Assault on the Breach of San Sebastian by Mark Churms  THE STORMING OF SAN SEBASTIAN  The Storming party, 750 volunteers, included 200 men of the Guards, one hundred each from the First and Coldstream Guards. They moved off at two in the morning on the 31st August 1813, and occupied a ruined convent where they remained till half past nine. Aware of the almost impossible task ahead of them, and subjected to a violent electric thunderstorm, the troops waited in a state of savage anticipation. ' Wild senseless laughter' was said to have preceded the attack on the breach which could not be entered except in single file under heavy fire. The troops attacked in succession, but were struck down by hundreds. General Graham then ordered the artillery to fire over the heads of the assailants, clearing the ramparts. A shell ignited a quantity of powder, and under cover of the explosions, the storming party forced its way into the town. San Sebastian was savagely sacked and burned, and the good name of Wellington's Army suffered as it had done at Badajoz. The civilians were raped, robbed and murdered in revenge for the heavy losses suffered by the troops. The Franco-Spanish governor retired the citadel (San Marcial) and on the 9th September, after a gallant resistance of over a week, surrendered the charge he had so faithfully defended. The casualties among the officers of the first Guards were one Officer, Ensign Burrard, First battalion (a son of Sir Henry Burrard who was responsible for the disastrous Treaty of Cintra) severely wounded, since dead, and one Officer, Ensign Orlando Bridgeman, wounded. In the Coldstream Guards, one officer ensign Thomas Chaplin, According to Lord Saltoun there were in round numbers, 150 casualties amongst 200 Guardsman. Total losses of volunteers from all regiments were 1500 men. (text by Atlanta Clifford, assistant to the Curator-The Guards Museum)  In the painting. you see Ensign Chaplin lying wounded, attended by an Officer of the Coldstream Guards, Orlando Bridgeman is calling Assistant Surgeon Bacot, First Foot Guards, to go to the aid of his fellow officer, Burrard. The Roll Call by Lady Butler  Grenadier Guards exhausted, standing in the snow after the battle, during the Crimean war awaiting the reading of the Roll Call. Lance-Corporal Harry Nichols, 3rd battalion Grenadier Guards, winning the Victoria Cross at the River Escaut, 21st May 1940 by David Rowlands March Past of the Grenadier Guards by Mark Churms  The Duke of Wellington at the head of the 1st Foot Guards, Hyde Park, 1829. (Although not a Napoleonic war art print this painting does depict Wellington and other figures who participated in the battle of Waterloo). Lord De L Isle VC Grenadier Guards, 1944 at Anzio by David Rowlands Captain E. N. E. M. Vaughan And His Men drive Back The Enemy From An Isolated Trench.     When in command of an isolated trench and attacked on front, flank and rear, Captain Eugene Napoleon Ernest Mallet Vaughan (Reserve of Officers) Grenadier Guards, drove off the enemy, killing over 100 of them, and took twenty prisoners.  His fine example gave great confidence to his men, and he was subsequently awarded the D Captain A. C. De Wiart Advancing To The Attack Through An Intense Fire Barrage.      Owing largely to the dauntless courage and inspiring example of Captain (Temporary Lieutenant-Colonel) Adrian Carton De Wiart, D.S.O., of the Grenadier Guards, a serious reverse was averted during severe and prolonged operations.  He displayed the utmost energy and courage in facing the British attack home.  After three other battalion commanders had become casualties, he controlled their commands, and ensured that the ground won was maintained at all costs.  He frequently exposed himself in the organisation of positions and of supplies, passing unflinchingly through a most intense fire barrage.  He was awarded the V.C. for most conspicuous bravery, coolness and determination. Lance-Corporal McDonnell Shows What Three Brave Men Can Do Against Ten Times Their Number.  A large party of Germans in an advanced trench in a wood surprised Lance- Corporal McDonnell and two companions of the 1st Grenadier Guards when reconnoitring on the Aisne on The 23rd of September 1914.  The enemy thought they had there preyed secure and began leisurely to walk out to take the three men prisoners.  To their astonishment McDonnell gave a sharp order to fire, and the bullets flew thick and fast, finding many a victim.  Before the Germans could recover from their confusion the three audacious Guardsmen had made good their escape.  He was awarded the D.C.M. Lance-Corporal W. D. Fuller Kills With A Bomb The Leader Of A Party Of Germans Who Were Endeavouring To Escape.           Seeing a party of the enemy endeavouring to escape along a communication trench at Neuve Chapelle in March 12th 1915.  Lance-Corporal Wilfred Dolby Fuller, of the1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards, ran towards them and killed the leading man with a bomb; the remainder, who numbered nearly fifty, on finding no means of evading his bombs, surrendered to him.  Lance-Corporal Fuller was quite alone at the time, and for the most conspicuous bravery displayed by him he was awarded the V.C. Grenadier Officer, 1st Guards 1688 by P H Smitherman In 1677 the hand grenade was introduced into the army as one of its weapons, and a grenadier company was added to each infantry regiment.  This company was composed of picked men, of good physique; it took the place of honour on the right of the line, and assumed a dress different from that of the rest of the regiment.  In particular the grenadiers wore a characteristic cap.  The usual broad-rimmed hat no doubt interfered with the slinging of the flintlock and the throwing of the grenades, and so a brimless hat was worn which soon became very ornamented.  The hat shown here is a very early one and is very decorative, its shape being different from that of the more familiar mitre illustrated elsewhere.  Grenadiers coats were also laced differently from those of the rest of the regiment in many cases.  The song The British Grenadiers, refers to their looped clothes, alluding no doubt to the extra loops of lace, or tassels, with which they were adorned.  The coat worn by this officer is quite different from that worn elsewhere in the regiment at this time.  Note its claret colour - a colour worn by the grenadiers of the regiment many years afterwards.  It will be noticed that he carries a firelock but no sword.  Usually the sword has been the weapon of an officer, and a musket or rifle that of a private soldier.  At this time, however, the musket was a new weapon, and musketeers were rapidly ousting pikemen from the ranks.  The musket was therefore regarded as a weapon of honour, and was carried by all officers of grenadier companies, instead of the pike, or half pike, carried by officers of battalion companies.  Grenadier officersusually carried a sword as well, but this officer carries a plug bayonet instead.  The whole uniform, with its embroidery and gold lace, gives one the impression of a ceremonial dress rather than one intended for use on active service, for which he would possibly have worn something a little less expensive. Officer, 1st Guards 1775 by P H Smitherman  This image, based on actual uniforms, shown an officer of the 1st Guards in ceremonial dress.On parade he would be armed with a spontoon as well as his sword.  The officers of the other Guards regiments would have been dressed very similarly.  A notable feature are the bastion loops of gold lace on the lapels.  These became very popular and were adopted by many regiments.  All of these bars and loops of lace, of course, developed from the button-holes originally on the coats.  Hitherto the skirts of the coat had been lined with the facing colour, blue in the Foot Guards, but here they are white, and it was now almost universal for skirts to be lined like this.  These white turn-backs, fastened with an ornamental device, survived in vestigial form on the tails of the coatee until the Crimean war, after which the whole coatee was replaced by a tunic, cut in modern fashion.  The braiding on the mess dress of captains and above in the Royal Navy still shows the outline of the pockets worn on coats of this period.
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