Grenadier Guards

“ No wounded man was left to fall into the enemy's hands, although the medical officers of the Coldstream and Irish Guards and the sick-sergeant of the Grenadiers remained behind, after their Battalions had retired, and the enemy was within a few hundred yards of their aid-posts. ”

“ The principle on which this march originated is pure selfishness. The individual would save himself a little inconvenience at the expense of serious evil to no matter how many of his comrades in rear. The Brigade, with the exception of those companies already mentioned with approbation, and the leading and rear companies of the Grenadier Guards, will assemble every morning at the usual place, the Bapaume gate, at half-past seven o’clock, till they receive an order to the contrary.” The latter portion of this order was countermanded on the 25th. ”

“ What regiment, pray?'
'The Grenadier Guards.'
'Oh, a very good corps—mighty respectable corps; not that, between ourselves, I think overmuch of the regulars; between you and me, I never knew foreign travel do good to man or beast. What do they bring back with them, I'd like to know?—French cookery and Italian licentiousness. No, no; give me the native troops! You were a boy at the time, but maybe you have heard how they behaved in the west, when Hoche landed. Egad! if it wasn't for the militia the country was sacked. I commanded a company of the Roscommon at the time. ”

“ Regimental Funds and Associations.
"Grenadiers look after themselves" has become an accepted axiom not only in war but also in peace time. A short time before the commencement of the war the Old Comrades Association was instituted under the auspices of Colonel Scott-Kerr, who commanded the Regiment at that time, and its object was to ensure that no Grenadier after he had left the Regiment was ever in want. ”

“ During 1915 the whole Regiment was much perturbed by the official use of the word "grenadier" as applied to men in all regiments who were being trained to throw bombs. This expression began to creep into official documents in April, and about this time a memorandum was published by General Headquarters on the training and employment of "grenadiers." In June the Army Council addressed a circular letter to officers commanding battalions, by which authority was given for the training of a detachment in each battalion, consisting of one officer, two sergeants, and 56 other ranks, as "grenadiers." ”

“ And they went in--the Coldstreams and the Grenadiers--to take over the trenches from the Canadians, to delve and sweat, carrying loads of ammunition on their backs, crawling into No Man's Land, laying mines, shooting Germans or braining them with the butts of their rifles, or treating them to the cold steel, as imperturbable as you see them now--it being all in the day's work. The popularity of the Guards arouses no jealousy in the other divisions. "We don't grudge 'em what they get," remarked a sergeant in a line regiment; "they work hard, and they deserve it. ”

“ They were the sole organized body left. Well, they upheld their ancient fame and glorious reputation and untarnished honor. Through the calm and moonlit night pursuers and pursued could hear the rolling of the brass drums far and wide over the countryside as the Guard marched away from that field back to stricken France, to that famous grenadier march, "La Grenadière." ”

“ We throw them from the glacis, about the enemies' ears,
Sing tow, row, row, row, row, row, the British Grenadiers!
And when the siege is over, we to the town repair,
The townsmen cry, Hurrah, boys, here comes a Grenadier!
Here come the Grenadiers, my boys, who know no doubts or fears!'
Then sing, tow, row, row, row, row, row, the British Grenadiers!
Then let us fill a bumper, and drink a health to those
Who carry caps and pouches, and wear the loupèd clothes,
May they and their commanders live happy all their years,
With a tow, row, row, row, row, row, for the British Grenadiers! ”

“ Besides their grenades and the firelock, grenadiers carried axes which, with the grenades, were employed in the assault of fortresses, as we are told in the celebrated song, “The British Grenadiers.”
The grenadier companies were formed always of the most powerful men in the regiment and, when the grenade ceased to be used, they maintained their existence as the “crack” companies of their battalions, taking the right of the line on parade and wearing the distinctive grenadier headdress. ”

“ There goes the military!" and instantly the cheers for the Grenadiers redoubled.
"There's a cavalry regiment escorting them," I exclaimed; "and look! Some one has brought up a couple of guns!"
"They want twenty," said Stephen. "Ah! now for it!"
At the farther end of the bridge the National Guards and the University Legion were drawn up in battle array, waiting to oppose the passage of the troops.
The mob pressed to and fro like the unquiet waves of the sea; now we were thrown almost bodily into the ranks of the soldiers, again carried back many yards. ”

“ The Hessian grenadiers were in the rear of the light infantry, and the 3rd and 4th brigade supported the grenadiers and guards. The guards first fell into action by receiving a very heavy fire from a wood on their right. They soon dislodged the enemy from it, and drove them as far as they had strength to pursue. The enemy had yet cannon and troops on an advantageous height in front, from which it was necessary to force them. The grenadiers were therefore led on, and the rebels were driven back across a deep morass, upon their main army. ”

“ A sergeant of Grenadiers answered that question. ‘They’re the Coldstreams, sonny’ he said; ‘now we’ll show these long-gowned putty-faces’—alluding to the Russians’ greatcoats, which reached to their feet—‘what stuff the Guards are made of.’
The ‘long gowns,’ finding the Sandbag Battery deserted, had already rushed in with wild yells of delight. This sight made the Grenadiers chafe.
‘Boys,’ said the sergeant who had just spoken to Jack and Will, ‘are we going to let the Coldstreams get back the battery? Who’ll follow me? ”

“ The chief of the patrol came forward and answered—‘Vengeance!’ I remember wondering at the moment why he spoke so loud in giving the pass-word, when suddenly I saw three men rush forward, seize our captain, and throw him down. At the same time two or three hundred men, dressed as National Guards, threw themselves into the camp, rushed upon the sleeping artillery-men with their bayonets, and then fired several volleys into the tents where our poor comrades were asleep. What I had taken at first for National Guards were only those devils of sergents-de-ville dressed up! ”

“ They advanced in heavy column through the pouring rain and the blackness of the night, holding their fire and drawing nearer and nearer, confident that the harassed and worn-out British could make no long stand against them.
The 4th British Brigade, consisting of the 2nd Grenadiers, the 2nd and 3rd Coldstreams and the 1st Irish Guards, held Landrecies. ”

“ The Guards, with their usual dash, at once stormed the French redoubts, which they carried at the point of the bayonet, capturing twelve guns, one stand of colours, and close on 100 prisoners. The action was one of those isolated affairs which had no bearing on the campaign, but merely serve to show the superior stamina and discipline of the Brigade of Guards. Taking into consideration the strength of the force engaged, the casualties were undoubtedly heavy. ”

“ The parks of artillery are to be formed where they can be protected; they are never to be without guards, and troops should be sufficiently near to afford them support.
“If an attroupement or riotous assembly of the inhabitants against the military takes place, the troops are to be under arms, and the attroupement is to be fired upon. Any act of violence against the soldiery is to be immediately noticed, and the offenders are to be secured. The service must be respected. The General Officers are to take care that the discipline and good conduct of the troops merit the respect demanded. ”

“ With a thousand reverberations the steep hills echoed the reports of the firearms, the cries of the wounded, and the cheers of the combatants, as the lines drew closer.
General Wightman now recalled his skirmishers, and ordered the Grenadiers to advance. They did so, blowing their matches and throwing their hand-grenades as fast as possible. ”

“ The Brigade had now been for more than four years in North America, and the time had been passed pleasantly and profitably by all ranks. Seldom have the Guards had an opportunity of observing for themselves the life of a thriving British colony, and the development of our national energy across the ocean. ”

“ The thin line heard them; a couple of officers glanced over their epaulettes, saw the red plumes of the Coldstream outnumbering the white plumes of the Grenadiers, and tossed their swords in a sudden passion of jealousy. "Charge again, Grenadiers!" they roared, and leaped into the lane with the whole gray wave rolling after them. And with bayonets down and wild hurrahs the battalion drove straight into the redoubt, trampling the dead, and driving the living through the two embrasures as a green sea is emptied through lee scuppers. ”

“ The National Guards form on the outer stairs, with levelled bayonets; the ten thousand Judiths press up, resistless; with obtestations, with outspread hands,—merely to speak to the Mayor. The rear forces them; nay, from male hands in the rear, stones already fly: the National Guards must do one of two things; sweep the Place de Grève with cannon, or else open to right and left. They open; the living deluge rushes in. ”

“ By First Divisional Order, Oct. 16th, ten men and a Non-commissioned officer from each battalion, good shots, volunteers preferred, were selected to act as sharpshooters, under a Captain and a Lieutenant of the Brigade of Guards, and a Lieutenant of the Highlanders. “The sharpshooters will have to approach within 400 or 500 yards of the enemy’s works, there to establish themselves in extended order (by single men) under cover of anything which may present itself to afford protection. ”

“ At this moment the National Defence had in or ready for the field only 40,000 regular infantry, a like number of Mobile Guards, from 5000 to 6000 cavalry, and about 100 guns, some of antiquated models and with very few men to serve them. There were certainly a good many men at various regimental dépôts, together with Mobile Guards and National Guards in all the uninvaded provinces of France ”

“ Suffice it to say that two Battalions of the Brigade (1st Grenadiers and 2nd Scots Fusilier Guards, under Major-General Lord F. Paulet) were shipped to British North America, December 19th, and remained there until the autumn of 1864. Fortunately peace was preserved, and the expedition, while watching proceedings during the civil war that was then raging 305in the States, assumed the character of a movement of troops from one part of the British Empire to another, for ordinary purposes. ”

“ The prudence and honourable feeling of several officers of the Parisian guards, and the judicious conduct of M. de Vaudreuil, lieutenant-general of marine, and of M. de Chevanne, one of the King's Guards, brought about an understanding between the grenadiers of the National Guard of Paris and the King's Guard. The doors of the oeil-de-boeuf were closed, and the antechamber which precedes that room was filled with grenadiers who wanted to get in to massacre the Guards. M. de Chevanne offered himself to them as a victim if they wished for one, and demanded what they would have. ”

“ These Civil Guards are picked men, robust, strapping, seasoned fellows, and are distributed over the country like the French gendarmery, to whose duties theirs are similar. They form a corps d'élite, and are the very mainstay of order. In fact, without them life and property during times of political commotion would very often be at the mercy of any horde of ragamuffins with weapons in their hands and the courage to use them. ”

“ The Garde Nationale will perform police duties, and the garrison, composed of the Allied troops, occupying the great centres of the town, will remain in reserve. In case the latter have to act, for the Garde Nationale may refuse to quell disturbances, guns will be fired, when the regular forces will assemble at their alarm posts. The British brigade will form up in the Avenue de Neuilly, one battalion in Place Beauveau, and another at the junction of the Boulevard de la Madeleine and Rue St. ”

“ National Guards know not how to act. Centre Grenadiers, of the Observatoire Battalion, are there; not on duty; alas, in quasi-mutiny; speaking rude disobedient words; threatening the mounted Guards with sharp shot if they hurt the people. Lafayette mounts and dismounts; runs haranguing, panting; on the verge of despair. For an hour and three-quarters; 'seven quarters of an hour,' by the Tuileries Clock! Desperate Lafayette will open a passage, were it by the cannon's mouth, if his Majesty will order. Their Majesties, counselled to it by Royalist friends, by Patriot foes, dismount ”

“ A Grenadier of the 79th Regiment, for both regiments (the 42nd and 79th) were somewhat intermixed, rushed forward, discharged his piece with effect, and suddenly turning the musket so as to grasp the muzzle, dealt deadly blows around him; he fell, grasping one of the enemy in one hand, and the broken firelock in the other. Another sprung up on the top of the bank, called on his comrades to follow, and with a loud cheer, in which many joined that did not follow, he rushed forward in the same manner as his brave companion had done, and like him shared a similar fate. ”