Redcoat: The British Soldier in the Age of Horse and Musket. Richard Holmes

Redcoat: The British Soldier in the Age of Horse and Musket - Richard  Holmes


Скачать книгу
to peacetime economies: four regiments of light dragoons were disbanded in 1783 and in 1818–19 three more regiments of light dragoons and one of lancers followed suit.

      Infantry regiments were generally raised with a single battalion, although most obtained further battalions subsequently. The practice of raising second and subsequent battalions was unusual at the start of the period, but 1st Foot Guards and the 1st Foot or Royal Regiment (later the Royal Scots) had two battalions. Second battalions were either taken into the line as regiments in their own right, or disbanded altogether. In 1755–6, for instance, fifteen regiments were authorised to raise second battalions, but in 1758 these became the 61st to 75th Foot. Extra battalions were raised on a large scale during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. The 60th Foot (Royal Americans) was granted a 5th Battalion on 30 December 1797 ‘to enable His Majesty to Grant Commissions to a certain number of foreign Protestants who have served abroad as Officers or Engineers,’ and in 1809 it boasted seven battalions. The post-Waterloo reductions took their toll of junior battalions, leaving the regimental structure largely intact, but vexing officers in second battalions of senior regiments, many of whom found themselves shunted off on half-pay while their comrades in the first battalions of junior regiments soldiered on.

      In contrast to continental practice, where the different battalions of a single regiment usually served together, it was uncommon for the battalions of a British regiment to find themselves side by side, and they were generally treated as if they were separate units. There were of course exceptions. The practice of keeping Guards units together on active service meant that at Waterloo, for instance, 2/1st and 3/1st Guards fought side by side in Maitland’s Brigade. Both battalions of the 42nd served together in North America during the Seven Years War. Two battalions of 7th Royal Fusiliers and two of the 48th fought at Albuera in 1811. At the end of that dreadful day Houghton’s brigade was commanded by Captain Cimtière of the 48th, a French émigré commissioned from the ranks in 1794, and 1/48th was commanded by a lieutenant.

      A regiment was headed by its colonel, and until 1751, when the official numbering of regiments was introduced, bore his name as its title and might carry a badge from his armorial bearings on his colours, harking back to the days of the English Civil War when, for example, Sir Bevil Grenvile’s fine regiment of Cornish foot wore the blue and silver of the family livery and carried his griffin badge on its colours. The colonel of the regiment, perversely, was usually not a colonel at all, but a general officer for whom the colonelcy represented not simply a personal honour but the opportunity to wield patronage and make money into the bargain. However, for most of the period, despite the occasional nod to political interest, officers appointed to colonelcies were men of experience and probity.52

      George III himself told General William Picton, brother of the better-known Sir Thomas, and entirely lacking in influence or powerful friends, that for his appointment as colonel of the 12th Foot ‘you are entirely obliged to Captain Picton, who commanded the grenadier company of the 12th Regiment in Germany [during the Seven Years’ War].’53 Picton held the post for 32 years, but still fell short of the record set by the 1st Marquess of Drogheda, colonel of the 18th Light Dragoons from 1759 until its disbandment, as part of the post-Waterloo reductions, in 1821. It was unusual for a colonel to resign voluntarily, but the 2nd Duke of Northumberland gave up the colonelcy of the Royal Horse Guards in 1812 when the Duke of York refused to give him a free hand in the appointment and promotion of its officers. Only one colonel was dismissed, the unlucky John Whitelocke of the 89th Regiment, because his sentence of cashiering, imposed when he was court-martialled after the Buenos Aires fiasco, debarred him from serving in any military capacity whatever.

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAkgAAALyCAMAAAAWkduOAAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJ bWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAyRpVFh0WE1MOmNvbS5hZG9iZS54bXAAAAAAADw/eHBhY2tldCBiZWdp bj0i77u/IiBpZD0iVzVNME1wQ2VoaUh6cmVTek5UY3prYzlkIj8+IDx4OnhtcG1ldGEgeG1sbnM6 eD0iYWRvYmU6bnM6bWV0YS8iIHg6eG1wdGs9IkFkb2JlIFhNUCBDb3JlIDUuMC1jMDYwIDYxLjEz NDc3NywgMjAxMC8wMi8xMi0xNzozMjowMCAgICAgICAgIj4gPHJkZjpSREYgeG1sbnM6cmRmPSJo dHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8xOTk5LzAyLzIyLXJkZi1zeW50YXgtbnMjIj4gPHJkZjpEZXNjcmlw dGlvbiByZGY6YWJvdXQ9IiIgeG1sbnM6eG1wTU09Imh0dHA6Ly9ucy5hZG9iZS5jb20veGFwLzEu MC9tbS8iIHhtbG5zOnN0UmVmPSJodHRwOi8vbnMuYWRvYmUuY29tL3hhcC8xLjAvc1R5cGUvUmVz b3VyY2VSZWYjIiB4bWxuczp4bXA9Imh0dHA6Ly9ucy5hZG9iZS5jb20veGFwLzEuMC8iIHhtcE1N OkRvY3VtZW50SUQ9InhtcC5kaWQ6NjZFM0QzRENERDNGMTFFMDhEQkZCMDc3NUY3RDhERjIiIHht cE1NOkluc3RhbmNlSUQ9InhtcC5paWQ6NjZFM0QzREJERDNGMTFFMDhEQkZCMDc3NUY3RDhERjIi IHhtcDpDcmVhdG9yVG9vbD0iQWRvYmUgUGhvdG9zaG9wIENTNSBNYWNpbnRvc2giPiA8eG1wTU06 RGVyaXZlZEZyb20gc3RSZWY6aW5zdGFuY2VJRD0idXVpZDphMTY4ZDhlYS0xMWFmLTY3NGEtYTQy Ny02NDEwYjZhYWM5ZDYiIHN0UmVmOmRvY3VtZW50SUQ9InV1aWQ6NDJkMjU0M2MtYTQ3NC1mNDRl LWExZDItMWNkMzg1MDYwZTg4Ii8+IDwvcmRmOkRlc2NyaXB0aW9uPiA8L3JkZjpSREY+IDwveDp4 bXBtZXRhPiA8P3hwYWNrZXQgZW5kPSJyIj8+nq0QQQAAAdFQTFRFAAAAhIGif39/v7+/g4OBQEBA 7+/vEBAQ39/fz8/PMDAwYGBgICAgn5+fr6+vUFBQcHBwj4+PhYGjGRNSwsDRR0J0ZmKLo6G6ODJp KSNd8O/zlJGu4ODoV1KAsrDFdXGX0dDc/v7+wcHAi4uJg4OC///+j4+NjY2Lh4eFv7++hISCnZ2b zc3Ng4SAq6uql5eVoqKh19fX39/elpaUmZmXyMjH+Pj46enpqqqourq5hISDvr682dnX09PR0dHQ /f3909PT5eXkwcG/g4OAgoKA5OTj5ubmiYmHnZ2cvb28rKyrp6em6+vr9fX1xcXEi4uKt7e29PT0 +/v7pqalqamn+/v6vLy79PTz9/f3t7e35+fn4eHhra2s9vb29fXz8fHwmpqYk5ORwcHBl5eXj4+O rKyqysrIr6+tiIiHycnH9/f2p6el8fHxjo6Mg4SBmJiXubm4xcXF4ODg8vLy/Pz8rq6s4eHgpaWl x8fGhYWE3t7dsLCwhYWDjIyK5eXlpqamg4ODvLy8yMjIw8PD7u7s+Pj3wsLAxsbFhISBzs7M8/Pz +vr529vb7e3thoaEkJCOi4uLubm5jY2MpaWjzMzKqqqnzs7Ovb27/v79CgNG////VFuyGwAAI5dJ REFUeNrsnYWb68x+mNWZFYNlZjjNhd7bJmmYCimnTZmZmZkxSZuUIYWs/tpqZsTW7nrtc+4ne9/3 eb7Pa1nkM69nfoOynq/kl2UANRYiASIBIgEiIRIgEiASIBIgEiIBIgEiASIBIiESIBIgEiASACIB IgEiASIhEiASIBIgEiASIgEiASIBIgEiIRIgEiASIBIAIgEiASIBIiESIBIgEiASIBIiASIBIgEi ASIhEiASIBIgEgAiASIBIgEiIRIgEiASIBIgEiIBIgEiASIBIiESIBIgEiAS/3aASIBIgEiASIgE iASIBIgEiIRIgEiASIBIgEiIBIgEiASIhEiASIBIgEiASIgEiASIBIgEiIRIgEiASIBIgEiIBIgE iASIhEiASIBIgEiASIgEiASIBIgEiIRIgEiASIBIAIgEiASIBIiESIBIgEiASIBIiASIBIgEiASI hEiASIBIgEgAiASIBIgEiIRIgEiASIBIgEiIBIgEiASIBIiESIBIgEiASACIBIgEiASIhEiASIBI gEiASIgEiASIBIgEiIRIgEiASIBI/NsBIgEiASIBIiESIBIgEiASIBIiASIBIgEiASIhEiASIBIg EiIBIgEiASIBIiESIBIgEiASIBIiASIBIgEiASIhEiASIBIgEiIBIgEiASIBIiESIBIgEiASIBIi ASIBIgEiASASIBIgEiASIgEiASIBIgEiIRIgEiASIBIgEiIBIgEiASIBIBIgEiASIBIiASIBIgEi ASIhEiASIBIgEiASIgEiASIBIgEgEiASIBIgEiIBIg

Скачать книгу