Evening star., 1943-05-14
BY THOMAS r. HENRY,
Star Stan CORRESPONDENT.

The direct lineal descendants
m1l1tarlly speaking of this cele-
brated company of frontier Indian
fighters, the first commandos and
the first users of can.ouf1age in mod
ern warfare. today are rendering
their greatest service to the British
flag in their nearly 200 years OF
thrilling history since the capture OF
st. Francis in Queen Anne's War.
They are specializing in much the
same methods, allowing for the
mechanization Of present-day war,
as those introduced by the New
Hampshire er-do-well Maj. Rog-
ers, as described so vividly in Ken
meth Roberts Northwest Passage. "
They have retained the same ira
ditions from the spruce forests and
scalping parties of the st. Lawrence
through the Peninsula wars, wars
in India, the Boer War and the
First and Second World Wars. They
were being instilled into battalion
In training here today by Col. Ed
ward Fitzgerald Campbell, brother
Of Sir Ronald Campbell, British
Minister to Washington.
The Kings Royal Rifles.
Today, as for the past century,
they are known as the Kings Royal
Rifles. Far from the land where
it originally was recruited, the corps
has retained through its far wan
derings and successive generations
OF soldiers and officers the spirit
OF the New Hampshire frontiersmen
as well as, If not better than, any
American military unit which has
remained In its native land. There
remains the spirit of comradeship
between officers and men, the ira
dition of reckless adventure and of
independent action, the personal
initiative which distinguished the
followers of Maj. Rogers.
The story of the KRR, as the
corps is known, goes far into the
roots OF American history. It's be-
glnnings, as Maj. Campbell explains,
necessarily are somewhat vague be-
cause OF the inadequate records OF
the French and Indian War days
Its veriflable history starts with the
historic defeat of Gen. Braddock at
Fort Duquesne, on the present site OF
Pittsburgh. Here George Washing
ton won his first laurels.
Braddock, it will be recalled, was q
stubborn British soldier of the old
school. trained in the checkerboard
warfare of France and the Low
Countries, prejudiced in his view
point, contemptuous of new ideas
Disregarding the advice of the Vir-
g1nla colonists, he marched his
scarlet-coated soldiers in military
formation against the forest-f1ghting
French and Indians. The result was
that his troops were slain by unseen
foes.
1t was obvious that there must be
a change of tactics or all of North
America would be lost to England
1t was then that a force of 1000
men In four battalions was recruited
among the American colonists them
selves - mainly in Massachusetts
New York. Pennsylvania, Maryland
and North Carolina. They were
called the Royal Americans" Their
first official battle honors were won
at the seiges of Louisbourg and
quebec and the motto which they
retain to this day, "celer ct audax.''
or swift and bold" was bestowed
on them by Gen. Wolfe.
Out Indianed the Indian.
But their traditional history goes
back of Braddock The model on
which they were formed was that
OF the commando" group, Rogers
Rar ,ers, and many of their earliest
soldiers came from this almost leg
endary outfit. They dressed ate
fought as frontiersmen. throwing
aside all European traditions. They
tried to assimilate the tactics of the
red man and beat him at his own
tricks.
Just recovered from dust covered
regimental records. by the way, is
the name of. one of the most re-
markable of their first officers. JOS
eph Frederick Wallet Bes Barres,
who was posted to Maryland as a
subaltern, or second lieutenant, in
1755, and there enlisted 300 men
for the new regiment. He was a
poor man and at that time advance
ment in the British army was almost
entirely by purchase of commissions
So In spite of his conspicuous serv-
ices Des Barres was still a second
Lieutenant when he was 50 years
old.
He was a persevering chap, how
ever, and by the time he was 81
had managed to save enough to buv
himself a captaincy. Then he got
a big, unbought promotion to major
general and was made lieutenant
| governor OF Prince Edward Island
IN which post he died at the untimely
age OF 1O2, when he had just begun
to look forward to taking life a
little easier. He was rather typical
OF the type Of these early Royal
Americans.
The regiment continued to be es-
sentially American in its makeup
until the outbreak of the Revolu-
ton, still referred to in the outfit as
that unfortunate disruption in our
relations" In theory, at least. 1t
took no part in that war. That
would have meant that brothers
would be fighting against brothers.
The regiment was posted to the West
Indies and later transferred to
England where the name American
was dropped and the organization
became known simply as the Goth
Regiment. 1t still retained, how
ever, good deal of its American
personnel.
Influenced British Military.
Thus ended its official connection
with the New World. For nearly a
century, relations remained some
what strained between America and
Great Britain, and Americans had
enough to do at home conuuering
a continent. But the nucleus of
the regiment remained an idea, A
tradition, which eventually perme-
ated, in varying degrees, much of
the British military system and
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