Origin and History
The regiment was raised in Bruges by Charles II whilst in exile. At that time Bruges was in the Spanish Netherlands. The exiled King had allied himself to the Spanish whilst Oliver Cromwell took sides with Louis XIV of France. Charles managed, in 1656, to raise 5 regiments, one English, one Scottish and three Irish. The English regiment was to be commanded by Thomas, Lord Wentworth and consisting of 400 of the King's most loyal supporters. They were all officers and had made great sacrifices to follow their King into exile.
Their first action was in the Battle of the Dunes near Dunkirk on 24th May 1658. They fought bravely but were deserted by their Spanish allies and were forced to lay down their arms to the French. The regiment remained as part of the garrison in Dunkirk when Charles returned to England in 1660 after death of Cromwell and the monarchy was restored by parliament.At the beginning of the 19th century, Britain was busy preparing for Napoleon's invasion, but after Trafalgar the government felt confident enough to send a force to occupy Sicily in 1805. This force included the 1st Guards Brigade (1st and 3rd Battalions 1st Guards). But in 1808 there was more important work to be done. The Brigade, part of a 13,000 strong force, was sent to the Peninsula to reinforce Wellesley's army which had successfully driven the French from Portugal. They landed at Corunna and marched inland to join up with Sir John Moore's 20,000. They then moved north to fight Soult's army beyond Valladolid but on Christmas day news arrived that Napoleon himself was leading a superior force to cut them off from their base at Corunna. Moore had no choice but to retreat to Corunna and save the Army.
Waterloo, 1815
Napoleon's last hundred days brought about the most famous battle in European history. When he escaped from Elba on 26th February and entered Paris on 20th March, he was able to raise an army of 123,000. Wellington had to work fast to raise enough seasoned troops to stop him but he was disappointed with the men available. There were not enough 1st battalions from the infantry regiments. His final tally of 106,000 was made up of Belgian, Dutch and German allies as well as the British troops. The British infantry that fought at Waterloo numbered 17,000. Of these, 3,836 were Foot Guards.
The Guards were organised in two brigades in the 1st Division. The 1st Brigade was made up of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 1st Guards, and the 2nd Brigade consisted of Coldstreamers and Scots Guards. Major-General Peregrine Maitland commanded the 1st Guards Brigade whose strength was: 2/1st Guards, 29 officers and 752 men, and 3/1st Guards, 29 officers and 818 men. Each battalion had about 40 sergeants and 20 drummers.
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