British Army, Military Establishment Book, manuscript, 1775

BRITISH ARMY--AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR

Returns of His Majesty's Forces. July 1775

manuscript in English, partially printed, listing cavalry and infantry regiments and their strengths, in Britain, the Channel Isles, Africa, Gibraltar, Minorca, the West Indies and North America, with title page and index, 40 pages, plus blanks, with an abandoned heading written from the reverse ("English Grammar and Composition"), 8vo, red morocco with gilt border, edges gilt

A SUMMARY OF THE DISPOSITION OF THE BRITISH ARMY AT THE BEGINNING OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR. This establishment book shows very clearly the build-up of forces in North America, where there was a military presence of 11,736 men. This was significantly more than the combined total for the rest of Britain's colonies, and nearly as many as the establishment in England and Wales (13,567). The lists from which this manuscript was produced were evidently compiled before the Battle of Bunker Hill on 17 June 1775, where the British incurred casualties of 1,150.