Tag: British Soldiers

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Two Soldiers, a Cask of Wine, and Thou(sand Lashes)

When Bryan McSweeny stepped ashore on Staten Island in August 1776, it must have looked like a paradise. He had spent the previous three years in Jamaica, in a tropical climate that was often fatal to Europeans; now, he saw a verdant landscape and felt temperatures similar to his native town of Macroom in County […]

by Don N. Hagist
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Worthy of Commemmoration

We recently ran an article about monuments commemorating the American Revolution. We asked our contributors: If you could commission a monument, what would you commemorate and where would it be located? They provided a wide range of worthy candidates. Nancy K. Loane On December 19, 1777, over 400 women—and an unknown number of children—struggled into […]

by Editors
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Untangling British Army Ranks

After a few years of editing articles for this journal, it’s become apparent that the ranks of British officers sometimes confuse people. By “sometimes” I mean “often.” And not without reason. Although titles like colonel and captain are familiar to us all, the roles associated with these ranks, and the fact that an individual could […]

by Don N. Hagist
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British Veterans of Two Wars

The British army that fought in the opening engagements of the American Revolution in 1775 was not a wartime army, it was a peacetime army that suddenly found itself involved in a war. It was composed entirely of volunteer, professional soldiers, but not many among them had prior combat experience. This is true at the […]

by Don N. Hagist
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Martin Hurley’s Last Charge

By the time he arrived in Boston with the 44th Regiment of Foot, Martin Hurley was an experienced soldier. He’d joined the army in 1767, and learned the military trade well enough to be put into the regiment’s grenadier company, men distinguished by their martial competence as well as their tall stature.[1] The 44th was […]

by Don N. Hagist
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It Wasn’t Billy the Ram

I often caution researchers that data tells us what, not why. This is particularly true of material like muster rolls that give us information about individual soldiers moving through their careers – when they enlisted, transfers between companies and regiments, and eventual departure from the army. We see, for example, that a man deserted on […]

by Don N. Hagist
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Three Brave British Army Wives

Some time ago we saw the story of Mrs. Middleton, the wife of a British soldier, who took several Americans prisoner at the battle of Trois Rivieres in 1776.[1] Mrs. Middleton was one of several thousand wives who accompanied their British soldier husbands to America, or married them in America, and experienced the hardships and […]

by Don N. Hagist
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Top 10 Reasons to Join the British Army

The army that attempted to subdue rebellion in America in the 1770s and 1780s consisted primarily of soldiers from the British regular army. Although supplemented by German regiments, regiments raised in America composed of colonists, and other auxiliaries, most garrisons and campaign forces were composed largely of career soldiers who had enlisted in Great Britain […]

by Don N. Hagist
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Would they change their names?

Read the newspapers published during the American Revolution, and you’ll find descriptions of deserters. It doesn’t matter which newspaper, or whether it was published in an American-held or British-held location; men deserted from the American, British, French and German regiments serving in America, and their officers sometimes advertised rewards for their return. Looking deeper into […]

by Don N. Hagist
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How Old Were Redcoats? Age and Experience of British Soldiers in America

It seems that almost every author who mentions British soldiers in their discussion of the American Revolution includes adjectives like “young” and “inexperienced” without any basis for those descriptors. They apparently take for granted that soldiers were young, and soldiers sent to fight in America were inexperienced. Neither of these generalities is true. Sure, there […]

by Don N. Hagist
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Westholme Publishing: Four Selections

I write the following book reviews to promote a small, but well-respected, outfit specializing in publishing Revolutionary War books (as well as other nonfiction works):  Westholme Publishing of Yardley, Pennsylvania.  Full disclosure:  Westholme has published two Revolutionary War books of mine (see author’s biography below).  Westholme provides a terrific service to those interested in studying […]

by Christian McBurney
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He’d rather be painting…

The 38th Regiment of Foot, consisting of about 450 officers and men (not to mention about 60 soldiers’ wives and an unknown number of children) arrived in Boston in the summer of 1774. Along with the 5th Regiment of Foot, they were sent to bolster British military presence in a city where political strife was […]

by Don N. Hagist
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How General Leslie Really Died

British Lt. Gen. Alexander Leslie, 50, was burned out, ill, missed his daughter, and wanted to go home. He had arrived in South Carolina in late 1781 to command the Southern colonies. Leslie needed to ensure the security of the few enclaves the British still controlled. He had to feed not just his own army, […]

by Don Glickstein
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American Towns named for British Soldiers

If you want to visit a town named for a Revolutionary War veteran, it’s pretty easy to do. There’s the nation’s capital, of course, among other places named for George Washington. Many states feature a Lafayette, commemorating the young Frenchman who became an American general. Or Greensboro, North Carolina, a tribute General Nathanael Greene (in […]

by Don N. Hagist
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The Aim of British Soldiers

Myth: British soldiers were taught not to aim, but merely to point the piece towards the target[1] …the British soldier was a poor marksman. Actually, he did not “aim” his musket but merely “pointed” it at the enemy. The British manual of arms did not even include the command “Aim!”[2] Its inaccuracy was reflected in […]

by Don N. Hagist
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The Fate of British Regulars

I read with interest Thomas Fleming’s article, “The Fate of Regulars.” Readers may be interested to know that British soldiers had much better prospects when the conflict ended than their American counterparts. With a professional standing army that had been in existence for nearly 100 years, Great Britain had long since grappled with and resolved […]

by Don N. Hagist
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British Soldiers, American War – Voices of the American Revolution

Americans, even Americans who enjoy studying the American Revolution, don’t know much about the British soldiers.  While British officers have left some written accounts of themselves and their experiences the private soldiers’ left very, very little. Don Hagist has filled the knowledge void for the private soldier as well as it can be filled.  Personal […]

by Hugh T. Harrington
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Top 10 Facts About British Soldiers

1 // They were volunteers The British Army was not allowed to force men into service by conscription or impressment. When the war began, men in the ranks had all enlisted voluntarily. For a period in 1778 and 1779 impressment was legalized in specific circumstances but this unpopular measure was soon discontinued and contributed few […]

by Don N. Hagist