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Osprey Men at Arms #49
The Coldstream Guards: Men-at-arms Series
The Coldstream Guards is the oldest serving regular regiment in the British Army. First called "Monck's Regiment of Foot," the regiment was formed by Oliver Cromwell in 1650, and was later renamed the "Coldstream Guards" after the Scottish village where Monck assembled his troops before marching into London. In the years following the English Civil War, the troops saw action in the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimea, Egypt, Sudan and South Africa, and World Wars I and II. This book outlines the history of the Coldstream Guards from its inception to the end of World War II, detailing the uniforms and equipment of this prestigious unit.
- GenresMilitary HistoryHistory
Paperback
First published June 15, 1971
25 people want to read
About the author
Charles Grant
10 booksLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 23, 2024
Synopsis The story of the famous Coldstream Guards, the very first regiment of the regular British army, as told by Charles Grant who is equally as famous as an author, historian and a beacon of understanding.
Title The Coldstream Guards
Authors Text by Charles Grant and Colour Plates by Michael Roffee
Editor Philip Warner
Categories Military History, History, Uniformology
Date 1971
Pages 40 pages of Royal Octavo which is consistent across the range of Osprey Publications.
Readability Beginner. Grant makes this book particularly easy to read with his famous fireside writing style.
Cover A mix of a black and white illustration and colour illustration featured elsewhere in the book.
I found this book to be particularly entertaining to read. Charles Grant is a well known and much renowned author with a very compelling writing style. Added to this the copy of this book that I purchased was an original 1971 print edition, yellowing at the edges, published before Osprey started to provide a number sequence for the Men-At-Arms series, and printed on a particularly thick 200gsm stock.
I had just finished reading The British Army 1660–1704 which featured the Coldstream Guards. So delving further into the specific history of this formative regiment formed a natural progression for me.
Originally named Monck's Regiment of Foot and formed in 1650, under the wishes of Oliver Cromwell to reward General George Monck for changing his allegiance from being a Royalist to a Parliamentarian, this regiment first saw combat in Scotland later that year. Over the next ten years Monck and his regiment distinguished themselves maintaining peace and British rule in Scotland. By 1659, with discontent rife in England with the Protestant Protectorate and Oliver Cromwell himself dying the year before, Monck made the decision to lead his regiment down from Scotland to London setting off on New Year's Day 1660. Arriving in London in February, Monck and his regiment oversaw the restoration back to a monarchy by May of that year.
What transpired next is one of those stirring little anecdotes. As Monck and his regiment had served so well keeping the peace and steering Britain away from anarchy, Charles II wanted to keep them close by his side. However as they were officially a parliamentarian regiment it was decided that they should be mustered on Tower Hill, ordered to lay down their arms and be disbanded, then immediately ordered to pick up their arms as Lord General's Regiment of Foot Guards. I can picture in my mind, the thousand or so veteran soldiers putting their weapons down on the ground, then picking them up again amide cheers and lots of jolly ho ho!
From there the history of The Coldstream Guards went from strength to strength, as admirably told by Grant. This includes the details of how and why they are seen as the second regiment of guards, and how the formation of the famous British Guards Brigades came to be, and a very brief overview of the campaigns and battles that they were involved in through to the time of publication at the beginning of the 1970s.
Who should read Title? Any military historian who has an interest in the British Army.
Who should not read Title? Anyone not interested in military history.
Recommendation Great read providing a compact and well illustrated guide and history to one of the most famous military regiments of all time.
Title The Coldstream Guards
Authors Text by Charles Grant and Colour Plates by Michael Roffee
Editor Philip Warner
Categories Military History, History, Uniformology
Date 1971
Pages 40 pages of Royal Octavo which is consistent across the range of Osprey Publications.
Readability Beginner. Grant makes this book particularly easy to read with his famous fireside writing style.
Cover A mix of a black and white illustration and colour illustration featured elsewhere in the book.
I found this book to be particularly entertaining to read. Charles Grant is a well known and much renowned author with a very compelling writing style. Added to this the copy of this book that I purchased was an original 1971 print edition, yellowing at the edges, published before Osprey started to provide a number sequence for the Men-At-Arms series, and printed on a particularly thick 200gsm stock.
I had just finished reading The British Army 1660–1704 which featured the Coldstream Guards. So delving further into the specific history of this formative regiment formed a natural progression for me.
Originally named Monck's Regiment of Foot and formed in 1650, under the wishes of Oliver Cromwell to reward General George Monck for changing his allegiance from being a Royalist to a Parliamentarian, this regiment first saw combat in Scotland later that year. Over the next ten years Monck and his regiment distinguished themselves maintaining peace and British rule in Scotland. By 1659, with discontent rife in England with the Protestant Protectorate and Oliver Cromwell himself dying the year before, Monck made the decision to lead his regiment down from Scotland to London setting off on New Year's Day 1660. Arriving in London in February, Monck and his regiment oversaw the restoration back to a monarchy by May of that year.
What transpired next is one of those stirring little anecdotes. As Monck and his regiment had served so well keeping the peace and steering Britain away from anarchy, Charles II wanted to keep them close by his side. However as they were officially a parliamentarian regiment it was decided that they should be mustered on Tower Hill, ordered to lay down their arms and be disbanded, then immediately ordered to pick up their arms as Lord General's Regiment of Foot Guards. I can picture in my mind, the thousand or so veteran soldiers putting their weapons down on the ground, then picking them up again amide cheers and lots of jolly ho ho!
From there the history of The Coldstream Guards went from strength to strength, as admirably told by Grant. This includes the details of how and why they are seen as the second regiment of guards, and how the formation of the famous British Guards Brigades came to be, and a very brief overview of the campaigns and battles that they were involved in through to the time of publication at the beginning of the 1970s.
Who should read Title? Any military historian who has an interest in the British Army.
Who should not read Title? Anyone not interested in military history.
Recommendation Great read providing a compact and well illustrated guide and history to one of the most famous military regiments of all time.
January 9, 2020
Enjoyed the history of the unit, but all the pictures were of the dress and half dress uniforms. Only one picture in the book showed them in combat gear - World War II in winter.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews