Page:History of New South Wales from the records, Volume 2.djvu/136

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lOB THE NEW SOTTTH ITAIiES COBPB. X7M-97 of Hj^ar wrote to the Home Office,* stating that there were no men belonging to Major Grose^s corps left at Chatham, and that he did not suppose the Government wonld approTe of his ordering any recmits of other corps to be sent to New South Wales " against their inclination." In May, 1795, a guard being required for the Lord Cornwallis, transport, Major-General Pox received instructions from the War Office to transfer to Major Grose's corps such a number of " volunteers " from the recruits under his command as would be sufficient to make up a detachment of twenty-five Boanties men, each volunteer to receive an extra bounty of a i?uinea to traDsport •/ o guards. and a half. Two commissioned officers, appointed by the Duke of York, who commanded the forces at that time^ were to go with the detachment. This step> however, was only taken to meet an emergency. On the 10th June, 1796, the War Office authorised Grose, who had returned to England, but was still in command of g>g^ the Corps with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, to raise two increaaed. fresh Companies, which were to be " of the same establish- ment as the other companies of the Corps.'^ The nomination of the officers was left to Grose, but it was stipulated that the officers recommended for companies should have served two years as subalterns, and that '^ the gentlemen named for ensigns'^ should not be under sixteen years of age. Becraits for the Army were now at war price,t and instead Bounty of three guineas (the bounty given when the first detachment of the Corps was raised), Major Grose was now allowed " seven pounds ten shillings for each recruit." The two companies were raised in due course, and in less than a year afterwards, February, 1797, the War Office proposed to raise an additional company. This increase, according to a statement annexed to a letter sent from the War Office to the Paymaster-General, would have raised the number of companies to ten, with a total strength of nine

  • HiBtorical BeoordB, toI. ii, p. 124.

t Great Britain was at this tune engaged in a serioos oonfiiot with Fnuxoe.