Husbands, Sons, Brothers, and Neighbors: Eighteenth-Century Soldiers’ Efforts to Maintain Civilian Ties

Where scholars have emphasized the regimental fraternity in Britain’s late eighteenth-century army, this article shifts attention to soldiers’ civilian attachments. It points out that army regulation restricting servicemen’s ability to visit and provide for their kin can be seen as an attempt to erase their former civilian identities. The article’s goal is to demonstrate how the rank and file resisted these policies. They continued to desire marriage and male provisioning roles in violation of century-long regulations. They persisted in asserting their connections to the communities they left, and they forced the army to recognize their civilian identities and explore policies that ran counter to its “social death” strategy.