British Invasion of the River Plate 1806-1807

[neil1821]

Found a couple of references to Colonia....

26 Feb 1807 - Lt-Col Pack dispatched west from Montevideo with 6 companies of the 40th Foot, 4 companies of light infantry (various regiments?), 3 companies of the 95th Rifles and a squadron of 9th Dragoons to seize Colonia and impede any possible Spanish counterattacks from Buenos Aires.

7 Jun 1807 - Pack steals out of Colonia with 541 men of the 40th, 225 men of the 95th, 278 skirmishers, 61 troopers of the 9th Dragoons, 34 gunners and 2 field pieces to surprise the Spanish at San Pedro......

26 Jun 1807 - Pack's garrison abandons Colonia, joining Whitelocke's expedition against Buenos Aires.

So those are the regiments I'd look for him in first, but you still need a researcher or yourself to visit Kew for the answer.

[Siam01]

Found a couple of references to Colonia....

26 Feb 1807 - Lt-Col Pack dispatched west from Montevideo with 6 companies of the 40th Foot, 4 companies of light infantry (various regiments?), 3 companies of the 95th Rifles and a squadron of 9th Dragoons to seize Colonia and impede any possible Spanish counterattacks from Buenos Aires.

7 Jun 1807 - Pack steals out of Colonia with 541 men of the 40th, 225 men of the 95th, 278 skirmishers, 61 troopers of the 9th Dragoons, 34 gunners and 2 field pieces to surprise the Spanish at San Pedro......

26 Jun 1807 - Pack's garrison abandons Colonia, joining Whitelocke's expedition against Buenos Aires.

So those are the regiments I'd look for him in first, but you still need a researcher or yourself to visit Kew for the answer.

Hi Neil,

Thank you for your help.  Not long ago I found the references you send but was overwhelm with the numbers of regiments.

I presume Kew is the National Archives center in the England; I live in Australia so it makes it difficult to visit the center.  Is there any other avenue, other than going through this painful process of checking at least 14 regiments??  Do they have an index on-line or computer system in their premise, where you can insert the name and it will show up which regiment???

Are you able to explain to me what it means when they refer to the 6th companies of the 40th foot?  I know that the 40th foot is the regiment but what are the 6 companies??

As you know he didn’t return home so he would have not received the pension or medals for his effort.  So I wonder if you have any suggestion as to what documents could indicate his career in the military that may still be in Uruguay?

Thanks again for your help.

[neil1821]

I presume Kew is the National Archives center in the England; I live in Australia so it makes it difficult to visit the center.  Is there any other avenue, other than going through this painful process of checking at least 14 regiments??  Do they have an index on-line or computer system in their premise, where you can insert the name and it will show up which regiment???

Indeed, Kew is The National Archives. As you can't easily visit in person, the other option is to hire a researcher to look for you. There are several who specialise in military matters.
No other avenue suggests itself to me other than the musters which aren't online sadly. Pension records are online but have already checked and your man isn't listed (as he stayed in Uruguay it's entirely possible he deserted/went AWOL)

.

[Siam01]

I presume Kew is the National Archives center in the England; I live in Australia so it makes it difficult to visit the center.  Is there any other avenue, other than going through this painful process of checking at least 14 regiments??  Do they have an index on-line or computer system in their premise, where you can insert the name and it will show up which regiment???

Indeed, Kew is The National Archives. As you can't easily visit in person, the other option is to hire a researcher to look for you. There are several who specialise in military matters.
No other avenue suggests itself to me other than the musters which aren't online sadly. Pension records are online but have already checked and your man isn't listed (as he stayed in Uruguay it's entirely possible he deserted/went AWOL)

.

Thank you for your help.  I agree with you, I think he deserted the army/navy too.  I think I will leave it at that for now and try to dig up more information on the other end (Uruguay) to see if I can find information about which regiment he was involved with.

[tirofijoisback]

I am currently researching the British Invasions of the River Plate. Although I have not done a systematic search for Joseph Cornelius Bone, I have come across two soldiers named Bone.

1) Assistant Surgeon Bone of the 5th Regiment – busy dressing the wounded during BA attack on 5th July 1807 (NAM 6403-14) - He is mentioned in Major King's account held in the National Army Museum, London.

2) Sergeant-Major William Bone - 88th Regiment – ‘for his gallant conduct [on 5th July 1807]…was recommended by …Duff for an ensigncy, to which he was promoted and died a Captain in the Royal African regiment.’ (Historical Record 88th, p.14)

Obviously the second was not Jospeh Cornelius and the first is unlikely to be him either (if he was a deserter he was almost certainly Rank and File), but I thought you might be interested anyway.

Happy hunting!

[Siam01]

Hi, thank you for your post and sorry it has taken me this long to reply tbut I have been overseas.

You are right it's not him but worth investiging as it may be his brother, uncle or cousin?

When you say he was rank and file.  Do you mean they have some a file for all deserter in that particular war??

I am most interested in what you have investigated on the British Invasions of the River Plate.  What are you looking for??

Best of luck on your investigations

[tirofijoisback]

Hi Siam,

Rank and file means not an officer, i.e a private, corporal or sergeant.

I am researching the entire invasion from both points of view (both English and South American / Spanish) for a book I hope to have published in about a year and a half or so. A lot of primary sources from the British side have not been used before, so the research is fascinating.

Thanks for your interest. 

[km1971]

Sorry, but 'Rank and file' mean Corporals and below. 'Other ranks' means NCOs and below.

Ken

[tirofijoisback]

Thanks for the clarification.