United Kingdom In the
English Army the option of half-pay developed during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, at the same time as the system of
purchasing commissions and promotions by officers took hold. Serving officers could go on half-pay voluntarily, or be obliged to do so if their services were not required. In both cases, they could be summoned back to their regiments if there was a sudden need for their services. As an example, during the
Jacobite rising of 1715, all listed half-pay officers were recalled to the army. During the long period of peace that the reduced
British Army experienced after the
Napoleonic Wars, the half-pay system became a means by which arduous overseas service could be avoided. Well-to-do officers who were promoted through the purchase system could transfer to the half-pay list if their regiment was posted to India or elsewhere. They could then purchase new appointments to regiments assigned to home service in Britain. Transfers to and from the half-pay list were approved at the discretion of the
Secretary at War.
United States The half-pay system was implemented in 1778 by the
Continental Congress as an incentive to compensate for the extremely low pay that officers in the
Continental Army received, which made it difficult to retain officers for long periods of time. The half-pay benefit was granted to all officers for seven years after the end of the
American Revolutionary War but was later extended to a lifetime benefit. The benefit was promised to all officers serving in the Continental Army, but after the war the Congress of the
Articles of Confederation voted against paying for those pensions and so only officers from certain state regiments, which had established an independent half-pay list, received that pay. After extended lobbying by retired officers after the war, Congress in 1783 authorized the full pay of officers for five years to be paid by the
Department of War. In 1889, the half-pay retirement benefit was extended to enlisted personnel who had completed 30 years of active service by General Order No. 372.
France Following the Second
Bourbon Restoration in 1815, the remnants of the
Grande Armée were disbanded; because of wholesale defection to Napoleon upon his return from Elba, the end of the various
Coalition Wars since 1792 and the precarious situation of public finances. Many of the officers were deemed suspect of
Bonapartism or
Republicanism and so were thought to be unreliable. Consequently, many of the pre-Waterloo officers were put on
demi-solde ("half-pay"), and some of these were replaced by
émigrés. These officers were removed from active service but still retained their ranks and had to be ready to serve the military at any time. Their perceived political unreliability caused them to continue to be under the burdens of
military discipline. They had to ask for permission to marry or to travel outside their
commune (municipality). Also, their mail was opened, and they had to report to police. == Modern usage ==