SOLDIERS

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British soldiers in the eighteenth century

The experience of British soldiers in the eighteenth century would have depended on where he was stationed, the time period and who he was fighting. The British Army underwent significant changes during the eighteenth century, mainly to ensure they would be able to perform well in the numerous wars that Great Britain participated in during the century, such as the War of the Spanish Succession, the War of the Austrian Succession, the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary Wars.

Life for a British soldier was often harsh and unforgiving. Discipline was strict in the British Army, with harsh punishments commonly meted out for even minor offences. This was in part a reaction to the constant gambling, whoring, drinking and brawling that British soldiers participated in due to a variety of reasons. A significant amount of training was required before a British soldier was allowed to be sent into the field, while harsh, this allowed the British to become one the foremost powers in Europe by the end of the century.

The British Army in the 18th century was commonly seen as disciplined, regimented and harsh. Camp life was dirty and cramped with the potential for a rapid spread of disease, and punishments could be anything from a flogging to a death sentence. Yet, many men volunteered to join the army, to escape the bleak conditions of life in the cities, for a chance to travel the world and earn a regular wage.

There were a number of names used to describe the variety of groups serving within the army, including the militia, fencibles, associations, volunteers, yeomanry, rangers, local militia and provisional cavalry. Although many of the men rarely saw active service abroad, the army was often used as a constabulary force within the British Isles and it was often questioned whether a standing force was actually needed. However, the growth of the British Empire in the 19th century demanded the use of an established imperial force.

During the 18th century, men who joined the army were recruited in a number of ways. The regular army used recruitment parties and occasionally press gangs to enlist men, while the militia regiments were raised by a ballot, a process that was established in the Militia Act of 1757: "Thirty-two thousand men, all of them good Protestants, were to be ... subjected to martial law in time of active service". There were also many part-time forces, often called volunteers, and they were not in short supply. Becoming a volunteer exempted men from the militia ballot and part-time service as a volunteer was certainly easier than disciplined life with the militia or regular army.

Motivations behind the volunteering nature were not solely patriotic, but also commonly economic. Many men who joined as volunteers and went on to serve with the regular army were unemployed urban dwellers, and prospects of a standard income were better than none at all. Tradesmen could be sure to make a tidy profit from selling their wares to the soldiers, and sutlers often became camp followers, following a regiment, while on campaign. Certainly more applicable to the landed and wealthy gentlemen, fears of invasion also persuaded many to serve; not so much to support the nation as a whole, but to preserve their own interests, money and property which could be lost if the enemy succeeded.

Officers

Many men who wished to become officers had to purchase their commission. This was often seen as a "proof of gentlemanly status" as commissions were expensive – at approximately £450 – and usually only the wealthy could afford them, with landed families purchasing commissions for their sons. John Cookson suggests that serving with the army did command a certain respect, and those men that became the holder of an office "could lay claim to the title of [being a] gentleman". 

Therefore, self-interest, respect and status were enticing prospects for many who were to join the army. Only a small proportion of officers were from the nobility; in 1809, only 140 officers were peers or peers' sons. A large proportion of officers came from the Militia, and a small number were gentlemen volunteers, who trained and fought as private soldiers but messed with the officers and remained as such until vacancies (without purchase) for commissions became available.

The Duke of York oversaw a reform of the sale of commissions, making it necessary for officers to serve two full years before either promotion or purchase to captain and six years before becoming a major, improving the quality of the officers through the experience gained.

Equipment and weaponry

During the 18th century the weapon of choice was the Brown Bess musket which had been used by the army since the 1730s. There were many different patterns of musket fired during the 18th century, but the weapon normally favoured a flintlock mechanism which was more reliable than the preceding matchlock system used during the English Civil War in the 17th century.

The pike had been replaced by the use of the bayoneted musket in the early 18th century. Bayonets were used in conjunction with the musket for close-range fighting – the bayonet was fitted into the socket of the musket barrel, allowing it to be fired while the bayonet was fixed (unlike earlier screw or plug bayonets) and effectively turned the musket into a pike-like instrument.

A well-trained soldier could fire up to three rounds per minute, soldiers completely off-target or too slow at priming and loading would often be lightly punished. The use of the platoon formation by the British army meant that a constant volley of fire could be employed. There was much that could go wrong with the musket – from misfires in wet weather, to the gun firing at random due to sparks which set the powder off. In the heat of battle, a soldier may forget to remove the ramrod from the barrel before firing. Nonetheless, the musket proved to be the go to beyond 30 paces modern test firings at individual human-sized targets suggest that a musket's effective range lies somewhere between 70 and 100 yards (or 64 and 91 meters).

Camp

On an 18th-century battlefield, the camp set up by a regiment would have been extremely simplistic in terms of possessions and comforts. Only the very basic necessities would have been taken as everything a regiment needed had to be carried while on the move.

A traditional regiment of foot, made up of ten companies of approximately 792 men, would have carried a set of camp equipment that included 160 tents, 160 tin kettles with bags, 160 hand hatchets, 12 bell tents, 12 camp colours, 20 drum cases, 10 powder bags, 792 water flasks with strings, 792 haversacks and 792 knapsacks.

The proportion of tents and equipment would have varied depending on the size of the companies, and the baggage itself would have differed according to the type of regiment. A regiment of Dragoons, for example, would have needed to carry extra equipment for their horses including nose bags and horse pickets.

Conditions in camp were normally inadequate as a site had to be set up wherever space was available – basic amenities such as fresh running water would have to be collected from nearby sources and latrines often had to be dug once camp had been set up. Personal space would have been limited, but this commonly created a sense of camaraderie between the soldiers who lived among each other on a daily basis.

When a regiment was not on the battlefield they would have been settled in an established barrack or billet. However, life was usually not any more comfortable; a mess group of 5–6 men, led by a corporal, could be expected to share living quarters and necessities, and sometimes men would share a blanket for sleeping.

Discipline and punishment

Life in the army was extremely disciplined and even minor matters of misconduct did not go unpunished. The courts – either regimental, district or general – were advised by a military lawyer and made up of panels of officers, with some sentences even being determined by the commander-in-chief.

The main crimes normally concerned drunkenness, theft and general misbehaviour. The wrong-doer may be punished by running the gauntlet which involved being flogged by one's own regiment as he passed between two lines of soldiers. In 1765, a soldier was picquetted (made to stand on a tent-peg) without shoes for drunken misconduct.

One of the more common offences that required excessive punishment was desertion. A man could be branded with a "D" if captured, and if he re-offended could face execution. Death sentences were not all that common, with hanging normally reserved for murderers, and death by shot employed for those who were repeat offenders. One such case involved Joseph Stoakes who, between 1728 and 1730, deserted his regiment three times, and upon being captured for the third time was sentenced by court martial to death.

The criminals were punished in front of their peers and officers and the utter humiliation suffered was meant to deter from any further wrongdoing. Punishments were often painful and disgraceful to discourage those who witnessed them from undergoing the same fate. However, it was customary for a soldier to be accepted back into his regiment without any discredit once he had been punished.