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The Welch Fusiliers shown in regimental
military prints. The history of the Welch Fusiliers during the Battle of
Alma, Crimean War and military uniforms.
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| The Royal Welsh Fusiliers
Few regiments have a longer or more glorious history than the Royal
Welsh Fusiliers, formed as it was in 1689, and sharing in most of our
campaigns with such gallantry and distinction as to have the following
battle-roll: “Blenheim,” “Ramillies,” “Oudenarde,” “Malplaquet,”
“Dettingen,” “Minden,” “Corunna,” “Martinique,” “Albuhera,”
“Badajoz,” “Salamanca,” “Vittoria,” “Pyrenees,” “Nivelle,”
“Orthes,” “Toulouse,” “Peninsula,” “Waterloo,” “Alma,”
“Inkerman,” “Sevastopol,” “Lucknow,” and “Ashantee.”
This was one of the twelve regiments raised for the campaign in
Ireland against James 2nd., and as “Herbert’s Regiment”
first got under fire at the Boyne and return to England until 1691, and
three years later it sailed for Flanders, under the command of Colonel
Ingoldsby. It saw hard
fighting at Fort Knocque and Namur, where it lost heavily, and returned to
Ireland in1697, to return to the Netherlands in the army led by
Marlbourough four years later. It
was present at Venloo, Liege, and Schellenberg, where 16 officers and 228
men were killed and wounded; at Blenheim, where it shared in the final
attack on the village (when twenty-four battalions and twelve squadrons of
the enemy surrendered), Helixem, Neer Hepson, Ramillies, Ostend, Aeth, and
Oudenarde; at the siege of Lille, where the loss between the 14th
of August and the 22nd of October, 1708, amounted to 15
officers and 364 men killed and wounded; at Tournay, Malplaquet, and the
sieges of Mons, Douay, and Bouchain, besides being present, more or less,
as a covering force at numerous other affairs, returning to England after
the Treaty of Utrecht, when it received the title of the “Prince of
Wales’ Own Royal Regiment of Welsh Fusiliers.”
The 23rd returned to England to put down both of the
Jacobite risings in 1715and 1745; in the former case arriving at Preston,
where Derwentwater surrendered, and in the latter remaining on the South
coast till after the defeat of the Young Pretender at Culloden.
Meanwhile, from 1742 to 1745, it had served in Flanders, sharing in
the battle of Dettingen, where its then colonel was mortally wounded, and
at Fontenoy, where the loss in killed, wounded, and missing was 22
officers and 300 men; while, after a short visit to England in 1745, it
re-appeared at the seat of war in 1747, and was engaged at the battle of
Val. About this time
the men were dressed like the rest of the army, with red coats and
royal-blue facings, heavy buff cross-belts and white gaiters.
One of the colours bore in the centre the Prince of Wales plume,
and the other the badge of the Black Prince (the rising sun), the red
dragon, and the three feathers in the coronet.
The grenadier caps also bore the plume, crowned with “Ich Dien,”
and below in white horse of Hanover, with “Nec aspera terrent.”
In 1756 the regiment assisted at the stubborn defence of Minorca,
when Admiral Byng’s effort to force the French fleet to raise the siege
failed, and the garrison had to surrender; but the Duc de Richelieu, in
consideration of the bravery shown, granted the garrison “all the
honours of war, to wit with firelocks on their shoulders, drums beating,
with colours flying, twenty cartridges for each man, also lighted
matches.” After some minor
operations on the French coast in 1758 it shared in the victory of Minden,
which was mainly due to the bravery of the foot regiments, and took part
in the battles of Warburg, Campen, Kirch-Denkern, and Groebenstein.
The regiment witnessed the first outbreak of hostilities in America
in 1775, at Concord, and in the retreat on Boston shared in the Battle of
Bunker’s or Breed’s Hill, where the Fusiliers first experienced the
deadlines of the fire of the colonial sharp-shooters, and after which they
had scarcely enough men left to “saddle the goat.”
Since the war began the regiment has been weakened by more than
half its strength, and the grenadier company, going into action with
forty-nine strong, left forty-four on the field.
The affairs of White Plains, Fort Washington, Ridgfield,
Brandywine, Germanstown, and Monmouth Court House followed in
succession’ and during the hostilities the Royal Welsh did duty on board
the fleet as marines, and were complimented by Admiral Lord Howe.
Finally, after sharing in all the minor operations, as well as at
Charlestown, Canada, Cowpens, Guildford Court House (where, as in most of
the actions in the war, the bayonet was found more efficacious than the
bullet), the regiment surrendered at York Town with the garrison; but the
colours were saved by Captain Peters and another officer, who wrapped them
round their bodies. Whether
this was strictly right may be questioned.
In 1794 it assisted at the taking of Port au Prince, but suffered
severely from the climate. In 1799 it was in Holland, at the battles of
Zype Dyke and Egmontop-Zee; in 1800 at Ferrol and Vigo, and the next year
landed at Aboulir Bay to take part in the fight there, and at Alexandria.
For this the Fusiliers earned the badge of “Egypt,” with the
sphinx, and each officer received a gold medal from the Sultan.
Increased to two battalions in 1804, the 1st served at
Copenhagen, and then went to Canada, to be employed at Martinique later
on, after which the grenadier company, out of their prize-money, reared a
monument at Halifax to their comrades who had fallen.
The 2nd (which was disbanded in 1814) was at Corunna,
where it was the last battalion to quit the shore; and in 1810 the 1st
battalion went to the Peninsula to gain honourable mention for continuous
service intil 1814, and adding Albuhera, Badajoz, Salamanca, Vittoria,
Pyrenees, Nivelle, Orthes, Toulouse, and Peninsula to its already long
list of honours. It
is impossible to do other than name the actions in which it gloriously
shared. The 23rd
was at Waterloo in reserve, and at Cambray; and in 1842 it was formed into
two battalions, named the “1st” and “Reserve”
respectively. It equally
distinguished itself in the Crimea, at the Alma-where Anstruther planted
the colours on the great redoubt, and died holding them-at Inkerman, and
at Sevastopol. It shared in the hard fighting at Lucknow and Cawnpore, on
the Goomtee, in Oude, and in the Trans-Gogra operations in1857-59.
Lastly the 2nd battalion formed part of the Ashantee
expedition, taking part in the actions at Amoaful, Ordahsu, and Coomassie;
and the 1st added the last title to the
roll-“Burma,1885-87”-for its share in that campaign.
One event in its history may be recorded here to emphasise the
value attached to the colours regiment.
When H.R.H. Prince Albert presented them in 1849, he said,
“Receive these colours; one emphatically called the Queen’s-let it be
a pledge of your loyalty to your sovereign, and of obedience to the laws
of your country. The other,
more especially the regimental one, let that be a pledge of your
determination to maintain the honour of you regiment.
In looking at the one you will think of your sovereign; in looking
at the other you will think of those who have fought, bled, and conquered
before you.” The
authorised regimental pet of the “Royal Welsh” is a goat.
How it became at first a custom, and later “a privileged honour,”
for the regiment to march past with a goat “having gilded horns, and
adorned with ringlets of flowers,” is somewhat obscure, but it dates
back to the early days of the regimental history.
On St. David’s Day, when the health of the Prince of Wales is
first drunk after dinner, the goat is marched thrice round the mess-table
with the drums, led by the drum major, to the tune of “The Noble Race Of
Shenkin,” while the national emblem, the leek, is being distributed.
Usually the animal behaves with sufficient decorum; but on one
occasion, in 1776, at Boston, he literally “bucked” his rider, a small
drummer-boy, into the middle of the mess-table, and escaped to barracks.
One account has it that the boy was killed, and that from that date
the mounting the goat was abandoned.
The same goat accompanied the regiment into action at Bunker’s
Hill. Until
quite recently the goat has, since 1844, been presented by Her Majesty
when a vacancy occurred, from a flock given her by the Shah of Persia.
In these cases “Billy” wore a silver shield surmounted by the
Prince of Wales’ plume and motto, on which is “The gift of H.M. Queen
Victoria to the Royal Welsh Fusiliers.
In the regiment’s recent march through Wales only last year
(1892) the tired goat was taken on a wagon, but unfortunately lost its
balance, and was killed.
The only peculiarity in the uniform of the regiment is that of both
officers and non-commissioned officers wearing the “flash,” a bow of
black silk ribbon, with long ends, fastened to the back of the collar of
the tunic. It is a relic of
the days of pigtails and powder, and in 1786 it is stated that “the
officers of this regiment wear the hair turned up behind,” when the
locks were tied into a queue with ribbon, a form of dressing the hair
which was supposed to be the “Grenadier fashion” of so arranging it.
It is also a regimental custom to wear the leek on St. David’s
Day. The prince of Wales’
plume, with the regimental title, is worn both on the button and
waist-plate, the grenade on the tunic collar, fusiliers cap, and
forage-cap, the latter with the red dragon. The
Militia battalions are the Royal Denbigh and Merioneth, which wore a red
dragon on the Glengarry; and the Royal Carnarvon, which had a bugle on the
collar and Glengarry. The
other badges are the “Rising Sun,” the white horse with “Nec aspera
terrent,” and the sphinx with “Egypt,” and with the Prince of
Wales’ plume the motto “Ich Dien.”
The volunteer battalions are the late 1st Denbigh (Wrexham)
and the 1st Flintshire and Carnarvonshire (Rhyl); both wear the
national scarlet with the rpyal blue facings. The nicknames are “Nanny
Goats” and the Royal Goats”, both referring to the regimental pet. The
depot was at Wrexham |
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Sergeant Luke OConner Winning the Victoria Cross at the Battle of Alma by L.W. Desanges.
Although shot in the breast, bravely carries forward one of the colours at the Battle of Alma, 20th September 1854. |
| | Item Code : DHM0224 | Sergeant Luke OConner Winning the Victoria Cross at the Battle of Alma by L.W. Desanges. - Editions Available |  |
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Full Item Details | Image size 23 inches x 17 inches (58cm x 43cm) | none | £25 Off! | Now : £40.00 | | EX-DISPLAY
PRINT | **Open edition print. (Three copies reduced to clear)
Full Item Details | Image size 23 inches x 17 inches (58cm x 43cm) | none | | SOLD
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Officer, 23rd Foot 1790 by P H Smitherman
Contemporary pictures and existing items of clothing have provided the basis for this image, which shows further development of the fusiliers uniform. fusilier caps were to be like the grenadier caps only smaller. The plate with the royal arms in front of the cap has gone, and has been replaced by a badge, and there is an arrangement of gold cords at the back, invisible in the picture, ending in two large tassels. The collar of the coat has now been turned up again and has begun to assume the form which it has since retained. The elaboration of the gold lace on the cuffs and lapels is in sharp contrast with the simplicity noted in the previous image. Being a fusilier, and armed on service with a fusil, he wears a shoulder belt with a pouch as well as a sword belt. Black gaiters have replaced white spatterdashes, except in the Foot guards. The white ones were first replaced by brown - a more suitable colour, obviously, for service - but they were not considered very smart, and s.........
More Text... |
| | Item Code : PHS0020 | Officer, 23rd Foot 1790 by P H Smitherman - Editions Available | |
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Full Item Details | Image size 14 inches x 10 inches (36cm x 25cm) | none | | £24.00 | |
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The 23rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers by Frank Feller (P)
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| | Item Code : UN0487 | The 23rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers by Frank Feller (P) - Editions Available | |
| | TYPE | DESCRIPTION | SIZE | SIGNATURES | OFFERS | PRICE | PURCHASING | ORIGINAL
PAINTING | Original chromolithograph published 1880.
Full Item Details | Image size 9 inches x 6 inches (23cm x 15cm) | none | | £70.00 | |
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Regimental Records of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, Vol I by Cary and McCance.
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| | Item Code : NMP8509 | Regimental Records of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, Vol I by Cary and McCance. - Editions Available | |
| | TYPE | DESCRIPTION | SIZE | SIGNATURES | OFFERS | PRICE | PURCHASING | | BOOK | Paperback book.
Full Item Details | 324 pages. | none | | £22.00 | |
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Regimental Records of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, Vol II by Cary and McCance.
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| | Item Code : NMP8510 | Regimental Records of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, Vol II by Cary and McCance. - Editions Available | |
| | TYPE | DESCRIPTION | SIZE | SIGNATURES | OFFERS | PRICE | PURCHASING | | BOOK | Paperback book.
Full Item Details | 425 pages. | none | | £22.00 | |
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Regimental Records of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, Vol III by Cary and McCance.
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| | Item Code : NMP8511 | Regimental Records of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, Vol III by Cary and McCance. - Editions Available | |
| | TYPE | DESCRIPTION | SIZE | SIGNATURES | OFFERS | PRICE | PURCHASING | | BOOK | Paperback book.
Full Item Details | 514 pages. | none | | £22.00 | |
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Regimental Records of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, Vol IV by Cary and McCance.
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| | Item Code : NMP8512 | Regimental Records of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, Vol IV by Cary and McCance. - Editions Available | |
| | TYPE | DESCRIPTION | SIZE | SIGNATURES | OFFERS | PRICE | PURCHASING | | BOOK | Paperback book.
Full Item Details | 422 pages. | none | | £22.00 | |
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Few regiments have a longer or more glorious history
than the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, formed as it was in 1689, and sharing in
most of our campaigns with such gallantry and distinction as to have the
following battle-roll: "Blenheim", "Ramillies", "Oudenarde",
"Malplaquet", " Dettingen", "Minden",
"Corunna", "Martinique", " Albuhera", "Badajoz",
"Salamanca", "Vittoria", "Pyrenees", "Nivelle",
" Orthes", "Toulouse", "Peninsula",
"Waterloo", "Alma", "Inkerman",
"Sevastopol", "Lucknow", and "Ashantee".
This was one of the twelve regiments raised for the
campaign in Ireland against James II, and as "Herbert's
Regiment" first got under at the Boyne and Aughrim, where its colonel
was taken prisoner and foully murdered. It did not return to England
until 1691, and three years later it sailed for Flanders, under the
command of Colonel Ingoldsby. It saw hard fighting at Fort Knocque
and Namur, where it lost heavily, and returned to Ireland in 1697, to
return to the Netherlands in the army led by Marlborough four years
later. It was present at Venloo, Liege, and Schellenberg, where 16
officers and 228 men were killed and wounded; at Blenheim, where it shared
in the final attack on the village (when twenty four battalions and
twelve squadrons of the enemy surrendered), Helixem, Neer Hespen,
Ramillies, Ostend, Aeth, and Oudenarde; at the siege of Lille, where the
loss between the 14th August and 22nd October, 1708, amounted to 15
officers and 363 men killed and wounded; at Tournay, Malplaquet, and the
sieges of Mons, Douay, and Bouchain, besides being present, more or less,
as a covering force at numerous other affairs, returning to England after
the Treaty of Utrecht, when it received the title of the "Prince of
Wales' Own Royal Regiment of Welsh Fusiliers".
The 23rd returned to England to put down both of the
Jacobite risings in 1715 and 1745; in the former case arriving at Preston,
where Derwentwater surrendered, and in the latter remaining on the South
Coast till after the defeat of the Young Pretender at Culloden.
Meanwhile, from 1742 to 1745, it had served in Flanders , sharing in the
battle of Dettingen, where its then colonel was mortally wounded, and at
Fontenoy, where the loss in killed, wounded and missing was 22 officers
and 300 men; while, after a short visit to England in 1745, it re-appeared
at the seat of war in 1747, and was engaged at the battle of Val.
About this time the men were dressed like the rest of
the army, with red coats and royal-blue facings, heavy buff cross-belts
and white gaiters. One of the colours bore in the centre the Prince
of Wales' plume, and the other the badge of the Black Prince (the rising
sun), the red dragon, and the three feathers in the coronet. The
grenadier caps also bore the plume, crowned with "Ich Dien", and
below it the white horse of Hanover, with "Nec aspera terrent".
In 1756 the regiment assisted at the stubborn defence of
Minorea, when Admiral Byng's effort to force the French fleet to raise the
siege failed, and the garrison had to surrender; but the Duc de Richelieu,
in consideration of the bravery shown, granted to the garrison "all
the honours of war, to wit with firelocks on their shoulders, drums
beating, with colours flying, twenty cartridges for each man, also lighted
matches." After some minor operations on the French coast in
1758 it shared in the victory of Minden, which was mainly due to the
bravery of the foot regiments, and took part in the battles of Warburg,
Campen, Kirch-Denkern, and Groebenstein.
The regiment witnessed the first outbreak of hostilities
in America in 1775, at Concord, and in the retreat on Boston shared in the
Battle of Bunker's or Breed's Hill, where the Fusiliers first experienced
the deadliness of the fire of the colonial sharp-shooters, and after which
they had scarcely enough men left to "saddle the goat".
Since the war began the regiment had been weakened by more than half its
strength, and the grenadier company, going into action with forty-nine
strong, left forty-four on the field. The affairs of White Plains,
Fort Washington, Ridgfield, Brandywine, Germanstown, and Monmouth Court
House followed in succession; and during the hostilities the Royal Welsh
did duty on board the fleet as marines, and were complimented by Admiral
Lord Howe.
Finally, after sharing in all the minor operations, as
well as at Charlestown, Canada, Cowpens, Guildford Court House (where, as
in most of the actions in the war, the bayonet was found more efficacious
than the bullet), the regiment surrendered at York Town with the garrison;
but the colours were saved by Captain Peters and another officer, who
wrapped them round their bodies. Whether this was strictly right may
be questioned. In 1794 it assisted at the taking of Port an Prince,
but suffered severely from the climate. In 1799 it was in Holland,
at the battles of Zype Dyke and Egmont-op-Zee; in 1800 at Ferrol and Vigo,
and the next year landed at Aboukir Bay to take part in the fight there,
and at Alexandria. For this the Fusiliers earned the badge of
"Egypt" with the Sphinx, and each officer received a gold medal
from the Sultan.
Increased to two battalions in 1804, the 1st served at
Copenhagen, and then went to Canada, to be employed at Martinique later
on, after which the grenadier company, out of their prize money, reared a
monument at Halifax to their comrades who had fallen. The 2nd (which
was disbanded in 1814) was at Corunna, where it was the last battalion to
quit the shore; and in 1810 the 1st battalion went to the Peninsula, to
gain honourable mention for continuous service until 1814, and adding
Albuhera, Badajoz, Salamanca, Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nivelle, Orthes,
Toulouse, and Peninsula to its already long list of honours.
It is impossible to do other than name the actions in
which it gloriously shared. The 23rd was at Waterloo in reserve, and
at Cambray; and in 1842 it was formed into two battalions, named the
"1st" and "Reserve" respectively. It equally
distinguished itself in the Crimea, at the Alma - where Anstruther planted
the colours on the great redoubt, and died holding them - at Inkerman, and
at Sevastopol. It shared in the hard fighting at Lucknow and
Cawnpore, on the Goomtee, in Oude, and in the Trans-Gogra operations in
1857-59.
Lastly, the 2nd battalion formed part of the Ashantee
expedition, taking part in the actions at Amoaful, Ordahsu, and Coomassie;
and the 1st added the last title to the roll - "Burma, 1885 -87"
- for its share in that campaign.
One event in its history may be recorded here to
emphasise the value attached to the colours of a regiment. When
H.R.H. Prince Albert presented them in 1849, he said, "Receive these
colours; one emphatically called the Queen's - let it be a pledge of your
loyalty to your sovereign, and of obedience to the laws of your
country. The other, more especially the regimental one, let that be
a pledge of your determination to maintain the honour of your
regiment. In looking at the one you will think of your sovereign; in
looking at the other you will think of those who have fought, bled, and
conquered before you".
The authorised regimental pet of the "Royal
Welsh" is a goat. How it became at first a custom, and later,
" a privileged honour", for the regiment to march past with a
goat "having gilded horns, and adorned with ringlets of
flowers", is somewhat obscure, but it dates back to the early days of
the regimental history. On St David's Day, when the health of the
Prince of Wales is first drunk after dinner, the goat is marched thrice
round the mess-table with the drums, led by the drum-major, to the tune of
"The Noble Race of Shenkin", while the national emblem, the
leek, is being distributed. Usually the animal behaves with
sufficient decorum; but on one occasion, in 1776, at Boston, he literally
"bucked" his rider, a small drummer-boy, into the middle of the
mess-table, and escaped to barracks. One account has it that the boy
was killed, and that from that date the mounting the goat was
abandoned. The same goat accompanied the regiment into action at
Bunker's Hill.
Until quite recently the goat has, since 1844, been
presented by Her Majesty when a vacancy occured, from a flock given her by
the Shah of Persia. In these cases "Billy" wore a silver
shield surmounted by the Prince of Wales' plume and motto, on which is
"The gift of H.M. Queen Victoria to the Royal Welsh Fusiliers.
A.D. . . . . Duw. A. Cadwo. Y. Frenhines." In the regiment's
recent march through Wales in 1892 the tired goat was taken on a wagon,
but unfortunately lost its balance, and was killed.
The only peculiarity in the uniform of the regiment is
that of both officers and non-commissioned officers wearing the
"flash", a bow of black silk ribbon, with long ends, fastened to
the back of the collar of the tunic. It is a relic of the days of
pigtails and powder, and in 1786 it is stated that "the officers of
this regiment wear the hair turned up behind", when the locks were
turned into a queue with ribbon, a form of dressing the hair which was
supposed to be the "Grenadier fashion" of so arranging it.
It is also a regimental custom to wear the leek on St David's Day.
The Prince of Wales' plume, with the regimental title, is worn both on the
button and waist-plate, the grenade on the tunic collar, fusilier cap, and
forage-cap, the latter with a red dragon.
The Militia battalions are the Royal Denbigh and
Merioneth, which wore a red dragon on the Glengarry; and the Royal
Carnarvon, which had a bugle on the colllar and Glengarry. The other
badges are the "Rising Sun", the white horse with "Nec
aspera terrent", and the Sphinx with "Egypt", and with the
Prince of Wales' plume the motto "Ich Dien", The Volunteer
battalions are the late 1st Denbigh (Wrexham) and the 1st Flintshire and
Carnarvonshire (Rhyl); both wear the national scarlet with royal blue
facings. The nicknames are the "Nanny Goats" and the
"Royal Goats", both referring to the regimental pet. The
depot is at Wrexham.
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