The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1915-02-02
NICKNAMES
Of Famous Regiments In
Europe
New York Times)

! Some of the most famous oil the
British regiments now battling In
France and Belgium are fare better
known throughout Great Britain, and
to the world at large, by their nick
names than by their official titles.
Their official titles in many instances,
indeed, would convey nothing to the
average person.
Many people in many countries, for
instance, have heard of the Black
Watch; comparatively few have heard
of the Forty-second Highlanders; yet
the names are of the same regiment.
| This famed body, the oldest OF all
Highland regiments, gets its nick
name from its tartan. When the regi-
ment was first formed it was used
chiefly to suppress seditiOn in Scot
land, to enforce the disarming act,
and TO dispense unauthorized assem-
blies. A special tartan, from which
all bright colors we're eliminated, was
designed for regimental use, and this
fact, together with the police nature
of the duties of early days, led to the
name Black Watch. On many fields,
in many parts of the world, have the
soldiers of the Black Watch upheld
the glory of this great regiment.
The Scots Grays, as famous in the
annals of cavalry as Is the Black
Watch in infantry records began their
career as the Royal North British Dra-
goons. In 1742 the regiment was land
ed in the Low Countries. On their dis
embarkation the Stakeholder, seeing
that they were without mounts, order
ed his own guards to turn over their
gray chargers to the Scotchmen. And
the Scots Grays, with gray mounts,
they have since been, although they
held the official name of the Royal
North British Dragons down TO the
time of the Crimean War
The Coldstream Guards, who also
have won laurels on scores of battle
fields, get their name from Cold
stream in Berwickshire. In 1860 Gen
eral Monk marched to London to aid
in securing free Parliament and the
restoration of the Stuarts, bringing
with him his own regiment of infantry
from Coldstream.
The regimental legend has it that
when the troops met Charles at Black
heath the Monk regiment kept some
of the disaffected soldiers of other un-
it's from mutiny, and the King, on
learning whence the regiment had
stream Guards The name stuck.
"The Thin Red Line of England" has
long lived in song and story. the
name being applied generally to Brit.
ish field forces. It is declared by ex-
perts, however that the name proper
ly belongs to the Argyll and Suther-
land Highlanders, in commemoration
of their remarkable repulse of the
flower of the Russian cavalry at Bal
aclava. Volley after volley of rifle fire
was poured by the slender line of scar
Russian horsemen, until finally the at
tack was abandoned despite the COM
paratively slight numerical strength
of the British.
The sighting Fifteenth" are the
Fifteenth Kings Hussars. They won
their title in 1894 in Flanders against
the French revolutionary troops They
were serving with the Austrians, and
in operations near Landrecles they
We're ordered to rescue the Emperor of
Austria. who had been cut of from the
main army.
Two squardons of the Fifteenth,
with few Austrian hussars, the
whole body not numbering more than
800 men, found themselves, through a
mistake, facing an entire French army
corps, They attacked part of the
corps so fiercey that the French
thought themselves opposed by great
force. The hussars rode through the
Outposts, charged the artillery, killed
1000 men and took three guns. The
Emperor was rescued. He later dec
GRATED the officers of the regiment
The 'DieHards" are the Fifty-sev-
enth Foot, the Duke OF Cambridge's
Own, Middlesex Regiment. At Albuera,
in 1871, the regiment found itself
pressed by a great force. Die hard.
my men. die hard!" was the cry Of
Colonel lnglis to his troops Backs to
a wall, the soldiers did die hard,
There were l40 survivors out of $40
who began the fight, the dead includ-
ing lnglis.
/ At lnkerman. where the regiment
was almost wiped out, Captain Stanley
raised the cry, "Die-Hards" remember
Albuera!" And the regiment again
made good its name
| The COlnauYht Rappars Wara orig