Issue104 Coldstream Guards

The Coldstream Guards Regiment of foot guards is the oldest corps by continuous existence in the British Army. It is also the third by lineal descent of the first regular British Army which, as the new model Army, was raised and organised by Oliver Cromwell.

The Regiment first mustered near Berwick-upon-Tweed in the year of 1650, and was composed of five companies from Sir Arthur Hazelrigg at Newcastle in 1647 and five Companies of the Regiment raised in Berwick by Colonel Fenwick, as a garrison for that town.

The new Regiment, officially known as Monck’s Regiment of Foot, marched into Scotland and fought with distinction at the Battle of Dunbar on the 3^rd September,1650.

The earliest service which the Regiment can claim against a foreign power was in 1652, under Colonel Monck, one of three Admirals who led the British Fleet with success against the then formidable Dutch Navy. The connection with the sea was furthered in 1664 when five hundred men were raised by Royal warrant for sea service. Thus the Coldstream Guards can claim to be the parent of the Royal Marines.

On 1^st January 1660, General Monck started from Coldstream on his historic march to London , which he reached on 3rd February. The men were at once ordered to take up quarters for the first time in the precincts of St James’s Palace and were employed by Monck in repressing the riots and disturbances which had characterized the last few months of Parliamentary rule. The end of May 1660 saw the restoration of Charles II.

On the occasion of King Charles’s entry into London , the Coldstream were for the first time inspected by the sovereign and His Majesty expressed himself as “much struck by the beauty, discipline and martial appearance on the Troops”.

On the Kings Restoration, the disbandment of Cromwell’s New model army was decreed by Act of Parliament, with the reservation that Colonel Monck’s own Regiment of Horse and Foot were to be retained to the last.

By January 1661 the process of reduction was so far completed the Moncks regiment of Horse and Foot was actually n the course of disbandment, but for the chance of a riot the continuous existence of the Coldsteamers would have been abruptly terminated. On January 6^th, however a somewhat serious rising took place necessitating stern repressive measures on the part of the Regiment and it was decided to keep them permanently embodied for the security of the sovereign, which is where they are still today.

On 14 February 1661, the Regiment was made a royal regiment of The Lord General's Regiment of Foot Guards, a part of the Household Troops. They paraded on Tower Hill, grounded arms as a Regiment in the pay of Parliament and took up arms in the name of the King.

On the death of the Lord General in 1670, the regiment officially became the Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, as it had been popularly known, to commemorate the march from Coldstream to London . The regiment was instrumental in putting Charles II back on the throne, thereby re-establishing the monarchy and restoring civil liberty to England .

The regiment was placed as the second senior Regiment of Household Troops, but they answered to that by adopting the motto Nulli Secundus, Second to None. The Regiment always stands on the left of the line when on parade with the rest of the Foot Guards, so standing "second to none".

The Regiment has served with distinction in almost every campaign fought by the British Army. Thirteen Coldstreamers have been awarded the Victoria Cross and one the George Cross. Many of the duties performed by the Guards when not abroad are ceremonial, such as Trooping of the Colour on the Queen’s Birthday, guard duties at St James’s Palace, Windsor Castle, the Tower of London and, of course, Buckingham Palace. When important visitors from abroad come to London , Coldstreamers line The Mall.