The four English regiments in the service of the States at this time were commanded by Colonels Craven, Herbert, Goring and Cromwell. In May 1644 they assembled at Voorn for an expedition into Flanders. The Prince of Orange had chosen Sas-van-Ghent as the next town to besiege. The Spanish garrison under Don Andrea de Parado put up a resolute defence while another Spanish force attempted to relieve them. But the relief failed and the town surrendered after 6 weeks. The Prince occupied the town and garrisoned it with 19 companies of English troops. This was followed, in 1645 by a siege of Hulst which ended on 4th Nov. The regiment was sent to the West Indies in December 1795 for service in the French Revolutionary Wars. [18] It took part in the capture of Grenada in March 1796 [19] and of Saint Vincent in June 1796 [20] and the capture of Trinidad in February 1797 [21] and of various other islands in March 1801 [22] before returning home in autumn 1802. [23] Napoleonic Wars [ edit ]

The narrative up to this point has been a distillation of the 'Historical Records of the Buffs East Kent Regiment , Formerly Designated The Holland Regiment and Prince George of Denmark's Regiment. Vol I 1572-1704 by Captain H R Knight psc, Late the Buffs. (Gale & Polden Ltd 1905). From this point on the history will be taken from Gregory Blaxland's The Buffs (Leo Cooper 1972) After a few months on occupational duty in Scotland the Buffs moved gradually south until they were in the Isle of Wight in July 1719. There was an expedition to Vigo with 10 battalions that was tasked with destroying the preparations for a Jacobite invasion. They encountered little opposition and returned with a large haul of weapons and plunder. The 6th (Service) Battalion, 7th (Service) Battalion, 8th (Service) Battalion and 9th (Reserve) Battalion were all formed for active service in France. [48] Corporal William Richard Cotter was awarded the VC whilst serving with the 6th (Service) Battalion. [50]

However, in April 1918 the Division went to France and were put in the Lys valley, and on the 2nd Sep they helped enlarge the gains made by the 7th Battalion beyond Morval. Later in the month they fought on the right of the 6th and 7th Battalions with the Australians on their right. They progressed better than all of them on 18th Sep but suffered after that and were returned to the 5th Army. However they marched into a suburb of Tournai with the band at their head. This was spoiled by a burst of machine-gun fire, causing a rush to battle formations and a night of fighting. The Buffs, as a regiment, had lost 5,688 men killed in World War One. The East Kent Militia, as with other militias, was transformed into the 3rd and 4th Battalions The Buffs, at the same time as the regimental reorganisation. The 4th Battalion, however, was short-lived. The East Kent Militia dated from 1760 and had served overseas in the Mediterranean during the Crimean War. For this they were permitted to carry the battle honour MEDITERRANEAN on their Colour. At first their Regimental Colour was of Kentish Grey, to match their facings. They were not permitted to emblazon the honours gained by the regular battalions. Besides the 2 extra battalions added from the militia there were 2 Volunteer Battalions which were Kent Rifle Volunteers. In 1883 they became 1st VB, Canterbury, and 2nd VB Cranbrook (the Weald of Kent). All these extra battalions served in the Boer War and received battle honours for SOUTH AFRICA 1900-02. Hart, Lieut.-Col. H.T. (1858) The New Army List and Militia List, No. LXXIX, 1st July 1858. London: John Murray. p. 76 Sargent, Clem (1995). "The Buffs in Australia—1822 to 1827". Sabretache. Military Historical Society of Australia. 36 (1): 3–15. ISSN 0048-8933. In turn-of-the-century slang, to “stiffen” was to kill or murder—that is, to make a corpse of—according to the OED and Green’s Dictionary of Slang.

Norman E.H. Litchfield, The Territorial Artillery 1908–1988 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges), Nottingham: Sherwood Press, 1992, ISBN 0-9508205-2-0, p. 110. The Duke of Cumberland arrived in Scotland at the end of January to command the English troops at the Battle of Culloden Moor, just east of Inverness. He had 14 battalions of infantry and three regiments of dragoons. The Buffs were on the right of the second line of infantry which meant that they were less involved in the hand-to-hand fighting. The initial exchange of artillery fire killed one and injured 2 of the Buffs, one of whom died later. The highlanders' subsequent charge 'like hungry wolves' was directed towards the left of the British line so that the 4th and 37th Foot sustained the most casualties. The battle is best (or worst) remembered for the aftermath when it is generally accepted that the English soldiers took no prisoners, and simply slaughtered any rebels they caught. But there is evidence to prove that prisoners were taken. However there was certainly bad feeling between the redcoats and Jacobites, especially as the highlanders' preferred weapon was the broadsword rather than the musket, so that the wounds received by soldiers were more gory than usual.

We’ll examine the less obscure one first. “Steady, the Buffs!” means “Keep calm!” or “Steady on, boys!” and can be traced to the late 19th century. Canterbury City Council Online". Unique national museum link for Canterbury. CCC. 4 September 2000. Archived from the original on 23 August 2011 . Retrieved 20 February 2010. In 1622 the town of Bergen-op-Zoom was under siege from Spinola's army. The garrison was made up of 49 companies of infantry and some cavalry. 14 companies of English and Scots were under the command of Colonel Henderson and they were allotted the south walls of the town to defend. On 22nd July a sortie was made against a hill outside the town which was defended by Spanish troops. Spinola himself arrived on 28th July and the siege commenced 'with vigour'. This siege was distinguished from others in this war by the appearance, on 2nd August, of English soldiers in the ranks of the Spanish besiegers. This strange occurrence came about because James I of England had negotiated a marriage between Charles, Prince of Wales and the Infanta of Spain. Part of the deal was that 2,000 English troops be placed at the service of Spain. However, many of these men deserted the Spanish and entered Bergen-op-Zoom claiming that they had been deceived and told that they would be fighting for the Netherlands. Sir Francis Doyle: Moyse, the Private of the Buffs". The Heretical Press . Retrieved 30 December 2015. Dear Word Detective: I can´t find the meaning of the phrase “steady the Buffs.” It occurs in the play “An Inspector Call” by J.B. Priestley, but I’ve looked it up in many reference books and it was a waste of time. If you can find the meaning for me, I would appreciate it very much. — Mabel Susana Galinanes, Argentina.

For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more. The regiment had a tour of service from 1821 until 1827 in the British colony of New South Wales. For the duration of their service, The Buffs was divided into four detachments. The first was based in Sydney from 1821. The second arrived in Hobart in 1822. The third, entitled "The Buffs' Headquarters", arrived in Sydney in 1823. The fourth, arrived in Sydney in 1824, but variously saw service throughout the colonies, being stationed at Port Dalrymple, Parramatta, Liverpool, Newcastle, Port Macquarie and Bathurst. The regiment reunited and was transferred to Calcutta in 1827. During their service in New South Wales, The Buffs was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel W. Stewart and Lieutenant Colonel C. Cameron. [35] The regiment also saw action at the siege of Sevastopol in winter 1854 during the Crimean War. [4] We also found this example, from an October 1899 issue of the Sketch: “ ‘Good the Guards!’ is becoming a military catchword, just as ‘Steady the Buffs’ and half-a-dozen other short sentences of the kind are.” The King finally decided to form the officers and men into a regiment and issued a commission to Colonel Robert Sidney to be 'Colonell of Our Holland Regiment of Foot, raised or to be raised, for Our service.' Robert Sidney, who had commanded one of the English regiments in the Dutch service, was the 3rd son of Robert 2nd Earl of Leicester. He was born in 1626 and died suddenly in 1668, buried in Penshurst. He was a handsome man and many thought he was the real father of the Duke of Monmouth. The reasons for this assumption were that Robert's mistress at one time was one of the King's mistresses, Lucy Waters (Mrs Barlow), also that the resemblance was so strong that many remarked on it. Peace talks were in process during 1607 and 1608 but during that time Sir Francis Vere died on 28th Aug 1608 and was succeeded in his command by his brother Sir Horace who later became Lord Vere of Tilbury. The articles for a 12 year truce were ratified on 25th July 1609.The official date of the raising of the Holland Regiment for His Majesty's service was the 31st May 1665 the day of the Colonel's commission but the other officers received their commissions 3 weeks later on 23rd June. These 21 officers included Major Alexander Bruce who was the only officer of the Scots regiments to refuse the oath of allegiance to the Netherlands. The establishment was fixed at 6 companies of 106 NCOs and men each. The field officers acted as captains to the first 3 companies so that, as an example of the organisation the 1st Company had Colonel Sidney as captain, a lieutenant, an ensign, 2 sergeants, 3 corporals, one drummer and 100 private soldiers. The Oxford English Dictionary says the expression is a reference to the army regiment and means “hold on! keep calm! be careful!” No origin is given.