In 1818 he went with his Regiment to Bristol and in 1819 to Edinburgh. He was at this time extremely concerned about the plight of the common soldiers who were discharged into a country that had run up an enormous national debt in order to pay for the war, that was experiencing catastrophic harvests, and that was suffering severe outbreaks of disease most notably typhus. Like other officers he assisted men who had served under him by giving them money and helping them to make a case for receiving a pension, and by finding them paid positions. While in Edinburgh he wrote a long analysis of the Regulations under which soldiers could receive pensions and he pressed both Lord Fitzroy Somerset and the Duke of Wellington to draw it to the attention of Lord Palmerston, the Secretary at War. The reply was that the pension fund was oversubscribed, the Duke admitting to Gurwood that the interests of common soldiers had suffered from a 'lavish liberality extended towards officers.'