At the battle of Boxtel, 15th Sept 1794, Wellington [still Wesley then] was Lt Col of the 33rd, but also seems to have been temporarily in command of the 3rd Brigade [Sherbrooke commanded the 33rd on the day]. Does anyone know how this came about? What happened to the original Brigade commander and how did he get the post. He had only been a Lt Col for a year, there must have been lots of more senior officers present?
Thank you.
Paul.

Paul, there was a grave shortage of senior officers with the Duke of York's army in the autumn of 1794. As John Fortescue put it:

'There were after the departure of Moira and Crosbie only four Generals- David Dundas, Stewart, Abercrombie, and Fox, the last of whom was fully employed as Quartermaster General. This was the more important because the commanders of the new battalions, who had been juggled into seniority by the Government and the army-brokers, were not fit to command a company, let alone a brigade. some of them were boys of twenty one who knew nothing of their simplest duties.'

At the time, in November 1794, Lt.Colonel Harry Calvert, ADC on the Duke's staff reported (my capitals):

'From the time Lord CATHCART left us- which, if I recollect right, was about the 23rd of July- till Generals BALFOUR and DE BURG joined, which was the latter end of September, we had five brigades of infantry of the Line, with one major-general (STEWART) for General FOX is too much occupied in his staff employment to be reckoned as a major-general, though his zeal induces him to come forward as such whenever he can (Journals and Correspondence, pp.384-85)

Calvert, omits Maj-gen. Dundas and other GOC's of cavalry along with with Lt Gen Sir William Erskine, York's close advisor, who with Lt Gen Sir Ralph Abercromby, commanded larger formations when required. Nonetheless the point, in relation to the infantry brigades, holds good.

The role of a senior battalion CO acting as brigade commander seems to have been more of an administrative link in the chain of command, to disseminate orders and convey reports back rather than having any significant tactical authority. When Mackenzie of the 78th arrived as senior battalion commander, before and during Maj-gen. Balfour's nominal command of Third Brigade he seems to have exercised no tactical authority over the other battalions during either of the brigade's two subsequent engagements at Tuil and Geldermalsen.

Opinons differ as to Wesley's role at Boxtel, in terms of whether he or Sherbroke exercised active command of the 33rd in their repulse of the French cavalry while the Third Guards sorted themselves out, but since at that time Third Brigade (12th, 33rd, 42nd, 44th) formed part of the Reserve Corps de Bataille under Abercromby and appears to have been dispersed in a support role, there was little scope for independent intitiative. The 42nd, or at least a portion with their battalion guns, was elsewhere on the field performing a similar role to the 33rd, holding off the French cavalry to cover the British withdrawal. Meanwhile, the 12th were out on a flank enjoying less success in the face of French cavalry, losing both their battalion guns. AFIK, history has left no clear record where the 44th were posted, but they reported four men missing.