DEFENCE OF THE COLOURS. Ar the battle of Dettingen, on the 27th of June, 1743, Private Thomas Brown, a native of Kirkleathanı, in Yorkshire, preserved one of the standards of his regiment, the 3rd Light Dragoons, in the following surprising manner:-Upon the cornet's receiving a wound in the wrist, and dropping the standard, Brown endeavoured to dismount to pick it up, but, whilst so doing, lost two fingers of his bridle-hand by a sabre cut, his horse at the same time running away with him to the rear of the French lines. Whilst endeavouring to regain his regiment, he saw the standard, which had been captured by overwhelming numbers, being conveyed by a gendarme to the rear. He immediately attacked and killed this man, caught the standard as it fell, and fixing it between his leg and the saddle, cut his way back, receiving seven wounds in the head, face, and body; three balls passed through his hat. In about six weeks he recovered from his wounds, and was promoted to the post of a private gentleman in the Life Guards, as a reward for his gallant deed; these appointments were, at that period, generally obtained by purchase. Although the results of the battle of Dettingen were not equal to those attending the victory gained over the French by Edward the Third at Cressy, on the 26th of August, 1346, yet there are parallel circum stances in these battles. At Cressy King Edward III. and his son, Edward the Black Prince, were present; whilst at Dettingen King George II. was accompanied by his son, the Duke of Cumberland. It was the début of both of the young princes in the tented field, and the chivalrous bearing of the Black Prince, particularly his behaviour to his prisoners, is imitated by the Duke of Cumberland, who refused to have his wound attended to, until the surgeons had examined that of a French officer, the Count de Fenelon, who had been taken prisoner and conveyed to the Duke's tent. "Begin," said his Royal Highness, "with the wound of the French officer; he is more dangerously hurt than I am, and stands more in need of assistance." Cornet Richardson, of Ligonier's Horse, now the present 7th Dragoon Guards, who carried one of the standards at the battle of Dettingen, was surrounded, and, refusing to surrender, he received upwards of thirty sabre cuts and shots on his body and through his clothes; the standard and standard-lance were also much damaged, but he succeeded in preserving the. standard. The standards of the regiment were so damaged in this battle that they were unfit for use, and when new ones were received from England, each cornet was presented with that he had carried during the action, as a testimony of the good conduct displayed therein. In the action at Rousbeck, in the Netherlands, on the 18th of May, 1794, Private Michael Maneely, of the 8th Royal Irish Hussars, received several wounds while defending a standard, of which he had gained possession. His horse was killed under him, and, though faint from loss of blood, he managed to carry off the standard and buried it in the ground, but was shortly taken prisoner. Ensign Walsh, of the 3rd Foot, in the accounts of the time, was reported to have prevented the colour of the regiment from being taken at the battle of Albuera, on the 16th of May, 1811, by tearing, when the staff of the colour was broken by a cannon-ball, the colour off and concealing it in his bosom. This statement misled the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he moved a vote of thanks to the Army, on the 7th of June following, for its gallantry in this sanguinary battle, in the following words : "In the charge which the brigade of Colonel Colborne had sustained from the Polish cavalry, the three regiments of which it was composed undoubtedly lost their colours. The colours of one of them were afterwards recovered-the standard being retaken from the enemy, and the other preserved for his corps, in an exemplary manner, by the gallant officer who had the charge of it. The colours of the other two regiments were undoubtedly in possession of the enemy, and would, in all probability, be made the ground of a claim of triumph. But, whilst upon this topic, he trusted the house would excuse him for adverting to the very gallant and heroic conduct of the two officers who bore the colours of the Buffs, which had been preserved. One of them was surrounded by the enemy, and, when asked to give his colours, answered, not but with his life!-and his life was the instant forfeit of his refusal. (A call for his name.) The name of this heroic individual was Ensign Thomas. The standard thus taken was after |