Numbers of British drummers

Eamonn,

British infantry normally had 10 Companies per Battalion, with 2 drummers per Company, regardless of the size of that Company.

British Cavalry only had one trumpeter per troop, but the number of Troops per Regiment varied. Cavalry Troops were paired up to make Squadrons, so there were two trumpeters per Squadron.

From 1802 to 1815, there were always 31 British Cavalry Regiments. The number of Troops per Regiment was:

31 Dec 1802: 30 with 8 Tps, 1 with 10 Tps.

31 Dec 1803: 30 with 8 Tps, 1 with 10 Tps.

31 Dec 1804: 28 with 8 Tps, 3 with 10 Tps.

31 Dec 1805: 5 with 8 Tps, 25 with 10 Tps, 1 with 12 Tps. 31 Dec 1806: 5 with 8 Tps, 25 with 10 Tps, 1 with 12 Tps.

31 Dec 1807: 3 with 8 Tps, 27 with 10 Tps, 1 with 12 Tps.

31 Dec 1808: 3 with 8 Tps, 27 with 10 Tps, 1 with 12 Tps.

31 Dec 1809: 3 with 8 Tps, 27 with 10 Tps, 1 with 12 Tps.

31 Dec 1810: 3 with 8 Tps, 27 with 10 Tps, 1 with 12 Tps.

31 Dec 1811: 30 with 10 Tps, 1 with 12 Tps.

31 Dec 1812: 30 with 10 Tps, 1 with 12 Tps. 31 Dec 1813: 26 with 10 Tps, 5 with 12 Tps.

31 Dec 1814: 21 with 8 Tps, 10 with 10 Tps.

From 1802 to 1815, there were always 3 Household Cavalry Regiments (including RHG, who were not formally Household Cavalry until 1820, but shared many characteristics with 1st & 2nd LG).

1st & 2nd LG had 6 Troops per Regiment from 31 Dec 1802 to 31 Dec 1811, but from 31 Dec 1812 increased to 8 Troops per Regiment.

RHG had 8 Troops from 31 Dec 1802 to 25 Dec 1811, increased to 10 Troops from 31 Dec 1812 to 31 Dec 1813, reduced to 8 Troops from 25 Dec 1814.

The Household Cavalry increases coincided with them sending a Brigade to the Peninsula, thereby allowing them still to have enough Troops for ceremonial duties back in UK.

There were no Colonial Cavalry. The only Foreign Cavalry was KGL and Brunswick. From 31 Dec 1803 the KGL Cavalry began to form. The number of KGL Troops per Regiment was:

31 Dec 1803: 2 with 4 Tps.

31 Dec 1804: 1 with 4 Tps, 2 with 10 Tps.

31 Dec 1805: 5 with 8 Tps.

31 Dec 1806: 5 with 8 Tps.

31 Dec 1807: 5 with 8 Tps.

31 Dec 1808: 5 with 8 Tps.

31 Dec 1809: 5 with 8 Tps.

31 Dec 1810: 5 with 8 Tps.

31 Dec 1811: 1 with 8 Tps, 4 with 10 Tps.

31 Dec 1812: 5 with 10 Tps.

31 Dec 1813: 4 with 10 Tps, 1 with 12 Tps.

31 Dec 1814: 4 with 10 Tps, 1 with 12 Tps.

A Brunswick Cavalry Regiment was taken onto the British establishment from 31 Dec 1810. It always had 6 Troops.

Hope this helps,

Rod

@Rod MacArthur Hi Rod, Thank you so much for this additional information on the cavalry. I am much obliged. All the best, Eamonn

Just noticed that I put 31 Dec against many of the Cavalry unit dates. I am sure I meant to put 25 Dec, since that was the normal “start of the year” for British Establishments. Occasionally “in year” changes were made on the “quarter days” of 25 Mar, 25 Jun and 25 Sep.

Rod

Thank you Rod. Your information on the number of battalions is much appreciated. Just to check - are the cavalry regiments included in these figures or not?

The WO17 returns I have seen at Kew for individual battalions do list the effective strength broken down by rank, but I don't yet know whether the returns for the whole army (or the various theatres) that appear to be held at TNA separate out drummers.

Thank you for your suggestion Hans. Regulations do list the number of drummers on the establishment (typically 22) but it's difficult to come up with an estimate for the entire army on that basis as the establishments of some corps varied and the stipulated figures don't necessarily correspond with the numbers that were actually on service (many regts had well below 22 depending on casualties and recruitment).

@Eamonn O'Keeffe

drummers were not that important in battle, most signals would be given in camp, this is in contrast to the bugle player who needed to know quite a few for controlling the skirmishing line.

Estimates of the army - in case British Army is using controles - one should be able to gather an approximate figure - there the strength would vary at daily basis.

Eamonn,

I can only give an approximation of authorised establishments, which for most of the war was some 180 battalions with 20 drummers each (not 22) but also having 2 fifers in the grenadier company, giving a total of 3,600 drummers and 360 fifers. I can produce the authorised number of battalions each year from 1802 to 1815, so will do that shortly. I doubt if you will get a figure of actual numbers serving as opposed to the authorised establishments.

Tom Holmberg posted a link to my SAHR articles. There is a simplified version, but with better diagrams, on my website:

https://rodwargaming.wordpress.com/miltary-historical-research/organisation/authorised-establishments-of-the-british-army-1802-1815/

Rod

Thank you very much for checking your files for me, Rob. I need all-army figures so I'm hoping that TNA WO 17/2814, "Monthly Summaries and Annual Abstracts of Effectives and Casualties of British and Foreign Corps at Home and Abroad, 1805-1816", which I'll consult whenever I'm next at Kew, breaks down the numbers by rank. Otherwise I expect I'll have to compile the data from the various theatre returns like the one you mentioned for Ireland.

Thank you Tom - it's a great article that speaks to the establishment strength in individual units but alas not to the number of effective drummers in the army as a whole.