"So what actually happened to the Peninsular War veterans?" Topic

A few people have mentioned the Bolivar/San Martin connections. I'm curious: did the veterans who went to South America go as regiments/battalions/some-kind-of-unit, or did they just "enlist" piecemeal with the rebels? It sounds like there were mass discharges from the ranks after the European wars, but would there have been officers freed as well to lead the vets in the Independence Wars?

If someone writes a book about all this, I'll buy it.

I have a relative, Henry Duggan Wood, who enlisted as Henry Duggan and served in the Peninsula. He was later wounded at Quatre Bras and, after discharge, went to Dundas(Hamilton), Ontario where his old unit was stationed. Anyone have any info on him?
Thanks.

I've searched the National Archives online database.

Is your man from West Meath?
The only Henry Dugan ( Duggan, Doogan and Dougan I looked for) he served in the 87th foot from 1810 to 1814. He appears on the medal roll for the 87th foot for the MGSM. He received 3 bars.

He was discharged in 1814. So couldn't have been at Waterloo unless he re enlisted under a different name as he doesn't seem to be on the Waterloo medal roll.

Taken from the following thread
TMP link

Very few Peninsula veterans at Waterloo. Most had been sent to America

Chandler (1966), p.1093

At best the Allied army was a very hybrid collection of multinational formations, and the number of British troops present formed rather less than half of the men in the field. Furthermore, even they were not for the most part the veterans of the Peninsular War, most of whom were on their way in transports to North America. A substantial part of the British contingent at Waterloo was made up of depot battalions and men from militia units, while much of the cavalry had never seen service outside the British Isles. Yet they fought magnificently throughout a long and exhausting day, ably assisted by their comrades of the King's German Legion and the other Allied contingents, most particularly the Nassauers.

This is repeated, parrot fashion, by Bernard Cornwell in his book about Waterloo, surprisingly enough, on page 17

But Britain had just fought a war with the United States, and many of the best regiments, veterans of Wellington's victories, were still across the Atlantic. They were returning, and some battalions[clarification needed] found themselves travelling straight from America to the Netherlands.[not specific enough to verify] The Duke would have been more confident if he had possessed his Peninsular army, which had been one of the best that ever fought under British colours.

For 'some battalions', there is the battalion of the 4th Foot, and the detachment of 5 companies of riflemen from the 3rd Battalion, 95th Foot.

-The 4th Foot did not go straight to the Netherlands. It briefly returned to England in May 1815, before embarking for Flanders a few weeks later to fight at the Battle of Waterloo in June. Source: Cannon (1839), pg 129.
-The riflemen detachment embarked aboard HMS Dover and the Norfolk transport, which set sail on 4 April 1815. They disembarked on the south coast of England on 2 June 1815. They embarked at Dover on 10 July 1815 and disembarked at Antwerp on 13 July. In due course they joined the other 2 companies of the 3rd Battalion, upon reaching Paris. Source: Surtees (1833) pp. 403-409.

They had been at the Battle of New Orleans.

By the end of 1814 the British government had some 47,000 fewer men with the colours than when Napoleon had abdicated less than nine months before. These cuts fell hardest on foreign corps and second line troops but cavalry and artillery were also sharply reduced (7,000 artillerymen and drivers) and many excellent second battalions were disbanded

(Fortescue History of the British Army vol 10 p 228).

'In Dec 1814 the army was reduced, mainly by disbanding 22 x 2nd battalions.'

Source: BRITISH ARMY ESTABLISHMENTS DURING THE NAPOLEONIC WARS (PART 1)
Roderick MacArthur, Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, (Volume 87 Number 350 in Summer 2009)

All of the British Army troops were regular soldiers and the majority of them had served in the Peninsula. Of the 23 British regiments in action, only 4 (the 14th, 33rd, 69th, and 73rd Foot) had not served in the Peninsula, and a similar level of experience was to be found in the British cavalry and artillery.

I believe the above is from Barbero.

In 2001, Donald Graves challenged the statement that most of the Peninsular War veterans were sent to North America.

The Redcoats are Coming!: British Troop Movements to North America in 1814
warof1812.ca/redcoats.htm

Overall, there were 67 battalions of infantry under Wellington's command in April 1814, including the King's German Legion and two foreign corps. The Peninsular army therefore sent just under a quarter of its infantry to North America.

<<Wellington complained when Bonaparte seized power, that Horse Guards had not recruited a single man, nor called up the militia.>>

Was there not some system for "demobbed" men to return to the colours in such situations (much as reservists would do today)?

Not until 1871, when soldiers would serve for 6 years with the colours, then 6 with the reserve, this ratio changing to 7 and 5 in 1881.

Chandler's missive needs further examination

Chandler (1966), p.1093

[1]Furthermore, even they were not for the most part the veterans of the Peninsular War, most of whom were
[2]on their way in transports to North America.

Timeline
24 Dec 1814 Treaty of Ghent signed
27 Dec 1814 Ratification of the treaty by the British
17 Feb 1815 Ratification of the treaty by the Americans
26 Feb 1815 Napoleon flees Elba
01 Mar 1815 Napoleon lands at Antibes

For point 2, Chandler tells us that during May-June 1815, swathes of the British Army were on their way to America, in order to participate in a war that had log since concluded.

Is this some kind of agenda whereby David Chandler – former Head of War Studies at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst – is hell bent on championing Wellington, even if his soldiers were under par?