The 47th Regiment of Foot served throughout the whole of the American
War of Independence. The regiment experienced the transition from
peacetime soldiering in Ireland and New Jersey, through the
deteriorating political situation, to open rebellion. The officers and
men had to alter their tactics and doctrine from peacetime garrison
duties, through conventional warfare around Boston to woodland
operations in Canada and upper New York.
Who were the 47th Foot? How well did they overcome the challenges they
faced? What became of them? Where they unthinking automatons lead by an
officer class incapable of adapting to the reality of warfare in North
America?
Paul Knight examines the regiment within the context of a British Army
which was neither stuck in the past nor incapable of reform. New
uniforms, weapons, and drill manuals reflected the lessons of the
previous war within an environment of doctrinally innovative generals.
Against this, the regiment had to train in an era of the financial
parsimony and where the friction of peacetime soldiering mitigated
against training objectives. Nevertheless, the 47th was judged 'A Very
Fine Regiment and Fit for Service' before it sailed for New Jersey in
1773.
In North America, the 47th served in peaceful New Jersey and New York
before joining the Boston Garrison in response to the deteriorating
political situation there. After Boston, they were sent to Quebec where
they drove American Rebels out of Canada before participating in the
ill-fated Saratoga Campaign. Most of the regiment then endured years of
captivity as part of the Convention Army. A fortunate part of the
regiment avoided this fate and defended Canada's borders for the
remained of the war.
This period saw the 47th, and the British Army in North America, quickly
adapting to the rapidly evolving political and military situations they
encountered. They successfully evolved their tactics and doctrine from
peaceful garrison duties to conventional warfare in response to open
rebellion and then to irregular tactics for woodland fighting.
Paul Knight shows how the 47th Foot was able to adapt to the changing
threats and operational environment quickly and effectively. These were
thinking soldiers led by flexible officers capable of adopting to the
prevailing operational environment.
