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  Grenadier Coy.

The Men of the 18th (Royal Irish) Regiment, 1767-1776

The men of the regiment refer to the sergeants, corporals, drummers, fifers and private men assigned to the Royal Irish while it served in America. Currently, 756 individuals have been identified as serving in the Royal Irish between 1767 and 1775.

The regiment was authorized 18 sergeants, 18 corporals, 9 drummers, 2 fifers and 405 private men when it arrived at Philadelphia in July 1767. The establishment was changed in 1770 and 1771. Most of the regiment's men were drafted in December 1775 or July 1776. Many of those men remained to fight in America after the Royal Irish returned to England. Men from the Royal Irish were drafted into the 4th (King's Own), 5th, 8th (King's), 10th, 22nd, 23rd (Royal Welsh Fusiliers), 35th, 38th, 40th, 43rd, 47th, 52nd, and 63rd Regiments of Foot between December 1775 and July 1776. Later drafts moved some of those men into the 27th, 31st, 45th, 49th, 55th Regiments of Foot and 17th Light Dragoons as well. A few were sent to the Royal Garrison Battalion as well. A few also found their way into provincial or loyalist units.

The first man to be taken prisoner at Concord was possibly Grenadier Samuel Lee of the 18th. He was the regiment's master tailor and probably nearly deaf. At least one former member of the Royal Irish, Daniel Dyer, surrendered at Yorktown while serving with the 23rd (Royal Welsh Fusiliers) Regiment.

The men of the Royal Irish made their mark throughout the war. Individuals who had served in America with the Royal Irish served throughout the entire British Empire. Officers and soldiers who had served in America were at Long Island, the Saratoga Campaign, the Philadelphia Campaign and Cornwallis's Southern Campaign. Others served in the Great Lakes, some ended up in West Africa and India, even while the Royal Irish Regiment was in Southern England warding off a Franco-Spanish Invasion Threat. A brief comparison between the 18th and 22nd Regiments of Foot can be found here.

Ultimately, the goal is to tell the story of each of these men, because their stories deserve to be remembered. The stories of individual men will be posted from time to time on the Royal Irish Blog. Some examples are below under in the Individual Bios tab.

• Muster Rolls
• Demographics
• Individual Bios
• Recruiting
• Tables of Organization

The muster returns for the Royal Irish are nearly all extant for its American service in the National Archives at Kew cataloged under WO 12/3501, Commissary General of Musters Office and successors: General Muster Books and Pay Lists. 18th Regiment, 1st Battalion. Only the light infantry company's rolls are completely missing (1771-1775), but transfers between other companies allow one to determine most of the men assigned to the company. The returns of all of the other companies are complete except for the Lieutenant Colonels' Coy which are missing from 1772 through 1775. Below are some transcribed samples of the returns.

General's Coy	Lt. Colonel's Coy	Major's Coy	Grenadier Coy
Illinois, October 1770			Philadelphia, October 1767
New York City, December 1774			Charlestown Heights, June 1775

More to Come

The men of the Royal Irish were far from all Irish. The two snapshots below from inspection returns show, Englishmen outnumbering Irish about 2 to 1 with only a few Scots and foreign men in April 1767. Initials refer to the commander of each company.

Dublin, April 11, 1767 WO 27/11

Countrys	Companies
	Col.	Lt.C.	Maj.	Gren.	I.H.	H. A.	J.S.	G.S.	J.Shee	Total
English	17	20	21	17	24	18	22	21	17	177
Scotch			2	4	3	5			3	15
Irish	15	10	8	11	6	9	10	11	12	92
Foreigners		2	1						1	4
Totals	32	32	32	32	32	32	32	32	32	288

Dover Castle, May 15, 1777 WO 27/36

Countrys	Companies
	Col.	Lt.C.	Maj.	H. L.	Gren.	B.P.	R.H.	W.R	W.B.	H.F.	Total
English	29	35	25	30	35	32	29	32	33	27	307
Scotch	2	1	2	2	3	2	2	2	1	1	18
Irish	12	9	18	13	19	10	14	11	23	15	144
Foreigners	2								2	1	5
Totals	45	45	45	45	57	44	45	45	59	44	474

 

 

Samuel Lee	Thomas Haywood	Thomas Hanley	Hugh Sergeant
John Russell

The following recruiting notice was in the Norfolk Chronicle on 6 April 1776 after the regiment returned to England with only a small cadre of soldiers. Nearly all of the regiments officers, ncos and drummers were involved in recruiting at some point during 1776 and 1777. The Royal Irish was rebuilt mostly while quartered at Dover Castle in southeastern England.

 

 

The Royal Irish was authorized a variety of strengths during the 1760s, 1770s, and 1780s. The regiment was reduced to nine companies after the Seven Years (French & Indian) War while in Ireland. In 1767, the regiment was increased in strength to prepare to travel to America. It was expanded to ten companies in 1770. The strength was further modified in 1775 and 1778. These stengths can be used as a general guide for other regiments of foot in the same area at the Royal Irish; some regiments had unique structures.

The 18th (Royal Irish) Regiment on the Irish Establishment, 1767 ~ 270 Rank and file
The 18th (Royal Irish) Regiment on the British (American) Establishment, 1767 ~ 423 Rank and file
The 18th (Royal Irish) Regiment on the British (American) Establishment, 1771 ~ 420 Rank and file
The 18th (Royal Irish) Regiment on the British Establishment, 1778 ~ 740 Rank and file