History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery Vol. 2: Compiled from the Original RecordsDuncan, Francis
History
History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery Vol. 2: Compiled from the Original Records
Duncan, Francis
Great Britain. Army. Royal Regiment of Artillery
would have much liked to march past again before he died. The others
obeyed the summons, one only protesting a little on the ground that the
Battalion to which he belonged was at that time scattered in the West
Indies and Canada. A few years later, in 1792, when a camp was formed at
Bagshot, the Chaplains were ordered to attend and encamp with the
companies; and from that time their duties ceased, more and more every
year, to be so purely honorary as they had been.
Returning now to the combatant part of the Corps, there are certain
details connected with the dress of the officers and men, which can
hardly fail to be interesting, and which find a natural place in a
chapter like this. Owing to a circumstance arising out of the American
War, we are fortunately in possession of very circumstantial accounts on
this point. After the Convention of Saratoga, many of the officers of
Burgoyne’s army remained prisoners of war for nearly three years. On
their return to England, they claimed compensation for loss of their
equipment, &c., stating their case as follows:--“The subscribers wish to
represent the constant and unavoidable loss they sustained in the mode
of payment of their subsistence, as the impossibility of supplying the
Convention Army with specie laid them under an absolute necessity of
drawing their pay at very extravagant rates, being paid by public bills,
in the negotiation of which, from the Congress paper currency, they
suffered a discount which in the 1st year may be estimated at 20 per
cent.... We beg leave to observe that, in conformity to the wishes of
the Generals commanding the troops, we were under the necessity of
building huts at our own cost and charges, in order to take the more
effectual care of the men, to attend to their wants and to alleviate
their distresses. Much expense was incurred on this score. We have also
to observe that the Congress at different periods obliged us to remove
to most of the provinces in America; and in those several marches of at
least 1500 miles, it must naturally occur that many and heavy charges
were sustained by us. On being exchanged, we were unavoidably obliged to
come to New York individually, and there being no public conveyance, we
were necessitated to purchase horses, to transport ourselves and
baggage, from people who took every advantage of our distresses,” On the
claims of officers on this account reaching the Ordnance, the first step
was, simply, to refuse to admit them; on their being urged again in
stronger terms, the next step was to refer them to some one else to
ascertain the truth of the claimants’ statements, it being an official
axiom that any one demanding money was probably an impostor, and to be
treated accordingly; and, lastly, on being satisfied of the accuracy of
the claim, the invariable course was to offer something considerably
less than the sum demanded. From a remonstrance made against the offer
in this case we learn what was laid down by the Board of Ordnance in the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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