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  1. #1
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    Default Brit/Scottish soldier in Ireland c.1812-1815

    This will probably be a dumb question to anyone with even intermediate knowledge of European military history.

    I know my WWI and WWII, but after that I'm kind of a dunce.

    I have an ancestor who was from Scotland, and was a British soldier, apparently sent to fight in Ireland from around 1812-1815.

    What conflict would this have been?

    All of my searches are sending me to the War of 1812 in North America, but this fellow was in Ireland.

    Anyone have any broad strokes to offer? Thanks.

  2. #2
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    Don't forget Ireland at that time was part of the United Kingdom, so troops would be garrisoned there as they would in any other part of the UK.

  3. #3

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    How do you know he was sent there to fight rather than for some other reason? If he was a British soldier then he could have been routinely stationed in any part of the UK, such as Ireland.

  4. #4

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    All true. At that time it would have been no more remarkable than stationing troops in England, Scotland or Wales. Some regiments had their headquarters there, and recruits would have gone there for training, regimental admin and stores would have been there - normal army life.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ernest47 View Post
    How do you know he was sent there to fight rather than for some other reason? If he was a British soldier then he could have been routinely stationed in any part of the UK, such as Ireland.
    I don't know he was sent there "to fight." I just know he was sent there "as a soldier."

  6. #6
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    The following is taken from my story of Francis Low, one of my lot.
    Francis enlisted in the 2nd Company of the 16th on May 4, 1812.The 16th had only recently returned from Surinam. It had been a hard posting, one in which they had won their battle honours along with the 64th Regiment of Foot, and the regiment was sent to Ireland in order to recuperate and replenish its ranks.
    Great Britain was not just at war in Europe, for America had declared war on June 18, 1812. The pretext being that American ships were being stopped and searched by the Royal Navy who were not only looking for deserters, but also seizing American ships trading with France. However, it may have been more to do with America seeing a chance that Britain’s struggle with Bonaparte on the Iberian Peninsula could allow them to settle the British in North America once and for all. The British would ensure that the Americans would not invade Canada, as the US had tried so unsuccessfully to do in 1778. The spearhead was to be the 16th and so, on March 25, 1814 they set sail from the Cove of Cork; destination Canada. They embarked on six ships: Ann, Phoenix, Centurian, Essex, Simpson and Admiral Gambier: and arrived at Fort Wellington on the mighty St Lawrence on May 29.
    Once the War of 1812 was over, the Regiment returned to Ireland.
    It may not be of help, other than pointing out that a posting to Ireland was not unusual.
    Peter Nicholl
    Researching:Nicholl,Boater, Haselgrove & Vaughan

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    I have a correction to make.

    The words I have are that he was "fighting in Ireland."

    And the years were c.1794-1797. Not 1812-15 as I had written previously.

    Does this timing make sense for any relevant conflict in Ireland?

  8. #8

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    Who wrote "fighting in Ireland"? And when?

  9. #9
    Famous for offering help & advice peter nicholl's Avatar
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    Yes, it makes sense. Search for the Irish Rebellion of 1798.
    Peter Nicholl
    Researching:Nicholl,Boater, Haselgrove & Vaughan

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lesley Robertson View Post
    Who wrote "fighting in Ireland"? And when?
    A couple sentences on his immigration written in the 1980s gives "fighting in Ireland" for approximately 4 years, discharged from the military in 1797, and sailed for Canada on the Dorothy in 1815.

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