have either periodically gone to refit, or what answered to convoys, conveying absolutely necessary warlike stores, must have been formed for the specific purpose of replenishing the locally exhausted stores. All that was really required 33 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY for the purposes of such wars must have been carried on the persons of the combatants, as seems generally to have been the case, or even on pack animals or country carts. The state of the roads and both their poverty and paucity must have rendered regular organised supply trains impracticable. Similarly as regards food supplies little could have been carried. Like the French about 1811 and 1812, necessity must have rendered the soldiers hardy and self-dependent, though of course at the cost of the civil population. Thus it is said of the French troops in 1811 that they "were trained to reap the standing corn, and grind it by portable mills into flour ; if green, they mowed it down with equal dexterity for their horses ; if reaped (and hidden away by the inhabitants), they forced it from the peasants' place of concealment, by placing the bayonet to their throats." And Wellington himself writes, that " the French armies in Spain have never had any secure communications beyond the ground which they occupy ; and provided the enemy opposed to them is not too strong for them, they are indifferent in respect to the quarter from which their operations are directed, or upon which side they carry them on." And, later, the French " live by the authorised and regular plunder of the country if any should remain ; they suffer labour, hardships, and privations every day ; they go on without pay, provisions, money, or anything, but they lose in consequence half their army in every campaign." This accounts for the enormous losses of the rank and file in the early days of the nineteenth century, while the losses in the fifteenth century, with little or no medical or surgical know- ledge for the aid of sick and wounded, can only be surmised. History, military history especially, always repeats itself in pointing out the necessary results of such unsystem- atically organised systems. 34 Half Armour (Circa, 164O} . CHAPTER III THE PURITAN HOST r ^HE early part of the seventeenth century saw a con- siderable alteration in the armament of the soldiery, and, notwithstanding the increasing use of gun- powder, body armour long continued to be worn. On it was lavished the highest skill of the artisan in its- workman- ship, and the highest taste of the artist in its decoration by engraving and inlaying. But the firearm, a matchlock, had, to all intents and purposes, everywhere superseded the bow, so that even in Elizabeth's reign leg-armour was falling into disrepute, and, except in the corselet or cuirass, was steadily lessening in weight. Buff coats with sleeves, leather gauntlets, and leather boots were lighter than iron ; just as useful against a sword-cut, and no worse against a shot. What little armour was left soon became too heavy to wear. Even James I. thought that the heavy armour of his time was " an excellent invention, for it not only saved the life of the wearer, but prevented his hurting anybody else " ; J while "Dugald Dalgetty" found the metal thigh-pieces were powerless to stop the bullets of the firearms used by those who pursued him when he escaped from " that high and mighty prince," the Duke of Argyle. To summarise the gradual disuse of arms from Tudor times to those of Anne, it may be stated that though body armour and the helmet were long used, the former had become but a cuirass to which a short skirt of metal was attached. The helmet became more open ; still 1 The weight of the man and his armour, trappings, etc., in 1560 amounted to twenty-five stones. 35 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY covering the head, the back of the neck and ears, but the face was only guarded by a " nasal " (like that of the time of the Conqueror somewhat), which could be moved up or down, or by a triple bar attached to the peak, which could be raised bodily like the visor was. This soon gave way to the mere iron " pot-helmet " without any face guards ; and when this went, the cuirass soon followed. Last of all, the neck- piece or gorget was worn finally as a mere ornament. For mounted men the lance disappeared, and the sword, pistol, carbine, or " dragon " took its place. On foot, as the musket became general, the ammunition was long carried in a bandolier. But in addition to the firearms, or "shot," there were pikemen carrying plain pikes eighteen to twenty- four inches long, and forming an important part of the infantry. Naturally, therefore, by degrees the proportion of firearms in the battaglia (whence comes our modern " battalion ") in- creased, and the formation of definite fighting units, such as brigades, by Gustavus Adolphus, Maurice of Nassau, and others, began to make the force more capable of direction and control. De Rohan in France, too, devised regiments on what were then scientific principles. His were composed of 600 pikes, 600 musketeers, and 240 swordsmen, and, later, cavalry were placed between these massive battalions. Speak- ing generally, the artillery was little moved, and remained stationary during a battle. The cavalry charged sword in hand or with pistols, and the infantry received the charge with the pike or partially met it by fire. But with an improved artillery arose also the necessity for ammunition and other supply trains from fixed magazines, and hence more careful strategy based on care for these magazines or "bases of operations," and regard for the roads " or lines of communica- tion " leading from them to the army, influenced the conduct of campaigns; so also did the introduction of superior organisation. For food supplies, armies on the move were still dependent on the good-will of the people, open markets, or plunder. It was long before the supply of troops formed part of the 36 THE PURITAN HOST serious study of the art of war. There was yet but little change in the method of fighting. Artillery as an " arm " was not. Rupert thought still that cavalry was the principal arm and could do anything. Cromwell alone recognised what trained infantry could be made to do. It is only here and there that strategical enterprise is apparent, while the old tactical methods too were changing, but very slowly. Mr. Ward in his Animadversions of War, dated 1639, shows the cavalry formed five ranks deep, and (as the battles show) an undue dependence was placed on this arm, though in the early battles it, seriously, effected little, and was rather a cause of disaster than of victory. They were armed with firearms of sorts and the sword, the lance of the Middle Ages having fallen into complete disuse. They were classed as cuirassiers, arquebusiers, carbineers, and dragoons ; but all fought much the same way, and were, taken altogether, rather mounted infantry than true cavalry. Each battaglia, even as late as 1677, so says Lord Orrery in his Act of War, had still one-third of its number " pikes " ; the remainder, as " shot," were assembled in groups at the four angles of the mass of pikes, which were ten ranks deep ; but at the beginning of the Civil War the proportion of pikes to shot was about one-half. No wonder that the weapon " which never missed fire," and was sixteen feet long, for many a year was all important, and that the heavy arquebus, a matchlock with a rest which trailed, was long looked on as an adjunct, not as the primary weapon of the foot-soldier. The weapon was fired by a slow match, and one common stratagem at night, in retreat, was to leave these matches attached to the branches of trees in a hedge- row, to make believe that it was still held after the defenders had actually fallen back. The general "order of battle" was two or three lines of these battaglia (named the " main battle," the " battle of succour," and the " rear battle ") at close intervals, with the cavalry on the flanks, and the guns dispersed along the front. In the beginning of the battle small bodies or " forlorn hopes " were pushed to the front to draw the enemy's fire, 37 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY much as the deployment of lines or columns later was covered by light infantry skirmishers. The guns, immobile, badly mounted, and badly horsed as they were, were not to be despised as far as size went. There were " cannon royal " of 8 inches calibre, firing a 63-pound shot, down to " sakers " with 6-pound projectiles, and " bases " of half a pound, and the range varied from 500 to 1500 yards; and the "demi- culverin" with a lo-pound shot was a not uncommon field gun. Of course their rate of fire was slow. There were no cartridges, and the gun was fired, after being primed, by a linstock with a slow match. Curiously enough, the first cannons were breech-loaders, and were simply securely fastened into wooden slabs on low wheels by way of carriage, and so were capable of very little elevation ; but later on they were furnished with trunnions on which the gun pivoted. The colours worn by the men seemed to have followed the armorial bearings of their leaders. Orange, the colour of Essex, was generally worn by officers ; Lord Saye's men wore blue, Hampden's green, and so on. The opposing armies formed opposite one another at about 400 yards range, and after due consideration one side attacked, and without any real tactical plan the battle became a series of independent combats, in which, practically, the last unbroken body remained master of the field, and called it victory. Still this was a great advance on the tactics of earlier days. The idea of " tactics " was there, but, like the Caroline " strategy," it was of a very feeble descrip- tion. There was plenty of bravery, little of the combined effort which " tactics " implies. But with the Stuarts had arisen a new power. To loyalty to the head of the State was to be added reverence for an asserted divine right to govern, of which little had been said before. With James I. arose the theory of the divine right of kings. How it came to be that his people, or a section of them, acquiesced in this assumption, if they ever really did, is one of the unexplained wonders of the time ; but that the idea grew up and grew into full strength when 38 M. 1545 (Recovered- IS 36). 14 77. (wi&u l^wftnions & dolphins] 18 OO. R.B.L. 1896 THE PURITAN HOST Charles I., the best, if not the ablest of the Stuarts, was king, is clear. With him the idea of the personal sacredness of majesty came to a head, and died with him, as men died for his " idea." Again another stage in the army's growth. Before this brave soldiers had died for " ideas " in battle ; now they were to die for an idea translated, or crystallised, into a king. Out of this feeling came the men who fought for the cause and the country as well as the sovereign, and less than before for the personal duty due to the military chief or leader of a feudal family or clan. There were several reasons for this alteration in the causes that made men then join armies. During the Tudor dynasty there had been a vast extension of foreign trade, with foreign travel, which opened men's minds and induced freedom in political thought. The theological revival which culminated in the Reformation had aroused a spirit, first of intolerance, and then of a desire for freedom in religious belief. To the latter a hatred to Roman Catholicism, a dread of popish interference in secular matters, the example given by the religious conditions of our great commercial antagonist, Spain, and the cruelties attri- buted to the Inquisition, largely contributed. To the former the increase of commercial wealth, with a corresponding decrease in the feudal power of the nobles, and a greater dependence on general taxation to support the Government and foreign wars, lent their aid. When Charles I. became king, he represented, in person, these conflicting elements ; for though not a Roman Catholic himself, he was a High Churchman, his wife a Roman Catholic, and to an autocratic belief in his own divine right he added an un- trustworthiness which was one of the many causes that led to his downfall. " From this inordinate reverence for the kingly office grew a great evil, for with a perverseness of reasoning which we name Jesuitical, Charles held that for the advancement of so holy a cause as that of the king must ever be, no means, however vile or mean to the common eye, could be in verity aught but virtuous and true. To this Moloch he sacrificed his children, as he had previously 39 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY surrendered his home, his wife, and his happiness ; to this idol he offered up the love of his subjects, the hope of his house, and the good of his country ; for this he became an outcast, a vagrant, and a prisoner ; and when love, friends, and liberty had been swallowed by the burning fiery furnace, he flung in with them his honour and his fair fame for ever. It was then no hard matter to die for the god. Let those only judge him for whom there exists a Truth so living." l The coming recrudescence of civil war differed somewhat, therefore, in its origin from that between the rival houses of York and Lancaster. In these, political rancour was fostered by great nobles, and armies were formed on the feudalistic principle of personal servitude to these chiefs ; while on the other side was the trading spirit openly fostered by Edward the Fourth. The Stuart wars are much more personal and individual throughout. The men, the rank and file even, fought with interest in the cause, and as a rule, not as an exception, as before joined either side from feelings of per- sonal predilection. Hence it was that when the Restoration came, there was less bitter antagonism between the factions than when Warwick fell at Barnet. Then the king or queen or the feudal lord decided the measure of slaughter. In the Stuart wars no such order as that of Edward, before Barnet, "to give no quarter," would have been, save in the most exceptional case, obeyed. It was only when the purely theological animosity was paramount that needless cruelties followed victory. The Covenanters at Bothwell Brig were personally hateful to men like Claverhouse, for religious as well as other reasons ; so also the massacres at Drogheda, of which more anon. Stern repression of the severest kind in such cases was both the law and custom in those days. The actual outbreak of hostilities was preceded by minor outbreaks, which increased the growing antagonism. Ships were lent to France and used against the Huguenots of Rochelle, and the failure of an attempt at Cadiz increased the irritation ; and when the troops returned from the Continent, they were not disbanded, as was customary, but billeted on 1 The Parliamentary Generals of the Great Civil War. Major N. L. Walford. 40 THE PURITAN HOST the population, and martial law was introduced during a time of peace. Lastly, the efforts of the Star Chamber to raise fresh loans accorded but little with the English spirit, and the direct tax of ship-money on inland as well as coastal towns, together with the attempted arrest of the five members of the House of Commons hostile to the king's policy, brought matters to a climax. Thus the Civil War began, much as in former times, without real strategy. At first, certainly, there was little or no plan of campaign. When an army formed, it moved on some point that seemed locally of value, or to some town or garrison that wanted help. The only broad principle of a very feeble strategy seems to have been to threaten (or protect) London, and on the Parliament side to keep free for use the road from London to the West. Practically, as in the Wars of the Roses, the political situation was this. The north part of the Midlands and the west favoured the Royalists, the east and south the Parlia- mentarians. But in both cases there were numerous centres of disaffection in each area, and the commercial spirit of the great towns and seaports in the south and east was hostile to the king. Speaking generally, too, the nobles and gentry favoured the royal cause, the middle classes that of the Parliament ; though of course there were many exceptions on both sides. The fashionable, worldly, and gay were with Charles, the serious-minded, austere, and visionary with the Parliament. But there was more than this : even the " people " found a recruiting ground, for London trained bands and peaceful traders donned buff and bandolier to fight in the national cause. As at Barnet, though now much more so, the com- mercial class stood side by side with that which deemed itself, by birth and education, more military. The gradual introduction of the supply train had intro- duced the elements of strategy, though the study was still in its infancy. The strategical objectives were rather more distinct, but even now there is little trace of a connected serious strategic plan. The isolated armies did not yet THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY unite to a definite strategic end ; the plan of campaign was much the same as before, though a little less so. The king assembled an army at X, the Parliament formed one at Y to beat it. The main difference is, that in the Wars of the Roses defeat generally meant dispersion, in this Civil War it meant more or less retreat to re-form. The art of war was growing up, that was all. Briefly speaking, the only noteworthy points of military interest are these which follow ; as the most instructive tactical example is that of the battle of Naseby. The early campaigns merely tell the usual tale of dis- connected skirmishes and resultless battles. Nominally the Parliament guarded the capital, their opponents wanted to seize it. But they rarely tried, and never seriously. In 1643, when Essex was retreating from the relief of Gloucester, he was intercepted by the king at Newbury, where strategi- cally and tactically the royal forces were skilfully posted. But the battle partakes of the nature of chance rather than intent. Nothing practically came of it ; but it showed the Cavaliers that if infantry stood firm, the most reckless gallantry of cavalry could do nothing. In that same year two political steps were taken that led eventually to serious results. The Parliament allied itself with Scotland, and increased Cromwell's innate dislike to that nation ; on the other hand, Charles, to all intents and pur- poses, allied himself temporarily with the Irish, and raised the theological hatred of his British foes to fever heat. But constant war was hardening and teaching Cromwell and his men, if it taught their opponents nothing. The handling of the three armies in 1644 was skilful. Throughout the whole contest, too, the better and steadier pay of the Parliamentary army told ; they plundered less than their harder-up adversaries, and as the rank and file improved, so did their leaders, when the " self-denying ordinance " eliminated incompetent soldiers, and handed over the conduct of the war to those who meant to bring it to a successful issue. The true professional soldier was being made. The superior and more intelligent strategy of the end of the campaign of 42 ^ FORMATION Of THE LINES OF BATTLE AT NASEBY 14- JUNE J645 THE PURITAN HOST 1646 clearly shows this, and by the end of the following year hostilities had practically ceased. Though there was at first much similarity between the conduct of all the battles, there was an observable improve- ment on the Parliamentary side as the years rolled on ; and the battle of Naseby is perhaps the best evidence of the better tactical appreciation of the situation than that of any early combat. It evidenced how little the Royalists, how much the Parliamentarians, had learned of the art of war in this the fourth year since hostilities began. Of course the armies met haphazard, as such forces must do with little or no strategic plan ; so that when the king's levies met at Daventry, it was surprised, when contemplating the relief of Pontefract and Scarborough, to find itself in touch with the army of Fairfax, which, abandoning the siege of Oxford, had moved north to engage the royal army. With it was Cromwell as lieutenant-general of horse. But if the king was ignorant as to the whereabouts of his adversary, Fairfax was not. The use of cavalry was being understood ; " every step of the army of the Parliament was guided and guarded by the action of detachments" of this arm. 1 Ireton watched and threatened the enemy's retreat on Market Harborough, and on the evening of the 1 3th drove the king's rearguard out of Naseby, the main body of the army being then south of Harborough. The next day the very casual and careless reconnaissance of Rupert's troopers reported that no hostile bodies were in sight, and with the false impression that Fairfax was retreating, the royal army advanced to the attack of an enemy superior in number, more highly disciplined, and strongly posted on Mill Hill, north- west of the village of Naseby. The king's army was in three lines : the first of four regiments, the second of three regiments, the third of the king's and Rupert's regiments. Lord Astley commanded the infantry (about 5500 men), Rupert the right, and Langdale the left, wing of cavalry, or " horse," each about 2500 strong. The army of the Parliament was thus disposed : right 1 Walford, p. 128. D 43 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY wing, six regiments of cavalry under Cromwell in three lines, with the right flank echeloned back. Ireton com- manded the cavalry of the left wing, of five regiments of cavalry and one of dragoons arranged in two lines, while the latter lined a hedgerow to protect the left flank. The infantry under Skippon was in two lines : the first, five regi- ments strong, the second or reserve, three regiments. The baggage, with a strong guard of " shot," was posted in rear of the left flank. The battle began by the attack of Ireton against the opposing cavalry " in echelon right in front " ; but as this exposed his right flank to the fire of the infantry squares of the first line, he turned his right squadrons upon them. In this he was dismounted and wounded. Whether from this cause, or what not, Rupert routed this wing, pursuing them as far as Naseby, and then wasting time in attacking the baggage train, while Ireton's broken squadrons rallied. This is a perfect example of the reckless and unskilful way in which the Royalist charges were always made. The Royalist first line next advanced, and, breaking Skippon's left and centre, forced it back upon the second line or reserve ; but by this time Cromwell's cavalry had broken that under Langdale, and with a true appreciation of the situation, had then despatched but two regiments in careful and guarded pursuit, and turned with the remainder on the king's still unbroken centre. This relieved the pressure on Skippon's infantry, and these, thereupon, rallied, and in a combined attack broke the king's remaining square. The battle was virtually over. Rupert returned, all too late and all too exhausted to be of service. The king in person tried to rally and employ the reserve, but the force was already beaten and demoralised, and the retreat became a disorderly rout. The prizes of the victors were 5000 prisoners, 8000 arms, and 100 colours ; but, most of all, this severe defeat was a death-blow to the royal cause, and was the last in which Charles I. engaged in person. One curious result of it was that Lieutenant-General Cromwell himself reported to the Speaker of the House of 44 THE PURITAN HOST Commons " how the good hand of God " had fought for them. There was little after Naseby in the year 1648 to disturb the victorious army of the Parliament. There were sundry small fortresses and castles to reduce, and these soon fell. To Cromwell was deputed the task of capturing Devizes, Winchester, and Basing, and the latter is especially note- worthy for the tenacity with which it was long defended, and the rapidity of its final fall. The seat of the Marquis of Winchester, whose motto of " Aimez loyaute " gave the name of " Loyalty " to his mansion at Basing (to which also " the jubilant Royalists " had given the name of " Basting" House), was a large and important group of buildings, consisting of four great square towers linked together by a wall, and with inner buildings of sorts. The main importance was, that it closed the Great Western Road, south of the Kennet valley, as Donnington Castle did on the north bank of that river. It had been several times attempted during the past four years first by Sir W. Waller in 1643, who suffered heavily in his attempt to storm ; and other very partial attempts followed, until Cromwell himself was sent to settle, once and for all, in whose hands the road by Basingstoke from London should rest. So the lieutenant-general laid formal siege to it, and, on the morning of I4th October 1645, stormed it, and carried it in threequarters of an hour. " He had spent much time in prayer," says Mr. Peters, " the night before the storm, and was able to write that night to ' the Hon. William Lenthall, Speaker of the Common House of Parliament,' to the follow- efTect : ' Sir, I thank God I can give a good account of Basing." The marquis and two hundred prisoners were taken, and so speedily was the capture completed, that there is some reason for the tradition that the attack was a surprise, and that the garrison were playing cards. Hence the local saying, " Clubs trumps, as when Basing was taken." Here, too, was slain Robison the player, who was mercilessly shot after the surrender by fanatical Harrison, who shot him through the head with the wild quotation, " Cursed is he that 45 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY doeth the work of the Lord negligently." The action and the remark evidence, better than anything else could, the increasing embitterment of the controversy, and the real, or pretended, religious fervour, or rather rancour, that accom- panied its continuance. That the feeling was honest, how- ever strained, with many who fought against the king, is undoubted ; as undoubted as the religious fervour of the Jews when " Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord " ; or when a modern Mohammedan charges home upon a British square with " Allah " on his dying lips. Incomprehensible to some, it is a feeling that has to be taken serious account of in the last great Civil War in England. So Basing fell. It was " now the twentieth garrison that hath been taken in the summer by this army ; and I believe most of them the answer of the prayers, and trophies of the faith of some of God's servants." So thought Mr. Peters in that year of grace 1645, an ^ so thought many who, in the Commons House of Parliament, heard him tell his story of how Basing fell. With the death of the king in 1649 came the real beginning of the end. This is no place to discuss the merit or demerit of a step so serious that it only finds a partial parallel in the action of Elizabeth towards Mary of Scotland. But two great results grew out of it : the pro- clamation of Charles II. as King of Scotland, and the invitation of Ormond to Ireland, where also Charles was hailed as the new sovereign. From this came the last two wars of the Commonwealth, the first of which was fought in Ireland. There anarchy reigned. Petty war was the normal condition of the rather more than half-savage clans. There had been a massacre of Protestants, variously esti- mated at from forty thousand to a hundred thousand, under circumstances of the " most revolting barbarity ; . . . men, women and children they indiscriminately murdered, in a manner of which the details recall those of the massacre of Cawnpore." This fact must be gravely borne in mind in considering the English invasion, and must be added to the fierce religious hatred and the increasingly intense political 46 THE PURITAN HOST antagonism which the latest events had once more brought to the front. There is much to be said for the bitter revenge taken by the stern Protestant party, which composed the army sent to destroy the Irish people who had done their utmost to aid the monarchical cause in the late war. To the sectaries it was no mere word-painting to say that Papacy was " Anathema," and the Pope "Antichrist." To break down the " carved images " was infinitely less a figure of speech in Irish churches than it was in English fanes. War in Ireland was to them a crusade, a religious war, a war of creeds as well as people ; and the antagonism of peoples was little less than the antagonism of creeds. So alien were the Irish deemed, that, long before this, Pigott of Clotheram disinherited his eldest son merely for marrying an Irishwoman ! Often conquered before, never had this unhappy land been more completely subdued than now. Yet even with this " curse of Cromwell " came peace and prosperity. " Districts which had recently been as wild as those where the first white settlers of Connecticut were con- tending with the red men, were in a few years transformed into the likeness of Kent and Norfolk. New buildings and new roads were everywhere seen." Rightly or wrongly, he held that war was not made with rosewater any more than omelettes without breaking eggs. He may have been, and probably was, quite conscientious when he wrote : " Truly I believe this bitterness will save much effusion of blood." It is not just to severely condemn Cromwell for his action in Ireland. He lived in the seventeenth, not the nineteenth century, and acted according to his lights. His Irish campaigns have been described as " a series of blood- massacres, the just punishment of atrocious deeds, or as the fanatical orgie of a tyrant. This was a complete perversion of fact, and Cromwell's conduct in Ireland had yet to be judged impartially by a candid historian and by a competent thinker on war. No doubt he was a stern and severe conqueror ; no doubt they turned their eyes away from Wexford and Drogheda ; no doubt Cromwell and his aveng- ing host regarded Celtic Papists as accursed idolaters, 47 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY dripping with the carnage of 1641, and to be trodden under foot, like the doomed tribes of Palestine were crushed ' at the bidding of the Lord' ; but when he set foot in Ireland, he had to deal with a nation in armed and furious revolt, which had a country difficult in the extreme to penetrate. The experi- ences of previous Irish wars had shown, that under conditions like these, it was essential to strike hard at once, and the peculiarities of the Irish climate, fatal in the seventeenth century to British troops, made it necessary to avoid the inland districts, and, if possible, to obtain immediate success. These considerations explained his deeds in Ireland. He was pitiless and inexorable, but he acted upon a far-sighted policy, and his generalship was bold, decided, and brilliant. His severity at Drogheda, he told them himself, was calculated ' to prevent the effusion of blood.' Just as Villars deliber- ately starved Fribourg, just as the garrison of Pampeluna would have been put to the sword had it not yielded to the summons of Wellington." 1 Whatever be the criticism of the means he employed, the end was that all open rebellion had ceased by 1653. Meanwhile, in Scotland, too, the war-cloud had again burst ; and though Fairfax resigned rather than invade that country, Cromwell either had less scruples, or was more firmly determined to put down all armed insurrection to the Republic, and assumed command of a fresh army of the North. But the actions were, except that at Dunbar, disconnected and inconclusive. There were the usual small affairs, minor sieges and operations in an exceptionally difficult country. Whether Cromwell wilfully left the doorway into England open or not is doubtful, though Colonel Walford is of opinion he did ; but be that as it may, the Scotch army fell into a trap, marched into England as far as Worcester, and there met what Cromwell and his party thought the crowning mercy of defeat. His army had marched to that victory for twenty -four days, and had covered in that time 350 miles. 1 Judge O'Connor Morris. 48 THE PURITAN HOST Thus in Scotland, as in Ireland, the stern discipline of Cromwell's army, though the religious feeling was in this case more or less common to both, prevailed when the time came. Notwithstanding the theoretical, and to a certain extent practical, sympathy which linked the two nations of Great Britain together, all the wild and undoubted bravery of the Northern Celt availed the royal cause at the end as little as, or even less than, that of his more emotional brother across the channel of St. George. But it must be remembered that the racial antipathy between the two great branches of the inhabitants of Britain had never been so accentuated, certainly not for half a century, as that which existed then, and long after, between the Irish and the British. What is clear in this last campaign is, that Cromwell had little in common with those who governed the sister kingdom. " You ken very well," said the Lord Chancellor of Scotland in 1645, " that Lieutenant-General Cromwell is no friend of ours." He knew this, and his personal and possibly religious antipathies were therefore in no wise lessened. But with the general and steady improvement in the systematic conduct of war that is increasingly apparent as time went on, there is evidence of an attempt at organising a system of supply ; an attempt that, though in a very sketchy and elementary way, foreshadows the higher strategy that is more and more noticeable as the eighteenth century grew from youth to old age. There is no doubt that in many of the battles the baggage trains were more considerable than heretofore, and formed an important element in the operations of the campaign. Instances of their presence, in sufficient strength to be mentioned in the contemporary accounts, are shown both in the first battle of Newbury, where they were collected at Hampstead Park ; as also at Naseby, where, far in rear of Mill Hill, Rupert attacked Fairfax's baggage train and its guard. Essex, in his march to Newbury in 1643, complains of the want of food and the difficulty in foraging, owing to the small amount of supplies they could carry ; and in passing 49 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY through Aldbourne two ammunition waggons broke down, and were consequently blown up. Doubtless they were even then only improvised from private sources, and only the ordinary vehicles used in the districts where war was being carried on were employed. Even then, be it remembered, roads were still few and bad, though probably more numerous and somewhat better than when Barnet was fought. But firearms and what not had increased the importance of not being dependent for supplies on what could be locally collected in towns and villages, or what the soldier could himself carry ; and thus with the need for their replenish- ment at recognised bases, and their protection before, during, and after a battle, began the true strategy of modern war. Supply trains, organised supply trains, alone render an army really mobile and capable of carrying out a connected serious plan of campaign. Again, comparing the time that was to come with that at this time existing, Marmont writes to Berthier in 1812: "I arrived at the headquarters of the north in January last : I did not find a grain of corn in the magazine ; nothing anywhere but debts ; and a real or fictitious scarcity, the natural result of the absurd system of administration which has been adopted. Provisions for each day's consumption could only be obtained with arms in our hands. There is a wide differ- ence between that state and the possession of magazines which can enable an army to move ; " and later on : " The army of Portugal at this season is incapable of acting, and if it advanced beyond the frontier, it would be forced to return after a few days, having lost all its horses. The Emperor has ordered great works at Salamanca ; he appears to forget that we have neither provisions to feed the workmen nor money to pay them, and that we are in every sense on the verge of starvation." What was true in Spain in 1812 must have been infinitely more so in 1644. The country was not rich in any way, and the armies were, for a poor country, considerable. But another step forward in the art of war is faintly indicated in the greater mobility, because more regular attention to supply, 50 THE PURITAN HOST that characterises the armies of the Civil War as compared with those of York and Lancaster. Thus the great Civil War terminated in a considerable change both in the tactical and strategical condition of the army. It left behind a true " army of the people," such as England had never seen before, and probably will never see again. If in previous wars the mass had followed the lead of the few, in the middle of the seventeenth century the Civil War had affected the mass and not the few only. There was a greater feeling of individualism ; and, unlike previous armies, either of feudalism or of Saxondom, which was essentially more or less the compulsory service of a militia, it was a force recruited by a voluntary system. But this was of two kinds. The soldiers of the king were essentially volunteers, serving very largely without pay, or even contributing to the royal military chest ; those of his opponent were also voluntarily enlisted, but received pay from the resources of the State, over which Parliament had the chief control. At first, therefore, the former afforded far the best fight- ing material. They were largely and entirely, as far as their leaders were concerned gentlemen and men accus- tomed to the use of arms, but there they remained, and showed little aptitude of infusing into their natural martial ardour the stern and necessary tonic of discipline. On the other hand, the early armies of the Parliament were " hirelings whom want and idleness had reduced to enlist." Even Hampden's regiment, one of the best of any, was described by Cromwell as a " mere rabble of tapsters and serving-men out of place." No one saw this more than Cromwell, and it is that instinct which makes him stand out among the leaders of the Civil War. No one more fully recognised than he that " you must get men of spirit : of a spirit that is likely to go on as far as gentlemen will go, or else I am sure you will be beaten still." The metal might be there, but it wanted tempering, and the opportunity for this the " self-denying ordinance " gave. By means of this the army was purged of all its weaker parts. As Cromwell THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY had organised his own special regiment, so did he infuse into the rest of the force some of the stern enthusiasm that made his Ironsides " very devils " l in battle, fearless and fearful factors in the fight. They " prospered because they were much in prayer and reading Scripture, an exercise that till of late soldiers have used but little." They " were constant, conscien- tious, sober, strict, and thus conquered much upon the vanity and looseness of the enemy. Men fought on principle as well as for pay ; they were little mutinous in disputing commands, fair in their marches, to friends merciful in battle, and in success to their enemies." Finally their commissioners were " wise, provident, active, faithful in providing ammuni- tion, arms, recruits, of men's clothes, and that family must needs strive that hath good stewards." It was inured to war, therefore, by a series of campaigns in which strategical as well as tactical conditions were beginning to be foreshadowed. Its organisation was more complete and thorough than hereto- fore, its men were imbued with the stern religious enthusiasm which has ever rendered such armies dangerous. It knew its strength and had gauged it by its continued success ; what it had had to do had been God-directed (so its leaders and rank and file thought, or professed to think), and bore the imprint of immediate divine direction. Thus it was, when the great Protector died, that the army he left was probably the most formidable body of armed men the world had ever seen. Socially and morally, pecuniarily and theologically, it was peculiar. " The pay of the private soldier was much above the wages earned by the great body of the people, 2 and if he distinguished himself by intelligence and courage, he might hope to attain high commands. The ranks were accordingly composed of persons superior in station and education to the multitude. These persons, sober, moral, diligent, and accustomed to reflect, had been induced to take up arms, not by the pressure of want, not by the love of novelty and licence, not by the arts of recruiting officers, but by religious and political zeal, mingled with the desire of 1 Spriggs. 2 Foot received is. ; horse 2s. 6d. per day. 52 THE PURITAN HOST distinction and promotion. The boast of the soldiers, as we find it recorded in their solemn resolutions, was, that they had not been forced into the service, nor had enlisted chiefly for the sake of lucre, that they were no janissaries, but free- born Englishmen, who had, of their own accord, put their lives in jeopardy for the liberties and religion of England, and whose right and duty it was to watch over the welfare of the nation which they had saved." l Such a body was none the less a distinct menace to the State it had armed itself to protect. So strong an engine for defence against the tyranny of monarchy was equally a possible engine of oppression to the rest of the body politic in the hands of an autocratic or incapable ruler. It had compelled Richard Cromwell to dissolve Parlia- ment, and by " this act left the people at the mercy of an irresponsible authority, and without representation or means of appeal." It is curious to see, therefore, how the first voluntary national army, long embodied, produced an antagonism, among the mass of the people, to standing armies altogether, a feeling which lasts even until now in theory, if not in fact. When Charles n. entered London in triumph, the sombre Ironside soldiery must have felt their reign was over. If they did not, the people did. For with the " Happy Restora- tion " of the monarchy, the dread of a military supremacy, whether of king or dictator, was strong enough to decree that the army of the Commonwealth should be totally disbanded. So, for a short time at least, the army ceased to be. Its men soberly disappeared as a mass into private life ; but so good was its warlike material, that "the Royalists them- selves confessed that in every department of honest industry, the discarded warriors prospered beyond other men, that none was charged with any theft or robbery, that none was heard to ask an alms, and that if a baker, a mason, or a waggoner attracted notice by his diligence and sobriety, he was in all probability one of Oliver's old soldiers." l 1 Macaulay. 53 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY Of the royal force there is nothing to be said, except that in displaying the national bravery they added nothing to the military knowledge and strength of the country when the sword was sheathed. It is not from them, but from their stern, more resolute, and better trained adversaries that we have to look for the germs of the future army of the State. After the war in 1652, the total force of the Protector's army was 31,519 men in England, and about 20,000 in Ireland, though during the war it seems to have numbered at the highest about 80,000 men. So, till Richard Cromwell disappeared, Great Britain not only possessed a standing army, but was practically governed by it. To the very fact that this was so may be directly traced its nearly entire disappearance ; and, curiously enough, to the dread of it, when Charles II. returned, may be confidently attributed its reluctant restoration to safeguard the State he ruled. 54 CHAPTER IV THE ARMY OF THE KING TO I/O I TWO important results affecting the composition and growth of the army which, after the Restoration, was to replace that of the "Commonwealth," were apparent when Cromwell died. The number of well and continuously trained soldiers in Great Britain was far larger than at any pre- vious period, and therefore formed a large nucleus from which a fresh, freely enlisted body could be recruited. It is difficult otherwise to account for the brilliant fighting power of the men who again began to make the name of the English army respected on the Continent, as in the days of Crecy and Poitiers. Many of those who fought under William were probably old soldiers of the latter part of the Civil War; while even those who had not taken an active share in the campaign of King and Cromwell, must have heard much of the bravery of their fathers, and of the glory a feeling rightly common to both factions won by the fighting power of those who had so recently passed away. Armies, especially during long years of peace, live much upon past honours and tradition ; and that which had now to be formed could not, if it tried, dissociate itself from the widespread military spirit that prolonged hostilities had aroused and permanently created. As in our days the memory of Peninsular victories lives to fan the flame of military ardour and national courage, so doubtless the " old man eloquent," whether Cavalier or Roundhead, was listened to by his children, or grandchildren, at his knee with interest and wonder, when he descanted on how Rupert charged at 55 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY Naseby, or how the trained bands stood the shock at Newbury. It is curious to note how rapidly, as far as time goes, active hostility between the late antagonists died out or simmered down. Nor is the reason far to seek. The war was unquestionably conscientious on both sides. Who can think otherwise when the death of Hampden on the one hand, or of Falkland on the other, is taken into account? The disease of political disagreement had to be cured by the stern tonic of cold shot and sharp steel, and both antagonists in their several ways must have sorrowed over the painful need. Certainly Falkland did. That the antagonism so speedily ceased to be active, is strongly typical of the English character. Fight out the battle of opinion if you will, but when the contest is decided, then let the old friendships resume their pleasant sway. Thus it was that within one generation many a reconciliation had been effected, many an old sore healed ; and as time went on, the flowers of a more kindly appreciation of the good that lay on both sides sprang up over the re-cemented factions, as the flowers of the summer days had sprung up over the graves of Roundhead and Cavalier. Though Parliament had decreed that the army should be entirely disbanded, and the operation was actually begun, it had calculated without its host. There were many stern fanatics who viewed their loss of power with anything but favour. Crack-brained Thomas Venner created a rising in London of the extremest sect of religious enthusiasts, the fifth-monarchy men, and proclaimed the reign of " King Jesus." This menace to the public peace arrested the total abolition of the army. Some form of military police was evidently necessary, and therefore a reluctant permission was given for the formation of a small force for the " guards and garrisons " of the king. They were to be raised by him, and paid by him out of the State allowance for the support of the royal estate, and were not to exceed three thousand men. They consisted of the Yeomen of the Guard, the Gentlemen-at-Arms (founded by Henry vn. and Henry vill. 56 THE ARMY OF THE KING TO 1701 respectively), the Life and Horse Guards or " Oxford Blues " (so called from its commanding officer, the Earl of Oxford, and to distinguish them from a Dutch regiment of horse, which was also clad in blue), and the Coldstream Guards, raised from Monk's own regiment of foot. Their duties were to hold the Tower, Portsmouth, etc., and guard the king's person ; but in addition the " Guard " especially was "employed as police or thief-takers, patrolling the high roads, suppressing conventicles, and at the London play- houses keeping the peace." The Household Cavalry were at first called "Troops of Life Guards of Horse," and the 2nd, or " Queen's Troop," wore green facings in honour of Queen Catherine. But the dread of an army was very slow in dying, even with so small a force as the king could now command. As soon after this as 1673, the Commons resolved to grant no more supplies until secured against Popery, and in 1674. the Commons voted "that any armed force in the kingdom, excepting the militia, was a grievance." x In case of foreign war, therefore, armies were hastily levied for a campaign, and as hastily disbanded when hostilities ceased, and peace was declared. Thus, after a war, the country was overrun with discharged soldiers, who were little better than bandits. Roads were not safe to travel, for highwaymen abounded ; and a fresh war was a relief to both robber and robbed in more ways than one. The licence of the camp in the days of the later Stuarts (unlike the sobriety of the " Army of the Saints ") was also not likely to furnish a peaceful population. Foreign wars and the constant dread of domestic broils were therefore gradually wearing down the Parliamentary reluctance to the professional soldier. The marriage of Charles added the 2nd Queen's Tangier Regiment, with its badge of the Paschal Lamb (the badge of the Royal House of Portugal), the 3rd Buffs (or Holland Regiment, originally the 4th in order, and so called from its facings), and the ist Royals (or Dumbarton's Regiment), to the permanent Army List ; while the troops recalled from Dunkirk in 1662 became 1 Military Papers. State Paper Office. 57 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY the Grenadier Guards. The Admiral's Regiment (so called from the Duke of York, its colonel, the Lord High Admiral of England, and really the first force of marines) was created before the Buffs, but soon after was incorporated in the Guards. The occupation of Tangier had also strengthened the army by the troop of horse that was the forerunner of the 1st Royal Dragoons, and by a regiment that, transferred to the East India Company, became eventually the iO3rd Bombay Fusiliers. Thus, by the Peace of Nimeguen, there had been some twenty thousand men under arms. Finally the militia had been placed under the lords-lieutenants of counties, to whom was granted the appointment of the officers. In these early days, the regiments first paid nominally by the sovereign were, as time went on, borne on the strength of three " establishments," Irish, Scotch, and English, a method of distributing their cost over the sum granted for the administration respectively of each of these sections of the State. The first of these appears in the reign of Edward IV., the second after the union of the Scotch and English crowns, before which time officers of the Scottish army had to take an oath of fealty to the Estates of Scotland, and not to the sovereign, 1 and the cost of each establish- ment slightly varied in detail. Hence we find in the list of the Scotch Establishment of 1678, the Earl of Mar's Fusiliers, afterwards the 2ist Foot, which was brought on the English Establishment in 1689, and dates its seniority, therefore, from that year. The seniority of regiments was ordered by the royal will, and depended on the date on which they came on the English Establishment ; and thus, though the Coldstream Guards had been among the first to welcome the Restoration of the king, on the return of the Grenadiers from Dunkirk, it was decreed that " our own Regiment of Foot Guards shall be held and esteemed the oldest regiment." 2 o 1 Lovat's Life. 3 In 1703, apparently, there were in England about sixteen troops of cavalry, with seven regiments of infantry, in all about seven thousand men ; and in Scotland, about ten troops of cavalry, and six regiments of infantry, or about four thousand men, 53 THE ARMY OF THE KING TO 1701 Each company had at that time a colour, and, in the Guards only, a company badge, but the Grenadiers seem never to have been wholly armed with the " grenade," and the name was only given after Waterloo, where they had defeated the French Grenadiers. Similarly the " Royal Scots," constituted as a regiment in 1633, dates its seniority by order from 1661. Its nickname of " Pontius Pilate's Bodyguard " is said to have arisen from a dispute with a French officer, who declared that his regiment had been on duty the night before the Crucifixion ; to which his opponent replied, " Had we been on duty, we should not have slept on our post." It is probably the oldest organised regiment in existence, and is descended lineally from the Scottish Archer-Guard of the French kings, first raised by Charles III. in the ninth century. Naturally also the " Irish Establishment " ceased with the Union. Some of these early regiments were possibly re- cruited from the London trained bands, and it is because of this that the Royal Marines, the 3rd Battalion Grenadier Guards, the Royal London Militia, and the 3rd Buffs claim the right, shared by no other foot regiment, of marching through the city with fixed bayonets, drums beating, and colours flying. At first, too, regiments were known by the name of their colonel ; and the numbers and definite regulations as to the colour and clothing of regiments were not issued until 1751. Territorial designations were added to the numbers in 1782, and the present titles were given in 1881. So that when Charles II. died, the fear of Puritan risings and the beginning of a foreign policy which the occupation of Tangier had initiated, and which the war with the Dutch in 1665, and that with the French three years later, emphasised, led to the permanent organisation, as regiments, of the Grenadier, Coldstream, and Scots Fusilier Guards, the ist Royals, the 2nd Queen's, and the 3rd Buffs, with the ist and 2nd Life Guards and the Horse Guards. The standing army had thus increased from three thousand to about eight thousand men. The cavalry regiments were formed of from three to eight troops, and the foot regiments had twelve E 59 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY companies. Though dressed in scarlet, the relics of body armour were long retained in the cuirass, and, with the men, the pot helmet in addition ; but the officers wore plumed hats. The arms of the mounted troops were sword and carbine, with pistols having barrels fourteen inches long, and throwing a ball of fourteen to the pound. The infantry carried, some the sixteen-foot pike, and others a musket of a calibre similar to the pistol, the cartridges of which were carried in a bandolier. The bandolier was a leather belt worn over the shoulder, from which depended a series of small wooden boxes, each containing a charge : the bullets were carried in a bag, whence the present name of "ball-bag" for the soldier's ammunition pouch is derived. Before begin- ning to load, the bullet was frequently placed in the mouth. During this period, too, the bayonet was introduced, but at first was a simple dagger screwed or stuck in the muzzle of the firelock, and known as a "plug-bayonet." It took its name from Bayonne, where it was first made, and is first mentioned in a British Royal Warrant of 1672 in the armament of a regiment of dragoons who were to have " the matchlock musket, a collar of bandoliers, and a bayonet or great knife." But perhaps the most noteworthy reminiscence of those days is the foundation of Chelsea Hospital for old and disabled soldiers, for which the army has to thank that somewhat notorious lady, Nell Gwynne. Tradition has it that, struck by the appeal of a beggar who had been wounded in war, she persuaded her royal lover to found this beneficent institution, and proved again to the army that women are at the bottom of most things, whether they be good or bad. As a set-off to this, the normal impecuniosity of Charles II. had led to the sale of army commissions, and to the institution of the system of promotion by purchase, which lasted until 1872. The accession of James II., and the consequent rebellion of Monmouth in the interest, nominally, of Protestantism, led to the first serious increase of the standing army ; but again it is curious to note that Monmouth's own manifesto at Lyme 60 THE ARMY OF THE KING TO 1701 Regis, where he landed, brings prominently forward the proposal to have no standing army at all, but only the militia. This is proof positive, if such were needed, that a permanent military force, such as it then was, was still unpopular in England. There was no fighting worth mentioning in James's reign save at Sedgmoor, and there the only noteworthy points are the failure of the night attack, through faulty and imperfect reconnaissance ; and the fact that Sergeant Weems of the 1st Royals received a gratuity of .40 for serving the " great guns in an emergency." The true use of artillery was not understood, evidently, and the guns were attached to infantry regiments (as they were later, and singly, to cavalry squadrons), and James organised an " ordnance regiment " armed with fusils, for the protection of his artillery, which finally became the Royal Fusiliers. The only point of interest in the dreary slaughter of the vanquished after the battle of Sedgmoor, in which the Somersetshire clown, ill- armed and wounded, showed the greatest gallantry, is the stern repression exercised by Colonel Kirke of the 2nd Queen's, whose regimental badge of the Paschal Lamb acquired an ominous significance when applied to the cruelties inflicted by his men after the rebels were defeated. " Kirke's Lambs," they were named, in derision, from their regimental badge. Sedgmoor was the last serious battle fought on English soil. But the army had largely increased none the less. The troops at Tangiers had been recalled. The king dreamed of using the army as a means of overawing the country, and formed at Hounslow the first camp of exercise for field manoeuvres. But this effort to gain the army's support was made in vain. The I2th Regiment grounded its arms en masse rather than agree to support the repeal of the Test Penal Law ; the cheering of the soldiery at the acquittal of the Seven Bishops was an unpleasant reminder that they were not with him in sympathy ; and the effort to introduce Irish Catholics in numbers into the purely Protestant regiments met with the strongest opposition. " No man 61 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY of English blood," says Macaulay, "then regarded the aboriginal Irish as his countrymen ; the very language spoken by the Irish was different from their own." No wonder, therefore, that there was friction, such as found its full expression in the resignation of their commissions by the colonel and five captains of the 8th Foot resigna- tions which were not accepted, the offenders being tried by court martial and cashiered. It is curious to note that Churchill, afterwards Duke of Marlborough, thought the sentence inadequate. So the army as a whole proved but a rotten reed to the second James. An increase to the standing army, which all feared, an oppressive use of the billeting law, and an evident desire to employ martial law, cost him his crown. So that when the Prince of Orange landed in Tor Bay there was little active opposition. The Dutch troops won the admiration of the invaded by their discipline, admirable equipment, and good behaviour ; and so, to the tune of what at the time was a popular air, " Lillibulero bullen a la," William marched on through Windsor to London, and became king. Still there was a considerable number of men in the ranks who were but lukewarm adherents to the Dutch-born sovereign, and all Ireland was still openly and avowedly hostile. The army by this time had been increased by six regiments of horse (now the 1st to the 6th Dragoon Guards): the ist Royal Dragoons (brought on the English Establishment in 1683) ; the 2nd Dragoons (at first on the Scotch Establish- ment in 1681); the 3rd and 4th Light Dragoons (now Hussars); the 4th to the I4th Regiments of the line; the 1 5th (on the Scotch Establishment apparently), and the i6th, which was created, disbanded and re-formed later. The i8th Regiment had been formed in Ireland before this, out of a number of -independent Irish companies, and was on the Irish Establishment, but did not receive its numerical seniority until later. Peace, with such conflicting elements as Irish Romanists, English Protestants, Scotch Jacobites, and the Dutch elements introduced into the country, could not be of long 62 THE ARMY OF THE KING TO 1701 duration. The smouldering embers of civil war broke into a flame both in the West and North. For James had, with French support, landed in Ireland, and was received with the greatest enthusiasm ; while in Scotland some thousands of Highlanders were in arms, under Claverhouse, now Viscount Dundee. Against them, Mackay, with the 2ist, the King's Own Borderers or Edinburgh Regiment, and the 1 3th, with some irregulars, was despatched. He met them at Killie- crankie, where the Highland charge broke the more disciplined ranks, but the battle, which only lasted two minutes, says an old writer with obvious exaggeration, was practically terminated by the death of Dundee. The officers who had then been under arms for their king retired to France, and, after undergoing the bitterest privations, were formed into a company of ordinary soldiers under their own officers. This " gentlemen company " behaved with the utmost bravery whenever engaged. In 1697 they attacked an island in the Rhine with such headlong bravery that it still bears the name of " Isle d'Ecosse," and the Marquis de Sella signed himself with the cross when he personally thanked each officer for what he and his men had done. In these isolated cases of determined courage, not confined to the English, but displayed equally by the Irish Brigade or by Scottish regiments serving in foreign armies, the true camaraderie of those who serve under the "Union Jack " as soldiers, it may be hoped, will always be found. The troubles in Ireland were more prolonged and serious, and required a further addition to the army of the 7th " Horse," the 6th Dragoons, and the 7th Dragoons. The 1 8th, weeded of the Roman Catholic recruits, was reorganised ; and also appeared the I7th, I9th, 2Oth, 2ist, 22nd (raised by that staunch Protestant the Duke of Norfolk in Wiltshire) ; and the 23rd (formed by Lord Herbert of Cherbury in Wales with its badge of the Black Prince, the rising sun, the red dragon, the three feathers, and the motto Ich Dien ; it is headed on parade even now by a white goat, and its march- ing-past air is the "Men of Harlech"; the 2$th (enlisted eight hundred strong in two hours by Lord Leven for the 63 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY defence of Edinburgh, and having for its gallantry after- wards, at Killiecrankie, the right of " beating up " the town of Edinburgh for recruits without the " special permission of the provost ") ; while the 26th, or Cameronians, was enrolled in one day two hundred strong without any beat of drum, and was punctiliously careful that their officers should be " men such as in conscience they could submit to," and required besides a chaplain "an elder to each of its twenty companies." Finally, the 27th and 28th Regiments were added to the gradually increasing standing army. This was at the direct instigation and at the direct appeal of William III. ; but the Commons, in agreeing to the proposed increase, only did so on the condition that it was to be paid by the State, and not out of the royal purse. It was the beginning of the Parliamentary recognition of a real standing army paid by taxation. The 24th was also raised in Ireland about the same time, and was therefore borne on that establishment ; as also was the 5th Dragoons. Many of these regiments served in the Irish campaign in which the sieges of Londonderry and Enniskillen by James stand out so prominently on the one side, as do the battles of the Boyne and Aughrim on the other. The latter battle was not of long duration, and was de- cisive. The combatants were distinguished on the one side by green boughs in their hats, and the Irish by white paper. The 23rd behaved with great gallantry, and the spurs of Major Toby Purcell, who led the regiment on that day, are still preserved by the senior major for the time being. It is unnecessary to enter fully into the details of the campaign or its battles ; but it may be well to record that of existing regiments, the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 6th of the line, the 1st, 6th, and 7th among the cavalry, and the 8th, pth, I2th, 1 3th, 1 8th, 2Oth, 22nd, 23rd, and 27th Regiments of foot fought in the Irish wars, though the Dutch regiment claimed to have borne the brunt of battle at the Boyne in 1690, where old Marshal Schomberg fell. But the battle of Aughrim in 1691 practically completed the conquest of Ireland, and the fall of Limerick led to the exile of 64 THE ARMY OF THE KING TO 1701 thousands of brave Irishmen, who preferred service in France to the English yoke, and who formed the nucleus of that "Irish Brigade" whose gallantry is conspicuous in all the battle history of that time. In no case is this more conspicuous than in the defence of Cremona in 1702, where Burke's and Dillon's regiments lost fully one-third of their strength, and by their own desperate fighting forced Eugene to abandon an assault that at first seemed likely to be successful. Well might the contemporary poet write of them ' ' News, news in Vienna ! King Leopold's sad. News, news in St. James's ! King William is mad. News, news in Versailles ! Let the Irish Brigade Be loyally honoured and royally paid. News, news in old Ireland ! High rises her pride, And high sounds her wail for the brave who have died, And deep is her prayer 'God send I may see Macdonell and Mahoney fighting for me ! ' " So with the continental part of the war with France, in which William had allied himself with the Netherlands, the Austrian empire, and others, because of the aggressive and menacing aspect of Louis XIV., was resuscitated the renown of the English infantry. At Steinkirke fought the predecessors of the Horse Guards, the 4th Hussars, the 3rd, 4th, and 6th Dragoons, the Grenadier and Coldstream Guards, the 4th, 6th, 7th, loth, and i6th Foot, the ipth, 2ist, the ist Royals, the 25th, and the 26th battalions of the line ; and so close was the action that " in the hedge fighting their fire was generally muzzle to muzzle, the hedge only separating the combatants." Ten battalions of British troops held in check thirty of the French, and one battalion alone "drove four battalions of the enemy from their cannon." Here it was that "Corporal Trim" really Corporal James Butler was ridden down in the retreat, and where he blames Count Solmes: "'He had saved five battalions, an please your reverence, every soul of them. There was Cutts',' continued the corporal, clapping the forefinger of his right hand upon the thumb of his left, and counting round his hand, 'there was Cutts', Mackay's, 65 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY Angus's, Graham's, and Leven's, all cut to pieces; and so had the English Life Guards too, had it not been for some regiments on the right, who marched up boldly to their relief, and received the enemy's fire in their faces before any one of their platoons discharged a musket. They'll go to heaven for it,' added Trim. ' Trim is right,' said my Uncle Toby." Landen, too, where were present the Cold- streams, Scots Guards, 2nd, 3rd, 4th,' 7th, i6th Foot, etc., as well as much cavalry, and Neerwinden, showed the extra- ordinary gallantry of the British troops, especially of the 6th Carabineers, and on that field fell Count Solmes himself, as well as one of the most gallant of the Irish leaders in the Boyne campaign Sarsfield, who was shot, though not at the head of the Irish Brigade he loved so well. It was one of the bloodiest battles of the time, and the stubborn fighting of both sides resulted in 20,000 dead being left on the field. The next summer the soil so fertilised "broke forth into millions of poppies," and it seemed as if "the figurative prediction of the Hebrew prophet was literally accomplished, that the earth was disclosing her blood and refusing to cover the slain." Finally the siege of Namur stands out prominently as the marked success in the campaign, and gives to one regiment, the i8th, the motto of " Virtutis Namurcensis Premium" It lost 297 of all ranks in the final attack. The regiments present in this famous siege were ist, 5th, 6th, 7th Dragoon Guards, the ist, 2nd, and 4th Dragoons, the 4th and 7th Light Dragoons, the 5th, I5th, i8th, and I9th Foot, forming one division to keep in check the re- lieving force of Marshal Villeroy. The other was composed of ist, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, i6th, and I7th Foot, to carry out the actual siege operations. The greatest gallantry was shown throughout by both sides ; but the place finally fell, and it is curious to note the punctiliousness of the soldiers of those days in that Marshal Boufflers, though all the fortress had been captured save only the castle, and though Villeroy was powerless to raise the siege, would not capitulate without an assault. Unnecessary as it was, it was undertaken, at the 66 THE ARMY OF THE KING TO 1701 cost of 2000 men, and for the first time a great fortress was surrendered by a French marshal to a British general. Here it was that Sterne's " Captain Shandy " was wounded in the groin before the gate of St. Nicholas. Lord, formerly Colonel, Cutts, of the regiment that bore his name, and to which another novelistic hero (this time one of Thackeray's), in the person of " Count Maximilian Gustavus Adolphus von Galgenstein," is presumed to have belonged, behaved with his usual gallantry ; and, says contemporaneous authority, " the bravery of our infantry was very remarkable, for they forced the enemy from several posts where they were very well lodged." Of this Cutts, the colonel of a regiment of old time, it is said that " few considerable actions happened in the wars in which he was not, and hath been wounded in all the actions in which he served " ; and again : " In that bull-dog courage which flinches from no danger, however terrible, he was unrivalled." There was no difficulty in finding hardy volunteers, German, Dutch, and British, to go on a forlorn hope ; but Cutts was the only man who appeared to consider such an expedition as a party of pleasure. He was so much at his ease in the hottest fire of the French batteries that his soldiers gave him the honourable name of " The Salamander." He was a fighting man of the time ; became baronet first, and was then raised to the peerage, and of him it was written ' ' The warlike Cutts the welcome tidings brings, The true, brave servant of the best of kings Cutts, whose known worth no herald need proclaim, His wounds and his own worth can speak his fame." Still, with all that, he had not enough science to make a general. During this period armour was still gradually being abandoned, though the cuirass was worn by mounted troops and to some extent by the officers of the line regiments. The beaver hats of the cavalry were lined with steel and the legs were protected by heavy jack-boots. The ranks 67 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY of the infantry had been reduced to six, and were still further being lessened in depth. The companies, about 100 strong, still had, in 1680, 30 pikemen, 60 matchlock men, and 10 men armed with a light fusil to pick off conspicuous leaders ; but three years later the English Guards were furnished with " snaphaunce " muskets, with flint, or pyrites, locks, and the bandoliers were replaced by pouches. In 1695, the king directed that the " cap " was to be worn by the Royal and Scots Fusiliers and the Grenadiers of each regiment. The others wore the three-cornered hat. The company was by then 60 strong, with only 14 pikemen, and the officers carried pikes, partisans, or half -pikes. Pikes were not entirely abandoned until about 1705. The pay of the cavalry soldier was is. 6d. per day, out of which he had to keep his horse ; that of the private was but 8d. per day. The cavalry regiments were organised in four squadrons, much as they are now, and were being armed with sword and pistol. The artillery alone were only partly organised as an " arm " of battle, and had made little pro- gress save in construction from the time of the Civil War ; but the necessity for military engineers had arisen, and Captain Burgh and Lieutenant Wallace remained " with the forces engaged in the siege of the castle (of Namur) in the capacity of engineers." But the growth of the permanent army had been steady. By the time Charles II. died, there were about 16,500 men enrolled, of whom about one-half were now regulars ; in 1697 the total home and field army which has been variously es- timated at from 80,000 to 65,000 men, had been again reduced this time to what was liberally supposed to be the number on the English Establishment after Nimeguen, or about 10,000 men ; but William's proposal to permanently in- crease the army to 20,000 met with the greatest opposition. An amendment that the army in England should consist only of 7000 men, and those entirely British, was carried, and thus the Dutch guards of the king were disbanded, though apparently there were still some 12,000 men on the Irish Establishment and about 4000 on the Scotch, while there had 68 THE ARMY OF THE KING TO 1701 been no objection to voting 15,000 men for the fleet. With this branch of our national defence there has always been greater liberality and less suspicion. This at least was mainly, if not entirely, defensive, was the absolutely necessary protector of our commerce, and could never have been a serious menace, so men seemed to think, to the peace or liberties of the realm. The amalgamation of the English and Scotch Establishments in 1707 had given precedence to the infantry in the case of the Royal Scots, but had placed the cavalry second, in the case of the Scots Greys, though they had been raised in 1681. Still the army had much improved. The introduction of the first Mutiny Act in 1689, giving Parliamentary authority for officers to punish men for mutiny and desertion without reference to civil law, a power hitherto denied to them in Great Britain during peace, still further recognised the standing army as a constitutional force, besides the militia, which had been up to that time theoretically the only one ; for it was not permanently paid or embodied. But before King William's time the " method of voting men and money for the army annually had been introduced, to some extent." The distinguished gallantry of the men at Landen, Steinkirke, and Namur had called forth the reluctant admira- tion of foreign powers, and had converted this country into a power having Continental as well as insular interests : " the English subaltern was inferior to no subaltern, and the English private soldier to no soldier in courage." This criticism speaks for itself. It is curious to notice how the political centre of gravity had changed. Before this time English armies had indeed fought Continental battles, but they were largely those in which only our real or fancied personal interests were con- cerned. Now, however, the English flag was to fly in causes alien to her own personal interests, and valuable only to the king and the country the king loved. For Holland first of all was really at the bottom of the "soldier king's" action in leading the armies of Great Britain. His interests had always been Continental, and his personal influence, as well as other less important factors, was leading this country to 69 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY assert herself and display her military value in his own national interest. That William had some military skill is evident, but his action was rather that of a brave soldier than that of a great commander. By his own often reckless exposure, he aroused the spirits of his soldiery, and he did not fear to face danger, as Landen, where his clothes were several times pierced with bullets, proved. Yet, though apparently respected, he was little liked. The "asthmatic skeleton " who at Neerwinden " covered the slow retreat of England " had roused irritation among the officers. Dutch generals had been forced into high commands for which they showed no special capacity. Neither Schomberg nor Ginckel in Ireland had displayed marked ability ; and Solmes at Steinkirke had evidenced an incomprehensible apathy in going to the help of Mackay's British contingent ; while, after Aughrim, when Ginckel had been raised to the peerage as Earl of Athlone, the veteran Mackay was left out in the cold. The British officers felt the incompetency of these foreign leaders, and also in the above battle that English soldiers had been sacrificed to save the Dutch Blues. The defeat at Neerwinden cost the army sixty-nine cannon and sixty standards. So often were Dutch and English colours captured in these early wars, that the Prince of Conde called King William the " Upholsterer of Notre Dame," from the number of banners he had surrendered for the decoration of that building ! The two medals for Landen, or Neerwinden, which the king struck, and which have the title " Invictissimus Guillemus Mag.," have little significance, therefore. The men fought magnificently; the generalship was of no high order on the Allied side ; and the results were meagre. But if the officers cared little for the Dutch prince, the rank and file were not likely on their side to feel affection for a sovereign who introduced flogging into the army and keel-hauling into the navy. And, lastly, the cost of these wars, which were directly designed for the defence of Holland, cost this country some .33,000,000 of money and the establishment of a National Debt. But Irish disturbance and foreign war had brought to 70 THE ARMY OF THE KING TO 1701 the front the greatest soldier that this country has produced, and who was to carry the glory of the British army to the highest point. It was of Marlborough that, with regard to Ireland, the popular remark was made that "he had achieved more important results in one month, than the king's phlegmatic Dutch friend had done in two campaigns " ; it was of him that Prince Vaudemont, no mean judge, spoke, when he told the king that " there is something in the Earl of Marlborough that is inexpressible ; for the fire of Kirke, the thought of Lanier, the skill of Mackay, and the bravery of Colchester seem united in his person ; and I have lost my knowledge of physiognomy, if any subject you have can ever attain to such military glory as this combination of sublime perfections must advance him." He was not merely a fighting man, he was an educated soldier. His apprenticeship in France had shown him the value of discipline, and under William he was able and encouraged to enforce it. But he was above all a student of the art of war, and so left little to chance, for he recognised that "war is not a conjectural art," but a science. This was the man whom William, on his deathbed, commended to the coming queen as the fittest man to "conduct her armies or preside over her councils." He was head and shoulders above the brave and hard-fighting Anglo-Dutch king in military genius, without a doubt. But " the weak point in his position was, that it depended on the personal favour of a stupid woman. When his wife lost her influence over Queen Anne, his political antagonists in England found no great difficulty in bringing about his disgrace." CHAPTER V MARLBOROUGH AND HIS MEN TO 1714 WITH the accession of Anne a fresh impetus was given to the national spirit, and therefore to the army, which was its natural exponent. An opinion by itself is valueless, but when backed up by threat of force, must necessarily be listened to. There was much to keep the military spirit alive, nothing to kill it down. There was a threatening and ominous war-cloud beyond the Scottish border, which might accumulate still more, and break with danger to the whole State, so long as there was a pretender to the throne. There was now a greater amount of intelligence, both as regards the understanding of what was going on abroad, as well as at home, among the people ; and still greater was the amount and truthfulness of the news regarding such foreign affairs. The spread of information as to what British soldiers were doing elsewhere against the French and others, kept vigorously alive the memory of past success, whether such was counted from Agincourt by land, or Blake at sea. There was the beginning of the national principle of Empire, as compared with the mere cramped vestrydom of home affairs only. A nation that cares for nothing but such as these is provincial, not national, in its tastes and views. But enlarged interests produce enlarged ideas. The increasing necessity for an army was the first unwilling rift in the old provincial policy of isolation. England was being led, or forced, or both, to abandon her insular position and to take her place more actively among the nations, and the consequent need for that permanent national police, 72 Private. 14Z THE DUKE OF MARLBOKOUGH from an oltt print MARLBOROUGH AND HIS MEN TO 1714 the army, was being slowly, though still reluctantly, recognised. But ill deeds take long a -dying. It was not yet a century since kings had tried to crush the freedom of a people, or since an army had taken the place of personal rule and had threatened another and still worse form of autocracy ; still matters were mending. National poverty for the country was then neither populous nor rich may have had a little to do with past reluctance to enter the arena of European politics; and for a long time a natural dread of a despotism of any kind led a freedom-loving people to refuse supplies that might be used to create a weapon hostile to their continued liberty. But all strong nations, not governed by feminine hysteria or led by ill-balanced doctrinaires, like to feel themselves strong and respected abroad as well as at home. Blake had already shown the value of such a sentiment, but the time was hardly yet ripe for the full influence of his work to be felt. It was possibly but little known, generally, in his lifetime ; for information, in the middle of the seventeenth century, was slow in spreading. Certainly it had not been fully grasped. But times were changing. National glory, once tasted, could not be maintained by keeping aloof from the broader work and interests of the world. The wars of Anne's reign, in which Marlborough was the leading spirit, roused the bold righting spirit that made the England of the eighteenth century, as the campaigns of the early part of the nineteenth century have kept that spirit from decay. But, more than this, an Englishman, the greatest of our national leaders, John Churchill, Earl of Marlborough, Captain-General of the combined forces in the Netherlands, was not only to take a more prominent part in the coming war, was not only to enter into a campaign the theatre of which was to range from the Atlantic to the German Ocean, but was to command a more distinctly British contingent than in William's reign, when British, Dutch, and even Danes fought under the same flag. And if the 73 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY causes of the wars of the Dutch prince had been rather of a personal nature, as before remarked, those which now led the advisers of Queen Anne to take a vigorous offensive on the Continent, were to preserve that " Balance of Power in Europe," which eventually became one of the special reasons advanced in the Mutiny Act for the continuous, large standing army in this country. The war was to check French oppression generally, for Europe's sake, and to prevent a single small State from falling into her hands. "The necessity of war is occasioned by the want of a supreme judge, who may decide upon the disputes of individuals. ... In the failure of any perfect remedy, however, for the disorder of war, a corrector of its evils has been found in the system called the Balance of Power. Europe being divided into many separate states, it has been the established policy of all, that when any one by its aggrandisement, threatened the general safety, the rest should unite to defend their independence. Thus Louis XIV. was checked by England, Holland, and the Empire." 1 So the war-clouds again burst, with, on one side, a British, Dutch, and Austrian army under Marlborough and Prince Eugene, and a force of Spanish, Bavarians, and French under Tallard on the other ; but the extension of the interest in foreign political war was not now confined only to the Continent, for seven regiments of infantry were also despatched to the West Indies, to attempt the capture of the enemy's possessions in the Caribbean Sea and elsewhere. There was much desultory fighting before the great battles whose names are borne on British colours were fought ; for victories at Schellenburg, Bonn, Huy, etc., earned for the British general a dukedom before the battles of Blenheim, Ramilies, Oudenarde, and Malplaquet were fought. Ramilies is remarkable for the fact that, though the contending forces were nearly equal, of the Allies only twenty-two battalions were English, and nine Scotch ; and that Marlborough, by recognising that the French left was 1 Affairs of Europe from the Peace of Utrecht to 1723. Earl Russell. 74 MARLBOROUGH AND HIS MEN TO 1714 behind a marsh difficult to pass, neglected this side and attacked in strength the other flank with complete success. Here, too, an Irish regiment captured an English colour, which long hung in the Irish Benedictine Church at Ypres ; and it was at Ramilies that the 25th King's Own Borderers found the French had not to halt and fix the " plug " bayonet in the muzzle before charging, because they had adopted the socketed bayonet. Of the regiments that fought in these campaigns, the Coldstream Guards were at Oudenarde and Malplaquet only ; the 28th and 29th at Ramilies ; but all four of these great victories are borne on the colours of the ist, 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 7th Dragoon Guards, the 2nd Dragoons, the 5th Lancers, the Grenadier Guards, and the ist, 3rd, 8th, loth, I5th, idth, i8th, 2ist, 23rd, 24th, 26th, and 37th Regiments of the line. At Oudenarde there was a slight superiority on the part of the French, and the battle is noteworthy for the presence and the gallant bearing of " the Prince Elector of Hanover," who afterwards, as George II., fought at Dettingen. It was essentially an infantry battle, for the cavalry found little ground for their useful employment, and the artillery were scarcely engaged at all. The field was contested far into the darkness, and the French total loss in killed, wounded, and missing is reported to have amounted to 20,000 men. Malplaquet ranks as the most sanguinaiy conflict of the four, and the loss of life almost exceeded the total of the other three. Among the distinguished historical names of the combatants is that of the " Chevalier de St. George," who, as Marshal Boufflers says in his despatch, "behaved himself during the whole action with all possible bravery and vivacity," and led twelve charges of the Household troops. Courage was common, therefore, to both aspirants for the British throne. The loss on both sides was heavy, that on the part of the Allies has been variously put at between 35,000 and 18,000 men (Villars) ; while the French loss was 15,000. Many of the veterans of these wars lived up to the present century, and one, Henry Francis of New York, died in 1820, aged 134. F 75 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY Of all these battles, Blenheim offers the best type of the " order of battle " of the times. In a story that simply proposes to tell how our army came to be, and how and why it increased, any detailed reference to the causes of and even sequence of the successive wars is beyond its province. It will be sufficient, therefore, to recall to mind that the campaign in which Blenheim was the distinguishing feature arose, in the beginning, from the offensive action on the part of Louis XIV. in supporting the Stuarts, and in the support he gave to the claims of his grandson Philip to the throne of Spain. The odium theologicum was also a serious factor in the game. It was the ever recurring battle between the Catholicism of Rome and that of the other sections of Christianity antagonistic to the claims of the Romish Church. It was nominally a coalition against France; at the bottom of it all was religious antagonism, and this not- withstanding the nature of the alliance. The Dutch wanted to preserve their frontiers, to protect their faith. The Imperial army wanted to check French aggression and support the Austrian candidature to the Spanish throne; while the alliance of Bavaria with France left the heart of Germany open to these allies. The defeat of the Emperor would destroy the Austrian hopes, and therefore the French, under Tallard, moved towards the valley of the Danube. Hence it was that Marlborough, grasping the situation and seeing the importance of the defeat of the main Franco-Bavarian army, decided on concentrating the allied forces in the valley of the Danube, as Napoleon did later at Ulm. 1 Thus, after some unimportant tactical and strategical operations, the opposing armies found themselves approach- ing each other near the village of Blenheim, or Blindheim, between Dillingen and Donauwerth, on the north bank of the great river. The road between these places is crossed by two streams running into the Danube. West of the first is Hochstadt, the 1 Battles of English History. Hereford B. George. 76 JS^v'4| ; -'' \^ x#v Jl (Mr*in,) %^ H ^^^^^^ ^B; ifc? \ Jar^y V^ ^^"^ '^/focteTxO' *f] Son^ler-heir *& Inf. ---c3 Form^ttion **f Blenheim- 13 Art: MARLBOROUGH AND HIS MEN TO 1714 usual name given to the battle by foreign writers ; on the second, the Nebel, and close to the Danube, was " Blindheim," with Unterglauheim, on a marshy space a short distance up the stream, and midway between the Danube and the wooded heights in which these small tributary streams rise. Between the rivulets lie parallel ledges of no great height ; but, owing to the period of the year, the streamlet was practically passable except possibly to cavalry and artillery in most places. West of the Nebel were the Franco- Bavarians, and Tallard had viewed his front of battle as reduced to a series of defiles by the nature of the wet ground in front, and had moreover retired so far from the stream as to leave plenty of room for an assaulting column to deploy after it had crossed the comparatively insignificant obstacle. Thinking the centre naturally strong, Tallard therefore occupied Blenheim, which was strong enough almost to take care of itself, with twenty-six battalions and twelve squadrons. The centre was practically composed of cavalry, eighty squadrons, and seven battalions. The left was held by Marsin from Oberglauheim farther up the Nebel to the wooded hill lands in strength with fourteen battalions (including the Irish Brigade) and thirty-six squadrons. On the east bank of the rivulet, Marlborough, arriving first, had to wait for his ally Eugene, and decided on holding or containing the enemy's right with Cutts' hard-fighting regiment ; and, waiting for the similar attack by his ally on the enemy's left, kept in hand a centre of 8000 cavalry in two lines in front and a force of infantry in second line behind. His artillery were posted to cover the passage of the stream, over which extra pontoon bridges had been thrown. So he waited until Eugene was ready to engage. This happened about I p.m., and the battle on this side was hotly contested to the end, with varying results ; indeed, the Irish Brigade assailed the infantry of Marlborough's right centre with serious results, until checked, and finally Marsin was able to retreat in good order. Meanwhile, on the other flank, Cutts had been able to "contain " Blenheim, and then, 77 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY about 5 p.m., Marlborough's centre crossed between the villages of Unter and Oberglauheim, and, supported as far as possible by guns, vigorously attacked and broke the centre of the defence, and the battle was practically over. For the separation of the wings obliged Marsin to fall back on Dillingen ; and Blenheim, with twenty-four battalions and twelve squadrons, was compelled to surrender. The Allied loss came to about 5000 killed and 8000 wounded. Of the French, 12,000 were killed and 14,000 made prisoners ; while all the cannon and stores, some 300 colours, the general commanding, and 12,000 officers, were captured. The " advice to officers," printed at Perth in 1/95, tells a quaint story of the conduct of the men of the i$th Foot during the battle. One of the senior officers, who knew he was unpopular because of his severity with his men, turned round to them before getting under fire, and confessed he had been to blame, and begged to fall by the hands of the French, not theirs. " March on, sir," replied a grenadier ; " the enemy is before us, and we have something else to do than think of you now." On the French giving way, the major took off his hat and cried, " Huzzah, gentlemen ! the day is our own " ; and, so saying, he fell dead, pierced through the brain ; whether even then accidentally or otherwise by some of his own men or by the enemy, will never be known. But the death of officers by other bullets than those of the enemy is no new thing, if past stories and tradition be true. The victory had a twofold aspect. On the one side the political effect was enormous. It had checked for ever the idea of universal dominion which may have been in Louis' mind. More than this, but for it the whole face of Europe might have been politically altered. Protestantism might have once more been overridden by Roman Catholicism ; Stuarts and not Guelphs might have reigned in England ; the growth of commercial enterprise and religious freedom might have received a serious check ; and, to quote Alison without fully endorsing his views, it is possible that "the Colonial Empire of England might have withered away and perished, as 78 MARLBOROUGH AND HIS MEN TO 1714 that of Spain has done in the grasp of the Inquisition. The Anglo-Saxon race would have been arrested in its mission to overspread the earth and subdue it. The centralised despotism of the Roman Empire would have been renewed in Continental Europe. The chains of Romish tyranny, and with them the general infidelity of France before the Revolution, would have extinguished or prevented thought in the British Islands." These are strong views and possibly exaggerated ; but whatever danger might have accrued from French aggres- sion, the victory of Blenheim effectually stopped it. On the other hand, from a military standpoint the battle shows a curious change in tactics, which forms a sort of link with those of the time preceding it and those that followed. The actual order of battle shows how little, even then, the true employment of the mounted arms with respect to the infantry was understood. For example, Tallard had sent, besides a crowd of infantry, into the confined village space of Blenheim, where the few could check the many, some twelve dragoon squadrons to be dismounted and fight on foot. He did not, evidently, understand or grasp the proportion of footmen necessary for mere passive defence, or the value of the defensive when the protective nature of the cover afforded by such a place was taken into account. Nor was the relative support of the three arms of battle better understood. If in the past the men-at-arms formed the mainstay of the attack, so here, with a slight difference, is the same result apparent. Much as the infantry had improved and come to the front, it was, apparently, not even now recognised that it was a principal arm of battle, to which all others are accessory. Then, when the decisive moment of the day, about 5 p.m., came, the cavalry, some 8000 strong, were led by the duke himself against the French position. There was still personal leadership of men rather than the direction of them that the general showed. " The infantry were in support, with intervals between the battalions, so that the squadrons, if repulsed, might pass through." The admix- ture of the dissimilar arms of infantry and cavalry in the same fighting line is still curious. Similarly, says General 79 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY Kane, " the Gens d'armes . . . began the battle by a most furious charge, and broke through part of the front line " of Cutts' division. The probable fact is that the cavalry, being more mobile than the infantry, whose fighting power depended on the fire-action, which was necessarily slow, were used for the real attack, as the infantry were less able to take a vigorous offensive. Besides, the enemy's centre was composed chiefly of the mounted arm. The artillery, slow moving like the infantry, were brought up in support of the more mobile body. It was only therefore when the ground was hopelessly bad for the mounted arm, as at Oudenarde and Malplaquet, that the decisive blow was given by infantry, and then the fight was more prolonged, more bloody, more stubbornly contested and less resultful. Good as the infantry was, so good that " Salamander Cutts " advanced his regiments right up to the palisades of Blenheim without firing a shot, and he contained and held therefore in the village the mass of troops that finally had to surrender there, it was not the principal arm yet. The infantry supported the main attack of the cavalry, and completed the victory. Time was to come when the cavalry were to reverse these tactics, and complete the success that the infantry had begun. The proportion of the cavalry to infantry again proves the case ; nowadays it would be absolutely abnormal. Of the 52,000 Allies (9000 of whom were English), there were 20,000 cavalry. Of the 56,000 French, 8000 were cavalry. It is a stage in the tactical history, and that is all. The artillery took the preparatory part of the battle, and practically stopped there. The infantry finished what the cavalry had begun by Marlborough's " decisive attack " with his two lines of cavalry ; but the value of artillery to support such an advance and its increased mobility is foreshadowed by the advance of the guns across the Nebel. How history repeats itself backwards and forwards ! In a war of pure aggression, with, at its bottom, racial and religious hatred, Shouvaloff, after the capture of Ismail in 1790, "with bloody hands" writes his first despatch, and 80 MARLBOROUGH AND HIS MEN TO 1714 in it says, " Glory to God and the Empress, Ismail's ours ! " So, in, 1870 Emperor William telegraphs to his Queen, " Thanks be to God ! " Here too, at Blenheim, Marlborough says in his despatch to Queen Anne : " So with the blessing of God we obtained a complete victory. We have cut off great numbers of them as well in the action as in the retreat, besides upwards of thirty squadrons of the French which I pushed into the Danube." The assumption that Providence is on the winning side, or on that of the " big battalions," is common throughout the military history of all time. The victory of Blenheim was certainly most complete. The French were not defeated only, but routed and dis- persed by the central attack, as Napoleon defeated his adversaries at Austerlitz later on, by a similar tactical blow. " The best troops in the world had been vanquished," said the marshal mournfully ; but, replied Marlborough, " I think my own must be the best in the world, as they have conquered those on whom you bestow so high an encomium." And, says another writer of the time, speaking of the anxious and dreadful side of war, " A great general I mean such as the Duke of Marlborough, weak in his constitution and well stricken in years would not undergo those eating cares which must be continually at his heart, the toils and hardships he must endure, if he has the least spark of human consideration ; I say he could not engage in such a life, if not for the sake of his Queen, his country, and his honour." Meanwhile, other warlike operations had been conducted elsewhere on the Continent, though their glories and disasters were overshadowed by the more tremendous conflicts in the northern theatre of war. An allied Anglo-Dutch force under the Earl of Peterborough had been despatched to the Spanish Peninsula in support of the claim of Charles in. to the Spanish throne ; and in consequence of the maritime nature of the operations, battalions for sea service as marines were raised, so to the three already in existence were added the 3oth,3ist,and 32nd Regiments of the line. The first success was the capture of Barcelona, in which Colonel Southwell of 81 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY the 6th Foot distinguished himself, and where two Marine colonels, Birr and Rodney, disagreed on landing to such an extent that they thereupon fought in front of the line, and the latter was wounded unto death. Birr finally commanded the 32nd. But one of the rare disasters in our military annals befell us in this campaign at Almanza, where the Guards, the 2nd, 6th, pth, nth, I7th, 28th, 33rd, 35th, and 36th Regiments, the 2nd Dragoon Guards, 3rd, 4th, and 8th Hussars, besides other regiments since disbanded, were present, and where the new Union Jack, with the two crosses of St. Andrew and St. George only, was first carried ; but the British were heavily out-numbered by the fifty-two battalions and seventy-six squadrons of the enemy, led by the Duke of Berwick, the son of James II. and Arabella Churchill, and were practically dispersed, with the loss of all their guns, 620 colours, and 10,000 prisoners. To counterbalance this was the gallant defence of the castle of Alicante, and the brilliant " affair " of Saragossa, when 30 standards were taken ; and the 6th Foot claim the right of wearing their badge of the antelope from the date of this battle, in which one of the standards taken by them bore that emblem. Meanwhile, Marlborough retired to France after the treaty of Utrecht, to return when George I. ascended the throne, as Captain-General and Commander-in- Chief of the Forces, Colonel of the 1st Foot Guards, and Master of the Ordnance. But he did not survive the receipt of his new honours and return to power long. He died in 1722, at the age of seventy- three years, and a grateful nation interred him in West- minster Abbey. Whatever estimate may be formed as to the private character of Churchill, there can be but one opinion as to his military career. Few great generals have had a more difficult task to perform than he, hampered as he was by alliances which often prevented his carrying to its full end the instincts and direction of his military genius. He was, besides being a skilful and scientific general, a brave man, and a leader of men. He never lost a battle 82 MARLBOROUGH AND HIS MEN TO 1714 or a siege. His recognition of the enemy's weakness in the centre at Blenheim is only equalled by the similar penetration that Napoleon displayed at Austerlitz, and which proved once more that piercing the centre, if possible and successful, necessarily involves the temporary dispersion of the defeated army. His quick eye for " ground " is equally shown in his grasping the weakness of the French defensive position at Ramilies, and his seeing that the enemy's left, being powerless for rapid offence, could be checked and held in place, while the weight of the rest of his army was thrown against the other wing. His personal bravery at the same battle nearly cost him his life ; and it is curious to read of the general commanding himself leading a charge in person, and fighting like a trooper, sword in hand. But this and his personal care for and interest in his men was the secret of his power of leadership. He himself inspected his line before a battle, and his calm presence im- parted a courage and confidence that all soldiers understand. His cheerful and cheering " Be steady and go on keep up your fire, and the enemy will soon be dispersed," accounts for much of the feeling that the rank and file felt for " Corporal John," the affectionate title the men applied to him, as French soldiers did that of " le petit Caporal " to the equally great soldier of the next century. The ballad- writer of about 17 1 1 fully emphasises this: " Don't talk of Schomberg and such to me ; Noll and King William they might be queer To deal with, but he'd have beat them all three, Lord ! as easy as I'm taking off this beer. All along I was with him, and I should know, And I tell you, my boys, the sun never shone On one that has led a charge here below That was fit to be named with Corporal John. Then May good luck and Ramilies brought, At Ottomond's tomb, by the red Mehaigne, To slaughter our corporal, Villeroi thought, But the French and their marshal we thrashed again. 83 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY Eighty standards and every gun Our corporal took that glorious day, And with it the whole of Brabant we won, And Louis from Flanders, he slunk away. Oh, Corporal John always fought to beat ; He was the one who could reckon upon ; There was glory and plunder, but never retreat, For all who fought under Corporal John." He believed in his men, and was careful of them as far as such was possible. He believed that "with 10,000 well- fed Englishmen, 10,000 half-starved Scotchmen, and 10,000 Irishmen charged with usquebaugh, he could march from Boulogne to Bayonne in spite of Le Grand Monarque." And, true Englishman, he was "always of opinion that English horses, as well as English men, were better than could be had anywhere else." And while a strict disciplinarian (an absolute necessity with the very rough material he had to command) he allowed no severe court martial punishment to be carried into effect without his knowledge and confirmation. Men were kept sufficiently employed, when in camp and not actively engaged, to prevent liberty degenerating into licence. He was no advocate, apparently, for night march- ing, thinking that three hours of sound sleep before midnight were all-important. After that, it did not matter how early the reveille was sounded. And, lastly, it is curious to read of a fighting man of the early part of the eighteenth century, when morals were not at their highest, and of one the private side of whose character is, to say the least, question- able, taking special care of the theological element of governance. His chaplains were intended to do their duty, and did it. He rarely, if ever, went into action without going to prayers first ! At least, so it is said. He has much in common with Napoleon. Both as soldiers stand pre- eminent ; both in their private capacities show weaknesses that are little removed from criminal. But in thus j'udging the great duke, every allowance must be made for the times in which he lived, and the corruption that was so common as to be almost excusable. But whether his hands were 84 MARLBOROUGH AND HIS MEN TO 1714 clean or not, whether his conscience was pure or otherwise, whether he was really loyal or disloyal to the sovereign he, militarily, served so well, now all these things may be forgotten, and only the fact that he raised the name of the English army to the highest pitch of glory, and laid the foundation of our present respected position both by land and sea, need be remembered by this generation. With the peace of Utrecht the great war for a time came to an end, and the army of 200,000 men was reduced to 8000 in Great Britain and 11,000 in the Plantations and elsewhere. All this, be it remembered, with the remembrance of the victories of Blenheim and Ramilies still ringing in the nation's ears. But people began slowly, though still with reluctance, to desire that the army should go to war strong, even if, after the sound of battle had ceased, the Government reduced it to a mere cipher of its former battle strength. Yet, though a cipher, it was still one of larger value after each campaign than it was before. When, therefore, a German -speaking king, George I., ascended the throne, the standing army had permanently grown. There were, besides the Life and Horse Guards, the seven Dragoon Guards Regiments, the light regiments up to the 8th Light Dragoons (of which the 7th, formed from troops of the "Greys" and Royal Dragoons, was disbanded in 1713, but restored in 1715), and up to the 39th Foot inclusive ; and of these the 3Oth, 3ist and 32nd, as Sanderson's, Villiers' and Fox's Marines, had been raised for sea service before coming on the army's strength. It cannot be too often pointed out that the regiments were formed and disbanded more or less after every war, and that consequently many rank their seniority from their first creation. The arms had little changed. The cuirass for cavalry was abandoned in 1702 and restored temporarily in 1707. The socketed bayonet had been introduced, and Blenheim was the first great battle in which the pike had been replaced by the new weapon. Sergeants still carried the halberd, which was succeeded as time went on by the lighter 85 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY pike or " spontoon," which remained in the service until after the Peninsular war, and which was carried by the " covering sergeant," who protected or " covered " his captain with the weapon while his superior directed the work of the company. The colours, formerly three in number, had by this time been reduced to two, the one the Union " Jack," the other the Regimental Colour, the ground of which was that of the regimental facings. Doubtless the political feeling of expediency and the want of a larger revenue had still much to do with these continuous and expensive reductions, even more than the decaying dread of standing armies. They were expensive as involving greater expenditure when war broke out afresh, as it was likely to do. They cost the internal economy of the State much, from the difficulty of finding employment for the vast numbers of disbanded soldiery after a campaign. Politicians of the time were too narrow-minded to see that it costs less to be always prepared for war in peace rather than wait for the warlike necessity to arise. They were " penny wise and pound foolish " then, much as we are to-day. Tax- payers and Governments are proverbially slow to recognise this. The greater the national wealth, the more need for the national insurance. That means an army and a navy sufficient for that insurance. 86 CHAPTER VI THE EMBERS OF THE CIVIL WAR TO 1/55 THE method of raising the army from the early part of the eighteenth century until nearly its end had been by a curious system of contract. Recruiting at first was mainly voluntary ; but paupers or prisoners for civil offences were given the option of serving in the ranks. Hence was it that the armies that " swore so horribly in Flanders " got the bad name that clung to the profession of arms in Great Britain until recent years. The class of recruits, the severity of punishment, and the degradation of the lash were the three main reasons why, in the opinion of many worthy country people, to become a soldier was to be lost ! " Sergeant Kite's " statement in the Recruiting Officer 1 is, though coarse, a not much exaggerated picture of what was thought of the soldier, though it can never assuredly be applied to all who wore the uniform. He says : " I was born a gipsy, and bred among that crew till I was ten years of age ; there I learned canting and lying. I was bought from my mother Cleopatra by a certain nobleman for three pistoles, who, liking my beauty, made me his page ; there I learned impudence and pimping. I was turned off for wear- ing my lord's linen and drinking my lady's ratafia, and then became bailiff's follower ; there I learned bullying and swearing. I at last got into the army, and there I learned wenching and drinking, so that if your worship pleases to cast up the old sum, viz. canting, lying, impudence, bully- ing, swearing, drinking, and a halberd, you will find the sum total amounting to a recruiting sergeant." 1 Farquhar. 87 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY This, then, is reputed to be the material ; the following was the method of capturing it. 1 The crown contracted with gentlemen of position or known soldiers to raise a certain body of troops, and bounty money per head was granted for the purpose. Regiments, therefore, long bore the names of the colonels who had raised or those who had recruited them. Sometimes in lieu of money the contractor sold the com- missions, which was called " raising men for rank "; and hence arose a further extension of the purchase system which seems to have originated with Charles n. For the mainten- ance of this force the colonel received an annual sum to defray the cost of clothing, pay, and recruiting ; thus it is related that a British Fusilier Regiment had four years' pay owing to officers and men, who, in spite of repeated memorials, could not obtain any portion of it. After the lapse of some time, it transpired that Lord Tyrawley, the colonel, had appropriated the arrears to his own use ; an act which he attempted to justify by pleading the custom of the army, and by the fact of the king being cognisant of his pro- ceedings. 2 Recruits were raised by " a beating order," without which recruiting was illegal, and the regiment was kept up to full strength. Field officers, to increase their rate of pay, received, say, colonel as colonel, I2s. a day, and in addition, as captain of company 8s. a day. The term of enlistment of the recruit was a matter of arrangement, and was often for life. The troops were long disposed in billets in Great Britain, but in the early part of the eighteenth century barracks for about 5000 men had been created, and the evils of billeting were fully recognised. The barrack accommodation had not increased to more than sufficient for 20,000 men by 1792. The Jacobite risings form a curious link in the conduct of European politics, and not only led to active interference in them because of the support given by France and Spain to the Stuart cause, but they are also domestically interesting as being the last cases in which armed bodies have met in civil war in England. They also emphasise the curious personal 1 Eneyc. Brit. z Fonblanque. 88 EMBERS OF THE CIVIL WAR TO 1755 and sentimental attraction which long hung round the dynasty of the Stuarts, and for which there is no sufficient reason to be advanced. They were neither great nor noble, neither good nor trustworthy. Their reigns were either years of disturbance at home or ineptitude abroad. Their attraction was only that of romance, coupled with that odd personal reverence for the divinity of kingship, which James I. brought prominently forward as a political creed, and which no previous sovereign had been successful in establishing. Men of repute and renown often changed sides when the " Roses " reigned ; but this was rare when the Stuarts ruled, or tried to rule. It is this romantic feeling that makes the efforts on the part of the Jacobites to restore King James seem sorrowful. One cannot but sympathise with those who sacrificed all for the most ungrateful group of kings that have ever occupied the English throne, and at the same time wonder why they did so. The Winchester motto of " Aimez loyaute," meant in the abstract but obedience or love for law, the ordinances of the realm. It was for the enthusiastic Cavalier to translate loyalty into personal regard for an indifferent, to say the very least of it, group of kings, who had as a race scarcely one attribute of true kingship. One's sympathy, therefore, goes out more fully towards the adherents than the leaders of the hopeless cause ; and it is well that the strong common sense of the nation saw, that the restoration of either of the Pretenders was hopeless. The peace of Ryswick was the first blow to the faint hopes of James ll.'s restoration. His no longer receiving the active sympathy of France reduced, for the time being, his " party " to a "faction." The mistakes of the Governments which followed were by no means the least of the causes that re-formed it again into a " party " dangerous to the reigning dynasty of Great Britain. There is no doubt that the injudicious conduct of the statesmen of the early Georges, and even of the kings themselves, did little to smooth matters. To have let small bickerings and insurrections severely alone, by treating them as of no great importance, might have rendered serious troubles less pro- 89 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY bable. Making martyrs strengthened, rather than weakened the Jacobite cause ; while, on the other hand, the judicious conduct of the sovereign, later in the century, destroyed for ever the hopes of seeing a Catholic James on the British throne. But one great result, as far as the growth of the army is concerned, arose from these dynastic troubles. They led by degrees to a closer union between the fighting materials of North and South Britain, and to the formation of those Highland regiments whose glorious record must be the pride of all sections of the army, whose colours they have so often led to victory. The death of James II., and the recognition by France of his son, the " Old Pretender," as King of England, re-aroused the enthusiasm of the followers of the Stuarts. They ceased to be a faction once more, and hopes rose high when Queen Anne died. The accession of George I. was marked by increasing discontent, and it is possible, though hardly probable, that the Young Pretender may have been in England at the time. But there was no open opposition to the Hanoverian succession at first, though, owing to the severe measures taken against the Jacobites in the north, measures which were looked on as contrary to the Act of Union, many disturbances occurred there and else- where, notably in Edinburgh, Oxfordshire, and Staffordshire. Little was known, strange to say, of the Highland people. They were regarded in many quarters as semi-savages, much as the Irish recruits for English regiments were deemed when James II. was king. In 1705 the Lowland Scottish Militia was assessed at 22,000 infantry and 2000 horse, while the fighting strength of the Highlands was regarded as 40,000 men. The Government hastily prepared for the outbreak of hostilities. Regiments were raised and assembled, and the trained bands warned. The standard of rebellion was soon raised, in Scotland by the Earl of Mar, in Northumber- land by the Earl of Derwentwater and others ; and some 10,000 men drew the sword for King James vin., "our rightfull and naturall King . . . who is now coming to relieve 90 EMBERS OF THE CIVIL WAR TO 1755 us from all our oppressions." Notwithstanding Mar's slow- ness, the revolt rapidly spread in Scotland, where only some 2000 English troops under General Wightman were assembled at Stirling, but the eastern counties of England were watched by the newly-embodied battalions in dread of a descent by France. Finally, the Duke of Argyll was appointed to the command of the northern forces, which were to be reinforced, if required, by 6000 men from Holland ; and among the troops assembled at Stirling were now the ancestors of the Scots Greys, the 3rd, 4th, and yth Hussars, the 6th Inniskilling Dragoons, and the 8th, I4th, and 2 ist battalions of the line. There were also some volunteers from Glasgow, Paisley, and Kilmarnock. On the 1 3th November the opposing forces met at Sheriffmuir, near Dunblane. The battle is only instructive as showing the Highlanders' method of attack ; in fact, they had at that time, like cavalry always have, no real defensive. To defend was to take the offensive. The formation of the Highland host long remained the same. Clans could not be mixed. They fought side by side, each under its chieftain, who stood in the centre, surrounded by his personal kinsmen, much as Harold fought at Hastings with his housecarles. Then, often after silent prayer, the plaids were thrown aside, and the charge was made. To this there were five motions. First, to set the bonnet firmly on the head ; secondly, covered by the brass- studded target, to rush up to within fifty yards ; next, to fire the long-barrelled Spanish gun and drop it ; fourthly, to fire the steel pistol; and, lastly, to charge home with dirk or claymore. The men were often arranged ten or twelve ranks deep. The march and deployment of the troops on either side in this battle was such as to place the left wings of both armies outflanking the other. This gave Mar his chance, and he quickly took it. Ordering the charge, he led the clan Maclean in person ; and they, throwing aside their plaids, fired a volley, dropped their muskets, and rushed with cheers and yells on their opponents, claymore and target in G 91 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY hand. Skilled in the use of these weapons, such a rush was for the time irresistible. The bayonet thrust was met by the shield, and the sword or dirk did the rest. The loss in such a case was terrible, the wounded generally injured beyond recovery. And so the Jacobites swept the enemy's left clean off the field, but, like the Royalists sixty years before, they did not know when to check pursuit, and turn the defeat of one wing of an army into the rout of the whole. Yet there was more discipline than usual in these irregulars, for they were little more. Their first volley had been most steadily delivered, and they were not " in the least discomposed by the musketry which the British regi- ments opened on them in turn." Meanwhile, on the other wing, Mar's troops had been defeated and routed by the combined attack of Argyll's cavalry on the flank and his infantry in front, and though the Macraes, especially, fought with desperate obstinacy, the result here was practically as decisive as had been the attack of the Earl of Mar. So he fell back after the battle, leaving Argyll master of the field and of the situation, and who remarked to an officer before the day closed that " If it was na weel bobbit, We'll bob it again." But Mar was not the man to lead continuously a Highland host. Success increased their fighting power delay but weakened it ; so that when Argyll with some military wisdom at once took a simple defensive, Mar feared to push the battle further, and his army fell back with the prayer of at least one Scot, " Oh for one hour of Dundee ! " The battle, which is only noteworthy for the hard fighting of the Cameronians against their fellow-countrymen, was theoretic- ally " a draw," but the possession of the field and the spoil thereof rested with the Hanoverian side. Soon the army of James began to melt away. The Chevalier came to Scotland, but the affair of Preston in Lancashire gave little encouragement for him to stay, and he returned to France. The first attempt to restore James had signally failed, and while Mar, attainted, died in exile at Aix la 92 EMBERS OF THE CIVIL WAR TO 1755 Chapelle, Lords Derwentwater and Kenmure were beheaded, and the rest of the prisoners, from both fields, were treated with the greatest barbarity. Still, this rather inflamed than cowed the martial spirit of the north, for four years later, the sentiment of revenge for cruelties unworthy even of the days of the first Georges, led to reprisals. Spain had interested herself in the Stuart cause, and treated the Chevalier as King of Great Britain ; while, oddly enough, France, being at war with Spain, sided with King George. The Duke of Ormond headed the somewhat puerile effort at invasion, which commenced with but 1500 Spaniards and Scots, who, landing at Loch Alsh, encamped at Glenshiel ; but these were to be reinforced by a larger body under Ormond, which was, however, scattered by a storm off Cape Finisterre. The isolated invaders received some small reinforcement, including 400 Macgregors under Rob Roy, and took up a strong position at the pass of Strachells. Against them marched General Wightman once more, with some detach- ments of Dutch troops, as well as companies of the nth, I4th, and I5th line regiments; and although the British force was repulsed, the Spaniards surrendered the following day, and the Scots dispersed to their homes. This second failure resulted in the departure of James from Madrid, and the loss of Spanish help. But the two efforts had taught the British Government a lesson. Two things were necessary to subdue these turbulent Highlands, of whose inhabitants so little was known that they were generally believed by many English people to be savages and by some even cannibals. Roads were necessary to open the country up to organised military movements, and the dis- armament of the clans was requisite to lessen the offensive power of their members. General Wade, in 1724, was entrusted with this duty, and about this time independent paid companies of Highlanders were formed, which, from the sombre colour of their tartans, were called the " Black Watch," and were eventually formed into a regiment, numbered finally the 42nd. To carry out his instructions, General Wade's command 93 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY (the loth, 1 2th, 1 9th, and 2ist Regiments) was reviewed by George I. on Salisbury Plain in 1722, and marched to Inverness, where they joined the camp formed by the 2nd Queen's, commanded by Piercy Kirke. The 2ist were quartered in Aberdeenshire, but the remainder marched to Brahan Castle to disarm the Mackenzies. No resistance was offered, but the whole thing was a transparent fraud ; for but 784 old weapons were given up, and even then only with the stipulation that the companies of the Black Watch should not be present. Finally, in all 2685 weapons were collected, for which Wade calculated some 13,000 had been paid, "for broken and useless arms which were hardly worth the expense of carriage." Meanwhile, the six Black Watch companies were detailed " to prevent the Highlanders from returning to the use of arms, as well as to hinder their com- mitting depredations in the low country," and for this purpose were stationed as follows : Lord Lovat, the passes between Loch Alsh and Inverness ; Colonel Grant, those from Ballindalloch to Dunkeld; Sir Duncan Campbell, from Dunkeld to the Lorn Mountains ; while the remaining three companies were at Fort William, Kilcummin, and Ruthven. | Of course the best of the arms had been concealed and buried, to reappear twenty years later, when the Young Pretender came. Probably Wade guessed this, and was wise enough to close his eyes to what he was not strong enough to prevent or enforce. But he improved the com- munications of the country in an unostentatious way, so that a poem of the time in rather Hibernian style says " If you'd seen those roads before they were made, You'd lift up your hands and bless General Wade." One curious thing happened between 1725 and 1745. Two years short of the last date, the newly formed regiment of the Black Watch mutinied. The year 1745 saw the most serious as well as the last of the Jacobite efforts, and on this occasion France had returned to her first love, and posed for the last time as the friend of the Catholic dynasty of Stuarts. The tinge of 94 EMBERS OF THE CIVIL WAR TO 1755 romance about " the '45 " would have had little foundation if the Pretender of '15 had taken part in the rising. He had got old, and, what was worse, fat. Only his divine right could have helped him through. But with his son it was different. He was young, good-looking, and engaging ; he was always most affable and accessible; he was a brave if unfortunate princelet seeking to regain a throne. He does not seem to have had any real strength of character, and his end was pitiful ; but he was in himself and his cause was still more romantic, and he possessed both dash and courage. So, taking advantage of the absence of the bulk of the British army on the Continent, preparations were begun in 1743, when a French expedition of 15,000 was assembled at Boulogne to make a diversion on the south coast, while a landing of Stuart adherents was effected in the north. But the attempt failed, and the fleet was driven back by a storm. In 1745 the attempt was repeated, and this time success- fully ; for though the Elizabeth frigate, convoying the Doutelle, in which the prince was embarked, was driven back by the Lion frigate of sixty guns, after a most determined battle, he was enabled to debark at Moidart, and establish a camp at Inverness. The loss of his convoy, however, had deprived him, so wrote Marchant in his History of the Present Rebellion, published two years later, of ^"400,000 sterling, besides arms, ammunition, and twenty field guns, all of which would have been of infinite value to him later, even if it had not materially influenced, or at the least prolonged, the insurrection itself. Sir John Cope, who commanded in Scotland, was not a man of much quickness or resource ; and the Jacobite song, " Hey, Johnny Cope, are ye waukin' yet," alludes sarcastically to that fact. Stirling and Edinburgh were garrisoned, it is true, and he had marched north to meet the insurgent levies, but when the latter outflanked him and reached Edinburgh, which surrendered at once (except the Castle garrison of two companies of the 47th), he embarked at Aberdeen and landed again near Dunbar. His total strength did not 95 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY amount to more than 3000 men, all told, and among these were the I3th and I4th Light Dragoons, two companies of the 6th Foot, five of the 44th, eight of the 47th, the 46th, and London's Highlanders, with six guns manned by sailors and volunteers. His position, near Prestonpans or Gladsmuir, when the enemy came in sight, faced west and then south, and was fairly strong. The right rested on Colonel Gardiner's house he commanded the I3th, and fell in the battle and the left on the Seton Manor House, while in front was a marsh traversed by a ditch. Against this small and not too con- fident army the prince had a heterogeneous half armed force of some 5000 men, chiefly Highlanders, 1 without artillery and but a few very irregular cavalry ; and, hearing of the general's landing, he moved out at once from Edinburgh, where the Castle still held out, to engage him. The first day was spent in mere manoeuvring, but after nightfall the prince decided on attacking at daybreak, and, guided by a Mr. Robert Anderson, who knew the country, he marched in two columns in sections of threes by obscure paths across the marsh, and finally over an unguarded foot-bridge crossing the ditch already referred to, and formed line of battle across Cope's left flank. That general seemed in no wise dismayed, and again changed front, while in his address to his troops he referred to his opponents as being " a parcel of brutes," and " a despicable pack," from whom " you can expect no booty." He had not experienced the nature of a Highland charge. The Scottish army was formed in two lines, and it is not clear in this instance that any firing was resorted to, as was often the case ; but the fury of the onslaught was such as at once to destroy the morale of both the artillery and cavalry, who were on the flanks and fled in disorder from the field, leaving the infantry isolated. But though they held their ground for a while, they were assailed after their first volley before they could reload, and were taken prisoners, slain, or dispersed. All the colours, the guns, the military chest, 1 500 prisoners, besides officers, and baggage, were the prizes 1 The total available fighting strength of the clans was reputed to be about 40,000. 9 6 EMBERS OF THE CIVIL WAR TO 1755 of the victors, and while 400 were slain, only 175 infantry soldiers escaped ; and this with a total Joss of 1 10 killed and wounded on the opposite side. Practically, the victory gave the whole of Scotland into Jacobite hands, and the prince returned to Edinburgh, and wasted his time in continuing the siege of the Castle. The delay was turned to full account by the English Government. Ill luck had followed the Stuart cause from its outset, and was to continue till the end ; even success in battle seemed to bear but little fruit. Regiments were recalled from Flanders, though many were reduced to mere skeletons. Thus, when the king asked where the rest of the 3rd Dragoons were, he was told by their colonel, " I believe the residue is at Dettingen." But an army was formed by Marshal Stair, and reviewed by the king on Finchley Common ; another, under Wade, was in Yorkshire ; and a third, under Cumberland, lay at Lichfield. Thus, when in November the Jacobite force moved into England, and received no adherents as they had hoped to, and might have had if they had started earlier before the Government could prepare for defence, it had only taken Carlisle and reached Derby when the above armies were ready to co-operate and check it. So the prince turned back, to find that in Scotland the Whig clans had risen, the west was in arms, and Edinburgh had assembled a force of which Cope's refugees were the nucleus. The command of the sea in this as in all other cases was of the highest value to one of the combatants. Especially in those days when sea travel was quicker and more certain than land. The retreat was only molested by the English dragoons at Penrith, for the infantry could advance but slowly owing to the execrable nature of the roads and the inclement season of the year, and the prince moved to Stirling. The dis- cipline of the small army there was excellent, its behaviour to the people was at all times better and more gentle than that of their adversaries, while the "orders" are concise and soldierlike. 97 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY Hawley, from Edinburgh, with the ist Royals, 3rd Buffs, 4th, 8th, 1 3th, I4th, 27th, 34th, 37th, 48th, 1 and $2nd Regiments, the 7th, loth, and I4th Dragoons, and some local volunteers, was the first to attack it. This he did at Falkirk, but, making the common mistake of undervaluing the enemy, he was defeated, and retired in some disorder to Edinburgh, with the loss of his guns, five colours, tents, stores, and camp equipage. Thus a second English general had failed to defeat the Scottish Jacobites. The Duke of Cumberland was therefore despatched to Scotland, with Major James Wolfe, of the 2Oth, as aide-de- camp, and met the prince at Culloden, where he accepted battle with a weak and ill-provided army against one strong in cavalry and artillery, the two arms in which he was notoriously deficient. The story of that dismal battle is one of 10,000 against 4000, of well-fed against fasting men, of cruelty after the fight so revolting that the very names of all concerned in it should be held in execration by every honest man. Wholesale, cold-blooded butchery of wounded and prisoners, the vilest treatment of women, who were then turned naked into the snow to die ; these are stories that stain the name of a general who well merited the name he earned. To his credit be it said, however, Wolfe refused to take part in these barbarities, and he must have felt with pride after- wards that because of his conduct " it was remarked that the recusant officer declined visibly in the favour and confidence of his commander." It was the last real battle that was fought on British land, and the only point worthy of remem- brance is the gallantry of the 4th Foot, in whose ranks "there was not a bayonet that was not either bloody or bent." It pointed out for the last time the curious clannish pride which characterised the Highland people, for the three Macdonald regiments, who had been placed on the left rather than the right, a post of honour they claimed as theirs since the days of Bruce, for the gallantry of their forefathers at 1 Not the present 48th, which was the 49th. The above mentioned dis- appeared in 1748. 9 8 EMBERS OF THE CIVIL WAR TO 1755 Bannockburn, refused to fight, or even to follow their chieftain Keppoch, who fell, pierced with musket balls. With Culloden the last hopes of the Jacobite " faction " for it had again become one now died. Whatever hold, up to 1745, the Stuart "idea" may have had on a section of the people, the wisest of them saw that it was hopeless, and only the hopeful enthusiasts still had dreams. It is difficult to know in these days whether there ever really was a Jacobite party after "the '45." The idea seems to have died in despair. Of course there were feeble and hysterical con- spiracies like the, possibly legendary, one of the young Scot who plotted the assassination of the royal family ; and the studied ignorance of Sir Robert Walpole, who kept his eyes shut to these last faint flashes of the fire of the cause, may have deepened the hopefulness of those who still dreamed of "another opportunity," as an old rebel of the name of Scott did. There was one exception, in the cruel treatment and death of Dr. Cameron about 1750 or 1751 ; but there may be some justification for his execution, as he was no doubt a " go-between " the Pretender in France and the few left faithful to him in the north. The Young Pretender, too, seems to have been as blind as his adherents. Dr. King, in his Anecdotes of His Own Time, states that in 1750 the prince was in London ; but he gives prominence to the undoubted fact that the real destruction of the party was due to the decadence, physically and morally, of the last real aspirant to the throne, and to the dread that his mistress Walkinshaw was a paid spy of the house of Hanover, her sister being housekeeper at Leicester House. Well might one of the party ask this hopeless scion of a hopeless house, when endeavouring to separate him from this woman, " What has your family done, sir, thus to draw down the vengeance of Heaven on every branch of it for so many ages ? " The answer is simple enough. They had done little but bad. Their kingship was only honourable with those who believed that any sovereign was divinely appointed. The last of the Stuarts more than proved the worthlessness of the whole race as far as the English throne was concerned. Whether, as 99 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY Scott romantically suggests in Redgauntlet, the Young Pretender ever returned to Great Britain about 1765, is improbable. Even if he did, his cause was lost, and that by his own fault. What scion of the house of Stuart but so fell ? It is not that the early members of the house of Hanover were really great or good, but it was because the last of the house of Stuart were irretrievably mean and bad that the embers of the Civil War remained such, and never after 1745 burst into a serious flame. But while the house of Stuart was declining from mere corruption and decay, the almost alien house of Hanover was slowly and securely winning its way into English sympathies. This was natural enough as the successive sovereigns became more English in their feelings and their speech. Until the early Guelphs could speak freely and fully the language of the nation over which they were called to rule, until they were English born and had English ideas, there was, no doubt, ground for a certain amount of antagonism. Thackeray's Four Georges proves up to the hilt how slow these sovereigns were in learning the very patent fact that they must become English and cease to be German to get a firm hold on our insular mind. And this they did eventually. But, up to the '45, their rule, which was still very foreign for years after that date, was rather endured as a necessity than loved, their personality regarded as alien rather than English. The one thing that made the nation, up to the first half of the eighteenth century, accept with little complaint, or hostility, princes who still were far too German to please the tastes of English-speaking peoples, was their own honesty of purpose and their personal courage and bravery. The house of Guelph lost nothing by actual want of success in the foreign wars about the time of the really serious Jacobite rising. English- men like pluck, and don't mind a beating, provided good men do their best. This, then, is the story, as far as the army is concerned, of Dettingen and Fontenoy. They were not successes, certainly, but neither king nor soldier had shown want of the good old fighting spirit of Blenheim and Malplaquet. At the worst it was a healthy time, and showed 100 EMBERS OF THE CIVIL WAR TO 1755 that our mere bull-dog courage was not by itself the only thing by which battles are won. The causes of the war in which an English reigning sovereign led an army in the field were the guarantee of Great Britain, France, and other States, of the succession of Maria Theresa to the throne of the German Empire, known as the " Pragmatic Sanction," and the attack upon Silesia by Frederick of Prussia. From this action France and Bavaria were drawn into the struggle against the Empress, and George II., possibly fearing the preponderating growth of his neighbour Prussia as a menace to his Hanoverian dominions, assembled a force of Danes, Hessians, Hanoverians, and British, under the Earl of Stair, numbering forty-four battalions, twenty of which were British, with fifty-three squadrons. This army, about 3 5,000 strong, met the French, some 25,000 in number, and composed of twenty-four battalions, and thirty squadrons, in position on the left bank of the Maine. The Allies were at Aschaffenburg and Klein Ostheim, and prepared to march through Dettingen on the right bank to join with a Hessian force at Hanau. Noailles, who commanded the French army, forming a tete du pont at Selegenstadt on his left, and massing the centre and right opposite Aschaffenburg, crossed by his left to head the allies off. Thus when the battle began, both held positions at right angles to the Maine, the British left and the French right respectively resting on the stream. The offensive was continued by the French, and led to a wild and injudicious advance of the right wing through and beyond Dettingen, a movement contrary to what the general commanding, who now wished to assume the defensive, intended, so that finally the French were beaten and driven across the stream. Except for incidents in the battle it has few points of interest. The regiments engaged were the Life Guards and Blues ; the ist and 7th Dragoons Guards; the ist, 2nd, and 6th Dragoons ; and the 3rd, 4th, and 7th Light Dragoons, now classed as Hussars. Of the infantry the 3rd, 8th, iith, I2th, I3th, 20th, 2ist, 23rd, 3ist, 32nd, 33rd, and 37th Regiments 101 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY were engaged. The present Devonshire Regiment, from their heavy losses here, at Ostend, and later on at Salamanca, was long known, it is said, as the " Bloody Eleventh " ; and the old 3Oth acquired the name of the " Young Buffs," from their facings in this battle, which caused the king to exclaim, " Well done, old Buffs," and on being reminded of his mistake, and told it was the 3ist, and not the 3rd, replied, " Well done, then, Young Buffs." Of the 3/th it is related that a trooper of the 7th Dragoon Guards, who was charged afterwards with being a deserter during the battle, proved that he had fought on foot with the regiment, applying to Lieutenant Izzard for arms, and, behaving with great gallantry, was afterwards rewarded with a commission in the " Royal Welsh." The Greys had captured the white standard of the French Household troops, and the ist Royals took the colours of the Black Musketeers. The king behaved with the greatest courage and coolness. His coolness under fire attracted the notice of the Duke d'Arenberg, who thought him " the bravest man he ever saw." He headed the second line in person. Thackeray, no great admirer of the Georges, thus writes of him : " Whenever we hear of dapper George at war, it is certain that he demeaned himself like a little man of valour. At- Dettingen his horse ran away with him, and with difficulty was stopped from carrying him into the enemy's lines. The king, dismounting from his fiery quadruped, said bravely, ' Now I know I shall not run away,' and placed himself at the head of the foot, drew his sword, brandishing it at the whole of the French army, and calling out to his own men to come on, in bad English, but with the most famous pluck and spirit." He was very far from a coward, therefore, this last British king who personally took part in battle ; and he exposed himself so freely that he was nearly taken prisoner, and was rescued by the 22nd Regiment of the line, which ever after wear oak-leaves on their head- dress on Dettingen Day. Such courage is contagious, and one is not surprised to find Lord Crawford of the Life Guards shouting with battle enthusiasm, when attacked in front and flank, " Never mind, my boys, this is fine diversion." 102 EMBERS OF THE CIVIL WAR TO 1755 The loss, however, was heavy, and few practical results followed the victory. The junction with the Hessians was formed at Hanau, and there, as the king refused to turn and attack the French again, the Earl of Stair resigned his command and returned to England, partly because of this refusal, and partly perhaps (as officers in William lll.'s army had felt as regards the Dutch) because he resented the favour too often shown to German over English commanders. By 174$ the British contingent had been further strength- ened by the addition of the 34th and 42nd Regiments up to about 53,000 men, or forty-six battalions, ninety squad- rons and ninety guns, and then the Duke of Cumberland decided on attempting to raise the siege of Tournay, which was being conducted by Marshal Saxe, and suffered a severe defeat. The French position was extremely strong, and Barri wood on the left, Fontenoy in the centre, and St. Antoine on the river on the right were most carefully fortified and en- trenched and defended by 260 guns. Here it was, as the attack developed, the story is told of the meeting of the British and French Guards, when the former, saluting with raised hats, called to their opponents, " Gentlemen of the French Guards, fire ! " The Highlanders behaved with extra- ordinary courage in this their first great foreign battle, and one man, who had killed nine Frenchmen, was in the act of cutting down the tenth when a shot carried his sword-arm off. The carnage was extreme, yet the stubborn soldiery would not give way even with the cross fire of musketry and case- shot at short range ; and at one moment, when St. Antoine was carried, matters looked serious for Marshal Saxe. But that terrible Irish Brigade, seven battalions strong, were now brought into the fight. The fierce battle-cry of " Remember Limerick and Saxon faith " showed that past evils were not forgotten, and added racial antipathy to natural courage. The broken, wearied troops were too much shaken to meet so fierce a charge of quite fresh men ; and hence the Irish counter attack fully succeeded, and the British retired sullenly, beaten. The Allies had lost 21,000 men, killed 103 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY and wounded, against 8000 of their adversaries ; but, out- numbered and exhausted as the British were, they accounted for one-third of the men and one-fourth of the officers of the Irish Brigade. Naturally King George was disturbed by so serious a defeat ; and naturally, perhaps, he might have felt and said, in thinking of the Irish at Fontenoy, " Cursed be the laws which deprive me of such subjects ! " On the other hand, the exultation felt by the exiled Irish can equally well be understood, as well as the spirit that induced the following lines of the time : " The English strove with desperate strength ; they rallied, staggered, fled : The green hillside is matted close with dying and with dead. Across the plain, and far away, passed on that hideous wreck, While cavalier and fantassin dash in upon their track. On Fontenoy, on Fontenoy, like eagles in the sun, With bloody plumes the Irish stand the field is lost and won ! " Little occurred after the battle until the peace of Aix-la- Chapelle brought hostilities to a conclusion. Few changes had taken place in the armament of the troops in these days. The hand grenade was still in use, as a picture of a grenadier of the Foot Guards, dated 1745, shows ; and officers, up to 1759, carried either the spontoon or a " light fusil " as part of their equipment, with the sash worn over the left shoulder as at present. Non-commissioned officers still carried the halberd. The three-cornered hat was largely replaced by the sugar-loaf-shaped " Kevenhuller " hat ; and, in addition to the bright-barrelled musket and bayonet, the privates carried a short sword. Wigs were abolished, and long gaiters covered the leg to the knee, while the coats were shortened to a sort of turned-back swallow-tail, in imitation of the Prussian uniform. Body armour had been reduced to a mere relic of defence in the " duty gorget " a small plate of brass with the Royal Arms, which was suspended by a piece of black ribbon from the neck by officers " on duty " ; a custom that obtained up to 104 24 & Heat EMBERS OF THE CIVIL WAR TO 1755 1830. There had been no material change in tactics ; but the Royal Artillery had become more fully organised in four companies, the uniform being a loose, long, heavily- cuffed blue cloth coat with red facings. The Royal Military Academy, for the education of artillery officers, was also established about 1741, and the "Horse Guards" as an institution about 1750- The Black Watch, however, the first of the new High- land regiments, was permitted, for some time, to carry a dirk, pistols, and round target. Medals were issued after Culloden, and regimental numbers appeared on the coat buttons about 1767. Tactics and the " order of battle " were slow in changing, but the growing preponderance of infantry, now organised in three ranks only, was becoming more evident after Dettingen and Fontenoy. Battles were fought on more modern lines, and infantry bore the brunt ; while the cavalry at Dettingen had at last discovered its proper role, and behaved with the greatest gallantry, in not leading the main attack as at Blenheim, but in meeting its own oppos- ing arm and keeping it in check, and finally in converting the French retreat across the river into very nearly a rout. The artillery still lacked mobility, and were not vigor- ously handled, with the exception of some Hanoverian batteries, which pushed up to support the final advance of the infantry, and opened fire on the French flank. So at Fontenoy the infantry had most to do. This was the beginnings of the tactics of the future. Thus by 1755, or thereabout, the army had been steadily increasing. After the death of Marlborough, the Qth and loth Dragoons and the 4Oth and 4ist Regiments of in- fantry came on the permanent establishment, chiefly be- cause of the Jacobite rising of 1715; the loth, nth, i2th, 1 3th, and I4th Regiments of cavalry also date from the same period ; the 42nd had been formed from the separate Highland companies into the " Black Watch," so called from the sombre colour of their tartans ; and soon followed the 43rd, 44th, 45th, 46th, 47th, and 48th of the line. The 105 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY 49th, at first known as the 63rd Americans, dates from 1743- But still the old jealousy of, and objection to, a large standing army was always recrudescing. On the accession of George II., the cadres only amounted to 17,760 men ; and even this small body Mr. Pulteney, M.P., and " down- right" Shippen in the House of Commons wished to be reduced to 12,000 ! The threat of war in 1739 stopped this ; but the army was still at the mercy of political partisans, as the Duke of Argyll in his masterly attack on Sir Robert Walpole in the House of Lords conclusively proves. Another hundred years, too, had to pass by before " political services ceased to form the foundation of a claim for military preferment." Flogging, long recognised, and rattan punishment, copied, like the absurd uniform and rigid drill, from much-admired Prussia, now became a permanently recognised institution, and so remained until 1878. It is always a wonder that a free country, such as England, ever permitted the correc- tional system of the crudest of all military despotisms, that of the so-called Frederick the Great, to live so long. But in this, as in uniform and drill, our army has always been more of a copyist of foreign methods than an originator. 1 06 THE ARMY IN AMERICA TO 1793 ^ T "" HE period through which the army passed in the second part of the eighteenth century was distinguished by a marked change in the causes which led to the wars culminating in the separation of the American Colonies from the mother country. There were still Continental troubles in which English forces and others were engaged, where political, balance of power, or dynastic influences were as heretofore the primary causes of such campaigns. Minden is one of these ; and, without entering into the whole of the military history of the time, the battle is especially noteworthy as adding additional laurels to those the army had already gathered. It may be well, therefore, to refer to it here, though somewhat out of the order of dates, as it is a more or less isolated factor in the general story. The Seven Years' War broke out in 1756, and in 1759, after sundry successes, the French menaced Hanover. Their opponents, commanded by Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, were assisted by a small British contingent commanded by Lord George Sackville, consisting of six cavalry regiments : the Horse Guards, the ist and 3rd Dragoon Guards, the 2nd, 6th, and loth Dragoons ; and six infantry battalions: the I2th, 2Oth, 23rd, 25th, 37th, and 5 1st. There was much manoeuvring on the part of Prince Ferdinand, before he succeeded in drawing his opponents across the marshy Wastau brook which unites with the -river Weser at Minden to form a deep re- entrant bend. Crossing both these streams by numerous temporary bridges, the French, under Contades, deployed H 107 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY some 50,000 troops against 36,000 ; l but the flanks of his line of battle being unsuitable for the action of cavalry, the whole of that arm, some 10,000 strong, and the flower of his army, was stationed in the centre. On the other hand, the English flanks were strengthened by cavalry, that on the right commanded directly by Lord George Sackville ; and on both sides the artillery were chiefly on the flanks. Partial attacks, and an artillery duel on both sides therefore began the action, but the " soul of the fight " was the contest between the French cavalry and the two English brigades in the centre, which yet again emphasised, if such emphasis were necessary, the steadily increasing fighting power of well-disciplined infantry. Gallant as was the charge of the Mousquetaires, grey and red, desperate as was their onslaught, the footmen received them with close volleys at forty yards, and, as Contades himself bitterly remarked, " I have seen what I never thought to be possible a single line of infantry break through three lines of cavalry, ranked in order of battle, and tumble them to ruin." These six battalions marched, not as ordered, to attack " you six on sound of drum," but translated the command into " by sound of drum " ; and so, with drums playing, entered into the crucial battle with a brigade in both the first and second line. After the first repulse of the enemy, they formed in single line of battalions, with the Hanoverians on their left, and when the cavalry was routed, drove back with heavy loss a Swiss and a Saxon brigade that attempted to stop their splendid advance. Had Lord George Sackville charged with his cavalry as he was ordered to have done, and should have done, the French army would have been destroyed. As it was, only the Hessian and Hanoverian cavalry on the left were of any service. The French lost about 7000 men, 43 guns, and 17 colours, while in the British division alone, 1394 officers and men had fallen. Of all the regiments, none was more distinguished than " Kingsley's," now the 2oth ; but though the " order of the day " after the battle stated that the regiment " from its severe loss, will cease to do duty," the 1 Carlyle. 1 08 THE ARMY IN AMERICA TO 1793 " Minden Boys," the " Men of Kingsley's stand," were far too proud to accept even so kindly meant a rest, and two days later we read that " Kingsley's regiment, at its own request, will resume its portion of duty in the line." Well might His Serene Highness Prince Ferdinand state publicly that, " next to God, he attributes the glory of the day to the intrepidity and extraordinary good behaviour of these troops." The six Minden regiments were honoured by being permitted to wear the laurel wreath in their colours, and to this day, on the ist August, the men deck themselves with roses in remembrance of the battle, in which tradition says men walked to death with roses they had plucked on the way in their breasts. One curious fact in connection with the battle is that Colonel Preston, who commanded a brigade of cavalry, wore the last buff-coat that has been seen on a field of battle, which saved him from being wounded, though cut at " more than a dozen times." Minden preserved Hanover and Brunswick from the hands of the French, and obliged them to leave Westphalia ; while the British colours waved in many a skirmish in the great war, as well as in the greater battles of Warburg, Zierenburg, Kloster Kampfen, Kirch-Denkern, and Wilhelm- stahl. This latter name is borne by the 5th Foot as the first name on its colours, for there it behaved with the most brilliant bravery, taking a French standard and twice its own strength in prisoners. After this battle the regiment was per- mitted to wear French Grenadier headdresses, instead of the three-cornered hat then generally in use, and these they retained until replaced later by the fusilier "cap." In the ranks of the 5th at Wilhelmstahl, fought Phoebe Hassell, who was pensioned by George IV., and who lies, quiet enough now, in the churchyard at Hove. Again, during the war with Spain, an army which included the Buffs arid i6th Light Dragoons served there under the command of the Earl of Loudon ; and one of his brigadiers, Burgoyne, won a minor but brilliant victory at Valencia de Alcantara, where the cavalry carried the city sword in hand, and held it till the infantry arrived. 109 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY Peace followed a year later, and though England restored many of her conquests, she retained much. The army was recalled from Germany, and its own retirement from active service saw also that of its popular leader, the Marquis of Granby. He had shown much courage and some skill in the field. He had been most solicitous for the welfare of his men, and there is no doubt of their appreciation of him. The numerous inn signs bearing his portrait and his name are but relics of the days when he was regarded as the soldier's " friend," whom the men delighted to honour, and " to drain a tankard to his health." But his mantle was not taken up by his successor for a while at least ; for at Quebec, the year after his withdrawal from public life, the I5th, 2/th, and two battalions of the 6oth all but mutinied because of the in- troduction of a daily stoppage of fourpence a day for the food ration, a system of supporting the soldier out of his own pocket that lived on till within the last twenty years. But it is round the great contest on the American Continent which was to result in, first, the conquest and retention of Canada, and then the loss of our own possessions in North America, that the national interest centres. By 1755 the French had practically absorbed Canada with its dependencies, and furthermore claimed authority over the whole valley of the Mississippi from its source to its mouth ; and had linked its conquests or its occupation together by a series of forts from Quebec on the St. Lawrence river to the point where the Alleghany and Monongahela unite to form the Ohio, and where Pittsburg now stands. Here Fort Duchesne was erected. In fact, the French laid claim to what would now be called the Hinter- land of the whole of Eastern North America without possess- ing much of its coast line, and it was to break through this fancied and fragile chain that the first hostile expedition was despatched. It was commanded by Braddock with a mixed force of colonials and the 44th and 48th Regiments, while on the staff served George Washington ; but through gross ignor- ance and carelessness it fell into an ambush and was heavily routed. Other equally feeble efforts were made on other no THE ARMY IN AMERICA TO 1793 points in the enemy's defensive line, but all were more or less ineffective, and this naturally led to reprisals and increased activity on the part of the French. Hence the British army in America, whose headquarters were at New York, was reinforced by the i/th, 42nd, and 2-6oth Regiments, and the conquest of Canada was decided on. An attempt against Fort Ticonderoga in 1758, when the 42nd lost 647 men, failed, as did a first expedition against Louisburg, Cape Breton ; but in 1758 the Earl of Loudon was despatched to Nova Scotia with the ist, I7th, 2;th, 28th, 43rd, 46th, 53rd, and 56th Regiments, which were formed into three brigades, of which Brigadier-General James Wolfe commanded that composed of the grenadiers, light infantry, and Black Watch, and behaved with distinguished gallantry. Fort Duchesne, a second time threatened, was abandoned by the French, and in 1759 Wolfe led the expedition against Quebec, where he met a glorious death during its capture. The regiments present were the I5th, 28th, 35th, 43rd, 47th, 48th, 6oth, the old 78th, or Fraser Highlanders, which was disbanded in 1763; while the grenadier companies of the regiments, with those of the 22nd, 4Oth, and 45th (at Louis- burg), and also the light infantry companies, were formed into separate corps as usual. The fortress was far too strong to be assaulted frontally, with a wide river covering it, and to pass that at any time in boats was a risky and difficult operation. But the rear of the town was but weakly defended, and faced an open plain, which was regarded as practically unassailable, owing to the steep and almost precipitous nature of the approaches to it. It was due, it is said, to a Scottish officer called Macculloch that the design to attack on this side was formed ; and it was executed with much difficulty, though with the greatest good fortune, as the river bank was guarded by sentries. But these were evaded, and when Wolfe landed, the obstacles to the advance even there were such that Wolfe exclaimed to one of the Highland officers, " I do not believe, sir, there is any possibility of getting up, but you must now do your best." And they did so. Slinging their muskets in THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY the Frasers gained the summit by sheer hard climbing, and, driving back a piquet, seized a path by which the other troops mounted ; so that when the sun rose, it shone on Wolfe's line of regiments in contiguous columns advancing against Quebec. Montcalm moved out resolutely to meet the threaten- ing danger. But the battle was soon over. The Frasers charged, Highland fashion, with dirk and claymore ; and Wolfe and Montcalm were both mortally wounded. Wolfe lived long enough to hear the shouts of victory ; Montcalm died before the actual capitulation of Quebec ; and Lieu- tenant Macculloch died a pauper in Marylebone Workhouse thirty-four years later. This capture of Quebec practically meant the conquest of Canada, which, with Newfoundland, etc., was ceded to Great Britain ; and though there were troubles on the Pennsylvanian frontier, to suppress which a regiment of Highlanders was despatched, nothing of real importance occurred till the revolt of the American Colonies in 1774. More stress is laid on this portion of the army's story, because the war was between sections of the same race, and because much came of it. Great Britain commenced the American contest that at first seemed so unequal, under some disadvantages, none the less. The result of a long period of military inactivity was, as it always has been and will be, most materially felt. There were few old, or at least veteran, soldiers in the ranks who had been under fire, and the younger officers were equally inexperienced. This was natural to expect after "The cankers of a calm world and a long peace," but it was at the bottom of both the want of skill with which this singular war was conducted, and the want of appreciation, at first certainly, of how such an enemy as the army of the colonists should be tactically met. It was to be a war in which bush-fighting and skirmishing were to be the leading features, as Braddock's disaster long years before and the defeat at Ticonderoga had already conclusively proved. But the British leaders were to learn the fact, they 112 THE ARMY IN AMERICA TO 1793 might have foreseen, in the " only school fools learn in, that of experience." In order to understand the reason for the want of uni- formity and union in the desultory campaigns that followed each other, a glance at the map is necessary. It will be seen there that when hostilities broke out, the seat of war was practically cut in two by the Hudson, at the mouth of which was New York ; and beyond Albany, up stream, a series of forts guarded the line of approach from Canada by way of Quebec, Lake Champlain, and Saratoga. This general line, therefore, cut the confederation into two un- equal parts, and separated the, at first, more resolute New England States from those of the south, who, again, to begin with, were somewhat lukewarm in the national cause. It was the obstinate folly of the British Government, even more than the feeble conduct of her warlike operations in America, that led to the final result. Again, the command of the sea gave Great Britain the advantage of being able to transfer her troops to any part of the long American coast line, and attack or threaten the hostile levies formed at different parts, but whose own power of concentration was hampered by bad roads, a sparse population, and the physical difficulties offered by the numerous rivers and estuaries. These latter, on the other hand, were of the highest value to the sea power ; and it was not till France threw her sword into the scale that the balance of power at sea was equalised and American success became a certainty. The temporary loss of that naval supremacy, with all the world against us, was the direct cause of the surrender at York Town, and the termination of the struggle. More than all, perhaps, this very prolongation of hostilities strengthened and gave experience to the colonists, which was all they wanted. They had the courage and a cause already. Howe and other English generals gave them confidence and trained their leaders. Boston was the active centre whence the "disease of disagreement " spread. Stout, hard-headed Puritans, whose ancestors had left the mother country for freedom's sake, THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY were as little likely to submit to " taxation without repre- sentation," in the latter days of the eighteenth century, as their forebears had been a hundred years before. " Let us be of one heart," says one of them, " and stand fast in the liberties wherewith Christ has made us free, and may He, of His infinite mercy, grant us deliverance out of all our troubles." But the home Government thought otherwise. Boston, as a port, was to be closed. General-Governor Gage was sent there to garrison it ; and so doing, applied the match to all the political tinder which surrounded him, and was fully ready to burst into a flame. For not far from Boston the colonists had collected some military stores at Concord and Lexington, and these Gage decided on seizing. He had been ordered to " take possession of colonial forts, seize all military stores, to repress rebellion by force, and imprison all suspects," so the fault was not all his. But the detachment of the loth and the marines were beaten back badly, and took refuge behind the reinforcements sent to help them in such a condition of rout that they " flung themselves down on the ground, with their tongues hanging out of their mouths, like those of dogs after a chase." It was a bad beginning, to say the least of it, but it was curiously followed up ; for the assailants were themselves assailed, and Boston was besieged by the " Provincials," who had many men, boundless enthusiasm, but only a few guns and only sixty barrels of powder " in all Massachusetts." But by now they had that courtly Virginian gentleman, George Washington, at their head, and without him the revolution that made an empire would have had faint chances of success. The only point of interest in this siege of Boston is the battle of Bunker's or Breed's Hill. It was the last effort but one to complete the ring of investment. The American General Prescott had attempted to hold this peninsula, between the Charles and Mystic rivers, and had fortified it with a poor breastwork and a still weaker obstacle afforded by a post and rail fence, screened by new- mown hay. But the fatal British failing of despising an adversary who could shoot, received additional emphasis. The casual attack of 114 THE ARMY IN AMERICA TO 1793 the flank companies of the 5th, 38th, 43rd, and 52nd, together with the 47th, the ist marine battalion, and the 23rd, the latter of which suffered most severely, was met by a deadly fire at thirty paces, and it took three efforts to carry the weak defensive position, and then with a loss of 1200 officers and men out of about 2000. To add to the misery of the defeat may be added the absurdity of making the men go into action carrying 125 pounds of heavy marching order weight. It was the first pitched battle of the war, small as it was, and the colonists had won. Its moral value, therefore, far outweighed its other importance, and it was soon followed by the retirement of the British from the town. The district east of the Hudson was never again seriously troubled, while in the meantime Ethan Allen and Benedek Arnold had captured, and still guarded, the road to Canada byway of the Hudson and Lake Champlain. But the disasters around Boston had stirred the home Government into unwonted activity. In 1776 the army in America wars composed of the 4th, 5th, loth, I4th, i5th, I7th, 1 8th, 22nd, 23rd, 27th, 35th, 38th, 4Oth, 42nd, 43rd, 44th, 45th, 49th, 52nd, 63rd, 64th, and 7ist Foot, with the i6th and 1 7th Light Dragoons and some battalions of Hessians. Opposed to them was the main Colonial army under Washington, at or about New York. The only plan of campaign, if such it could be called, that Howe formed, was to seize New York, occupy a central position, and support the two wings that, operating from the Canadian lakes for the Upper Hudson on the one hand and from some naval base hereafter to be determined on the southern coast, were to crush between them the widely extended forces of the "Confederacy." The internal difficulties of co-operation were as bad for his divided wings as for Washington's extended front ; but he had the great advantage of being able to threaten the enormous coast line of the States. Thus the first move in the game was the attack on Long Island ; but though Washington was defeated, he was enabled, through the supineness of his adversary, to withdraw his whole force to the mainland. For while Howe thought, reposing in his THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY tent after the battle, that " they are at our mercy to-morrow," it was not to be ; for when that morrow came, " the whole continental force had crossed the East River, and our empire over thirteen colonies had slipped away too." Still the British army pressed on, drove the adversary from New York, defeated him again at " White Plains " farther back, where Washington checked Howe's advance by no stronger entrenchments than those hastily erected with stalks of Indian corn, roots outward, and after some minor action dispersed the American forces, and Washington retired south behind the Delaware. The invader had done little after all. The Americans were not defeated, as the next step proved. For if the Colonists were dispersed by defeat so were also the British " by order " through the Jerseys ; and General Howe held his soul in peace at New York. To await a rude awakening. For, notwithstanding winter snow and ice-clad rivers, on Christmas night 1776, Washington took the offensive. Everyone knows the picture of his " Crossing the Delaware." How the Continentals were being hardened in ! They " left the marks of their march in the bloodstained footsteps of those whose boots barely covered their feet," but they succeeded. Trenton was taken. A night march, covered by the clever stratagem of leaving fires alight when the main body moved off, and a rearguard to work noisily at trenches, resulted in a battle, after which the 4Oth, 1 7th, and 55th British regiments fell back in disorder, and the ultimate result was the abandonment of the Jerseys by the British army. In June 1777, the relative strength of the combatants was 30,000 British troops against 8000 Americans. As Colonel du Portael writes : " Ce n'est pas par la bonne conduite des Americains, que la campagne en general s'est termine'e assez heureusement ; mais par la faute des Anglais." This is the key to the whole situation. The first attempt to reach the nominal capital, Philadelphia, had thus failed. The next was more direct, and was to be assisted by an invasion from Canada. The latter can be dismissed in a few words. General Burgoyne selected so bad a line of march on Saratoga, not far from Albany, 116 THE ARMY IN AMERICA TO 1793 on the upper reaches of the Hudson, th^t he was compelled to surrender there. The fighting had been most severe. At Stillwater and other places, the 9th, 2oth, 2ist, 62nd (who in this war got their name of " Springers," from acting as the light infantry, whose order to advance was " Spring up "), the grenadiers, and the light companies of the 35th and 24th behaved with the greatest gallantry, as did the 9th, of which regiment there is an interesting story to tell. With the army its warlike stores should have been surrendered ; but the colonel of this regiment, with a feeling that can be com- prehended, without actual sympathy, removed the colours from the staves and secreted them. On returning home, they were remounted, and presented to the king, who returned them to the officer, to be retained as an heirloom. Passing through many hands, they finally descended to the Chaplain of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, who presented them to that institution, where, " trooped " by a battalion of the regiment then at Aldershot, they were placed in the college next the pair of colours which were borne by the 9th during Peninsular fights. But those which were carried in America are distinguished from the later ones by the absence of the St. Patrick's Cross in the " Jack." Meanwhile, Howe's army, concentrated at New York after its retreat from the Jerseys, had put to sea, and, sailing south, had landed in the estuary of the Chesapeake. Washington, from the neighbourhood of the Hudson, moved down to meet him, taking up a position behind the Brandywine, but he was badly beaten by an outflanking attack, and fell back behind Philadelphia to Valley Forge, and the British occupied the capital. The battle proved conclusively that neither the American levies nor their leaders were yet able to cope with regular forces in a pitched battle. The waiting game was better, and the night attack on Germanstown a few weeks later only failed because of the grim tenacity the 4Oth Regiment showed in the defence of Judge Tew's house at the entrance of the village. Beyond this, little was done in the winter of 1777, but Howe returned home, and was succeeded by Sir Henry Clinton, who soon withdrew 117 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY from Philadelphia, and returned with the army to New York, by way of the Jerseys, where a sharp rearguard action was fought at Monmouth Courthouse, and again the Colonists were defeated in their effort to disturb the retreat. Again it was evident that the natural semi - guerilla warfare which they had first adopted was more suitable to their powers than more serious tactics. Throughout, Washington had shown little real military skill, and his tangible success was once more due to his adversary's faults. But one great event followed on the surrender of the British at Saratoga and the return of Clinton to New York. France, who had so long openly sympathised with the Colonists as to permit American privateers to sell English prizes in her ports, had formed with the States a commercial treaty, in which they were referred to as being " in full pos- session of independence," and finally threw her sword into the scale, a course in which she was not long after followed by Spain. Speaking generally, the theatre of war from this time forward, useless forays and wanton mischief elsewhere ex- cepted, shifted to the South. Georgia was first reduced to submission. Then the Carolinas were attempted. Charleston was taken, the Southern Provinces occupied, and the usual desultory, haphazard fighting followed, with the customary want of practical results. The need of a connected plan of operation is apparent everywhere. Gates was badly beaten at Camden ; and reprisals, that embittered even those who were not seriously disaffected to the royal cause, followed. Mistake after mistake ! This, at least, was not the way to cow into submission men largely of English race. It is curious to note also in this part of the campaign that the only generals fighting on the American side who were distinctly of English birth, and had had some military training, Gates and Lee, had proved themselves distinct failures. Corn wall is was next despatched to the South, and fared no better than his predecessors ; while Clinton, in com- mand of New York, directed the operations thence with 118 THE ARMY IN AMERICA TO 1793 no greater success, having to face now the greater danger of dealing with regular French troops side by side with the levies of the States. But at this juncture, when the new allies were actually landing, and the beginning of the end had come, General Arnold was given the command of West Point, on the Hudson, the river-line dividing the New England States from the remainder, and to the retention of which Washington attached extraordinary importance. The story of his treason is one of the few bits of romance in the history of this prolonged and unhappy war. He was brave beyond measure, he was reckless and careless, he was vain, ostentatious, and extravagant ; but no one dreamed he was a traitor. He had tried to obtain a loan from the French Minister and had failed, and, so doing, turned to the other side, and proposed for money and advancement to surrender West Point and the Highlands, "in such a manner as to contribute every possible advantage to His Majesty's arms." His immediate go-between and correspondent was a certain Major Andre, Adjutant-General of the British Army, and A.D.C. of Sir Henry Clinton. On the very night that Washington met the French officer at Hartford, to arrange the allied plan of campaign, Andre, dressed in uniform, over which he wore a long greatcoat, landed to confer with Arnold. So prolonged were the treasonable negotiations, that day broke, and retreat became dangerous. Over-persuaded, he changed into plain clothes, concealed in his boots the plans and documents he had procured, and, under a forged pass and a feigned name, attempted to cross the neutral ground, and reach Tarrytown. He was captured and made prisoner, and his captors, refusing a heavy bribe, sent him to North Castle. Meanwhile, Arnold had received information that the plot was known, and embarked on board H.M.S. Vulture under a flag of truce, and completed his treason by surrender- ing his own boat's crew as prisoners of war ! Andr^ was brought to trial before fourteen general officers, among whom were the Marquis de Lafayette and Baron Stuben, and was by all the customs of war, and 119 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY " according to the law and usage of nations," sentenced to be hanged. " His appeal to die by shooting rather than by hanging was refused. As General Greene is reported to have said, to have mitigated the sentence would have been to doubt its justice. So he died the death of a spy, as from his own confession and action he deserved, but he died bravely and calmly, like a gallant gentleman of England." No such death created more controversy, or raised more hysterical sympathy. The whole business was bad, and Andre soiled his hands in touching it at all, let alone the fact of his being in plain clothes within the enemy's lines, which at once placed him without doubt in the position of a spy. His reasons for going there, assumed to be patriotic, were largely personal, for promotion was to reward success ; and they have little to do with the matter. However good the reasons, the means were vile ; too vile even to justify the end. Washington was censured severely for his severity at the time, but no one now would blame him. He had his duty to his country to do, and he did it. None the less, Andre's bones were eventually moved to Westminster Abbey, and a fulsome tablet records the manner of his death. Meanwhile, Cornwallis in the Carolinas scored a victory at Guildford Courthouse, where the Guards, the old 7 1st, and the 23rd and 33rd, defeated an inferior force of militia and what were fast becoming seasoned troops, but the task was too heavy for his strength. " My cavalry," he sadly writes, " wanted everything, and the infantry everything but shoes." So he marched, with sundry skirmishes of little value in various places, north-east towards York Town, and Lord Rawdon, who practically commanded the other wing, fell back south-east towards Charleston, with the 3rd, 63rd, and 64th. While Greene watched and " contained " the latter, Washington and Rochambeau, giving up the long-cherished idea of the defence of the Hudson and the capture of New York, moved into Virginia to assist York Town. When 1 20 THE ARMY IN AMERICA TO 1793 the first parallel of the siege was completed, Washington fired the first shot, and soon after, for the second time in this hapless war, a British general with an army surrendered to the Continental levies, just four years after the defeat of Burgoyne. The British troops had behaved, be it said, with the greatest gallantry. The /ist, the grenadiers of the old Soth, and especially the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, had done all that men could, and the colours of the last-named regiment were, like those of the 9th at Saratoga, taken home wrapped round the bodies of two officers. Lord Cornwallis himself bears testimony that the Allies behaved with dignity, and that " the treatment in general that we have received from the enemy since our surrender has been perfectly good and proper." Of the above regiments, the 76th, 7ist, and Soth were after- wards disbanded in 1783-84. Five days later, Clinton's tardy reinforcements reached the Chesapeake from New York, but it was too late. French assistance, and still more French money, to the exhausted and almost bankrupt Americans had brought peace within measurable distance, and just eight years after the eventful conflict of Lexington, the news of the Peace of Paris was communicated to the army. Though of little military value, the embers of the struggle for independence still remained alight, and so far flickered into a flame in 1814, as to make it worth while recording the last instance in which British troops fought on American soil. The New Republic had been a bit tete montee after its undoubted success against the mother country. There was unquestionably the feeling arising, first of all, of a natural continuance of sympathy for France, as well as that of having "licked the Britishers, who had licked the world." The causes of irritation are immaterial, and to some extent childish, but they resulted in hostilities none the less. The war began with some minor affairs in Canada, chiefly between the local militias, as there were few British regular battalions in that country; but there was some severe skirmishing for some time, in which the 8th, 4ist, 49th, 121 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY 89th, the Royal Scots, some local bodies of volunteers, and the looth and iO4th battalions of the line, which were disbanded after the long war, took part. Success generally rested with the Americans, and there were some smart naval actions on the Great Lakes. But after the temporary conclusion of hostilities on the Continent in 1814, Great Britain was freer to turn her attention to this American squabble. It was scarcely worth while at any time to dignify it by the name of war. So some veteran Peninsular battalions, the 4th, 44th, 85th, 2pth, and 62nd, as well as the 2ist North British Fusiliers, were sent to reinforce the army in America. The fighting showed much exasperation on both sides, and there is little that is creditable to either of the combatants. An advance on Washington was first made, and after the brilliant affair of Bladensburg, where the Americans made their first serious stand, and were easily beaten, the capital was seized, and the Government stores and buildings burned. All that can be said to the credit of the British is, that " no private property was destroyed." The American order of battle by this time was quite European. It formed in two lines, and a reserve with cavalry on the flank, and guns more or less dispersed, while the front was covered by " strong bodies of riflemen " in skirmishing order. 1 A further effort against Baltimore was equally ineffective, and Ross "of Bladensburg" fell. Finally, the army, rein- forced by the 7th and 43rd, the 93rd and 95th, and two West Indian regiments, attempted the capture of New Orleans, and, to all intents and purposes, failed. The whole war is regrettable from every point of view. The operations on the part of the British so far lacked method and cohesion, as to class them rather as filibustering expedi- tions than serious war. The conduct of the Americans throughout offers no redeeming point, as they fired on a flag of truce, and caused retaliatory measures because of their unwarrantable action in the early operations in Canada. 1 Gleig.. 122 THE ARMY IN AMERICA TO 1793 The peace that was signed in 1815 was a relief to both sides ; but it left a bad feeling behind which time has failed entirely to eradicate. In the War of Independence, as in this struggle, and to some extent in the Civil War of 1864, we have always most unfortunately been opposed to our own kith and kin. Be the faults what they may, they can scarcely be deemed entirely one-sided. But the evil legacy of armed opposition has a grim tendency to live on, whether it be with a successful or a defeated antagonist. One curious old custom arose out of the fighting of this time, with one regiment of the line, the 29th. Tradition is doubtful as to the precise time and place, the when and where the custom originated. Long before 1792, and up to about 1855, the officers were always accustomed to wear their swords at mess, and thus got the name of the " Ever-sworded Twenty- ninth." The custom is referred to in the old standing orders, and is believed to have arisen from a detachment of the regiment having been surprised by Indians at St. John's, and massacred, the deed being prompted by the French in- habitants from a feeling of revenge. Even now the captain and subaltern of the day appear with their swords at dinner, and in an officer's diary of 1792 it appears that, on one occasion, " One of our very best men, weighing twenty stone, found it so inconvenient that he was allowed to dine without his sword, provided it hung up immediately behind him." The tactical changes that had occurred up to 1793 were not numerous, at least as far as Europe was concerned. The number of ranks was reduced to three, and the battle formations were becoming more linear and less heavily columnar. Minden, again, had shown again what resolute infantry could do, and in that battle the effort to bring about a mutual co-operation of the three arms to a common end is increasingly apparent. But America had taught much. It is, perhaps, not too much to say that the campaigns there had turned men's minds in the direction of the fighting of the future, the value of independent fire action, and a century before it was seriously organised the value of mounted infantry. Bunker's I 123 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY Hill, and even Lexington, had borne grave testimony to the value of fire action. Tarleton, in Carolina, with his mounted troops from the old 63rd Regiment of the line, had proved conclusively the value of a mobile infantry. It took long, doubtless, for these ideas to bear fruit, but they did so in due course. The originally mounted infantry man the dragoon had ceased to be. He had become part of the cavalry of the time. He was to be revived, but not for another hundred years, to do his original duty, that of a mounted man fighting on foot, and then under another name. Much besides had happened militarily in this period of the army's story besides the campaigns already referred to. The " Horse Guards " as Army Headquarters had been so created in 1751. Light troops had been added in 1755 to the dragoons, some of which were eventually to come on the establishment, when amalgamated, as light cavalry regiments ; and about the same time second battalions were added to existing regiments, and of these, fifteen, numbering from the 6ist to the 75th, commenced later on an independent existence. Many of these had been raised for a campaign, disbanded, and re-formed more than once. Thus the 73rd, formed as a second battalion to the 42nd after the disaster of Ticonderoga, took that number in 1786, but it had been held successively by a second battalion of the 34th, then by the n6th and the present 7ist. These sudden alterations of strength in the Army List produced evils and suffering in every way. It was stated in 1763, after the reduction, that there were upwards of 500 ex-officers in gaol for debt, because of want of employment. Most of the regiments, both old and new, had flank companies of light infantry and grenadiers, which were detached to form, for the time, separate battalions during a campaign ; and the former were the precursors of the light infantry battalions of later years. The old force of Marines was disbanded in 1748, to reappear seven years later as a more purely naval force under the Admiralty, instead of being an army force, borne on the military establishment, and lent, more or less, to the navy. The Royal Artillery, first organised in a small way 124 iine- rms . . dem Bayonet- THE ARMY IN AMERICA TO 1793 by Marlborough, had become an independent body as far back as 1715, but it was not till 1743 it appeared on the estimates, nor until 1751 that officers were commissioned. Similarly with the Royal Engineers. At first practically civilians, military rank was not given them until 1757. The army was growing up into a more complete machine. There had been slight changes in the detail and colour of regimental uniforms, but of no great moment. A black line or " worm " was added as a border to the gold lace of the regiments that fought at Quebec, a privilege asserted to be granted only when the commander-in-chief of an army is killed in battle. But its true origin seems a mystery, for the old 1 3th Foot is said to have been granted it after Culloden. A curious system of regimental medals for merit depend- ing on the length of good and faithful service was introduced in 1767 by the 5th Foot. Arms had changed but little, and the preparation of ammunition was sufficiently primitive. Sergeants and corporals were directed to " carry a mould to cast bullets, and a ladle to melt lead in, with three spare powder horns and twelve bags for ball." Meanwhile, too, the militia had been more fully recognised as a second line for home defence ; and about 1757 a practical conscription by ballot for this force was proposed, and after much opposition carried in Parliament. During training they were to be under the Mutiny Act and Articles of War. These latter, drafted originally on the general's own responsibility when conducting a campaign, had been still reluctantly recognised by Parliament, and in 1754 had been extended, with even greater reluctance, to the East Indies and America. The old feeling of dread of independent governance by officers was still alive, though beneath the surface of things. As late as 1770, Beckford, Lord Mayor of London, remon- strated with the Secretary of State for War because a detach- ment returning from Spitalfields had marched past the Mansion House with drums beating, " making a very warlike appearance, and raising in the minds of peaceful citizens the idea of a town garrisoned with regular troops." It is curious 125 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY to watch, in the army's growth, how persistently the civil mind was antagonistic to the force that had carried its name, its reputation, and, soon, its trade to success and esteem. Yet Lord Bavington had to accept the remonstrance, and assure the civic chief that such should not occur again without his approval and approbation. Only the 3rd Buffs, the Royal Marines, the Royal London Militia, and the 3rd Grenadier Guards, because of their asserted origin from London trained bands, can claim as a right the privilege of marching through the city of London with fixed bayonets and colours flying. The army meanwhile had been largely increased and as frequently reduced. Many existing regiments have more than once borne other numbers than those they at present possess, owing to these changes. Thus in 1760 there were 100,000 armed men serving the State. Of these, to give an idea of the distribution of regiments in those days, there were in Great Britain 3 regiments of cavalry and 2 of infantry. In Ireland, 3 of cavalry and 17 of infantry ; in Gibraltar, 6 battalions ; in America and the West Indies 26 regiments of foot ; in India 4 ; in Africa 2, and in Jersey I ; while in Germany were 4 cavalry regiments and 16 infantry battalions. But despite all these changes the army had grown steadily. There were practically now in the Army List, putting aside the Foot Guards and the Household Cavalry, 77 battalions of the line, 7 regiments of Dragoon Guards, and 17 other cavalry regiments which have survived until the present day. The last three of the latter had been raised in 1759, and the I7th, then commanded by Colonel Hale, who had been present at Quebec, got the authority for the new regiment to carry on their standards the Death's Head, with the motto " Or glory," whence comes their sobriquet of the "Death or Glory Boys." So the isth, at first light dragoons, had a curious origin, for present at the town where the regiment was being raised were a large number of clothiers and tailors who had come to present a petition. This they, however, abandoned, to join the ranks of the new 126 Private l? 4792, THE ARMY IN AMERICA TO 1793 regiment ; but if tailors, they were still men, and performed prodigies of valour; so Granby said at Emsdorffin 1760. The Dragoon Guards had originally been regiments of cavalry, or horse, armed like the Household cavalry, and receiving a higher rate of pay than the mere dragoon, who, essentially a mounted infantry soldier, and armed at first with an infantry weapon, did not provide his own horse. This, at first, the men in the regiments of " horse," who were often the sons of substantial farmers and small landowners, did. When, however, the armament, equipment, and duties of both dragoon and horse were the same, and when the mounts for both were provided by the State, and the only difference was the rate of pay, amalgamation was inevitable. Hence, in 1746, three of the seven regiments of horse then existing, and in 1788 the remaining four were converted into Dragoon Guards, to distinguish them from the mere dragoon, and the same rate of pay was given to both branches. But two marked changes had been made in regimental designations. Up to 1751 they had borne the name of their successive colonels, a method both confusing i-n itself and lacking in that continuity of regimental history which a number or a title bestows. In that year, numbers were given to regiments of the line, and the seniority fixed by the date on which they came on the English Establishment. Uniformity of uniform was also settled, and facings directed to be worn. Finally, in 1787, county titles were bestowed on regiments, the forerunner of the " territorial system " that obtains now. 127 CHAPTER VIII THE ARMY AT SEA TO 1 815 THE history of the army in early days, and, in fact, up to the termination of the long war with France, was intimately associated with naval operations. This naturally arose from our insular situation ; and though at first English armies were largely employed in Continental war only, the time came when it was evident that blows of greater weight and greater political consequence could be aimed at an enemy's colonial empire than even in great Continental battles, which were invariably fought with the assistance of allies. There was little but barren honour to be got by such land campaigns ; but the naval operations were not only valuable as lessening an enemy's prestige, but also gave tangible rewards and results in prize-money for the men and territory for the State. In no other way, in fact, could Great Britain's supremacy at sea be used with greater effect ; and hence it is that in the battle-roll of many an English regiment are names of victories which are practically semi-naval affairs. In fact, the army has in its time been largely employed as marines, doing their twofold duty of in some cases acting as the ship's guard, and at others that of a force to be landed for active service and re - embarked when their work was done. Hence, regiments, though on the strength of the army, were often lent to the navy for such duty. Thus in 1664 was raised the " Admiral's Regiment," for service in the Dutch war, and was really the " Old Buffs," as this was the colour of their facings. Said to be raised from the London trained bands, which at that time must have formed a very good recruiting 128 THE ARMY AT SEA TO 1815 ground of drilled men, they in all numbered nearly 10,000 men, each ward furnishing a certain fixed proportion. But these early naval soldiers were practically regarded as a mere nursery for the navy, and when they had qualified as " foremast men," they were drafted as seamen, and fresh levy-money granted for recruits to take their place. On the cessation of the Dutch wars, the regiment was disbanded, to reappear in 1684 again as an "Admiral's Regiment," but with the imposing title of " H.R.H. the Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot." This was eventually incorporated with the Coldstream Guards, the Holland Regiment, formed about the same time, which had also sent some of its companies on naval duty, taking its place on the list, and numbering eventually the 3rd Regiment of the line, or " Old Buffs." The second title was given from the colour of the facings and linings of their coats, and to it was added the term " old " to distinguish them from the "Young Buffs," the 3 1st, which wore the same colour. Several other marine regiments were also raised, but they successively disappeared or were incorporated with other regiments. Naval operations themselves were also becoming more extended, and large fleets, rather than a few isolated ships, were beginning to push out, from the narrow offensive-defensive actions in and about the Channel, to wider seas and with greater aims. All this necessitated, if any impression was to be produced on the actual coastal people and defences of an enemy, the employment of soldiers. Not that the effect of local naval victories was less important in the past any more than in the future. The naval battle of La Hogue was, in a way, as effectual in checking invasion as was Trafalgar later. The very extension of the naval war of 1694 to the Mediterranean gave an opening for one of these maritime operations, of which the naval and military annals were for more than a century to be full. The action of the army as an irritant to the general body politic of the hostile state with which we were at war was to be evidenced. Thus, in 1694, the absence of the French fleet in the 129 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY Mediterranean led to an effort to damage the French arsenal at Brest, for which purpose a landing was attempted in Camaret Bay, when twelve regiments of the line and two of marines embarked under Talmash. Churchill was currently believed to be the cause of the disaster which followed ; for he is stated to have communicated the intended surprise to King James in France, so that when the expedition reached its destination, it was most vigorously opposed, and the general with 700 men fell. But in 1702, while six regiments were specially raised for sea service, of which only three, the 3Oth, 3ist, and 32nd, now remain, six other battalions were lent from the regular army for naval duty. These were the 6th, ipth, 2Oth, 34th, 35th, and 36th ; and they returned to land service in 1713, when the other three of the six marine battalions were disbanded. Again, in 1739 and 1749, ten other marine regiments were formed ; but these again were, according to the pre- vailing custom, done away with when, in 1748, war for a time ceased. But these newer levies were becoming more like true marines. They were to be quartered near the Government dockyards. They were to assist in the fitting out of ships as well as helping to man them. Other inde- pendent companies of a similar character were also formed in America and the West Indies, and many of these became absorbed in the ranks of the land forces ; but so close was the union between the sea and land regiments then, that exchanges between the officers of both were permitted. Up to this time, the sea service regiments had done good work. In 1702 eleven regiments of the line, of which the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th, and 32nd still remain, with a battalion of Guards and some Dutch regiments, were despatched to the Spanish coast. An attack was first made at Rota, in the bay of Cadiz, which was captured, but abandoned ; and then the squadron moved to Vigo Bay, where the Spanish galleons, laden with treasure and convoyed by a French fleet, had taken refuge. The entrance was difficult and guarded with batteries, and with a boom " made up of masts, 130 THE ARMY AT SEA TO 1815 yards, cables, top chains, and casks, about three yards in circumference, but this, though three-quarters of a mile long, and guarded at the ends by seventy-four-gun men-of-war, was broken by the Torbay of eighty guns, the other ships following, while the troops landed, stormed, and silenced the shore batteries at the Rhondella, and this with little loss. The booty amounted to 20,000,000 pieces of eight, and an equally valuable amount of merchandise, of which 14,000,000 pieces were saved, and about ^50,000,000 worth of stores ; while 4,000,000 pieces of plate and ten of merchandise were lost." x But the most noteworthy event of these times was the capture and retention in 1704 of Gibraltar, in which the 3Oth, 3 ist, and 32nd Regiments, serving as marines at first in Sir Cloudesley Shovel's fleet, bore a gallant part. This is the early history of one of our proudest possessions, even if it be not as valuable strategically now as it was when the century was young. Whoever the primaeval inhabitants of " the Rock " may have been, and their skulls and bones found in the stalagmitic limestone of the caves show they were of no high class but merely cave-dwellers, they were followed, somewhere about the eighth century, by the Moors. This curious wave of invasion from the East seems to have simply skirted the northern parts of Africa, until it reached what is now Algeria. It never penetrated far south, and yet it represents one of the few traces of civilisation in the dark continent. Most curious of all is it that African aborigines have done so little for themselves. All the civilising waves have been immigrant, from those who built the dead cities of Mashonaland to the men who have made Buluwayo. Such civilisation as North Africa possesses has been wholly of foreign origin. The negro race has done nothing worth mentioning, and it may well be believed, after the experience of Liberia, never will. So that the Arab invasion sought for other outlets for its expansion than the warmer clime of Mid or Central Africa. Reaching Algiers, Tarik the Conqueror passed across the 1 Schomberg's Naval Chronicles. THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY straits to the peninsula of Gibraltar, and built there, some- where about 725, a castle of which the existing Moorish tower may be a relic. It remained in Mohammedan hands for seven hundred and forty-eight years, and then, captured by the Spaniards, was remodelled, the " Gebel al Tarik " becom- ing Christian " Gibraltar." Its present arms, a castle with a key pendent at the gate, granted by Henry iv. of Castile, refer to its condition as a fortress once the key to the Mediterranean, but now, with the improvements in the range and size of modern guns, of less value than here- tofore. In 1704 the place was but feebly garrisoned, and fell mainly owing to the silencing of the batteries by the squadron and their occupation then by seamen landed from the ships. The troops, under the Prince of Hesse Darmstadt, meanwhile occupied the isthmus until the fortress sur- rendered. So important a capture was not likely to be agreed to without a further struggle, and in 1705 the Marquis de Villadarius was despatched to formally besiege it. The garrison, however, had been reinforced by the I3th and 35th Regiments, a battalion of Guards, and some Dutch troops, and though several gallant efforts were made to carry the place by assault they successively failed, and after seven months the siege was abandoned and converted into a partial blockade. It had cost the Spaniards and French some 10,000 men, but the garrison lost only some 400. For more than twenty years the British flag flew un- molested from the "Rock." But, in 1727, Spain made a more determined attempt to regain her lost possession. The strength of the fortress had been increased since the previous siege, but the armament was indifferent, many of the guns being so honeycombed as to be liable to burst on the first fire, and at least a hundred of them were so destroyed during the coming siege. But the command of the sea, and the presence of Hopson's powerful fleet, pre- vented stores reaching the Spanish army save by land, and reinforcements, composed of the Edinburgh Regiment, the 35th, some Engineer and Artillery officers and men, as well 132 THE ARMY AT SEA TO 1815 as, later on, another line battalion and one of the Guards, were despatched to the aid of the beleaguered fortress. So again, after a tedious four months, during which time about 3000 of the enemy and 300 of the garrison had fallen, a suspension of hostilities was agreed to, and followed by a treaty of peace. But the last and most sustained attack upon the place was made during the years 1781-83. Great Britain had been somewhat occupied, since 1775 and before, with war- like operations on the American Continent, and needed much of her naval strength to cope with French fleets and American corsairs, let alone to protect in addition her home waters. The entry of Spain into the arena intensified her difficulties ; and, as might be expected, the great dream of the new enemy was to seize the opportunity of England's difficulty and repossess herself of the key to the Straits. There was a strong French fleet cruising off Cape Finisterre in 1779, and a Spanish one in Cadiz Bay, either of which could spare a sufficiently powerful blockading squadron with- out risk. So that, by the middle of August 1779, the place was closely invested by a Spanish army at San Roque, and a fleet of four ships, five xebecs, and numerous " row-galleys " in the bay ; and preparations were made for the capture of Gibraltar by a formal siege, trenches, parallels, and siege batteries being carefully and laboriously constructed. The fortress was commanded by that gallant " Cock of the Rock," George Augustus Elliot. His garrison consisted of the I2th, 39th, 56th, and $8th Regiments, the old 72nd, or Royal Manchester Volunteers, disbanded in 1783, three Hano- verian regiments, and a company of Engineers. The strength of the place had been greatly increased, especially on the side facing the isthmus and Spain. Powerful batteries had been erected there, and galleries with portholes for guns had been hewn out of the solid rock. It was deemed impregnable in those days. It was thought that " No power whatever can take that place, unless a plague, pestilence, or famine, or the want of ordnance, musketry, and ammunition, 133 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY or some unforeseen stroke of Providence should happen." Throughout 1779 the place was simply blockaded, and there was little firing on either side. But provisions ran short. General Elliot himself tested practically that it was just possible to exist on four ounces of rice a day ! The arrival of Sir George Rodney's fleet early in 1780, after the destruction of a Spanish squadron off Cape St. Vincent, was therefore joyfully welcomed. It reprovisioned the fortress, removed the women, children, and invalids, and strengthened the garrison by a strong battalion of Highlanders, then numbered the 73rd, but now the 7ist Highland Light Infantry. But by March 1781 the stores again began to fail, and soldiers were directed to economise flour and go with unpowdered hair ; and a cargo of potatoes " run " by a polacca fetched 7, I os. 6d. a hundred-weight. The Spanish batteries, being complete and fully armed, opened a tremendous fire. Far from discouraging the garrison, they replied to it vigorously, though inferior in number of guns, and, more than that, executed a most brilliant sortie, storming the siege works and trenches, and setting fire to all the combustible material, doing damage, it was said, to the tune of 2,000,000, and that with a loss of but four killed and twenty-five wounded. In second line to the I2th, 39th, 72nd, 73rd, etc., who led the assault, were the 39th and 58th Regiments, commanded by General Picton, the uncle of the Peninsular hero. Finally, the continuous bombardment, broken only by the diversion effected by a British squadron conveying the 25th and 39th Regiments, culminated, on the I3th September 1782, in a desperate attack both by sea and land. Specially con- structed floating batteries, the sides of which were formed of timber with wet sand between, took part in the bombardment, when some 400 guns were hurling their projectiles into Gibraltar. But it was of no avail : the vessels were dis- abled and many burned. From the eighty cannon, with some mortars and howitzers, which formed the artillery of the defence, more than 8000 rounds were sent in reply, and quite one-half of them were red-hot shot. 134 THE ARMY AT SEA TO 1815 So the attempt failed, and though the fire was steadily continued, the attack was practically exhausted ; and the preliminaries of peace, signed in February 1783, were wel- comed by all. The famous siege had lasted three years, seven months, and twelve days. The loss suffered by the garrison amounted to 1231 men, and 205,328 shot were fired during that time. But other regiments embarked for local or special service were also meanwhile earning naval honours for the army. The 6th Regiment showed conspicuous gallantry in the attack on Fort Monjuich at Barcelona. The 6th, 9th, nth, 1 7th, 33rd, and 36th Regiments also served at Almanza in 1707, and the 6th also at Saragossa; while nothing can exceed the gallantry of the defence of the Castle of Alicante by a regiment now disbanded, when the officers refused to surrender, and drank the health of good Queen Anne in a bastion over the mine that a few minutes later blew the castle nearly in pieces ! Again, in the melancholy expedition to the Spanish Main in 1740-41, the 6th, i5th, i6th, and 36th Regiments served ; and the 6th, especially, suffered so terribly from fever at Jamaica in 1742 that when it returned home it had, from this and other causes, only eighteen men left of the eight hundred who sailed from England. The expedition, includ- ing the abortive attacks on Cuba and Carthagena, was throughout conducted in such a way as to be fruitless of result, and is noteworthy as a rare event in such expeditions, for the want of cordial co-operation between the naval and military commanders. In 1746 the Royal Scots, I5th, 28th, 3Oth, 39th, and 42nd were embarked under General Sinclair to destroy Port L'Orient, but beyond a feeble bombardment little was done, and the army re-embarked to make a similar abortive attempt at Quiberon Bay. Similarly, the 3Oth fought in the naval action of Finisterre as marines (in addition of course to those troops that had been definitely enlisted for sea service), and received the thanks of the Admiral for their general behaviour. At that time the proportion of marines 135 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY embarked in vessels of war was one man per gun ; a fifty- gun frigate carrying therefore fifty men. At the outbreak of hostilities in 1739-40, six regiments had been raised for sea service, and two years later four were added (numbering from the 44th to the 53rd inclusive though still bearing the names of their colonels) ; but all these ten regiments were disbanded in 1740, and with them the principle of lending line battalions to the fleet, except in 1741, practically ceased. For in 1755 fifty companies of true Marines were raised, who were to be placed on the strength of the navy and put under the definite command of the naval authorities. At this time the army had been reduced to forty-nine line battalions, so the newly raised Marine corps took rank after that regiment when serving with the land forces, and the 52nd Foot, raised in 1755, became the 5oth two years later. It is curious to note here, again, how fre- quently the number had changed. The first " Fiftieth " was "Shirley's American Provincials" formed in 1745, which received its number in 1754 and was disbanded in 1757. From this time forward, then, the land forces were only on occasional emergencies lent to naval squadrons for sea duty. That was to be carried out by the newly formed Marine companies, which, since their reorganisation in 1755, have continued as a military force paid by the navy, and not as a body lent when the occasion arose to the army. Thus its duties are twofold, as in one respect its superiors are. When borne on the books of a vessel of war, the Royal Marine is under the Naval Discipline Act, and subject to the supreme authority of the Admiral com- manding the fleet. On shore he is liable to the provisions of the Army Act, and owes allegiance to the officer com- manding the garrison in which he happens to be stationed. Employed, therefore, ashore as well as afloat, the history of the Royal Marines is that of both the army and the navy. Between their employment at Cork in 1690 and the cessation of the long war in 1815, the services of marine soldiers are mentioned in 369 naval actions and 169 coast operations and campaigns. This does not include numerous small 136 THE ARMY AT SEA TO 1815 "affairs" in which lives were lost. Between 1827 and the present date, again, there are more than thirty battles and campaigns in which they have taken part, and this list does not enter into details. So wide a story as theirs is that of the army itself almost, and extends far beyond the limits of these pages. But, briefly summarising the history, it may be said that the first fifty companies of a hundred men each were first formed into three divisions at Chatham, Portsmouth, and Plymouth, and to that, later, was added one at Wool- wich, which was disestablished, the depot at Walmer taking its place. Its badge, "the Globe," with the motto, "Per mare, per terram? were granted in 1 760, " for special service during the war " ; the title " Royal," when the facings were changed from white to blue, was granted in 1 802, " for its many and varied services"; and in 1827 George IV. added the laurel wreath to the globe, as well as " Gibraltar " and the royal cipher, to mark its gallantry in the defence of the fortress and "as the most appropriate emblem of a corps whose duties carried them to all parts of the globe, in every quarter of which they had earned laurels by their valour and good conduct." The designation " Light Infantry " was bestowed after 1855. To the light infantry companies were added, in 1804, artillery companies, which were formed into a distinct body, "the Royal Marine Artillery," in 1860. Some of the Marine regimental records are interesting as showing the inner life of the sea, or even land, soldier a hundred years ago. In the tailor's shop in 1755, for example, the idea of an eight hours' working day was evidently not a burning question ; for the men worked from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m., with one hour only for meals. Again, punishments were severe, as the sentences passed on three deserters in 1766 shows ; for while one was shot, the other two were to receive a thousand and five hundred lashes respectively. In 1 7SS two " private men absent from exercise " were "to be tyed neck and heels on the Hoe half an hour " ; while thirteen years later, a sergeant, for taking " coals and two poles " from the dockyard, was sentenced to five hundred lashes, 137 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY and to be "drummed out with a halter round his neck," after, of course, being reduced to the ranks. None the less, these were the men who fought the battles of the crown in the eighteenth century ; and perhaps of all their exploits, that of the " Diamond Rock," in 1804, is best worth noting. The rock lies near Cape Diamond, and is described by Davenant as " a rough-looking place, with little that was inviting about it a great firm rock, the highest point of which might be something over 500 feet above the level of the sea, the circumference of it less than a mile, and in its shape not at all unlike a haystack. On the west side there were bold, rugged cliffs, precipitous, sheer up and down walls, seeming as though they would defy all approach to them ; and the roar of the surf beating against the base of them was distinctly audible at the distance of a mile. Yet here was the only place where a landing could be effected. The other three sides of the Diamond Rock were simply inaccessible, presenting a perpendicular face from within a few feet of the summit. On the whole, it looked uncom- monly like a noli me tangere sort of place, reminding me of Lundy Island in the British Channel, where, as old Holinshed quaintly says, ' there is no entrance but for friends single and able.' " Its position was such that vessels passing between it and the shore in those days of sailing ships were often able to escape pursuit ; so, to prevent this, the rock was garrisoned by Lieutenant Maurice and a hundred and twenty marines and seamen, who for five months garrisoned the place, and which, during that time, appeared in the estimates as " His Majesty's sloop of war, Diamond Rock " ! So much trouble did the garrison give the French, that a squadron of five ships was despatched to capture it, but all attempts failed, until want of ammunition and provisions led to its exhaustion. Even when compelled to capitulate, how- ever, the small detachment made such terms that the British flag was not to be hauled down until the garrison had reached the ships, the men were to be permitted to wear their side arms, and were to be sent under a flag of truce to Barbadoes. A more extraordinary instance of coolness and bravery is 138 THE ARMY AT SEA TO 1815 not to be found in any page of our national history ; and the Marine service has always been popular, for what was stated in 1775 is equally true now, that " the Marines recruited better in every part of the island [of Great Britain] than the line." But, putting aside the operations undertaken solely by the marine, the soldier acting temporarily as such, or the blue- jacket, there were many others in which the army shared, though they do not form part of a connected series of battles such as characterise more serious campaigns. They partake rather of the nature of naval raids for the specific annoyance of the enemy, or attempts at the actual capture of his outlying possessions. They are individually interest- ing in many ways, but it would be impossible to do more than tabulate them more or less in order of occurrence, emphasising only the share the army took in them. Practi- cally ships of war either conveyed the soldiers as transports for the required duty, or themselves formed the escort and guard of the convoy of transports which accompanied the battleships, and for the time being formed part of the armada. Thus, when the Seven Years' War broke out, the attention of the French was directed towards Minorca, which, captured in 1708 by Stanhope, was regarded as only second in im- portance to Gibraltar for a naval power having interests in the Mediterranean. Its capture was the first appearance of England as a naval power possessing a naval base in that closed sea. It was garrisoned by the 4th, 23rd, 24th, and 34th Regiments ; and, unrelieved by Admiral Byng's fleet, on whose co-operation alone was it possible for the defender to hold out, its commandant, Blakeney, was compelled to surrender in 1755, though the troops behaved with such gallantry after the terrible bombardment, with numerical odds against them of some 20,000 to 3000, that they were allowed to march out with drums beating and colours flying, with all the honours of war. The siege had lasted from May to July. It is a noteworthy instance of the absolute importance of a most full and cordial co-operation between the naval and military commanders in cases such as these, when the army, cut from its home base, is dependent on the navy for its line K 139 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY of communications. In the future, without full command of the sea, isolated posts and coaling stations will be always at the mercy of bold and skilful raids, unless powerfully armed and sufficiently garrisoned. Minorca was restored to the British flag in 1763, and eighteen years later had to undergo a second siege by the French under Crillon, when, at the end, the governor, out of 660, had 560 on the sick list against 14,000 besiegers, and for the second time the fortress capitulated. It was taken for the third and last time by General Stuart (with the 8th and 42nd) in 1798, of whom it was said that no man could " manage Frenchmen like him, and the British will go to h 11 for him." Little resistance was made, and the number of the prisoners exceeded that of the invaders. It was ceded finally to Spain in 1802. In 1758 a force was despatched to destroy the shipping at St. Malo, and to capture Cherbourg, both of which affairs were successfully conducted, the docks being blown up, and the brass cannon captured taken in triumph through the streets of London ; but success in these somewhat pitiful operations was to receive a rude check, for a third landing in the bay of St. Cas was conducted with such contempt for all military precautions, that the force, on re-embarking, was heavily beaten by the French, and while many boats were sunk by the fire of artillery, some forty-six officers and eight hundred men were left prisoners in the hands of the enemy. In 1759 the first serious attempts at extending our power over the West Indies began ; as did the first serious effort for the conquest of Canada, the main action in which was the gallant capture of Quebec. An expedition, in which the 3rd, 4th, 6ist, 63rd, 64th, 65th, some marines, and a second battalion of the 42nd, raised readily and rapidly to avenge the loss of the first battalion at Ticonderoga the previous year, took part, was therefore despatched under General Hopson, and though they failed at Martinique, they succeeded, after much toil and privation for three months, during which the climate was a more deadly foe than the French, at 140 THE ARMY AT SEA TO 1815 Guadaloupe. Similarly, two years later, while one force was sent to harass the French coast and destroy the harbours of refuge for French privateers, and suchlike, on the island of Belleisle in the Bay of Biscay, a success in which the 3rd, 9th, I9th, 2ist, 2$th, 37th, 6ist, etc., Regiments shared, and where Private Samuel Johnson, though severely wounded, distinguished himself by killing six men in the defence of his wounded officer ; another army composed of the 1st, i/th, and 22nd Foot completed the capture of the Caribbean Sea Colonies by the occupation of Dominica, Martinique, St. Vincent, and St. Lucia. When Spain, too, joined the enemies of Great Britain in 1762, and it was found impracticable to land an army on the Continent, it was none the less clearly evident that decisive blows could be struck against her in other parts of the world. In the far East was Manila, which since 1564 had been her undisturbed possession. But the old 79th from Madras, with some other troops, marines and sailors, gave a " good account of it," and 9 colours and 536 guns were taken with the fortress, though "the front we were obliged to attack was defended by the bastions of St. Diego and St. Andrew, with orillons and retired flanks, a ravelin which covered the royal gate, a wet ditch, covered way, and glacis," and the attacking force was totally inadequate to attempt the full investment of the place. But this was not the only material gain. A still more important expedition was despatched to the West Indies to take Havannah. The troops embarked were the 1st, 9th, 22nd, 34th, 4Oth, 42nd, 56th, 72nd, 9Oth, and others, and there, after much hard fighting and considerable hardships, during which at one time over 5000 men were on the sick list, effected the storm of the Moro Castle and the place. Great indeed was the prize. Nine sail of the line were taken in the harbour, 361 guns on the fortifica- tions, and treasure valued at nearly 3,000,000 sterling. The Commander-in-chief s share amounted to 122,697, but poor " Thomas Atkins," who had borne even more the burden and heat of the day, got but 4 odd ! 141 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY Still these two great captures were the most important effected during the whole war, and the combined army and navy had, both in the East and West, as fully " singed the King of Spain's beard " as did Drake some two hundred years before. So again (and it is curious to see how little was known beforehand in those days of an enemy's probable move- ments), the French fitted out a squadron at Brest and recap- tured Newfoundland ; but they only held it for a short time, as the fleet sailed away, as Byng's did, without supporting the troops on shore, and the 45th and 77th re-took and garrisoned St. John's. For nearly twenty years there is little to record as regards these isolated affairs ; but in 1779 the French took St. Vincent, Granada, the small garrison of the latter place having been surprised in the dark by some of the Irish Brigade, who, "by speaking the same language, were admitted into the entrenchments as friends," and "imme- diately overpowered our troops by numbers ; " l and in the naval actions that accompanied the closing scenes of the American War of Independence, the 4th and 46th again served as marines in Admiral Byron's squadron, as did, in 1780, some of the 5th in Rodney's fleet. One romantic story of the army of this time found its conclusion at Gibraltar. Many years before, a certain Maria Knowles, a tall, handsome Cheshire girl, fell in love at War- rington Market with a certain Sergeant Cliff of the Guards, who was on recruiting duty. When he returned to his regi- ment, the girl ran away and enlisted in the same regiment as the man she loved, but who does not appear up to that time to have reciprocated her passion. She accompanied a draft to Holland, fought in several engagements in Flanders, and, on being desperately wounded at Dunkirk, the secret of her sex was discovered. On recovering, she was induced to divulge the reasons for her action, and the officers provided them with a handsome subscription, and the chaplain of the 66th married them. Later on, he was promoted adjutant of the 1 Scots Magazine. 142 THE ARMY AT SEA TO 1815 66th, and died at Gibraltar, whence his widow, with one son, returned to England in 1798. The outbreak of the French Revolution, and the beginning of the long war with France, led to a resumption of these combined operations. Thus, in 1794, Paoli, a Corsican patriot, determined on throwing off the French yoke, and for this purpose invited England's co-operation. Curiously enough, against him fought a young artillery officer, one Napoleon Bonaparte. The force was composed of the ist, nth, i8th, 25th, 3Oth, 5oth, 5ist, and 69th Regiments, and the I2th Light Dragoon Regiment, under Colonel, afterwards Sir John, Moore; and it seems strange to read now that when resistance ceased, a " Te Deum " was sung in the Cathedral ol Bastia, and prayers were read for " George III., King of Great Britain and Corsica " ! Some of the 1 2th were employed at Civita Vecchia, and so good was their conduct that the Pope Pius VI. presented each of the twelve officers with a gold medal. In due course Corsica was resigned to native hands, without any attempt or desire on the part of Great Britain to retain it. In these years, too, Tobago, St. Pierre, and Miquelon were captured ; and the 1 3th, with some of the 49th, assisted at the capture of St. Domingo. Martinique was also taken, and the ist and 3rd Regiments shared in the operation. Cape St. Vincent, on the 1 4th February 1797, saw not only the brilliant victory of Admiral Jervis over the Spanish fleet, but the gallant board- ing of the San Nicolas by the seamen and some of the 69th, who acted as marines under Lieutenant Charles Pierson. For while the officer commanding dropped on to the deck of the enemy's ship from the spritsail yard, a private of the 69th dashed in the window of the quarter gallery from the fore chain of the Captain, and led the boarding column. The year following a brilliant dash was made with the object of damaging Ostend, and, like many others of these harassing and essentially useless debarkations, it did much damage ; but, failing to be able to re-embark, the assailants were compelled to surrender. The force was but 1200 strong all told, with 6 guns, and was made up of detachments of 143 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY the Guards, nth, 23rd, and 49th Foot, and a few men of the i /th Light Dragoons under General Coote. Similarly useless and disastrous was the abortive passage of the Dardanelles in 1807, which was followed by a feeble descent on Egypt, in pursuance of the idea, this time, of harassing the Turk. But the army was too weak to effect any real annoyance, and the 35th, 78th, and 3ist sacrificed useless lives at Rosetta and El Hamet, the detachment of the 78th being surrounded and losing 260 men out of 275. Several of the men became leaders in the Turkish army, and one Scottish drummer boy was until recently still living, the last survivor of General Eraser's small command. But there were two incidents in these times that are worth recording, those of the first attempts against South America at Buenos Ayres and Monte Video, and the successive operations that led to the conversion of the Cape of Good Hope into an English colony. Beginning with the latter, it will be remembered that it was first taken possession of in 1795, with the consent of the Prince of Orange, but contrary to the desire, apparently, of the colonists, who resisted the attempt to occupy a position at Simon's Bay held by the 78th and some marines ; but when reinforced by the 84th, 95th, and 98th Regiments, an advance was made on Wynberg, where, after a slight skirmish, the inhabitants surrendered. In the same year a number of other small Dutch possessions, including Colombo, fell into English hands. The Cape was resigned in 1801 by the treaty of Amiens ; but the alliance between the Erench and Dutch led to the assembling of an expedition for its recapture, in which a Highland brigade, the 7ist, 72nd, and 93rd Regiments, a brigade composed of the 24th, 38th, 59th, and 83rd Regiments, with the 2Oth Light Dragoons, and one field battery with two howitzers, took part. The resistance was most feeble, and the enemy, though armed with nineteen cannon, barely awaited the attack of even the Highland brigade. A number of the natives there were later formed into a regiment by Colonel Graham, and these were the forerunners 144 THE ARMY AT SEA TO 1815 of the Cape Mounted Rifles, a force which has done good service in Kaffir wars since. In connection with this conquest, so important in the expansion of our Eastern Empire, may also be recorded the capture, in 1810, of Mauritius from France, and Java from the Dutch, in which the I2th, iQth, 22nd, 65 th, 84th, and 89th, under Abercrombie, and the I4th, 59th, 69th, /8th, and 89th, under Auchmuty, took an active part. Their capture freed those seas from the Dutch and French privateers, and secured our trade route with Calcutta. The want of employment militarily, in South Africa, led to the transference of the theatre of war to South America. In 1806, a small force of dragoons, marines, and the 7 1st Foot occupied Buenos Ayres with scarcely any opposition, but the Spanish afterwards assembled in some strength, and compelled General Carr Beresford to capitulate. Measures were at once taken to remedy this disaster. Colonel Vassall of the 38th, and Colonel Backhouse, with the 43th, occupied the island of Maldonado, which com- manded the harbour of the same name, and, after storming the batteries, furnished a safe and protected anchorage for the fleet, which, with General Auchmuty, and the 38th, 4Oth, 47th, 87th, a company of the 7ist, the 93rd, some marines, and the I7th Light Dragoons, was on the way from England. The enemy were defeated outside the town of Monte Video, when the advance was made from Maldonado, but the further effort to penetrate into the city, through a breach made by a few light guns, met with the most determined resistance, and the assault of the " Gibraltar of America" cost some 600 officers and men out of the 1200 who formed the column of assault, among whom was Colonel Vassall, who had won the affec- tionate regard of the 38th Regiment, which he commanded. So much so was this the case, that it is said that when the regiment returned home and was stationed in Ireland, a publican " realised a little fortune by simply hoisting as his sign the effigies of the colonel," and the " Vassall Arms " were as popular there as was the name of the " Marquis of Granby," Dorking, in former years. 1 1 Stocqueler. H5 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY The capture was some consolation for the loss of Buenos Ayres, and Auchmuty's success led to the hope that our disaster there might be avenged. So it might, possibly, had that general retained command ; but the army was to be placed under that of General Whitelock, who was reinforced by General Crawford from the Cape with the 5th, 36th, 45th, 88th, the Rifles, some artillery, and the 6th Dragoon Guards. A more extraordinary exhibition of want of judgment on the part of a general in command has rarely been witnessed. Throughout the previous operations, both of Beresford and Auchmuty, there had been no trace of want of fighting power on the part of the enemy. But everything now seems to have been left to guess. Reconnaissance was ignored, though General Beresford had escaped from the town and, joining his chief, could have given him the fullest information. The possible nature of the defence with flat- roofed houses, each of which, defended by its owner and his negroes, became a fortress ; deep ditches and barricades formed across the streets ; stout buildings stoutly held ; grape-loaded guns entrenched to sweep the avenue ; were so little imagined, that " from motives of humanity " Heaven save the mark ! many of the men's arms were unloaded, and others not provided with flints or even locks, 1 lest they should " fire wantonly on the inhabitants." Doubtless this was much exaggerated, but there is no doubt that the muskets were generally empty. The strong force of artillery captured at Monte Video was not used at all, when a steady bombardment before any attempt at assault or penetration into the town would have been of the highest value. Yet, hemmed in and helpless as the columns were, their bravery and steadfastness stand out in brilliant contrast to the culp- able and idiotic folly of their most incompetent generals. The 88th especially distinguished themselves, and one portion of the army was compelled to surrender, having fired its last cartridge, while Crawford, hemmed in on all sides, had to lay down his arms too. When Whitelock finally agreed to withdraw, having lost 2500 men, according to his 1 Stocqueler. 146 THE ARMY AT SEA TO 1815 despatch, he surrendered Monte Video as well, and on his return to England was justly court-martialled. He was found guilty, and was cashiered, and so much was his name held in detestation by the people, that when, in 1830, he asked the landlord of the Somersetshire inn in which he was staying, to drink with him, the man, when he knew who his guest was, refused to " drink another glass with him," at the same time throwing down the price of the bottle, that he might not be indebted to the cashiered general. The first efforts at conquest on the South American mainland had met with little save disaster and disappoint- ment, and were absolutely barren of result. Our other possessions on that continent were gained, not by hard fighting there, but by treaties dependent on hard fighting elsewhere. Both British Guiana and Honduras saw no battles fought on their soil by British soldiers. The former, captured in 1796, was confirmed to the English rule in 1814 ; the latter became a crown colony in 1867. Thus, though many of these expeditions rather partook of the nature of filibustering raids than real war, they none the less are interesting as showing the gradual extension of military operations beyond the main theatre of war. In many cases, doubtless, as in the landing on the French coast, no real benefit was derived from them, and they only tended to exasperate and embitter a contest that already was sufficiently imbued with these feelings. They brought the horrors of war on defenceless people, as well as on the enemy's military and naval resources. In so doing they harassed and annoyed, and to some extent lent their aid to the otherwise needless dispersion of the enemy's troops ; but such deeds only lead to reprisals, and, like killing indi- vidual soldiers on outpost duty, have little real effect on the conduct or result of a campaign. Still there were many cases in which the semi -naval operations were of supreme value to a great naval power. The true outlet for a vigorous nation's natural expansion is its colonies. Shorn of these, in many instances the parent country loses its most vital limbs, with increasing injury to 147 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY the main trunk. Morally, as well as politically, the loss of colonial empire gravely affects the mother country. The loss of the American States to England long lowered her prestige in the eyes of Europe, and for a time led nations to think her end as a great power had come. The dropping away from Spain and Portugal of those vast colonies which owe their origin and existence to the energy of the people of those countries in the past, have left the mother countries far behind in the race, low down in the political scale of Europe. Hence the conquest of French and Spanish colonies in this prolonged war was not only a serious loss to the States concerned, but an important element of strength to the power that first of all effected the conquest, and then was strong enough to hold them. No doubt, in days when steam and telegraph were not, the element of secrecy entered largely into the calculation of how these attacks could be successfully planned and executed. It was possible then to attempt what now would be far more risky, because foreseen. "To be forewarned" is more than even "to be forearmed" in these modern days. But, in addition, there is one other point to be considered in thinking of what was done in past wars, and so examining if similar things could be done in the future. Would the bombardment of open, or feebly defended, coast towns be permitted ? Would that old " harassing " side of war, with- out any other end beyond that of harassing, be considered justifiable now ? There is a certain general and no longer local public opinion to be considered nowadays, and much that was done when the nineteenth century was young will be very possibly looked on as barbarous and unnecessary when another century dawns. Lastly, the means of local defence have also largely increased. It is common to see, as at Havana, how frequently forts and batteries were fully silenced by the fire from the fleet, whose guns were certainly not of great power. But coast batteries are now more scientifically and powerfully built, and mount guns quite as formidable, if not more so, than battleships can carry. Ranges are greater, and the 148 THE ARMY AT SEA TO 1815 accuracy of fire enormously improved, and ground mines and active torpedoes can make situations, whence fleets could formerly best act, too dangerous now to be occupied at all. Quick-firing and machine guns, repeating rifles, and what not, will render boat operations practically impossible, except at night. Such landings as those at Aboukir Bay, etc., should be now out of the question. It may safely be surmised that the class of operations referred to in this chapter will be less easy of execution in the future than when Guadaloupe was taken. But one thing is clearly apparent in watching the story of this combination of military and naval war. It was only as England began to feel her strength, and, by increasing her squadrons, to have the power of showing it, that she really began to grow to greatness. At first the wars were local and somewhat restricted on shore, as were the actions of the fleets. But the desire to get at France and Spain on both sides, or all along their coast lines, led, instinctively almost, to the capture of Gibraltar, the gateway to the Medi- terranean, and next to seize Minorca, as she did later Malta, and then Cyprus, as a base of operations for her naval strength. Such harbours or bases are needful always for rest, refitting, reprovisioning, and, now, recoaling. No such fortified place is by itself a menace ; it is only the basis of that active menace, the sea-going fleet of battleships. Neither Malta nor Biserta would in the least affect the destinies of the world unless behind the shelter of their defensive works was a sea-going fleet capable of offensive action. The defence of the fortress is purely passive ; the defence power of the fleet is, like that of cavalry, either active or nothing. This in the last century was the use of Minorca. So, with the extension of the idea, the growing size of the fleet, came greater ideas of expansion and greater powers of carrying it out. Success had produced confidence. Confidence had created greater boldness. Commerce had increased, and continued to increase, despite the continuous wars. Though the loss of ships was terrible, the merchant navy still went forth bravely upon the seas. Merchant princes must have had calm, philosophical heads to have 149 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY recognised, as they must have done, an almost certain per- centage of serious loss of both ship and cargo. Such loss was to be risked from the mouth of the Thames to the mouth of the Hudson, and yet still the traders sought the open sea. Is such a spirit alive now, or is the commercial dread of loss in the end of the nineteenth century greater than the commercial fearlessness of the early part of it ? That only the next war can prove. But the next stage in the national growth which is clear in these bygone days, is that commercial expansion led to bold enterprises against the enemy's colonies, on which his commerce much depended. It was so with the expansion of the Indian Empire on the one hand, and the American Empire, after the conquest of Canada from the French, on the other. Both led to yet another idea, of which earlier history could show no trace. The connection between these growing empires and the mother country was becoming increasingly important, and so remained until they were self-supporting or self-dependent. With British India, then a mere spot on the peninsula of Hindustan, it was to home and England only that she could look for everything. Until the vast territories along the banks of the Potomac, the Hudson, or the Ohio had been subdued and become populous, only the mother country could be of use to help her struggling Western children in their early youth. To guard the roads by which this necessary help must come was all-important then, as it is now with such of our dependencies as have not grown up to that national manhood which means independence of all maternal support. Hence, then, the natural and instinctive desire to possess the Cape of Good Hope. None saw then that there were other advantages and channels of expansion, besides the Cape itself, to be gained in the " Hinterland " to those unknown but reported " Mountains of the Moon." It was only as being a port on the road to India, in those days, that made the Cape valuable, and for a very simple reason. Ships, like men, require stores and food. Supplies run short, sails are destroyed, boats swept away. These calling places 150 THE ARMY AT SEA TO 1815 are to the navy what "the Stores'' are to the individual ; and if access to such places were denied, the ship and the individual would suffer. A hostile Table Bay or Simon's Bay would have meant, in those days, no house of call between St. Helena and Bombay ! Therefore it is so interesting to watch this gradual expansion of the national idea of empire based entirely, instinctively, and rightly on the colonies we were founding. The whole " earth hunger " of Great Britain, if viewed in its natural light, is the opening of new lands for trade, the ex- tension of colonial empire by true colonists, men who mean to make the new realm their permanent home, and the pre- serving intact, with a good series of supply stations along these unmarked ways, the roads that unite Great Britain with her colonial children. Brave and gallant as had been the conduct of soldiers on board ship, whether acting as marines afloat or as landed parties, there are other instances of skill and courage equally well worth recording. In 1852 the Birkenhead transport was on its way to India, with drafts of the I2th Lancers, and of the 2nd, 6th, 1 2th, 43rd 45 th, 6oth, 73rd, 74th, and pist Regiments, under the command of Colonel Seton, and, entering Simon's Bay, struck on a sunken rock, and began to fill. She was ill provided with boats, for there was scarcely sufficient accommodation for the women and children, let alone the crew or the gallant representatives of the army, and the harbour swarmed with sharks. But the noble spirit of duty, that fearlessness of death and danger which all brave men have and which discipline intensifies, was never shown more grandly than in this moment of supreme peril. The men fell in on the upper deck as if on parade, and there they stood, bearing themselves as stoutly before that dread foe death, as ever they had or would have done before an earthly enemy, while the weeping, helpless, women and little ones were being saved. And standing there, while the officers shook hands and wished each other good-bye, the Birkenhead sank THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY beneath their feet. Of 630 souls on board, only 194 were saved, and among them, Captain Wright of the pist Similarly, in 1857, sheer coolness and discipline saved an entire ship. For the 54th were on their way to Mauritius, when the vessel caught fire. It was only through the exertions and steadiness of the men that the ship was saved at all, and then she reached her destination a mere burnt-out shell. Nor was the case of the BirkenJiead the only one in which the greatest of all bravery facing death in cold blood was evidenced by men of the pist In 1846, the reserve battalion was taking passage in the Abercroinbie Robinson, when the vessel was wrecked near Cape Town. But the 500 men of the Qist assembled on deck as if on parade, and kept the grim silence of discipline until the women and children were safely in the boats. Noteworthy is the discipline and patience of the gallant 78th, when the transport Charlotte, in which they had embarked, for transference from Batavia to Calcutta in 1816, ran ashore on a sunken rock a few miles from the island of Preparis, and that so violently, that in fifteen minutes she filled to her main deck. Though death was apparently imminent, the men behaved like the heroes and soldiers they were. Every man waited for orders, and there was no sign of panic or disobedience. The women, children, and sick were transported to the island, with a few bags of rice only, and a few pieces of salt pork. It was four days before the rest of the men and crew were landed on the inhospitable shores of Preparis, and during that time some 140 men were quartered on a raft fastened to a rock near the ship that was just aflush with water at low tide. There they had neither sleep, nor food, nor water. But the most perfect order obtained none the less. When they were all got on to the island, things were little better. They remained without relief from the 9th November until the 6th December, by which time even the poor two-day allowance of a glass of rice and two ounces of meat per head had been exhausted. Shell-fish were collected at low tide and stored. All such finds were brought to the common 152 THE ARMY AT SEA TO 1815 stock, and there was no need even for a guard ! Officer and man shared the same privation until the final relief came, and throughout the discipline of the men was perfect. But it is not merely in times of dangerous emergency that soldiers alone have shown that they are descended from those Vikings who were the true marines, equally good on shore or afloat. At the conclusion of the China war of 1 860, the regiments engaged returned to England, and among them were the Buffs. Three companies of this grand old regiment, who, like the Royal Marines, claim their descent from London trained bands, and oftentimes had done sea- going duty, embarked on board the Athleta. All went well till after she had touched at the Cape to water. The crew was like many a merchant's crew now, even if not much more so now than then, built up of indifferent materials, probably what is known as " Beachcombers," men who in sterner days were marooned on desert islands. The gold fever in Australia, too, had set in, and hence caused desertions in homeward bound crews. So the crew of the Athleta tried to desert, and were prevented, and then came aft in a body to complain of imaginary ill-treatment, and request to be taken on shore before a magistrate. To have done so would have been fatal ; and the commanding officer of the Buffs stepped in. He suggested that the captain should at once " weigh " and go to sea. The crew refused to move a finger in the matter. Colonel Sargent proposed, as a quiet and friendly way of settling the matter, to put the seamen in the fo'castle, with an armed guard for their protection, and bread and water for their food, while the Buffs worked the ship home. Captain Potter joyfully assented, and went to sea with his strange, untrained, crew. Volunteers were asked to go aloft, and the detach- ment was cautioned as to its dangers, and the supreme necessity for coolness and readiness of resource ; and was told that to be ordered aloft was contrary to Queen's regulations. None the less, sixty stalwart lads stepped forward, and of these, twenty-eight were chosen for the yards and " tops." A week's duty of this kind brought the 153 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY mutineers to their senses ; that and the bread and water probably. They prayed to be allowed to return to their duty, and did so. Colonel Sargent thought, and rightly, that " he had had pleasure in going aloft with them himself, because the boldest and most zealous of his men had never been in the rigging before, and some had not even been on board a ship of any kind previous to their voyage out and home." Captain Potter thought and said that he " was perfectly astonished to see soldiers able to turn themselves all at once into such good sailors, and to teach so wholesome a lesson to his crew, not one of whom, he was convinced, would ever again strike work in a vessel on board of which British soldiers were embarked." The Buff crew refused payment for their extra work, when it was proposed to stop a portion of the mutineers' pay and hand it over to the new crew, and " wished to enjoy the satisfaction of feeling that they had only done their duty as British soldiers, determined to support their commanding officer in any position." The incident is not merely one of passing interest, it evidences that sentiment du devoir and discipline which, combined, form the finest soldiery the world has ever seen. These are but a few of the noble records of the " Army at Sea." 154 CHAPTER IX THE PENINSULAR ARMY: (a) ITS MAKING 1793-1808 PEACE general peace at all events had reigned from 1783 to 1789, when the French Revolution broke out. With the merits or demerits of that great struggle this story has nothing to do ; but none the less the overthrow of the monarchy of France not only created an almost continuous condition of war for a quarter of a century, but helped most materially to raise to the highest pitch the Continental opinion as to the military value of Great Britain. Its naval strength throughout that quarter of a century was most fully proved. It re- mained for the stubborn fighting power of the land forces to be displayed during the same eventful period. French anger, English panic, had dragged the latter into open war with France, and that not without allies. All the world began by being against the new Republic : small wonder, then, that in her new-born freedom she turned bitterly against her world-wide antagonists, and fought them all. That she did not fully conquer them was largely due to one small State England. The wealth of the latter, even then comparatively greater than the Continent, her naval pre- ponderance, infinitely greater, as events proved, than that of her antagonist, though her numerical fighting strength as compared with the Continental powers was but small, and her insular position, made her eventually almost the arbiter of Europe, when the great struggle drew to an end. As usual, the actual number of the army throughout the years from 1793 to 1808 constantly varied. The 150,000 men under arms in 1780 was reduced to 40,000 the next L 155 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY year, was increased the year after to about 55,000 in Great Britain, and fell in 1784 to 18,000 at home, 12,000 in the " Plantations," and some 6000 in India. The provision for the latter force was made by a new and special vote. The importance of the growing empire in the East was being at last recognised. The system of levying troops continued much the same. Men were enlisted voluntarily by heavy bounties, and when that attraction failed, the pressgang, or even the prisons, was then employed to raise recruits. Unless disbanded at the end of a campaign, they served for life, or till worn out ; but the dawn of a short - service system appeared in 1805, when the period of service was fixed at seventeen years. 1 But the continued necessity for an increased army, and the dread of serious invasion that obtained, and not without reason, during the closing days of the eighteenth and the early days of the nineteenth centuries, was fast wearing down the old civil dislike. Officers on half-pay were rendered liable to trial by court martial. The militia system was introduced into Scotland, and the Shropshire Regiment was the first of the English militia to serve in that country, while greater care was taken as regards home defence. France was not content with a mere defensive role ; but attempted, though with extreme feebleness, to carry the war into her enemy's territory. She had threatened to land at Ilfracombe and then in Pembrokeshire ; and actually did so at Castlebar during the Irish insurrection of 1797-98, though with no result save that of having to surrender. Ireland in that year had required, as she has before and since, a large garrison, and seven regiments of cavalry and four of infantry had been necessary to put down the rising that was practically crushed at Vinegar Hill. The pay of the rank and file remained much the same, is. a day for a private ; but the stoppage for the food ration out of it amounted to 6|d. Still the army was everywhere growing in esteem and in popularity. Decorations and brevets were largely bestowed in 1795, after the return of 1 Stocqueler. I 5 6 THE PENINSULAR ARMY 1793-1808 the army from foreign service. Frequent reviews, at which George III. and the Prince of Wales attended, were held. The Duke of York was a popular Commander-in-Chief, and did much to improve the discipline of the army. He was so well liked by the men as to win the name of the/' Soldier's Friend," a title which his founding the " Royal Military Asylum " for the education of soldiers' children emphasised. Under his auspices, too, and helped by Sir David Dundas, the somewhat varied and irregular systems of drill were made uniform by the introduction of the first real drill-book, the Rules and Regulations for the Formations, Field Exercise, and Movements of His Majesty's Forces, in 1792. At that time Prussia was looked on as the great school- master in the art - military, as France was later, and as Germany is now. The English army has been mainly a copyist of other people's methods since the century began. If, after the Crimea or the Italian campaign of 1859, we adopted kepi-shaped hats, baggy "pegtop" trousers, and " booted overalls " for riding, so, when Germany became successful, we copied her " Blucher boots," flat-topped forage- caps, infantry helmet, and rank distinctions ! In this case, too, the Prussian system was the basis of our drill instruction, and, with but slight modifications, so re- mained until 1870, when linear formations gave place to extended order. The pace was increased from 75 to 80 per minute for the ordinary march or movement, but one of 120 (our present quick march) was permitted for wheeling and such minor manoeuvres ! The ranks were, when the book first appeared, three deep, as obtained in Germany, until the death of the late Emperor; but light infantry were allowed to form two deep before skirmishing. The battalion had ten companies, including the flank or " Light " and " Grenadier " companies. The absolute rigidity of the line was insisted on. To be able to form line from open column without either making gaps or causing crowding was the essence of good drill ; and hence, the " march past," if well executed, was really then a true test of the efficiency of 157 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY a battalion. Other editions of this drill-book were published in 1809, 1815, and 1817, but in 1808, the three-rank forma- tion was abolished for active service. It has been surmised that the necessity, with the small armies we despatched in these days, of this reduction in depth was made in order that a wider front might be offered to the frequently numerical superiority of our adversaries. 1 In all our early campaigns, notoriously those of the Marlborough period, the British infantry had shone in the offensive. From the steady advance against Blenheim to the vigorous dash at Lincelles, it had shown how capable it was of attacking even against enormous odds. And yet from 1800 almost until now there has been an impression that our army is better on the defensive than in the attack. Even after Waterloo, Muffling writes : " I felt a strong convic- tion that if fortune so far favoured us in a battle that the English army could act on the defensive, while the Prussians acted simultaneously on the offensive, we should obtain a brilliant victory over Napoleon." Unfounded as such an idea was, if the military history of the past be examined, there is no doubt it remained a tradition for long after the battle that proved once again the undaunted steadiness of the British line. But the main change was in the extension of the principle of skirmishing which the American war had intro- duced. For a long time the " light companies " of battalions were designed to cover the front of the line during its advance and protect it while manoeuvring. Built up for specific purpose into battalions, they formulated a drill of their own ; which General Dundas in his Principles of Military Movements condemns. The rapid movements adopted met with little favour from an officer imbued with the stiff rigidity of Prussian drill-sergeants. " The importance of light infantry has more particularly tended to establish this practice. During the late war their service was con- spicuous, and their gallantry and exertions have met \vith merited applause. But instead of being considered as an 1 The late Sir G. Pomeroy Colley. I 5 8 THE PENINSULAR ARMY 1793-1808 accessory to the battalion, they have become the principal feature of our army, and have almost put grenadiers out of fashion. The showy exercise, the airy dress, the indepen- dent modes which they have adopted, have caught the minds of young officers, and made them imagine that these ought to be general and exclusive." All this the drill-book of 1792 was designed to remedy, but though it produced uniformity, which was valuable, it failed to check the development of permanent light infantry battalions, such as composed the magnificent Light Brigade of the Peninsular days. But when, in 1804, a Camp of Instruction was formed at Shorncliffe under General John Moore, a new era to some extent began. Moore did not favour the rigid drill of Dundas's drill-book of 1792. He "d d the Eighteen Manoeuvres," which were looked on as essential for a well- trained regiment to undergo. He introduced the system of light infantry drill which was the basis of all such work in our army and in our drill-books up to 1870; and the regiments he trained, the 4th, 52nd, 57th, 59th, and 95th, came nobly to the front when the time arrived. The general was knighted a year later, and the 52nd presented him with a diamond star, valued at 350 guineas, in token of their appreciation of his services ; while as colonel of the first regiment named officially " Light Infantry," he chose for one of the supporters of his coat of arms a light infantry soldier. The other was a Highlander, in remembrance of the help one of the 92nd had given him when wounded at Egmont-op-Zee. Abroad, the formations were generally columnar, more or less, and the movements of these dense bodies was covered, as was the line elsewhere, by skirmishers from the light (flank) companies or light infantry battalions. The French also had foreshadowed two modern improvements in the use of balloons at Fleurus and the introduction of telegraphy by means of semaphores. In England, on the other hand, General Congreve had invented the war-rocket in 1805, and two years before, Sir Henry Shrapnell the 159 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY " spherical case," which afterwards took his name and which was first used with effect at Vimiera. Fighting was tolerably general in Europe from 1793 to the Peace of Amiens in 1802. We had been fighting at sea with the French in Lord Howe's victory of the ist June and at the Nile, with the Spanish at Cape St. Vincent, and the Danes at Copenhagen. We had occupied Toulon at the request of French Royalists, and been compelled to abandon it, very largely through the action of a young officer of artillery named Bonaparte. There had been practically three campaigns in Flanders. The Duke of York, with the 1 4th, 37th, 53rd, etc., and a brigade of Guards, had been despatched to Holland, where the latter, but three battalions strong, routed an entrenched force of 5000 men, so that "The French, who had been accustomed to the cold, life- less attacks of the Dutch, were amazed at the spirit and intrepidity of the British." For this the brigade bears the name of Lincelles on their colours. The I4th also displayed the greatest coolness at Famars, young soldiers though they were ; for, attacking with too much impetuosity, their colonel made them halt and re-form, and when thus steadied, took them into action again, the band playing them to victory with the French Revolutionary tune of fa ira, Ever afterwards the tune is played after dinner at mess, and is the regimental march. The attack on Dunkirk, how- ever, failed, and the duke returned home. The next year he returned, and the campaign, embittered by an order of Republican France to give no quarter to wounded or prisoners, re-opened. In the brilliant little cavalry action at Villers en Couche the I5th Light Dragoons especially distinguished themselves, and for their gallantry, as well as for saving the life of the Emperor of Germany, eight of the officers were decorated with the cross of the order of Maria Theresa ; while at Cateau the Royals fought so brilliantly that .500 was given to the regiment by the Duke of York's orders. The success was but temporary. The French concen- trated overwhelming numbers, and the army fell back on 160 THE PENINSULAR ARMY 1793-1808 Antwerp, and then to Holland, and suffered terribly in the dreadful winter of 1794. The stubborn resistance of the rearguard, composed of the I4th, 37th, and 53rd, sup- ported on the flanks by the skilful and bold work of the 7th, i $th, and i6th cavalry regiments, prevented a disaster which the indifference or probable disaffection of the Dutch troops did not tend to lessen ; and finally, the dispirited but unbeaten force, abandoning its stores and spiking the guns it could not take with it, reached Bremen. The horrors of that dreadful march, begun on the 6th January 1795, are only equalled by the retreat from Moscow of a French army later ; but the discipline and endurance of the troops was beyond all praise. The contemporary records especially mention the Guards, the 27th, 33rd, 42nd, 44th, and 78th Regiments for their splendid discipline. The 28th, too, were notorious for their strong regimental feeling. " Hospitals were their aversion. Their home was the battalion, and they were never happy away from it." Of all the regiments, the hardy Scotsmen of the 42nd fared best; and in this disastrous campaign, honourable in all its details save that of mere success, another young officer, Arthur Wellesley of the 33rd, first saw fire at Boxtel. Thus the end of the last century was to give the early war-training to two great antagonists Napoleon at Toulon and Wellington at Boxtel. This alone would render the military history of 1794-95 interesting to all who read. But the eighteenth century was to see yet another cam- paign in the Netherlandic area. It had not been, on the whole, peculiarly favourable to British arms, and the last campaign there was to be no exception to the rule. For, notwithstanding that the duke had the active co-operation of such men as Ralph Abercromby and John Moore, not much came of it. The allied Russians and British made little headway against the French with the " Batavian Republic," and a check at Alkmaar, followed by a victory at Egmont-op-Zee on the 2nd October 1779 where, according to the duke, " under Divine Providence," the French were entirely defeated, and where the Royals, 161 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY the 2Oth, 25th, 49th, 63rd, 79th, and 92nd did their duty, practically terminated the Helder campaign. For, after an armistice, the British troops left the Netherlands, never to fight seriously in that district until the final victory of 1815, when Wellington, who first saw battle there, was to terminate a series of wars for which the Low Countries had for more than a century been the " cockpit." The landing of the army in Walcheren ten years later may be disregarded. Except in the capture of Flushing, there was practically no fighting. The real enemy was fever, and out of the forty thousand men who had been disembarked, thirty-five thousand had been in hospital. The plan of operation was initially bad, the carrying out worse. Between Chatham on shore and Strachan at sea there was so little intelligent co-operation that each abused the other for what was clearly the fact, that " The Earl of Chatham, with his sword drawn, Stood waiting for Sir Richard Strachan ; Sir Richard, longing to be at 'em, Stood waiting for the Earl of Chatham/' As Napoleon himself remarked at one time, " Before six weeks, of the fifteen thousand troops which are in the Isle of Walcheren not fifteen hundred will be left, the rest will be in hospital. The expedition has been undertaken under false expectations and planned in ignorance." This is the grim and gruesome truth. With the above exception, then, the theatre of war after the expedition to the Helder was, for many a year, as far as the British army was concerned, changed. The increasing importance of India was beginning to be felt. Napoleon, far seeing, had recognised this, and first put into French minds the value of Egypt. Though there was no canal, as there is now, it was still geographically the shortest road to the East. Then, as now, Egypt was a station on the line that united Great Britain with Eastern possessions that were but embryos of what they are now. The one striking point in the vast and ambitious intellect of the greatest 162 THE PENINSULAR ARMY 1793-1808 soldier the world has seen, Alexander and Caesar not ex- cepted, is his grasp of the political future of the nations of Europe. Intuitively he saw the worth of Egypt to the great dominant naval powers, England and France. His views were almost prophetic, his ideas magnificent. Notwithstanding the disaster to the French of Aboukir Bay, he decided on contending in Africa for the possession of Asia. What a stupendous genius the man had ! How astounding the rise of the young officer of artillery, who fought against his fellow-patriots of Corsica, who drove the British out of Toulon, and who was soon to be the dominant soul in all Europe ! " Who could have believed that a simple sub-lieutenant of artillery, a stranger to France by name and by birth, was destined to govern that great Empire and to give the law in a manner to all the Continent, in defiance of reason, justice, the hereditary rights of the legitimate princes of the realm, and the combined efforts of so great a number of loyalists in the interior of the kingdom, and all the Great Powers of Europe." In 1799 he had gone to Egypt with a considerable force. It is strange to think that such a thing was possible with British fleets on the seas. But it was so, and it only shows how the element of surprise, how the want of telegraph and the absence of steam, rendered the occupation of Egypt possible at all. It could not be so now. But then, before the danger was really grasped, the French had practically conquered Egypt, and were in full occupation of both Cairo and Alexandria. And these practically meant the country, and the closing of our highway to the East. He returned to France in 1800, when the conditions of Continental war were, as far as England was con- cerned, desperate. The expeditions to the Netherlands had been productive of but little, to say the least. The only chance for England, and that was based merely on the striking at the enemy's armed strength and not with the view of protecting the Eastern Empire which Napoleon had seen the importance of threatening, was to try con- clusions with the French in Egypt when their great chief 163 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY was absent in France. The expedition, consisting of the Guards, the ist, 54th (two battalions), and 92nd, and the 8th, 1 3th, iQth, and 9 Swords. Zl Pccrblsa^i-Lockciber Hcdbercl Spariboan M. 18&O. Scheavona, Clciymcre R