Corps Attached to the Army Headquarters
By Robert Burnham & Gareth Glover
In the army headquarters there were staffs and corps for different organizations that supported army operations, but were not never permanently assigned to a division. These included the Royal Engineers, Royal Artillery, Royal Horse Artillery, Royal Staff Corps, and the Staff Corps Regiment of Cavalry. The subordinate elements would be temporarily assigned to the divisions, based on operations. For example an Royal Engineer officer could be assigned to a division to oversee the destruction of bridges.
Buckham, E. Personal Narrative of Adventures in the Peninsula during the War in 1812 -13 Cambridge: Ken Trotman; 1995., 339 pages.
Notes: It is written by an officer in the Staff Corps Regiment of Cavalry, yet his duty was primarily as a commissary officer. Great descriptions of Almeida and buying cattle for the army.
Dickson, Alexander. “Letter to Lieutenant Colonel Chapman, dated 23 June 1815” in Gareth Glover (ed.). The Waterloo Archive Volume IV: British Sources. Barnsley: Frontline, 2012. Pages 127 – 128.
Notes: was a lieutenant colonel and commanded the siege train at Waterloo.
Frazer, Augustus S. Letters of Colonel Sir Augustus Simon Frazer Commanding the Royal Horse Artillery in Army under the Duke of Wellington. Uckfield: Naval and Military Press; 2001. 664 pages. .
Notes: One hundred and eighty-one letters covering from November 1812 – July 1815; was a lieutenant colonel and commander of the Royal Horse Artillery in the Peninsula and at Waterloo.
Frazer, Augustus S. “Letter to Lieutenant Colonel Robe, dated 19 June 1815” in Gareth Glover (ed.). The Waterloo Archive Volume IV: British Sources. Barnsley: Frontline, 2012. Pages 121 – 125
Notes: was a lieutenant colonel and commander of the Royal Horse Artillery at Waterloo.
Healey, Edward. “An Undergroom at War– Edward Healey, 1815” in David Chandler’s On the Napoleonic Wars. London: Greenhill, 1994.
Notes: pages 214 – 229. Was the undergroom for Lieutenant Colonel George Scovell, Royal Staff Corps, who was an AQMG at Waterloo.
Jackson, Basil. With Wellington’s Staff at Waterloo: the Reminiscences of a Staff Officer During the Campaign of 1815 and with Napoleon on St. Helena. Leonaur, 2010. 132 Pages.
Notes: was a lieutenant in the Royal Staff Corps.
Jones, Rice. An Engineer Officer under Wellington in the Peninsula, Cambridge: Ken Trotman; 1986. PB 128 pages. ISBN: 0-946879-17-6
Notes: Was the staff engineer for the Light Division; letters from 1793 – 1812.
Laing, Samuel. The Autobiography of Samuel Laing of Papdale: 1780 – 1868. R.P. Fereday (ed.) Kirkwall, Orkney: Bellavista Publications; 2000. 326 pages.
Notes: Laing served as an ensign in the Royal Staff Corps from 1805 – 1809. Rolica, Vimerio, and Corunna. Pages 95 – 130 cover his time in the army.
May, John. “Waterloo Letter to Unidentified Colonel, dated 23 June 1815” in Gareth Glover (ed.). The Waterloo Archive Volume I: British Sources. Barnsley: Frontline, 2010. Pages 99-101
Notes: was a lieutenant colonel and assistant adjutant general on the artillery staff at Waterloo. This letter is also in The Waterloo Archive Volume IV: British Sources, Pages 125 – 127.
Nicolay William. Four letters from Waterloo by Colonel William Nicolay Staff Corps. Gareth Glover. Ken Trotman. Waterloo Archive Volume IX. 2020
Taylor, Alexander. “Letter to his Brother, dated 9 March 1817” in Gareth Glover (ed.). The Waterloo Archive Volume IV: British Sources. Barnsley: Frontline, 2012. Pages 228 – 230
Notes: was a private in the Royal Staff Corps.
Wood, George. “Letter to Mr. Mudford” in Gareth Glover (ed.). The Waterloo Archive Volume I: British Sources. Barnsley: Frontline, 2010. Pages 98 – 99
Notes: was a Colonel; commanded British artillery at Waterloo.