These Distinguished Corps

During the American Revolution, British light infantry and grenadier battalions figured prominently in almost every battle and campaign. They are routinely mentioned in campaign studies, usually with no context to explain what these battalions were. In an army that employed regiments as the primary deployable assets, the most active battlefield elements were temporary battalions created after the war began and disbanded when it ended. This work is the first operational study of these battalions during the entire war, looking at their creation, evolution and employment from the first day of hostilities through their disbandment at the end of the conflict. It examines how and why these battalions were created, how they were maintained at optimal strength over eight years of war, how they were deployed tactically and managed administratively. Most importantly, it looks at the individual officers and soldiers who served in them. Using first-hand accounts and other primary sources, These Distinguished Corps describes life in the grenadiers and light infantry on a personal level, from Canada to the Caribbean and from barracks to battlefield.

"...quality of the writing and the depth of information make this one of the best of the series..." The Historical Miniatures Gaming Society

"Hagist provides a well-researched story of how these soldiers fought, where they traveled to during the war, what hardships they encountered, and even how they dressed."  Journal of the American Revolution

"This is not a systematic battle history, but it offers insights into some of the actions: for example, I had not realised that the light infantry fired (accidentally) on the grenadiers at Bunker Hill. There are excellent contemporary sketch maps of some of the actions, and the whole book offers a useful basis for refighting various battles and skirmishes and with highly attractive uniforms to boot. Nicely done." Miniature Wargames Magazine

"This excellent book is a study of the elite 20 per-cent of each eighteenth-century British regiment of infantry.....Taken as a whole, this books is another hefty nail in the coffin of the idea that soldiers of the Old Regime were be-wigged, pipe-clayed automata. Quite the contrary, for in this version of events the British Army emerges as a forward-thinking, progressive organisation, en route to the flexible, all-purpose foot soldier of modern times." Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research,Vol 101, No 405, 2023