John Nash
Nationality: English
Born: ca.1726
Regimental commission dates:
Quarter-Master, 28 March 1764
Ensign, 8 October 1767 (Ensign in the army 20 October 1761)
Lieutenant, 31 December 1769
Captain-Lieutenant, 28 April 1774
Captain, 28 April 1774
Location during the Northern Campaign of 1777: recruiting in Great Britain or Irland
Retired: 24 June 1789
Died: unknown
Commissioned an ensign in the 111th Regiment of Foot during the 7 Years War on 20 October 1761, John Nash was quickly made a victim of post-war military reductions. He was soon after able to obtain the position of quarter-master in the 62nd Regiment, but without his ensigncy. Over the course of the next few decades, he was able to make a slow and steady rise in rank.
With war in America begun, Captain John Nash was appointed to command the 62nd Regiment of Foot's senior additional company on 2 March 1776. As such, he and his company officers and men were entrusted to remain home and seek out recruits for the regiment while it served abroad. When ready, these recruits, under the care of one of the company's officers, would be forwarded to the regiment and distributed amongst its eight battalion companies. Thus, Nash was able to avoid the Northern Campaign of 1777. His original ensign, George Taylor, however, was not.
Upon the repatriation of the regiment in 1781, Nash was still recruiting in England. As the senior captain in the regiment in 1783, Nash benefited from an army-wide promotion of senior captains, and on 19 March of that year he was given the rank of major in the army. Nash remained the senior captain of the 62nd Regiment until he retired in 1789.