The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-02-24
season.


THE gravity of the situation on the Nile
may be judged by the dispatch of the 'House-
hold Brigade" or 'the Guards, as they are
usually called, to the aid of Lord Wolseley.
These are the picked troops of the British
empire, and are probably, considering their
discipline, hysical qualities and popularity,
inferior to no troops in the world. We speak
of their popularity because soldiers Of in
different merit are not likely to be highly re-
garded by the mass of the people, and the
British Guards have been pets both of the
people and the government for many a
long year. If any body Of fighting
men has ever been commonly thought in
vincible, the ''Guards" have been. Even
Napoleon's ''Old Guard" that was crushed
and 'all mixed up together" as Napoleon ex-
pressed it. at Waterloo, never held higher
place in general estimation of military eff
ficiency than these men. When they 60 off
on foreign service it means that the country
and government hold the situation serious, if
not alarming The ''men Of the line are sent
out when only ordinary exigencies require
military service. The Household Brigade,
says a recent authority, Gin time of peace,
constitute the garrison of London and the
guard of the sovereign at Windsor. They in
clude, in cavalry, the First and Second Life
Guards, and the Royal Horse Guards, (blue)
and in infantry the Grenadier Guards, the
Coldstream Guards and the Scots Fusileer
Guards-(all three just sent off amidst a
popular demonstration rarely equalled in en-
thusiasm and pathetic scenes). They com
prise 1902 cavalry in three regiments, and
5,940 infantry in seven. battalions. Before the
abolition of purchase (buying commissions
the officers of the regiments Of foot guards
held higher army rank than that they bore le-
tenants of other regiments, lieutenants with
captains, captains with observation-disclosures, and
on exchanging into the line they were thus
enabled to exchange into higher positions, a
circumstance which often placed officers of
comparatively short service over veterans
of the line, and caused, perhaps, more
heart burning than any other anomaly
among the military regulations" The pri-
Yates of the Guards" were required to be six
feet in stature, it was said. The exceptional
rank of the officers was abolished, with regard
to all new officers, with the abolition of the
system of purchase The whole of the seven
thousand OF more of the Household Brigade"
has not been sent to Egypt and probably will
not be, but that larger part Of the infantry
regiments have gone recently, and a portion
were already on the Nile, shows that the gov
eminent is in trouble. At the time of our
a;Aiovtt5 over captain WlIkess capture OF
Mason and Slidell, Lord Palmerston, who
never liked US and never cared to conceal his
enmity, had the Coldstream Guards under
orders to Canada, and a part were ready to en-
bark, when the Queen, by advice Of Prince
Albert it was said, put in a protest, not often
used by the English sovereign against any de-
termination Of the Ministry, but likely to be
effective when it comes. The Scots Guards
we believe, wear the Highland Dress plaids
and bare knees, and fine soldierly fellows they
are. The "Scotch Greys" who did such ter
rible work at Waterloo, before the French
cuirassiers struck them when "blown" and
tired out, were cavalry, and different body
from the "Fusileer Guards of the House
hold Brigade. 1t was of them Napoleon said,
'HThose terrible grey horse; how they fight