Scots Brigade

“ So the old Brigade, of gallant memory, was going home en masse at last—home to Scotland, with its mighty crop of laurels, gathered in the Lowlands of Holland, France, and Spain; home after two hundred years of foreign service, during which, as the Scottish commander-in-chief soon after told its soldiers in Edinburgh, they had captured in battle and siege many a standard, but never lost one. ”

“ In the States of Holland, about the year 1568, our countrymen were included in numerous independent companies of soldiers, which, in 1572, united into several regiments, constituted one brigade—the Old Scots Brigade—the strength of which varied from four to five thousand men. ”

“ Besides, Lewie, there is a cloud on the horizon—the political horizon, I mean—which, though as yet no bigger than a man's hand, may expand into a dark and mighty one of storm and bloodshed. A revolution is at hand in France, and a time is coming when we—the Scots Brigade—will have other work than love-making cut out for us, and we shall have to choose between casting our lot forever with the States-General or with his Majesty George III. ”

“ At the battle of Killiecrankie the Scots Brigade was present, but unable to withstand the furious onset of the Highlanders, betrayed a weakness altogether inconsistent with its previous reputation, being utterly routed and dispersed. It is very remarkable that Viscount Dundee and General Cannon, who commanded the rebels, had both previously served in the Scots Brigade. Afterwards, employed with the Royal army in Ireland, it somewhat redeemed its character by good conduct at the siege of Athlone and the battle of Aghrim, at both which it held the post of peril and of honour with great credit. ”

“ They can do dreadful things to the bodies of men and women, but their souls are safe from them.
Of course there are Scots regiments that are not kilted and that have naught to do with the Hielanders, who have given as fine and brave an account of themselves as any. There are the Scots Guards, one of the regiments of the Guards Brigade, the very pick and flower of the British army. There are the King's Own Scottish Borderers, with as fine a history and tradition as any regiment in the army, and a record of service of which any regiment might well be proud ”

“ He can only play one noise. It is quite useless a Scot explaining to me that this is the "Lament of Sandy Macpherson" and that the "Dirge of Hamish MacNish"; it all sounds the same to me.
The brigade of infantry that is camped in front of my dug-out ("Mon Repos") is a Scots brigade. Not temporary Scots from the Highlands of Commissioner Street, Jo'burg, and Hastings Street, Vancouver (about whom I have nothing to say) , but real pukka, law-abiding, kirk-going, God-fearing, bayonet-pushing Gaels, bred among the crags of the Grampians and reared on thistles and illicit whuskey. ”

“ Baronald's nether lip quivered at this retort, and the Countess and Dolores exchanged glances of uneasiness; for politics had become so embittered by the American Squadron, which had recently captured H.M.'s ships Serapis and Scarborough, having taken them into the Texel, and when General Yorke claimed those ships and their crews, the Dutch refused to restore them, and soon after Commodore Fielding fired upon their squadron under Count Bylandt, and took him into Portsmouth; so war was looked for daily, while the Scots Brigade were yet serving under the Dutch colours. ”

“ In the first action of the campaign, fought at Walcourt, our Guards were present, but occupied no very important post, the brunt of the battle having been sustained by the Coldstreams, under Colonel Talmash, the Sixteenth Regiment of Foot and the First Regiment of Royal Scots, under Colonel Hodges. Although forming a part of the Scottish brigade, the regiment, indeed the army, achieved nothing of importance until 1692, when King William, having effectually secured peace at home, placed himself at the head of his forces, infusing by his presence new energy and life into the war. ”

“ He invited 'all lads of spirit to join that battalion of the Scots Brigade, commanded by the noble and valiant Henry Douglas, Earl of Drumlanrig, under their High Mightinesses the States-General of Holland, to fight the frog-eating French and popish Spaniards ”

“ The 27th Brigade moved up by battalions from the rest area near Ypres to Keiberg Spur on the 13th, and that night the 28th took over the line except the portion held by the liaison company of the Black Watch. There was great artillery activity during the relief, the enemy sending over a good deal of gas, and the Newfoundlanders and the Royal Scots Fusiliers had over fifty casualties on the way up to their assembly positions. ”

“ The 1st Cavalry Brigade having been broken up, General Gordon hopes that the O.C. Royal Scots Greys will be good enough to permit him to express through Regimental Orders to all ranks of the regiment his very sincere thanks for their gallantry and devotion during the six months the Brigadier has had the honour to command the Brigade. No leader could possibly have been better served, and the Brigadier will always think of the Scots Greys and other units of the 1st Cavalry Brigade with the sincerest feelings of admiration and true affection. ”

“ The general of the brigade was quartered in the same village; and as he had, or seemed to have, a great antipathy to every thing Scottish, our regiment of course was included, and he found means to annoy us a good deal. Perhaps, he believed, with many people in England, that the Scots run wild about their native hills, eating raw oats like horses, with nothing but a kilt to cover their nakedness, and that they had no right to receive any other treatment, when they entered the army, than what is usually given to any wild animal when caged. ‘Rousing up with a long pole’ seemed to be his hobby. ”

“ The 73rd Brigade were put into German trenches to the east of Fosse 8, their order from the left being 7th Northamptons, 12th Royal Fusiliers, and 9th Sussex, with the 13th Middlesex echeloned on their right rear. They were constantly attacked, but were suffering more from cold, hunger, and exhaustion than from the Germans. All day they and the remains of the Scots held the place against intermittent assaults, which occasionally had some partial success, but never quite enabled the enemy to re-establish his position. ”

“ After a long and angry correspondence between the Governments of Holland and Britain, the Brigade—save some fifty officers who had formed ties in Holland, or elected to remain there—was transferred to the service of the latter, when a rupture took place between them at the time of the American War, and was taken to Edinburgh, clad in the Dutch uniform, and about 1794, it adopted the red coat, and there in George's Square, when drawn up under Generals Dundas and Kinloch, received its new colours at the hands of the Scottish Commander-in-Chief, when it was numbered as the 94th Regiment ”

“ I am rich enough for both of us, and I had begun to hope that, like me, you would go through the world without the encumbrance of a wife. I shall not see you make a fool of yourself, without making an effort to save you. I shall give you a Beating Order, and send you to recruit for the Brigade in Scotland; or how would you like to roast on detachment at Guayana, or among the Dutch Isles in the Caribbean Sea?'
'Such a separation would be death to me, and to Dolores too.'
'Dol—what?' roared the General, grasping the knobs of his arm-chair and glaring at the speaker ”

“ To the south of the R. Scots Fusiliers, and in the same brigade, were the 2nd Bedfords. This regiment, too, had suffered very severely during the day, both its senior officers, Major Traill and Major Stares, being killed, but the brigade order to retire had not failed to reach it, as in the case of the Scotchmen, and it had been able to effect its withdrawal in good order.
The Germans did not carry their advance beyond Gheluvelt. The ground they had gained had only been won by a prodigious expenditure of ammunition, followed by a reckless sacrifice of men, and their losses had been enormous. ”

“ Accomplishing a successful landing despite the assaults of a powerful enemy, whose artillery from the heights above swept the bay of Aboukir, the Ninety-second, placed in brigade with the First Royal Scots and the two battalions of the Fifty-fourth Foot, advanced with the army towards Alexandria. On the 13th of March the French were encountered at Mandora, where, forming the advanced guard of the left column, the Gordon Highlanders shared the glory of the action with the Ninetieth Perthshire Volunteers. ”

“ Every possible assistance was rendered by the Ninth Division. On the night of the 6th/7th, the 27th Brigade sent out a patrol, which established a post in Longueval Alley only 300 yards from Trones Wood, while on the morning of the attack the artillery pounded the southern fringe of Longueval and the neighbouring trenches, and the 12th Royal Scots from Bernafay Wood covered the left flank of the Thirtieth Division with machine-gun fire. ”

“ On the left the attack was carried on by the 11th and 12th Royal Scots [77] and the “Rifles,” the K.O.S.B. being in reserve. The advance of the brigade began at 4.25 P.M., and with incredible coolness the infantry pressed through the enemy’s barrage and reached the line held by the Fourth Division a few minutes before zero. At 5 P.M. our barrage opened and was excellent, but our men were checked almost at the start by very heavy machine-gun fire. In these circumstances nothing could be gained by throwing the 26th Brigade into the battle and the forward troops were accordingly withdrawn. ”

“ The total strength of the brigade at this time rose to about 6000 men. At the battle of Roucoux five battalions of the Scots, forming the extremity of the left infantry wing, covered the retreat of the troops from the villages abandoned in front. “An officer who was present relates that General Colyear’s regiment, in which he then served as an Ensign, was drawn up on the ridge of a rising ground, the slope of which was to the rear, so that by retiring a few paces the cannon-balls must have passed over their heads ”

“ Enrolled for a limited time, and restricted to home duty, it was employed in 303various garrisons in Scotland, Ireland, and South Britain, and was disbanded at Glasgow in December, 1815, on the termination of the war. Meanwhile, the alarm of invasion having passed away, the first battalion, with the Seventy-second and Ninety-third regiments, formed the second or Highland brigade, under Brigadier-General Ronald Crawfurd Ferguson, engrossed in the army of Major-General Sir David Baird, destined to operate against the Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope. ”

“ Scarcely in a single instance was the regiment broken or necessitated to retreat for its own sake; only once did a standard fall into the hands of the enemy, although in its several campaigns the regiment has been always actively engaged. The reader must feel that we have great reason to be proud of our countrymen—and that it is an honest pride we indulge in—when sustained by such an unprecedented series of triumphs as it has been our pleasure to record. There is not a heart in Scotland which does not beat with affectionate sympathy and respect for the “Scots Greys;” ”

“ To make good these defences, a powerful army of 12,000 men was thrown into the city, commanded by an able officer—General Jackson. The Britishers who dared to assail such a powerfully defended city did not exceed 6000 men, comprising the Fourth, the Seventh, the first battalion of the Twenty-first, the Forty-third, the Forty-fourth, the Eighty-fifth, the Ninety-third Highlanders, and the Ninety-fifth or Rifle Brigade, with a body of seamen from the fleet. ”

“ Embarked, the regiment returned to England, and in 1809—a year to be mournfully remembered, as fatal to the wearing of the kilt in the army—it was ordered to lay aside the Highland garb, and was uniformed as a light infantry 307regiment. Every care was in consequence bestowed to promote its efficiency. Strengthened, it was associated with the Sixty-eighth and Eighty-fifth regiments in the light brigade, and was ordered to accompany the army in the ill-advised expedition, which wasted a splendid armament in a vain attempt to obtain a footing in Flanders. ”

“ In 1743 the war of the Austrian Succession once more stirred up the wrathful passions of man, and plunged the European continent into all the horrors of war. The combatants were much the same as on previous occasions—France and Bavaria pitted against Austria and Britain. The Scots Greys, the Third or Scots Foot Guards, (first battalion,) the First or Royal Scots, (first battalion,) the Twenty-first or Royal North British Fusiliers, the Twenty-fifth or King’s Own Borderers, and the Forty-second or Royal Highlanders, formed the Scottish regiments embraced in the British army. ”

“ It seems that this regiment, raised by Colonel Robert Abercromby in 1787 from among his tenantry around 200Stirling, and the veterans who, in earlier life, had served under him in the army as a light brigade, had been subjected to an unusually strict system of discipline, which had operated prejudicially upon the corps. The system adopted “was formed on the old Prussian model; fear was the great principle of action; consequently, it became the first object of the soldiers to escape detection, more than to avoid crimes.” ”

“ We know no exception in which these corps of guards have not maintained the Scottish character, nay, been specially distinguished for the valour and fidelity with which they fulfilled their duty. Thus originated the First Royals, or Royal Scots Regiment of the present British army. The free citizens, continuing to prosper and proportionably growing in power and influence, gradually insinuated themselves into State affairs. As they grew in wealth, so unfortunately they increased in pride and arrogance, forgetting altogether their early humility. ”