CHAPTER XXIX.--"ICH DIEN."
And now, while the stately troopship Urgent is passing under the guns
of old Gib, and ploughing the waters of the Mediterranean, I may
explain that which may have been a puzzle to the non-military
reader--the meaning of "the Red Dragon." In the breasts of all who
serve or have served in the army there exists an _esprit de corps_, a
filial attachment, to all that belongs to their regiment, to its past
history, its conduct in peace and war, its badges won in battle--those
honours which are the heraldry of the service, and connected with the
glory of the empire--in its officers and soldiers of all ranks. This
sentiment is more peculiar to some regiments, perhaps, than others,
especially those which, like the Scottish and Irish, have distinct
nationalities to represent and uphold; but to none is it more
applicable than the old Fusileers, whose motto is at the head of this
chapter. By _esprit de corps_ the good and brave are excited to fresh
feats of valour, and the evil-disposed are frequently deterred from
risking disgrace by a secret consciousness of the duty it inculcates,
and what is required of them by their comrades; for, like a Highland
clan, a regiment has its own peculiar annals and traditions. It is a
community, a family, a brotherhood, and should be the soldier's happy
though movable home, while a regiment great in history "bears so far a
resemblance to the immortal gods as to be old in power and glory, yet
to have always the freshness of youth."
So it is and has been with mine, which was first embodied at Ludlow,
in Shropshire, in 1689, from thirteen companies of soldiers, raised
specially in Wales, under Lord Herbert, of Cherbury, whose cousin,
Colonel Charles Herbert, M.P. for Montgomery, was killed, at the head
of the Fusileers, in his buff coat and cuirass, at the battle of
Aughrim, after having led them through a bog up to the waist belt,
under a terrible fire from the Irish. His successor, the valiant Toby
Purcell, who had been major of the regiment, greatly distinguished
himself at the battle of the Boyne, and the huge spurs, worn by him on
that memorable occasion, are _still_ preserved in the corps, being
always in possession of the senior major for the time being.
To attempt a memoir of the regiment would be to compile a history of
all the wars of Britain since the Revolution. Suffice it to say, that
on every field, in the wars of the Spanish Succession, those of
Flanders (where "our army swore so terribly"), at Minden, in America,
Egypt, and the ever-glorious Peninsula, the Welsh Fusileers have been
in the van of honour, and, like their Scottish comrades, might well
term themselves "second to none."
Among the last shots fired _after_ Waterloo were those discharged by
the Fusileers, when, on the 24th of June, six days subsequent to the
battle, they entered Cambrai by the old breach near the Port du Paris.
As it is common for corps from mountainous districts to have some pet
animal--as the Highlanders often have a stag--as a fond symbol to
remind them of home and country, the regiment has the privilege of
passing in review preceded by a goat with gilded horns, adorned with
ringlets of flowers, and a plate inscribed with its badge.
No record is preserved of the actual loss of the regiment at Bunker's
Hill, though the assertion of Cooper, the American novelist, that on
that bloody day "the Welsh Fusileers had not a man left to saddle
their goat," which went into action with them, would seem to be
corroborated by the fact that only _five_ grenadiers escaped; while
Mrs. Adams, in a letter to her husband, the future President of the
United States, says of that battle, "our enemies were cut down like
grass; _and but one officer of all the Welsh Fusileers remains to tell
his story_." When old Billy, the favourite goat of the 23rd, departed
this life in peace in the Caribbean Isles, whence he had accompanied
the regiment from Canada in 1844, her Majesty the Queen, on learning
that he was greatly lamented by the soldiers, sent to them, from
Windsor Park, a magnificent pair of the pure Cashmerian breed, which
had been presented to her by the Shah of Persia. On every 1st of
March, on the anniversary of their tutelary patron--St. David--the
officers give a splendid entertainment; and when the cloth is removed,
and the leek duly eaten, the first toast is a bumper to the health of
the Prince of Wales; the memory of old Toby Purcell is not forgotten,
and, as the order has it, the band plays "'The noble Race of Shenkin,'
while a drum-boy mounted on the goat, which is richly caparisoned for
the occasion, is led thrice round the table by the drum-major."
At Boston, in 1775, a goat somewhat resented this exhibition, by
breaking away from the mess-room, and rushing into the barracks with
all his trappings on. There are few battlefields honourable to Britain
where the Welsh Fusileers have not left their bones. The colours which
wave over their ranks show a goodly list of hard-won honours--"bloody
and hard-won honours," says a writer. "Arthur himself, Cadwallader,
Glendower, and many an ancient Cambrian chief, might in ghostly
form--if ghosts can grudge--envy their bold descendants the fame of
these modern exploits, and confess that the lance and the corselet,
the falchion and the mace, have done no greater deeds than those of
the firelock and the buff-belt, the bayonet and sixty rounds of
ball-cartridge." On their colours are the two badges of Edward the
Black Prince--the Rising Sun and the Red Dragon; "a dragon addorsed
gules, passant, on a mountain vert," as the heralds have it. This was
the ancient symbol of the Cambrian Principality, with the significant
motto, _Ich dien_, "I serve." And now, at the very time the Urgent was
entering the Mediterranean, the regiment was on its way, with others,
to win fresh laurels by the shores of the Black Sea; and with his
horns gaily gilded, and a handsome, regimental, silver plate clasped
on his forehead, Cameydd Llewellyn, whilom the caressed pet of the
gentle Winny Lloyd, was landing with them at Kalamita Bay, and the
hordes of Menschikoff were pouring forward from Sebastopol.[2]