Thus did a cordial feeling of respect and of mutual good will spring up between the Guards and the colonists; and the former, adhering closely to their Regimental traditions, that have formed their character, and guided them in every position in which they have been placed, maintained their discipline unimpaired in the midst of surrounding temptations.[174] Some of our men acquired a taste for colonial life, and wished to settle in the country. For this purpose, it was necessary to obtain their discharge in Canada, and an application was accordingly made to that effect. The order for the return of the Brigade to Europe, was dated August 18, 1842, and, two days later, Sir H. Hardinge, the Secretary at War, agreed that a certain number of men might be allowed to receive their discharge with a modified pension. He specially desired that it should be known “that this extensive indulgence had been assented to, in consequence of the very exemplary manner in which the Guards have conducted themselves, during the time they have performed Colonial service in North America.”
The facility with which British soldiers could desert by crossing the border to the United States, and the efforts made by many from the States to induce our men to do so, formed no small a temptation to many young soldiers. It will be seen presently how few of the Coldstream were guilty of this serious military crime.
The movement towards home took place in the autumn of 1842, the bulk of the Grenadier Guards leaving a few days before the Coldstream. Six companies of the latter, having embarked at Quebec on the 5th of October, on board H.M.S. _Calcutta_, sailed therefrom on the 6th, and reached Spithead on October 31st, whence they proceeded by train in two detachments to Winchester. After an inspection by Major-General Sir H. Pakenham, on the 1st of November, the Officer Commanding, in communicating the Major-General’s “high approbation of the steadiness and appearance” of the men, expressed his own “sense of their soldier-like conduct during the late voyage and up to the present moment, which he will take the earliest opportunity of bringing to the notice of the Officer Commanding the Regiment.” The remaining two companies followed from Canada, together with two companies of the Grenadiers, in H.M.S. _Pique_, and left on the 19th of October, arriving at Spithead on the 12th of November. The Battalion, reunited at Winchester, remained there until the 22nd of November, when they were sent to London (St. George’s barracks).[175] On the 30th of November, the Lieutenant-Colonel issued the following Regimental Order:—