The King’s German legion

In 1803, the short lived Peace of Amiens came to an end when the French, under Napoleon, declared war on Great Britain.  The Napoleonic War was to last until 1814 when Napoleon was finally defeated by Allied armies including the Austrians, Russians, Prussians and British and abdicated.   Following the French occupation of Hanover, many officers and soldiers fled to Britain to continue the fight against the King’s enemies.  As King George III was also the Elector of Hanover, they were incorporated into the British Army.   Initially formed as a Light Infantry Battalion it  rapidly expanded to that which became known as the King’s German Legion. Eventually, the Legion had 5 regiments of cavalry, 2 Battalions of Light and 8 of Line Infantry as well as 16 Companies of Artillery and  8 of Engineers as well as a nucleus of a staff .

The KGL served with distinction in most of the European campaigns of the Napoleonic War and were known for their steadiness in battle and their good discipline.

The tables below illustrate the expansion of the KGL, both in the number of units and their size.

Table 1:  Units of the King’s German Legion

	1803	1805	1808	1810	1811	1812	1813	1814	1815
Staff
Brigade Majors		4	8	9	8	8	7	7	6
Military Commissaries			1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Hospital staff
Dep Insp of Hospitals			1	1
Purveyor			1	1
Dep Purveyor			1	1
Surgeons			3	3
Apothecary			1	1
Depot Companies		1	1	1	1	1	1
Garrison Companies			1	1	1	1	1
Cavalry	1803	1805	1808	1810	1811	1812	1813	1814	1815
Cavalry Regt		1
Regt of Dragoons			2	2	2	2	2
Hussars								3	3
Light Dragoons		1	3	3	3	3	3	2	2
Infantry	1803	1805	1808	1810	1811	1812	1813	1814	1815
Light Infantry Battalions	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Line Infantry Battalions		4	8	8	8	8	8	8	8
Engineer Companies		2	3	3	4	6	7	8	8
Artillery Companies		7	12	12	12	12	12	14	16

 

Table 2: Officer Establishment of the Units of The King’s German Legion 1805-1815

 

	1805	1808	1810	1811	1812	1813	1814	1815
Cavalry
Cavalry Regiment
Col Commandant	1
Lt Col
Maj	1
Capt	7
Lt	9
Cornet	9
Regt of Dragoons	1805	1808	1810	1811	1812	1813	1814	1815
Col Commandant		1	1	1	1	1
Lt Col		1	1	1	1	1
Maj		2	2	2	2	2
Capt		8	8	8	8	11
Lt		9	9	9	9	10
Cornet		8	8	7	7-8	7
Light Dragoons	1805	1808	1810	1811	1812	1813	1814	1815
Col Commandant	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Lt Col	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Maj	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Capt	10	8	8	8	8-10	10	10	10
Lt	9	8-9	9	9	8-10	11	11	11
Cornet	1	6-8	8	8	8-10	10	10	10
Hussars	1805	1808	1810	1811	1812	1813	1814	1815
Col Commandant							1	1
Lt Col							1	1
Maj							2	2
Capt							10-12	10-12
Lt							11-13	11-13
Cornet							8-12	9-13
Infantry	1805	1808	1810	1811	1812	1813	1814	1815
Light Infantry Battalions
Col Commandant	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Lt Col		1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Maj	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Capt	6-7	8	8	8	8	10	10	10
Lt	6-8	17-18	17	16-17	16-17	21	21	21
Ensign	6-7	7-8	8	8-9	7-8	8	10	10
Line Infantry Battalions	1805	1808	1810	1811	1812	1813	1814	1815
Col Commandant	0-1	0-1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Lt Col	0-1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Maj	1-2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Capt	8	8	8	8	8	10	10	10
Lt	8	16	17	17	17	21	21	21
Ensign	8	8	8	8	6-9	4-6	4-6	10

The Deployment of Royal Artillery Companys in the American Revolution 1776-1783

In 1773, a mere ten years from the end of the Seven Years/ French and Indian War, the RA consisted of 4 battalions each consisting of 8 ordinary active service companys and 2 invalid companys.  The 8 coys were deployed as required, but the general plan was that there would be 2 battalions in the UK (excluding Ireland which had its own artillery), 1 Battalion in the Mediterranean with, usually, 5 coys at Gibraltar and 3 at St. Philip’s Castle, Minorca.  The last Battalion’s companys were distributed in North America (American colonies, Canada and the West Indies).   The invalid companys were used as garrison artillery in the UK.

It should be noted that it was common to take small detachments from the existing companys for special duties.   For example in 1778, 6 coys provided a total of 28 officers and other ranks for garrison of Dominica and the local companys in North America also provided detachments to serve on board HM Bombs CARCASS and THUNDER.  Another detachment made up from 6 of the coys in the 4^th Bn provided the Force that took and garrisoned Savannah.

By 1776, this had changed somewhat in that, of the total of 32 companies, 14 were in North America with one invalid company at St John’s Newfoundland.

In 1777, the strength of the companys was increased from 78 all ranks to 101 as can be seen in Table 1.

 

	Old Establishment	New Establishment
Captain	1	1
Lieutenants	3	3
Sergeants	3	4
Corprals	3	4
Bombadiers	6	8
Gunners	12	16
Matrosses	47	62
Fifers	1	1
Drummers	2	2
Total	78	101

Between 1776 and 1779, the need for more artillery in North America lead to decreasing the strength in the UK until it was decided that it was getting dangerously weak.  So, in August 1779, the strength of each of the 4 Battalions was increased to ten companys and the Invalid Companys were combined in an Invalid Battalion, again with 10 companys.  In 1780, an additional company was added to the 1^st Battalion for service in Jamaica and was partly paid for by Merchants from Jamaica .

The following table charts the deployment of the companys up to the end of 1783.  The figures are the number of companys in place at the end of each year.  At the end of 1783, of the 24 companys shown in the UK, 8 were actually at sea, 6 returning from North America, 1 on the way to Jamaica and 1 to Gibraltar from Greenwich.  Minorca had been returned to Spain.

	Total Coys	Invl. Coys	UK	Med	America
1776	32	8	10	8	14
1777	32	8	8	8	16
1778	32	8	7	8	17
1779	32	8	7	8	17
1779 (2)	40	10	15	8	17
1780	41	10	16	8	17
1781	41	10	14	8	19
1782	41	10	19	5	17
1783	41	10	24	5	12

 

In 1783, the Royal Artillery was reduced from 5,337 all ranks (costing £148,488 1s 8d) to 3,302 (costing £110,570 13s 4d) basically by natural wastage, as there were no reduction of the number of companys.  In 1784, the Jamaica Company was disbanded only to be reformed in 1787.

Only 6 Year later, in 1789,  Great Britain was at war again.

Was the Seven Years War the first real World War?

Seven Years War

It is universally understood that the “First” World War started in 1914 and ended in November 1918.  It has been called a World War because it saw action on land in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with some minor actions with the Japanese taking some Pacific Islands from the Germans.  Naval actions were fought in most seas.  But most of all because it involved countries from every continent.

There is, however, an argument for nominating the Seven Years War as the first real “World War”.  If one criteria is where actions were fought, then it was certainly more wide ranging that WW1.  Land engagements were fought in North America, Asia, the Philippines, Africa, Europe  and the Caribbean with naval actions being fought in support of the land campaigns.  In terms of belligerents, if you count the colonies of the major powers involved, you would get a similar geographical spread.

Both WW1 and the Seven Years War had Europe as the main theatre of operations though North America saw significant campaigns as there were in India and the Caribbean which were not included in the 1914-18 version.

As regards the outcomes of the conflicts, it could be argued that the Seven Years War had a much greater impact upon the balance of power than that of WW1.  Canada was taken from the French, Florida was taken from the Spanish and England gained a much stronger base in India, having virtually eliminated France’s influence in the area.  In 1918, Russia had dissolved into chaos but still existed, as had Germany.  The main casualty was the Austro-Hungarian Empire which had been tottering before 1914.  The USA, who could have really upset the balance of power, instead withdrew back into isolation.

From a British perspective, the Seven Year’s War was of tremendous importance.  It established Georgian Britain as major power, not only on land but also with the ascendency of the Royal Navy over its two main rivals, the French and Spanish.  It saw the expansion of the Army to the largest it had ever been and would be until 1794 and, as importantly, provided the frame work that would allow for massive mobilization.  This can be illustrated by comparing the number if Infantry Regiments raised for the Seven Years War and the subsequent American Revolutionary War in the table below:

Summary	7 Years War	American Revolution
Total Raised	78	46
Disbanded	53	42
Broken	0	1
Retained	24	3
Where Raised
America	3	7
Scotland	12	10
Ireland	4	5
Wales	1	1
England	58	18
Total at outbreak	53	73
Total at end of War	131	119
Regts retained After demobilisation	70	74

The Ordnance Regiment – Better known as the Royal Fusiliers

Prior to the creation of a “standing” army in the United Kingdom,  Regiments were raised for specific purposes by a commission from the King.  There did. However, exist an organisation which had the responsibility for the care, maintenance and issuing weapons and armour to those forces that the Crown saw fit to raise.  That was the Board of Ordnance.  The weapons and material that it had under its control was marked by a “Broad Arrow” which pointed up between a “B” and an “O”

Board of Ordnance Broad Arrow

According to Cleaveland’s  “Notes on the Early History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery”, the origin of the “Broad Arrow” was the Crest of the Board of Ordnance.  This was the “Thunderbolt of Jove” – a bundle of arrows in a clenched fist.  Obviously, this could be easily marked upon a “Great gun” bu not so easily on a pike head.  Hence the “Broad Arrow” which, when practical had the B and the O either side.  He also maintains that the expression of “Broad Arrow” is a corruption of the original “Board’s Arrow”.  In more recent times the B & O were replaced by the W & D of the War Department .

The Board of Ordnance was formally implemented in 1683,  to become responsible for “preserving the state of our artillery, munitions, arms and all other habiliaments and equipage belonging to our Magazine Royal” and the duties of the various officers were formulated.  By today’s terms, the Board was a combination of the Royal Artillery, Royal Logistical Corps and the Royal Engineers, with a bit of infantry and the Royal Navy’s guns and gunners thrown in.

In 1685, with the Duke of Monmouth’s Rebellion, Charles II recalled a number of infantry regiments from service in the Low Countries and also formed an Ordnance Regiment  or the care and protection of the guns.  It was to be called the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and was to consist of 12 companies  of fusiliers and one company of miners.  Because it was not, strictly speaking,  an infantry regiment, or regiment of foot,  it would not have company colours (ensigns) and therefore its commissioned officers would be 1 captain and two Lieutenants per company.  The Lieutenants were to be paid the same but were to be termed the “First” Lieutenant and the “Second” Lieutenant rather than Lieutenant and Ensign.

Regular regiments of foot, of that era, consisted of companies of Musketeers (armed with muskets and swords), Pikemen (long pikes and swords) and Grenadiers (Hand grenades, muskets, bayonets, swords and hatchets). However, the private men of the Ordnance Regiment were to be armed with a “fusil” (a “snap-hance musquet with a bright barrel of three feet eight inches long) as well as a bayonet and sword; hence “Fusiliers”.  The Fusiliers were not to man the guns, instead each gun had a crew of two gunners and a matrosse and were employed directly by the Board.

The Royal Fusiliers were raised in London, with two of the companies being old established independent companies from the Tower of London.  And while the regiment was formed quite quickly, the Monmouth was in custody and the rebellion was over even more quickly swiftly, so it did not see any service then.  In 1688, during the Glorious Revolution”, several companies saw service as marines with the Royal Navy and, with the accession of William and Mary to the throne, the Royal Fusiliers were considered a regiment of foot rather than an Ordnance regiment, even though it continued to operate without companies of pikemen but remained entirely armed with Fusils.

Price of Commissions in the British Army 1854 – 1871

The Purchase System of acquiring a commission is probably one of the most misunderstood aspects of the British Army.  It probably originated at the time of the Black Prince and the English Free Companies in 14th Century. These mercenary units were formed on the model of the existing trade guilds. Adventurers invested in raising and training bodies of fighting men. In return they received a share of the profits from hiring out the unit and from any plunder they gathered. They could “sell out” only if they could find a purchaser for their share.

In consequence, the Purchase System was not unique to the British but was in use by a number of European countries. Indeed, in France before the Revolution when the practice was discontinued, the price of a Colonelcy of an older Infantry regiment was around 75,000 livres.

The system as employed in the British Army was reformed and amended over the years and became quite complex. This was partly because various Monarchs didn’t approve of the system and tried to amend it with a view to ending it. Regulations were put in place regarding the length of service required at any given rank before an application for the purchase of promotion could be made. Towards the end of the system, in 1850, examinations were implemented for promotion for junior officers.

As a general rule, an officer advancing one step was only required to pay the difference between the rank he held and that which he was advancing to; a Captain in the infantry advancing to Major would only pay £1,400.

The above is quite a simplified account of the system and I would recommend Anthony Bruce’s “The Purchase System in the British Army 1660-1871” for those who are really interested in learning how it worked.
The following table shows the price of the commissions that I have been able to find, from 1854 to the systems end in 1871.

Price of Commissions
Rank	Full Price (£)	Difference in value between the several commissions in succession (£)	Difference in value between Full and Half pay (£ S d)
Life Guards
Lt Col	7250	1900
Maj	5350	1850
Capt	3500	1715
Lt	1785	525
Cornet	1260
Royal Regiment of Horse Guards
Lt Col	7250	1900
Maj	5350	1850
Capt	3500	1900
Lt	1600	400
Cornet	1200
Dragoon Guards and Dragoons (former price)
Lt Col	6175	1600	1533 0 0
Maj	4575	1350	1352 0 0
Capt	3225	2035	1034 3 4
Lt	1190	350	632 13 4
Cornet	840		300 0 0
Foot Guards
Lt Col	4800
Maj with the rank of Col	4800
Captain with the rank of Lt Col	4800	2750
Lt with the rank of Capt	2050	850
Ensign with the rank of Lt	1200
Cavalry and Infantry of the Line
Lt Col	4500	1300	1314 0 0
Maj	3200	1400	949 0 0
Capt	1800	1100	511 0 0
Lt	700	250	365 0 0
Cornet and Ensign	450		150 9 0

Note: The table above is in “old Money” i.e. Pounds, Shillings and pence. For those who are unfamiliar with this form of money, there were 20 shillings to the pound and 12 pence to the shilling thus One pound, ten shillings and sixpence is indicated as £1 10s 6d while 10 shillings and sixpence would be shown as 10/6

Distribution of Prize Money.

It is a well-known fact that officers and sailors of the Royal Navy were entitled to prize money when they captured an enemy vessel and that the value of the prize was determined by a “Prize Court”.  I was aware that, on occasion, soldiers were entitled but  have often wondered at what the value of prize money was to the Army.

Until modern times, to be a member of a military unit was, apart from anything else, to be rather like a shareholder in a company.  So, whenever the unit captured a place, stores, guns or other things of value it was awarded prize money.  The share of the money depended upon the over all value of the capture, the units involved and the individuals rank.

The following General Order was issued at Quebec on the 30^th December 1813 as follows:

“Distribution of Prize Money:-

Private, one share

Drummer, one share

Corporal, one and one-half share

Sergeant, two shares

Staff Sergeant, three shares

Subaltern, eight shares

Captain, sixteen shares

Major, thirty shares

Lt.-Colonel, forty shares

Colonel, sixty shares

General Officer, eighty shares

Commander of the forces, one hundred shares

 

The officer commanding a division of troops making a capture to receive the number of shares allotted to his rank.  Those only actually engaged or aiding and assisting in the capture (except the Commander-in-Chief) are considered to be entitled to share”

In a subsequent General Order

Prize money awarded per private :-

Ogdensburg		£2 0 10
“Growler” and “Eagle”		£5 7 10
Mackinac		£10 0 0
Niagra Frontier, June – July 1813		£2 0 0
Detroit		£3 0 0
Salmon River 14-15 Feb 1814		£0 13 0
Salmon River, Fort Malone and Four Corners, 19-24 Feb 1814		£0 5 6

In allotting Prize-money for Detroit to Indians, a Chief will share as a Subaltern; a warrior as a private.

To put the value of the prize money in some kind of  proportion the following were rates of pay at the time the following were the rates of pay per day of the Royal Sappers and Miners in Aug 1813

Rank		Rate
Sub Lieutenant		£0 5 0
Sergeant		£0 2 6
Corporal		£0 1 9
Private		£0 1 3

 

NOTE:

The currency shown is British “Old Money” i.e. Pounds, shillings and pence.  There were 12 pennies in a shilling, and twenty shillings in the pound.

So the prize money for Ogdensburg  – £2 0 10 – was two pounds, no shillings and 10 pence

The Third Regiment of Foot – The Buffs

Although the Buffs did not become a regular regiment in the English Army until 1665, it was actually formed in in 1572 by Sir William Morgan and fought at the siege of Mons in that year, helping to defend Flanders and the Brabant from the Spanish under the Duke of Alva.  It was one of a number of “Ensigns” or Companies which were formed by command of Elizabeth and reviewed by her at Greenwich before taking ship to Flushing.

By 1573, Morgan’s Ensign had combined with several others to form a Regiment of 12 companies and was sent to relieve Haarlem which was besieged by the Spanish at the time.  (The Garrison of Haarlem included a company of 300 women commanded by Mrs Margaret Kenault).

By 1578, there were 4 English Regiments serving in the Netherlands with the Army of the States General under the Prince of Orange.  From time to time, reinforcements were sent out from London over the years and by 1596 the Regiment, now commanded by Sir Francis Vere, numbered 2,200 men.  In that year, it was sent to lift the siege of Calais but the town surrendered before it could be relieved.  Subsequently it was sent to Plymouth to form part of an expedition to attack Cadiz.  Having taken the city, Vere’s regiment was returned to the Netherlands where it continued in active service until the Queen’s death in 1603,  Although James 1^st  made peace with the Spanish, he did not withdraw his troops from the Netherlands and they were still in action right up to 1609 when Spain recognised the independence of the United Provinces.

The Regiment remained in the Netherlands after the Dutch had paid off their debts to the English crown in 1616 which they had incurred  in order to pay for the Regiment and other troops that the English had provided.  When the debt was discharged, the regiment was reduced in numbers for a brief period and Sir Horace Vere took command.  A few years later, the truce between the United Provinces and Spain expired and with it the peace.  The regiment was brought back to strength and  by 1626 consisted of 32 Ensigns (companies), a total of 4090 men.

The regiment remained in the Netherlands during the English Civil War and the Commonwealth.  It  even stayed  through the Anglo Dutch War of 1652 though it saw no service during the war.  From 1655 it was commanded by John Cromwell , a relative of Oliver and a staunch Royalist who subsequently changed his name to Williams.  It remained there after the Restoration until the outbreak of the Second Dutch War in 1665, when it finally returned to England and it was taken into the English Army.

It’s seniority on the English Establishment dates from May 1665 as the “Holland Regiment” and ranked as the  4^th Regiment of Foot.  This was after the Admiral’s or The Duke of York’s Regiment of Foot which was ranked as the third.  Subsequently, in 1689, the Duke of York’s Regiment became the 2^nd Foot Guards and so it became the 3^rd Regiment of Foot.

Army rates of Pay: 1686 – 1756

Over the last hundred years we have become used to inflation and the need to have regular increases in pay.  This has not always been the case.  In researching salary increases in the British Army, it is quite clear that this wasn’t the case between 1686, when James II decided to keep a standing army following the defeat of the Duke of Monmouth’s Rebellion and 1762 (towards the end of the 7 Years War).

Whether there was general deflation , or just that there was the need to keep government spending down, pay in the Army basically remained static.  There were some appointments that attracted increases, notably in the Dragoon Guard Regiments, while the Line Regiments remained static.  The Royal Ordnance – later the Royal Artillery saw substantial decreases; for example a Sergeant’s pay reduced by 30% between 1693 and 1756, as did the pay of Matrosses.

Naturally, the pay rates shown in the table below are in “old Money” i.e.  Pounds, Shillings and pence.  For those who are unfamiliar with this form of  money, there were 20 shillings to the pound and 12 pence to the shilling thus  One pound, ten shillings and sixpence is indicated as £1 10s 6d while 10 shillings and sixpence would be shown as 10/6

When the currency was decimalised in 1971, 2 shillings became 20p while 6d became 5p.

So a Captain in the Dragoon Guards  in 1747 was paid 15/6 the equivalent of 80 pence per day in today’s money.  To put this in some sort of perspective:  A Captain in a cavalry regiment in 1899 was paid 11/7 which, by applying inflation from 1900 to date means that he would be paid £60.33 per day now. (The current pay rate of a Captain in the British army today is £38,463 pa or £105.38 per day)

Rates of Pay	Pay per day
	Regiments of Foot				Dragoon Guards
Year	1686	1702	1762		1686	1747
Col	12/	12/	12/		£1 6s	19/6
Lt Col	7/	7/	7/		£1	£1 4s 3d
Maj	5/	5/	5/		£1	£1 0s 6d
Chaplain	6/8	6/8	6/8		6/8	6/8
Surgeon	6/6	6/6	4/		6/	6/
Adjutant	4/	4/	4/		5/	5/
Capt	8/	8/	8/		14/	15/6
Lt.	4/	4/	4/		10/	9/
Ens	3/	3/	3/		9/	8/
Sgt	1/6	1/6	1/6			2/9
Corp	1/	1/	1/		3/	2/3
Private	8d	8d	8d		2/6	1/9
	Royal Ordnance
Year	1693	1702	1756
Engineer	10/	10/
Capt	12/	10/	10/
Lt	8/	6/	5/
Sgt	3/	2/6	2/
Corp	2/6	2/	1/10
Master Gunner
gunner	2/	1/6	1/4
Firemaster
Fireworker		4/	3/
Bombadier		2/	1/8
Matrosses	1/6	1/	1/
pioneer	1/2	1/

 

Sir John Moore and Admiral Horatio Nelson

That Sir John Moore and Admiral Nelson, two of the most notable leaders in British History, should have met and operated together in the attack on Corsica in 1794 may note be unusual or particularly noteworthy.  That they did not get on, indeed Nelson particularly, did not like Moore, is one of those interesting little foot notes of history.

Nelson, of course, was a Captain at the time, commanding  the Agamemnon, while Moore commanded the 51st (2nd Yorkshire West Riding) Regiment of Foot and lead a brigade assaulting Saint-Florent at the outset of the campaign.  When the French troops withdrew to Bastia, Gen Dundas  (apparently on Moore’s advice) declined to follow up and lay siege to the city as Admiral Hood (at the behest of Nelson) advocated.   Nelson (through Hood) managed to get 500 soldiers out of Dundas to act as Marines in concert with his naval landing party. 

As history notes, Nelson took Bastia and a day later a brigade of British Infantry, reinforced by the 12^th Dragoons marched to occupy the city.

When they moved on to besiege Calvi, Nelson fumed at, what he perceived to be the pedestrian pace of progress.   He wrote:

“We must this evening either erect another battery for four guns , two hundred and fifty yards nearer, which will knock down an angle, or mount the breach as it is.  Two days, I can’t help thinking, are already lost.  Col Moore, as colonel of the flank company will have command, and I think it is he who wishes the breach made wider.  We are slow, which I am sorry for.”  Nelson wished that Moore was “one hundred leagues off”

Coincidentally, it was while directing fire from this new battery that a ricochet from the town felled Moore’s batman and blinded Nelson in one eye.  Two days later, when leading the combined flank companies in the assault, Moore was also hit in the head by a splinter.

That Moore was later ordered, by Sir Gilbert Elliot, to leave the island at 48 hours’ notice leaves one to wonder if that was as a result of Nelson’s influence.

Pontius Pilates Bodyguard

One of the interesting foot notes of the English Civil war was that the Royalists and their troops, who fled to the continent on the victory by the Parliamentarians, stayed in France under Charles II.  There were already British mercenary troops serving the French Crown, notably “Douglas’s Regiment” which later became the 1^st (or The Royal) Regiment of Foot who are nicknamed “Pontius Pilate’s Bodyguard”.

When Cromwell concluded a treaty with the King of France in 1655, Charles II took his troops to Spain.  These included a troop of Horse Guards, and 6 Regiments of Foot (1 English, 1 Scots and 4 Irish).  In the meantime Louis XIV retained Douglas’s Regiment (which was in French pay).

The French and British were engaged in a fight against the Spanish in Flanders and the Brabant which was eventually successful in 1659 and, in the concluding peace treaty, Dunkirk was ceded to England.

The Regiments who had accompanied Charles to Spain were “The King’s Regiment of Foot Guards” (later the First Foot Guards).   The others were The Duke of York’s, The Duke of Gloucester’s, The Earl of Bristol’s, Lord Newborough’s and Richard Grace’s Regiments.   These garrisoned Dunkirk in 1660 and were later sent to Tangier and amalgamated in the 2^nd Queens Regiment of Foot.

Cromwell died in 1658, before the conclusion of the war and his son Richard didn’t last very long as his successor.  Charles was restored to the Crown in 1661 and almost immediately dissolved the Parliamentary Army.  As a result Douglas’ Regiment entered English Establishment as the 1^st Regiment of Foot, the only Regiment to hold rank in the Swedish Army (1625), the French Army (1633) and the English(1661).