Life Guards

“ If ‘life-guard’ was originally, as Richardson suggests, ‘leib-garde’, or ‘body-guard’, and from that transformed, by the determination of Englishmen to make it significant in English, into ‘life-guard’, or guard defending the life of the sovereign, this will be another word from the same quarter. Yet I have my doubts; ‘leibgarde’ would scarcely have found its way hither before the accession of the House of Hanover, or at any rate before the arrival of Dutch William with his memorable guards; while ‘lifeguard’, in its present shape, is certainly an older word in the language ”

“ Often, in these painfully decadent, and painfully nascent times, with their distresses, inarticulate gaspings, and 'impossibilities;' meeting a tall lifeguardsman in his snow-white trousers, or seeing those two statuesque lifeguardsmen, in their frowning bearskins, pipe-clayed buckskins, on their coal-black, sleek, fiery quadrupeds, riding sentry at the Horse-Guards—it strikes one with a kind of mournful interest, how, in such universal down-rushing and wrecked impotence of almost all old institutions, this oldest 134fighting institution is still so young! ”

“ The captain of the guard had humanely done all he could, and it was partly by his request that I was there. A chaplain could minister where others would not be allowed. The rain fell silently on him; the hours of his life were numbered, even the minutes. He was to meet death, not in the shock and excitement of battle, not as a martyr for his country, not in disease, but in full health, and as a criminal. I have seen many a man die, and have tried to perform the sacred duties of my station. ”

“ All of us knew that every man in the Corps carried his life in his hand, that he was under the shadow of death, and that his safety, for some time at least, must depend upon his own vigilance and exertions ”

“ They are, from time to time, reinforced by the natives, either degenerate Moors or Caffres, who are called upon to mount guard, while the veterans take care of a building styled a hospital, either as inmates, orderlies, or guards. ”

“ The guards pace up and down night and day, always watching. There is no sound while they do this, as their shoes, like ours, are soled with felt. It is like living, eating, sleeping, and bathing in a search-light. It is like being alive, yet buried in a glass coffin. ”

“ We slept so soundly that the guards were compelled to dismount when calling the relief, and shake the next guards on duty out of their slumber and see that they got up, for men would unconsciously answer in their sleep. ”

“ I want to say a special word of thanks to our amazing first responders—our police and law enforcement officers, firefighters, Coast Guard, National Guard, EMS, doctors, nurses, hospital workers, and volunteers who have traveled from all across the country. Thousands of people have come together to prevent loss of life and ensure safety, and we are incredibly grateful for their courage, their professionalism, and their sacrifice. ”

“ In Page 365the bitter nights of winter, with an icy northeaster blowing and the flying spray, half-frozen, from the surf, driven by the gale until it cuts like a knife, the patrolman's task is no easy one. Indeed, there is perhaps no form of human endeavor about which there is more constant discomfort and positive danger than the life-saving service. It is the duty of the men to defy danger, to risk their lives whenever occasion demands, and the long records of the service show uncounted cases of magnificent heroism, and none of failure in the face of duty. ”

“ Oh, our guards were brutes! And under their treatment we had to harden to brutes in order to live. Hard work makes calloused hands. Hard guards make hard prisoners. We continued to talk, and, on occasion, to be jacketed for punishment. Night was the best time, and, when substitute guards chanced to be on, we often talked through a whole shift.
Night and day were one with us who lived in the dark. We could sleep any time, we could knuckle-talk only on occasion. ”

“ Vigilance, readiness and promptness must be our watchwords. Might I ask you to remember my family motto, 'He who guards never sleeps.' Even to-morrow may bring surprises—such stormy weather as we are having seems strangely suitable for covering an attack. ”

“ Their only consolation under circumstances of such deprivation is that of the devoted exterior guards of a camp—that their sufferings secure tranquillity and safety within. Are there any of their countrymen, who would subject them to greater sacrifices, to any other humiliations than those essentially necessary to the security of the object for which they were thus separated from their fellow-citizens? ”

“ It specifically states that in cases of emergency, the commanding officer of a Solar Guard community can be the judge and jury, and can pass sentence for felonies or worse. In two hours you and your buddies will be aboard the Polaris, under guard, and headed for a life sentence on a prison rock! ”

“ The guard can then return to its starting-point, and the prisoners are locked up until the convoy is ready for the road again.
"The guards are responsible for their prisoners, both from escape and injury. If a man dies on the road his body is carried to the next station for burial, so that the station-master and others may certify to the death; and if a man is killed while attempting to escape, the same disposition must be made of his body. ”

“ Let a course of 25 years' service be taken, and let a comparison be made between the number of night duties performed, the number of nights when the soldier has been kept out of bed, in a battalion of Foot Guards, and the number of similar duties performed in any battalion of the line, and the balance will be as three or four to one against the Guards.—Hence is it that the casualties produced by consumption and other pulmonary diseases are exceedingly more numerous amongst the battalions of the Foot Guards than amongst any other battalions in her Majesty's service. ”

“ The guards of whom I have written are of this type; they are men who have been in the guard for years, and are standing by it because they are full of grit and courage.
The men whom the service needs are to be had. ”

“ I talk to an 'officer' of the National Guard—I, who have lost my wife, my children and all in this flood no man has yet described; we, who have seen our dead with their bodies mutilated and their fingers cut from their hands by dirty foreigners for a little gold, are not afraid to talk for what is right, even to an officer of the National Guard. ”

“ Stricken down upon the battle field in the full bloom of manly vigor, lying festering in their ghastly wounds among the dead and dying, exposed to the dews of night, the broiling fervors of the midday sun, we may hear them implore us that the ambulances of the Sanitary may be allowed to aid in bringing them shelter, aid, strength to live, or patience to die. ”

“ When the guards have been on duty awhile, they give place to fresh guards. In case of danger, the guards give a signal of alarm by tossing up the head and bellowing furiously. At this the leader gives a signal and the herd starts off at once. ”

“ Immediate death on the field might reasonably be welcomed as an escape from the suffering arising from wounds, the terrible mutilations, the injuries that rankle throughout life, the conversion of hosts of able-bodied men into feeble invalids, to be kept by the direct aid of their fellows or the indirect aid of the people at large through a system of pensions. ”

“ On the march they take the form of advance guards, rear guards, and flank guards. At a halt they consist of outposts.
3. Interior guards are used in camp or garrison to preserve order, protect property, and to enforce police regulations. In time of war such sentinels of an interior guard as may be necessary are placed close in or about a camp, and normally there is an exterior guard further out consisting of outposts. In time of peace the interior guard is the only guard in a camp or garrison. ”

“ The selected lives of the finest men in the kingdom, petted, fed, clothed, and lodged at the public charge, without anxiety or a care for to-morrow—the Guards of England—die under his fostering hand, in the ratio of three to one of the care-worn and toil-exhausted peasant, miserably fed, scantily clothed, badly lodged, and full of anxiety for the morrow. ”

“ Whether your intention of hanging me and those of my staff and other officers who were engaged in organizing the 1st S. C. Volunteers, in case we are taken prisoners in battle, will be likely to benefit your cause or not, is a matter mainly for your [Pg 160] own consideration. For us, our profession makes the sacrifice of life a contingency ever present and always to be accepted ”

“ The men are brave in moments of danger, fearless in rescuing the inmates of burning buildings, risking their lives in stopping runaway horses, tender in caring for lost children, or destitute persons, both men and women, and faithful in the performance of their duties as members of the ambulance corps. ”

“ We were conducted deliberately from our cells, placed each of us between two guards, who did us no violence, nor used harsh language, but assured us, from time to time, that if the danger became imminent, we would be permitted every fair opportunity to effect our escape. ”

“ But the suffering and waste of life, apart from the combat, the sickness, the depreciation of vital force, the withering of constitutional energy, and the mortality in camp and fortress, in barrack, tent, and hospital, have not usually been the subjects of such careful observation, nor the grounds of fear to the soldier and of anxiety to those who are interested in his safety. ”

“ When they reached the point where they had been stopped by Civil Guards earlier in the day, they were astonished to find the sentry gone. For a moment, there was a flicker of hope in their hearts, but when they had advanced another twenty yards and saw the house unguarded, they realized the truth. ”

“ Put out the guards yourselves, and lie down to sleep only after you have placed the guards all around the army, and rise early. Do not take off your armour in haste, without examination, for man perishes suddenly through his negligence. ”

“ They hurried to their mobilization posts, donned uniforms and equipment, and were shipped away in regiments to the front. Most of them did not worry about the possibility of death, but acted like all healthy human beings, ignoring what they could not affect, caught up in the novelty and the requirements of the new life. ”

“ Our guards and pickets were just as well set and kept as ever—our officers were taking no risks—and God help the man of ours who slept at his post. We acquiesed cheerfully in this; and in any case we were so accustomed to exact discipline and perfect precautions against surprise that constant guard and picket-mounting seemed as natural as getting one's morning coffee or evening soup. ”

“ The belligerents shall keep each other mutually informed of any internments and changes, as well as of admissions into hospital and deaths among the wounded and sick in their hands. They shall collect all the articles of personal use, valuables, letters, etc., which are found on the field of battle or left by the wounded or sick who have died in the medical establishments or units, in order that such objects may be transmitted to the persons interested by the authorities of their own country. ”

“ The importance of guard duty is increased during times of war, when the very safety of the army depends upon the vigilance of the sentinels, who are required to watch that others may sleep and thus refresh themselves from the labors of the day. The sentinels are the guardians of the repose, quiet and safety of the camp. ”

“ The entire system of justice on such a station, including the power of life and death, lies in the hands of a couple of young officers and a few sergeants and corporals. Surrounded by all possible human vices in their very worst forms, to whose influence the deadly monotony inevitable on one of these stations is added, the men live exposed to constant danger occasioned both by the intrigues among the natives and the murderous climate. ”

“ The personnel engaged exclusively in the collection, transport, and treatment of the wounded and the sick, as well as in the administration of medical units and establishments, and the Chaplains attached to armies, shall be respected and protected under all circumstances. If they fall into the hands of the enemy they shall not be treated as prisoners of war.
These provisions apply to the guard of medical units and establishments under the circumstances indicated in Article 8 (2) . ”

“ Then the public learned that the Guards' officers were to be heard of in other places than ball-rooms and divorce-courts, and that guardsmen could fight with as much untiring energy as they had already displayed in feeding on householders and flirting with cooks. ”

“ Our guard is relieved, the service of the day is over, and the hour come to rest. We resign into thy hands our sleeping bodies, our cold hearths, and open doors. Give us to awake with smiles, give us to labour smiling. ”

“ Guard duty had sufficient variety to relieve it from monotony, and while many a ludicrous scene happened, occasionally, occurrences not wholly devoid of danger, served to keep us alive. Some one would report a disturbance, and ask for a guard to restore peace; whereupon volunteers would be called for, and two or three start off, ready for anything that might turn up. Some drunken soldier has, perhaps, made himself at home in a house, to the obvious discomfort of the inmates, and refuses to be dislodged ”

“ The result is that a large percentage of the individuals sought for are discovered, alive or dead, for in such work the Salvation Army has advantages denied to any other body, scarcely excepting the Police. ”