CHAPTER XXVII

MISSING BATTLE HONOURS

Sir A. Alison's Committee--General Ewart's Committee--Marlborough's forgotten victories--Wellington's minor successes--Losses at Douai--Peninsula, 1705--Gibraltar, 1727--Peninsula, 1762--Belleisle--Dominica--Manilla--Cape of Good Hope, 1795--Indian Honours--Pondicherry--Tanjore--Madras troops--An unrewarded Bombay column--The Indian Mutiny--Punjab frontier force--Umbeyla--Naval honours.

Until some thirty years ago, the names inscribed on the colours and appointments of our regiments were mainly in recognition of services between the years 1793 and 1815, or for campaigns in India. It so happened that many regiments which had done good service in the wars of the Austrian or Spanish Succession were debarred from sharing in the honours so generously distributed for the Peninsular campaign, owing to the fact that they were at the time employed in garrisoning our distant dependencies, or in holding threatened points in other quarters of the globe. Several regiments had no names on their colours, although they had borne their share in the important victories won by Marlborough, or had fought in the no less arduous wars later in the eighteenth century. It was felt that such names as Blenheim and Malplaquet were as deserving of recognition as, let me say, Bushire or Surinam. In the year 1881 a Committee, under the presidency of the late General Sir Archibald Alison, was appointed to consider the subject, and, after much deliberation, came to the conclusion that "the names of such victories only should be retained as either in themselves or by their results have left a mark in history which render their names familiar, not only to the British army, but also to every educated gentleman."

The result of Sir Archibald Alison's Committee was that four of Marlborough's victories were added to the battle honours of the army--Blenheim, Oudenarde, Ramillies, and Malplaquet. What led to the selection of two out of these four names will ever remain a mystery. At Oudenarde the twenty-two regiments present lost but 168 officers and men killed and wounded. At Ramillies the casualties were only slightly heavier. On the other hand, during the same campaign we had lost far more heavily at Ath, Douai, Liège, Lille, Maestricht, Menin, and Namur. Until the present year (1910), the 18th (Royal Irish) was the only regiment which bore any reference to Namur on its colours, and the other names are still lacking.

Within the last few months another Committee, under the able presidency of the Adjutant-General, has been adjudicating on the same subject. To this Committee the regiments of the army owe a deep debt of gratitude. Its labours are confessedly incomplete. It has rescued from oblivion some long-forgotten campaigns in the West Indies; it has given due credit to the regiments which participated in the costly capture of Namur by William III.; it has to a certain extent satisfied the _amour propre_ of our cavalry regiments by adding to their appointments three somewhat unimportant actions, and has placed on the colours of a few distinguished corps the names of battles in Flanders and the Peninsula to which they were justly entitled. The task of such a Committee is by no means a light one. The haphazard way in which battle honours have hitherto been granted, and the difficulties of obtaining accurate records of many of the earlier campaigns, have added not a little to its labours. It would appear that the Committee has been guided by two main principles in the selection of fresh battle honours--the one that no distinction should be granted unless the headquarters of the regiment had been present in the engagement, and that honours should only be conferred on regiments with a continuous history from the date of the action, a break in the direct genealogical succession invalidating the claim.

These decisions rule out many regiments otherwise eligible, and hitherto they have never been enforced. Indeed, in one case, at any rate, General Ewart's Committee has evaded its own ruling. "Gibraltar, 1704-05," has been awarded to both the Grenadier and to the Coldstream Guards; yet it was a composite battalion, only 600 strong, made up from the two regiments, which was sent from Lisbon to assist Prince George of Hesse in the defence of the Rock. In earlier days battle honours were not seldom bestowed on regiments which had been represented in actions by single troops or companies. A troop of the 11th Hussars acted as personal escort to the Commander-in-Chief during the Egyptian campaign of 1801, yet the battle honour was conferred on the regiment. The three regiments of Household Cavalry bear the honours "Egypt, 1882," and "South Africa, 1899-1900"; yet it was a composite regiment, made up of a squadron from each regiment, which earned the battle honour. The headquarters of the 35th were not present at Maida, nor of the 69th at St. Vincent, yet the Royal Sussex and the Welsh have been awarded these battle honours.

When we come to the question of direct representation, the same anomalies crop up. A regiment, which I need not further

## particularize, affords, perhaps, the most striking instance. It

was disbanded at the close of the eighteenth century for acts of alleged disloyalty and indiscipline. The order for disbandment was read at the head of every troop and company in the army. That order contained such strong expressions as "seditious and outrageous proceedings," "atrocious acts of disobedience," "insubordination," "indelible stigma," and generally commented on the conduct of the regiment in the strongest possible terms. Half a century later a new corps bearing the same number sprang into existence, and was permitted to bear the battle honours that would have accrued to its predecessor. A similar privilege was conferred on the 19th and 20th Hussars, when they were taken over from the East India Company, and on the 18th Hussars and 100th Royal Canadians when they were resuscitated some fifty years ago. But there is a long list of regiments to whom this privilege will now be denied, amongst them the 76th (Middlesex), 90th (Scottish Rifles), and 98th (North Staffords), which accompanied General Ruffane from Belleisle, and were present at the capture of Martinique and Havana. The 79th, which was with Draper at Wandewash, Pondicherry, and the capture of Manilla; the 84th--Eyre Coote's famous regiment--which took part in all the earlier battles in India, and which, with the 78th and 91st, captured the Cape of Good Hope in 1795; the 103rd and 104th, which were granted the battle honour "Niagara" at the same time as the 19th Hussars and the 100th Regiment. This list could be added to almost indefinitely. I give these few instances to show how regiments will be affected by the strict application of the ruling of General Ewart's Committee.

The halo that surrounds the name of the great Duke of Wellington has led many to suppose that the battles fought in the Peninsula were combats of giants. When we come down to hard facts, and study the casualty returns, and then reflect on the result of many of these actions which are inscribed on our colours, it is clear that they can hardly be described as "having by their results left their mark on history." In no less than ten engagements in the Peninsular War for which battle honours have been granted our losses were less than those at Oudenarde, the least costly of all Marlborough's battles, whilst in three, the aggregate of killed only reached sixteen men.

The following table is, I venture to think, instructive as showing the scanty recognition accorded to the regiments which fought under Marlborough, the generous recognition of those which fought under Wellington:

+--------------------------------------+ | MARLBOROUGH'S BATTLES | | FOR WHICH NO BATTLE | | HONOURS HAVE BEEN GRANTED. | +--------------+-----------+-----------+ | |_Officers._| _Men._ | |_Engagements._+-----+-----+-----+-----+ | | K. | W. | K. | W. | +--------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+ |Schellenburg | 32 | 85 | 638 |1,419| |Liège | 11 | 20 | 142 | 365| |Menin | 34 | 80 | 551 |1,994| |Lille | 17 | 43 | 447 |1,093| |Douai | 13 | 61 | 638 |1,093| +--------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+

+--------------------------------------------+ | WELLINGTON'S BATTLES | | FOR WHICH BATTLE HONOURS | | HAVE BEEN GRANTED. | +--------------------+-----------+-----------+ | |_Officers._| _Men._ | | _Engagements._ +-----+-----+-----+-----+ | | K. | W. | K. | W. | +--------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+ |Sahagun | - | - | 2 | 18 | |The Douro | - | 10 | 23 | 86 | |Almaraz | 2 | 12 | 32 | 101 | |Arroyos dos Molinos | - | 7 | 7 | 51 | |Tarifa | 2 | 3 | 7 | 24 | +--------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+

On p. 16 I have given the list of regiments that fought at Schellenburg, with a return of their individual losses. At Menin we had four, at Liège and Lille five, and at Douai eight, battalions engaged, so the severity of the fighting may be gauged.

It may be urged that, as Schellenburg preceded Blenheim by only one month, and that as practically the same regiments were present at both engagements, such a distinction would merely have the effect of granting two battle honours to a few specially favoured regiments. Four days intervened between Roleia and Vimiera--actions which neither in their severity nor in their results can be compared to the two victories of Marlborough; indeed, several regiments which escaped scathless in Wellington's two earliest fights bear two battle honours on their colours. The campaign in Persia lasted exactly two months, and three insignificant skirmishes brought four battle honours to the fortunate regiments present.

I have been unable to trace the casualty returns for Liège, Menin, and Lille. Those of Douai I give in the following table, as I do not remember having seen them in any recent publication:

CASUALTIES AT THE SIEGE AND ASSAULT OF DOUAI.

+--------------------------+-----------+-----------+ | |_Officers._| _Men._ | | _Regiments._ +-----+-----+-----+-----+ | | K. | W. | K. | W. | +--------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+ |Roy. Artillery | - | - | 34 | 96 | |Roy. Engineers | - | - | 35 | 45 | |19th Yorkshire | - | 11 | 94 | 207 | |21st Roy. Scots Fusiliers | 1 | 7 | 49 | 182 | |23rd R. Welsh Fusiliers | 2 | 9 | 54 | 147 | |24th S. Wales Borderers | 1 | 9 | 35 | 148 | |26th Camer'ians | 1 | 6 | 50 | 186 | |34th Border | 1 | 5 | 81 | 125 | |Sutton's Regt. | 5 | 8 | 110 | 113 | |Honeywood's Regt. | 2 | 6 | 86 | 170 | +--------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+

Surely these figures are eloquent enough to justify the award of a battle honour to the regiments engaged!

Whilst Marlborough was fighting in Northern Europe, another British army was engaged in the South, where a century later our troops under Wellington were to earn undying fame. It is true the campaign was tinged with more than one disaster, owing to the lack of support on the part of our allies, but it was also relieved by many gallant actions well worthy of recognition. The storming and capture of Valenza by the 33rd (West Riding), the heroic defence of Alicante, Peterborough's daring capture of Barcelona, are all feats of arms well worthy of being emblazoned on colours which already bear such names as Roleia, Douro, and Tarifa. The regiments entitled to share in the honours that might well be awarded for our earliest campaign in the Peninsula are:

2nd Queen's Bays. 1st Royal Dragoons. Royal Scots. 8th Royal Irish Hussars. Royal Warwicks. Queen's (Royal West Surrey). King's Own (Lancaster). Norfolks. Leicester. Somerset Light Infantry. Cornwall Light Infantry. East Surrey. Border. West Riding. Worcesters. Royal Sussex.

On p. 8 I have alluded to the gallant defence of Gibraltar by Lord Portmore in 1727 as an instance of a missing battle honour, and have given the losses sustained by the regiments which formed the garrison in that memorable defence. Should "Gibraltar, 1727," be added to the battle honours of the army, as well indeed it may be, the regiments which would be entitled to the distinction are the

Grenadier Guards. Northumberland Fusiliers. Somerset Light Infantry. West Yorkshire. Royal Irish. Lancashire Fusiliers. K.O. Scottish Borderers. Cameronians. Worcester. East Lancashire. Border. Dorsets.

Five-and-thirty years later, when our armies, under Prince Ferdinand, were earning the battle honours "Minden," "Warburg," and "Wilhelmstahl," a second army, under Lord Tyrawley, was fighting on the historic battle-fields of Spain. In the year 1910 the 16th Lancers were authorized to wear a special cap plate in recognition of their services at Valencia di Alcantara in the campaign of 1762. On this occasion the Red Lancers made a forced march of forty-five miles, surprised the Spaniards, taking the General in command prisoner, and returning with three stand of colours. This is the only recognition yet accorded for the campaign in the middle of the eighteenth century.

As dates have been added to differentiate between our various campaigns in the West Indies, South Africa, and Gibraltar, it would be a graceful act, and one of strict justice, to add the dates 1727 to the battle honour "Gibraltar," and 1705-06 and 1762 to the battle honour "Peninsula." The following regiments would be entitled to this last distinction--"Peninsula, 1762":

16th Lancers. Buffs. Hampshire. Gordon Highlanders. Royal Irish Rifles. Shropshire Light Infantry. Argyll Highlanders.

These represent the 3rd Buffs, 67th, 75th, 83rd, 85th, 91st, and 92nd Regiments of those far-off days.

Another name that might well be rescued from oblivion is Belleisle. A combined naval and military expedition, under Admiral the Hon. Sir A. Keppel and Major-General Studholme Hodgson, was despatched to that island in the spring of 1761. The troops comprised twelve battalions of infantry, the 16th Light Dragoons, and a strong body of artillery. As usual, we opened the campaign by despising our enemy, and on April 6 met with a sharp reverse. Additional troops were sent out from home, and two months later the French Governor surrendered. Our total losses in the campaign amounted to 13 officers and 271 men killed, 21 officers and 476 men wounded.

The regiments that would be entitled to bear the battle honour "Belleisle" are the

16th Lancers. Buffs. Norfolks. Yorkshire. Royal Scots Fusiliers. East Lancashire. Worcesters. Hampshire. Gordon Highlanders. Middlesex. Shropshire Light Infantry. Scottish Rifles. Welsh. West Kent. North Staffords.

Immediately on the capitulation of the island General Ruffane, who had commanded a brigade throughout the operations, was despatched to the West Indies with the 69th (Welsh), 76th (Middlesex), 90th Light Infantry, and 98th Regiment, to assist in the reduction of Martinique and Havana. These operations have been rewarded with battle honours, and are fully described in