Army Muster Rolls - How to search for officers?

[Jeff Benson]

Hi all.
 
I have several ancestors who were soldiers in Närke och Värmlands Regimente (mostly in the 1700s). Almost all were professionals (rather than rote enlisted men) and held officer rank. Most were sergeants or fältväbeln but at least one made lieutenant. I am thinking of researching the army muster rolls (mönsterrullor) to learn more about their service histories. Before I start, I have a couple questions that pertain to finding commissioned and non-commissioned officers in the muster rolls.
 
Every reference I have read about muster roll research only discusses how to find enlisted soldiers of the rote. Nothing about commisioned officers and very little regarding non-coms. I am assuming that men of all ranks are listed, particularly in the general muster. Please correct me if I am wrong about this.
 
Question 1: Are officers mixed in with enlisted troops in the rolls? For example, can sergeants and commissioned offices appear anywhere within the pages of a particular company? Or, do the officers appear on special pages for officers only, separate from the rote enlisted men? In other words, how easy is it to find a particular officer in the rolls, as compared to locating the average rote soldier?
 
Question 2: Do muster rolls provide information about where officers lived (i.e., the parish)? Here's some background. I tend to already have a lot of information about my military ancestors. However, I have found that they also moved around a lot and typically only stayed in one parish for 3-5 years at a time. I assume this is because the army periodically reassigned officers to serve with a different company in the regiment. The result is gaps in my knowledge of the parishes where these men lived. I am hoping the muster rolls can help me fill in the gaps. Assuming I can discover the company to which he was assigned, can I then (either directly or with the help of other source material) determine the parish and village where he lived? If that is not possible, it takes away much of the reason I have for researching the muster rolls.
 
Thanks for your help.
 
MVH,
Jeff Benson

[Hans Högman]

Officers' homesteads:
Officers as well as the soldiers were assigned a dwelling when they signed up for an allotted regiment.
The soldiers received a croft, a soldier's croft. But also the officers and the NCOs plus the lower ranks received dwellings.
The officer's dwellings were more like farmhouses. The higher rank the larger dwelling.
So, the Crown granted homesteads or dwellings to the Officers to live in. The homestead was not a personal gift but related to their work as an Officer. When an Officer left the army they had to move from the homestead.
Instead of the Officers getting all the salary from the Crown, the rote farmers paid a certain amount of their taxes directly to the Officers. The Officers also had an income from tenants that had cottages on the homesteads' land.
The homesteads of the Officers were located in the same part of the province as the Company they served in. So the soldiers and the Officers more or less lived side by side. Officers could keep an eye on the soldiers even while they were at home.
 
In each company, for example, there was a captain's homestead. If a captain was transferred from one company to another he also changed homestead that is he moved to the new company's captain's homestead.
 
General Muster Rolls:
A general muster was held at each regiment every 3rd year (later every 5th year). The general muster rolls were kept at every regiment and since a new general muster roll was set up at each general muster you must know the time frame when your soldier served in the regiment.  
A general muster was an inspection of the regiment, where its strength in numbers, equipment etc were noted.
 
Within each general muster roll the soldiers were listed company by company. So it is a good thing if you know the company of the soldier.
Higher ranked officers, the so-called regimental officers (regimentsofficerare) are listed in the beginning of the GMR. In the Swedish Army the officers, from the rank of Major to Colonel, were called regimental officers - they were on the staff. The First and Second Lieutenant plus the Captain were called company officers (kompaniofficerare). They are listed in the beginning of their respective company.
Also, the NCOs and the lower ranks are accounted for in their respective companies in the rolls.
 
The places of the officer's and NCO's homesteads per regiment are listed in the Grill works: Statistiskt sammandrag af svenska indelningsverket I - IV (Statistical Digest of the Swedish Allotment System).
 
In the general muster rolls you will find information about the soldiers/horsemen as well as all the officers and NCOs, all listed company by company as mentioned above. The “regimental officers” are in the beginning though.
For the soldiers you will find information like:  
the soldier's name, the soldier's number (both within the company and within the regiment), the name of the rote, place of birth (normally just the name of the province, not the parish), age, number of years in service, how tall he was (normally in foot and inches), profession as a civilian and civil status (married or not).
Further, you will find notes on how well he had served/conduct as a soldier (normally at discharge), information of campaigns he has participated in, wounds and injuries, if he was absent at the general muster etc. These kinds of information were kept in a special remark column in the roll. After 1810 you will also find information on medals for bravery and other medals.
The soldier's patronymic name is in the rolls from the first half of the 1800's. From 1850 the GMR are much more detailed.
In the GMR of the cavalry regiments there are also information on each horseman's horse.
 
To get back to your questions:
Yes, the officers are included in the GMR. If you don't know the company it is easier to find an officer than a soldier in the GMR since they are fewer and listed in the beginning of each company in the GMR.
 
A normal size of an infantry regiment was 1,200 soldiers. They were divided into 8 companies of 150 soldiers each.  
So, a GMR has a section in the beginning with the regimental officers, the staff and then 8 sections containing the soldiers, the company officers and NCOs. The NCOs are listed in the beginning of each company.
 
If you know the company it should be possible to establish the parish for the homestead of your officers and NCOs. If you don't know the company you have to look at all the companies of the regiment in a GMR until you find your man.
The Grill books will definitely give information of the officers' and NCOs' homesteads.
 
Hans Högman

[Jeff Benson]

Hej Hans,
 
Thank you very much for the detailed response. I am very glad to learn that the information I want to find in the muster rolls should be there. Now it is time to order some films!
 
MVH,
Jeff