Coldstream Guards Born: England's Storied Regiment

George Monck assembled a regiment of foot soldiers on August 13, 1650, at the English border town of Coldstream, Berwickshire, creating a military unit that has outlasted every army that ever tried to destroy it. Originally raised to fight for Oliver Cromwell's Parliamentary forces during the English Civil Wars, Monck's Regiment of Foot would survive the fall of the republic, the restoration of the monarchy, and 375 years of continuous service to become the oldest regiment in continuous active service in the British Army. Monck was a pragmatic soldier who had fought on both sides of the Civil War. Initially a Royalist, he was captured and switched allegiance to Parliament, eventually proving himself one of Cromwell's most capable commanders during campaigns in Ireland and Scotland. His regiment was forged in the brutal fighting of the Third English Civil War, when Cromwell invaded Scotland to crush Royalist resistance. The regiment's defining moment came a decade later. After Cromwell's death in 1658 and the collapse of his son Richard's brief protectorate, England descended into political chaos. Monck, then commanding Parliamentary forces in Scotland, marched his regiment south to London in January 1660 and engineered the restoration of King Charles II to the throne. It was one of the most consequential acts of individual political judgment in English history, ending the republican experiment without a shot fired. Charles II disbanded Cromwell's New Model Army but retained Monck's regiment, renaming it the Coldstream Guards. The unit has served the Crown in virtually every major British conflict since: Marlborough's wars, the Napoleonic campaigns, the Crimean War, both World Wars, and operations in the Falklands, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Their motto, "Nulli Secundus" (Second to None), reflects a seniority dispute with the Grenadier Guards that has never been formally resolved.