Grenadier Company

Every regiment of foot had a grenadier company made of the best, hand-picked men.  They were chosen for their experience, bravery, steadiness, and their height (at least 5'10" in many cases).  

The grenadier company was one of two "flank" companies, so named because they paraded on the right of the regiment.  Their most distinguishing characteristic was the 12-inch bearskin hat, but they also sported cloth "wings" on their shoulders and brass match cases for lighting grenades.  Redcoat soldiers who wore cocked hats were part of the "Battalion" companies and were the regular soldiers.  It was from their ranks that the best were selected to become grenadiers.  The flank companies were always kept up to strength, replacing casualties as they could, to the detriment of battalion company officers who saw their best men taken away to the more prestious--and dangerous--grenadiers or light infantry.

The 35th Regiment has decided to portray the Grenadier Company because these were the soldiers who saw the most action in the American Revolution and because the British grenadier is the iconic image of the redcoated warrior.  

Grenades themselves were seldom used in the latter half of the 18th Century, seeing most service on board ships or employed during sieges against fortifications.  Grenadiers derived their name from this.  As heavy infantry, grenadiers were clothed with cloth shoulder wings on their uniforms and bearskin caps to make them appear larger.  

The grenadier companies lead their regiments on parade and were kept up to strength where battalion companies might be considerably reduced in numbers.  As shock troops, grenadiers also suffered higher casualty rates.  Grenadiers were frequently banded together to form composite grenadier battalions, becoming a very powerful shock force to unseat the most stubborn foe.  The 35th's Grenadier Company was formed into the 1st Battalion of Grenadiers in Boston of 1775 and took part in the Battle of Bunker Hill along with the 35th's Light Infantry company.  Themselves, there were no green recruits among the grenadiers, as all were picked men with two years' service in a battalion company at minimum.  The grenadier companies were also authorized to have fifers in addition to their drummers, again adding to the prestige of the company.

General William Howe withdrew from Boston in March, 1776, and landed at Halifax.  There it was ordered that the grenadiers should all be issued with Long Land Pattern Muskets (also known as 1st Model Brown Besses) which were slightly longer than the new Short Land (2nd Model).  They fought throughout in the New York Campaign.  The battalion companies also operated against Pelham Manor, White Plains, and Ft. Washington.  The grenadiers and lights left their parent regiment behind in New York to participate in Howe's Philadelphia campaign and later the withdrawal across New Jersey, culminating at the Battle of Monmouth.  At Monmouth the company, lead by Captain Hugh Massey, was exhausted by the unrelenting heat, bayonet charges, and deadly fire of the American enemy as the Grenadier Battalion was thrown against the colonists very early on in the battle.  In 1778, the entire 35th was sent to the West Indies as part of General James Grant's 5,000 man expeditionary force.  Massey's grenadier company fought at the Vigo and helped secure the reduction of St. Lucia from the French.

Nec Aspera Terrent - Nothing Deters Us