In December, 1782, Tarleton finally achieved his long-standing ambition to see the British Legion -- a Provincial corps -- placed on the British Establishment (i.e., made a part of the regular British Army). Its existence in this form was short-lived. A year or so later, the unit was disbanded -- but their presence on the Establishment guaranteed the retiring officers half pay.

Only the Legion cavalry was placed on the Establishment, a fact which drew protest from Captain Donald McPherson, requesting equal treatment for the infantry companies. (So far as I know, this petition was never granted.)

Below is the entry from the 1783 edition of List of All the Officers of the Army for "A Regiment of Light Dragoons," the name under which the Legion cavalry spent its brief existence in the regular army.

Agent, Mr. Collyer, Terrace, Spring-Gardens.

Notes:

¹ The document lists this officer as "Thomas Gildart" rather than "Francis Gildart" but this is certainly a typo. It is corrected on the halfpay lists beginning in 1789.

² The first names of these officers are left blank in the original document. Some of the fill-ins are obvious from muster rolls and later corrections, but not in the cases of Lt. Macleod and Cornet Chapman. There is only one Macleod (Donald) on the wartime muster rolls, but in 1792, when the blank is finally filled in on the halfpay lists, the name given is "Norman." The Chapman finally listed is "Richard" although no officer of that name served with the unit during the war.

General Note: The staggering of the commission dates for officers of equal rank is to establish a clear ordering of seniority. This was common practice.