“O Fame, stern prompter of most glorious deeds,
What numerous votaries attend thy call!
For thee the poet sings, the hero bleeds,
And warlike kings bid empires rise or fall.”
THE REVOLUTIONARY AND CRIMEAN WARS—1793–1862.
In 1793 the restless and aggressive spirit which sorely troubled France,
developed in the Revolution, once more plunged that nation into war with
Britain; nay, not only so, but sending forth her revolutionary
incendiaries charged with the subversion of all constitutional
government, and seeking to poison the minds of almost every people, her
ruthless and frantic demagogues virtually declared war against the whole
monarchies of Christendom. Accordingly, a British force, including a
portion of the Greys, was sent to the Netherlands under the Duke of
York. These were chiefly employed in the sieges of Valenciennes,
Dunkirk, Landrecies, etc., which preceded the double battle of Tournay,
fought on the 10th and 22d May, 1794. The Greys and the other British
cavalry easily routed the newly-raised horsemen of the Revolution, which
were sadly degenerated from the splendidly-equipped cavalry of the old
monarchy—long the terror of Europe, and most worthy foes. The utter
bankruptcy of the French nation prevented them from equipping or
maintaining a powerful cavalry, and, in consequence, we find the armies
of the Revolution at that time very deficient in this branch of the
service. Notwithstanding the excellence of his troops, the Duke of York
found his position untenable, with such a handful, against the
overwhelming hosts of France, which were being daily augmented by a
starving crowd which the Revolution had ruined, and so forced into the
army as the only refuge in those unhappy times. The British, retreating
into Germany, reached Bremen in 1795, whence the Scots Greys shortly
thereafter returned to England.
Notwithstanding the continuous and bloody wars in which our country was
engaged during the next twenty years, the Scots Greys were allowed to
pine in quietude on home service, until the campaign of Waterloo called
them to take the field.
In the meantime, we take opportunity to enumerate the series of colonels
who successively commanded the regiment during this interval. The Earl
of Eglinton, appointed in 1795, was succeeded by that brave and
distinguished officer, Sir Ralph Abercromby, who fell in the arms of
victory on the 28th of March, 1801, at the battle of Alexandria. On his
death, the colonelcy was conferred on a no less distinguished officer,
Sir David Dundas, who continued to command the regiment until 1813,
when, exchanging into the King’s Dragoon Guards, he was succeeded by the
Marquis of Lothian. This nobleman dying in 1815, made way for an able
and accomplished soldier, Sir James Stewart, who, retaining the
colonelcy for the lengthened term of twenty-four years, lived to be the
oldest general and the oldest soldier, both in one, in the British army.
In 1839, Sir William Keir Grant was appointed colonel. As if worthily to
recognise the heroic daring of the regiment at Waterloo, it has
continued to be commanded by veterans who have earned their laurels in
that proud field of fight. Lord Sandys was appointed in 1858, but only
enjoyed the honour for two years, when death laid him low, and he was in
turn succeeded by the present colonel, General Alex. K. Clarke Kennedy,
C.B., K.G. The history of all these brave officers is replete with deeds
of heroism, and it would have been truly a pleasant duty, had our space
admitted, to have recounted somewhat of their achievements.
During the years of their home service, a part of the regiment was
present at the imposing ceremony accompanying the burial of England’s
Naval Hero, Lord Nelson, in 1805. They were also present at the great
review in Hyde Park in 1814, when the allied Sovereigns visited England
after the Treaty of Paris.
The following year witnessed the escape of Napoleon from Elba, his
return to France, and the general and disgraceful desertion of the
French army to their old chief. This untoward event at once arrested the
retiring armies of the allies, and recalled them again in haste to
Paris. The promptitude and harmony of the measures adopted by the
Cabinets of Britain and Prussia enabled their armies forthwith to take
the field, and so stemming the returning tide of French despotism, for
ever crush the might of the tyrant whose restless ambition, like an evil
spirit, had so long troubled Europe. They were honoured side by side to
fulfil the first and last act in the short but decisive campaign which
followed. Six troops of the Greys were ordered to the theatre of war,
and, landing in the Netherlands in 1815, were brigaded with the Royals
and their old comrades the Inniskillings, under Sir William Ponsonby.
Anticipating no immediate attack from the French, and the better to
obtain supplies, the Duke of Wellington had disposed his army as a chain
of posts to watch the movements of the enemy. While separated from the
Prussians, under Blucher, both armies narrowly escaped destruction. The
immediate and personal presence of so able and enterprising a General as
Napoleon, at the head of a powerful and well-appointed army—consisting
largely of the veterans who, smarting under the disasters of a previous
year, burned for revenge, or of those who, so unfortunately for their
chief, had been too long incarcerated as garrisons in the distant
fortresses of the Oder and Vistula, but who, released on the conclusion
of the late peace, gladly welcomed their old commander, and followed him
to the field with high hopes to retrieve the defeats of the past—the
immediate presence of such an army rendered the position of the allies
one of considerable danger. On the night of the 15th of June the Greys
were unexpectedly awakened at the village of Denderhautem, to learn that
the enemy was rapidly advancing to surprise and destroy the scattered
fragments of the army in detail. Accordingly, immediate orders were
issued to the various corps to concentrate in the vicinity of WATERLOO.
A rapid march of fifty miles brought the Scots Greys, on the evening of
the 16th, to Quatre Bras, where some of the British troops were
surprised by a portion of the French army, under Marshal Ney, and all
but cut to pieces. As the eventful morning of the 18th of June dawned,
the British army, having completed its concentration, was drawn up in
all the magnificence of battle array, and anxiously waited the arrival
of their allies. The Prussians, however, had in the interim been
attacked by Napoleon himself at Ligny, and nearly overthrown.
In the battle of Waterloo, the Greys occupied a position in rear of the
left centre. It was late in the day when the Earl of Uxbridge brought
the orders for that fatal and memorable charge, the result of which had
such an effect on the battle. It must have been a splendid sight to have
seen these gallant regiments (the Greys, Royals, and Inniskillings)
“hurl them on the foe;” and it must have been nobly done, since it
specially attracted the attention of the great Napoleon—(particularly
referring to the Greys)—and drew forth from him those ever-memorable
words: “These are splendid horsemen, but in less than half-an-hour I
must cut them to pieces;” and therewith he did all that human mind could
devise, or human might achieve, to fulfil his boast, and annihilate
these brave soldiers. Despite a dreadful carnage, and the resoluteness
with which the successive columns of the French sustained the dreadful
fight, they could not prevail against our Gælic infantry, nor dismay the
firmness of the British square, far less withstand the shock of our
gallant cavalry—they were broken; and amidst the terrible confusion
which ensued, Sergeant Ewart, of the Greys, succeeded in capturing the
eagle and colour of the Forty-fifth French regiment—a trophy which
graced the day, and the eagle is a proud emblem on the regimental
guidon. The Ninety-second Highlanders, reduced to 200 men, had long
maintained a terrible conflict with a column of 2000 of the enemy. At
length the Greys, charging a second time—but with sadly diminished
numbers—came to the assistance of their countrymen, and, together,
nearly annihilated the French. At the grand charge, where the famous and
hitherto invincible Guards of Napoleon were brought forward for a last
effort, the remnant of the Greys, kept in reserve, awaited the repulse
of that dread column, when, a third time charging, they completed the
ruin of their brave foemen. The loss to the regiment was upwards of 200
men. After the battle, they continued the pursuit of the enemy to the
very gates of Paris; and, with other cavalry, contributed to prevent
Napoleon re-forming or re-organising his still formidable legions. On
the abdication of that mighty chief, the Greys returned to England in
1816. Thus, in three days, was the fate of an empire, nay, of the world,
decided by British valour and Prussian firmness.
[Illustration: BALAKLAVA.]
Passing over a long interval of peace—nearly forty years, during which
nothing of sufficient importance transpired to call the Greys to take
the field—we arrive at the time (1854) of the Crimean war, when Russian
ambition, seeking to overwhelm Turkey in her weakness, was unexpectedly
met and arrested in her unrighteous aggression, by France and Britain,
on the plains of the Crimea. The Greys, as an after instalment of the
British army, were sent out in the “Himalaya,” and landed in September—a
few days after the battle of the Alma. With the Fourth (Royal Irish) and
the Fifth (Princess Charlotte of Wales’s) Dragoon Guards; and the First
(Royals) and Sixth (Inniskilling) Dragoons, they formed the heavy
cavalry brigade, under Brigadier-General the Hon. James Scarlett, now
Adjutant-General to the Forces and K.C.B. At the action of Balaklava,
fought on the 25th of October, and which was almost entirely a cavalry
one—the Ninety-third Highlanders being the only infantry regiment
actively engaged, and bearing the word on their colours—the Scots Greys,
with their old comrades, the Inniskillings, fully sustained the ancient
and heroic character of the regiment. Numbering together about 750 men,
they charged fearlessly upon a body of 3500 of the very choicest Russian
cavalry, defended, moreover, by several batteries; and, breaking the
first line, had already pierced the column through, when they were aided
in the completion of the victory by the Fourth and Fifth Dragoon Guards.
Notwithstanding the desperate and unequal contest, the loss on the side
of the Greys was very small. In less than five minutes the splendid
array of Russian cavalry was broken and put to flight by about 1400 of
the British cavalry. This splendid achievement may be considered as the
only important event in which our cavalry assumed a prominent part. The
severity of the weather and the prevalence of disease all but destroyed
the Greys and their no less gallant comrades, and left our country to
lament that so very few of that heroic brigade were spared to return and
receive the thanks of a grateful people. Two years afterwards, peace
restored the remnant of the regiment to its native land.
In closing our brief record of the Second Regiment of Royal North
British Dragoons, we cannot help remarking on the almost unbroken
success and splendid trophies which have crowned their arms. 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;” and be
they Englishmen or Irishmen who join the regiment, we feel sure they do
so with a generous spirit of emulation, and ungrudgingly unite with us
in doing honour to our countrymen, who early won a good name for the
regiment by brave deeds—no idle tale, but recorded in the most prominent
page of the world’s history.
[Illustration: SCOTS GREY 1862]
[Illustration: H.R.H. THE LATE PRINCE CONSORT, COLONEL OF THE GRENADIER
GUARDS.]
“THE GUARDS.”
THE GRENADIERS—COLDSTREAMS—SCOTS FUSILIERS.
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