Steady the Buffs!: A Regiment, a Region, and the Great War

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The Dutch fight for independence from Spain in the 1568–1648 Eighty Years' War was supported by Protestants across Europe; the origins of the regiment were Thomas Morgan's Company of Foot, a group of 300 volunteers from the London Trained Bands formed in 1572. [2] In 1586, these English and Scottish volunteer units were brought together in the Anglo-Scots Brigade, which in various formats served in the Dutch military until 1782. [3] In 1858, the 2nd Battalion was stationed in Malta. Lieutenant John Cotter, Adjutant of the 2nd Buffs, [36] would shout "Steady, The Buffs!", a phrase which has entered common parlance. [4] The 1st Battalion saw action in the Taku Forts action during the Second Opium War as well as in the Perak War [37] while the 2nd Battalion saw action in the Anglo-Zulu War. [38] The official date of the raising of the Holland Regiment for His Majesty's service was the 31st May 1665 the day of the Colonel's commission but the other officers received their commissions 3 weeks later on 23rd June. These 21 officers included Major Alexander Bruce who was the only officer of the Scots regiments to refuse the oath of allegiance to the Netherlands. The establishment was fixed at 6 companies of 106 NCOs and men each. The field officers acted as captains to the first 3 companies so that, as an example of the organisation the 1st Company had Colonel Sidney as captain, a lieutenant, an ensign, 2 sergeants, 3 corporals, one drummer and 100 private soldiers.

The regiment was sent to the West Indies in December 1795 for service in the French Revolutionary Wars. [18] It took part in the capture of Grenada in March 1796 [19] and of Saint Vincent in June 1796 [20] and the capture of Trinidad in February 1797 [21] and of various other islands in March 1801 [22] before returning home in autumn 1802. [23] Napoleonic Wars [ edit ]

Letters from Sir George Downing, the envoy at the Hague, to Sir Henry Bennet in England give details of the choice facing the English soldiers. The Dutch did not want potentially hostile troops in their country while there was a state of war between England and Holland so the choice was to swear an oath of allegiance to Holland or be disbanded. The oath was to include a renunciation of allegiance to the English King. Many of the soldiers had been born in the Low Countries and had strong ties with the country, and others, especially the Scots had no love for the English King, Charles II. For some reason, Charles did not exercise his prerogative to recall the English troops although urged to do so. The 3rd East Kent Regiment of Foot (The Buffs) returned to the UK from Jamaica in April 1790 in surprisingly good health after 8 years in a notoriously unhealthy posting. Their first duty was as marines on ships from Portsmouth and Chatham, and then guard duty at Windsor and the Tower of London. The latter duty gave them the opportunity to exercise their privilege of marching through the City of London, armed and with drums and Colours. By other accounts, an officer cried, “Steady, The Buffs!” as the regiment was going into battle abroad. We haven’t been able to confirm either story. Other than a brief mention here or there on an Internet discussion group, sightings of this expression are rare.

From various documents the regimental history was able to compile a list of English officers who served in the Dutch service in 1665 and they are listed under four regiments named after their Colonels: The Buffs” was officially made part of the regiment’s name by royal warrant in the 1750s, according to several histories we consulted. (It’s now the East Kent Regiment.) Army Museum; Ogilby Trust". Buffs, Royal East Kent Regiment Museum Collection. 2010. Archived from the original on 9 October 2009 . Retrieved 7 February 2010. Knight, Captain H. R. (1935). Historical records of The Buffs, East Kent Regiment, 3rd Foot, formerly designated the Holland Regiment and Prince George of Denmark's Regiment 1572-1704. Vol.1. Gale & Pollen. The final siege was planned by the Prince of Orange with his ally the French General Louis de Bourbon, Duc d'Enghien, later known as the Great Conde. In 1646 they wanted to take Antwerp from Spanish control. But the merchants of Amsterdam and other towns in Holland and Zealand put obstacles in the way because they feared the mercantile ascendancy of a free Antwerp. Soon afterwards the Prince of Orange fell ill and died on 14th March 1647. With his death the States lost the will to continue the war and sought to end it. At the same time the Spanish had lost a great deal of their power and influence so were ready to engage in peace talks. In 1648 the Peace of Munster was agreed upon and the United Netherlands of the Low Countries gained their independence from Spanish Catholic rule. The Treaty was part of the Peace of Westphalia which ended both the Thirty Years War and the Eighty Years War.For service in the First World War, ten additional battalions were raised. [48] Regular Army [ edit ] The Freemasons Are the Oldest Fraternal Organization in the World. Freemasons belong to the oldest fraternal organization in the world, a group begun during the Middle Ages in Europe as a guild of skilled builders. Cannon, Richard (1839). Historical Records of the Third Regiment of Foot or the Buffs formerly designated the Holland Regiment containing an account of its original in the reign of Queen Elizabeth and of its subsequent services to 1838. CIHM/ICMH Collection de Microfiches; no. 48340. Longman, Orme & Company and William Clowes & Sons. ISBN 9780665483400. The 7th Battalion contained many time-expired regulars and was in the 18th Division. They went into action later than most, at the battle of the Somme on 1st July 1916. They lost 205 in casualties even though they were in a supporting role on the right wing of the 4th Army. At Thiepval in Oct 1916 they fought a desperate grenade battle for the Schwaben Redoubt, and in November they lost men in driving sleet when they fell victim to machine-guns on the banks of the Ancre. But they achieved their objective. They were next fighting in the Arras offensive in April 1917, suffering more losses at Monchy.

In 1961, it was amalgamated with the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment to form the Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment, which was later merged, on 31 December 1966, with the Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment, the Royal Sussex Regiment and the Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) to form the Queen's Regiment. This regiment was, in turn, amalgamated with the Royal Hampshire Regiment, in September 1992, to create the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires). Sargent, Clem (1995). "The Buffs in Australia—1822 to 1827". Sabretache. Military Historical Society of Australia. 36 (1): 3–15. ISSN 0048-8933. Churchill, Winston L. Spencer (1898). The Story of the Malakand Field Force: an episode of frontier war, CHAPTER XII: AT INAYAT KILA. London, UK: Longmans, Green.The writer then goes on to add: “ ‘Steady, The Buffs,’ a not unfamiliar caution to many an English soldier.” James's second wife, Mary of Modena, gave birth to a son and heir on 10th June 1688, named James Edward and who later became the Old Pretender. (There was a rumour that Mary's child was still-born and replaced by the new-born son of Sir Theophilus Oglethorpe, Colonel of the Holland Regiment.) The prospect of a Catholic prince to continue James's plans of returning England to the old religion gave heart to the king but prompted William of Orange to take an army to England and gather support from the king's many enemies to dethrone him. The Holland Regiment was mostly posted around Kent at the time when William landed at Brixham on 5th Nov 1688. He entered Exeter without opposition and by December was in London. James after a bungled attempt to leave the country, finally embarked for France towards the end of December. As a precautionary measure, William posted the British regiments outside London and only allowed his Dutch troops and the English troops in his service to guard the capital. The Holland Regiment were stationed at Chesham and Amersham. A similar but unrelated expression, “stand buff,” means “to stand firm, not to flinch; to endure,” according to the OED.

Later, as you’ve discovered, they found their way into civilian usage, minus their military flavor. The war was stepped up after Breda and the Spanish increased their activity in Flanders as well as Spain and Italy. The States of the United Provinces raised the size of their army to 5,853 cavalry and 61,670 infantry. The English troops numbered 19,970 in total: 400 cavalry, 14,140 English infantry, and 5,430 Scottish infantry. There were 7 English regiments of infantry and 5 Scottish. The largest regiment was Lord Vere's Regiment of Foot with 4,090. The other 6 English regiments were commanded by Viscount Wimbleton, Sir Charles Morgan, Sir Edward Harewood, Sir James Leveson, Earl of Essex and Lord Willoughby, numbering between 1,500 and 2,000 each. For the remainder of its existence as a separate entity, both dragon badge and buff facings remained as primary distinctions of the regiment. This was the case even on the simplified dark blue "No. 1 Dress" worn by most of the British Army as full dress after World War II, although the buff colour was here reduced to piping edging the shoulder straps. [91] Alliances [ edit ] The Army in South Africa – Troops returning Home". The Times. No.36893. London. 8 October 1902. p.8.The four English regiments in the service of the States at this time were commanded by Colonels Craven, Herbert, Goring and Cromwell. In May 1644 they assembled at Voorn for an expedition into Flanders. The Prince of Orange had chosen Sas-van-Ghent as the next town to besiege. The Spanish garrison under Don Andrea de Parado put up a resolute defence while another Spanish force attempted to relieve them. But the relief failed and the town surrendered after 6 weeks. The Prince occupied the town and garrisoned it with 19 companies of English troops. This was followed, in 1645 by a siege of Hulst which ended on 4th Nov. We’ll examine the less obscure one first. “Steady, the Buffs!” means “Keep calm!” or “Steady on, boys!” and can be traced to the late 19th century. Glozier, Mathew (2001). Scotland and the Thirty Years' War, 1618–1648; Steve Murdoch et al. Brill. p.126. ISBN 978-9004120860. Spagnoly, Tony and Smith, Ted (1999), Cameos of the Western Front: Salient Points Three: Ypres & Picardy 1914–18, Pen and Sword Books Ltd, ISBN 978-0850527902 (pp. 27–31)