with connections and money. But quite a few of those engaging in the hectic traffic of commissions or appointments that autumn in Boston had no cash. In their case the support of a general or noble in England could suffice.
One of those queuing up for a passage home was Lieutenant Richard Baily. He had been commissioned from the ranks during the Seven Years War and made the 23rd’s quartermaster. He left Boston following an intervention by the Secretary at War, Lord Barrington, who asked for him by name to marshal supplies for the American armies. Installed within months as the Embarkation Officer at Portsmouth, Baily would be organising dozens of ships and dispensing thousands of pounds, receiving rapid promotion to captain too, epitomising that practicality bred in the ranks so essential for operation of the British war machine.
Baily’s promotion would in turn create a vacancy and there were already so many of those that the regiment would struggle to fill them. Before the year was out, Major Blunt would be gone, seizing his chance to buy the lieutenant colonelcy of the 4th – a heady transaction he could not really afford – and Blakeney, wounded at Bunker Hill, would sail for home. Of those remaining, Lieutenant Colonel Bernard became a marginal figure on the edge of his regiment, for his wounded thigh from 19 April had not healed and he remained unavailable for duty; others among the captains would also be stricken with fevers.
With winter gripping, the city became an even unhealthier place. Soldiers were laid low with fluxes, smallpox and consumption.Occasionally, supply ships brought in fresh rations, but the diet was execrable and the soldiers increasingly reduced to pulling down houses for firewood.
In this unhealthy situation, Lieutenant Richard Williams, the well-educated Fusilier officer who enjoyed sketching the city, began to succumb to consumption. He would be allowed a passage home and permitted to sell out extra quick in order that he might be able to settle his affairs before he died, early in 1776.
Faced with this bitter hardship, those seeking to brighten the mood began putting on plays. These were staged in Boston’s most important civic building, Faneuil Hall, where the first performance took place on 2 December. Lord Rawdon, the army’s bright young thing, read the prologue, and other officers took leading parts in a play, Zara , by Major General Burgoyne. He delayed his departure from the city to enjoy that first night before taking a ship home to England.
Those who remained sometimes dined at the expense of the two generals who kept fine tables. Others borrowed from their friends or relied upon bills from home to keep the wolf from the door. Major Hutcheson was always ready when the need arose to sub his general’s nephew.
As for that young man, he passed through the Royal Welch Fusiliers in little more than three weeks, and serves as an embodiment of what was wrong in the commissioning system. Anthony Haldimand had been commissioned into his uncle’s regiment in 1774 as a teenager. The family were Swiss, the old general serving the King of England as a soldier of fortune. When the boy had arrived in Boston, under Hutcheson’s care, he spoke no English and knew nothing of military service, despite the date on his first commission. He had attended no military academy, and indeed Britain did not have one for officers of the infantry (although there was such an establishment at Woolwich for the Artillery and Engineers).
Major General Haldimand apparently believed in the tradition that a young man embarking on the profession of arms could learn all he needed to know on actual service. Anthony had started serving with the 23rd in July, following the generals on tours of the lines and learning the rudiments of a junior officer’s art.
Lieutenant Colonel Bernard and Major Blunt showed the young man every attention, placing him under the fatherly eye of Frederick Mackenzie, who had got his
One of those queuing up for a passage home was Lieutenant Richard Baily. He had been commissioned from the ranks during the Seven Years War and made the 23rd’s quartermaster. He left Boston following an intervention by the Secretary at War, Lord Barrington, who asked for him by name to marshal supplies for the American armies. Installed within months as the Embarkation Officer at Portsmouth, Baily would be organising dozens of ships and dispensing thousands of pounds, receiving rapid promotion to captain too, epitomising that practicality bred in the ranks so essential for operation of the British war machine.
Baily’s promotion would in turn create a vacancy and there were already so many of those that the regiment would struggle to fill them. Before the year was out, Major Blunt would be gone, seizing his chance to buy the lieutenant colonelcy of the 4th – a heady transaction he could not really afford – and Blakeney, wounded at Bunker Hill, would sail for home. Of those remaining, Lieutenant Colonel Bernard became a marginal figure on the edge of his regiment, for his wounded thigh from 19 April had not healed and he remained unavailable for duty; others among the captains would also be stricken with fevers.
With winter gripping, the city became an even unhealthier place. Soldiers were laid low with fluxes, smallpox and consumption.Occasionally, supply ships brought in fresh rations, but the diet was execrable and the soldiers increasingly reduced to pulling down houses for firewood.
In this unhealthy situation, Lieutenant Richard Williams, the well-educated Fusilier officer who enjoyed sketching the city, began to succumb to consumption. He would be allowed a passage home and permitted to sell out extra quick in order that he might be able to settle his affairs before he died, early in 1776.
Faced with this bitter hardship, those seeking to brighten the mood began putting on plays. These were staged in Boston’s most important civic building, Faneuil Hall, where the first performance took place on 2 December. Lord Rawdon, the army’s bright young thing, read the prologue, and other officers took leading parts in a play, Zara , by Major General Burgoyne. He delayed his departure from the city to enjoy that first night before taking a ship home to England.
Those who remained sometimes dined at the expense of the two generals who kept fine tables. Others borrowed from their friends or relied upon bills from home to keep the wolf from the door. Major Hutcheson was always ready when the need arose to sub his general’s nephew.
As for that young man, he passed through the Royal Welch Fusiliers in little more than three weeks, and serves as an embodiment of what was wrong in the commissioning system. Anthony Haldimand had been commissioned into his uncle’s regiment in 1774 as a teenager. The family were Swiss, the old general serving the King of England as a soldier of fortune. When the boy had arrived in Boston, under Hutcheson’s care, he spoke no English and knew nothing of military service, despite the date on his first commission. He had attended no military academy, and indeed Britain did not have one for officers of the infantry (although there was such an establishment at Woolwich for the Artillery and Engineers).
Major General Haldimand apparently believed in the tradition that a young man embarking on the profession of arms could learn all he needed to know on actual service. Anthony had started serving with the 23rd in July, following the generals on tours of the lines and learning the rudiments of a junior officer’s art.
Lieutenant Colonel Bernard and Major Blunt showed the young man every attention, placing him under the fatherly eye of Frederick Mackenzie, who had got his
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