Scots Guards: Encyclopedia II - Scots Guards - Seven Years War

Scots Guards - Seven Years War

In 1756, war flared up once more between Great Britain and France, though this time the war would reach many parts of the world, in effect creating the first ever 'world war'. In June 1758, the 1st Battalion took part in an expedition against France, landing at Cancalle Bay on the Brittany coast. However, this first expedition was abortive and was cancelled, with the troops and ships eventually returning to Britain. A second expedition was launched in August, and British forces, including the 1st Battalion, 3rd Foot Guards, landed near the port of Cherbourg in Normandy. At the landing site, the Guards battalions dispersed a few thousand French troops who had been there to oppose the landing. The British force soon marched on Cherbourg which duly surrendered to the British. The British subsequently destroyed many French warships as well as the port facilities at Cherbourg which would not be fully repaired for many years. They then re-embarked aboard their ships and in early September landed a few miles from St. Malo in Brittany for an assault on that port. However, the assault was deemed to be inpractible and the Fleet that had landed them were forced to sail from their position to St. Cast due to bad weather, thus forcing the British troops to march there so that they could re-embark aboard the ships. On the 12th September, the British rearguard, consisting of over 1000 Guards as-well as the Grenadier companies of the infantry battalions, were attacked by numerically superior French troops. The British rearguard stoutly defended their position but they were only delaying the inevitable and eventually they fell back, rushing to embark about the ships.The British lost several hundred men killed, wounded and captured during the engagement, including the commander of the rearguard.

The 2nd Battalion also saw service abroad, being part of a Brigade of Guards force sent to Germany where they fought under the command of John Manners, Marquess of Granby. The battalion took part in the Battle of Villinghausen in 1761, in which an Allied force, under the command of Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, defeated a numerically superior French force. The following year, in June, the battalion took part in the Battle of Wilhelmsthal in which a heavily outnumbered Allied force defeated the French after some bitter fighting, of which the Guards battalions saw much of it. Later that year, the battalion took part in the Battle of the Brücke-Mühle, the battalion's last action during the Seven Years War, which would end in 1763.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Seven Years War", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki