17th Century

The new British Army was soon at war with other European powers, and the Guards fighting role was in demand. In 1664 a Coldstream Guards detachment took part in the taking of New Amsterdam in North America from the Dutch. It was renamed New York after the Duke of York, the King’s brother and future James II. 

Through 1665-7 both the First and Coldstream Guards fought the Dutch as soldiers aboard ships. This was quite common as there were no specialist naval troops. The First Guards reflected this by adopting the custom of playing ‘Rule Britannia’ before the National Anthem at Retreat. When the army began to form several companies into battalions, the First and Coldstream Guards formed a battalion jointly drawn from both. It fought in the Second Dutch War of 1672-4. 

Despite European rivalries the first official Battle Honour of the Guards was for battle with Moorish forces in Morocco. The port of Tangier had been gifted by Portugal to King Charles II when he married Portuguese Princess Katherine Braganza in 1662. The Moors repeatedly attacked it and in 1680 the First and Coldstream Guards joined the force to protect it. Both Regiments were granted the Battle Honour ‘Tangier 1680’, although the King decided to give up the troublesome outpost. 

The new army was constantly developing. In 1678 the Guards were ordered to form Grenadier Companies, these men were the strongest and tallest of the regiment, they carried axes, hatches and grenades, and were assault troops. Grenadier was an experimental battlefield role at this time, rather than a Regimental title. One special feature of their uniform was a tall mitre hat decorated with bear fur, which was common to grenadiers in European armies. These evolved into the bearskin caps of the early 1800s, but there is much more to the story of the Guards and their famous bearskins.  

King Charles II died in 1685 and the accession of catholic James II reignited many of the religious and political conflicts of the civil war. The Duke of Monmouth rebelled but was defeated at the Battle of Sedgemoor on 7th July 1685. Here, all three Regiments of Guards fought alongside each other, for the first time. In 1686 the Scottish Regiment of Foot Guards came onto the strength of the Army. 

By 1688 James II was so unpopular that Dutch Prince William of Orange was encouraged to depose him and reinstate Protestantism.  The loyalty of Guards officers was severely tested. The two English regiments backed King James but a number of the Scots Guards and other army officers joined William. In the end James II did not force a fight and fled England on11th December. William was crowned King but ruled a divided nation and since none of his Guards has been unanimous in their support for him he ordered them to leave London.  

A year later the Guards were sent to Flanders under the command of former First Guards officer, John Churchill. The Battle of Steenkirk was fought on 3rd August 1692. A dawn attack was ordered led by the 2nd Battalion First Guards, after initial success the attack failed. The next action at Landen on 29th July 1693, was the first time the Guards fought as a Brigade under Guards officers, a system that followed from then onwards. The British were attacked all day by the French and only withdrew when their ammunition ran out, with the loss of 4,000 men. On 30th August 1695 the army captured the fortress of Namur with the Guards leading the assault. Here they won their second Battle Honour ‘Namur’.  John Cutts, Colonel of the Coldstreams, commanded two Guards Brigades and earned the nickname ‘Salamander’ due to his desire to be in the hottest action. At Namur he survived being shot in the head.