MISSING BATTLE HONOURS

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Until some thirty years ago, the names inscribed on the colours and appointments of our regiments were mainly in recognition of services between the years 1793 and 1815, or for campaigns in India. It so happened that many regiments which had done good service in the wars of the Austrian or Spanish Succession were debarred from sharing in the honours so generously distributed for the Peninsular campaign, owing to the fact that they were at the time employed in garrisoning our distant dependencies, or in holding threatened points in other quarters of the globe. Several regiments had no names on their colours, although they had borne their share in the important victories won by Marlborough, or had fought in the no less arduous wars later in the eighteenth century. It was felt that such names as Blenheim and Malplaquet were as deserving of recognition as, let me say, Bushire or Surinam. In the year 1881 a Committee, under the presidency of the late General Sir Archibald Alison, was appointed to consider the subject, and, after much deliberation, came to the conclusion that "the names of such victories only should be retained as either in themselves or by their results have left a mark in history which render their names familiar, not only to the British army, but also to every educated gentleman."

The result of Sir Archibald Alison's Committee was that four of Marlborough's victories were added to the battle honours of the army—Blenheim, Oudenarde, Ramillies, and Malplaquet. What led to the selection of two out of these four names will ever remain a mystery. At Oudenarde the twenty-two regiments present lost but 168 officers and men killed and wounded. At Ramillies the casualties were only slightly heavier. On the other hand, during the same campaign we had lost far more heavily at Ath, Douai, LiÈge, Lille, Maestricht, Menin, and Namur. Until the present year (1910), the 18th (Royal Irish) was the only regiment which bore any reference to Namur on its colours, and the other names are still lacking.

Within the last few months another Committee, under the able presidency of the Adjutant-General, has been adjudicating on the same subject. To this Committee the regiments of the army owe a deep debt of gratitude. Its labours are confessedly incomplete. It has rescued from oblivion some long-forgotten campaigns in the West Indies; it has given due credit to the regiments which participated in the costly capture of Namur by William III.; it has to a certain extent satisfied the amour propre of our cavalry regiments by adding to their appointments three somewhat unimportant actions, and has placed on the colours of a few distinguished corps the names of battles in Flanders and the Peninsula to which they were justly entitled. The task of such a Committee is by no means a light one. The haphazard way in which battle honours have hitherto been granted, and the difficulties of obtaining accurate records of many of the earlier campaigns, have added not a little to its labours. It would appear that the Committee has been guided by two main principles in the selection of fresh battle honours—the one that no distinction should be granted unless the headquarters of the regiment had been present in the engagement, and that honours should only be conferred on regiments with a continuous history from the date of the action, a break in the direct genealogical succession invalidating the claim.

These decisions rule out many regiments otherwise eligible, and hitherto they have never been enforced. Indeed, in one case, at any rate, General Ewart's Committee has evaded its own ruling. "Gibraltar, 1704-05," has been awarded to both the Grenadier and to the Coldstream Guards; yet it was a composite battalion, only 600 strong, made up from the two regiments, which was sent from Lisbon to assist Prince George of Hesse in the defence of the Rock. In earlier days battle honours were not seldom bestowed on regiments which had been represented in actions by single troops or companies. A troop of the 11th Hussars acted as personal escort to the Commander-in-Chief during the Egyptian campaign of 1801, yet the battle honour was conferred on the regiment. The three regiments of Household Cavalry bear the honours "Egypt, 1882," and "South Africa, 1899-1900"; yet it was a composite regiment, made up of a squadron from each regiment, which earned the battle honour. The headquarters of the 35th were not present at Maida, nor of the 69th at St. Vincent, yet the Royal Sussex and the Welsh have been awarded these battle honours.

When we come to the question of direct representation, the same anomalies crop up. A regiment, which I need not further particularize, affords, perhaps, the most striking instance. It was disbanded at the close of the eighteenth century for acts of alleged disloyalty and indiscipline. The order for disbandment was read at the head of every troop and company in the army. That order contained such strong expressions as "seditious and outrageous proceedings," "atrocious acts of disobedience," "insubordination," "indelible stigma," and generally commented on the conduct of the regiment in the strongest possible terms. Half a century later a new corps bearing the same number sprang into existence, and was permitted to bear the battle honours that would have accrued to its predecessor. A similar privilege was conferred on the 19th and 20th Hussars, when they were taken over from the East India Company, and on the 18th Hussars and 100th Royal Canadians when they were resuscitated some fifty years ago. But there is a long list of regiments to whom this privilege will now be denied, amongst them the 76th (Middlesex), 90th (Scottish Rifles), and 98th (North Staffords), which accompanied General Ruffane from Belleisle, and were present at the capture of Martinique and Havana. The 79th, which was with Draper at Wandewash, Pondicherry, and the capture of Manilla; the 84th—Eyre Coote's famous regiment—which took part in all the earlier battles in India, and which, with the 78th and 91st, captured the Cape of Good Hope in 1795; the 103rd and 104th, which were granted the battle honour "Niagara" at the same time as the 19th Hussars and the 100th Regiment. This list could be added to almost indefinitely. I give these few instances to show how regiments will be affected by the strict application of the ruling of General Ewart's Committee.

The halo that surrounds the name of the great Duke of Wellington has led many to suppose that the battles fought in the Peninsula were combats of giants. When we come down to hard facts, and study the casualty returns, and then reflect on the result of many of these actions which are inscribed on our colours, it is clear that they can hardly be described as "having by their results left their mark on history." In no less than ten engagements in the Peninsular War for which battle honours have been granted our losses were less than those at Oudenarde, the least costly of all Marlborough's battles, whilst in three, the aggregate of killed only reached sixteen men.

The following table is, I venture to think, instructive as showing the scanty recognition accorded to the regiments which fought under Marlborough, the generous recognition of those which fought under Wellington:

On p. 16 I have given the list of regiments that fought at Schellenburg, with a return of their individual losses. At Menin we had four, at LiÈge and Lille five, and at Douai eight, battalions engaged, so the severity of the fighting may be gauged.

It may be urged that, as Schellenburg preceded Blenheim by only one month, and that as practically the same regiments were present at both engagements, such a distinction would merely have the effect of granting two battle honours to a few specially favoured regiments. Four days intervened between Roleia and Vimiera—actions which neither in their severity nor in their results can be compared to the two victories of Marlborough; indeed, several regiments which escaped scathless in Wellington's two earliest fights bear two battle honours on their colours. The campaign in Persia lasted exactly two months, and three insignificant skirmishes brought four battle honours to the fortunate regiments present.

I have been unable to trace the casualty returns for LiÈge, Menin, and Lille. Those of Douai I give in the following table, as I do not remember having seen them in any recent publication:

Casualties at the Siege and Assault of Douai.

Surely these figures are eloquent enough to justify the award of a battle honour to the regiments engaged!

Whilst Marlborough was fighting in Northern Europe, another British army was engaged in the South, where a century later our troops under Wellington were to earn undying fame. It is true the campaign was tinged with more than one disaster, owing to the lack of support on the part of our allies, but it was also relieved by many gallant actions well worthy of recognition. The storming and capture of Valenza by the 33rd (West Riding), the heroic defence of Alicante, Peterborough's daring capture of Barcelona, are all feats of arms well worthy of being emblazoned on colours which already bear such names as Roleia, Douro, and Tarifa. The regiments entitled to share in the honours that might well be awarded for our earliest campaign in the Peninsula are:

2nd Queen's Bays.
1st Royal Dragoons.
Royal Scots.
8th Royal Irish Hussars.
Royal Warwicks.
Queen's (Royal West Surrey).
King's Own (Lancaster).
Norfolks.
Leicester.
Somerset Light Infantry.
Cornwall Light Infantry.
East Surrey.
Border.
West Riding.
Worcesters.
Royal Sussex.

On p. 8 I have alluded to the gallant defence of Gibraltar by Lord Portmore in 1727 as an instance of a missing battle honour, and have given the losses sustained by the regiments which formed the garrison in that memorable defence. Should "Gibraltar, 1727," be added to the battle honours of the army, as well indeed it may be, the regiments which would be entitled to the distinction are the

Grenadier Guards.
Northumberland Fusiliers.
Somerset Light Infantry.
West Yorkshire.
Royal Irish.
Lancashire Fusiliers.
K.O. Scottish Borderers.
Cameronians.
Worcester.
East Lancashire.
Border.
Dorsets.

Five-and-thirty years later, when our armies, under Prince Ferdinand, were earning the battle honours "Minden," "Warburg," and "Wilhelmstahl," a second army, under Lord Tyrawley, was fighting on the historic battle-fields of Spain. In the year 1910 the 16th Lancers were authorized to wear a special cap plate in recognition of their services at Valencia di Alcantara in the campaign of 1762. On this occasion the Red Lancers made a forced march of forty-five miles, surprised the Spaniards, taking the General in command prisoner, and returning with three stand of colours. This is the only recognition yet accorded for the campaign in the middle of the eighteenth century.

As dates have been added to differentiate between our various campaigns in the West Indies, South Africa, and Gibraltar, it would be a graceful act, and one of strict justice, to add the dates 1727 to the battle honour "Gibraltar," and 1705-06 and 1762 to the battle honour "Peninsula." The following regiments would be entitled to this last distinction—"Peninsula, 1762":

16th Lancers.
Buffs.
Hampshire.
Gordon Highlanders.
Royal Irish Rifles.
Shropshire Light Infantry.
Argyll Highlanders.

These represent the 3rd Buffs, 67th, 75th, 83rd, 85th, 91st, and 92nd Regiments of those far-off days.

Another name that might well be rescued from oblivion is Belleisle. A combined naval and military expedition, under Admiral the Hon. Sir A. Keppel and Major-General Studholme Hodgson, was despatched to that island in the spring of 1761. The troops comprised twelve battalions of infantry, the 16th Light Dragoons, and a strong body of artillery. As usual, we opened the campaign by despising our enemy, and on April 6 met with a sharp reverse. Additional troops were sent out from home, and two months later the French Governor surrendered. Our total losses in the campaign amounted to 13 officers and 271 men killed, 21 officers and 476 men wounded.

The regiments that would be entitled to bear the battle honour "Belleisle" are the

16th Lancers.
Buffs.
Norfolks.
Yorkshire.
Royal Scots Fusiliers.
East Lancashire.
Worcesters.
Hampshire.
Gordon Highlanders.
Middlesex.
Shropshire Light Infantry.
Scottish Rifles.
Welsh.
West Kent.
North Staffords.

Immediately on the capitulation of the island General Ruffane, who had commanded a brigade throughout the operations, was despatched to the West Indies with the 69th (Welsh), 76th (Middlesex), 90th Light Infantry, and 98th Regiment, to assist in the reduction of Martinique and Havana. These operations have been rewarded with battle honours, and are fully described in Chapter VIII. Ruffane's brigade, however, with the exception of the Welsh, have been denied the honour.

Before leaving the West Indies, I would wish to draw attention to the fact that, whilst the defence of the Island of Dominica in 1805 is inscribed on the colours of the Cornwall Light Infantry, no recognition is made of the capture of that island by the troops under Lord Rollo in 1762, yet surely the one feat is as worthy of remembrance as the other. The appended table may not be without interest to the regiments concerned in the two transactions:

Guadeloupe, 1702, 1794, and 1815, are also battle honours well worthy of remembrance.

Simultaneously with the expedition against Havana, which is alluded to above, and set forth in detail in Chapter VIII., a force was despatched from Madras for the reduction of the Spanish settlement in Manilla, thus forestalling by 150 years the memorable exploits of Admiral Dewey on the same spot. This was under the command of General Draper, who, at the head of his own regiment (then the 79th), had done good service in Southern India. The Spaniards were utterly unprepared, and though the troops with Draper amounted to but one battalion of the line, a naval brigade 1,000 strong, and a brigade of Madras sepoys, the little army was thrown ashore, and after one week's bombardment the forts surrendered, our losses amounting to 5 officers and 28 men killed, 5 officers and 106 men wounded.

The prize-money must have been some slight compensation to the troops for the hardships endured. Field Officers received £1,500, Captains £900, whilst the privates received £6. The Spanish colours captured were presented by General Draper to King's College, Cambridge, and he raised a monument to the memory of the officers and men who fell in the grounds of his private residence, still known as Manilla Hall, Clifton. Under the present ruling of the Army Council there would appear to be no prospect of the word "Manilla" being added to the battle honours of the army.

Another missing distinction is "Cape of Good Hope, 1796." There would appear to be no reason why the first capture of the Cape should not be commemorated equally with the second. In connection with this later expedition there is one unaccountable omission, as I have explained on p. 351. Sir David Baird detached the 20th Light Dragoons and the 38th Regiment (South Staffords), under Brigadier, afterwards Field-Marshal, the Lord Beresford, to Saldanha Bay. The consequence was that they were not actually present at the operations on January 8, and so it comes about that, although they participated in the hardships of the campaign, and contributed to its results, the 20th Hussars and South Staffords have been debarred from bearing the battle honour.

The battle honours for our campaigns in India have been awarded in the same unequal manner: hard-fought battles are unrecognized, paltry skirmishes are emblazoned on our colours. This is partly due to the fact that in the case of those regiments which were in the service of the East India Company the Governor-General or the Governor of the Presidency authorized the distinction, whereas in the case of "King's regiments" the Sovereign alone was the fountain of honour. So it comes about that the Royal Munster and Royal Dublin Fusiliers, the direct representatives of the old European regiments of John Company, bear on their colours battle honours which have not been awarded to the King's regiments which fought by their side, and which, strangely enough, have also been denied to the Indian regiments which took part in the same operations. "Nundy Droog" is on the colours of the Dublins, but the 36th (Worcesters) and 71st (Highland Light Infantry) are still without the honour. The British troops which captured Pondicherry in 1793 comprised the 36th (Worcesters), 52nd (Oxford Light Infantry), 71st (Highland Light Infantry), and 72nd (Seaforths), with the Madras European Regiment, but the Royal Dublin Fusiliers alone bear the honour.

In some cases a single battle honour, such as "Carnatic," "Mysore," and "Ava," covers a campaign which included in its operations a number of general actions, and had for its results the addition of a province to the Empire. Other campaigns of less severity, and which have had negative results, such as the two wars in Afghanistan and that in Persia, have been rewarded with a profusion of honours, some, indeed, representing the paltriest skirmishes. Battles in which we have lost hundreds are left unnoticed, whilst affairs in which the casualties may be counted on the fingers receive undue recognition.

The old regiments of the Madras native army have suffered under this lack of system. They are much in the same position that Marlborough's regiments occupied until Sir Archibald Alison's Committee gave them relief. They were excluded from any share in the eighteen battle honours awarded for the Afghan and Persian wars, and yet received no recognition of their presence in battles which have been inscribed on the colours of the Madras European regiment—battles which resulted in the overthrow of the Mysorean usurper and the expulsion of the French from India. Surely such battles as these, both in their severity and by their results, may be deemed of sufficient historic interest to warrant their being placed on the colours of the Indian troops which bore their share in the fighting.

At the siege and capture of Pondicherry in 1778 (a battle for which an honour was granted to the Madras Europeans, and which appears on the colours of the Dublins) the Indian regiments of the Madras army lost 19 officers and 646 of other ranks.

At the third capture of the French fortress by General Braithwaite in 1793, for which the Dublins also wear the honour, a strong force of Indian troops was present, and suffered severe loss. The following Madras regiments would become entitled to the missing battle honour, "Pondicherry, 1778-1793":

2nd Q.O. Sappers and Miners.
61st Pioneers.
62nd Punjabis.
63rd Palamcottah Light Infantry.
66th Punjabis.
67th Punjabis.
69th Punjabis.
73rd Carnatic Infantry.
76th Punjabis.
80th Carnatic Infantry.

Another campaign well worthy of recognition is that which led to the capture of Tanjore in 1771. In this the Indian regiments lost 8 officers and 297 men—a far heavier casualty roll than that which earned four battle honours in Persia. The following table shows the regiments that would be entitled to adopt the missing battle honour, "Tanjore, 1771":

Tanjore, 1771.

The earlier Indian battles, which were fraught with great results, but which, fortunately, were not attended with any serious losses, such as Arcot, Plassey, Condore, Masulipatam, Badara, and Buxar, are well deserving of perpetual remembrance, for are they not the foundation-stones of our Indian Empire? But there are other battles, no less momentous in their results, and which were attended with far heavier loss of life, which have been left unrecorded. Macleod's defeat of Tippoo Sultan at Paniani, Munro's capture of Negapatam from the Dutch, Stuart's victory at Cuddalore, were more far-reaching in their results, and entailed far harder fighting and far more severe privations, than, let us say, Koosh-ab or Charasia. "Seringapatam" can be read on the colours of the regiments which stormed the fortress under Lord Harris, but the distinction has never been granted to those which carried the place by assault under Lord Cornwallis seven years earlier. "Guzerat" was awarded to the Bengal troops which, under Goddard, marched to the relief of the Bombay army in 1779, but the services of the Bombay column which marched across the continent to the assistance of Lord Lake in the First Mahratta War have never yet been recorded. The 65th (York and Lancaster), 86th (Irish Rifles), 102nd Bombay Grenadiers, 104th Wellesley's Rifles, 105th Mahratta Light Infantry, and 117th Mahrattas, did right good and gallant work in that campaign, for which they have no distinction. In the same war the 22nd (Cheshires) played a conspicuous rÔle, but their services in Cuttack, as well as at Bhurtpore, have been forgotten.

"Bourbon" is borne on the colours of the 69th (Welsh) and 86th (Royal Irish Rifles). Surely the honour should also be accorded to the 56th (Essex), which were present at both attacks on the island. If the capture of Bourbon, which was restored to France on the conclusion of peace, is deemed worthy of an honour, the taking of the Mauritius, still a British possession, is no less deserving of one. The regiments which formed General J. Abercromby's force included the 12th (Suffolk), 14th (West Yorks), 22nd (Cheshires), 33rd (West Riding), 56th (Essex), 59th (East Lancashire), 84th (York and Lancaster), 87th and 89th (Royal Irish Fusiliers), and 104th Wellesley's Rifles. From the Mauritius many of these regiments went on to the conquest of Java, for which they received a battle honour. It is true that the subjugation of that island cost us many lives, but it has never been the custom to take into consideration casualties in awarding battle honours. It seems difficult to understand why Bourbon and Java should be deemed worthy of distinction, whilst Mauritius and Ceylon remain unnoticed.

Another noticeable omission in the list of India battle honours is "Nepaul." If we except the two campaigns of 1846 and 1849 against the Sikhs, that against the Gurkhas entailed the hardest fighting we have ever experienced in India. At the outset we met with more than one reverse, and suffered enormous losses, the casualties of the 53rd (Shropshire Light Infantry) alone totalling 21 officers and 428 of other ranks killed and wounded. A dismounted detachment of the 8th Hussars, 100 strong, lost 5 officers and 57 men. The result of the war was a lasting alliance with the kingdom of Nepaul, and the opening up to our Indian army of a field of recruits unsurpassed for heroism, discipline, and loyalty. The troops entitled to such a distinction would be the 8th Hussars, 17th (Leicesters), 24th (South Wales Borderers), 53rd (Shropshire Light Infantry), 87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers), and the 2nd Queen's Own Rajput Light Infantry.

The 55th (Border Regiment) have no distinction to record the loss of upwards of 100 men in the campaign in Coorg in 1834; nor the Leicesters for their still heavier losses at the siege and assault of the fort of Kamounah twenty-five years previously.

A reference to the chapter on the Indian Mutiny will show that there were but three battle honours (if I except the two given to the 45th Sikhs) granted for the three years' campaign—"Delhi," "Lucknow," and "Central India." Yet there were many regiments whose task was no less arduous, and whose services were as valuable, as those performed by the regiments which took part in the final capture of Lucknow. Hunting down bands of rebels during the hot weather was not the easiest part of the campaign, and the disarmament of disaffected native troops in the Punjab was a task of the heaviest responsibility. The services of the 13th (Somerset Light Infantry) at Azimghur, of the 24th (South Wales Borderers) at Jhelum, of the 27th (Inniskilling Fusiliers) at Peshawar, of the 81st (Loyal North Lancashire) at Lahore, brought decorations to the commanders and medals to the men, but to the regiments nothing to show the part they played in holding fast to our Indian Empire in the day of our darkest trouble.

Another fact in connection with the battle honours for the Mutiny is deserving of remark. The 32nd (Cornwall Light Infantry) have no special distinction to differentiate them from those regiments which shared in Sir Colin Campbell's final and comparatively bloodless capture of the city in March, 1858. The defence of Lucknow stands out as a feat apart, and must for ever remain one of the grandest episodes in our military history. A special clasp was granted with the medal, but no special battle honour.

The regiments which were with Sir George White bear the distinction "Defence of Ladysmith"; the Loyal North Lancashire, "Defence of Kimberley"; the 13th (Somerset) have a mural crown, with the word "Jelalabad"; and the regiments that were with Eliott at Gibraltar have the castle and key, with a distinctive motto, as emblematic of its defence; but the Cornwall Light Infantry bear the single word, "Lucknow," with no emblem commemorative of that heroic defence which thrilled our country half a century ago, and which made the name of Havelock a household word wherever the English language is spoken.

I have alluded to the two special honours awarded to the 45th Rattray's Sikhs for the Mutiny—"Defence of Arrah" and "Behar." The gallant defence of Arrah by a handful of Sikhs, under the leadership of a Bengal civilian, Wake, was a striking episode in a campaign in which heroic actions were of daily occurrence; but the award of this battle honour to the 45th Sikhs brings out into strong relief the omission to grant a like honour to the 2nd Queen's Own Rajput Light Infantry for the no less heroic defence of Saugor. Saugor was in the centre of a district seething with revolt. The garrison of Jubbulpore, the nearest cantonment, had fallen away, murdering their officers, and the other sepoy battalion in Saugor also joined the mutineers; but the 31st Bengal Infantry (now the 2nd Queen's Own Light Infantry) stood firm. They had every inducement to abandon their trust. The neighbouring Princes had thrown in their lot with the rebels, and offered tempting rewards for the rupees that lay in the treasury and the ammunition that was stored in the arsenal. There was a large number of Christian women and children in the fort, whose surrender was demanded. The 31st not merely defended these, but on more than one occasion sallied out and attacked the rebels, and on one memorable day returned with a couple of guns. This was not a defence of a week, as at Arrah. The Saugor garrison was isolated from the month of July, 1857, when the Mutiny reached its head, until its relief by the Central India Field Force, under the command of Sir Hugh Rose, in January, 1858.

I am well aware that the 32nd (Cornwalls) and the 31st Bengal Native Infantry were respectively made Light Infantry regiments for the defence—the one of Lucknow, the other of Saugor; but memories are short. Few outside their own ranks know whence their bugles came; indeed, in this very year (1910) a leading Service paper, in answer to a correspondent, asserted that the 32nd were made light infantry in the year 1832! In addition to the special battle honours, "Defence of Lucknow" and "Defence of Saugor," all regiments which took part in the suppression of the great rebellion in India should be awarded the battle honour "India, 1857-58."

For upwards of half a century a picked body of native troops kept watch and ward over the North-West Frontier of our Indian Empire, waging numberless campaigns against the independent tribes who people the borderland between our frontiers and those of Afghanistan. In many of these border wars the fighting has been hard, the losses very severe, but until the year 1897 no battle honour was awarded for these services. Three medals have been issued, with clasps for close on fifty different expeditions, but the regiments of the old Punjab Frontier Force, which held that border for fifty years, and which in so doing lost upwards of 2,000 officers and men, have never been authorized to add to their colours the first two names of their old and well-known title.

The distinction "Punjab Frontier" was subsequently conferred on a number of regiments which were present in one of the more recent campaigns. In the Umbeyla Expedition of 1863 the total casualties were 36 officers and 1,080 men killed and wounded, the heaviest falling on the 71st (Highland Light Infantry) and 101st (now Munster Fusiliers), and the three magnificent Punjab regiments commanded by Majors Ross, Brownlow, and Keyes. At Umbeyla the Highland Light Infantry suffered more heavily than in the Crimea and Mutiny combined, but it bears no battle honours to remind it that it lost five officers killed in the Boneyr Hills.

Here it may not be out of place to call attention to the marvellous success that attended the Punjab Frontier Force as a training-school for officers of the Indian army. It was formed immediately after the conquest of the Punjab in 1849, the first commander being Brigadier Hodgson, a grandson of the Studholme Hodgson who took Belleisle in 1761. It was raised partly from the tribes beyond our border, partly from the disbanded soldiers of the Sikh army, partly from men of the Punjab, and was officered by selected Captains and subalterns from the three presidencies of Bengal, Madras, and Bombay. It was composed of five regiments of cavalry, two mountain and two field batteries, ten battalions of infantry, and the famous Corps of Guides. Not only did it bear the brunt of every expedition on the Punjab Frontier, but its regiments fought in Burmah in 1852 and in the Mutiny with rare distinction. In the half-century of its existence it has seen three of its members reach the highest rank in the army—that of Field-Marshal—fifteen have been raised to the dignity of Grand Cross of the Bath, and sixteen have won the Victoria Cross. The young officers of the Punjab Force were taught to act on their own responsibility. There was a total absence of red tape from the first, and the result was the upgrowth of a school which did not a little to the saving of our Indian Empire in the dark days of 1857. Subalterns had found themselves in command of regiments, Captains at the head of brigades of all arms, and when the Mutiny broke out John Lawrence had at his hand a body of youngsters whom he employed to raise regiments on a nucleus of their own corps. The squadrons that Probyn and Watson (both these officers won the Victoria Cross, and have lived to wear the Grand Cross of the Bath) took down to Delhi expanded into regiments. As with the cavalry, so with the infantry. In the China War of 1860 practically the whole of the native troops employed at the front had been raised by officers of the Punjab Irregular Force, and in the Abyssinian War, seven years later, the Bengal Brigade was composed of regiments raised in the same manner. The regiments which served under the great Duke in Spain were authorized to bear the word "Peninsula" on their colours and appointments, even though they had not been present at any of the general actions for which a special distinction was conferred. It would be a graceful act to recognize the service of the Punjab Force by granting the battle honour "Punjab Frontier, 1849-1897," to each regiment of the old Frontier Force which for that long fifty years bore the brunt of the fighting from Cashmere to Baluchistan.

Honours to regiments for participation in naval actions appear also to have been bestowed with the same lack of system. When we remember that for many years prior to the Napoleonic wars, as well as throughout the period 1793 to 1814, detachments of troops were regularly employed in the fleet, it is certainly somewhat invidious that only three regiments should bear the naval crown on their colours and appointments. The Welsh is doubly honoured in having the words "St. Vincent," as well as the naval crown, with the date "April 12, 1782." The Queen's and Worcesters bear the crown, with the date "June 1, 1794." I make no pretence of giving an exhaustive list of the engagements in which soldiers have fought in the fleet. I merely wish to emphasize the fact that many regiments are entitled to the distinction conferred on the Queen's, the Worcesters, and the Welsh.

The headquarters of the 39th (Dorsets) was with Admiral Watson at the destruction of the nest of pirates at Gheriah, and subsequently accompanied him to the relief of Calcutta and the capture of Chandernagore. The 4th King's Own and 46th (Cornwall) were with Lord Byron in the action off Granada in 1779, the 14th (West Yorks) with Rodney at the Relief of Gibraltar. The 5th Fusiliers, 17th (Leicester), and 87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) were with the same Admiral when he defeated De Grasse two years later. The headquarters of the 98th and a strong detachment of the 78th were in Sir E. Hughes's fleet in the five actions with Suffren in the Bay of Bengal in 1782-83. In his despatch Sir Edward alludes to the valuable services afforded by Colonel Fullerton, of the 98th. In the engagement of July 9, 1782, both regiments suffered severely.

Long prior to this the Grenadier and the Coldstream Guards were at the Battle of Solebay, in 1672, and the Royal Fusiliers were with Byng in the action off Minorca. The services of the Berkshires and of the Rifle Brigade in Nelson's fleet brought the battle honour "Copenhagen" to these distinguished corps, but they are without the crown to show that it was won for naval services.

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I think I have written enough on "missing battle honours" to show that these distinctions are bestowed on no definite plan. Abyssinia represents a marvellous triumph of military organization, which gave the lie to the most ominous prophecies of disaster. Detroit, Reshire, and Charasiah record skirmishes rather than historic battles. Amboyna, Banda, and Ternate recall but minor deeds of glory. Martinique and Guadeloupe remind us of conquests oft repeated, with no permanent benefit to the Empire. Roleia and Vimiera are associated more with the humiliating Convention of Cintra than with military triumphs. On the other hand, the regiments which brought Ceylon, Dominica, and Mauritius under our flag are still unrewarded; for Marlborough's victories but four honours have been granted, four-and-twenty for those of Wellington.

When Reshire and Hafir find a place on our colours, surely room might be found for Schellenberg and Douai, for Menin, Nepaul, and Umbeyla. Minorca and its gallant defence might be embroidered side by side with Tarifa, El-bodon and Lerena with Sahagun, Ramnuggur with Aliwal, and Barcelona with St. Sebastian.

The names on our colours do indeed testify to our "far-flung battle-line." From Niagara to Pekin, from Copenhagen to the Cape of Good Hope, the British soldier has fought, and bled, and conquered. To record all the gallant deeds of the British army would be impossible. In this chapter it has been my endeavour to recall a few which have as yet found no place on our colours. There is still room for the names of many such victories which "by their results have left a mark in history, and which are familiar not only to the British army, but to every educated gentleman."

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The names inscribed on our colours should be familiarized to every schoolboy, and, at the risk of being accused of militarism, I would suggest that in every Board school should be hung the facsimile of the colours of the county regiment, and that every lad should be taught the part that regiment has played in the building of our Empire—an Empire which is the heritage of every son of Britain. Under the territorial system the nation and the army are being drawn closer to each other. Battle honours are now no longer the peculiar property of the regiment which earned them, but are proudly borne by corps which have never seen a shot fired in anger, and thus they become a source of pride to the county to which those regiments belong. The men of territorial regiments and the boys of cadet corps all have their share in the battle honours of their county regiments.

History, we are told, is but a record of crimes. Those crimes cannot be laid to the charge of the men who, in obedience to orders, went forth to face death in the battles which are inscribed on the colours of our army. Those dead heroes lie in long-forgotten graves, but the humblest private among them was an empire-builder—a member of that advance guard of civilization which Great Britain has sent forth to the uttermost ends of the earth. Hateful though war be, few are the wars we have waged that have not ultimately brought peace and prosperity in their train, and there are still fewer names on our colours from which other lessons than those of tactics and strategy may not be learnt.

"England expects that every man will do his duty" was the last signal of the immortal Nelson—one which he kept flying to the end. That, too, is the signal held before every soldier when the colours are uncased. The names embroidered in their letters of gold are a perpetual reminder to him that those who have gone before him, and whose privilege it has been to die under those standards, have ever acted up to Nelson's signal and to the immemorial traditions of the British army,

DULCE ET DECORUM EST PRO PATRIA MORI.

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