Pin it. Submit to Reddit. Share on LinkedIn. Publish on WordPress. Send via Email. Ireland was in rebellion against Scottish settlers colonizing Ulster and there was no standing army to deal with the situation, therefore King Charles I ordered the raising of 10 Regiments for service in Ireland.
The King managed to escape to France but the Regiment was scattered and ceased to exist. The Regiment was engaged in Scotland suppressing the Convenanters uprising against the King, who challenged many of the religious reforms imposed on them, finally defeating them at the Bothwell Brig in In the Regiment was brought into the English Army.
From to the Regiment was predominately in the Scottish Highlands to keep order until when The Regiment was posted to Spain and took part in the Battle of Saragossa as part of the Spanish War of Succession — The King, unlike his much more accommodating elder brother Charles, was an unbending Catholic, who tried to remove as many Protestant officers as he could from the Army.
By there was considerable ill feeling about him. It affected the Scots Guards and when William of Orange arrived it was not long before they swore allegiance to him, several Catholic officers excepted. From long before this the Dutch had been struggling against Spanish and later French domination. So since William also ruled Holland he was only too glad when opportunity offered in to send troops out from England to fight on the Continent.
The fighting, mainly siege warfare, was not in Holland, but mostly was in Flanders modern Belgium and north eastern France , where the Scots Guards would fight again and again in the years to come. Two years later the Scots Guards went back to Scotland, their role protection against the Jacobite threat, and so had no direct involvement in the war of the Spanish Succession to , again with France as the principal enemy, until they went to Spain in in an ill starred expedition largely over ground they would see again a hundred years later in the Peninsular War.
At this time there were still companies of the Scots Guards in Scotland but all of them went to London in From to the three Regiments of Foot Guards were in London, engaged, in the absence of a police force, in carrying out all manner of public order duties. These included accompanying the condemned to the gallows, preventing disturbances when lesser offenders were put in the pillory and even catching poachers on royal property.
Both Guards Brigades were involved. They were defending the village of Neerwinden with the Royal Scots, 7th Fusiliers and some Hanoverians. This force endured a sustained attack from 26 French battalions. Ammunition was running very low after a whole day's fighting so they were forced to withdraw under cover of a cavalry action. The British casualties numbered 4, Namur In it was decided that the regiment should have a Highland Company 'for the security of the Highlands and the adjacent country against threats and depredations'.
They wore Highland dress and carried weapons to match. But after ten years the company was disbanded. Brihuega The Scots Guards did not go with Marlborough on his famous Blenheim campaign but the 2nd Battalion joined an expedition to Spain in Although the battles of Almenara and Saragossa were successful, the British were outnumbered and surrounded at Brihuega, in Castile, in December Casualties amounted to and many of the regiment remained as prisoners there for two years.
In the regiment was renamed 3rd Guards and both battalions were based in London. They were now a fully fledged Household regiment. In a detachment of the 3rd Guards returned to Spain with other Guards detachments to carry out a punitive raid on the port of Vigo, a base used by the Jacobites.
Princess Maria Theresa, Charles's daughter, was the obvious choice and she was backed by George II who, as Elector of Hanover, was pledged to support her. He was a veteran of Marlborough's wars and 74 years old.
He led the hungry and ragged army east and stopped on the River Main near Frankfurt to fight the French, but was prevented from doing so by the Austrian commander and King George who made himself unpopular by breezing into camp to inspect them and take over command. The Guards brigade was made up of the 1st Battalions of all three Guards regiments.
The irony of this campaign was that the Guards earned a battle honour for Dettingen in which they played little part, and earned nothing for the battle of Fontenoy where they fought with great bravery and distinction. Dettingen Amphibious Raids The Scots Guards were not involved in the war until when they were part of the raids on the French coast. Cherbourg was captured in a surprise attack, and pillaged. The Guards Brigade consisted of a battalion from each regiment.
In September they took part in a less successful raid on St Malo, when the rearguard, containing the Grenadier Companies of all three regiments was cut off by superior French forces.
The casualties numbered and the same number were taken prisoner. The second battalion of each regiment made up the brigade and was later augmented by a fourth battalion consisting of the Grenadier Companies. At Wilhelmstahl on 24th June , the Scots Guards formed the left of the line and prevented the French from outflanking the army, contributing to an allied victory. They relieved the Hanoverians who had been engaged in a pointless fire-fight for six hours with the French, standing the other side of a bridge.
The Hanoverians lost men. Granby brought in the Guards who carried on with the exchange of fire. The 3rd Guards lost 60 men by the end of the day. A composite battalion of Guards took five months to sail to North America in The 3rd Guards provided men for this battalion.
They captured New York which they were later required to garrison for two years. They also fought at Brandywine on 11th Sept , the capture of Fort Washington and successfully defended Germantown on 4th October. The British chose to cross the swollen Catawba River at Cowan's on 1st February but found themselves chest deep and vulnerable to firing from the other bank. Fortunately for them, they managed to shoot Davidson and effectively demoralise the Americans who retreated.
Guildford Courthouse In an effort to speed up the pursuit of Greene's army in North Carolina, Lord Cornwallis destroyed his own supply wagons, which if left behind would have fallen into enemy hands. But he failed to catch up and fell back on Guildford Courthouse. His force of around 2, men were tired from their mile march and hungry from lack of supplies.
The enemy numbered around 4, During the battle, the British were being squeezed from both sides and Cornwallis ruthlessly ordered the artillery to fire on the mass of fighting soldiers.
This had the effect of driving off the Americans but at some cost to his own men. It was counted a victory for the British but their losses were great.
The Guards battalion lost 37 killed, wounded and 22 missing. Yorktown By the time of the final battle at Yorktown the Guards battalion was reduced to men. The 8, British were trapped and besieged for two months by 17, American and French troops.
Eventually a peace settlement was concluded and the entire garrison marched out on 19th October , while their band played 'The World Turned Upside Down'. They were required to march along a road lined with American troops and lay down their arms. As with all long periods of peace, the British army had been reduced to an almost useless level. But the Guards' strength was comparatively healthy, as always, so they were the obvious choice for the coming campaign.
The Guards brigade was made up of four battalions, the first battalion from each regiment plus a fourth battalion of flank companies. Lincelles The ill-equipped expedition sailed for Holland in coal barges and fared badly under their various allied commanders who quarrelled amongst each other.
The Dutch troops led by the Prince of Orange had been driven from the hilltop village of Lincelles near Dunkirk, which was now fortified and defended by 5, Frenchmen.
On the evening of 18th August they bravely climbed up the hill against artillery and musket fire and against all odds managed to storm the barricades. All the Guards regiments earned a battle honour. Ostend The Light Companies of the Scots Guards that had been formed in were part of a raiding force against Ostend. But they were quickly surrounded and taken prisoner.
They sought the help of Revolutionary France which responded with a series of naval expeditions that failed. The rebellion broke out in May and was mainly in the north and in Wexford.
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