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Informative list of army pensions in the 40 years between the Battle of Bunker Hill and Waterloo. Drawn up on the orders of Lord Palmerston, it is a remarkable insight into the class and rank privileges of the period.
This gem was printed on 14th May 1818 by order of the House of Commons under the authority of the then Secretary-at-War, Lord Palmerston. The names are arranged by regiments in order of precedence beginning with the cavalry, the Royal Horse Guards leading the way (no Life Guards pensions), followed by the Foot Guards and then the infantry of the line, listed by Foot number (1st Foot, 2nd Foot etc). The earliest recorded engagement is Bunker Hill (1775) and the latest Waterloo (1815), a spread of forty years. It reads like a history of the British Army and it is an eye-opener to be faced with the number of battles and engagements in which British arms were involved during that period and the variety of locations. The first recorded pensions dated from 25th December 1811 so the eligible wounded from Bunker Hill or the Battle of Brandywine (1777) had to wait some thirty-five years, whereas Waterloo casualties started receiving their pensions on 19th June 1819, four years after the battle. The amount received appears to have been affected by rank; thus Sir David Baird, a Lieut-General, got GBP450 for the loss of an arm at Corunna (1809), Lt Col Maxwell GBP300 for the same wound at the same battle, while Lieut Lane, who lost his at Waterloo, got GBP70. Another Lieut was awarded a pension of GBP50 for getting a rupture during that battle.
