Chapter XIV: Army Reform, 1871-1885 (2)

The Major-General has great pleasure in noticing the highly favourable
report of the conduct of a detachment of the 1st Coldstream Guards
under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Otway, employed under the Siege
Operations Committee at Dungeness. The President of the Committee
remarks upon the cheerful endurance and steady discipline of the men,
as well as the watchfulness and judgment of the Officers, and the
ability and energy with which Captain Fortescue carried out the daily
arrangements.

We have already had occasion to remark that, on the introduction of signalling, great interest was taken in the subject in the Brigade, and frequent allusions were made to the efficiency of the Guards in this respect. An extract of an order, dated March 11, 1884, may be quoted:—

“His Royal Highness’s attention has been drawn to the energetic action
of Lieut.-Colonel Bonham, which is deserving of praise, as also to the
attention paid by the other Officers specially named, viz. Lieutenant
Lloyd, 1st Grenadiers, and Lieutenant Lovell, 2nd Coldstream. Will you
please convey an expression of His Royal Highness’s satisfaction to
the 1st and 2nd Coldstream Guards, the Royal Horse Guards, and the 3rd
Grenadier Guards, who have taken such good positions in the list of
relative efficiency.”

In the last chapter some notes were given upon the improvements which were made in the canteen system after the Crimean war. In 1879, the “coffee bar” was separated from the canteen proper, and thus two shops were established in barracks for the soldiers' use, in one of which no alcoholic liquor could be bought; this change was completed in London in 1880 and 1881. We may also state here that, through the instrumentality of Officers of the Brigade, early in the latter year, a coffee tavern was set up outside barracks in Buckingham Palace Road, for the use of the Non-commissioned officers and men of the Guards; the arrangement that was then made did not, however, continue for any great length of time, and though the tavern still exists, its connection with the Brigade is now severed.

A few changes in uniform since 1872 deserve a passing mention. Shoulder straps were added to the Officers' tunics and blue coats (end of 1880), and the gold cords on the former garments were then abolished. New badges were put on these straps to show the military rank of the wearer. Previous to this, although the rank of an Officer was indicated on the collar of the tunic, no such distinction was to be seen on the blue coat. In the following March, the dark grey cloth, adopted for the trousers of Officers in the Brigade in 1830, gave place to a blue tweed. Up to 1874 Non-commissioned officers and men wore buttons on the skirts of the tunic, but they were then removed on account of the new valise equipment which was introduced at that time, instead of the old knapsack. Since that date the valise has been always carried by the soldier, though the pattern has more than once been changed.

Some alterations were effected in the medical service of the Brigade. Up to the year 1865, the Surgeons belonged exclusively to their respective Regiments as much as any other Officer of the Guards, and their promotion took place therein when vacancies occurred in their own corps only. Forming a small body in each, it is evident that their advancement was always uncertain, and too frequently was it exceedingly slow. To relieve this stagnation, the Medical Officers of the Brigade, though still belonging to and wearing the uniform of their respective Regiments, are now placed upon one list according to seniority, and are promoted in their turn into whatever corps the vacancy occurs. A better flow of promotion is thus obtained, though the Medical Officers are subject to the inconvenience of being sometimes obliged to change their Regiments when they gain a step. Another change, made in April 2, 1881, was the appointment of a Brigade Surgeon in the Guards to act as Principal Medical Officer. This system replaced the old arrangement by which the three Regimental Surgeons-Major took it in turn to do duty in Brigade Waiting, and to act as the medical adviser to the Major-General. Lastly, in 1881, the three Regimental hospitals were converted into station hospitals, for the general use of all troops quartered in the London garrison.

The grade, created to supplant the old military title of Ensign, met with some vicissitudes. Sub-Lieutenants ceased to be so called in 1877, and the name Second-Lieutenant was then substituted for it. In 1881, however, the rank was altogether abolished, and Second-Lieutenants were promoted Lieutenant, while young Officers joining the army were gazetted Lieutenants. But this arrangement did not last long, and again there was another change, for in 1887 Second-Lieutenants were re-introduced into the army; but there appears to be no tendency to restore the old traditional rank of Ensign.

One of the consequences of the abolition of purchase, clearly foreseen by the authors of army reform, was to produce a state of complete stagnation in promotion. To relieve this evil, a device was resorted to, whereby Officers, their qualifications or inclinations notwithstanding, were not allowed to remain in certain positions in their regiments for more than a definite period or after attaining a specified age. For instance, Commanding Officers of regiments and battalions were limited to five years command (reduced to four in the case of the latter, 1881), and all Captains were forced to retire from the service if not promoted to Major before the age of forty. The relief thus afforded was not of great advantage to the bulk of the juniors, and it constituted a well-founded grievance to many who, while able and willing to serve were thrown out of their profession through no fault of their own.[398] Now, in 1881, a large number of Captains were doomed to be ejected, whereat it appears the Secretary of State got seriously alarmed. Nor is it surprising that he should fear the prospect of having between 3000 to 4500 vigorous and educated men going “up and down the country,” and pointing out in every constituency the grievances to which they were subjected by the hasty introduction of political army reforms that his own party had effected in 1871.[399] He was constrained to save these men, and the only way to do this was to promote them _en masse_ to the rank of Major. Hence all Majors in the infantry below a Mounted Officer, (since 1893, below the Second in command), are “Captains and Majors,” fulfilling the duties of the former, and dignified with the rank of the latter. They therefore enjoy the “double rank,” which was held to be so objectionable, in 1871, when it prevailed in the Foot Guards. The advantage, however, does not go on, for on becoming “Second in command,” an Officer performs the duty of Major, but has no extra rank given to him.

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Footnote 398:

The automatic system of facilitating a flow of promotion at no cost to
the State, which purchase produced, may perhaps be illustrated by the
fact that, from 1814 to 1871, or during fifty-seven years, the
Coldstream had twenty-one Lieutenant-Colonels; or each, on an average,
served in that capacity for a period of about two years and nine
months. Whereas, between 1871 and 1895, there have been five
Lieutenant-Colonels, whose average period of command has nearly
reached the full five years allowed by the new regulations.

Footnote 399:

See _The Army Book for the British Empire_ , p. 57.

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The introduction of Warrant-officers into the army was brought about at this time also; and the Sergeant-Major and Bandmaster (and later the Regimental Clerk) were so promoted.

These things were effected in July, 1881; and then the following changes were made in the establishment of the Coldstream: The companies were reduced from 20 to 16 (8 per Battalion, instead of 10, as had been provided during the Crimean war). The Lieutenant-Colonel remained in command of the Regiment, but instead of two Majors Commanding Battalions, the designation of these Officers was altered, and they were called Lieutenant-Colonels Commanding Battalions. Of the Captains there had been twenty, or one to each Company, and the four seniors used to be called Acting-Majors, or Mounted Officers; instead, there were now eight Majors in the Regiment (the four seniors being mounted,[400] and the four juniors unmounted), and nine Captains. Lastly, the rank of Second-Lieutenant was abolished, and instead of 20 Lieutenants and 20 Second-Lieutenants, there were 36 Lieutenants. The differences in the two establishments are to be seen in the following table:—

May, 1881. July, 1881.

20 Companies. 16 Companies.

1 Colonel. } 1 Colonel. }
1 Lieut.-Colonel } Field-Officers. 1 Lt.-Col. Com. } Field-Officers.
Regt.
2 Majors. } 2 Lt.-Cols. Com. }
Batns.
20 Captains. 8 Majors. }
20 Lieutenants. 9 Captains.
20 Second-Lieutenants. 36 Lieutenants.
2 Adjutants. 3 Adjutants.
(1 per Battn. and 1 Regtal).

2 Quartermasters. 2 Quartermasters.
2 Surgeons-Major. 2 Surgeons-Major.
3 Surgeons. 3 Surgeons.
1 Solicitor. _Total Officers_ 1 Solicitor. _Total Officers_
74. 68.
2 Serjeants-Major. 2 Sergts.-Major.
(Warrant-officers).
1 Staff Clerk.
2 Quartermaster-Sergeants. 2 Quartermaster-Sergeants.
1 Bandmaster. 1 Bandmaster. (Warrant-officer).
2 Sergt.-Instructors of Musketry. 2 Sergt.-Instructors of Musketry.
2 Drum-Majors. 2 Sergeant-Drummers.
2 Armourer-Sergeants. 2 Armourer-Sergeants.
2 Orderly Room Sergeants. 6 Orderly Room Sergeants.
2 Pioneer Sergeants. 2 Pioneer Sergeants.
20 Colour-Sergeants. 16 Colour-Sergeants.
2 Sergeant Cooks. 2 Sergeant Cooks.
60 Sergeants. 48 Sergeants.
_Total Sergeants, etc._, 97. _Total Warrant-officers, Sergts.
etc._, 86.
32 Drummers and Fifers. 32 Drummers and Fifers.
_Total_ 32. _Total_ 32.
80 Corporals. 80 Corporals.
1420 Privates. 1420 Privates.
_Total Rank and File_, 1500. _Total Rank and File_, 1500
—— ——
1703 _Total._ 1686 _Total._

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Footnote 400:

The dismounting of two “mounted” Majors took place in 1893; and now
there are in the Regiment two “mounted” (or a “Second in command” per
Battalion) and six “unmounted” Majors.

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UNDRESS CAP PRIVATES
ABOUT 1850.
]

N. R. Wilkinson del. A.D. Innes & C^o. London. Mintern Bros.
lith.

On the 10th of November, 1880, Colonel Fremantle having left the Regiment, Colonel FitzRoy was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel, when Colonel Wigram, promoted Major, assumed the command of the 2nd Battalion. On the completion of five years period of command, Colonel Julian Hall retired on half-pay, September 29, 1882, and was succeeded in the command of the 1st Battalion by Colonel Arthur Lambton, who thus became Lieutenant-Colonel of a Battalion in the Coldstream, and who was appointed to serve for four years in that capacity. Colonels FitzRoy and Wigram, C.B., finished their periods of five years simultaneously, November 10, 1885. The latter, placed on half-pay for a few weeks, was brought back as Lieutenant-Colonel of the Regiment (December 16th), and the command of the 2nd Battalion devolved upon Colonel Sterling (November 10th).

By the death of General Sir William Codrington, G.C.B., on the 6th of August, 1884, the Coldstream lost their Colonel, who had served as such for more than nine years. The following Regimental Order was published:—

_August 7, 1884._ The Commanding Officer has the painful duty to
perform of announcing to the Regiment the sad news of the death of
their gallant and distinguished Colonel, General Sir William
Codrington, G.C.B., which took place yesterday afternoon, 6th inst. A
band of crape will be worn by the Officers for a month; the Band and
the drums and fifes will not play until after the funeral.

The funeral was accompanied with military honours, and took place at Woking Cemetery on the 9th. All Officers attending it were dressed as for Guard, and, including the firing party of 50 men, there was a detachment present of the 1st Battalion, consisting of 100 Non-commissioned officers and men under three Officers.

Sir W. Codrington was succeeded by General Right Honourable Sir Thomas Steele, K.C.B., at that time Commander of the Forces in Ireland, whom Her Majesty appointed the new Colonel of the Regiment.

In the same year, Lieut.-General Higginson, C.B., vacated the command of the Brigade of Guards, and was replaced by Major-General R. Gipps, C.B., April 1, 1884.

The 1st Coldstream was first on the roster for duty in Ireland, and at the end of 1880 was quartered in Chelsea and St. George’s Barracks. Serious troubles once more affected that country, and Government was sorely perplexed how to deal with them. The presence of the Guards was again required, and the Battalion was despatched there at a few days' notice, by two special trains from Victoria Station, _viâ_ Holyhead (December 6th). Upon this, the 2nd Grenadiers, then at Shorncliffe, were brought to town, and that out-quarter was given up. On the 15th of December, a detachment of 100 men from the 2nd Battalion joined the 1st in Dublin, and five days later the 1st Scots Guards left London for the same destination. The Coldstream were quartered in Richmond Barracks, but the Scots Guards were scattered through the town, their head-quarters in Ship Street, with detachments in Richmond, and in Linen Hall barracks.

A novel procedure was now adopted with respect to the command of these two Battalions, which shows how critical the authorities conceived the situation to be. Shortly after their arrival in Dublin, the Major-General Commanding the Brigade and the Home District proceeded there accompanied by his Brigade Staff, and left Colonel Gipps, Scots Guards (the senior Officer) with the District Staff to command the Home District; but the arrangement did not last long, and the latter, temporarily promoted Brigadier General, took General Higginson’s place in Ireland, who thereupon returned to London, February 15, 1881.[401]

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Footnote 401:

On the 7th of December, 1881, Colonel FitzRoy, Coldstream Guards,
temporarily promoted Brigadier-General, proceeded to Dublin to relieve
Colonel Gipps, appointed Major-General.

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The stay of the Battalion in Dublin, lasting until March, 1882, was not more pleasant then than it had been during the Fenian troubles of 1866; but the duties assigned to the troops were everywhere cheerfully undertaken and zealously discharged. Among these duties two may be specially mentioned. In the first place, such was the violence of the mobs that collected to interfere with the due administration of the law, that a collision was apprehended every time a writ was served, a seizure made in a farm, an eviction put into execution, or any other legal process carried out. To avoid the danger, the Irish authorities established the rule that the force protecting the sheriff or other officer employed, should be so overwhelmingly strong, as to put an end to all thoughts of resistance, on the part of those who assembled to frustrate the course of justice. The Royal Irish Constabulary were, of course, always employed on these occasions, but it was also believed that the presence of red-coats would have a greater effect with the excited populace, and for this purpose numerous military posts covered the disturbed districts; but the Guards in Dublin, occupying a central position there, were not obliged to furnish any of these detachments.

Soldiers, therefore, were often requisitioned to escort the civil authorities, and the two Guards Battalions (as well as those that succeeded them in Dublin during the troubles), were often employed in this manner—generally by despatching small parties of some fifty men under an Officer. On one occasion, however, the 1st Coldstream had to do more than this. There was a series of evictions near New Pallas, in the county of Limerick, and the whole Battalion, together with a portion of Scots Guards, were sent there for two days to guard the sheriff, who had to execute the judgment of the Court. It was, at least, an uncommon service for so large a force to perform; and the Battalion was in all conscience powerful enough to prevent any breach of the peace!

The other duty to which allusion has been made, refers to what was called “personal protection.” Many landlords, and indeed others, were in danger of their lives from the outrage-mongers that infested the land. In order to afford adequate protection to these persons, soldiers were told off to reside in their houses, to accompany them in all their movements, and to be responsible for their safety. The Coldstream and Scots Guards furnished a number of men to perform this duty, and an Officer from each Regiment was appointed to inspect them frequently, and to satisfy himself that this novel service was efficiently discharged. That this was the case may be gathered from the following order, issued in London, dated March 17, 1882:—

“By desire of the Field-Marshal the Commander-in-Chief, I have the
honour to transmit to you the enclosed report on the conduct of the
Coldstream and Scots Guards, while employed on protection duty in
Limerick and Clare under the order of Clifford Lloyd, Esq., Resident
Magistrate at Tulla, and to request that you will be so good as to
express to all concerned, His Royal Highness’s approbation of their
conduct in the performance of the duties they have been called upon to
undertake, and which are quite unusual with soldiers. His Royal
Highness has much pleasure in recognising the valuable services
rendered by Captain Fortescue, Coldstream Guards, and by Lieutenant
Romilly, Scots Guards, which have been brought to the notice of His
Excellency the Lord-Lieutenant.”

But the Coldstream had some further experiences. It will be remembered that Mr. Parnell, the leader of the Irish agitation, was arrested as a suspect, October 13, 1881, under an Act of Parliament which had been passed in the spring of that year. The authorities, expecting some resistance, made every military preparation in Dublin to prevent a riot; and their precautions being sufficient, and their resources ample, the capture was very easily accomplished without mishap. Still, the quick-witted Irish very soon realized that the Government in London were afraid of them. They had early perceived that the Cabinet, instead of facing the difficulty boldly, dallied with it, and failed to support the Chief Secretary, Mr. Forster, in his strenuous efforts to cope with it. Hence, seeing no strength in the authority that should have protected them, the people were constrained to obey those who did wield power in the country, by setting its laws at defiance and by oppressing it without mercy. The winter, 1881-82, was disturbed and troubled. The No-rent conspiracy was in full swing; murder clubs, under the name of Moonlighters, kept the land in terror; juries were intimidated, and refused to discharge their functions; and the executive was all but paralysed. It was, moreover, known that a gang of assassins, called “the Invincibles,” had bound themselves together to murder Mr. Forster, and it was afterwards ascertained that they had made numerous desperate attempts upon his life, all of which were happily unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, in January, 1882, the 2nd Grenadiers were sent to Cork, and for two months there was the unprecedented number of three Guards Battalions in Ireland, until March, when the 2nd Coldstream relieved the 1st Battalion, who returned to England, and were soon after followed by the 1st Scots Guards. So the gloomy spring passed, when a new complication arose. Mr. Forster had remained at his post with steadfast courage, and scorned the imminent personal danger that surrounded him, with which he knew he was threatened. But he was unable to stand by a leader of whose policy he disapproved, or to follow him in the tortuous intrigue, which became known in history as the “Kilmainham treaty.” He resigned, and the then Lord-Lieutenant (Lord Cowper), having also withdrawn from office, Lord Spencer was appointed in his place, and arrived in Dublin, May 6, 1882, accompanied by his new Chief Secretary, Lord Frederick Cavendish.

On that very afternoon, in broad daylight, while walking through the Phœnix Park, which was then full of people, Lord F. Cavendish and Mr. Burke, the Under-Secretary, were murdered by the Invincibles, who had for so long unsuccessfully lain in wait to assassinate Mr. Forster. The event sent a thrill of horror through the United Kingdom, and effectively and at last forced the Government to open their eyes to the true nature of the conspiracy with which they had to deal. The miscreants got away, and for a time there was little information to be obtained as to the perpetrators of this foul deed, and twelve months had to elapse before the conspirators were convicted and punished. The 2nd Coldstream, quartered in Dublin when this tragedy took place, were not called upon to act in the emergency. There was nothing, indeed, for soldiers to do at the crisis, except to redouble their vigilance; for it soon became clear that the Irish were as much the victims of the agitators and outrage-mongers who had mastered them, as were the officials who suffered by their violence.

In less than three months both the Guards Battalions, quartered in Dublin and in Cork, were required to proceed on active service to Egypt, and left the scenes of internal discord and disorder to meet the open foes of their country. The 3rd Grenadiers replaced them in Dublin (August 8th), and since that time there has been only one Battalion in Ireland. The Coldstream did not return there till the autumn of 1887, when the agitation had assumed a new phase, although the crisis had by no means passed away, nor the difficulties come to an end. Thanks, however, to the vigour of Government, to the remedial measures introduced, to the disappearance of Parnell, to the absence of another leader of character, and to the quarrels that have split up the Nationalist party into hostile fragments, the people are now steadily quieting down; and, eschewing agitation, they are improving their material prosperity under the new laws which have been enacted for their benefit.

In February, 1881, that is, shortly after the two Battalions went in haste to Ireland at the end of the previous year, the Tower was vacated by the Foot Guards, and was occupied by a Line regiment until November, 1882. There were then four Battalions in the West End, and this continued to be the force maintained there—excepting for the two months, January 25th-March 22nd, 1882, when, as we have seen, three Battalions were stationed in Ireland—until the departure of a Guards Brigade of three Battalions for Egypt. During this war, Dublin was still occupied by a Battalion, but Windsor was vacated, and, until the return of the Brigade from active service in November, the 2nd King’s Royal Rifle Corps furnished the Kensington Palace and the Magazine guards. In the following year, 1883, London was the scene of dynamite outrages, perpetrated by the agents of the same secret societies, of American origin, which financed and supported the agitation in Ireland. “For a time the air was dense with rumours of plots and explosives,” and all minds were filled with vague alarms. A measure to punish dynamiters was passed in haste through all its stages in both Houses of Parliament, in one day (April 9th), and received the Royal assent next day at noon.[402] The garrison of the Metropolis also required strengthening, and a Line regiment being brought to the Tower, there were then five Guards Battalions in the West End. Extra guards were mounted on Somerset House, the Royal Courts of Justice, and Millbank prison, the London duties were increased, the public offices protected, and other precautions taken. The panic was considerable while it lasted, but it passed away in about six months, and in the summer the garrison of London assumed its normal strength and condition.

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Footnote 402:

_Ann. Reg._ , 1883, part i., p. 84.

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This ends the history of the Coldstream up to 1885, as far as affairs in the United Kingdom are concerned; and we now turn to events that occurred in Egypt and in the Sudan, 1882-1885. Before doing this, however, we may briefly allude to a subject which possesses much interest to all Guardsmen. Some members of the Coldstream may perhaps be unaware that the exquisite decorations that adorn the interior of the Royal Military Chapel in Wellington barracks have been scarcely twenty years in existence. Before that time the walls were cold and bare, and the building contained little to show how zealously the Brigade guard the great traditions of the past,—traditions which they have inherited,—and how warmly they cherish the memory of the Officers, Non-commissioned officers, and men who, ever since the formation of the standing army, have faithfully and bravely performed their duty to the Sovereign of this realm. Numerous are the monuments placed in the Chapel to record the military virtues of departed Guardsmen of every rank, and their deeds on many a hard-fought field of strife; while these memorials furnish a proof of the solid union which knits the three Regiments of the Household Infantry together, in love for their profession and in devotion to their Queen and country.