ABSTRACT
This letter appears among the correspondence received by the War Office for 1765. John Forster was promoted to the rank of captain in the 56th Regiment of Foot under Colonel Keppel in the spring of 1762. His irritation is palpable, and the women’s complaints to which his letter refers may emerge from several possible scenarios. These may have been women who had been accepted on the strength of the 56th regiment, and were claiming to have somehow been deprived of the rations to which this status entitled them. In certain quartering situations, rations were given in cash, rather than in kind. Another possible set of circumstances behind these complaints is that these women were claiming money owed to their deceased spouse. Although there was no pension for enlisted men’s widows (there was for officers’), these women could apply for any pay that their spouse had accrued but not received before his death. Regardless of the situation precipitating the complaints, this letter shows the resourcefulness of some women, and their willingness to petition the highest level of the army administration to achieve their aims. It also demonstrates the contempt and mistrust with which officers might view the common women associated with the regiment, and the social distance they maintained that prevented them from knowing many personal details about the men under their command.
