Register – de Watteville Regiment

Excerpt of the de Watteville’s regimental register, written in German, one of the languages used by this Swiss regiment.

The first row of the register is an entry for one of the Lithuanian soldiers.  The row describes Georg Dereskowitz, whose birthplace was Wilno (Vilnius) in Pohlen (Poland).  He was 24 years of age, Katholisch (Catholic), Ohne (no profession or trade).  He was 5 feet 3 inches tall, enlisted 10 August 1810 in England for 7 years, Ledig (single), schwarze (black hair), grau augen (gray eyes).

The fourth row is another Lithuanian: Martin Lincowich, whose birthplace was also Vilnius.  He was 24 years of age, Catholic, had no profession or trade.  He was 5 feet 4 inches tall, also enlisted August 10, 1810 in England for 7 years, single, blonde with gray eyes.

Although the birthplace is listed as Poland for these men, Vilnius, which is now the capital city of Lithuania, was located in the territory called the Grand Duchy of Lithuania which had been absorbed into Poland previously.

The enlistment date and place also tell us a bit about these soldiers.  Britain held many of its foreign prisoners of war on prison hulk ships or in camps such as Norman Cross in England.  The soldiers’  enlistment paperwork was signed by Lieutenant-General Sir Charles William Doyle, who was in charge of prisoners of war held in England and in Spain. Many of the Lithuanian soldiers enlisted in the de Watteville regiment in the summer of 1810, all from England, rather than in the countries where battles took place such as Sicily. So we may infer they were prisoners, rather than deserters or regular recruits.