Battle of Waterloo, 18 June 1815
At the climax of the Napoleonic Wars it would now be the turn of the 2nd Battalion to show it's mettle on behalf of the regiment. At Waterloo itself the 2nd Battalion was on the ridge just behind Hougoumont, with its light company in the farm buildings alongside those of the Second Foot Guards and two company's of the First's. For much of the day from eleven in the morning till eight in the evening did the foot guards much frustrate the 30,000 Frenchmen determined to capture the farmhouse.
Just after 11:00am, the battle commenced, with a French division, under the command of Prince Jérôme Bonaparte, beginning the assault on Hougoumont, with the Farm coming under heavy artillery fire. The French assaulted the farm, but the Guards' stout defense repulsed the first French attack. A second attack happened, and during that attack, the French attempted to push through the main gate. Despite the gallant efforts of the British Guardsmen to shut it, a few dozen French troops broke through before the Guardsmen managed to shut the main gate once more. What followed was a fierce hand-to-hand fight between the Guardsmen and French, until eventually all the French, minus a drummer boy who was spared by the Guardsmen, were killed.
The third attack came from the east of the farm, at the orchard. A few companies of the 3rd Guards subsequently confronted the French troops and, after some hard fighting, drove them from the orchard and back into the woods. The fourth attack soon came, this time with the use of a fearsome howitzer, and thus, the Grenadier Company of the 3rd Guards was sent into the woods to destroy the howitzer, but were faced with a superior French force and were forced out of the woods. The 3rd Guards were then sent to repulse the French from the orchard which they duly did, driving the French back into the woods once more.
Further attacks occurred on the farm, and the gallant defenders never wilted in the face of such French attacks, and held the farm against all odds, even when the farm was set ablaze by howitzer fire, the defenders still repulsed all French attacks. The elite Guards had proven their professionalism and valour once more in the field, and contributed greatly to the British and Allied victory at Waterloo, gaining the praise of the Duke of Wellington in the process. The defenders of Hougoumont suffered over 1,000 men killed or wounded during the Battle for Hougoumont, with the 3rd Guards suffering well over 200 men killed or wounded; while the French suffered many thousands of casualties in their numerous attempts to capture the farm. Napoleon was defeated and as before, he was exiled, this time to the British territory of St. Helena, where he would remain until his death in 1821.
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3rdFG Regimental Colours
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Ensign of the 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards | The French Revolutionary Wars
In 1789, the French Revolution began. In 1793, the First Coalition, which included Great Britain and continental European powers, was created to combat Revolutionary France. The 1st Battalion took part in the Battle of Famars on 23 May and the Siege of Valenciennes (1793) which began that same month, with the town eventually falling to the Allies in July that year. The battalion also took part in the Battle of Caesar's Camp at Bouchain and the Siege of Dunkirk which ended in September.
In August 1793, the 1st Battalion, along with the 1st Battalions of the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards and the Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guard', took part in the Battle of Lincelles. The Guards, only just over 1000, were tasked with recaptururing the village of Lincelles from the French, over 5,000 in strength, who had re-taken it from Dutch troops. The Foot Guards advanced valiantly and professionally on the freshly captured village, coming under horrendous artillery and small-arms fire, suffering heavy casualties. The Foot Guards performed ferociously with bayonet upon storming the village, being engaged in some bitter fighting with the French, causing heavy French casualties in the process and clearing the village of the French, with the Guards capturing the village. The regiment won its third battle honour for their part in the battle. The regiment took part in further engagements in 1793, including at Lannoy. The battalion's last engagements came the following year.
In 1798, the Second Coalition against Revolutionary France was formed. That same year, the 1st Battalion's light companies took part in a raid on Ostend in what is now Belgium. The raid had the objectives of destroying the lock-gates and sluices of the Brugge to Ostend canal. The expedition was supported by a bombardment from Royal Navy (RN) warships. The locks were destroyed, but due to unfavourable winds preventing re-embarkation, the 1,300 men of the army contingent under the command of Major General Coote were captured by the French. In 1799, the 1st Battalion took part in the Expedition to the Helder in the French puppet-state of the Batavian Republic, in what is now the Netherlands. An Anglo-Russian force took part in the campaign there, which had the intentions of restoring the exiled Dutch King, with the hope that the population of Batavia would be keen on such a move after suffering bad times economically due to France forbidding any trade with Great Britain. Shortly after the landing took place a large number of warships of the Batavian Fleet surrendered peacefully to the British. In October, the Foot Guards, along with many other regiments, were involved in the engagements of Egmont-op-Zee and Alkmaar, the latter of which ended in a British victory. In 1800, the 1st Battalion took part in the expeditions against the coastal Spanish cities of Ferrol, Vigo and Cadiz, the latter of which would become more prominent during the Peninsular War only a few years later.
In 1798, France invaded Egypt intent on conquering the country, a move that would have posed danger to Great Britain's position in the Mediterranean as well as to India. The following year, Admiral Lord Nelson decimated the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile, effectively trapping the French in Egypt. In 1801, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was formed and just a few months later the 1st Battalion was part of a British Army expedition, under the command of General Sir Ralph Abercromby, to Egypt, landing at Aboukir Bay on 8 March, with the amphibious landing being very successful despite being opposed by French defenders.
The battalion also took part in the Battle of Alexandria on 21 March, with the British force numbering about 14,000 and the French around 20,000. At the latter engagement, the British forces displayed much heroism and valour, with the Guards Brigade, in the center, acting in a highly professional manner against the French forces, which ended in victory for the British. The British suffered just under 1,500 killed, wounded and missing, including their commander, General Abercromby, who was mortally wounded during the battle, while the French suffered just over 4,000 casualties. Cairo and Alexandria soon afterwards, with the whole of Egypt being recaptured by late 1801. The regiment gained its fourth battle honour with the Sphinx being placed on its Colours with Egypt superscribed on it.
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