What is the oldest regiment in the British Army? Part Two

  If you read some of the post of this blog you might have gathered I have an interest in military history. British military history is an interesting series of subjects and while doing a bit of reading a thought came to me. What is the oldest regiment in the British Army? The Army prides itself on its history and every regiment has a proud history, one of the things that makes the British Army interesting is the different identities, traditions, music. and uniforms & insignia of individual regiments. Thus the question which regiment is the oldest? There are actually quite a few claimants to that title, which I will examine here in Part Two, if you haven't already I suggest you read Part One before reading any further here.

Household Cavalry

Trooper of the Blues & Royals mounting Queen's Life Guard 
Picture Credit: Harland Quarrington/MOD/OGL v1.0

The Household Cavalry is the most senior regiment in the Army specifically the Life Guards which is one of the two distinct regimental identities that form the Household Cavalry. But does that make it the oldest?

The regiment is about as old as the Coldstream Guards mentioned in part one. Although it does not trace this history through the Life Guards but through its other regimental identity the Blues and Royals.

The Blues & Royals trace their linage back to the Civil War to a regiment of Horse raised by Sir Arthur Haselrig (who we have already mentioned in Part One in relation to the Coldstream Guards)  for the Parliamentarian Army (perhaps one of the little ironies of history the regiment now part of the Household Division that guards the Monarch). Haselrig's regiment became known as the London Lobsters or simply the Lobsters. It was one of the few regiments raised as a cuirassiers and equipped with armour, so it is probably somewhat appropriate that the Household Cavalry today wear armour as part of their mounted full dress uniform. However unlike the modern cuirass which dates from the 19th Century the armour worn by the lobsters reached from the head to the knee. This is possibly where their nickname came from as the wearing of such extensive armour had become uncommon by the Civil War period due to its cost (although helmets and breastplates were still common). However Haselrig raised and equipped the regiment with his own money.

Cuirassier's armour Savoyard Style made 1600-1610
Similar to that worn by the Lobsters. Morges Museum
Rama/Wikimedia Commons/CC-by-sa-2.0-Fr

Following the restoration the regiment was disbanded along with the New Model Army in December 1660. However as a result of the rioting in early 1661 which sparked fears of an uprising the regiment was re-raised. However unlike the Coldstream Guards who took up arms for the King the same day they severed their links with the New Model Army, Haselrig's regiment wasn't re-raised until 26th January 1661, leaving a one month gap in the history of their otherwise continuous service. 

In February 1661 Charles II placed the Earl of Oxford in command and due to their blue coats the regiment was re nicknamed the 'Oxford Blues,' which would eventually be shortened to 'The Blues.'

The regiment was formally named the 'Royal Horse Guards' in 1750 however they continued to wear their blue coats and so continued to be known as 'The Blues.' To this day the Blues and Royals wear a dark blue tunic with their Full Dress Uniform. The regiment would serve with distinction both at home and abroad until it was amalgamated with the Royal Dragoons (1st Dragoons) in 1969 to form the Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards & 1st Dragoons). The Blues and Royals would join with the Life Guards in 1992 to form the Household Cavalry. Although as the Household Cavalry is a corps, both regiments would retain their identity and status as regiments in their own right even if they work together operationally. 

Although they missed out on being the oldest continuously oldest regiment by a month, the Household Cavalry is the oldest serving cavalry regiment. 

So far we haven't looked at any regiment outside of the Household Division. But what's the oldest regiment of the line?

Royal Regiment of Scotland

Drum Majors of the Regimental Band (right) and Pipes & Drums of 1 Scots (left)
note the wearing of trews rather than the kilt by the1 Scots drum major
Picture from the band's Facebook

The current Royal Regiment of Scotland was formed in 2006 through the amalgamation of the Scottish line regiments. The Royal Scots Borderers 1st Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland (1 Scots) was formed through the amalgamation of the Royal Scots and the King's Own Scottish Borderers. The 2nd to 5th battalions each carried the title of their antecedent regiment with reserve 6th and 7th battalions carrying on the name of the 52nd lowland and 51st Highland Volunteers.  

The Royal Scots is the oldest of the Royal Regiment of Scotland's antecedents. It was often said that the Royal Scots was the oldest regiment in the army. By the rank and numbering system of regiments used throughout the 18th and well into the 19th century the Royal Scots was the 1st Regiment of Foot, which certainly makes them the most senior among the infantry of the line. This is doubly impressive when one takes into account that the number of seniority denotes not when they were raised but when they were listed on the English Establishment an anomaly that saw the Scots Guards listed as the 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards despite the fact they were older than the 1st and 2nd Foot Guards. This testifies to the age of the Royal Scots a regiment so ancient that it was nicknamed 'Pontius Pilot's Bodyguard.'  

The Royal Scots trace their origins to 1633 when Sir John Hepburn was granted a warrant by Charles I to recruit a Scottish force of 1200 men to aid the French in the Thirty Years War. Many of its ranks had previously served with Hepburn in a previous regiment he raised for service in Sweden in 1625, but returned home with him when he quarrelled with Gustav II Adolf in 1632. 

Following Hepburn's death in 1636 his brother took command of the regiment before it passed to Lord James Douglas in 1637, becoming known after that as Douglas' Regiment. It stayed in French service until 1660 when it helped secure England for the restored Charles II. It then spent a period varying between English and French service until 1678 when the French Army disbanded the British Brigade following the Treaty of Nijmegen. However although France was obligated to repatriate its British units it did not want to get rid of experienced troops and put so much pressure on members of the regiment (by now known as Regiment de Dumbarton) to stay that those that remained with the regiment returned to Britain in financial difficulty. 

It was temporarily put on the English Establishment in 1679 becoming the 1st Regiment of Foot or the Royal Scots. Four companies of the regiment formed part of the Tangier garrison in 1680 thus gaining the regiments earliest battle honour 'Tangier' and the title 'His Majesty's Royal Regiment of Foot' (Royal Scots).

documentary of the Royal Scots' 350th birthday in 1983

Note the presenter claims its the Army's oldest regiment

The formation of the Royal Regiment of Scotland in 2006 was controversial not only because it was amalgamating what many perceive as the Army's oldest regiment; but because unlike the highland regiments which were each forming an individual battalion, the two lowland regiments were being forced to merge to form a single battalion.  

Salt was rubbed in the wound when it emerged the entire regiment would be kilted. Although today the kilt is widely seen as Scotland's national dress, historically it was only worn in the highlands. With the exception of pipers the Royal Scots had never worn the kilt (tartan wasn't formally adopted until the late Victorian era) and the required adoption of this highland garment by what was now the Royal Scots Borders was seen as the suppression of the battalion's lowland identity. Fortunately though the Dress Regulations of the Royal Regiment of Scotland allowed the battalion pipe bands to wear their historic uniforms. Drummers and Drum Majors of the Royal Scots Borders therefore wear trews (tradtional tartan trousers) rather than the kilt (although only the drum major wears the Hunting Stuart tartan of the Royal Scots, the drummers wear the Leslie Tartan of the KOSB) thus preserving at least some aspect of the lowland identity (interestingly though the same regulations allow for the wearing of trews in cold weather) of the oldest regiment of the line. 

Royal Scots Boarders (1 Scots) entering the grounds of Holyrood House

note that while the guard wear government tartan kilts of the Royal Regiment of Scotland

The drummers & drum major wear trews in their antecedent tartans

Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (Militia)

The Royal Regiment of Scotland might be the oldest regiment of the line but they are not the oldest regiment in the army. The Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers is older. It having always been a reserve regiment probably meant it was overlooked in favour of the Royal Scots. 

Among the squadrons of this regiment is the Royal Jersey Field Squadron (Royal Militia Island of Jersey) which claims its origins to 1337! If we accept this claim this would be by far the oldest unit in the army. However the history is patchy to say the least. It does appear that there has been some form of militia on the island of Jersey since 1337, however it has been raised and disbanded many times. 

Members of the Jersey Field Squadron RE in Full Dress
preparing the Royal Standard during 2012 Royal Visit
Photo Credit: Dan Marsh/flicker/CC BY-SA 2.0

The Royal Militia Island of Jersey as an organised military force (rather than a feudal militia) seems to date from 1622 when three standing regiments of militia were raised in the north, south and east of the island. The militia took part in the 1781 Battle of Jersey where they successfully helped the regular army defend their island from a French invasion force. 

To mark the 50th anniversary of this they were designated the Royal Jersey Militia in 1831. A company of the Royal Jersey Militia was detached to the 7th (service) Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles for the Great War. The rest of the militia stayed in Jersey however many of Jersey men including many of its ranks left the island and volunteered for service with other regiments. It was reconstituted as the Royal Militia of the Island of Jersey in 1921. In WW2 the militia left the island and served as the 11th (Royal Militia Island of Jersey) Battalion Hampshire Regiment throughout the war. 

The Royal Militia was formally disbanded in 1953, however it was reformed as a Territorial Army unit in 1987 as the Jersey Field Squadron (Royal Militia Island of Jersey) Royal Engineers. It came under the command of the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers in 2007.

the garb of a Tudor archer in Monmouthshire Regiment Museum
in Monmouthshire Castle. Credit: Rock Drum/Wikimedia/CC BY-SA 4.0

Even without the Jersey Field Squadron the Royal Monmouth Royal Engineers is one of the oldest regiments in the army. The regiment traces its history to 1539. This was around the time that Henry VIII created the Union between England and Wales and dissolved the monasteries. The union of England and Wales created two new counties which included Monmouthshire and the militia first mustered in 1539. This was just one year before Henry VIII appointed Lord Lieutenants to several counties to raise and maintain county militias loyal to the King. The Monmouthshire militia was initially known as the Posse Comitatus (the Power of the County) and evolved into the Trained bands under Elizabeth I and finally the Monmouthshire Militia Regiment under Charles II.

For most of its existence it was a regiment of infantry. As the Monmouth and Brecon Militia Regiment it gained its first 'Royal' title in 1804 becoming the Royal Monmouth and Brecon Militia. The 'Brecon' part of the title was dropped in 1820. During the reorganisation of the reserve in 1877 it became a militia regiment of the Royal Engineers and designated the 'Royal Monmouthshire Engineers (Militia).' Its current title was granted in 1896 making it a rare example of two 'royal' titles. 

It might arguably have the oldest sub unit in the army but it is not quite the oldest regiment, although it is the only regiment in the Army (both regular and reserve) to retain it's 'militia' title.

Honourable Artillery Company

The oldest regiment in the British Army is another regiment of the Army Reserve. The Honourable Artillery Company's charter was granted in 1537 making it two years older than the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers. However the HAC's origins may stretch back all the way to 1087.

The HAC Company of Pikemen & Musketeers, Lord Mayor's Show 2011
Photo Credit: Randolph/English Wikipedia/CC BY-SA 3.0

In the year of 1087 (reign of William II) a society of armed citizens was formed in the City of London for the protection of the goods of merchants. However to link this to the HAC might be a bit if a stretch. The HAC's official date of inception is 1537 which still makes them the oldest regiment in the army. Henry VIII granted the Overseers of the Guild or Fraternity of St George a charter to raise a perpetual corporation "for military exercise and training for the better defence of the Realm". 

The HAC is not part of the Royal Artillery but a separate regiment. The word 'artillery' in the regiment's name reflects on its age, for it is not a reference to field guns or siege weapons but to projectile weapons in general. The regiment's original name was the "Fraternity or Guild of Artillery of Longbows, Crossbows and Handgoones" (hand guns as in hand held guns like an arquebus). 

The HAC has been described as a regiment since the 17th century. Its' title 'Honourable Artillery Company' was first used in 1685 and the title was formally granted by Queen Victoria in 1860.  

The HAC has played a role in the founding of both the Grenadier Guards and the Royal Marines. Men from the HAC who followed Charles II into exile were among those who served in the guards regiment formed in exile. This regiment would go on to become the Grenadier Guards. Likewise in 1664 the HAC were involved in training of what would become the Duke of York & Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot. This regiment was raised in the HAC's New Artillery Gardens. During the Second Anglo-Dutch War these soldiers were mobilised to serve on ship and were the forerunners of the Royal Marines.

HAC fireing a gun salute at the Tower of London
marking the centenary of WW1 on 05/08/2014
Credit: Sgt Steve Blake RLC/gov.uk/OGL 2

Currently its principle role is battlefield surveillance and target acquisition, but it also has a light battery paired with 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery. In addition to this the regiment performs many ceremonial roles in and around the City of London. It provides guards of honour for state visitors at the London Guildhall. It also has a specific ceremonial sub unit the 'Company of Pikemen and Musketeers' who parade in 17th Century uniforms using period appropriate drill, commands and with period appropriate arms. They perform all over the world but are seen annually providing the ceremonial bodyguard for the Lord Mayor of London during the Lord Mayor's Show. The HAC's artillery battery also perform gun salutes from the Tower of London on great state and royal occasions. 

As well as its military duties both operational and ceremonial the HAC also provide a detachment of Special Constabulary in support of City of London Police. All this is mainly done by reservists for whom the army is mainly only a part time second job, so I think its fair to say that the Army's oldest regiment lives up to its history in the present. 

Company of Pikemen & Musketeers drill display in France

Note the 17th C drill & words of command

(I particularly like the command for stand at ease at the end)

All the regiments that have been looked at here have long and distinguished histories, but this is only a snap shot at the long and illustrious history of the British Army there are many more historic regiments not included here and everyone I am sure will not only work in a manor worthy of the finest traditions and history of the Army, but will continue to add new and worthy chapters to that history in the future.