Her Majesty’s Coldstream Guards regiment that Fremantle serves in. They are the personal guards to the sovereign of the British realm.
s’il vous plait French expression meaning: if you please, if it pleases you.
Chapultepec fortress on a rocky hill near Mexico City: captured (Sept., 1847) in an American assault led by General Winfield Scott in the Mexican War.
Old Soldier’s Disease intestinal distress and diarrhea caused by eating too much fresh fruit along the march; in this case it’s fresh cherries. There’s a reference to having to shoot from a squatting position.
Lothario nickname given to Lewis Armistead and meant as a joke. A “lothario” is someone whose chief interest is in seducing women. Armistead is a quiet widower, a gentleman, and about as far from a lothario as one can get.
Black Watch 42nd or Royal Highland Regiment of the British Army, made up of Scottish infantry that wore its traditional dark-colored garb including kilts, which is where it got its name. It distinguished itself in the French and Indian War and the Napoleonic War, and apparently fought the United States during the War of 1812.
Lee’s Miserables/Les Miserables Lee’s Miserables is the joking name Armistead gives to their Confederate group. It is a pun on the name of the fiction classic, Les Miserables (The Miserable Ones), written by French writer Victor Hugo and published in 1862. The book chronicled the life of Jean Valjean, a victim of society who managed to perform heroic deeds in spite of the many unfair things done to him.
Scheiber a Prussian observer; the spelling of the name may be incorrect though, as most records indicate a Major Justus Scheibert as the Prussian observer.
old Richard and the rest a reference to Richard I of England, also called Richard the Lionhearted, and his soldiers in their unsuccessful Third Crusade.
