"Dual Commissions?" Topic

I've been researching the officers of the "Provincial Line"--the five nominally Loyalist regiments which counted as regulars and whose officers drew half-pay--and I've run across a small number which APPEAR to be officers of British regiments holding commissions about one grade higher in the Provincials at the same time. But I can't nail in down: it could be a coincidence of name and rank in each case.

Does anyone know of an instance in which they're sure the same officer was commanding Loyalists--with a commission in a Loyalist regiment--while on leave or otherwise detached from a regular British regiment? And can you provide names and details of such?

Thanks.

I believe these two qualify

Banastre Tarleton -- captain in British 1st Dragoon Guards but Lieutenant Colonel (or maybe Colonel) of the British Legion (5th American Regiment on the British establishment).

John Graves Simcoe -- captain in the British 40th Foot, but Lieutenant Colonel of the Queen's Rangers (1st American Regiment on the British establishment).

The other three Loyalist regiments on the British establishment were the 2nd Volunteers of Ireland, 3rd New York Volunteers, and 4th King's American Regiment. In addition two loyalist regiments were converted to numbered British units – 60th Foot (Royal American) and 84th Foot (Royal Highland Emigrants).

Jim

Wasn't the 60th put on the British establishment at the end of the FIW/7YW?

Thank you, yes. They both would qualify--which make my additional three more probable, though not certain. (Tarleton only ranked as a Lt Col with the British Legion, by the way: they didn't rate a Colonel. But by the wonders of promotion by seniority, he'd die a LtGen without ever doing a day's useful work again, and grumble that Wellesley was sent to the Spanish Peninsula instead.)

60th Foot predates the AWI, of course, and the 84th has a complicated history. The Volunteers of Ireland are also briefly on the British establishment as the 105th Foot for about a year in 1783-84--which means none of the officers is settled in Canada, and makes them even harder to track. (I've had absolutely no luck accessing British half-pay records, which is the obvious point of access.)

I wouldn't be surprised at all if dual ranks were held by both sides. Americans had multiple 'armies'; militia, state line, continental line, etc.

And didn't the British do the same thing during the Peninsular War? With officers holding higher rank in the Portuguese army while retaining their rank in the British army.

The same sort of thing was still going on in the US as late as the Civil War with officers holding rank in the militia, volunteers, and regulars at the same time.

It is my understanding that dual commissions were unusual. The Crown did not like to pay twice for the same person. IIRC, Tarleton was a Coronet in either the 16th or 17th Light Dragoons early on (captured Gen Lee), obviously promoted at some point (those had to be approved from back home).

Howe and succeeding generals created some opportunity for advancement through the Light, Grenadier, and Royal Provincial units. I believe once someone obtained a commission in an RP regiment, their other commission became vacant and filled. Note that none of them returned to their former units. Many of the RP regiment's officers were British, which caused no end of grumbling among the Provincials. That changed later in the war.

All the British officers either went on half pay, and/or found other commissions.

The 60th (originally the 62nd) was put on the establishment in early 1756. It was a regular regiment in every sense of the word (none of this nonsense about being super duper light troops, etc.). The officers held regular commissions, though at least two of the four battalions were reduced at war's end, then stood up again during the Rev War.

According to Katcher, the first full Colonel of the QRs was Robert Rogers, May 1777. The command grade was lowered to Lt. Col in May 1777 when Lt. Col Christopher French assumed command, till August 1777. Major James Wemys Aug 1777 to October1777. Simcoe assume command as a Lt. Col in October 1777 till disbanded.

Tarleton was commissioned in the British Legion, whose Colonel was Lord William Cathcart, who held a junior commission in a line regiment simultaneously. He never actually commanded the troops. Tarelton was given command of the cavarly as Lt Colonel and only assumed command of the infantry later in the war.

Major Patrick Ferguson (71st Regt, IIRC) also held commands in Royal Provincial units, including the American Volunteers

You bring up an interesting point when one commission expired and another began. Lord Cathcart maybe the exception as most Colonel's did not actually field with their units, nor even serve during the way.

Officers were often promoted to the rank of Major General (the first true commission for a general at the time) due to seniority, often never serving in the field.

More Brits than you'd think in at least three of the Provincial line, historygamer, and in the regiments entitled to half-pay, it gets worse not better as the war goes on. At one point only 40% of the Queen's Rangers officers were born in British North America, and they're disproportionately junior. The Volunteers of Ireland are hard to track, but may have been worse. Of the British Legion, I can find hardly any infantry officers native to North America. (The infantry cadre is largely Highland Scots.) Some of the cavalry officers are from the Philadelphia area--Anglicans and defrocked Quakers.

If anyone cares, two of the ones I suspect held dual commissions were (Lord) Edmund Fitzgerald who may have been a lieutenant in the Volunteers of Ireland while an ensign in the 26th Foot, Charles Hastings who may have been a Captain in the Volunteers of Ireland while a lieutenant in the 12th Foot. Lord Rawdon was colonel of the VoI, and may have had some clout--or just sent out commissions in the mail. The Protestant Ascendency is very well represented in that regiment.

Mind you, FORMER British regular officers are very common. My favorite (Lt David Dalton, VoI) sold a regular ensigncy in the 55th Foot to buy a lieutenancy--which left him with no commission at all when the check for the lieutenancy bounced, so the VoI scarfed him up. The general rule is that you gained one grade and sometimes two going from the British to the Provincial line, but officers coming in from other Loyalist units seldom gained and sometimes lost a grade on entering the Provincial Line. After the war, a number of them exchange back into active units. Some of them are still on active service for the Napoleonic Wars.