Army regiment

“ You will in a few years celebrate your 200th anniversary, and during that time your regiment has served in nearly every quarter of the globe, and seen as much or more service than any regiment in the Army. You have served at Corunna, Salamanca, the Peninsula, Waterloo, Alma, Inkerman, Sebastopol, Lucknow, and, coming down to more recent times, Ashantee. I feel sure that there will always be the same emulation among those who serve in your ranks as there has been in the past, and that the good name of your regiment will always be maintained as prominently as it is now. ”

“ A mere boy who hasn’t got his growth yet, with soft unformed features and a voice as shrill as a child’s, I am sure he ran away from home to go to war just as another lad might have run away to see the circus. Although the regiment is a regular army organization, a large part of the men were raw recruits only last summer, a fact which causes the old-timers, whose service dates from Border days or before, no little regret. ”

“ The U.S. Army, which then consisted of only eight regiments of infantry, two of dragoons, one of mounted rifles, four of artillery, of which but two companies in each regiment were batteries, and a few engineer and ordnance soldiers, was authorized by act of Congress on March 3, 1855, to be increased by the formation of two additional regiments of infantry, the Ninth and Tenth, and two of cavalry, the First and Second. ”

“ The regiment having entered upon active warfare, the Commanding Officer issued the following order:—'As the Twelfth regiment, from having the honour to be the eldest King's regiment with the army, is more liable to be called on for immediate service than other corps, the Commanding Officer expects the Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers, and Private Men, will be ready, night or day, to turn out at the shortest notice, and to parade under arms without noise or confusion. ”

“ The share which the British army have had in producing those events, and the high character with which the army will quit this country, must be equally satisfactory to every individual belonging to it, as they are to the Commander of the Forces, and he trusts that the troops will continue the same good conduct to the last. ”

“ All ranks are animated with the most intense bravery and devotion, which has been demonstrated on many fields, and won for the regiment many distinctions. The Great War on the Continent has added greatly to the reputation of the regiment. ”

“ For six or seven years past our regiments have had numbers, but the men still hold to the old way, and each regiment calls itself for preference according to the custom of the army for these eighty years past. ”

“ You will have little difficulty in deciding where a regiment [341] begins or ends. It begins with a field officer and ends with a mule. Originally it ended with several army wagons; but now that portion of regimental headquarters baggage which has not gone to the wagon-train is to be found stowed about the mule, that is led along by a contraband. Yes, the head, ears, and feet which you see are the only visible externals of a mule. He is “clothed upon” with the various materials necessary to prepare a “square meal” for the colonel and other headquarters officers. ”

“ In February, 1761, the regiment took part in a successful incursion into the quarters occupied by the French army; when the allies, advancing through a heavy snow, drove their opponents before them many leagues, captured several strong towns with extensive magazines of forage and provisions, but were subsequently obliged to retire. ”

“ Raised in 1741, the regiment has rendered loyal service to King and country in all parts of the Empire, and has on more than one occasion received the thanks of General officers for their very fine fighting qualities. The 1st Battalion has the proud distinction of being one of the three regiments which served uninterruptedly throughout the Peninsular War from 1808 to 1814. ”

“ This word is frequently prefixed to the term establishment, to signify the reduced number of effective men, in the British army, according to the various formations of corps. Thus one regiment may be 1200 strong in time of war, and only 600 in time of peace. A regiment may also consist of several battalions, the 60th regiment for example has six battalions each of the strength of a regiment; that is from 1000 to 1200 men each. ”

“ From these quarters, the regiment was called in May, 1695, to enter upon the active services of another campaign, and it pitched its tents near Dixmude, where a small force was assembled under Major-General Ellemberg; at the same time the main army took the field under King William. ”

“ In 1916 Congress increased the number of Regular Army regiments to 118 (7 engineer, 21 field artillery, 25 cavalry, and 65 infantry) and increased the size of the National Guard, 800 men for each senator and representative, to be raised over the next five years. ”

“ There are two infantry regiments, composed of from six to eight battalions, to the brigade, in the French army, with two brigades to a division and two divisions to an army corps. A field artillery regiment, consisting of nine batteries of four guns each, is attached to each division. With nine field and three howitzer batteries and six reinforcing batteries added under mobilization, each corps on a war footing has 144 guns. There is also added to every army corps in the field one cavalry brigade of two regiments, one cavalry battalion, engineer companies and sanitary and service troops. ”

“ Under these circumstances, may I be permitted to hope that you will do me the favour to lay at His Majesty’s feet my humble petition that the Eighty-seventh regiment may be appointed a light infantry corps, which, as being a mark of His Majesty’s approbation, would be most gratifying to those brave men, who have so freely bled, and would lay down their lives, to manifest their devoted attachment to their gracious and beloved Sovereign. ”

“ Lieut.-Colonel Wright, officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates of Her Majesty’s Thirty-ninth regiment, I present to you new colours, consecrated with all the solemn ceremonies of religion, to be borne, as your colours always have been, with honor before the enemy. ”

“ The business-like appearance of our regiment, its proud bearing, fine cadence and marching, its weather-beaten, tattered old battle flags all in strings from shot and shell, as well as the men's clothes, its splendid band, together with the evergreen sprig proudly worn by some of us, which always gains us recognition, captured the crowd, and the heartiness of our deserved ovation over all other regiments in line was very noticeable. ”

“ Each regiment has taken to its colours a dozen or two dozen comrade regiments bearing its ancient name, and carrying on, unseen, its proud prestige. To-day the soldier belongs to no particular calling. From the clerk to the dock-labourer—all have become soldiers pro bono publico and pro patria. Every day, in some part of the far-flung battle line, deeds are being performed that we would have proudly recorded in those earlier chapters; day by day, death has been met by amateur soldiers with the unbroken steadiness of veteran troops. ”

“ The cavalry regiment that does not on this instant, on orders given, dash full plunge into the enemy, I will, directly after the battle, unhorse and make it a garrison regiment. The infantry battalion which, meet with what it may, shows the least sign of hesitancy, loses its colors and its sabers, and I cut the trimmings from its uniform! Now, good night, gentlemen: shortly we have either beaten the enemy, or we never see one another again. ”

“ Some of those old, famous regiments have been wiped out half a dozen times, almost literally annihilated, since Mons. New drafts, and the addition of territorial battalions, have replenished them and kept up their strength, and the continuity of their tradition has never been broken. The men who compose a regiment may be wiped out, but the regiment survives. It is an organization, an entity, a creature with a soul as well as a body. And the Germans have no discovered a way yet of killing the soul! ”

“ The regiment is up yonder—the finest regiment God ever made. They are wallowing in the wet, sticky mud of the trenches they have dug themselves into, what is left of them. They are watching and waiting, always watching and waiting for the enemy to attack. ”

“ What would an American soldier think of a special privilege created in a regiment because there came a time when all the officers were killed or wounded, and the non-commissioned officers took the regiment through the fight? There is an English regiment in which the non-commissioned officers all wear their sashes over the same shoulder as do the commissioned officers, because in a long-ago battle they led the regiment when their superiors were put out of action. ”

“ The air of the men was good. The officers were cheerful, and one big German with a great pipe in his bearded mouth, with spectacles on nose, amused himself by pricking the horses with his sabre point, as he passed, to the sore discomfiture of the riders. Behind the regiment came a battery of brass field-pieces, and another regiment in column of march was following the guns. ”

“ But there [293] were three new regiments in which it obtained this lovely night, and they are brigaded with a veteran command that lords it over them because it has smelled powder and shed blood, which they have not. It is a ragged regiment, a rusty regiment, for it is still clad in the relics of the gray uniform in which its proud State sent it to the field three months before. ”

“ No man or woman of any sensibility can help feeling proudly stirred when a Cavalry regiment goes by. The clean, alert, upright men, with their sure seat; the massive war-horses champing their bits and shaking their accoutrements: the rhythmic thud of hoofs, the keen glitter of steel, and the general air of power, all combine to form a spectacle that sets the pulses beating faster. ”

“ The Lieut.-General, however, derives some consolation from the ardent hope he entertains that the regiment is proceeding to fields of glory, where opportunities will be afforded for sustaining the high character it has already established, and adding to its well-earned fame, by fresh deeds of valour, emulating those of our most distinguished battalions, whose prowess and discipline have rescued Europe from the tyrant’s grasp. ”

“ I do not wish to kill nor to be killed, but I can foresee circumstances in which both these things would be by me unavoidable. We preserve the so-called peace of our community by deeds of petty violence every day. Look at the policeman’s billy and handcuffs! Look at the jail! Look at the gallows! Look at the chaplain of the regiment! We are hoping only to live safely on the outskirts of this provisional army. So we defend ourselves and our hen-roosts, and maintain slavery. ”

“ In taking leave of Lieut.-Colonel Burne, the officers, and men of His Majesty’s Thirty-sixth regiment, the Commander-in-Chief cannot refrain from expressing his sincere regret at losing from under his command a corps so eminently distinguished for important services in the field, and for discipline, order, and regularity, in every situation. Of a regiment whose merits are so well known, it is unnecessary to say much: their gallant exertions will receive their best reward in the applause and gratitude of their country. ”

“ In the spring of 1694 a numerous body of recruits from England replaced the losses of the preceding campaign, and when the regiment took the field, it was reviewed by King William, and complimented on its martial appearance, and the steadiness with which it performed the simple manœuvres practised at that period. ”

“ A month after leaving the Royal Military College they had found themselves responsible officers sent out with a draft to their regiment in France. It had been instructive to watch the perfect self-possession of the boys and the way they handled their men. Now as we neared our journey's end they sat calmly looking out of the window, their ears pricked to catch the sound of the distant guns, liking the thought of war perhaps no more than others do when they find themselves very near to it, but perfectly self-possessed and prepared to do whatever was required of them. ”

“ Yet, to the eye which can discern the excellence of soldiership, and the completeness of soldierly equipment, the few in line before the Emperor on this day, were enough to gratify the intelligent eye which this active monarch turns upon every thing. The infantry were—the second battalion of the grenadier guards, the second battalion of the Coldstream guards, the second battalion of the fusilier guards, and the forty-seventh regiment. The cavalry were—two troops of the royal horse guards, (blue,) the first regiment of the life guards, and the seventeenth lancers. ”

“ The smart, active, and soldier-like appearance of the regiment, its correct and orderly conduct in quarters, and its gallantry in the field, have acquired a high character in the estimation of the country, and proved it to be a valuable acquisition to the crown and to the government. ”

“ Down the long dusky line Teeth gleam and eyeballs shine; And the bright bayonet, Bristling and firmly set, [133] Flashed with a purpose grand, Long ere the sharp command Of the fierce rolling drum Told them their time had come, Told them what work was sent For the black regiment.
“Now,” the flag-sergeant cried, “Though death and hell betide, Let the whole nation see If we are fit to be Free in this land; or bound Down, like the whining hound,— Bound with red stripes of pain In our cold chains again!” Oh, what a shout there went From the black regiment! ”