British Invasion of the River Plate 1806-1807

[Siam01]

My ancestor was involved in the British Invasion of the River Plate arriving in 1807.  His name was Jose Cornelio Boné (Joseph Cornelius Bone) born about 1786 in England and he never returned to his homeland.  He settle in Colonia, Uruguay married a Uruguayan and had numerous children and died there.

How can I find out in which regiment he was with? 

The only clue is that I have been told his estate bears the name of Beresford and Whitelocke. The estate is no longer in the family.

Any information is appreciated.

[Mort29]

Beresford & Whitelocke were the Commanders of the British Forces for the 2 invasions - see Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_invasions_of_the_R%C3%ADo_de_la_Plata

[neil1821]

Hi,
The regiments involved in the 1807 South American expedition were as follows:
6th Dragoon Guards
9th Light Dragoons
17th Light Dragoons
20th Light Dragoons
21st Light Dragoons
1/5th Foot
1/36th Foot
1/38th Foot
1/40th Foot
1/45th Foot
1/47th Foot
54th Foot
1/71st Foot
1/87th Foot
1/88th Foot
1/89th Foot
1/95th Foot
2/95th Foot
Royal Artillery & Horse Artillery
detachments of Royal Marines and Royal Navy

So not as bad as it could be, you have a shortlist of 20-odd regiments.
I think it's going to be a case of finding 20 sets of regimental muster rolls for 1806-ish in the archives and going through them one-by-one till you find him.

He won't appear on any medal rolls and I don't see papers for him on the TNA catalogue.

[km1971]

There is no record of a Joseph Bone having held a commission in the Brtish army around that time. For rank and file only the records of those who retired with a pension have been kept, and again he is not listed. The only other records require you to know his regiment, and given the number of regiments that took part  - c20 army regiments plus marines and navy - it would be very time-consuming to research.

Ken

[Siam01]

Beresford & Whitelocke were the Commanders of the British Forces for the 2 invasions - see Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_invasions_of_the_R%C3%ADo_de_la_Plata

Thanks, I have read about them before but what confuse me is that Beresford was commander of the 1st invasion and Whitelocke of the 2nd invasion, my ancestor arrived in the 2nd invasion.  Why would he have Beresford unless it's I have incorrect information and he arrived in 1806???

[Siam01]

Hi,
The regiments involved in the 1807 South American expedition were as follows:
6th Dragoon Guards
9th Light Dragoons
17th Light Dragoons
20th Light Dragoons
21st Light Dragoons
1/5th Foot
1/36th Foot
1/38th Foot
1/40th Foot
1/45th Foot
1/47th Foot
54th Foot
1/71st Foot
1/87th Foot
1/88th Foot
1/89th Foot
1/95th Foot
2/95th Foot
Royal Artillery & Horse Artillery
detachments of Royal Marines and Royal Navy

So not as bad as it could be, you have a shortlist of 20-odd regiments.
I think it's going to be a case of finding 20 sets of regimental muster rolls for 1806-ish in the archives and going through them one-by-one till you find him.

He won't appear on any medal rolls and I don't see papers for him on the TNA catalogue.

Thank you for your extensive list.  I had only managed to find three regiement but knew that there had to be many more.

[Siam01]

There is no record of a Joseph Bone having held a commission in the Brtish army around that time. For rank and file only the records of those who retired with a pension have been kept, and again he is not listed. The only other records require you to know his regiment, and given the number of regiments that took part  - c20 army regiments plus marines and navy - it would be very time-consuming to research.

Ken

Hi Ken,

Thank you for looking up and yes I agree it will be very time consuming but with pot of luck someone might have seen his name somewhere.

Thanks again.

[Siam01]

Hi,
The regiments involved in the 1807 South American expedition were as follows:
6th Dragoon Guards
9th Light Dragoons
17th Light Dragoons
20th Light Dragoons
21st Light Dragoons
1/5th Foot
1/36th Foot
1/38th Foot
1/40th Foot
1/45th Foot
1/47th Foot
54th Foot
1/71st Foot
1/87th Foot
1/88th Foot
1/89th Foot
1/95th Foot
2/95th Foot
Royal Artillery & Horse Artillery
detachments of Royal Marines and Royal Navy

So not as bad as it could be, you have a shortlist of 20-odd regiments.
I think it's going to be a case of finding 20 sets of regimental muster rolls for 1806-ish in the archives and going through them one-by-one till you find him.

He won't appear on any medal rolls and I don't see papers for him on the TNA catalogue.

Hi,

I just had a though I could probably narrow it down further by selecting the regiments who where in Colonia, Uruguay around that time.

[neil1821]

I just had a though I could probably narrow it down further by selecting the regiments who where in Colonia, Uruguay around that time.

Possibly. Also, if you're sure you're ancestor arrived in the second invasion rather than the first or third, that narrows things down too.

6th Dragoon Guards
9th Light Dragoons
17th Light Dragoons
20th Light Dragoons
21st Light Dragoons (1 squadron)
1/5th Foot
1/36th Foot
1/38th Foot
1/40th Foot
1/45th Foot
1/47th Foot
54th Foot
1/71st Foot (1 company only)
1/87th Foot
1/88th Foot
1/89th Foot
1/95th Foot (3 companies)
2/95th Foot
Royal Artillery & Horse Artillery
detachments of Royal Marines and Royal Navy