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When Queen Henrietta Maria landed at Bridlington Bay on February 15th, 1643, she brought with her large quantities of munitions for 10,000 troops, even cannon, all purchased from money received after having pawned the Crown Jewels on the Continent. Besides munitions there was both English and foreign volunteers with the Queen, to serve the Royalist cause.
The Queen's arrival led to an upsurge in the recruiting for the Royalist cause in the North of England. It was natural that some of these recruits should be formed into a unit of foot (and also of horse), named after the Queen herself. The Queen's Lifeguard of Foot therefore was formed in early 1643, and principally in the North of England, and while it did include many French volunteers, due quite naturally to the Queen's nationality, these were in fact only a minority when compared to English in the unit, but what makes this unit notable was that it had the largest amount of Frenchmen of any foot unit. The regiment's first Colonel was Henry Jermyn (later Lord St. Albans), who had returned from Holland with the Queen. He was the Queen's favorite, the subject of scurrilous tales, and captain of her personal bodyguard prior to the forming of the regiment. Harry Jermyn tends to be regarded as a typical Cavalier 'roitsterer', and indeed never exercised any higher command, but he was also the Colonel of the Queen's Lifeguard of Horse, where he appears to have been effective enough. It should be noted here that he seems to only have been a 'figurehead' colonel of the foot regiment, as he basically served with his horse regiment, and other officers were eventually made colonel of the regiment. The regiment came south to Oxford with the Queen's convoy of arms on April 15th, 1643, and was outfitted at Oxford from uniforms that were issued to the rest of the King's Oxford Army the day before. The Queen's Lifeguard of Foot was uniformed exactly as the King's Lifeguard of Foot, this being in red wool montero caps, coats and breeches, with shirts, stockings, shoes and leather snapsacks issued as well, plus the necessary arms for pikemen and musketeers. The regiment probably had 10 companies when it was raised, as is standard for foot regiments during the Civil War. The regiment then became part of the Oxford garrison, and subsequently the King's Oxford Army, which it served with on the campaigns of 1643-1644, with detachments also taking part in the relief of Basing House and other exploits as well. Although, the regiment did not take part in the battle of Cropredy Bridge (June 29th, 1644), where after the general rendezvous of the King's Army at Campsfield (which Richard Symonds called "Woodstock playne"), the regiment instead returned to Oxford. In 1645 the regiment went into garrison at Shelford House, but a detachment, about 200, was at the Battle of Naseby, June 1645, under then Colonel Rhys Thomas, as part of Bard's Tertio. Colonel Thomas is thought as having served on the Continent before the Civil War, and so his eventual selection to command the regiment is understandable. He supposedly was known for showing cruelty, as one example being trying to enlist some of the prisoners taken at the storming of Leicester two weeks before Naseby. At Naseby the Parliamentarians captured 4 of the regiment's colours during the battle, from which it is assumed that the regiment had 4 companies of about 50 soldiers each at the battle. The rest of the regiment (along with the Queen's Lifeguard of Horse and the rest of the garrison) seems to have been put to death when Shelford House was stormed by forces under Colonel-General Sydenham Poyntz on October 15th, 1645, after ferocious fighting, and the house destroyed. Although, the regiment seems to have been divided to form a cadre of two units, as Lt.-Colonel Richard Gerard was still serving in 1646, and Colonel Ryys Thomas supposedly built up his unit in Wales prior to Naseby, but while the regiment was known to be at Naseby, and lost 4 colours, its other officers do not seem to appear in the lists of prisoners taken that day. Uniform This was the same as the King's Lifeguard of Foot, being red wool montero cap, coat and breeches, with shirt, stockings, shoes and leather snapsack, with the appropriate arms for pikemen and musketeers. Colours The Colonel's colour was a Gold Fleur de Lys and Crown on a Red Field, as follows: Officers of the historical regiment The following were the known officers of this regiment, based on muster rolls and the List of Indigent Officers of the Civil Wars:
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