Formation of the Regiments

In 1642 as tensions grew between King Charles I and Parliament in England, Ireland rebelled against English rule.  The King needed troops to put down the rebellion but Parliament would not commit English troops at such an unstable time, so the King raised new regiments in Scotland. Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, formed a Regiment of Scottish Foot Guards to be the King’s personal guard in Ireland. Although the Regiment fought in Ireland the King never led them personally due to the Civil War, but they remained loyal to the monarchy. In 1650 Charles’s son, Charles Stuart, landed in Scotland hoping to retake England.  He named Argyl’s Regiment of Scottish Foot Guards his Lyfe Guard of Foot.  His attempts failed but in 1660 he returned to London, restored the monarchy and raised a standing army. In 1666 a new Scottish Regiment of Foot Guards was formed as his guard in Scotland.  

Despite their roots going back to 1642 Scottish Regiments didn’t form part of the British Army till 1686, by which time two English Guard Regiments were ahead of them in the order of precedence. They were therefore third in order.  

In 1712 they were named the Third Regiment of Foot Guards, often referred to as Third Guards.  

 In 1831 King William IV renamed them the Scots Fusilier Guards, and in 1877 Queen Victoria named them The Scots Guards.  

The formation of the Coldstream Guards is closely linked with the rise of George Monck from soldier to Kingmaker. Originally a Royalist, he was captured, imprisoned at the Tower of London and joined the Parliamentarian’s New Model Army. Cromwell was impressed by his military leadership in Ireland and in 1650 raised a new Regiment for him to command. Monck’s Regiment of Foot was part of the force sent to Scotland which defeated the monarchist uprisings, notably fighting at the battle of Dunbar in 1650. Monck remained on the English-Scottish borders with a large military force.  

Following Cromwell’s death in 1658 the parliamentarians began to lose their grip on power. Monck was by now disillusioned with the parliamentarian military dictatorship and in 1660 marched 7000 troops from the town of Coldstream to London. This force, which included his Regiment of Foot, prevented widespread unrest and enabled elections for a new parliament. Monck became a Member of Parliament and supported the return of the monarchy. It was Monck and his troops who met the King and escorted him into London. The King made him Duke of Albemarle and Lord General (commander of the Army), but his Regiment was due to be disbanded in January 1661. Fortunately, at the last minute it proved its worth again, putting down a revolt against the King and was saved. So when the King created a standing army in 1661 his Regiment symbolically laid down its arms as a unit in the New Model Army and took them up again as Royal troops- The Lord General’s Regiment of Foot Guards. After Monck’s death in 1670 it was renamed The Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards which was shortened to The Coldstream Guards in 1855. 

They are second in line of precedence because despite being the first formed English regiment to evolve into the Guards, the King naturally gave the regiment he had raised seniority. To show their displeasure at this they never agreed to be called the 2nd Regiment of Foot Guards, and their motto is Nulli Secundus (Second to None).  

Like the Scots Guards, the Grenadier Guards were closely tied to the monarchy from their formation. When Charles I was captured in 1648 and the Royalists lost the English Civil War, his son Charles Stuart fled abroad.  After a period of wandering Europe he set up Court in Bruges, Belgium, at the house of the Guild of St Sebastian. Several Regiments were raised to protect him and form the nucleus of an army to recapture England. Unusually, the English Regiment raised in 1656 was made up entirely of officers who had supported his father and stayed loyal to the monarchy. He made this Regiment his personal bodyguard and named it The Royal Regiment of Guards. They were soon fighting for him, but in France not England.  

Although Charles Stuart restored the Monarchy in 1660 the Regiment garrisoned Dunkirk and did not return to England till 1664. In fact, in 1660 Charles I had created another Regiment of Guards in England. These two Regiments were merged into one in 1665 to form The King’s Regiment of Foot Guards, with each becoming a Battalion. In 1685 it was renamed The First Regiment of Foot Guards, and often just referred to as The First Guards.  

In 1815 the Prince Regent made the Regiment a Grenadier regiment, in honour of them defeating the Grenadiers of Napoleon’s Imperial Guard at Waterloo on June 8th. He renamed them The First or Grenadier Regiment of Foot Guards.  

Despite chronologically being the second English Guards regiment to be formed, the King gave them seniority because they were the first Guards regiment he had formed and to reward their loyalty while he was in exile. 

The Irish Guards owe their formation to the distinguished service of Irishmen already serving in other regiments of the British Army. The 2nd Boer War started in 1899 and a major part of the Army sent to fight in South Africa was of Irish heritage. In addition to Irish regiments many served in other regiments and roles. These had proved themselves in battle and by 1900 the influential Times newspaper was publishing letters calling for an Irish Regiment of Guards. Queen Victoria shared this sentiment and on 1st April 1900 her command to form an Irish Foot Guards Regiment was made official. In keeping with the naming of the existing Foot Guards Regiments it was named The Irish Guards. Some recruits transferred from other Regiments while others joined the army to go straight into the Irish Guards. 

Their precedence was set by date of formation and so they are fourth in order. 

The First World War was a conflict like no other to that date. The entire population was mobilised; either fighting or supporting the war effort and running the country. With thousands of Welsh involved and patriotism a major motivation in the early stages of the war, the lack of a Welsh Guards Regiment was very apparent. Lord Kitchener, Secretary of State for War, felt that Brigade of Guards should reflect all parts of the Nation. King George V, mindful of his time as Prince of Wales before becoming King, shared this view. On 26th February 1915 the King requested the formation of a Welsh Foot Guards Regiment, to be called The Welsh Guards. Their commanding officer promised the new Regiment would mount The King’s Guard in just five days time, on St David’s Day, the Welsh National day. Drawing Welshmen from other Guards Regiments enabled them to meet this tight deadline. In August the Regiment went to France and join the newly formed Guards Division. 

Their precedence was set by date of formation and so they are fifth in order.