Wolfe: did he die in the arms of this man?

[Adamb]

I am descended from Isaac Eyles Warren (died 1809 at Warham NFK) on whose gravestone it is recorded that he supported General James Wolfe as he lay dying on the Plains of Abraham.  There are a number of claimants to this honour in the records, most of which are demonstrably false.  Wolfe was certainly helped by four men, perhaps five, all officers except for an unnamed private soldier.  I hope to prove that Isaac Eyles Warren was that unnamed soldier at the battle of Quebec, by searching the muster rolls of the relevant regiments at the National Archives.

He was a volunteer.   Most likely a grenadier in the 'Louisburg Grenadiers' formed by Wolfe from the grenadiers of 3 regiments.  Possibly also the 28th Foot with whom Wolfe was advancing when he received the third and fatal shot. But I will hope to search all the regiments in order of likelihood.  I've researched the line of battle - some were of course a long way from the General.

(Later he joined the Bengal Artillery and became Captain after 10 years).

QUESTION - for N A experts!  I have not searched muster rolls before and want to plan as much as possible in advance.  My sister will help me.  Are they very bulky?  We shall of course only be searching 1760 or (in one or two cases where they exist) 1759.  Any idea as to how long it will take?  Altogether 12 regiments (or part-regiments) of the line took part plus a few Artillery and some Marines.

[km1971]

Musters from the 18th century are very bulky as they are usually bound books made up from squares of heavy paper (or even vellum) up to 30 inches across. The one for the 28th Foot covers 1759 to 1776. Later ones usually only cover one year. Therefore this one will only be an annual muster (maybe six monthly). A man may be in the muster for the regiment but it does not mean he was present all the time. Also the composite battalion of grenadiers may not have existed at muster time.

You have to view these musters in the large document/map room. This room is very dark so you need a good magnifying glass. Ink was expensive so the writing is very thin. If you are planning to film the pages you will not be able to take a single legible photograph in one go. I always take 15-20 of the one page with plenty of overlap; and use panoramic stitching software to reconstruct the page later.

Ken

[Adamb]

Ken,

That is a very helpful answer, thank you!

My sister & I will just have to hope that my research on Wolfe's position at the time of his wounding is right - and that the volunteer stayed long enough in his regiment to be mustered.

I'll post the result in a month's time!

[ShaunJ]

It seems to be well documented. See:

http://www.rootschat.com/links/0r9a/

and

http://www.rootschat.com/links/0r9b/

[Adamb]

Thanks Shaun, I had those.  He wasn't a captain at Quebec and I'll have to write & explain to Alan McNairn (the author) when I've collected all the evidence.  He was promoted Captain in India in 1770.

Thanks again -

Adam

[Adamb]

We have now searched the muster rolls of almost all units present at Quebec in 1759 and Isaac Eyles Warren does not appear in them.

On the gravestone at Warham, Norfolk, he was described as 'a volunteer'.  This could mean he was an irregular soldier, not officially in any regiment, I suppose.

However, I think that it's more likely he was in a unit for which muster rolls do not exist for the period, or for which no search has been made.  There are no rolls for the 78th Foot (Fraser's Highlanders) or the 60th (light infantry).

There ARE rolls for the Royal Artillery but time did not permit me to search properly.  They are not arranged quite as the infantry rolls and it would take time and patience to go through them thoroughly.  I refer to WO10/70.

If anyone needs to look at WO10/70 for 1759 - 1760 please keep an eye open for Isaac Eyles Warren! - if not, I'll be back next October.

[km1971]

Volunteers only existed 1794-1813, and after 1859. They were separate to the Regular army and Militia. Could the gravestone be referring to what he did in later life? But then why does it not mentioned his service as a Regular? There were two types of Militia during the next spat with France. Both were raised mainly by conscription by lot. Those selected could pay for a substitute. If you search for WO13 and norfolk in the Catalogue you will see that several musters survive.

Volunteers came under the Lord Lt of the county, and most records have been lost. But you could try the Norfolk Record Office.

The only reference to the 60th Light Infantry I can find is the 60th Rifles (later KRRC) used the name for three weeks in 1824. At the time of Quebec they were the 60th Royal American Regiment which had two battalions at Quebec. But they were a local regiment.

If you search for frasers highlanders or 78th on bookfinder.com you will find that several histories have been written. I am sure that it it was one of their men next to the dying Wolfe it will be mentioned.

Regarding the artillery you obviously know more about Quebec than most. In my limited knowledge the artillery were on the south bank rather than on the plains itself.

Ken

[Adamb]

Ken,

Thanks for taking an interest!

The Artillery on the heights of Abraham consisted of one or possibly two 6-pounders raised up the cliffs with the (as usual) ingenuity of the Royal Navy to thank.  It's accepted that there were 13 Royal Artillery officers present at the battle but I have no idea of the number of other ranks; I should think there weren't many.

Isaac Eyles Warren only became an officer when he went to India and joined the Bengal Artillery as a cadet in 1762, rising to Captain in 1770 and retiring less than 2 years later.  For the sake of thoroughness I have checked the Army List for 1760, for those regiments at Quebec, and he does not appear.  Nor does he appear anywhere in the A L as an Artillery officer.

I'm convinced he served as a volunteer - perhaps a gentleman volunteer - at Quebec and may have helped with the artillery in view of his later career, hence my hope of finding his name somewhere in the Artillery musters.  Originally I thought that in view of his assumed physical closeness to Wolfe at the time of W's wounding he would have been in the Louisbourg Grenadiers or one of the regiments on the right flank, but this proved not to be the case.  He may have been a messenger sent from the artillery and I have an open mind an all the possibiities.

You're absolutely right about the 60th being locally raised, and I don't think my man was one of them.

Enough!  - and thanks again -

Adam

[Gboycs]

It would be nice to think so. I'll look into it. Thanks