\n
When Serjeant Duncan Robinson signed his discharge from the
\n49th Regiment of Foot on 31 July 1786, at the age of sixty, his signature
\nlooked like that of someone who had barely learned how to write. He had spent
\nthirty-two years and two months in the army, ten as a private soldier in the
\n42nd Regiment during the French and Indian War, and the rest (possibly after a
\ngap in his service) in the 49th. But the Perthshire native had been appointed
\ncorporal only five years before, and serjeant only one year prior to being
\ndischarged. He was recommended for a pension because he was “worn out in
\nthe service, having served seven years of the above time in the West Indies,
\nand America last war, which has rendered him incapable of further
\nservice.” Having learned the trade of carpentry before becoming a soldier,
\nhe had spent part of career “in the Engineers Department when employ’d in
\nmaking the Kings works under the command of Colonel J. Montresor,” an army
\nengineer who oversaw a number of major projects in America, but in this work he
\n“received several bruises,” contributing to his incapacity. An army
\nsurgeon added that Robinson was “subject to rheumatism and also received
\nsevere hurts in the service, which from old age and infirmities, has prevented
\nhim from doing his duty during the winter months.”<\/p>\n
None of this was unusual for a discharged soldier, but the
\nofficer commanding the 49th Regiment wrote a letter to accompany the discharge
\ndescribing some distinctive attributes of Robinson’s character. He had, the
\nofficer wrote, “served honestly and faithfully,” and “never was
\nConfined during the whole course of his Service in the 49th Regiment.”
\nClarifying the reason why he had remained a private soldier for so long, the
\nofficer wrote that Robinson “was always looked upon as a very proper
\nsoldier for promotion, but on account of his not learning to write, prevented
\nhim from being made a Non Commission\u2019d Officer for which promotion he was
\njustly entitled to.” Moreover, Robinson had “frequently refused being
\nappointed a Non Commissioned Officer himself, saying and giving for reason he
\nwould be Oblidged to no other soldier for writing his reports for him.”
\nBesides affirming the importance of writing for non-commissioned officers, this
\nshows how prideful Robinson was in turning down positions that offered higher base
\npay and significant opportunities to earn extra money; he would have no man do
\nhis work for him, a testament to his integrity as well as his honesty (no one
\ncould falsify information in his name).<\/p>\n
His commanding officer told more about Robinson: “He brought
\ninto the service, and into the 49th Regiment three sons, and three
\nNephews,” showing how influential an individual could be in obtaining
\nrecruits for a regiment. In 1768 the author of a popular military text had
\nrecommended,<\/p>\n
Men being most desirous of enlisting into a corps, where
\nthey are certain of meeting many countrymen, and perhaps relations; besides, it
\nis a spur towards raising their ambition, to see some of their friends, who
\nprobably enlisted only a few years before, return among them in the character
\nof Non-commission-officers, or sometimes in a higher station.<\/i><\/p>\n
Muster rolls for the 49th Regiment confirm that several
\nRobinsons were in the 49th Regiment between June 1775 when the corps arrived in
\nBoston, and August 1778, the last available muster roll – Arthur, Daniel, John,
\nThomas and William. Military documents don’t indicate who was related to who,
\nbut presumably all of these men were either sons or nephews of Duncan Robinson.
\nMoreover, according to the 49th’s commander, two “were killed in America,
\nNon Commissioned Officers and the other lost his Arm at White Plains.”
\nDaniel Robinson was indeed killed while serving in the 2nd Battalion of Light
\nInfantry near Philadelphia on 21 September 1777. Serjeant William Robinson was
\napparently wounded because he was reduced to private in late 1776, then
\ndischarged in April 1778; it may well have been he who lost his arm at the
\nBattle of White Plains in October 1776. Rolls are incomplete during the time
\nthe 49th served in the West Indies beginning in late 1778; other Robinsons may
\nhave died while fighting the French in that harsh climate.<\/p>\n
Duncan Robinson’s thirty-two years of exemplary service and
\ngreat contributions to his regiment earned him a pension. This was a portion of
\nhis pay as a serjeant, significantly more than that of a private soldier –
\nwhich may have been the reason he was promoted just a year before he was
\ndischarged, so that his exceptional service would be well rewarded.<\/p>\n
[Information for this post comes from the discharge of Duncan Robinson, WO 97\/581\/47, British National Archives; muster rolls of the 49th Regiment of Foot, WO 12\/6032, British National Archives; and Bennett Cuthbertson, A System for the Compleat Interior Management and Economy of a Battalion of Infantry<\/i> (Dublin, 1768)]<\/p>\n
Learn more about British soldiers in America!<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Serjeant Duncan Robinson signed his discharge from the 49th Regiment of Foot on 31 July 1786, at the age of sixty, his signature looked like that of someone who had barely learned how to write. He had spent thirty-two years and two months in the army, ten as a private soldier in the 42nd […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12032],"tags":[34106,10845,15910,22003,13660,13260,9943],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-61816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-american-history","tag-49th","tag-duncan","tag-promotion","tag-proper","tag-regiment","tag-robinson","tag-soldier"],"yoast_head":"\n
Duncan Robinson, 49th Regiment, a very proper soldier for promotion - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=61816\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Duncan Robinson, 49th Regiment, a very proper soldier for promotion - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When Serjeant Duncan Robinson signed his discharge from the 49th Regiment of Foot on 31 July 1786, at the age of sixty, his signature looked like that of someone who had barely learned how to write. He had spent thirty-two years and two months in the army, ten as a private soldier in the 42nd […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=61816\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-01T08:54:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=61816#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=61816\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"Duncan Robinson, 49th Regiment, a very proper soldier for promotion\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-01T08:54:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=61816\"},\"wordCount\":823,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"49th\",\"Duncan\",\"Promotion\",\"Proper\",\"Regiment\",\"Robinson\",\"SOLDIER\"],\"articleSection\":[\"American History\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=61816#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=61816\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=61816\",\"name\":\"Duncan Robinson, 49th Regiment, a very proper soldier for promotion - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-01T08:54:12+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=61816#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=61816\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=61816#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Duncan Robinson, 49th Regiment, a very proper soldier for promotion\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Duncan Robinson, 49th Regiment, a very proper soldier for promotion - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=61816","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Duncan Robinson, 49th Regiment, a very proper soldier for promotion - Som2ny Network","og_description":"When Serjeant Duncan Robinson signed his discharge from the 49th Regiment of Foot on 31 July 1786, at the age of sixty, his signature looked like that of someone who had barely learned how to write. He had spent thirty-two years and two months in the army, ten as a private soldier in the 42nd […]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=61816","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2025-02-01T08:54:12+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=61816#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=61816"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"Duncan Robinson, 49th Regiment, a very proper soldier for promotion","datePublished":"2025-02-01T08:54:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=61816"},"wordCount":823,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["49th","Duncan","Promotion","Proper","Regiment","Robinson","SOLDIER"],"articleSection":["American History"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=61816#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=61816","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=61816","name":"Duncan Robinson, 49th Regiment, a very proper soldier for promotion - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-02-01T08:54:12+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=61816#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=61816"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=61816#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Duncan Robinson, 49th Regiment, a very proper soldier for promotion"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=61816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61816\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=61816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=61816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=61816"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=61816"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=61816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}