Each year, six red roses are delivered to the British Consulate General, Chicago, Kansas City, St Louis, and Minneapolis on or around August 1st Anonymously.
The card accompanying the roses is always in an envelope marked IN MEMORIAM, and always reads:
MINDEN DAY
1 AUGUST 1759
THE SUFFOLK REGIMENT
LANCASHIRE FUSILIERS
ROYAL WELCH FUSILIERS
KINGS OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS
ROYAL HAMPSHIRE REGIMENT
YORKSHIRE LIGHT INFANTRY
And on the inside:
THEY ADVANCED THROUGH ROSE GARDENS TO THE BATTLEGROUND
AND DECORATED THEIR TRICORNE HATS AND GRENADIER CAPS WITH
THE EMBLEM OF ENGLAND. THESE REGIMENTS CELEBRATE MINDEN
DAY STILL, AND ALL WEAR ROSES IN THEIR CAPS ON THIS
ANNIVERSARY IN MEMORY OF THEIR ANCESTORS.
The roses have been coming to this office almost every year since at least 1967.
We should like to thank our anonymous donor. Is there any chance that we might thank him in person for paying honour every year to the men who fell on August 1, 1759? Or are we correct in supposing that the roses may be ordered by a lawyer, in execution of a will? A visitor to this office on August 1, 1991 asked if the roses had been delivered then remarked "It may not go on much longer" and left without further conversation. We were all the more delighted when the Minden Roses arrived again in 1992 and every year since, except 2001 and 2002.
The Battle of Minden took place during the Seven Years War (of which the French and Indian War was a colonial sideshow or vice versa, depending on the viewpoint). The six British regiments at Minden were part of a 43,000-strong Anglo-Hanoverian army led by Ferdinand of Brunswick which defeated a French army of 60,000 led by the Marshal de Contades. Contades bitterly remarked, "I never thought to see a single line of infantry break through three lines of cavalry ranked in order of battle, and tumble them to ruin." The British troops lost 321 (killed or wounded), with Kingsley’s [20th Foot] suffering the heaviest casualties.
Minden is located on the River Weser, not far from Hanover, Germany. It is still a garrison town, and the British Army is billeted there in some strength. Each year the battle is commemorated with a joint British and German wreath-laying ceremony with a suitable reception usually hosted by the local British brigade commander afterwards.
For further information please contact Caroline Cracraft 312-970-3811
I have email the British Consulate General,in Chicago, to see if they have had their Roses this year.
Mystery Minden Roses Delivered to the British Consulate-General, Chicago
Update 1st August 2014
For the 47th year, a mysterious bouquet of roses has been delivered in honour of #MindenDay: pic.twitter.com/sQI23XsgKS
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