I have an ancestor who signed up to the Duke of Wellington (West Riding) reg. but he was immediately transferred to the Northamptonshire Regiment. The only way to find him was by chasing down his original army number, and this entailed tracing everyone with a similar name in the records. The records that do survive are often very confusing, as the men were shuffled around from unit to unit, depending on casualties etc, and they were passed around from different Commanding Officers, and obviously, there was a War on, so record keeping often took second place to everything. If he died in action, was he entitled to a pension? Did he have a next of kin? These records can sometimes point the way. Good luck--- there's always a way round!
