Having occasion to consult the "Army List" of the English army for the period of the French and Indian war, and exeriencing no little difficulty in determining the particular officer I wished to locate, it occurred to me that a complete list of such officers and regiments as served on the American continent before the Revolution, would be useful to others. I was fortunate enough to find a complete set of these annual "Army Lists" in the Astor Library, New York, and from these "official" registers the following names have been taken. The arrangement in the "Lists" is by regiments; but I have made it alphabetical, not only for greater convenience for reference, but also as better showing the rise of an officer in rank, and his change from regiment to regiment. The list is intended to be full, and I have taken no risks in confusing names, however similar, or however probable the identity might appear. Whatever error lies in the list, is due to too great fulness; and doubtless it could be compressed in some fifty or sixty instances; yet in the absence of positive evidence, I prefer to enter a name twice, to running the danger of combining the names of what might prove to be of different officers.
This insertion of more than one rank under a name is made comparatively safe by the custom of giving the date of a commission conferring rank in the army as well as in the regiment. For example, at a wide interval the following entries were found:
This may be read: Graydon was promoted to a lieutenancy in the 60th regiment on 14 September, 1760, and received a commission in the 44th regiment, of the same grade or rank, on 10 March, 1764. For general promotion, however, his lieutenant's commission dated from 14 September, 1760. In such cases the identity of the two entries is fully established. Nor can there be any reasonable doubt in the instances of regimental promotion, where in the same regiment a name gradually rises from ensign upwards. It is only where a transfer is made from one regiment to another, in different ranks, that doubt can occur; or where a promotion occurs in a regiment not serving in America.
In 1754 the only American regiments noted were the four Independent companies of New York, and three Independent companies of South Carolina. In 1755, Braddock's command was added, noted in this list as Br. In 1756 the first numbered regiment appeared on the returns, the 62d, or Royal American. Beginning with 1758 other regiments were added, and the 62d became the 60th still known as the Royal American, and remained in service in America till 1773 a longer service than any other regiment. The American life of each regiment, and the names of the respective colonels, will form a useful introduction to the list of officers.
First regiment, second battalion, 1758-1785.
1748-1783, James Sinclair
1764, Sir Henry Erskine, Bt.
Eighth (or the King's) regiment of Foot, 1769-1773.
1769-1772, Daniel Webb.
1773, Bigoe Armstrong
Ninth regiment of Foot. 1764-1765, in Florida; 1766-1769, in America; 1770, in Ireland.
1764-1769, William Whitmore
Tenth regiment of Foot, 1768-1773.
1768-1773, Edward Sandford
Fourteenth regiment of Foot, 1768-1773
1768-1773, Hon. William Keppel.
Fifteenth regiment of Foot, 1758-1767.
1758-1767, Jeffery Amherst
Sixteenth regiment of Foot, 1768-1773.
1768-1773, James Gisborne.
Seventeenth regiment of Foot, 1758-1767.
1758-1759, John Forbes
1760-1767, Robert Monckton.
Eighteenth (or Royal Irish) regiment of Foot, 1768-1773.
1768-1773, Sir John Sebright
Twenty-first (or Royal North British Fuzileers), 1766-1773.
1766-1770, William, Earl of Panmure.
1771-1773, Hon. Alexander Mackay.
Twenty-second regiment of Foot, 1758-1765.2
1758-1762, Edward Whitmore.
1763-1765, Hon. Thomas Gage.
Twenty-sixth regiment of Foot, 1768-1773.
1768-1773, John Scott
Twenty-seventh (or Inniskilling) regiment of Foot, 1758-1767.
1758-1761, William, Lord Blakeney.
1762-1767, Hugh Warburton.
Twenty-eighth regiment of Foot, 1758-1767.
1758-1759, Philip Bragg.
1760-1767, Hon. George Townshend.
Twenty-ninth regiment of Foot, 1766-1773.
1766-1769, George, Earl of Granard.
1770-1773, William Evelyn.
Thirty-first regiment of Foot, 1766-1773, with the exception of 1769, when it was in Minorca.
1766-1773, James Adolphus Oughton.
Thirty-fourth regiment of Foot, 1764-1769.3
1764-1769, Lord Frederick Cavendish.
Thirty-fifth regiment of Foot, 1758-1764.4
1758-1764, Charles Otway
Fortieth regiment of Foot, 1758-1765.
1758, Perigrine Thomas Hopson.
1759, John Barrington.
1760, Vacant.
1761-1765, Robert Armiger.
Forty-second regiment of Foot, 1758-1767.
1758-1767, Lord John Murray.
Forty-third regiment of Foot, 1758-1768.
1758-1761, James Kennedy.
1761-1762, Sharington Talbot.
1763, Hon. Bennet Noel.
Forty-fourth regiment of Foot, 1758-1765.
1748-1765, James Abercrombie.
Forty-fifth regiment of Foot, 1758-1765.
1758-1761, Hugh Warburton.
1762, Andrew Robinson.
1763-1765, Hon. John Boscawen.
Forty-sixth regiment of Foot, 1758-1767.
1758-1764, Thomas Murray.
1765-1767, Hon. William Howe.
Forty-seventh regiment of Foot, 1758-1763.
1758-1763, Peregrine Lascelles.
Forty-eighth regiment of Foot, 1758-1763.
1758-1763, Daniel Webb.
Fifty-second regiment of Foot, 1766-1773.
1766-1773, John Clavering.
Fifty-fifth regiment of Foot, 1758-1763.
1758, George Augustus, Viscount Howe.
1759, John Prideaux.
1760-1762, James Adolphus Oughton.
1763, William Gansell.
Fifty-eighth regiment of Foot, 1758-1763.
1758-1763, Robert Anstruther.
Fifty-ninth regiment of Foot, 1766-1773.
1766-1773, John Owen.
Sixtieth (late 62d) regiment of Foot, 1758-1773.6
1758, James Abercrombie.
1759-1773, Jeffery Amherst.
Sixty-second regiment of Foot, 1756-1757.
1756-1757, John, Earl of Loudoun.
Sixty-fourth regiment of Foot, 1769-1773.
1769-1773, John Pomeroy.
Sixty-fifth regiment of Foot, 1769-1773.
1769-1770, Hon. Alexander Mackay.
1771-1773, Edward Urmston.
Sixty-ninth regiment of Foot, 1768-1769.
1768-1769, Hon. Charles Colville.
Seventy-seventh regiment of Foot, 1758-1763.7
1758-1763, Archibald Montgomery.8
Seventy-eighth regiment of Foot, 1758-1763.
1758-1763, Simon Fraser.9
Eightieth regiment of Foot, 1758-1763.7
1758-1762, Thomas Gage.
1763, Montague Wilmot.
Ninety-fourth (or Royal Welsh Volunteers), 1762-1763.7
1762-1763, Hon. John Vaughan.
Ninety-fifth regiment of Foot, 1762-1763.7
1762-1763, Ralph Burton.
Corps of Rangers, 1762-1763.7
1762-1763, Joseph Goreham.9
The construction of the table will speak for itself. Where no number of a regiment is given, the date is that of the rank in the army. This will assist in tracing the service of the officer elsewhere than in America. The quartermasters and adjutants were, as a rule, taken from the lieutenants or ensigns of the regiment. In one or two of the regiments the ranks of first and second lieutenants occur, but they correspond with the more usual ranks of lieutenants and ensigns. In some instances the rank of lieutenant was given, but the officer served as an ensign. This was so unusual, hardly twenty cases coming to my attention, that no special note is made of it, and the rank of ensign given.