Researching the British Army

during the American

Revolution

Mrs. Torrison’s AP World

History Class

Final Research Task

• Creating a collective biography of the

18th (Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot while

they served in America from July 1767

through July 1776

− 71 RI officers; 13 other officers

− 738 enlisted men (sergeants, corporals,

drummers, fifers and privates)

− About 20 women come into the narrative

Develop a Research Question

What were the redcoats really like during the American

Revolution?

Where?

When?

Who /

Which regiment(s)?

Constraints

• British Military Records were organized

almost exclusively by regiment prior to

1918, so selecting “men from Liverpool” for

instance would be nearly impossible.

• Many of the records for regiments that

served in Canada were lost

• Many of the Irish records were burned

during the final phases of the Easter Rising

Determine how to “clarify” the

research question Where – in Boston, New

York, Yorktown,

London, Ireland,

Ghana, India?

Liked to connect to

Illinois & Old Northwest

Limited me to five

potential regiments

8th, 18th, 22nd,34th and

42nd

Which of the five regiments?

• 8th (King’s) Regiment – served in America/Canada

from 1768 to 1786 (mostly on Great Lakes)

• 18th (Royal Irish) Regiment – served in Illinois from

1768 to 1776 (detachments also in Boston & NYC)

• 22nd Regiment – attempted to reach Illinois in 1764,

but forced back down Mississippi Rv.

• 34th Regiment – served in Illinois from 1765 to 1768

• 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment – served in Illinois in

1765

Selected – 18th (Royal Irish)

Regiment of Foot• Served for a long period in Illinois and America; also

present in Boston

• Many men remained in America in other regiments

after 1775/6

• No recent works published on the regiment; only one

since 1922; Generally ignored by historians

• Over 90% of the muster rolls for the regiment still

exist (WO 12/3501 – this is fairly rare)

• Many court martial records and other supporting

records still exist

• Good stories including ties to George Washington,

John Adams, Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson; a US

Congressman, a US Spy, and a US Navy officer

Search for leads in secondary

sources

• Houlding’s Fit for Service

• Oxford History of the British Army

• Shy’s Toward Lexington

• Sylvia Frey’s British Soldier in America

• Etc.

In Context

• Give the big picture of the knowledge

base and how your research fits into that

Houlding

Alan Guy

Baule

Hayter

Hagist

Basic Reference Sources ; Encyclopedias, books on the British Army in general, chapters in

scholarly reference texts

Core Texts to the period

“Historiographic Cannon”

(Houlding, Frey, Shy, Guy, Hayter, etc.)

Supplemental Secondary Sources – Regimental

histories, etc.

Secondary images, published articles,

etc.

Primary Sources

Newspapers

Official Records

Letters & diaries

Paintings

Find Primary Records

• US National Archives

• UK National Archives (Public Record Office)

• University of Michigan – Gage Papers +

• University of Virginia – Randolph Family Papers

• Illinois Historical Society - Springfield

• Newspaper Collections

• Google Books

• Friends / colleagues / librarians

Core are

papers

from UK

National

Archives

Contemporary Cartoons

Newspapers

• Irish

• English

• Scottish

• American

Sermons

from

Deputy

Chaplain

Some Images

An Example

William Blackwood• He was Irish; he was 17

• Joined the army in 1767 after

paying £400 to purchase his

commission

• Served in Illinois from 1768 to

1772

• Accused and tried for stealing a

slave while in Illinois

• Served at Lexington and Concord

• Returned to England in 2/1776

• Retired from the Army in 1790

• Died in 1794

• Inspection Returns WO 27/11,

etc.

• Commission Registers WO 25 &

printed Army Lists

• WO 12/3501 & 2; Letters from

Thomas Gage Papers

• Randolph County Records

• National Army Museum (UK)

Orderly Book, Returns

• WO 12/3501, Inspection Returns

• London Gazette

• Probate Records (his will)

Rev. Mr. Robert Newburgh

• Ordained in Ireland

• Was actually court martialed

for immoral conduct, conduct

unbecoming a gentleman, etc.

• Found guilty and suspended

for six months; sentence

reduced by Gage

• He sued another officer in

civil court for slander

• Eventually retired after

transferring to another

regiment

• Certificates of ordination in

JAG records (WO 72)

• Court martial records (WO 71)

• Gage Papers (UMich)

• Gage Papers / Randoph Papers

(UVa)

• Printed Army Lists (WO 65)

Elizabeth House Trist

• Nanny to Thomas Jefferson’s

daughter in Philadelphia in

1774/5

• Her husband was a British

officer, Nicholas Trist

• He left the army and moved to

a farm in Louisiana in 1775

• Mrs. Trist travelled there

keeping a travel diary

• Trist lived at Monticello after

his death and her grandson

married TJ’s granddaughter

James Cairns (also Himes, Hemes)

• Born in Ballanderry, Antrim,

Ireland

• Came to America in 1767

• Deserted by April 1774

• Captured in November 1776 while

in the rebel army

• Court martialled, found guilty of

having borne arms in the rebel

Army

• Pardoned by Gen. Howe

• Sent to the West Indies in 1778

• Most likely died in Antigua

• Pennsylvania Packet

• WO 12/3501

• WO 12/3501 & PA Packet

• WO 71/78 & Howe’s Orderly

Book

• Howe’s Orderly Book

• WO 12/2197

• WO 12/2197 (missing from

records)

What has this research led to:

• Several articles− Literacy and extra duty among British Soldiers, The NWTA Courtier, Jan/Feb. 2012.

− The Eighteenth Century British Sergeant Major, The Brigade Dispatch, Autumn 2011.

− The Punishment Book of the Royal Irish and 65th Regiments of Foot 1774-1775, Journal for the Society of Army Historical Research. Spring 2010.

− The Recruitment of John Lindsey, Military Collector and Historian, Spring 2009

− The First Prisoner of War (or possibly the first deserter) of the American Revolution, Archiving Early America, Summer/Fall, 2008.

− Basic Research Methodology for 18th Century Research, BAR Dispatch, Spring 2008.

− Drummers in the British Army during the American Revolution, Journal for the Society of Army Historical Research. Spring 2008.

− The Impact of Half Pay on a British Regiment of Foot in America, 1767-1775, The Journal of Early American Wars and Armed Conflicts, 1 (2), Summer 2006

− The Practice of Drafting in the British Army during the American Revolution, Brigade Dispatch, 36 (2), Summer 2006.

− A ‘Sink of Men and Treasure:’ Causalities of the Grenadier Company of the 18th (Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot, 1767 to 1775, Military Collector and Historian, Fall, 2005, 57(3).

• Some blog entries

• A couple of presentations

• Forthcoming book− Protecting the Empire’s Frontier: The Royal Irish Officers on North American Service, 1767 to

1776.