Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

This 84-page volume contains orders, muster rolls, and supplementary material concerning the operations of the British Army's 15th Regiment of Foot in June 1841.

This 84-page volume contains orders, muster rolls, and supplementary material concerning the operations of the British Army's 15th Regiment of Foot in June 1841. The volume originally belonged to an officer stationed with the regiment, and it contains 8 pages of orders issued by Lieutenant Colonel Lord Charles Wellesley in June 1841. Wellesley's orders pertain to the division of the regiment's companies into smaller squads, specify requirements for personnel records, and provide a list of drill movements to be performed by each squad. The orders are followed by a roster of members of the 2nd Squad of the regiment's 1st Company: a 22-page printed chart filled out in manuscript, followed by a 15-page roster with the same format, written entirely in manuscript. The roster includes information about each member of the unit, including his name, age at enlistment, height and weight, birthplace, trade, level of literacy, religion (Catholic or Protestant), and marital status; it also provides space for additional remarks, often used to record promotions, discharges, deaths, transfers, or the number and ages of children. The next 8 pages (bound into the volume) contain printed instructions for non-commissioned officers, including discussions of officers' duties, procedures and regulations concerning the formation of companies, and information about guards and barracks.

Other portions of the book record specific orders for the regiment to proceed to Fareham, blank handwritten grids for the names of men to be disciplined or promoted, and lists of duties for orderly sergeants and orderly corporals. The volume also contains a list of daily drill procedures, a diagram of a "Complete Kit laid out," and the light marching order.

This collection includes 2 letters that Lieutenant Colonel John Herries wrote to Charles Herries while serving with the 102nd Regiment of Foot in Canada during the War of 1812, as well as a later manuscript service record.

This collection includes 2 letters (7 pages) that Lieutenant Colonel John Herries wrote to Colonel Charles Herries while serving with the 102nd Regiment of Foot in Canada during the War of 1812, as well as a later manuscript service record (1 page).

Herries wrote his first letter (4 pages) from Moose Island, Passamaquoddy Bay, on October 30, 1814, and his second letter (3 pages) from St. John, New Brunswick, on August 5, 1815. Herries reflected on his military activities and reported recent war news, such as the Royal Navy's defeat at Lake Champlain in September 1814. Herries described New Brunswick as a "rascally country," and noted that its main population consisted of pioneers. In his second letter, he reported that he had read about the Duke of Wellington's victory at Waterloo. The final item is a manuscript document that provides details about Herries's military career, which included service in India, Europe, and North America. The record was compiled after his death; according to the docket, the document was "Read 12/2 51."