Bodyguard

“ You are accustomed to think of the 2nd Life Guards in all the glory of their peace uniform, in their steel helmets with horse-hair plumes, their gleaming breastplates, their white buckskin breeches and gloves, and their long knee-boots. ”

“ Guards, including reliefs, rounds and patrols, will march with sloped arms and bayonets fixed. In wet weather, arms will be carried at the “secure.”
Guards, rounds and reliefs on the march meeting any persons entitled to a salute will pass on at “sloped arms,” paying the compliment of “eyes right,” or “eyes left” as required.
Guards turn out—
1. At the commencement of retreat, tattoo and reveille sounding, when they will be carefully inspected by their respective Commanders.
2. To their Commanding Officer, irrespective of rank, when in uniform, once a day, and present arms. ”

“ The tall guard stood moveless until the weapon was actually in sight, and then the arm in the blue coat shot out, strong, swift, straight from the shoulder, and the pistol-arm dropped, the weapon fell to the ground, and the man staggered back, to be received in the unwilling arms of the head-waiter, to struggle there for a moment, and then to submit, quite as much to the fire in the young guard's eye as to the strength of his arm. ”

“ With a guard acting as cowboy, shepherd dog, or convict compeller, we shuffled in a continuous line down the iron stairways and across the hall into the dining room, a cement-floored barred-window desert sown with tables in rows, seating eight men each; guards with clubs standing at coigns of vantage or pacing up and down the aisles, and in one window, commanding the whole room, a guard with a loaded rifle, licensed to shoot down any misbehaver. At no time and in no part of this model jail are you out of range of a loaded rifle, in the hands of men quick and skilful in their use. ”

“ In the British service constitute in time of peace the garrison of London, and the guard of the sovereign at Windsor. The Guards compose what is called the Household Brigade, and include in cavalry the 1st and 2d Life Guards, and the Royal Horse Guards; and in infantry the Grenadier Guards, the Coldstream Guards, and the Scots Fusilier Guards. The officers of the regiments of Foot Guards hold higher army rank than that they bear regimentally,—that is, ensigns rank with lieutenants of other regiments, lieutenants with captains, and so on. ”

“ Particularly I remember one bronzed guardsman, a handsome, well-set-up fellow, who went a little out of the line to make room betwixt himself and his khakied neighbour for a fatherly, grey-bearded civilian who had shouldered the guardsman's rifle so as to leave him free to carry his little girl, a child of two, whilst his wife, with a tremulous smile about her lips, kept pace with him, linked to his arm. ”

“ The life-guards do, as you say, appear grand, but there is many a foot-soldier with his coarse, grey great-coat, and knapsack on his back, ay, and many a common sailor, in his plain blue jacket, that carries as brave a heart in his bosom as a life-guardsman. In the royal regiment of horse-guards the officers wear a blue coat with embroidered scarlet collar. Many parts of their dress resemble that of the life-guards, but their feathers are red, and their waist-belt white silk ”

“ The Adjutant went at once to the rescue of his Sergeant-Major, but his horse was shot, and before he could get disengaged from his charger he was cut down; the wounded Sergeant-Major rushed to the assistance of his officer, but was felled to the earth like a bullock with the butt end of a rifle. A strong guard was looking on all the time, but would not interfere. ”

“ The strictest discipline on duty, a certain friendly good-fellowship off duty—these are the relations between officers and men of the Guards, as, of course, they are between officers and men right through the British Army. In the field the Guards officer is a guardian to his men. He is eternally preoccupied with their comfort in the trenches and in the billets; he furthers their sports and games, often out of his own pocket; he takes a general interest in their welfare. ”

“ Although no officer should be ignorant of the service of the guards, yet it particularly behooves the lieutenant to be perfectly acquainted with that duty; he being oftener than any other officer entrusted with command of the guard- a trust of the highest importance, on the faithful execution of which the safety of an army depends; and in which the officer has frequent opportunities to distinguish himself by his judgment, vigilance and bravery. ”

“ Cruel country, cruel fate, that compel Lieutenant Algernon Percy Plantagenet, of the Royal Life Guards, the handsomest man in his regiment, and heir to £9,000 a year, to be mounting guard at eight o’clock in the morning! He is mounting guard at present by smoking a cigar (one of Milo’s best) on the Mall. By and by he will go into his barrack-room and draw caricatures in charcoal on the whitewashed wall. He will smoke a good deal, yawn a good deal, and whistle a good deal during the day, and will give a few words of command. ”

“ Thus matters moved along, the noise and fun increasing, until the hour of twelve, at which time the guard were to return to head-quarters, make their report, and be relieved. As the bell tolled forth the hour, they seemed to regain possession of their senses; visions of the guard-house floated across their minds, and they well knew it was their doom unless they immediately departed. But now all was confusion: “Where is my musket?” was the general cry; but no muskets were to be found. ”

“ Without waiting to hear the corporal’s protest he turned on his heel, strode down the hall, entered the waiting car, and directed that he be driven at once to the armory.
At nine o’clock that morning Company E returned from its skirmish with the mob. A belated squad of state constabulary had arrived and taken charge of the situation, and there was no longer any occasion for the Guardsmen to remain on duty. They marched up the main street, sturdy, dusty and triumphant, followed by an admiring and applauding crowd. And there was good reason for both admiration and applause. ”

“ There was the dug-out, the Grenadier Guards sergeant-major of sixty, the handsome and melancholy old boy, a Victorian survivor into our little vulgar age, with a careful and dignified manner and mighty memories of a radiant past in London, when all parades, for a good-conduct-man well up in his drill, were over by half-past ten in the morning and he had a permanent midnight pass into barracks and so could act as a super at one of the theatres every night except when doing a guard, and see life and move among genius and beauty, making good money. ”

“ The guard was constantly changing and the clattering and rasping of orders and commands repeatedly woke us up. Then again, at frequent intervals, the sentry would enter. Seeing me asleep he would either give me a prod with his bayonet or a smart rap with the butt-end of his rifle to wake me up, the idea no doubt being to impress upon me the serious nature of my position and to inflict upon me the utmost discomfort. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ But directly he turned to the men and said, “Come, boys, take him up carefully,” whereupon the stretcher-bearers advanced to obey the order. At the same instant the corporal drew the revolver from beneath his pillow, cocked it, and, in a voice which carried conviction, exclaimed, “The man that puts a hand on me dies!” At this the men stepped back, and the surgeon tried to reason with the corporal, assuring him that in no other way could his life be saved. But the corporal persisted in declaring that if he died it should be with both legs on. ”

“ There should be at least one noncommissioned officer constantly on the alert at the guardhouse, usually the corporal whose relief is on post. This noncommissioned officer takes post near the entrance of the guardhouse, and does not fall in with the guard when it is formed. He will have his rifle constantly with him. ”

“ Originally a soldier who was employed in throwing hand-grenades, but in some modern armies a member of the first company of every battalion of foot, in which the tallest and finest men of the regiment are placed.
Grenadier Guards. The first regiment of foot guards in the British Household Brigade of Guards, and generally considered the finest corps in the army. It comprises 2697 officers and men, divided into three battalions. The officers of this fashionable corps are usually from the families of the nobility, or more distinguished landed gentry. ”

“ When thus considered, we see that it consists of an extremely small advance guard in front, formed of persons with a limited freedom of moral action and able to act as patrols in various directions, of a larger body in the rear, in ancient military language called the blackguard and not without its uses, and in the main of a great compact majority with which we must always be chiefly concerned since they really are the army; they are the community. ”

“ Guard of Honor, Fatigue Guard, and the General’s Guard. That was called a guard of honor in which the officers and men were most exposed to danger; for the quintessence of military honor is to be often in peril, and either to fall courageously in the discharge of duty, or to return from the field after having exhibited proofs of valor, prudence and perseverance. A fatigue guard belonging to a garrison or to a camp. A general’s guard was mounted before the door or gate of the house in which the commanding officer resided. ”

“ I was once upon this guard, it was in the spring, after the snow had gone off the ground; myself and another young man took for our tour of duty to patrol upon a certain road during the night. About midnight or a little after, our guard being then at the farmer's house, which was the farthest back from the water's side of any of the houses we occupied; this distance caused some of our sentinels to be three miles from the guard. We patroled from the guard to the farthest sentries which, were two, (or in military phrase, a double sentinel,) who were standing upon a bridge. ”

“ But as they cannot keep this Situation without exposing their Body very much, which is often dangerous, as also a very unseemly Posture, this Guard is therefore, with good Reason, condemned by most, if not all, experience'd Masters. ”

“ This is a new military rule you adopt, turning out the guard every time the Sergeant comes in.” Others would say as they saw him coming up stairs again, “turn out the guard for the commanding officer!” “Turn out the guard for the officer of the day!” Others would attempt to beat the long roll on the floor, with sticks of stove wood, or try to whistle, “Boots and Saddles,” or the assembly. ”

“ On a march, there will always be an advanced and rear guard; the advanced guard of one day becoming the rear guard of the next. On arriving on the ground where the battery is to be parked, the advanced guard will immediately pitch their tent, and post sentinels. When the battery quits its ground, the non-commissioned officer of the guard is responsible that nothing be left behind. ”

“ All soldiers undergoing punishment are “confined to barracks” in addition to such punishment, whatever it may be, and are termed “defaulters,” a list being kept in the guard-room, pasted on a board, so that the corporal of the guard, who is supposed to be in or about the door of the guard-room day and night, can always ascertain when a soldier presents himself to “pass out” whether he be a “defaulter” or not. ”

“ Some drink beer, some squat in moody silence, some talk in an animated fashion about nothing very urgent. At the one small door, two guards pace back and forth slowly, creating a gentle swaying of smoke-patterns in the hazy room. The guards, in simple military uniform, carry small, deadly looking weapons. ”

“ In the same way it is the duty of a guard to prevent any one from crossing his particular beat, and of the Commander to see that there are guards sufficient to encircle the space which is desired to be enclosed, so that if a person should persist in attempting to go over a portion of the beat, he would probably meet the bayonet, but as far as the guard is concerned, he could pass two inches beyond those bounds with perfect impunity. ”

“ Guard-mounting is a ceremony of importance in the Army. It is done to music, where music is available. Every man who turns out on the new guard—which means that he is to be on duty for the next twenty-four hours—is expected to present himself with his person, uniform and equipments absolutely clean and tidy. The two men who thus make the most soldierly appearance are detailed as orderlies at headquarters. ”

“ The old guard, which has been on duty for twenty-four hours, is relieved, and a new guard assembled upon the parade, and after each has undergone thorough inspection, and the officers in command have made report in formal military manner, the new guard, preceded by the blaring bugles, goes to the guard house to be instructed in general and special orders, and thence detailed to their several posts. The guard is composed of details from each of the twelve companies, in numbers according to the requirements of the camp. ”