ESPRIT DE CORPS. "there's In spite of a thousand and one common sayings, such as nothing in a name," "le nom n'y fait rien," "a rose would smell as sweet by any other name," "l'habit ne fait pas l'homme," etc., etc.,— we boldly assert that a name is everything; that a rose, called by a harsh, discordant name, would not look so well, at least on paper; and that to the very sound of rosa, la rose, not forgetting the Greek to rodon *, a sweetness is added, which enhances the flower, makes it the emblem of love, and gives a colouring to it which reminds one of lovely woman's blush. We equally fearlessly assert, that although the coat does not make the man, yet it is a powerful auxiliary to confirming the gentleman; and in making the soldier, a man must not disgrace his cloth. We hear this of other professions,-the Church, for instance; and although the black or purple constitute not the vicar nor the bishop, how would either of them look in yellow or pea-green? And here, whilst we are on the subject of colours, it may not be amiss to state the value placed on them, their meaning, and effect, which differ according to the ideas and usages of the belligerent countries to which they are attached. The pure white of the Imperial armies (although not a militarylooking colour, nor handsome, except in line) denoted the immaculate reputation in and out of the field which the soldier had to maintain,— the duty neither to stain his colours nor his coat, his courage nor his name. The French infantry also adopted this colour, corresponding with the lily, with the same view; but it was not their original colour. Blue, which marked the Royal Guards of France, Spain, and Austria, was always held as a royal colour, and is considered by our navy of great value. "The blue jackets! the true blue which will never fade!" And in our artillery, inferior to none in the world; our flag too, may it ever float victoriously! The green of Russia, of the French dragoons, and of riflemen, represents at once the laurel and the field of glory, both of them perennial; and all these pomps and circumstances of war serve the best interests of the army. The green is also considered on the Continent as the emblem of hope and promise. Mottoes and names attached to regiments have also a powerful effect in esta blishing and in upholding an esprit du corps. Such mottoes as in France, in the olden times, characterized a regiment, were both incentives to valour and ties to attach the soldier to the corps in which he served, the regiment of Navarre, for instance, the device of which was "Sans tache;" Auvergne," Un contre quatre," (the regiment having once repulsed four regiments which were opposed to it ;) Picardy, "Toujours prêt," etc. etc. 66 I remember seeing the regiment of Navarre on its march; and when challenged at the gates of Lisle, "Qui vive?" the answer was Régiment en route." 66 Quel régiment?" Answer, "Navarre sans tache." The effect was electrifying, and the grenadiers marched in with an importance and martial pride beyond description. No interest would have induced them to change their regiment, which was to them their name, dear to them by warlike associations, as a family name is by the ties of blood, if it is handed down to us unsullied by our ancestors: how bound we are thus to transmit it to our posterity! Amongst the other mottoes of the French army, the Irish regiment de Berwick, emigrating for a king and cause long since gone by, had for their device" Hic et ubique fidelis." And when in the revolution the fragments of the brigade rallied and emigrated again, to follow the fortunes of the deposed Bourbons, they raised up their standard with "Sicut erat in principio, nunc et semper" on it, which animated every heart beating under the red coat. Here, too, colour was everything: it was to the warrior, in the field of fight, what the white panache of Henri Quatre was, or the splendid affiche to the Vendeans of the brave La Roche Jaquelin: touching the first, the hero who wore it said to his troops, "Mes enfans," (a term common to French royal commanders, from himself down to Napoleon,) "look to my panache: wherever you see it, it will be l'enseigne de la victoire, (the signal of victory.") In regard to the second, his placard was, Si j'avance, suivez moi; si je recule, tuez moi; si l'on me tue, vengez moi!" 66 The very facings of a regiment act as a stimulus-the royal blue, the green, the white, and so forth. And I remember upon many occasions, when disputes arose in France and Flanders between the townspeople and the soldiery, the latter would just point to their paraments (facings) and remind them what such a regiment had won in the field of fight, and how unlikely it was that any one of the corps would put up with an insult: this was, above all, frequent in Napoleon's time. Some military men have an idea that it would be advisable that the whole British army should uniformly be dressed in the same colours, scarlet and blue, which would constitute it the royal army; but experience, and many circumstances, tend to show that the soldier ought not only to be constantly reminded of his fidelity to his king, but that peculiar names (the King's Own, the King's, the Queen's, the Old Buffs, or any distinction of country or of county) are like rallyingpoints, signals for fight, or encouraging remembrances. How does the garb of old Gaul act as a talisman on the Highlander! How much does dress do there! The tartan is not only the reminiscent lesson for well deserving to the hardy mountaineer, but it is the cloth and colour to be kept undefiled, and never stained except by the enemy's or the brave soldier's own blood*. There is great utility in all this; all this creates esprit de corps: for esprit de nation, when merged in the military profession, becomes esprit de corps. The Greys, the Bays, the Blues, how well they all comport themselves dans le champ d'honneur, -how careful are they to preserve their name! Napoleon paid a deserved tribute to the former at Waterloo: they put him in mind of his Vieille Garde, who were to be patterns for imitation,-were ready to grow grey in the cause of king and country. And it may not be irrelevant here to observe, that in addressing his Jeune Garde, previous to This powerfully applies to the scarlet clothing of the British army, by far the most splendid and warlike in its appearance in and out of the field; and proud we may be that the best blood in England has worn and still wears it. The spirit which animates a true red-coated soldier is, that it should never be disgraced; many a great heart has worn it with worsted lace, as well as with the epaulette and embroidery. U.S. JOURN. No. 56, JULY, 1833. 2 B one of his memorable battles, he said to them (in reference to the Old Guard), "Allez, mes enfans! suivez vos pères, qu'ils vous servent d'exemples, toujours, et partout." Thus is emulation the very spirit and soul of the army. This it is that creates an esprit de corps, which is nothing else than an incessant, unwearied endeavour to equal, if not to exceed, any other regiment, and to maintain the reputation, honour, and well-deserving of the name, facings, and distinctive marks of one's own, to which the judicious badges and commemorative names of battles fought and won give high encouragement and merited renown. The lion, the sphinx, the eagle, and elephant, are noble crests for martial caps or helmets of our own and of foreign troops. The names of victories recorded on regimental colours are heart-stirring stimuli to the young soldier, and mementos to those who have the honour of their standard in their keeping. Napoleon's device for the regimental standard was an admirable lesson and admonition,-" Valeur et discipline"; and in consequence thereof, when his ranks were broken and the prospect of defeat made a retreat inevitable, "Sauvons le drapeau!" was the soldier's anxious cry. Equally judicious was the motto of the Legion of Honour,-" Honneur et Patrie." And to what nation, to what troops, are honour and country dearer than to our own? Nevertheless, the prospect of promotion and the idea of glory produced an esprit amongst the French, to which alone their successes and their rank as a warlike nation are to be attributed. As names and badges forcibly operate on the soldier and the man, so also do the varieties of arms and the distinction betwixt infantry and cavalry contribute to stir up an esprit de corps-the grenadier, the dragoon, the cuirassier, the lancer. The brave La Tour d'Auvergne considered the title of First Grenadier of France that which satisfied his highest ambition; and to his grenadiers he left his heart, which, borne in an urn, was always with them. The gallant Poniatowski ambitioned being the First Lancer of France, and terminated his career most gloriously. Of dragoons and hussars the reputation is also most high; nor can I omit the compliment paid to the title of dragoon, contained in a song composed by my friend the Colonel Comte Français Jancourt, and sung at a splendid regimental banquet of La Reine Dragon, which he commanded before the Revolution. The verse in question runs thus: "Toujours le titre de dragon Suffit pour un éloge; Nothing can be more expressive, nor paint more plainly the life and courage of the bold dragoon. And these regimental and martial feelings have existed time immemorial. The Celts had their clanbadges, the heather, the broom, the oak, or other branch. The national badges, when assumed by regiments, produce esprit de corps. And in the days of the immortal Wolfe, different corps were called the Glories, the Steadies, and the like: this I had from a dear friend now no more, who knew the general as a lieutenant-colonel when quartered at Winchester, long previous to the affair of Quebec, and who told me that no man ever had more esprit de corps nor country feeling than him. He was particular in his discrimination between a Kentish man and a man of Kent; this last distinction he personally and proudly claimed, always adding, that "the men of Kent were an unconquered and an unconquerable people, as William the Conqueror well knew." By the way, the 3d Foot, or Buffs, is the East Kent; and would it not be a proud badge to call them the "Men of Kent?" General Wolfe was likewise a great admirer of grenadiers, and fond of the song called "The British Grenadiers." The name of grenadier seemed to him to elevate and ennoble the private; nor was he singular in this, for I have heard a number of officers of high rank abroad, when stating their successive promotions, single out the first step from a battalion-man to a grenadier, as a very gratifying rise. How glorious were the Hungarian grenadiers who fought, bled, and conquered for their magnanimous, high-couraged Empress, Maria Theresa! And what might not be looked for from a brigade of British grenadiers, fighting for their beloved king and country? I shall conclude this article on Esprit de Corps by noticing that which the household brigade, the guards, and body guards of most countries have: how splendid, how chivalrous were the Imperial Guards and the Gardes Nobles! What a proud spirit animated them! How were those of the Bourbons literally cut to pieces in their monarch's cause! What was the steady fidelity of the Swiss Guards, who were sacrificed upon the altar of honour and fidelity! How often did the Walloon Guards of Spain turn the fate of battle, and serve as ramparts to royalty in rebellious times! And, coming to our own Guards, where could the inquiring eye find a finer corps, or one animated by a higher sense of honour. The Guardsman is at once the hero and the elegant; the pride of the ball-room and parade-of the banquet and the ensanguined field of fight. And if the private may relax in duty or propriety in quarters, place him in the front of battle, and his worth and weight will tell. The Grenadier Guards will ever be high in renown, and will justify the general motto of the British grenadier-" Nec aspera terent." The Coldstream will continue, as heretofore-" Nulli secundus." And "Nemo me impune lacessit" will characterize the 3d or Scotch Fusilier Guards. And last, though the first in our dear love, “the Life Guards,”—name to me grander and more sonorous than any gardes du corps. How does the esprit de corps fit well those lofty men of war! The person of their king is, by their title, committed to their guarding; they are the most splendid emblems of all the pomp and circumstance of war; the finest companions of a gorgeous and royal pageant or procession, that can possibly be picked out; and when confronted in the gory field with the most seasoned and successful troops, how did they proclaim St. George and merry England against the world in arms? May the upholding of the esprit de corps ever produce such soldiers! and to this, my first and ever-honoured corps, may these faulty, yet zealous pages, be acceptable. Dedicated by AN OLD LIFE GUARDSMAN, MEMOIR OF THE LATE MAJOR-GENERAL SIR JOHN MALCOLM, THIS highly-distinguished individual was born in 1769, and was but thirteen years of age when sent out to India to the care of his maternal uncle, the late eminent Dr. Gilbert Paisley. Sir John was one of seventeen children; and it is a remarkable occurrence, that three brothers, Sir James, Sir Pultney, and Sir John Malcolm were honoured on the same occasion with the dignity of Commander of the Order of the Bath.* In 1781 he was appointed to a Cadetsip on the Madras Establishment; Ensign, in the same year; Lieutenant, 1st November, 1788; CaptainLieutenant, 29th November, 1797; Captain, by brevet, 7th January, 1796; Captain, regimentally, 19th September, 1798; Major, 27th January, 1802; Lieutenant-Colonel, 18th December, 1804; Colonel, by brevet, 4th June, 1813; Colonel, regimentally, 8th April, 1810; Brigadier-General, in May, 1817, (but which rank had been previously conferred upon him in 1808 and 1809, as a temporary commission, to be held by him during his absence from the British Indian territories on his mission to Persia ;) and Major-General, 12th August, 1819. The subject of this memoir arrived in India in 1783, and in February, 1794, returned to England for the recovery of his health. In 1795 he re-embarked on board the same ship with General Sir Alured Clarke, who was proceeding to Madras as second in council, and commander-in-chief at Fort St. George, and intrusted, in his way thither, with the command of a secret expedition against the Cape of Good Hope. Upon the arrival of the fleet in False Bay, General Clarke conferred upon Lieutenant Malcolm a conditional appointment, as his aide-de-camp, and employed him in procuring 400 recruits for the Madras army, from among the German troops who had been taken prisoners of war at the Cape. For these services he obtained the recorded approbation of that General and of the Madras government, by whom he was appointed, 29th January, 1796, Secretary to the Commanderin-Chief, and on the 21st January, 1798, to succeed Major Allan as TownMajor of Fort St. George. In September, 1798, Captain Malcolm was appointed Assistant to Captain Kirkpatrick, the resident at Hyderabad; in November following, he was called from thence, by express summons, to Calcutta, where he arrived, charged by Meer Allum with some verbal communications to the Governor-General, Lord Mornington, of considerable importance. He immediately accompanied his Lordship on his way from Calcutta to Madras. In December, he quitted the Governor-General, and received instructions to proceed immediately to join the Nizam's contingent force; and the January following (1799) he was invested with the chief command of the infantry of that force, which continued to act under his direction during the campaign that terminated in the death of Tippoo Sultaun, and the surrender of his capital to the British army. The services of this officer, during that campaign, were various, as he was not only political agent with the Nizam's army, and commanded all the regular troops of that prince, but was, with Sir Arthur Wellesley, Colonel Close, and Major Agnew, one of a political commission: he had also charge of all the supplies from the Deccan. After the fall of Seringapatam, Captain Malcolm was appointed jointly with Captain (afterwards Sir Thomas) Munro Secretary to the Commissioners, to whom was entrusted the adjustment of the affairs and division of the territories of Mysore, and the investiture of the young Rajah with the government of that country. Shortly after the termination of the Mysore war, and the arrangements of the conquered territory were completed, it was deemed expedient that a * Sir John was subsequently raised to the dignity of Grand Cross of the Order. |