According to the British army at the time, desertion was one of the worst things a soldier could do next to treason and working with the enemy. While it was not common, it did happen. Not to the levels of desertion becoming a rare thing but it was not the most common infraction to be punished for. Desertion did not plague the British army to the same percentages that affected the Continental army during the war. I'm not too familiar with the desertion rates of the other European armies but I know they are a bit higher than the average desertion rate for the British army in this era. Soldiers deserted for several reasons, which I will get to.

As I mentioned, the British army treated desertion as one of the worst crimes a soldier can do as the punishment for desertion often led to death. Very few had death sentences changed to something more lenient such as 500 lashes or transfer of enlistment to far off lands such as the West Indies or Africa. While there may have been some sympathy for those that deserted, most officers and fellow soldiers did not look upon deserters with a large amount of fondness. One might view it as an absolute betrayal to the regiment and to the company they served with, and to the Oath of Fidelity soldiers took upon enlistment.

Soldiers arrested and charged with desertion faced a General Court martial and the maximum sentence for desertion was death. A General Court Martial was the highest of the courts in the military judicial system of the era. The most heinous of crimes and highest of officers would be brought to this. The two other court martials that existed were the Garrison and the Regimental. Regimental, of course, being the most insular with the prisoners, judge advocate, members of the board, and president of the court all coming from the same regiment. A garrison court martial would often involve multiple regiments' prisoners and officers as members of the board. These would often hold for lesser crimes than desertion, but with very few surviving examples of regimental court martials, it may have rarely happened in insular cases. The General Court Martial cases are the ones that have survived the most, but even then the amounts are not high. General Court cases had to be recorded and then sent to the ministry back in London to be reviewed by the King. Regimental court cases might have been recorded but regiments did not have orders to send the records to London. What we can learn from the GC cases are how regimental or garrison court sessions might have gone.

Desertion for the British army during the American War of Independence rated around 5% give or take. Sylvia Frey numbered it to under under 4,000 men while Greg Steppler indicated it might be more, but the numbers washed out when men were brought back or reenlisted. It is very likely that the numbers were under-reported as not all deserters went to trial, or at least the amount of surviving records do not totally reflect the number of deserters recorded. So why did these soldiers desert from their regiments? It would be inaccurate to generalize to just a few reasons for the hundreds that did desert, but the reasons have been captured do give some insight on why these certain individuals deserted. Each deserter had their own motivation to leave and escape from the army, molded by their preconceived notions, their expectations, and their situations. The British army’s Articles of War had regulations against both sedition and desertion for the reasons that negativity against the regiment, the army, or its leaders would possibly lead to mutiny or soldiers deserting.

What could they do after desertion? Well as long as they could keep away from army provosts, the armies policing members, they could do a myriad of things. Some joined the rebels, some escaped into the backcountry, and a very few made a life for themselves. These are the ones that were fortunate to not suffer capture.

Soldiers deserted for many reasons and for those that served for longer than their early enlistment period, it was an act of final frustration and desperation. Every soldier knew the risks they took when deserting and that it could led to their deaths if caught. While deserters technically breached their oaths of fidelity, soldiers sometimes complained they deserted due to a break of trust from the army itself. They felt that their service no longer felt mutual in terms of what they expected from the army. For example, circumstances of malnutrition and poorly clothed sometimes motivated soldiers to leave as they felt the army had promised to keep them fed and clothed as part of their enlistment. A few mentioned that they deserted due to mistreatment from officers and the lack of respect. While it is expected that soldiers would receive discipline and the “stern talking to” without complaint, they still had the right to communicate grievances up the chain of command and if they felt that they did not receive succor then desertion seemed a likely resolution.

There are some prominent examples of deserters, maybe not any that have broken out of archives into mainstream history, but well known enough when you really start diving in. I do have a few instances of recorded deserters. The first one is recorded at a General Court Martial in Quebec in August of 1778. Soldiers of the 53rd, 62nd, and 31st were found guilty of desertion and instead of facing the death penalty, they would instead receive 500 lashes. At least until the Commander in Chief stepped in and pardoned them from Corporal Punishment to incentivize the soldiers to behave. However, one soldier, Thomas Johnson, was found guilty and then sentenced to serve the rest of his life in Africa or at “any of His Majesty’s Plantations.” So it was not always pleasant. There are a few others in this orderly book that recorded deserters and their punishments. Again, they faced 500 lashes except for two that would be sent to Africa to serve there and a drum major whose punishment was not only to receive 500 lashes but also be reduced to private drummer in rank. I have not done any statistics on this orderly book but deserters are not the most prominent charge in court martial cases. I should note that the orderly book is of a battalion of a regiment that mostly served garrison duty in Canada during the war. I have speculated that the lack of action and dull duties may have driven some to desertion in search of something more exciting, but I do not have enough to claim a basis.

Some primary sources of soldiers that joined the army and later deserted do exist. John Robert Shaw joined the army in the early years (When he states he joined, does not really match up with the battles he witnessed and the muster rolls) and technically deserted in 1781. His case is a bit different than most as he was captured by the Americans shortly before the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in March 1781 and escaped into the North Carolina backcountry. He never rejoined the British army as they moved north to Yorktown by then and he either thought of or did join the American army to get out of enlistment. Fortunately for him the war ended and he was able to live a peaceful life afterwards. Thomas Sullivan deserted out of sympathy to the rebels and personally related with their outcry against British oppression being a native Irishman. Sullivan deserted twice before successfully joining the American army. I will have to dig through my trove of primary sources to find more but a few do exist.

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Sources:

Sylvia Frey, The British Soldier in America.

Don N Hagist, British Soldiers American War

Ilya Berkovich, Motivation in War: Experience of Common Soldiers in Old-Regime Europe

John Robert Shaw, A Narrative of the Life and Travels of John Robert Shaw

Joseph Lee Boyle ed., From Redcoat to Rebel: The Thomas Sullivan Journal.