COMPANY AND BATTALION ORGANIZATION
OF THE BRIGADE OF GUARDS ON AMERICAN SERVICE
by Linnea M. Bass

The Brigade of Guards for American Service was formed in a rather unusual fashion, and as a result, its structure was atypical. The detachment was not composed of any whole regiment. Instead, 15 men were drafted from each of the 64 companies in the Three Regiments of Foot Guards. These men, plus NCOs, musicians, commissioned officers, and additional staff were organized into 10 companies. The 120 drafts from the 8 existing grenadier companies (4 in First Guards, 2 each in Coldstream and Third) formed a composite Grenadier Company. The 56 regular infantry companies (24 in First Guards, 16 each in Coldstream and Third) contributed a total of 840 privates. Ninety-six of them were diverted to form a Light Infantry Company, since there was no light infantry in the Guards at the time. The remaining 744 men were divided into 8 regular infantry companies of 93 men each.
The available evidence indicates that all fifteen privates from a company of Guards in England were put in the same company for American Service. The 1776 records of the Third Company, commanded by Lt. Col. Sir John Wrottesley, indicate that it was composed of men from the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 11th Companies of the First Guards in England.1
The Grenadier and Light Infantry Companies in the Brigade for American Service were made up of officers, NCOs and men from all three Regiments of Guards. The Fourth or "Brigade" Company was staffed by First Guards officers, but composed of NCOs and privates from each of the three regiments. 2 The First, Second and Third Companies consisted of First Guards personnel; The Fifth and Sixth Companies were Scots Guards; and the Seventh and Eighth Companies were Coldstream Guards. These ten companies were at first styled a "detachment," but upon arrival in America were, by General Howe's orders, reorganized into a Brigade of two battalions.
Over the course of the war in America, the companies in the Brigade of Guards were renumbered for a variety of reasons. Most often this was the result of a change in the relative seniority of the company commanders. For instance, when a draft of officers and men arrived in America from England in June of 1777, some of the lieutenant colonels were relieved and went home. The companies were then renumbered to reflect the seniority of their commanding officers. For instance, in First Battalion, the commander of the original Third Co. was now the most senior First Guards Lieutenant Colonel. As a result, his company became the First. At the same time, the Fourth (Brigade) Co. became the Third, and the First Co. became the Fourth. It appears that whenever this type of renumbering occurred, the men remained together and only the company designation changed. In 1779 the number of flank companies was increased from two to four. This was the most dramatic reorganization of the Brigade until late 1780 when the total number of companies was reduced from ten to eight and then six. Finally, after Guilford Courthouse, the Brigade was restructured into four companies in a single battalion. Unfortunately, there is no information as to what happened to the Brigade after that, other than the fact that reinforcements from England arrived while the Army was at Williamsburg later in the year.

Major Restructurings
1. In April 1779 the Brigade was reduced to six infantry companies by the activation of one additional grenadier company and one additional light infantry company. The original Grenadier Company became the First Battalion Grenadier Company and the Brigade Company (at that time the
3rd) was designated as the 1st Battalion Light Infantry Company. Companies 5 and 6 became the 4 and 5 respectively. The 7th was redesign Ted as the Second Battalion Grenadier Company and the 8th was
renumbered as the 6th. The original Light Infantry Company was renamed the Second Battalion Light Infantry Company.
The First Battalion then consisted of the 1st Grenadier Co., the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Companies, and the 1st Light Infantry Co. Second Battalion was composed of the 2nd Grenadier Co., the 4th, 5th, and 6th Companies, and the 2nd Light Infantry Co.
TOTAL: 4 flank and 6 battalion companies
2. In August 1779 a large draft of officers and soldiers arrived. It was decided that the Fifth Company would take on the Brigade Company identity by absorbing supernumerary Scots and Coldstream Guards privates and NCOs who were not in the 4th or 6th Companies respectively.
TOTAL: 4 flank and 6 battalion companies
3. In October 1780 the 2nd Grenadier and the 2nd Light Infantry Companies were reduced to zero strength due to an insufficient number of officers. The personnel were reassigned to the remaining flank
companies or to one of the "hat" companies. The 1st Battalion Light Infantry was transferred to Second Battalion.
TOTAL: 2 flank, 6 battalion companies
4. In December 1780, the Brigade was reduced once more, with the elimination of two more companies. This structure remained in force until after the combat at Guilford Court House in March of 1781.
TOTAL: 2 flank, 4 battalion companies
5. On 17 March 1781 the Brigade was temporarily styled as one battalion containing the Grenadier Company, the former 2nd Company (still 2nd), the former 4th Company (now 1st), and the Light Infantry Company.
TOTAL: 2 flank, 2 battalion companies
FOOTNOTES
1. The papers concerning Lt. Col. Sir John Wrottesley's Company, Guards Detachment in America. Newbold-Irvine Papers, General William Irvine Box 5, Manuscript Department, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
2. Some historians have assumed that the Brigade Co. was a headquarters co. No evidence has been discovered, however, to support that idea. Instead, it is evident that the name was a result of the composite nature of the company.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
"Howe Orderly Book 1776-1778," Manuscript Dept., William L. Clements Library, Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor. This is actually a Brigade of Guards Orderly Book from 1st Battalion beginning 12 March 1776, the day the Brigade for American Service was formed.
"Orderly Book: British Regiment Foot guards, New York and New Jersey," a 1st Battalion Orderly Book covering Aug. 1776 - Jan. 1777. Reel 3, document 37 of Early American Orderly Books Series microfilmed by Research Publications Inc.
"Orderly Book: Second Brigade, British Foot Guards, New York," covering Aug. - Dec. 1778. Reel 6, document 65 of Early American Orderly Books Series microfilmed by Research Publications Inc. This is actually a 1st Battalion Orderly Book, but generally covers only every other day.
"Orderly Book: First Battalion of Guards, British Army, New York," covering all but a few days of 1779. Reel 6, document 77 of Early American Orderly Books Series microfilmed by Research Publications Inc.
Newsome, A.R., Ed. "A British Orderly Book, 1780-1781." The North Carolina Historical Review, Vol. 9, Oct. - Jan. 1932, pp. 57-78, 163-186, 273-290 366-392. This covers Aug. 28 1780 - 20 March 1781.
"Orderly Book: Brigade of Guards. Commencing 29th January 1778." Library of Congress, Presidential Papers Microfilm, George Washington Papers Series 6 B, Volume 4, Reel 118. Orderly book ends 9 August 1778. Receipt Books, Orderly Book, and other papers concerning Lt. Col. Sir John Wrottesley's Company, Guards Detachment in America. Newbold-Irvine Papers, General William Irvine Box 5, Manuscript Department, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

CHART
The chart on the following page is a visual display of the changes in
company and battalion structure.
Key
** = official "Brigade Company"
comp = composite company of more than one Regiment
1Gds = Company composed of First Guards privates and NCOs
3Gds = Company composed of Third Guards privates and NCOs
Crm = Company composed of Coldstream Guards privates and NCOs