Noble Volunteers: The British Soldiers Who Fought the American Revolution

by Don N. Hagist, Rick Atkinson (Foreword by)

Overview

Winner of the 2020 American Revolution Roundtable of Philadelphia Book of the Year
Redcoats. For Americans, the word brings to mind the occupying army that attempted to crush the Revolutionary War. There was more to these soldiers than their red uniforms, but the individuals who formed the ranks are seldom described in any detail in historical literature, leaving unanswered questions. Who were these men? Why did they join the army? Where did they go when the war was over?
    In Noble Volunteers: The British Soldiers Who Fought the American Revolution, Don N. Hagist brings life to these soldiers, describing the training, experiences, and outcomes of British soldiers who fought during the Revolution. Drawing on thousands of military records and other primary sources in British, American, and Canadian archives, and the writings of dozens of officers and soldiers, Noble Volunteers shows how a peacetime army responded to the onset of war, how professional soldiers adapted quickly and effectively to become tactically dominant, and what became of the thousands of career soldiers once the war was over. 
    In this historical tour de force, introduced by Pulitzer Prize winner Rick Atkinson, Hagist dispels long-held myths, revealing how remarkably diverse British soldiers were. They represented a variety of ages, nationalities, and socioeconomic backgrounds, and many had joined the army as a peacetime career, only to find themselves fighting a war on another continent in often brutal conditions. Against the sweeping backdrop of the war, Hagist directs his focus on the small picture, illuminating the moments in an individual soldier’s life—those hours spent nursing a fever while standing sentry in the bitter cold, or writing a letter to a wife back home. What emerges from these vignettes is the understanding that while these were “common” soldiers, each soldier was completely unique, for, as Hagist writes, “There was no ‘typical’ British soldier.” 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781594166686
Publisher:	Westholme Publishing
Publication date:	12/02/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

Don N. Hagist is managing editor of the Journal of the American Revolution. An expert on the British army in the American Revolution, he is the author of many books and articles, including British Soldiers, American War: Voices of the American Revolution (Westholme 2012) and The Revolution’s Last Men: The Stories Behind the Photographs (Westholme 2015). He lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations ix

Foreword Rick Atkinson xi

Introduction xv

Part I A Peacetime Army Prepares For War

1 Seduced, Kidnapped, and Cruelly Used: Tensions in America 3

2 Roving Dispositions and Soaring Spirits: Enlisting in a Peacetime Army 12

3 Closeness and Smartness in Everything He Does: Training and Duties 29

4 Working Hard at the Firelock: Preparing for War 58

Part II The Wartime Army

5 Evident Superiority Even in Woods: Adapting to Warfare in America 73

6 Gone Volunteer to America: Recruiting for the American War 97

7 Barracks and Barns, Transports and Tents, Wigwams and Blankets 113

8 Beef and Bread, Fever and Flux, Swimming and Sack Races 135

9 The Plunder Problem 157

10 Bringers Handsomely Rewarded: Recruiting for Global War 177

11 Bounties, Wages, Rewards, Prizes, and Promotions 199

Part III Ending Careers, Ending the War

12 The Remains of Regiments 225

13 Long and Faithful Services 237

Notes 261

Selected Bibliography 307

Acknowledgments 321

Index 323

Editorial Reviews

No one has studied the British enlisted ranks in the Revolution with greater diligence and insight than Don N. Hagist. Now he has given us a remarkable group portrait of these men, illuminating who they were, why and how they fought, and what their lives were like.”—Rick Atkinson, author of The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777, from the foreword to Noble Volunteers

“Anchored upon vivid vignettes of military life, many taken from previously unpublished documents, Noble Volunteers is a significant, ground-breaking study that reconstructs the entire arc of the humble redcoat’s experience, from recruitment to demobilisation. Above all, it restores humanity to the thousands of rank-and-file soldiers who fought so tenaciously in an ultimately futile effort to keep the rebellious American colonies within the British Empire.”—Stephen Brumwell, author of Turncoat: Benedict Arnold and the Crisis of American Liberty

“Don Hagist has written what will prove to be the definitive account of British soldiers who fought in the American Revolution. Compelling, interesting, and brilliantly conceived—using previously unpublished records, Hagist’s impeccable research unearths the hidden war of the British enlisted men during the Revolution.”—Patrick K. O’Donnell, author of Washington’s Immortals

“Few American readers know anything about the British soldiers who fought against their colonial forefathers during the Revolutionary War. This book solves that problem by delving into myriad primary sources to illuminate details of the lives of the British soldiers who fought and died so far from home. The author, Don N. Hagist, is the editor of the Journal of the American Revolution, and he knows this subject well. . . . Only a few British soldiers left accounts of their days in uniform, but the author has conducted impressive research in archives located in the United Kingdom, as well as in Canada and the United States, in order to produce this very thorough study. All those readers who are interested in the American Revolution will definitely want to add Noble Volunteers to their military libraries.”—Journal of America’s Military Past
 

From the Publisher

2020-09-17
An eye-opening account of the redcoats.

Hagist, the managing editor of the Journal of the American Revolution, emphasizes that his subjects are not officers but private soldiers who, unlike sailors in the Royal Navy, were volunteers. Earning 8 pence per day—minus deductions for uniforms and food—it was a subsistence livelihood but secure. Soldiers usually enlisted for life, retiring with a pension when no longer physically able. The British soldier usually receives bad press in popular American histories, often depicted “as little more than a caricature,” as Rick Atkinson notes in the foreword. However, writes Hagist, “contrary to popular misconceptions, few were pressured to join in order to avoid jail or escape poverty.” Some were farm laborers, but most were from the trades—e.g., tailors, barbers, blacksmiths. Their reasons for enlisting were similar to today’s: a search for adventure or to escape an unsatisfactory civilian life. Training was intense, and discipline was often barbaric. Although few complained at the time, there was no shortage of misbehavior, crime, and desertion, but the result was a surprisingly content and skilled army who “were seldom bested on the battlefield, even in the face of much greater numbers.” The author’s research in American and British archives turns up a great deal of technical, statistical, and organizational details as well as personal writings of the large percentage of enlisted men who were literate. Readers will enjoy many revealing stories of soldiering in that distant era, provided they understand that Hagist is accustomed to writing for a scholarly audience. Thus, his chapter on the fate of soldiers at the end of their service is a fine explanation of 18th-century British pension boards, along with examples of soldiers who came before them, but it’s too much for general readers. Entire chapters devoted to housing, pay, and recruiting may discourage those who prefer not to skim.

A detailed and often entertaining history for academics.

Kirkus Reviews