Irene There is some helpful background information contained in The Waterloo Companion by Mark Adkin, pub Aurum 2001. I will summarise from page 178: Drummers: Drummers were not necessarily boys. At Waterloo the average age of the drummers in 2/73 was twenty three, with the youngest being nineteen and the oldest twenty seven. They had an average of eight years service each. Often recruited young they tended to continue their drumming duties well into manhood and were frequently more experienced soldiers than the men they served. There was one drummer on the establishment of every company but a number of battalions had more: the 2/30 for example had fourteen at Waterloo. Their duties included wielding the lash on soldiers sentenced to be flogged. They were supposed to carry a cat o' nine tails in their pack so that the punishment could be carried out on the march if necessary. The youngest soldier in 2/73 at Waterloo was Robert Kyle who, though only seventeen had already been in the army for over four years, including two fighting in the Peninsula. Before enlistment as a Boy he had done a spell as a Drummer before transferring to private. From the same page: The 1/52 started the battle as the strongest battalion in Wellington's army, with 1,130 all ranks under the command of Lt Col Sir John Colborne. Colbourrne had commanded a brigade in Portugal, Spain and France and eventually became Field Marshall Lord Seaton. (A statue of this soldier stands outside the RGJ regimental museum in Peninsula Barracks at Winchester). Most British regiments at Waterloo comprised ten companies of about 65 - 75 soldiers, so a regiment or battalion would be about 650 in total. I cannot presently verify the organisation of the 52nd but it seems likely that the companies would still number ten of about 100 to 120 soldiers. The same source describes part of what the 52nd stood up to at Waterloo. p270 "Ensign Leeke of the 1/52 Foot who carried one of the Colours at Waterloo, stated that the Peninsula veterans had never experienced such a battering as they faced that day. The worst was when they formed square on the forward slope north-east of Hougoumont to receive French cavalry attacks - which came as a welcome relief from the gunfire. It was a large battalion and formed two squares, initially almost concealed in the tall rye that had to be trampled down. The French guns were about 700-800 metres to the south of the squares. The British batteries were behind the squares and firing over them - at one stage faulty fusing of shrapnel shells caused some to burst over the 52nd which inflicted casualties - it was stopped when an officer dashed back to the guns to inform them what was happening. This is what young Leeke had to say: The standing to be cannonaded and hving nothing else to do, is about the most unpleasant thing that can happen to soldiers in an engagement. I frequently tried to follow with my eye, the course of the balls from our own guns, which were firing over us. It is much more easy to see a round shot passing away from you over your head, than to catch sight of one coming towards you, though this also occurs occasionally.... I distinctly saw the French artillerymen go through the whole process of sponging out one of his guns and reloading it; I could see that it was pointed at our square and when it was discharged I caught sight of the ball, which appeared to be in direct line with me. I thought Shall I move? No! I gathered myself up, and stood firm with the Colour in my right hand [he commented that both Regimental Colours had been badly shot up during the Peninsula War, and at Waterloo were 'little more than bare poles']. I do not know exactly the rapidity with which cannon balls fly, but I think that two seconds elapsed from the time I saw this shot lave the gun until it struck the front face of the square. It did not strike the four men in rear of whom I was standing, but the poor fellows on their right. It was fired at some elevation and struck the first man about the knees, and coming to the ground under the feet of the rear man of the four, whom it most severely wounded, it rose and, passing within an inch or two of the colour pole, went over the rear face of the square without doing further injury. The two men in the first and second rank fell outward, I fear they did not survive long; the other two fell within the square." p 398 At the conclusion of the battle Colbourne admitted "The 52nd suffered severely from the fire of the Enemy; the loss of the skirmishers was severe, and the two Officers of the Company were wounded. The right wing of the 52nd lost nearly 150 men during the advance [following up the Imperial Guards retreat]; the officer carrying the Regimental Colour was killed. (Note: this could not have been Leeke, the youngest subaltern who must have carried the King's Colour, as he survived for 64 years after Waterloo and of course to record his experiences.) Regarding Joseph Boy's later change from Drummer to Bugler: the main role of the Drummer was to pass orders, by drum beating, in barracks and battle. This was inappropriate for Light Infantry Regiments and Rifle regiments who replaced the drum with the bugle. Best regards Blair On 08/01/2012 12:45, Blair Southerden wrote: > Irene > > I have been following this thread with some interest. I suspect that Joseph Boy was created young, as a drummer boy as suggested by a previous correspondent. His transfer to private would probably have occurred at the age of 18 years when he became eligible by age for 'man service'. > > I note mention by Caroline of the 52nd Regiment. Was this the regiment in which he served? If so it became the Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and later in 1966 the 1st Bn Royal Green Jackets. This regiment has now become (since 2007) The Rifles. The RGJ museum is in Winchester, and while they do not hold service records, there may be some information that will throw further light on recruitment. From 1808 the army was heavily involved in the Peninsula War and the 52nd were involved there. > > If you can confirm the 52nd was Joseph's Regiment I can make further enquiries along these lines. > > Best regards > > Blair >

Hello Blair: Thank you seems to be an inadequate response to your helpful findings. I am amazed at this information. How interesting it all is. It certainly puts Joseph's service into perspective. I think I can now assume that Joseph was not a teenager when he married in 1819. He was probably in his early twenties at Waterloo (from your quoted statistic from Mark Adkin). I think he may well have been a similar age to his wife and therefore born about 1790 +/- 5 years or so. The info about carrying the lash and wielding it is very surprising. It is nice to have confirmation that he may well have continued his drumming duties well after Waterloo until the job description changed. The description of the battle is terrifying but Joseph seems to have come through OK. All this has got me fired up for really finding out more about him. I had already learned quite a bit about barracks life for British soldiers in Canada during and after the War of 1812. I visited several forts in Ontario a couple of years ago and realised that this lifestyle probably applied to Joseph in the years spent in Nova Scotia in the 1820's. However, the wartime experiences must have defined the man - how could it be otherwise? Many, many thanks for your help, Best wishes, Irene