A few years ago the Account Book of the Paymaster General of the army of William III for the year 1690 was discovered in the Belfast City Hall. See for example
http://www.boyneobelisklol1690.com/paymaster_general.php and
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/tIt6bsYHTNOVlszDIKd-lg
This Account Book by Paymaster General Thomas Coningsby lists the payments made to the regiments in William III's army, and those made to hospitals, intelligence, etc.
It is a bit unfortunate and strange that this document is kept by the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland in Belfast, and not by an institution like the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland.
Nevertheless, this Orange Lodge made a rather nice workbook based on this Account Book. Though aimed at children, it will be nice for adults too: paymaster-general-workbook.pdf. Unfortunately there is no further information regarding accessibility of this Account Book for researchers. I truly hope this document is not abused for pursuing a political agenda.
Contrary to rumours and gossip, this Account Book does not contain the names of all men in William III's army. It does, however, contain the names of about 400 officers. With about 40 officers in a regiment of foot, this means that this Account Book does neither contain all officers in William III's.
But anyway, let's hope that the information in this document will become available soon!
Showing posts with label administration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label administration. Show all posts
Wednesday, 17 September 2014
Monday, 3 September 2012
The pity of war
The Calendar of Treasury Books are a real goldmine for all kinds of detail on regiments, their movements, payments due to regiments, etc etc. One will also find many details related to individuals. Sometimes in the form of a petition, when officers from a regiment reduced long ago demanded payment of arrears. In this post the example of a pension granted to a captain who had to leave active service because of illness. This captain had to wait, and suffer, for more than four years for his pension, because of some mistake in the bureaucratic machinery.
Royal warrant dated St. James's [to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland] to insert on the list of French pensioners on the Establishment of Ireland the name of Moses Caries with 3s. a day pension as from Sept. 29 last, he having been Capt. of a Company in the late Foot Regiment of Col. Charles Dubourgay, and being by sickness and other infirmities contracted in the service rendered unable to repair to his post in Spain, whereupon the late Queen granted him a pension of 3s. a day on the Establishment of Ireland in lieu of his Company, but the said Queen's warrant for that purpose to the Marquess of Wharton, then Lieutenant General of Ireland, being by mistake countersigned by Robert Walpole, then Secretary at War, whereby said Caries could never obtain any benefit of the said pension, whereby he has been there 4½ years in a starving condition, being now bedridden and almost blind. Out Letters (Ireland) IX, p. 622.This makes one wonder about the fate to ordinary soldiers, who had fallen ill during service. (Excerpt taken from Warrant Books, February 1715, Calendar of Treasury Books, Volume 29.)
Saturday, 28 April 2012
Half-pay list for the year 1714 ~~ republication
Please see the publisher's site for more information and contact details.
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
Full and half pay rates
Following the previous post on the 1714 Half-pay list of regimental officers, it was thought convenient to collect some payment details. In the above figure the daily pay is given for officers of horse, dragoons and foot on the English and Irish Establishments.These numbers should be valid for the period 1689 up to the end of the Seven Years' War.
The full pay includes all, i.e., allowances for servants and for forage are in this number. For Irish full-pay not all rates could be found in literature, unfortunately.
One first observation is that Irish half-pay is exactly half of the full-pay (what one would expect ..). For the English Horse and Dragoons it is a little bit more complicated it seems. This probably had to do with different calculation for the servants and fodders, but the exact formula is still to be found. Any ideas are obviously welcomed!
(For those from the younger generations: one pound = 20 shilling, one shilling = 12 pence)
Tuesday, 18 May 2010
Running the Staatse Leger
While on the topic of administration and logistics, I have created a chart for the Dutch Army, Het Staatse Leger showing some matters related to administration and control. At the top of the hierarchy is the Staten-General, shortly followed by the provinces. The Raad van State administered the artillery and engineers, whereas horse and foot were administered by the provinces (cf. the three different establishments that made up the British Army). Deputies and field-deputies were appointed to represent the Raad van State in the field, and see whether resolutions etc were carried out properly. Subsistence and transport were done by civilian contractors, though it was the field-deputies task to ensure that bread was delivered in time, that the quality of the bread was good, that magazines were filled, that the horses and wagons used for transport were of good quality, etc etc.
I feel that I have missed some parts, and that I may have misunderstood other parts. So I welcome comments and additions for improvement and discussion.
Administration of the army
And now for something completely different ...
the administration of the army.
In the 17th century the army as we know it today did not exist. Basically, the army consisted of regiments of foot and horse owned by the colonel-proprietor. This colonel was obviously paid by the government, but the regiment was his property so to speak (as were the soldiers in his regiments in some sense).
Other parts that would constitute an army were chiefly operated by civilians, or a mixture of civilians and military. One should think of artillery, engineers, and logistics. Here especially the latter gives an interesting insight in the administration that made the army operate (and probably, but that is the author's opinion, insight in how the society was organized).
Since the army did not possess a corps dedicated to supply and transportation (like the Royal Logistic Corps or Regiment Bevoorradings- en transporttroepen), civilians were contracted to provide food, transport the food, take care of the wounded etc etc. However, there was of course some administrative mechanism that, in theory, had to take care of all this. And here the step it made towards the topic of this article: the administration of the army. In this case the focus is on the British Army (which is an anachronism actually for the period under consideration). The author is very much aware information presented here is far from complete, and will try to provide updates soon.
At the top of the pyramid stood the monarch, being factual and titular head of state, and in command of the army.
Next came several departments and functions, that did not have a clear relation. But all had their voice in matters related to the army.
The deployment of the army was the responsibility of the Secretaries of State; there was a Northern Department for Northern European/Protestant countries, and a Southern Department for Southern European/Catholic and Muslim countries. (This is not the exact division!)
Furthermore, the role of the Secretary-at-War became more and more important towards 1700 and after. He was the administrative head of the army and looked after the day-to-day running of the army.
The Board of Ordnance with its Master-General of the Ordnance was important, as it controlled almost everything that was not foot or horse. However, he was not subordinate to the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces. The Board was actually a civilian organization, and didn't form part of the army.
The Lord High Treasurer at the head of the Treasury was important for obvious reasons. Subordinate was the Paymaster-General who took care of the disbursement of soldiers' wages and money for subsistence. Also subordinate to the Lord High Treasurer was the Commissariat Department. This department was responsible for moving and feeding the army. This was a civilian bureaucratic department, again not part of the army, and had to contract civilians for providing food, transport, etc.
Not least, an important role was played by the General in Chief Command and Captain General. However, that post was not always filled.
Next step will be to identify links between the various departments and their responsibilities with respect to the army. From the above, the author is aware that it will not be a clear and comprehensive chart that makes clear the responsibilities and hierarchy. (An initial investigation of the administration of the Dutch Army of the late 17th Century shows a much more comprehensive business model.)
the administration of the army.
In the 17th century the army as we know it today did not exist. Basically, the army consisted of regiments of foot and horse owned by the colonel-proprietor. This colonel was obviously paid by the government, but the regiment was his property so to speak (as were the soldiers in his regiments in some sense).
Other parts that would constitute an army were chiefly operated by civilians, or a mixture of civilians and military. One should think of artillery, engineers, and logistics. Here especially the latter gives an interesting insight in the administration that made the army operate (and probably, but that is the author's opinion, insight in how the society was organized).
Since the army did not possess a corps dedicated to supply and transportation (like the Royal Logistic Corps or Regiment Bevoorradings- en transporttroepen), civilians were contracted to provide food, transport the food, take care of the wounded etc etc. However, there was of course some administrative mechanism that, in theory, had to take care of all this. And here the step it made towards the topic of this article: the administration of the army. In this case the focus is on the British Army (which is an anachronism actually for the period under consideration). The author is very much aware information presented here is far from complete, and will try to provide updates soon.
At the top of the pyramid stood the monarch, being factual and titular head of state, and in command of the army.
Next came several departments and functions, that did not have a clear relation. But all had their voice in matters related to the army.
The deployment of the army was the responsibility of the Secretaries of State; there was a Northern Department for Northern European/Protestant countries, and a Southern Department for Southern European/Catholic and Muslim countries. (This is not the exact division!)
Furthermore, the role of the Secretary-at-War became more and more important towards 1700 and after. He was the administrative head of the army and looked after the day-to-day running of the army.
The Board of Ordnance with its Master-General of the Ordnance was important, as it controlled almost everything that was not foot or horse. However, he was not subordinate to the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces. The Board was actually a civilian organization, and didn't form part of the army.
The Lord High Treasurer at the head of the Treasury was important for obvious reasons. Subordinate was the Paymaster-General who took care of the disbursement of soldiers' wages and money for subsistence. Also subordinate to the Lord High Treasurer was the Commissariat Department. This department was responsible for moving and feeding the army. This was a civilian bureaucratic department, again not part of the army, and had to contract civilians for providing food, transport, etc.
Not least, an important role was played by the General in Chief Command and Captain General. However, that post was not always filled.
Next step will be to identify links between the various departments and their responsibilities with respect to the army. From the above, the author is aware that it will not be a clear and comprehensive chart that makes clear the responsibilities and hierarchy. (An initial investigation of the administration of the Dutch Army of the late 17th Century shows a much more comprehensive business model.)
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