Complex sentence: Townshend returned to office as Master-General of the Ordnance in the North Ministry in late 1772 and became colonel of the 2nd Dragoon Guards in July 1773.
Split into simpler sentences: Townshend returned to office as Master-General of the Ordnance in the North Ministry in late 1772. Townshend became colonel of the 2nd Dragoon Guards in July 1773.