A RETROSPECT.
The preceding pages will have shown that the Regiment from its inception
has possessed certain distinctive characteristics which are
pre-eminently those required for making Light Infantry and Riflemen of
the best type.
Raised in 1755, the Regiment, inspired by the genius of Henry Bouquet,
early displayed that strong individuality, that self-reliant courage,
and that ready initiative coupled with steady discipline, which won from
the intrepid Wolfe himself the proud motto of _Celer et Audax_. In 1797,
under the experienced command of Baron de Rottenburg, the famous 5th
Battalion (Rifles) was raised as a special type of Light Troops. Thus
the 5th Battalion of the Regiment, the first Rifle Corps of the British
Army, revived those special qualities of the Royal Americans which had
rendered the Regiment so renowned in its earlier years, and were
destined to win imperishable fame throughout the Peninsular War.
After a long interval of peace the Regiment from 1836 to 1854 received a
similar impetus at the hands of Molyneux and Dundas, and reaped a rich
harvest of lasting honour and glory upon the Delhi Ridge by displaying
the same supremely valuable characteristics which had distinguished it
in America and in Spain. Again, from 1861–1873, under Hawley’s
commanding influence and inspiring skill, the Regiment, through the 4th
Battalion, opened up a more rapid and elastic system of drill and
tactics, a more intelligent treatment of the soldier, and the betterment
of his life in barracks, of which the good effects are felt to-day not
only in the Regiment but in the Army at large. The qualities thus
maintained for a century and a half, have borne in later years abundant
fruit, of which the stubborn courage at the Ingogo fight, the calm
discipline of the _Warren Hastings_, the eager valour of Talana Hill,
and the impetuous assault up the slopes of the Twin Peaks are glorious
examples.
To the same special qualities was due the inspiration which created the
Mounted Infantry as a portion of the British Army, and it is to the
officers and men of the 60th that the inception and success of that
powerful arm is largely due.
Let the Riflemen of to-day, who read the deeds of their gallant comrades
of the past, remember that if they are to maintain the traditions and
increase still more the reputation of the famous Corps to which they
belong, it can only be by cultivating the same spirit of ready
self-sacrifice and unsparing devotion to duty, and by developing the
same prompt initiative, steady discipline, and unflinching courage,
which have ever been the secret of the Regiment’s success.
Let each Rifleman also recollect that a distinguished Past is rather a
reproach than a glory unless maintained by an equally distinguished
Present, and developed, if possible, by an even more distinguished
future.
[Illustration:
MAP IV
SOUTH AFRICA
Illustrating the area of Operations referred to in Part III, Sections
7 and 10, also upon Inset map, Part III, Section 8.
_Stanford’s Geog^l. Estab^t., London._
]
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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
1. Silently corrected typographical errors.
2. Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed.
3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.
4. Superscripts are denoted by a caret before a single superscript
character, e.g. M^r.