Face Check: How much nepotism was there in the Napoleonic-era British Army?

[The Lethargic Lett]

I've been trying to research an answer to this to no avail, so maybe the brilliant minds here at alternate history.com can help me out.

The question in particular I have in mind is: if a minor army officer was dissatisfied with his posting, would he be able to get re-assigned if he complained to friends, or friends of friends, in the upper nobility and navy? I realize this is specific, but I can't find any information on the subject.

 

[Kaze]

Yes, he could do so if he had powerful friends -- but it was frowned on if you jumped from unit to unit on a whim, and once in you started with zero seniority and would have to work up to get a higher rank.

But there is another way as well - buying yourself a commission is possible. The problem is moving up the ranks is difficult since you have to buy yourself up every rank increase and there is a limited number of ranks above you - there were only x+1 numbers of captains in the British Army, if all x+1 are filled with living members you could not advance to the rank of Captain unless something like the captain having a bullet enter his head, then the rank is open for firstly the man with the most seniority in the unit and secondly for the one that could buy the rank...

 

[Derek Pullem]

Yes it can definitely be done - either as a bought commission or a supernumerary (ADC or similar)

Other alternative would be to seek a commission in the East Indian Company army although this still left the seniority issue when trying for a commission back in the UK

 

[cerebropetrologist]

The question in particular I have in mind is: if a minor army officer was dissatisfied with his posting, would he be able to get re-assigned if he complained to friends, or friends of friends, in the upper nobility and navy?

You can exchange commissions with an officer of the same rank in a different regiment, with the approval of both regimental colonels and the commander-in-chief. Both officers have to sign a certificate saying that no money has changed hands in respect of the exchange, but in practice the officer moving to the more prestigious regiment will probably have to make a payment to the officer transferring the other way. This is a fairly regular occurrence: for instance, when cavalry regiments go out to India, officers who prefer to remain in Britain will exchange.

To illustrate, although taken from a later period:
'In the autumn of the year, my battalion, the 73rd, was ordered to Hong Kong, and I expected orders to embark with it. This I should have done, but that the pleasant Colonel who commanded it when I joined, retired, and was succeeded by a man I disliked, so I paid £500 for an exchange to the 17th Regiment.' (From Evelyn Wood's autobiography)

In the relevant issue of the Gazette, we see:
'17th Foot - Captain and Brevet-Major Henry Evelyn Wood, from the 73d Foot, to be Captain, vice J.T.B. Mayne, who exchanges. Dated 10th November 1865.'

 

[Fabius Maximus]

But there is another way as well - buying yourself a commission is possible. The problem is moving up the ranks is difficult since you have to buy yourself up every rank increase and there is a limited number of ranks above you - there were only x+1 numbers of captains in the British Army, if all x+1 are filled with living members you could not advance to the rank of Captain unless something like the captain having a bullet enter his head, then the rank is open for firstly the man with the most seniority in the unit and secondly for the one that could buy the rank...

You could always try to find a place in a regiment going out to the West Indies. Commissions there were generally pretty cheap, because so many soldiers always ended up dying of fever.

 

[Marc]

The career of Lord Frederick Cavendish is illustrative of how far being the younger son of a duke (and similar ranked aristocrats) could get you in the British army of the 18th-19th centuries.

He chose a military career, and became an ensign in the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards 29 April 1749. He entered parliament in 1751 for the family seat of Derbyshire. On 17 March 1752, he was promoted to captain-lieutenant in the Coldstream Guards. In 1754, he gave up the Derbyshire seat to his brother George and was returned for Derby instead. He was seconded to the 29th Regiment of Foot as lieutenant-colonel in 1755 and went to Ireland with his brother William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington, newly made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He was promoted to captain and lieutenant-colonel in the 1st Foot Guards on 1 June 1756 and served as an aide-de-camp to the Duke of Cumberland in 1757.

He was promoted to colonel on 7 May 1758, and took part in the "descents" upon France that year. He was captured during the disastrous embarkation at St. Cast (11 September 1758), but was paroled in October.

He was shortly exchanged, and on 24 October 1759, appointed colonel of the 67th Regiment of Foot, which command he held for a year; on 30 October 1760, he took command of the 34th Regiment of Foot. On 7 March 1761, he was promoted to major-general, and sailed for Germany the next month. Prince chasseurs in June 1762, which he led at the Battle of Wilhelmsthal on 24 June. Part of his command was ambushed in October 1762 during the Siege of Kassel.

He was promoted to lieutenant-general on 30 April 1770, but owing to his sympathies, took no part in the American Revolution. In 1780, he left his seat in Parliament and was succeeded by his nephew general on 20 November 1782 and field marshal on 30 July 1796. In 1797, he resigned the command of the 34th Regt., and he died in 1803 at Twickenham Park, where he had lived since 1788. He left most of his property to his nephew Lord George Cavendish, later the Earl of Burlington.