OSPREY· MEN-AT-ARMS SERIES

•e merrcanllr 1812-1814

Ttxt byPHILIP R. N. KATCHER

Colour plottS byMICHAEL YO ENS

ME -AT-ARMS SERIES

EDITOR: ~·.IARTI~ WINDROWALBAN BOOK SERVICES

e•mer/can

1812-1814Text by PHILIP R. N. KATCHER

Colou, plotes by MICHAEL yaUE S

OSPREY PUBLlSHI~C LIMITED

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CJhe'WarTypically the United States is said to havedeelared war on Great Britain in 1812 because ofthe Royal Navy's impressment of American sea­men from American ships and the British desireto create an Indian buffer stale between thegrowing expansion of the United States andCanada. Actually, an Englishman who had livedin the United States for eight years before thewar's outbreak, William Cobbett, probably de­scribed the real cause. 'There seemed to bewanting JUSt such a war as thjs to complete theseparation of England from America; and to makethe laner feel that she had no safety against theformer but in the arms of her free citizens.'

Regardless of the reasons, however, on 4 June1812, U.S. President james Madison, askedCongress to declare war. The House of Represen­tatives approved quickly, but the Senate agreedonly after debate, on t8 june, and only by sixvotes. The feelings which divided the Senate werefelt throughout the entire American public.

War, it was, regardless ofany feelings. AJthougha main cause may have been maritime, it wasobvious to the most jingoistic of American politi­cians that the small American Navy had no chanceof defeating His Majesty's enormous fleets.

On the other hand, a quick viclOry eOllld bewon by the prompt caplure of Canada, whichcould lhen be held until Greal Brilain gave in 10

American demands.Canada's capture presented no problems to the

American Army - at least in the politician's minds.Ex-President Thomas jefferson wrote in 1812that, 'The aCquisition of Canada this year as faras the neighbourhood of Quebec will be a merematter of marching.' Kentucky CongressmanHenry Clay told Congress. 'The conquest ofCanada is in your power. I trust I shall not be

deemed presumptuous when I state I verilybelieve that the militia of Kentucky are alonecompetent to place Montreal and t:pper Canadaat your feet.' Canada, then, would be the firsttarget and would be captured even before GreatBritain, involved in a major war already, couldsend troops to capture any American towns.

Considering its size, Canada was garrisoned byrelatively few troops. Major-General GeorgeGlasgow had 450 gunners in four companies ofthe Royal Artillery. The tst/8th (King's), 41st,49th, and looth Regiments of Foot were in thecolony, as well as the loth Royal Veteran Batta­lion. The Royal Newfoundland Regiment ofFencible Infantry and other Canadian fencibleshad been raised locally. The Engineer Depart­ment consisted of a lieutenant-colonel and fourcaptains. All told, this came to some 5,600effectives of which 1,200 were in Upper Canada.

Bra.. beh-plate of lhe Royal Newf~landReri....bll ofFoot. (DrawlDJ: by Rebecx:a Kalcbe.r)

There were few problems with the regiments.The 41St, says one authority, 'was a stout battalionof old soldiers, but unfortunate in iu colonel'.

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Sir I....e Brock(Public Archive. of Canada)

Major-General Isaac Brock, Commanding Officerand Civil Governor of Upper Canada, wroteabout the 49th, 'although the regiment has beenten years in this country, drinking rum withoutbounds, it is still respectable, and apparentlyardent for an opportunity to acquire distinction.'The lomh, which had been raised in 1805 as thePrince Regent's County of Dublin Regiment,according to one authority, 'was made up of fineyoung Protestant Irishmen, not ill-disciplined,but a little wild.'

In Nova Scotia, not a part of Upper or LowerCanada, Sir John Sherbrooke had 161 officers

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and 4,220 other ranks, including 560 RoyalArtillerymen and 119 Royal Military Artificers.His infantry regiments were the 2nd/8th, theg8th, less 300 men in Bermuda, and the 99th. The104th Foot was in New Brunswick, and the NovaScotia Fencibles was in Newfoundland.

The Americans divided their forces into theArmy of the West, under Brigadier-GeneralWilliam Hull, which would launch its attack fromFort Detroit; the Army of the Centre, undermilitia General Stephen Van Rensselaer, launch­ing its attack from Niagara, and the Army of theNorth, under General Henry Dearborn, which

would move from Lake Champlain. While anallack from the New York-:'ol'ew England areaswould bring greater strategic results, the war'sunpopularity and lack of support in those areasled to the main allacks being delivered from thewest, where the war was more favoured.

The first move was Hull's. He arrived at Detroiton 5July 1812, with 300 men of the 1St Infantry,and the 1St, 2nd, and 3rd Ohio Militia Regiments.The 1St Infantry Regiment of Michigan Militiajoined him there. uaving the Michigan regimentand men from the 1st and 2nd Ohio, Hull movedacross the river, taking the town of Sandwich.There he issued a bombastic proclamation to thepeople of Canada, asking them to join his army.Some 500 Canadian militiamen actually placedthemselves under Hull's protection, while theNorfolk County Militia, either overawed by theproclamalion or disloyal, refused to march againsthim.

Hull was to move nonh. South ofhim, however,was Fort Malden, garrisoned by several com­panies of the 41st Foot. Colonel Lewis Cass tooka force made up of a Regular ranger company,five companies of Ohio infantry and a detachmentof Ohio rangers, and moved south. PrivatesHancock and Dean, 41st Foot, serving as pickets,were the first 10 see the Americans, and fired atthem. An overwhelming volley answered them,leaving them both badly wounded. Hancock's wasthe war's first death, while Dean was takenprisoner and recovered.

The 4th Infantry reinforced Cass's troops, andthe move to Malden continued. When they gotthere, however, the fOrl looked too strong to stormand they retired to Sandwich.

Meanwhile, further north, Captain CharlesRoberts, lOth Royal Veteran Battalion, receivedword war had been declared. Gathering some180-230 of his own men and local militia alJd 400Indians, he set off for the American Fan Michili­mackinac. That fon was garrisoned by sixty-onemen commanded by artillery officer LieutenantPorter Hanks, who had not been warned of thewar. Roberts placed a six-pounder gun on theheights commanding the fon, and, seeing resis­tance was impossible, Hanks surrendered.

The loss of I his fort to his north, and FortMalden standing to his south badly shook Hull's

already shaky morale. He withdrew across theriver to the wooden stockade of Fort Detroit on5 Augusl.

With that, Brock, now commanding FortMalden, was ready to take the initiative. Histroops now numbered nine officers and 270 otherranks of the 41St Foot; one officer of RoyalEngineers; one officer and twenty-five other ranhof the Royal Artillery, and one officer and seventyother ranks of the Royal Tewfoundland Regiment.By 15 August Brock had five guns in positionopposing Fort Detroit, and began firing. The nextmorning he took his Regulars and militia, anddressed the latter in old 41St coatees, mixing themone militiaman to every two Regulars to give theimpression of a large regular force. Besides them,he had t ,000 Indians under Tecumseh, the mostimponant Indian leader of the time.

Before he could launch the grand attack, Hull,fearful oflctling the Indians loose among the fort'scivilians, surrendered. Brock had captured the 4thInfantry, detachments from the 1St and 3rdInfantry, twO squadrons of cavalry, one companyof artillery, the tst, 2nd and 3rd Ohio and the tstMichigan. Another of his priZC5 was a cannonwith markings indicating it had been originallycaptured by the Americans at the Battle ofSaratoga, 17 October '777.

The day after the surrender, the Americansabandoned Fan Dearborn, were ambushed onthe march and massacred by Indians. The Armyof the 'Vest was no more.

Brock, however, was not going to sit back withtwo more American armies threatening Canada.Immediately, he transferred mOSt of his troops toface Van Rensselaer's army.

Van Rensselaer was a New York militia generalwith no active military experience. He, his gooRegulars and 3,000 militiamen were at Lewiston,while Regular Brigadier-General AlexanderSmyth, his 1,650 Regulars and 400 militiamenwere at Buffalo. Some t ,300 Regulars were alsoat Fort Niagara.

Van Rensselaer had command of the entirearmy, due to a problem in American Army Regu.lations. The senior officer, be he militia or Regular,was always in command - regardless of ability orexperience. In the British Army command wentto the Regular, even if he had to be given

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temporary, local rank. According to British ArmyRegulations no militia officer of about cqual rankto a Regular would cvcr command him. That thiswas not true in the American Army was a fatalflaw.

As it turned out, Smyth would not assist noreven hardly speak to Van Rensselaer. The reversewas equally true. Still, Van Rensselaer was willingand eager to attack, which was not the case withSmyth, and therefore planned a move by his owntroops.

He planned to move across the Niagara River,capturing Queenston and its heights. From thisarea he would command the entire river anddrive the British out of the Niagara Peninsula. On13 October he began his attack. In the first assaultwave were some 300 men of the 13th Infantry andan equal number of lew York militiamen.Quickly they made it up the winding footpath tothe heights overlooking Queenston'. A detachmentof the 49th held a redan there, but the Americanscame on with the bayonet and drove them out.

Out of the ten Regular officers in the force, twowere killed and five seriously wounded, andCaptain John Wool, 13th Infantry, took com·mand. Brock, in the town, quickly reassembledhis forces, and personally led a counter-attackback to the redan. In the heavy American fireBrock fell mortally wounded while urging his menon. The counter·attack was driven off.

Wool had also fallen badly wounded, and wastaken off to the American shore. But reinforce­ments were arriving, the fint among them beingmen of the 6th Infantry. Most of the New Yorkmilitiamen, however, were less than eager [Q getinto the fray, and refused to get into the boats. Itwas the law, they pointed out, that militia neednot serve outside the borden of their own state.While these legal questions were being debatedon the American shore, Lieutenant-Colonel \\'in·field ScOlt, ~!Od Artillery, had taken command ofthe troops on the heights.

Although Brock was dead the British .....ere farfrom giving up. ReinforcementJ for their side

--- --.

The Battle of Qu_IIon Heisht.. draw.. hy .... eye_witae... (PubUl: AnbJftS of Caaada)

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• .0 • ••. - , .M._·....., .

UnJform WOrD by General B..ock al Q.UH.Dston Hd,bls.The small hole in the cenl..e of the coal, about level witbthe fourtb button down, i, tbe fatal bullet hole. (N.lionalMuseum. of Canada)

were arriving and now Major-General RogerSheaffe, Brock's successor, sent a flank attackround the Americans' left. It was made up of menof the 41st Foot, flank companies of the 1st and4th Lincoln Militia, three companies of the 5thLincoln Militia, Major Merritt's YeomanryCorps, and some militia artillery.

Tired, lacking reinforcements, having beenunder heavy fire all day, Colonel Scott himselfwounded, the Americans surrendered.

Van Rensselaer resigned. Now Smyth, who hadplanned to cross we river on the other side of thefamous falls, issued his orders for the invasion ofCanada. The American Army was to get intoboats, row across and fall OUI on the Canadianside, 'Beginning on the right, as follows: CaptainGibson's Artillery, the Sixth and Thirteenth

Infantry; Captain Towson's Artillery; the Four­teenth and Twentythird Infantry as one regiment;Captain Barker's and Captain Branch's Artillery;We Twelfth and Twentieth Infantry; CaptainArcher's Artillery; General Tannehill's (Penn.sylvania Volunteer) Infantry; a company ofriflemen; General Porter's (New York Volunteerlnfamry; a battalion of Riflemen on each Aank,in a line perpendicular to Ihat formed by themain army, eXlending 10 the front and rear.'Despite these: fine plans, Smyth seemed unableto get organized enough actually to gel all themen across the river. The militia simply wenthome. Finally, at the end of :"lo\'ember, theRegulars wem into winter quarters, and threemonths later Smyth's name was quietly droppedfrom the army rolls.

While all this marching aboUI was going onIkarbom had moved his seven Regular regiments,with artj(Jery and dragoons, to Plattsburg. Therehe announced he would lead his army 10 Montrealbut Canadian militia and Indians drove hisadvance guard back at the village of Champlain.His New York and Vermont militia thereuponrefused to march further, and all hopes for a quickcapture of Canada in 1812 were finished.

B..... bell_plate of the 1001h Res1mlHlt of Foot. (Dn""'"by Rebecca Katche..)

It was obvious that the Americans would con­tinue their attempts to capture Canada in 1813,and therefore in February the 104th Foot leftNew Brunswick for Quebec, a total of 350 miles.

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It was an unusually cold winter, and each com­pany travelled five days apart, having to break afresh trail through the deep snows. Officers carriedtheir own kits in their knapsacks, while tobogganswere used for provisions. Each daybreak themarch would begin, ending at noon while therewas still enough daylight to build a new camp.Once a blizzard forced the lead companies backto the previous day's camp, and an officer andtwo privates volunteered to go fifty.four miles toSt Andre for food, which was running out. Theygot there and returned with the food in two days.

The whole regiment reached Quebec in twenty·four days, then went on ten more miles toKingston. Only twenty men died from conditionsaggravated by the march.

In addition, the governmenl in London advisedCanada's Governor-General, Sir George Prevost,that it was sending reinforcements consisting ofthe 19th Regiment of Light Dragoons, a companyof Royal Artillery, detachments from the Corpsof Royal Artillery Drivers and the Corps of RoyalSappers and Miners, and battalions of the 13th,41st, 70th, 89th, gBth, 10ISt and 103rd Regimentsof Foot and Regiments De Watteville and DeMeuron.

These were good regiments, although the com·mander of the 70th had to report to Prevost that,'we are very young and very small', with his bestmen left on recruiting duty or on furlough, andthe regiment was, at best, in 'a very infant state'.The 103rd was another problem with Prevost

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Contemporary prl.Dt ofSir GeorJe Pre_tit.(McCord MuHUJD)

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complaining that it was made up of 'about 750very young Soldicn and Boys'. Furthermore,many IOgrd men turned out to be convicts takenfrom the hulks and almost ninety men deserted tothe Americans shortly after arrival. Even 'therepeated inniction of capital punishment' did notstop the flow of deserters.

The Americans planned to return to the offen­sive by recapturing Detroit and attacking acrossLake Ontario. Command of the new Army of the.\Tort.hwest, which would do all this, was given toa military hero, Brigadier-General William H.Harrison. His army was made up of the 17th,19th and 24th Infantry Regiments, recentlyrecruited in the western states, and volunteersfrom Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Ohio.Harrison was told to avoid using militia as muchas possible and fill up the Regular regiments first.

Although winter campaigns were difficuh, andthe winter in that part of the world rather harsh,public opinion demanded some victories to makeup for the disasters of 1812, and Harrison startedtowards Lake Erie in October.

In January 1813 Harrison sent on the 1st and5th Kentucky Militia Regiments, the KentuckyRifle Regiment and the 17th Infantry, underBrigadier·General James Winchester, to French.town, a small Canadian post on the Raisin River.There they were soundly defeated by a largerforce of British, Canadians and Indians underColonel Henry Proctor. Over 100 Kentucky rifle·men were killed in action, while the Indiansmassacred the rest. 'Remember the Raisin!'became an American baule·cry.

That disaster caused Harrison to abandon anywinter offensive plans, and he went into winterquarters 10 rebuild his force.

Early in spring Dearborn was ordered to cap·ture Kingston, which was the only possible sitefor a naval station on the Cilnadian side of LakeOntario. Its capture would give the Americanscontrol of the lake, and cut British lines of commu­nications between east and west. Dearborn, how­ever, heard that the Kingston garrison had beenreinforced, and switched his objective to UpperCanada's capital, York.

York was garrisoned by the grenadier and abattalion company of the 8th Foot, a company­sized detachment of the Royal Newfoundland

Regiment, a company of the Glengarry LightInfantry Fencibles, the srd York Militia Regi­ment, SOO dockyard workers and 50-100 Missis­sauga and Chippewa Indians. Dearborn, in poorhealth, gave command of the invasion force toBrigadier-General Zebulon Pike, a Regular.

Pike landed his troops, consisting of RegularriRemen under Major Benjamin Forsyth, the 6th,15th, 16th and 21st Infantry, detachments oflight and heavy artillery and some .volunteers,about four miles west of the town. The landingwas unopposed. The British drew up their troopsin a fortification half·way between the town andthe landing site.

13:Tin .hako·pt.... or .h.. 15th Inf.n'''''' th.. typicat .....Iy

.infantry duip. (Onwinl by ReboH::ea Katch....)

Resistance from the British was stiff, but Pikerefused to allow his Regulars to load, sendingthem forward by platoons by sections to take theworks at bayonet point. A howitzer of the srdArtillery Regiment was sent forward with thecolumn, and the British were overwhelmed.

As the Americans pushed on and the Britishfled, a British powder magazine in the city blewup. General Pike was talking to a just·capturedsergeam when heavy rocks, hurled about by theexplosion, fell among them, killing both theGeneral and the Sergeant. Command of thetroops fell to Colonel Cromwell Pearce, 16thInfantry.

Pearce seemed unable to control his troops, whonow went on the rampage, looting and burning

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the public buildings and records. Arter staying inthe fire-blackened town for about a week, theyleft to join the troops who were to attack the fortson the Canadian side of the Niagara River.

While the Americans were busy, Sir GeorgePrevost had gathered a force at Kingston to takeSackell's Harbor, t.he main American post on t.helake. His force consisted of the grenadier companyof the looth Foot, a detachment from the 1st(Royal Scots: Foot, two companies of the 8thFoot, four companies of the 104th Foot, onecompany of Glengarry Light Infantrymen, andtwo companies of Canadian voltigeurs. Two six·pounder guns were included in the force.

New York militia Brigadicr·General JacobBrown commanded the garrison at Sackett'sHarbor - and a motley garrison it was. He hadthe 1st and 2nd Regiments of Dragoons, about250 men; some 50-60 Regular artillerymen; some80-100 Regular infantrymen left as invalidsfrom various regiments; new recruits for Regularregiments, and some 250 men of the AlbanyVolunteers.

On the night of 26 1lay, Prevosl launched hisatlaek. Brown divided his men into two lines: thefirst offered stiff resistance but was pushed aside.The second line, in already prepared fortifications,held against one, then two frontal attacks. Whilere.forming for yet a third attack, the British rightflank was suddenly hit by the rallied Americanmilitia. That was too much. Wrote SergeantJamesCommins, 8th Foot: 'We brought all our woundedaway it was possible to remove and embarked onboard ship tired, hungry, wet and thirsty, highlymystified, and looking very sheepish at oneanother; you would hardly have heard a whisperuntil that powerful stimulant grog was served outwhen the Tower of Babel was nothing like it,everyone blaming each other, nay some of t.hemwere rash and impudent to lay the blame onanyone but themselves. As for my part, I thoughtmuch but said little having got a wound in mythigh which began to pain me as soon as I gotcold... .'

British losses had been 47 killed, 154 woundedand T6 missing. The Americans lost 21 dead and85 wounded.

The day Prevost was moving towards Sackett'sHarbor, Dearborn began invading Canada. His

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first move was on Fort George, on the Niagara,garrisoned by the 49th Foot, as well as detach·menu of the 8th, 41St, Glengarry and RoyalNewfoundland Regiments. On 27 May theAmericans sent the 2nd Artillery, acting asinfantrymen, Forsyth's riflemen and detachmentsfrom various infantry regiments against the fort.Flanked by ~laryland and New York volunteers,the British, who had advanced 10 stop theAmericans from landing, were driven back.

Sr&rnped bn...b&ko""l.are of rlte:zad Anill~Rqbn...t.Other rqiments IIHd d1fI'erftllt desl,..., wirlt caDIlOIl,Ral. and _lies. (Drswml by Rebecca Kalcber)

Opposed largely by the 8th Foot, the 6thInfantry drove forward and, as American victoryseemed assured, the British spiked their guns andretreated.

Upon the fori's capture, the Americans sent theT31h and 14th Infantry, with a company of t.he2nd Artillery, after the retreating British. Theyhalted at Stony Creek and were reinforced. Areconnaissance of the American position by the8th and 49th Foot light companies showed themto be poorly arranged, and a night attack wasplanned.

Five companies of the 8th and the whole 49thaccordingly struck at two in the morning, imme.diately capturing all the American artillery. The8Th smashed into the 5th, 16th and 23rd Infantry.They, supporTed by the 25th Infantry, at firstmade a stand. British troops broke t.hrough theAmerican lines, wheeled and fired on the

Americans' backs. The Americans broke and fled.The 2nd Dragoons charged through the 49th

Foot, running into their own side, the 16thInfantry, which opened fire on them. In totalconfusion, the Americans fell back to Fort George.On the way they abandoned Fort Erie, whichhad been caplured by the 12th Infantry.

U.S. dnll"oon', helmel of black lealhell' with a pewlell'fll'Onl plate. (Foil" McHenry Nadonal Monument andHblOdc Shrine)

Another advance party of some 500 men wasambushed and surrendered to a force of 250British and Indians while only fifteen miles fromthe Forl. After these disasters there was no furthernorthern advance made by Dearborn, whoresigned in early July.

On Lake Erie itself the British fleet had beendefeated and, with the Americans in control of thelake, Harrison began to move his army forwardto retake Detroit. Proctor, greatly outnumbered,abandoned both Fort Malden and Detroit and

began an eastward rctreat. The Indians fearedbeing abandoned to the Americans, and pleadedfor Proctor to make a stand.

Proctor picked a line on the banks of theThames River, some eighty-five miles from Maldento make his stand. He drew up his lines with the41st Foot in the main line, Indians on the flank.Harrison had some 120 Regulars of the 27thInfantry, and five brigades of Kentucky volun­teers under the State Governor, as well as aregiment of mounted Kentucky riflemen.

Harrison, seeing the British arrangements,decided on an unusual change from the day'stypical tactics. He hurled the mounted Kentuck­ians at the 41Sl. Tired, worn from long marches,Ihe 41St fired one then twO scattered volleys, andbroke as the men and horses came smashingthrough. The British reserve line gave way justas quickly and the horsemen wheeled left andright, firing into the scattering lines.

At the same time, the infantry charged theIndians, who fought almost an hour after the lastred-coated Regular fled the field. Tecumseh felldead and the fight was over. Lake Erie was anAmerican lake.

The main action now was the expeditionagainst Montreal. Gathered for this drive werethe 5th, 12th and 13th Infantry under GeneralBoyd; the 6th, 15th and 22nd Infantry underGeneral Brown; the 9th, 16th and 25th Infantryunder General Covington, and the 11th, 14th and21St Infantry under General Swartout. GeneralPorter commanded light troops and artillery, asanother brigadc.

The invasion was to be a two-pronged affairwilh rich southerner Brigadier-General WadeHampton moving from Plattsburg, and the otherprong under Major-General James Wilkinsonmoving from Sackett's Harbor. As with Smythand Van Rensselaer, the IWO were not even onspeaking terms, which certainly did not bode anygood for American arms.

Nor were the troops, even the Regulars, undertheir commands, all that good. Colonel RogerPurdy, 4th Infantry, wrote of Hampton's forcethat it was, '... consisting of about 4,000 men,[and] was composed principally of recruits whohad been but a short time in the service, and hadnot been exercised with that rigid discipline so

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U .... t ..na.noColoft..t Cha..I... de Salaberry. c:ornDl&lld.... ofthe e..-dlan Voh.! (P"bUc An:hJves of Canada)

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essentially necessary 10 constilUte the soldier. Theyhad indeed been taught various evolutions, bur aspirit of subordination was foreign to their views.'

Hampton moved his force up to the ChateaugayRiver, where a force of 50 Canadian fencibles,150 Canadian voltigeurs, 100 sedentary militiaand a few Indians were gathered under Lieu­tenant-Colonel Charles de Salaberry as a first lineof defence. In reserve were 300 Canadian volti­geurs, 480 of the 2nd Battalion ofSelect EmbodiedMilitia, some 150 Indians and 200 sendentarymilitia.

Purdy was sent with the light infantry companiesof the 5th, 12th and 13th Infantry, to flank deSala~rry and attack his rear. This commandended up lost in the dense forests, and wanderedabout pointlessly during the entire battle.

The main American force moved forward inan equally dense forest. The resulting action whenthey finally came in contact with the Canadianswas so confused that American units ended upfiring on each other. De Salaberry had buglersgive calls on the American flanks, causing themto think the force in front of them was muchlarger than it actually was.

When the Americans finally retreated to sortthings out, fifty of their ranks had been injured,while only five Canadians were killed, sixteenwounded and four missing. Hampton fell backall the way to Plattsburg and joined the increasingranks of resigned American general officers.

Wilkinson moved forward for his turn. He wasmet at Chrystler's Farm on II November 1813by three companies of Canadian voltigeurs, thirtyIndians, and the 89th and 49th Regiments ofFoot. The 49th, normally nicknamed the 'Invin­cibles', were called the 'Creen Tigers' by theAmerican militia because of their green facings.Wilkinson's own force included fourteen Regularinfantry regiments, a company of the 1st RifleRegiment and two regiments, as well as threeartillery regiments. The resulting action, foughtin a rough clearing, intersected with small gulliesand fences, was one of the war's few European­style battles.

The Americans, seeing the 49th in their greyovercoats, thought them to be militia and imme­diately charged, with the 21St Infantry in the lead.They quickly cleared out the Canadian skirmish

line, only to be met with a crushing fire. They fellback to the shelter of the woods. The Americansthen swung on to the British right, but the BritishRegulars crossed in front of the field in echelon,driving the Americans back bv platoon volleys.

The 2nd Dragoons was then hurled at the 89thFoot but repelled. Lieutenant-Colonel Morrison,49th Foot, wrote: 'The 49th was then directed tocharge their guns posted opposite to ours, but itbecame necessary when within a short distance ofthem to check the forward movement, in consc­quence of a charge from their Cavalry on theright lest they should wheel about and fall upontheir rear, but they were received in so gallant amanner by the Companies of the 89th underCaptain Barnes and the well directed fire of theArtillery, that they quickly retreated and by animmediate charge from those Companies one Cunwas gained. The Enemy immediately concen­trated their Force to check our advance but suchwas the steady countenance and well directed fireof our Troops and Artillery that about half pastfour they gave way at all points from an exceedingstrong position endeavouring by their Light Infty.to cover their retreat, who were soon driven awayby a judicious movement made by Ll. Col.Pearson.' The 21St Infantry, under Lieutenant­Colonel Timothy Upham, held the British backas the Americans made their retreat.

Thc British loss was 22 killed, 148 wounded and9 missing. The Americans lost 102 killed, 237wounded and 100 missing. Wilkinson's invasionof Canada was over.

While all of this was going on the Britishquietly retook Fort George and the AmericansFort Niagara. The Americans previously hadburned the town of Newark and part of Queens tonand the British retaliatcd by burning Buffalo andBlack Rock.

In 1813 a new thealre of war had opened. Aforce of Regulars under Ceneral Wilkinson, whohad not yet gone north, moved into a long­disputed area of wCSt Florida and met no opposi­tion from the Spanish. Shortly thereafter, however,the Creek Indians, inspired by Tecumseh'ssuccesses, took to the war-path in Alabama,beginning with a massacre of500 men, women andchildren at Fort Mims.

Tennessee State ~Iilitia General Andrew

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jackson quickly assembled an army of Tennesseemilitia and moved into Indian territory. He wasforced to wait at Fort Strother until, in February1814, the 39th Infantry arrived as reinforcements.

Coaleonpo....ry lla•• palatine of AAdrew Jaa.on.(SmJth-m- IIulitu.doa)

With these fresh Regulars, jackson moved outat the end of the month to attack the Indianfortified town at the Horseshoe Bend of theTallapoosa River. With the 39th as the mainstorming parly, supported by the East TennesseeBrigade, the troops stormed through the Indians'fOrlifications and routed them. All but 100 of thebraves wcrc killcd. Jackson won an appointmentas a Regular major-general.

In the same year Admiral Sir George Cockburnwas sent to the Chesapeake Bay area to make adiversion in favour of the northern defenders ofCana9a. After a failure to take the naval yard atNorfolk, which had been defended by some 580Regulars and militia and 150 sailors and marines,Cockburn moved towards Hampton, Virginia.The local militia of some 450 was quickly over­whelmed, and the town looted and burned.

'Well!' wrote Colonel Napier, 102nd FOOl,'whatever horrible acts were done at Hampton,

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they were not done by the Hundred and Second,for they were never let to quit their ranks, andthey almost mutinied at my preventing them join­ing in the sack of the unfortunate town. Themarine artillery behaved like soldiers; they hadit in their power to join in the sac.k and refused.'The main culprits were the Chassc:urs Britannique,a unil recruited from among French prisoners ofwar. It had just returned from a punishment [ourat Botany Bay, Australia, and, according to

Napier, were 'the grealesl rascals existing'.Furthermore, 'Much I wished 10 shool some, buthad no opportunity. They really murdered with­out object but the pleasure of murdering.' Afterthis episode, the unil's services were dispensed with.

Napier's own 102n~ had somc men from NewSouth Wales, too, and were known as the 'BolanyBay Rangers'. Their discipline was obviouslyabove reproach, however.

The year 1813 had not proved totally successfulfor anyone, hut less for the Americans than forCanada's defenders. In March 1814 Wilkinsonsent Regular Brigadier-General Brown to attemptto take Kingslon from Plattsburg. He was giventhe gth, 11th, 2m, 15th Infantry and the 3rdArtillery and a company of the 2nd Arlillery. Thisforce was met and turned back by only some 200British and Canadian troops - another lotalfailure.

Brown had showed his worth in previous actions,however, and was then named to command theentire Niagara-Lake Ontario theatre. Major­General George Izard was given command of Ihetheatre from Lake Champlain to the frontier.Good officers were finally being found in theAmerican ranks.

Brown's troops consisted of Brigadier-GeneralWinfield Scott's brigade of the gth, 11th, 22ndand 25lh Infantry Regimenu; Brigadier-GeneralEleazer Ripley's brigade of lhe 2 lSI, 23rd and29th Infantry Regiments, 327 regular artillery·men, 600 Pennsylvania Voluntccrsand 600 Indians.

Brown was ordered to cross the Niagara Riveraround Fort Erie, take the fort and then moveagainst Fort George or lake a bridge over theChippewa River.

On 3 july Scali crossed the river below FortErie with the gth, Illh, parts of the 22nd and25lh 1nfantry and some artillery. Ripley, with the

19th, 21St and 23rd Infantry, followed that night.The looth Foot sent forward men to fight adelaying action, while the 19th Light Dragoonscharged into the 9th Infantry which drove themaway easily. The Americans had their foothold.

On 4 July Scott, joined by some 500 Penn­sylvania Volunteers and 400 Indians, movedforward to Chippewa. During !.he night the Britishdefenders were joined by the Ist and 8th Foot, adetachment of Royal Artillery, me 2nd Regimentof Lincoln militia and some Indians. Scottarranged his troops with the 91h and part of the21st on the right, the 11th in the centre and the25th on the left. The British, under General Rial!,had a van of light companies, then the looth andIhe 2nd Lincoln militia, with 300 Indians on theright.

The Americans came forward, under heavyfire, to within some eighty paces of the Britishline, then wavered, stopping to return the Britishvolleys. SCOlt, in the romantic tradition of theperiod, is said to have called out to the II thInfantry, 'The enemy says we are good at thelong shot, but can not stand me cold iron! I callupon the 11th instantly to give lie to that slander!Charge!'

Whatever the actual command was, chargethey did, along wim the 22nd. The 25th wasordered to advance arms, actually a form ofshouldering arms where the musket is carried inIhe hand of the right arm with the muzzle pointingstraight in the air. Cool as if on a parade ground,they did so and joined in the general advance.The British line crumbled and broke.

The Americans lost 61 killed, 255 wounded and19 missing, while the British losses to the moreaccurate and rapid American fire were 236 killed,322 wounded and 46 missing. The action hadbeen especially heavy on the British Regulars,with Prevost being informed that, 'The Royals(1St Foot) & loolh Regt. are in the greatest wantfor Officers - The latter has but one Captain &3 Subalterns doing duty, and about 250 effective

•men.Reinforcements were rushed forward. Brown,

faced with being overwhelmed by the British,withdrew from Queenston. He sent Scott to drawout the British along the Queenston Road. Scottran into the troops from the Chippewa and the

Glengarry Light Infantry Fencibles, the 84th and104th Foot, detachments of thc Royal Artilleryand some incorporated and sedentary militia atLundy's Lane.

BOfh b~•• and pewter belt.plate. or the Gte"prry UsbtInfantry are known. (Drawln, by Rebecca Katcher)

Scott came fOT\vard with the 9th, I I th and 20thInfantry, while sending the 25th alollS theQuecnston Road. The American charge wasbeaten back. The key to the field seemed to be ahill held by a battery of Royal Artillery, and the1st Infantry was ordered to draw enemy fire,while the 21St was ordered by Bro..·:n to 'stormthat work and take it.' 'I'll try, sir; was 21stcommander Lieutenant.Colonel James ~Iiller's

reply.Try he did, and the hill with seven guns fell to

American bayonets. Wrotc the senior BritishGencral on the field, General Drummond, 'Ofsadctermined a Character were the attacks directedagainst our Guns that our Artillcry Men werebayonettcd by the Enemy in the Act of loading,and the muzzles of the Enemy's Guns wereadvanced to within a few Yards of ours.'

Quickly reinforced by the 1St and 23rd Infantry,Miller's troops stood off two equally determinedBritish counter-attacks. The battle was the hardestfought of the war. The I nh Infantry lost itscommander, every company commander wasdead or .....ounded and, out of ammunition, finallyretired from the field. The 22nd, badly battered,formed with the equally battered 9th Infantry toform one unit.

IS

The battle ilselfsce-sawed until about midnightwhen an exhausted American army withdrew. Anequally exhausted British army held the field,unable to follow. Both General Phineas Rial! andDrummond were wounded, and Riall was takenprisoner. On the other side, both Brown and Scottwere severely wounded and Scott saw no moreservice that war.

The Americans ~ost ql killed, 572 woundedand J 10 missing, while Ihe Brilish lost 84 killed,559 wounded and 193 missing. The 84!.h alonetook 254 casualties, and the Incorporated ~1ilitia

Battalion of Upper Canada, 142.The Americans withdrew to Fort Eric, whieh

they garrisoned with tlle 9th, I !th, 19th, 21st and23rd Infantry, detachments from the 1st and 4thRifle Regiments and New York and PennsylvaniaVolunteers. Receiving further reinforcements atthe beginning of August, the British set siege tothe fort, but a successful sally forced them to halt!.he siege on 21 September. On 5 November, theAmericans destroyed the fort and withdrew toAmerican soil.

With the fall of Napoleon, !.he British werefinally able to send hardened combat veterans toCanada to finish off the Americans. On J Sep­tember t814 Lieutenant-General Sir John Sher­brooke was able to take the tst company of Royal

WiD.__rn by CaplAla Bet:t.jouniaBurch, DUtria or Cohunbia.rtUlery rnilltla. (Srnlth_nlanI...tJtudon)

Artillery, two companies of the 7th/60th Foot,and detachments of the 29th, 62nd and 98th Footto land at Castine, in Maine. The small, rapidlygathered militia force was quickly brushed asideand .Maine, which had really not been in favourof the war, surrendered. Earlier ~'Ioose Island,Maine, had fallen to the 102nd Foot.

Then, on 19 August, Major·General RobertRoss landed ncar Washington with the 4th, 21st,44th and 85th Foot, some Royal Marines andsailol1i. He began his march to Washington, onlyto be met at Bladensburg by a hastily gatheredforce including detachments of the 12th, 36th and38th Infantry, a squadron of Regular dragoons,two companies of light artillery, twO rifle com­panies and an odd assortment of Maryland andVirginia militia. In a short fight, the BritishRegulal1i easily pushed through the Americansand captured thdr capital city. The public build·ings, except the patent office and one newspaperoffice, were hurned in retaliation for the burningof York. After a few days they re-embarked andmO\'ed north to capture Baltimore, .Maryland.

Maryland militia General Samuel Smith drewup his troops to meet them at North Point. Thefront line was made up of the 5th ~Iaryland onthe right, some artillery, and then the 27th Mary­land. The 39th and 51St Maryland Regimentsformed a second line, with the 6th Maryland inreserve.

Ross scnt forward the light companies of hisregiments with some marines. Among the latlerwas a corps of colonial marines, formed byCochrane from escaped slaves earlier that year.The corps had been united wilh three companiesof the 2nd Battalion of Royal Marines to form a3rd Battalion, and their record had been excellentin the various raids along the coast.

The 44th was then sent in on the front, withthe 4th Foot sent around the American flank. The39th Maryland was ordered to meet that move,wilh the 51St Maryland scnt to fill out the flankline. For some reason the 51St broke and ran,closely followed by the 39th. The 27th Marylandheld, and allowed the rest of the troops to makea fairly orderly withdrawal. Ross was killed, andthe next day his replacement, Colonel ArthurBrooke, 44th Foot, moved the army up to wherea well-fortified, overwhelming militia force was

The ton. ...u .hako worn by Ea.lp Jou R._, 5th Mal'}'_land Inf.ntl'}' Rep-e..', ., the Battle o( N..nb Poiat.(Fort McHen..." N.do....1 Mo...........u ...d m.tork SIuiae)

waiting. The naval attack on Fort McHenry,made that evening, failed, and the British with­drew.

Two days before the failure of the Baltimoreattack, a much more serious threat was beaten offby the Americans.

A major force had left Plattsburg for theNiagara frontier, leaving Brigadier-General Alex­ander Macomb with nothing more for his garrisonthan a company of light artillery, the 13thInfantry, a company of the 151h Infantry, detach·men IS of the 6th, 29th, 30th, 33rd and 34thInfantry, twO artillery companies, 803 sick andinvalided men and 200 infantrymen serving asmarines on the American fleet in Lake Champlain.

Prevost saw his chance to deliver a telling blowagainst the Americans and moved towards Platts­burg with Major-General Robinson's brigade ofthe 3rd/27th, 39th, 76th and 88th Foot, Major­General Brisbane's brigade of the 2nd/8th, 13thand 49th Foot, de Meuron's Regiment, theCanadian voltigeurs and Canadian chasscul1i,and Major-General Power's brigade of the 3rd,5th, tst '27th and 58th Fool. Each brigade wassupported with an artillery brigade of five six­pounders, two twenty-four-pounders and one5'5-inch howitzer. The 19th Light Dragoons

17

The ...donat colour or the 13th lnf_.ry ReP-"a•. (WK'POUlt COllKt.lo.... Umted SlatK Military Acad"my)

was also a pan of the expedition.On 6 September he arrived at Plattsburg,

having been only slightly slowed down by delayingactions of the Igth Infantry. There he waited aweek for his naval suppon to begin its attack.

On I I September that support was at hand,and he ordered a joint attack. He sent fom'ardthe light infantry companies, the grd '27th and76th Foot and Power's brigade, wruch pushedaside the Clinton and Essex Militia and was readyto fall on the American Regulars when wordarrived of the naval defeat. Without Britishcontrol of Lake Champlain Plattsburg was toodifficult to supply, and Prevost, much to thedisgust of his veterans of the Peninsular campaign,withdrew.

18

News of the British failures at Baltimore andPlattsburg reached the diplomats discussing peaceterms in Belgium, but the British had one morecard to play. Major-General Sir Edward Paken.ham, brother-in-law to the Duke of WellingtOn,was sent to command the 4th, 21st, 44th, 85th,9grd and 95th Foot. the 1st and 5th West IndiaRegiments and the t4th Light Dragoons in anatlempt to capture ~ew Orleans and removeLouisiana from the United States. The army wassoon joined by the 7th (Royal Fusiliers), 40th and43rd Foot, more elite, veteran regiments.

The first plan was to take the city by takingMobile, guarded by some 130 men of the 2ndInfantry at Fan Bowyer, and coming down on itfrom the north. The 2nd stood firm, driving the

British ofT, and the only way left was to come upthe river from the south.

Defending was Andrew Jackson with a mixedlot of militia and the 7th and 44th Infantry.Undermining British morale in a night attack,Jackson withdrew to a line of fortifications alongthe river, with his flanks resting in swamps. Therehe placed Indians, then some Tennessee andKentucky militia, his Tennessee Rifles, the 44thInfantry, twO free Negro battalions, the NewOrleans Volunteer Battalion the 7th Infantry andthe Xew Orleans Sharpshooters. Some Kentuckymilitia guarded the other side of the bank. Besidesthese men he had seven artillery batteries, includ­ing one composed of local pirates.

DelaU of tbe coat wOrn by Andrew Jack.on at the Battleof New Orlean•• (Smlth.onlan In.titutlon)

After !.he failure of an artillery duel, Pakenhamdecided on a frontal attack, with the 95th Footsent to take the other side of the river. On themorning of 8 January his army, led by the 44thFoot, appeared in front of the American worksand started across the muddy ground towardsthem.

The Americans fired in fOllr ranks, each rankfiring, falling back, reloading and then advancing,so a perfect Slream of fire was kepl up. OneBritish officer wrote that his men fell 'like bladesof grass beneath the scythe'. Another said that,'Never before had British veterans quailed, butthere was something in that leaden torrent noman on earth could face. In minutes the entirecolumn was broken and disorganized.'

Major Thomas Wilkinson, 21st Foot, reachedthe American parapets alone, hit twelve times.There he fell, and an American officer told him,'Bear up, Major. You're too brave to die.'

Wilkinson replied, 'I thank you with all myheart, but do me a favour. Tell my commanderI died here on your parapet.' His body, coveredwith Kentucky militia coloun, was carried to therear.

On the flank the 95th Foot did better, breakingthrough the militia, but the main effort was atotal failure. Pakenham was killed, dying in thearms of the same officer who caught Ross not toomany months before.

For ten days the shattered remnant of theBritish Army remained there, undisturbed. Thenthey left. In a last-ditch effort they returned toMobile, this time capturing Fort Bowyer. Beforethey could move on the city itself, word arrivedthat, on Christmas Eve, a treaty of peace hadbeen signed.

If the war proved anything - none of the pointswhich made the Americans declare war were evenmentioned in the peace treaty - it was thatAmerica could not successfully invade and holdCanada, nor could the British successfully invadeand hold America. That lesson, at least, seems tohave been learned.

qlie 'Britis/l rJlrmyAt the war's outbreak the British Army was atthe height of its glory. Wellington, the 'IronDuke', with an army of red-coated heroes wasvanquishing i"lapoleon's marshals one after an­other on the Iberian Peninsula. For almost ageneration the army had been tempered in waragainst the French; it was tough, well trained, and

19

,,,

Tltle·pa8e o(Briti.h Army Resuladons.(Author's c:ollec:tloQ)

considered with good reason to be virtuallyunbeatable.

Still, problems were on the horizon, particularlyin the colonies.

Years of war had taken their toll of availableyoung men. Threats of invasion had caused theraising of fenciblc and local militia regiments andmcn enlisted in them were men los1 to the servingRegular Army. Recruiting, lhen, became a contestof wills and wits. Men were lured into the RegularArmy by promi~s of quick promotion, plentiful

20

food and the chance of rich loot, as well as thatold standby - alcohol.

Officers bought their way into their posts.Regulations required a minimum age of sixt~n.and a recommendation outlining the prospectiveofficer's 'character, Education and Bodily Health,and that he is prepared immediately to join anyRegiment to which he may be appointed. HisChristian Name and Place of Address must alsobe particularly stated.'

Commissions were expensive. The starting-

place, the rank of ensign in any of the Regularregiments of foot, cost £400 - officially, with alittle more money generally being required to passunder the table. A cornet ofdragoons was requiredto part with £735. And for anyone who wished tohold the high rank of lieUlenant-colonel of FootGuards, the starting-price was £6,700. One could,and many did, pass up through the ranks byability and luck, but purchase was the surest andmost common method of promotion.

Needless to say, this system assured that men ofproperty, tied to the status quo, became leaders inthe army. They need not necessarily have beenIhe best, brightest or mOSI suiled for Ihejob: it issurprising how often they were.

Commissions were not purchased in the RoyalArtillery and Royal Engineers. ~10st of theirofficers were the intelligent sons of middle-classfamilies and received mathematical and scientificeducations at the Royal ~'lilitary Academy inWoolwich. Officers of those corps were not respon­sible 10 the army's Commander-in-Chief, but tothe Board of Ordnance, and were promotedStrictly according to seniority and merit.

Once men were enlisted, they had to be housedand fed. A sergeant of the 43rd Foot, not longbefore that regiment was scnt to America, recalledthat after his enlistment he found thai, 'Thesleeping room of which I was an inmate was anoblong building of unusually large dimensions,and was occupied by three companies, of an

hundred men each. They were chiefly volunteers,and, of course, young soldiers, many were Irish,many more were English, several \\'elshmen wereintermingled, and a few Scotch men came in tocomplete the whole. Most of these, and that wasthe only point of general resemblance, had in­dulged in excessive drinking. Some were up­roariously merry, on others the effect was directlythe reverse; and nothing less than a fight, it matternot with whom, would satisfy. Meantime, as theywere unable to abuse each other in languagemutually intelligible, exclamations profoundlyjocular or absurdly rancorous ran through thebuilding.... In a few weeks we marched to moreconvenient quarters, a few miles distance. Thesalutary restraints ofdiscret:tly managed disciplinespoke chaos with order, and m)' situation becamecomparatively comfortable.'

Besides excessive drink, which was not issued,the British soldier was to receive a six-pound loafof bread every four days, for which he was chargedfivepenct', and three-quarters of a pound daily of'good, sound, sweet, and wholesome Meat 'eitherOx or Heifer Beef, or Wether or Ewe Mutton·'for which he paid sixpence a pound.

The soldier had to be uniformed, as wt'll. Theprivate of a Regular regiment of foot received afelt shako, eight inches tall, called a 'stovepipe'.It had an ornate brass plate in front with acockade and regimental button over the plate.Over the cockade was a woollen tuft, white for

The '.toYe_plpe' .hako·plate, Jeft.,.nd the '&ellie' shako_plate.(Onwl.nt:s by Rebecca Katclr.er)

21

Buteon. or the 8th (Kin,'.) Repment of Foot, loth RoyalVeten",. Ban..Uon, ~nt, I01Dd and tG.4th ReeUnent. ofFoot. (Drawinla by Rebfl,c:a Katcher)

grt=nadit=rs, grt=en for light infantr)' and rt=d andwhite for batlalion men - there being onegrenadier, one light and eight battalion companiesper battalion.

In 1811 the Duke of Wellington ordered a newcap, copied from the PortugueM:, which had asimpler brass plate; the tuft was now on the side.there were decora{j\·e white cords, and a falsefront gave added height. Except for troops in theNew Orleans campaign, who had served on thePeninsula, troops in America seemed to haveworn the 'stovepipe' shako exclusively.

. Tht= wool uniform coatee was cut quite tight,with a collar reaching to the chin, and short tails.Of scarlet for sergeants and officers and brick redfor other ranks, it had a collar, cuffs and shoulder­straps of different colours for the different regi­ments. At the end of each shoulder-strap was acoarse, fringed tuft of wool. Across the chest,either evenly or in pairs, was sewn worsted whitetape with different colours for different regimentswoven in. Pewter buttons had regimental num­bers and designs on them; officers' buttons weresimilar but of gold or silver.

Non-commissioned ranks wore their rankbadges on the upper right arm of their sleeves.After the plain sleeves of the privates, came theone chevron, point down, of regimental lace wornby 'chosen men'. Corporals had two chevrons ofregimental lace. Sergeants, in addition to theirthree chevrons, wore scarlet wool worsted sasheswith a stripe of facing colour in the centce, andcarried brass-hilted swords. Flank company andlight infantry sergeants carried fusils, while othershad pikes.

Sergeants wore three plain white chevrons, aswell as plain white lace on their coats. Coloursergeants wore one chevron of plain lace with aUnion flag and crossed swords in full colour aboveit. Sergeants-major wore four silver chevrons.

22

Sergeants and flank company scrgeant.s-majorwore chevrons on both arms, while flank companycolour-sergeants wore the Union flag on theirright arms, and chevrons on their left. All chevronswere sewn on pieces of facing colour cloth.

Officers wore crimson silk sashes. Officers of the93rd (Highlanders) wore two epaulette.s. Com­pany officers of the light infantry regiments, the43rd, 60th and 93rd, wore a wing on eachshoulder with a grenade or bugle on the strap, asdid flank company officers in Regular regiments.

Regular regimental company officers wore oneepauleue on the right shoulder. The major hadtwo, each with a star on it. The lieutenant­colonel's pair had crowns on them, and thecoloncl's both a crown and a star.

When not on duty men ofsome regiments couldwear plain white wool jackets, with cuffs, callanand shoulder-straps offacing colours. A small woolcap, like the First World War German miil;;e,completed the picture. The cap usually was madefrom an old coat, with a stripe of facing colouraround the band and often with a pompon.

Trousers were ofdark blue-grey wool, althoughin Canada they were often made from localmaterials and varied considerably. Dark greygaiters were worn underneath.

Boots, or shoes, varied too. Something called'beef boots', which appear to be ankle-lengthboots, were issued in Canada. A private of the95th at this time wrote: 'I got a pair of boots, putthem on, and threw myoid ones away; but beforeI had walked four miles further my other bootbottom dropped off, and I had to walk barefooted,as my stocking fect were soon cut all to pieces. Iwas not alone in this predicament; many of themen were served the same. These boots weremanufactured in England. and we said the solesand heels had been glued or pegged on, as therecould nOt have been any wax or hemp used.

'I had worn out my shirts; the one I had ondid not reach to my waist. I found a sheet in ahouse from which its occupants had fled; and atailor in the regiment had cut me a shirt out of it;so here 1 resolved to finish it if possible. I did it,and put it on.'

Basic accoutrements consisted of a black car­tridge box holding sixty rounds, suspended froma whitened buff leather sling with two brassbuckles, and a whitened buff belt holding thebayonet scabbard with a metal regimental belt·plate in front.

In addition, the soldier carried a white duckhavenack, closed with two plain pewter bunons,in which he carried his rations, and a blue·paintedwaterbottle suspended from a brown buckledleather belt. The waterbottle was usually markedwith a broad white arrow and regimental number.

A black-painted knapsack, held up with whitebuffstraps and braced with a frame inside, carriedall his spare clothing, while the grey blanket wasrolled and buckled on top.

On a short movement, as at North Point,Lieutenant George Grieg, 85th Foot, reportedthey carried three days' provisions, as well as 'Ablanket, with a spare shirt and pair of shoes, wasconsidered enough for each man ... while brushesand other articles of that description were dividedbetween comrades, one carrying what wouldsuffice for both. Thus the additional load oftwenty cartridges was more than counterbalancedby the clothing and necessities left behind.' Griegpointed out the private's typical load was, ' ... armsand sixty rounds of ball cartridge ... a knapsackcontaining shirts, shoes, stockings, etc" a blanketa havcrsack with provisions for three days, and acantcen or wooden keg filled with water.'

Uniform was a particular problem in Canada.Officers and men were used to the Duke ofWellington's army. Said one of his officers,'Provided we brought our men into the field wellappointed, and with sixty rounds of good ammu·nition each, he never looked to see whether theirtrousers were black, blue or grey, and as to

ourselves [officers] we might be rigged out in allcolours of the rainbow if we fancied il.'

Prevost was no Iron Duke, and he impressedhis authority by having uniform regulationsfollowed to the letter. On 23 August 1814 he

issued an order: 'The Commander of the Forceshas observed in the dress of Several of the Officersof Corps & Departments, lately added to thisArmy from that of Ficld ~Iarshal the Duke ofWellington, a fancible vanity inconsistent withthe rules of the Service, and in Some instanceswithout Comfort or Convenience and to theprejudi:::e of the Service, by removing essentialdistinctions of Rank and description of Service.

'His Excellency deems it expedient to directthat the General Officers in Charge of Divisions& Brigades do uphold His ~lajesty's Commandsin that respect, and only admit of such deviationsfrom them as may be justified by particular causesofService and Climate - and even then uniformityis to be retained.

'Commanding Officers are held responsible thatthe Established t.:niform of their Corps is strictlyobserved by the Officers under their Command.'Such an order did not add greatly to Sir George'srespect from the Peninsular veterans.

The basic infantry weapon was a ·75<alibre.smoothbore India Pattern 'Brown Bess' flintlockmusket. Capable of being fired almost four timesa minute, the basic musket had been little changedo\-er the past ccntury. The barrel was held to thewalnut stock by Aat keys and three brass pipesheld the ramrod under it. An iron eighteen-inch.long bayonet was attached to the browned barrelby a socket.

From top, a BritJ.b rusit b.yontl, a resutar BritJsb'Brown Bess' bayonet, and anAnlerican bayonel.{Autbor'.collectJon)

The 43rd Foot, a light infantry regiment, hadlight model muskets with a thirty·nine-inch, un­like the regular forty·two·inch, barrel and a rearsight, which the other ones lacked.

23

While the 'Bess' served long and well, it wasinferior in several ways to the American musket.It had a larger bore than the '6g calibre Americanmodel, meaning the American weapon was lighter,and the American soldier's ammunition load wasconsiderably lighter. In addition, the Americansystem of barrel bands, instead of flat keys, madeit easier to care for the weapon. The IndiaPattern's brass furniture was easier to care forthan the American's rusting iron, however.

The 95th and some Canadian troops had Bakerrifles. These had rifled barrels, sights, a patch boxand a pistol grip for sharpshooting. The bayonetwas a sword type with a brass grip. Accurate anddeadly in the hands of men trained as were the95th, the Baker was an excellent weapon, Again,however, it was somewhat inferior to the Americanissue rifle, As il fired a heavier ball, it was muchheavier than the American model, while its barrelwas shorter, giving the American riflemen anad\'antage in both weight and range.

Once uniformed and armed, the man was sentto join his regiment. Regiments in Canada hadsome unique problems, A regiment stationedthere was generally divided into eight parIS, manymiles apart, where they stayed for some threeyears.

There the men were constantly tempted todesert by American agenlS, as well as seeing forthemselves how people of no previous propertyor friends were making fortunes and becominglanded gentry. Desertion became almost the rule,and ewn the best of officers found that disciplinewas vcry difficult to maintain.

Offieers in Canada were not necessarily thebeSt, either, the most ambitious wanting to bewieh Wellington, and a Canadian wrole that, 'wegot the rubbish of every department in the army.Any man whom the Duke deemed unfit for thePeninsula was considered quite good enough forthe Canadian market.' Brock called the 41st Foot'wretchedly officered'.

Then, lOa, only six wives per regiment wereallowed. Stories of pregnant wives drawing thehated slip of paper, '~ot To Go', and their hus­bands sailing off never to see them again werelegion, and they did not make for good morale.

In the 49th one officer's extreme severityresulted in an attempted mutiny, for which seven

24

other ranks were executed.Discipline, in any post, was very harsh. The

lash was the mainstay of punishment, and 100

strokes were considered light punishment. Punish·ment parade was a formal affair, with all the mendrawn up in a square looking inwards. Theoffender was tied to a triangle of halberds in themiddle, while the commanding officer, medicalofficer and drum major looked on. Drummers didthe actual flogging, relieving each other on ever)"twenty-fifth stroke.

A civilian hoping to see the medical officer ofthe 4th Foot, shortly before it was sent to America,wrote: ' ... the 4th, or King's Own Regiment ofFoot, [was] then lying in the same barracks. Thatregiment was then on parade, and it was apunishment parade - some sixteen poor fellowswcre waiting to receive their allowances, varyingfrom 200 to 500 lashes.

'A gentleman standing near me, inquired thename or number of the regiment, and the answerhe received was, that the men were called theKing's Own, but he thought Lbe officers must bethe Devil's Own.'

Few, save some officers and senior sergeants,thought flogging did any good in maintainingdiscipline and on 25 March 181'2 award of thelash by regimental courts-martial was limited andmore than 300 lashes were prohibited.

Brock felt the answer to the problems in Canadawas the posting of a Royal Veteran Battalion,which was then done in 1808. Such a battalionwas made up of, '... .\ftrilorWus Soldiers, who byWounds, Infirmity, or Age, are become unequalto the more active Duties of the Line, but whoretain sufficient Strength for the less laboriousDuties of a Garrison... .' Each man of the lOthwas given 200 acres of land in Canada for en·listing.

Although more settled, spending time farmingas well as soldiering, they still had many typicalRegulars' faults. Roberts, Fort St Joseph's com­mander, said his men of the loth were '... sodebilitated and worn down by unconquerabledrunkenness that neither the fear of punishment,the love of fame or the honour of country cananimate them to extraordinary exertions.'

Despite these problems, the British Army waswell trained and quilc efficient in the field. They

,

J

Private, 81h (KinS'.) Rot.-inoeDt o(FOOl, 1812

z Privw.te. nl U.S. Infantry R~elli.181:1

3 Private, lin Lowe.' e.-dJanEnt.bocIied Militia, 1812

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I Se"'-r.lnl. :lnd U.S. ArtilleryResinu,nl,181:1

:II Private, Royal Rqimalt o(Anilluy, diu

3 Privat"'. U.S. U.hl ArtilleryRecUn_r. 18u

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I Captain, Royal Marine., 1813:J Major-Gen~ral, British Army, 18133 Staff Offi,,~r, United SLatH Army,

1813

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1 Corporal, 95tb (Rifle) Reslmentor FOOl, t81S

:l Private, nt U.s. Rifle Rqinutu, 1813J Ue.. telllaAl, GI",nprry USbl

Infantry forncibles, 1814

,

I Private, 22nd U.S. InfantryReJiment, 1813

::I SerJeant, lOth Royal VeteranBattalion, 1812

3 Private, Maryland RiOe Company,1814

F

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Private, I.' Coonpany, 113lhPe.....ylvanian Militia Res:irnelu,1814

:I Captain., Camullan Voldllt...... 18.43 Private, 5th WetU IndJes Res:lmau,

1814

Privale. 9Jrd Rellbnent of Foot, 181.Privale, Volu.nl""r RiRe., 181.Lielilenanl, .Jrd Rqimau of Foo.r81.

G

H

! Privale, 7th Repon....' of Fool, 18,,,:II Prival.., 7th U.S. Wa..try Rq:lIn..nt.

18153 Cad..., U.S. Mllliary Aead"In)', 1815

,

had learned well !.he lessons of the Peninsularcampaign. They generally picked defensive posi­tions, as Grieg reported, ' ... immediately underthe ridge ... in order to prevent their dispositionfrom being seen by the enemy should !.hey cometo attack.'

On the march, as on the way to Bladensburg,they sent out three separate advance guards toprevent surprise, as well as parties of forty to fiftymen as flank guards, sweeping the woods andfields to a distance of nearly haifa mile. The armyhalted when it reached a defensible location, evenif it had only marched eight miles that day.

When attacked they generally followed Welling­tonian practice and fired in two ranks. Aneyewitness at New Orleans, however, saw thatthey'... still kept up the old custom of firingthree deep; one row of men half-kneeling, and theother two ranks firing over their shoulders. Thisstyle of firing, along with the darkness of theevening, explained to me the reason of why theenemy's balls, which we heard whistling by, mostlyflew over our heads.'

Generally, however, British fire power wassufficient to sweep any field, and it would befollowed up by a final bayonet charge.

Ld'1, • private'a aword or Ib.e RoyatArtJllery, ristu • '7gli-patlerD rootoRker'••word wilb. It. oripnal_riel aDd lold .word knOI.(Aulhor'. collectlonl

25

Title·pare of lh..U.S. Arll1.Y R .....luion•.(Aulhor'. collection)

,.

11If· \11\1\ f)F IIii'. 1'\ ITED ST.\l'E~

... It "..~.

/"I.

As a republic which had not too long beforedefeated a major standing army in a revolution,one cause of which was that standing army itself,the United States did not have much ora Regular,or standing, Army at the war's outbreak.

In 1808 Congress had authorized a RegularArmy of '75 officers and 2.389 enlisted men.These men were (0 be enlisted with a bounty of5,6 and receive on their discharge five years later,

26

160 acres of land and three months' pay. Aprivate's pay was 5 a month and, in a developingcountry like the United States in 1812 where theaverage day labourer could carn at least 9 amonth, very few people were interested in amilitary career.

Enlisted men, Iherefore, were often desertersfrom the British Army in Canada or men on therun from the law somewhere.

In 1802 the United States Military Academy,at West Point, New York, was officially founded.Until the war actually broke out, however, theU.S. M.A. was not developed into a real, worLh·while school, and most officers were trained byserving with regiments in the field. Their trainingwas, therefore, more of the practical school ofexperience, than theoreticaL

The army's 'rules wiLh regard to promotion'.called for 'original vacancies' to be filled byselection, while 'accidental vacancies' were madeby seniority. Furthermore, 'Promotions to therank of captain, will be made rtgimtntal!>,; to thatof field appointmenu, by line, the light artillery,dragoons, artillery. infantry, and riRemen, bdngkept always distinct.'

Although promotions were given by seniorityand "'or ability, the policies of Congress which hadconslantly enlarged and reduced the army's sizehad created a feeling among its most capableofficers that there was no future in its ranks. ~{anyof the more able men had gone into private life.Those remaining were apt to be unlearned and,at best, indifferent officers. In 1811, for example,the Captain commanding Fort Knox fled theterritory after shooting and kiJling a subordinateofficer.

When the army was enlarged in 1808 a numberof new officers were appointed, again withoutmuch specialised military training. Among themwere Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott, both ofwhom were to gain fame later. SCOtl considered hisfellow appointees 'coarse and ignorant', 'decayedgentlemen', and 'imbeciles and ignoramuses'.

In january 1812, when war seemed likely,Congress authorized a Regular Army of 35,603.There were actually no more than 4,000 servingat the time. Tn Fcbruary, one year enlistments for30,000 volunteers were allowed. By May thearmy had grown to 6,744.

Among the troops authorized were six com­panies of United States Rangers, five of whichwere actually raised in Ohio, Indiana, Illinoisand Kentucky.

Tn April 15,000 eighteen.month additionalenlistments were planned and, with the comingof war, men began to join up more rapidly.Never, however, was it easy to fill the Regularranks. According to the adjutant.general.'... although the numerical force in january,1814, was 23,614, the actual strength of the armyat that time was less than half that number,arising from the expiration of the term of serviceof the troops raised in lBog and enlisted for fiveyears, and of the twelve and eightetn·monthstroops enlisted in t812-1813.' Congress hadprevioU!lly raised a private's pay to S10 a rqonth.and now awarded enliStment bounties of $124,and 320 acres of land on discharge.

Congress also divided the country into nine ­later ten - military districts and assigned differentregiments to recruit out in each one. Two com­panies of light artillery, three troops of the 2ndLight Dragoons, one battalion of Ihe 1St Artillery,and the 4th, 9th and 21St Infantry Regimentswould recruit in Massachusetts and Xew Hamp­shire. Rhode Island and Connectieut wouldprovide men for one troop of Ihe 2nd LightDragoons. one battalion of the 1St Artillery andthe 25th Infantry. Two companies of Hghtartillery, two troops of the 2nd Light Dragoons,two battalions of the 3rd Artillery and the 6thand 15th Infantry were to come from parts ofNew York and New Jersey. The rest of Newjersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware would supplymen for twO companies of light artillery, twotroops of the 2nd Light Dragoons, a battalionof thc 2nd Artillery, the 3rd, 5th, 16th and 22ndInfantry. Two companies of light artillery, a troopof the 1St Light Dragoons, one and a half battalion

Bunon. or the 3rd Artillery, ut RIBe Reelmenu, !.he,enerat I••ue banon, the ut U,lu Artillery ...d tbe 9thInf...try Reelment•. (Drawl.n,. by Rebecca Katchn)

27

The coat wOnt by Jo.... Wool wh"... atptal.o:t I.. the 13thtal...try I.. 181J. (Court"y Re..._b.er Co_ly W.torlcalSociety)

of the ~md Artillery, the 12th, \4th and 20thInfantry would be drawn from ~(aryland andVirginia.

Further south, both Carolinas and Georgiawere to send men into two troops of the 1St LightDragoons, a batlalion of the 1St Artillery, the81h, loth and 18th Infantry. Two troops of the1st Light Dragoons, a baltalion of the lSI Artillery,the 2nd, 7th and 241h Infantry, and three com­panies of riRemen would be drawn fromLouisiana, the Mississippi territory and Tennessee.

Out west, Kentucky, Ohio, the Indianaterritory, ~(ichigan, Illinois and ~Iissouri wereto send men into two companies of light artillery,three troops of the 1St Light Dragoons, one and ahalf battalions of the 2nd Artillery, the 1st, 17th,19th Infantry, and four rine companies. Twotroops of the 2nd Light Dragoons, IWO baltalions

28

Back view of Captaift Wool'. coat. (Courte.y Re...."b."..eo....ly HI.lorlc:a.l Soci"ry)

of the 3rd Artillery, the 11th, 13th and 23rdInfantry and three riRe companies were to comefrom northern New York and Vermont.

Other regiments were recruited where needed.The uniform the army first went to war in was

an elaborate one. The felt shako was belween6i and 7f inches tall, with a 21 inch visor, andcords and tassels and a front plate, ' ... with thecagle, the number of the regiment and designationof the service.' The coatee, with shorl tails, was ofdark blue with red cuffs and collar, reaching tothe earlobe. The coat was laeed with whiteworsted tape across the chest, on the cuffs and onthe collar. Pants were gaitered trousers, oron~ralls, supposedly grey bUI also seen in bro.....nand green. Officers' trousers were blue wool andgenerally lUcked into boots.

Non-commissioned officers wore the same coat

as privates. Corporals worc one white woolworsted fringed epauleue on thc right shoulder.Scrgeants - unlike the British Army, thc AmericanArmy had only one rank of scrgeant - had twowhite epaulettes. In addition, sergeants wore ascarlet wool worsted sash and carried an iron­hihed straight sword. Artillery non-commissionedofficers dressed the same, only with yellowepaulettes and brass-hilted swords.

Officers worc similar plain coats, with only thered collar being set off by silver lace. They carriedbrass-hilted swords and wore crimson silk sashes.A subaltern wore a silver epauleue on his left

shoulder; a captain, the same on the rightshoulder; and field officers, on both shoulders.Officers made minor changes in the uniform tosuit themselves, and often wore fancier-than· issueswords and cap-plates.

An infantry soldier carried on his right hip,suspended from a whitened huff leather belt, ablack leather cartridge box, ' ... with blocks boredfor 26 cartridges of hall nineteen to the poundof stout leather, having under the block a tincomainer of three compartments for 6 cartridgesto be in each end compartment and for flints andoil rags in the middle one. To this a little leather

The epllll1eue of Ensl,. Joba Retse,5th Maryland Infantry RltJlmelu,worn at the Baule of Nonh pouu.(Fort McHenry National MonllDlenland HUtoric Shrine)

29

pocket in front of the box affords admitlance.'On his left side hung his bayonet scabbard on a

whitened buff belt with a plain pewter oval belt·plate in front. The iron bayonet had a sixteen­inch-long, triangular-shaped blade.

Over that hung a linen haversack, generallywaterproofed by painting, and a light blue paintedwooden canteen. Usually his regimemal designa­tion was painted on that in red or white.

His knapsack was also painted blue, usuallywith a large red 'U.S.' in the centre, and hecarried his grey blanket and greatcoat foldedinside it.

lt became impossible to provide the nicelydesigned coatees in a country as litlle industrial-

30

A wood e:atlteeft palnt~ b"ck wit.ha r~ 'u.s.' Sky blul! waS a IDO",COlnn1.0D ove....n colo.....(Srnit.hMOnl&. la.drudaa)

U.S. 1813 Il!atb.. r shako, wit.h aninfantry p"l", sbowinC tbl! rain. Oapworn dOWD. (Author's c:oUectioa)

ized as the United States, especially after theBritish naval blockade. In 1813 a new uniformwas substituted. It consisted of, 'A plain bluecoatee, without a particle of red to it, with whiteor buff cross belts, white vests & white overallswith black gaiters for Infantry & Artillery.... Thecoau should be single breasted, to butlon fromthe collar to the waist.' White lace was left onlyto decorate the collar.

In 1813, as well, a new shako, copied from theBritish Belgic shako, was adopted. It was made ofleather, instead of felt, because leather, ' ... willlast three to four years with decency, under anycircumstances two years, [while] the lattcr [offelt]but one year and will not look decent half that

time, the first wetting Injures its good appear­ance... .' The new shako had its plume on theleft and cord from the bollom of the left to the topof the right, with two tassels thereon. A separatepiece of thin leather was sewn in the back. to beused for protection in the rain. The overall heightwas about the same as before.

Actually, even this simpler and more serviceableuniform became impossible to supply regularly. Inthe winter of 1812 clothing ordered in Septemberfor the 17th, 19th and 24th Infantry did not arriveand local women made up 1,800 heavy shirts forthem. Even shoes were lacking and only inDecember were they available.

On the Niagara frontier General Scott requireduniforms for his brigade and was told by theQuartermaster in Philadelphia that il was im­possible to obtain blue wool. Would Scott mindif his men wore plain grey coats? Scott was moreworried about training his men than dressingthem and took the coats - much to the men'sdisgust, grey wool being generally reserved forcommon labourers and slaves.

In a country as large, with as many differentclimates as the United States, light-weight,summer uniforms were needed as well as woollenones. South of the Potomac River, therefore,white linen eoatees, with long sleeves but no tails,and with nine small buttons, were issued. With

the large numbers enlisted in IBBI, it was neces­sary to issue them in the north, too, but by 1814they were once again limited to the south. Insummer in the north, grey sleeved waiStcoats wereworn.

The American musket. made in Springfield,Harper's Ferry or by contractors, was a copy ofthe 1777 French musket, with all iron furnitureand a ·6g-calibre bore. Cadets at the U.S. M.A.received special, light-weight models of this type.Riflemen received a half-stocked rifle, tiring a'54-calibre ball, with a brass patch box.

The uniformed, armed soldier generally foundhimself stationed in a fort, perhaps on the frontierfighting Indians, or near a large city as part of itsdefence.

The lypical fort may well be Fort McHenry,near Baltimore. Located some distance from town,sixty officers and men made up its garrison. Everytwenty enlisted men lived in a single barrack­room, with a single fireplace and wood bunks withstraw mallresses which slept four and sometimessix men each. Other furniture included tables,chairs and benches. for it was in the barrack-roomthat the men were to spend their spare time.Junior officers got a room each, while the com­mander and adjutant shared four rooms. Officers'families generally came with them, but enlistedmen were discouraged from marrying.

Mea iD liDe:a U.s.R~r .1UIUQ."DDlform••taad be:hhod the: fortUi_ca~ _c New Orl_ wbe:nAftdre:w J-c:I<.oa'. Dua Itdd 08" tIM:Brhuh attack. (Coa.ne:.y Mf!lvilleCohea IV)

31

Offil:~n lived i.n tb~ fine floor of th~ ",ht_hand buJldln,.wh.ll~ enllsted nUn lived In aU the other barral:ks. Thethree cannon now .It On the parade ,round of FortMt:H~nry.

Two hours a day on six days a week were de­voted to drill in full uniform. The drill had beenthe Re\'olutionary 'Var's Baron von Steuben'sversion of Prussian drill, but, in ,81'2, gave way toColonel Alexander Smyth and Lieutenant-ColonelWilliam Duane's version of French drill.

On Sunday mornings rnere was a full inspection,following a Saturday njght cleaning of thebarrack-rooms, weapons and uniforms.

Orner than that, sentry duty was the majorevent of the soldier's life. Sentries had to see thatno civilians got into the fort, or soldiers withoutleave got out. At times they had to check menleaving the foTt to see they weren't sneaking outrations or clothes 10 sell or trade for drinks. Afterthe recapture of Fort Detroit, the foTt's com­manding officer constantly had to give ordersagainst soldiers selling rneir clorning or increasingthe pro\'ision problems by distilling grain.

One man from each company was namedcompany gardener, and took charge of the com­pany's plot in the fort's vegetable garden. Othermen drew police duty, picking up rubbish,sweeping OUl the barracks, airing blankets and

32

doing lighl labour. Each company was allowedto employ four laundresses, sometimes soldiers'wives, who did much of this cleaning.

In a frontier, growing country, the army repre­sented a labour resource for doing things likebuilding roads. If a labour party worked on thisnon-military type of projcct for over ten days, itbecame 'fatigue duties', and the men received anextra ten cents daily and an extra gill of liquor.Even with the extras, fatigues were disliked.

A man didn't really need another gill of liquoras he already received one gill of rum, whisky orbrandy daily (officers, but not the men, wereallowed to take twenty cents per gill instead ofrneration). He also received daily It lb. of beef orf lb. of pork, ,8 oz. of bread or flour, and lesseramounts of salt, vinegar, soap and candles. Thewhole ration cost the government fifteen cents.

Orner little luxuries, such as tobacco or beer,could be purcha~d at the sutlers'. Each post hadone sutler and the men were allowed to go in debtone-third ofa month's pay at the sutler's -leadingto'constant debt.

Constant debt led to disciplinary problems, and

the most common were drunkenness, disobedienceto orders, desertion and stealing. Flogging hadbeen originally allowed in the American Army,although seventy-five was about the maximumlashes given. In 1812 Congress outlawed, '... theinfliction of corporeal punishment by stripes orlashes.' Old habits die hard, and men were stillsometimes flogged with a 'colt', a short rope witha knotted end. Shortly after the new law acorporal beat a private for getting in his way. Thesoldier then brought charges against the corporal.The private himself then was charged with,' ... unsoldierly conduct & using disrespectful &insolent language.' He was found guilty, but thecourt thought he had already suffered enough atthe corporal's hands and no punishment wasawarded.

More commonly, two privates who disobeyedorders ended up in the guardhouse for a month,forfeited half that month's pay, and had a balland chain attached to one of their legs duringtheir imprisonment.

Non-commissioned officers were generallystripped of rank before the entire regiment orcompany on parade.

Desertion was probably the most serious offence.Deserters were sought by advertisements in news­papers, as this one in the Vermont Sentirul: 'Tendollars reward for John Fisk, an enlisted soldierfrom the barracks at Burlington, offered byRichard Bean, Lieutenant, 1nh Regiment, U.S.Infantry.' A typical punishment for desertionwould be for the desener to spend the rest of hisenlistment at hard labour and pay the costsinvolved in his apprehension by having half hismonthly pay withheld for a year.

It's one tbing to recruit, dress, arm and housea group of men. It's quite another to convert thatgroup to an army capable of winning battles.

An inspecting officer's report on the t 4thInfantry in 1812, soon to lose their regimentalcolours to the 49th Foot, probably summed up thewhole American Army so quickly called up. 'The14th is composed entirely of recruits; they appearto be almost as ignorant of their duty as if theyhad never seen a camp, and scarcely know onwhich shoulder to carry the musket. They aremere militia, and, if possible, even worse; and iftaken into action in their present state, will prove

more dangerous to themselves than to theirenemy.'

The officer corps, damaged by earlier Con­gressional whims and made up often of inex­perienced men, was most to blame. It was, there­fore, that the Baltimore newspaper .Nile's JlfukgRegister reponed to its readers, 'with greatpleasure', on 14 August 1813, that, 'gen. Hamptonis busily employed in making soltiim of the offiursof the army at Burlington. They are frequently andseverely drilled; and given to understand that theymust and shall ascertain and perform their severalduties. This is striking at the very root of ourdisasters. The best materials for an army that theworld could furnish, have been sacrificed to thepompous ignorance or inconsiderable courage ofthose who should have applied them to victory.'

Once officers had learned their duties, mencould, too, and Major Jesup, commanding the

33

A INther eocllade whit bra.. Nile wo","_ aD officer'. C1uJ~IIlJ..d~-brlU.

(Smith......... Inuit.tion)

AnJ.eric:an artillery officer'••word aad..,.hbard. (SrnItldonlan In.d!udoa)

25th Infantry, wrote that, ' ... he began, underthe orders ofGeneral SCOtt, a course of instruction,and kept his command under arms from seven toten hours a day. A similar course was pursued bythe chiefs of other corps. The consequence was,that when we took the field in July our corpsman~uvred in action and under the fire of theenemy's artillery with the accuracy of parade.'

Once under fire, a well-trained and equip~d

army could hold its own against the best ofWdlington's veterans. Instructions of how to winwere quite explicit. On '27 November 181'2,General Smyth wrote to Liemenant·ColonelWinder, 14th Infantry, giving instructions forballie tactics: 'I. The artillery will spend some of

34

their first shot on the enemy's artillery, and thenaim at the infantry, raking them where it ispracticable. '2. The firing ofmllsketry by wings orcompanies will begin at the distance of two hund­red yards, aiming at the middle and firingdeliberately. 3. At twenty yards' distance thesoldiers will be ordered to trail arms, advancewith shouts, fire at five paces' distance and chargebayonets. 4. The soldiers will be silent, above allthings, attentive at the word of command, loadquick and well and aim low.'

Despite training or instructions like these, therewas a healthy feeling of respect for the red-coatedveterans ofso many battles fought against the besttroops the conqueror of Europe could throw

against them. At thc night battle outside :'\lewOrleans Lieutenam-Coloncl Ross, commandingthe 7th and 44th Infantry, held them back fromhand-to-hand contact with the British, feeling hismen would have tittle chance crossing cold steelwith British Regulars.

Regardless of this feeling, which was far fromuniversal, by the last years of the war the Ameri·can Army had been moulded to a hard·fighting,well-equipped, well-led lillie band capable oftaking on the best Britain had to offer.

CJ!ier3r(ilitiaBoth the nilcd States and Canada set up rathersimilar militia organizations. In both cases eachcommunity had a standing militia of all able·bodied men, between the ages ofsixteen and sixly,

each of whom was to own his own musket and wasrequired 10 serve in onc or IWO annual mustcrs.Such mililia organizations wcrc lax in discipline,training and uniform. Both countries, therefore,sel up, as well as the ordinary militia, other typesof units.

In the United States these took the form of localvolunteer companies. They bore such splendidnames as the fOllr companies which defendedSt ~(ichacl on 10 August 1813: the EastonFencibles, Mechanic Volunteers, Hearts of Oak,and Independent Volunteers. Splendidly clad inuniforms they themselves designed and prO\;ded,they drilled usually weeki)', and made up theheart of any local defence.

E\'cn with the fancy dress and more frequentmeetings, the volunteer companies were nomatch for Regulars. They may have called them­sehres light infantry, but as District of ColumbiaMilitia Brigade-~Iajor John S. Williams wrote:

The d ...lsa or • painted. miUlla kfta......"k. (Smith_alaalastitutiOft)

35

'... as a cowl does not make a monk, to dress andequip a body of men as light infantry or dragoonsdoes not make them what they are called. Theymust be disciplined and have some experience inthe peculiar duties, before they are emitled to thename.

'A company ofcavalry, formed in the heart ofalarge commercial city, might choose to assumethe name of "Cossacks" and provide themselveswith lances and other suitable equipments, butthey would remain, in reality, just what they werebefore - a parcel of inoffensive clerks or journey­men mechanics.'

When the enemy - American or British ­threatened, however, everyone was needed. Suchwas the case in August 1814, when CaptainJamesH. Rogen sent out the following typical order tohis company of the 51St Maryland MilitiaRegiment: 'Sir, In obedience to a RegimentalOrder, you will furnish yourself with a Knapsack,Cameen and Ten rounds ball Cartridges, suitableto your Firelock, and hold yourself in readiness torepair immediately to my quarters on the GeorgeTown Road, with arms and accoutrements, uponany Alarm that may be given, by the ringing ofthe watch bell. Our Enemy is at the door, there­fore it is hoped that no :\Ian, who wishes well tohis Country, will be missing.'

When the alarm bell did ring, Canadians cameout either in civilian dress or in uniforms patternedclosely in cut and colour after British ones.American dress varied tremendously according toarea and type of unit. The mounted Tennesseansat !'."ew Orleans were noted by an eyewitness 'Intheir woollen hunting shirts and copperas dyedpantaloons; with slouched hats made from theskins of racoons or faxes; with belts of untanneddeer-skin in which were stuck their hunting knivesand tomahawks - with their long unkempt hairand unshorn faces....'

On the other hand, a private of the 5th :\Iary­land ~liIitia Regiment wore 10 the Battle ofBladensburg a '... winter cloth uniform, with amost absurd helmet of (hicked jacked leather andcovered with plumes. 'We carried, besides, a knap­sack in which - in my own case - I had packed Ihegrealcoat, my ... blanket, two or three shins,stockings, etc. Among these articles I had also puta pair of pumps which I had provided with the

36

idea that, after we had beaten the British armyand saved Washington, Mr. Madison would verylikely invite us to a ball at the President's House,and I wanted to be ready for it.'

A majority of Lower Canadians were French,and those not in the Select Embodied Militia,kept their native dress. A British doctor, bound forhis regiment, met a company of them wearing,'... capots and trowsers of home-spun !tuff, andtheir blue tunquesa cap like a nightcap; wereall of the same cut and colour, which gave them anair of uniformity that added much to theirmilitary look.... '

In Upper Canada units called 'incorporated'and 'Provincial' corps were recruited, dressed,trained and served full-time, as Regular regiments.In 1813, for example, the Volumccr Incorporated:\Iilitia, wearing ud coats with dark green facingsand the rest of the Regular uniform was raised forfull-time service during the war.

Lower Canada, of whose 60,000 militia onlysome 2,000 had received any type of training,raised six battalions of Select Embodied Militia.

B~.. MIt_plale of Lhe tiC Ban.lion of SeIKI EmboctiedMilitia. (D~wiqby Rebecca Katcber)

Although some elements were at a few actions,they generally did garrison duty, freeing theRegulars for more aggressive dUly.

Despite uniforms and arms, or the lack of them,the record ofttie militia on bolh sides was a mixedone. Prevost wrole that he felt it was unadvisableto arm the majority of Upper Canada militiamen,while Brock reported that, '... the dispositionof the people is bad.' On the ,American side, a

-Regular officer reported seeing some Ohiomilitiamen riding onc of their officers Ollt DC campon a rail, and General Hull lold the commanderof the 4th Tnfantry, 'Your regiment is a powerfulargument. Without them I could not march thesemen to Detroit.'

Militiamen on both sides did come through, atplaces like Chateauguay, for the Canadians, andNew Orleans for the Americans. For the most partRegulars made up the backbone of born sides'military efforts.

C]/ie 'PlatesAl Priz:au,8/h King's) lUgirmnl of FOOl, 1812The uniform of the most senior British regiment inCanada when war broke out, the 8th, was typicalof all British infantry of the time. The regimentallace had onc yellow and onc blue stripe in it. Thecrossbelt-pJalc had a royal garter, crown, runninghorse and a ribbon with the word '.":"'G'S' in it.

A2 Pri(:at~, 1St U.S. InJantry R~gimmt, /8/2The 1St Infantry had the t)'pical Americaninfantryman's uniform of the war's beginning.The lace is plain white and the bultons have theregimental number, as does the shako-plate. Thecanteen is also regimemally marked.

A3 Privott, 1St LOIL'~r Canadian Emboditd JIililia,1812

J\'lost of the 1St battalion managed to find thereglllatjon clolh of red for their coats, althoughmany used green coats. There was even talk ofbeing able, '... to procure surplus jackets of theKing's Regiment.' The other five militia balta­lions at least began the war in green coats. Theirfacings were, 2nd, light green; 3rd, yellow; 4th,dark green; 5th and 6th, black. The embodiedmilitia battalions fought the entire war with'stovepipe' shakos, never receiving Belgic shakos.Otherwise, their uniforms were idendcal toRegular British regiments of foot.

Bl StTgtant, 2nd U.S. ArtilltT,} Rtgim~nl, 1812Although originally artillery regiments were towear (ha/Nau-d~-bros hats, the)' were impossible to

obtain and they and the 3rd Artillery receivedpermission to wear light artillery caps, to whichthey added yellow cords and their own shakoplates.

82 Privot~, Royal &girmnl oj Artilltry, 1812The Royal Artillery wore the old-style breechesand high gaiters, as well as the 'stovepipe' shako,despite the fact that foot regiments were wearingnewer patterns.

B3 Prir:att, U.S. Light Artillrry Rtgirmnt, /812An elite horse artillery corps, organized in ISoB,the regiment was about the finest in the AmericanArmy. It was the fint unit to do away withcoloured facings, keeping only yellow lace on thecollar.

C1 Captain, &yal J[annu, 1813The full-dress Royal ~farine uniform was similarto any army uniform, only with the marine hat.Royal Marine officen used army, not navy,pattern swords.

C2 .\1ajor-GtntTol, British Army, 1813,,'hile a fancy, embroidered coat was worn fordress, this plainer version was preferred for fielduse. A major-general wore his buttons in pairs,with five pairs on each lapel, two above each cuff,and two on the waist at the coat's rear.

C3 Staff Olfiur, Unittd Statts Army, 18/3The staff officer's single-breasted blue coat withblack herringbone false buttonholes on the chestand cuffs, and gold bullet buttons was adopted in1813. Staff officers were not supposed to wearsashes, except the aide-de-camp who wore a sashonly when going into action.

Dl Corporal, 95th (Riflt) Rtgimtnt of Foot, /815The 95th's uniform was of 'rine green', unlike therest of the army. 1t was the British Army's riReregiment, and saw much action in the Peninsula.If the man could put four out of six shots ontarget, he could wear a green plume on his shako.Otherwise, it was white. Usually they wore fittedpantaloons, loose-fitting ones, however, wereissued for field and fatigue work.

37

(Oaebec Militia Kina'. Colour.(National MUHum. or Canada)

Quebec MUllla BaU.UOD Colour.(N.donal M...eurn. or Canada)

38

D2 Private, 1St U.S. Rifle Regiment, 1813Rifle regiment field officers wore long skirts ontheir 'bottle-green' coats, while company officersand enlisted men wore shon ones. In winter allofficers wore green pantaloons, and white ones insummer. Side-arms of officers, non-commis~ionedofficers and musicians were the same as infantry,only of brass. In 1814 the 2nd, 3rd and 4th RifleRegiments were raised, and, because it becamehard to obtain green cloth, they all received greycoats and leather caps.

D3 Lieultnant, Glengarry Light Infantry Fenciblts,1814

Raised in 1811 as a Highland unit, they plannedto have typical Highland uniforms at first. Earlynext year the uniform was changed to be like thatof the 95th Foot. The bugle horn worn on theshako had the letters 'OLI' in between the bugle­strings.

El Privott, 22nd U.S. Infantry RegimLnt, 1813One of the regiments of Winfield SCOlt'S brigade,it was planned to be uniformed in the regulationuniform. The Quartermaster was unable to pro­vide blue cloth and grey, common labourers' clothwas provided for the uniform instead. After thebrigade's successes along the Niagara River, thisbasic uniform was adopted for the cadets of theU.S. Military Academy.

£2 Sergtant, 10th Rqyal Vettran Battalion, 1812Sergeants of the British Army generally carried asword and pike, although on the frontier theyprobably carried typical other-ranks' muskets andcartridge boxes. The ballalion had been issuedold-style white breeches and black gaiters in 1812and, although grey pantaloons were ordered in1811, obtained permission to continue wearingthem until worn out. 'Stovepipe' shakos were alsoallowed to be used until worn out.

£3 Privale, Maryland Rijle Company, 1814The linen hunting shirt had become a symbol ofthe sharpshooters of the Revolution who beatred-coated Regulars. It was, therefore, a populardress among American volunteer companies. Ithad grown more colourful over the years, and

Marylanders used red fringe, while maS[ otherriflemen used yellow fringe.

FI Prh'ate, 1St Company, 113th Pennsylvania Militia&gimtnl, 1814

Pennsylvania militiamen were to wear blue coatsfaced in red with white linings for infantry andcavalry, and red linings for artillery. Infantry andcavalry pantaloons were white, while those of theartillery were red. Round hats with three-inchbrims and red and blue cockades were alsoregulation. Grey coats and pantaloons wereallowed ifblue coats and blue or white pantaloonswere not available: apparently the case with thiscompany, one of those sent to the defence ofBaltimore. Captain William Reese, commanding,wore the blue and red uniform. The company'ssergeant was marked by a red plume in his roundhat, while the drummer and fifer wore red coatsand pantaloons.

F2 Captain, Canadian Volligturs, 1814Raised in 1812 as the Provincial Corps of LightInfantry Canadian voltigeurs', it was to carryBaker rifles and have grey coats with black facingsand buttons with bearskin caps. The caps wereworn in 1812-13, but replaced with light infantryshakos in 1814. The other ranks wore grey coatsfaced and laced black, with silver lace for ser­geants. Officers wore dark green coats and usedsilver metal.

F3 Private,51h West Indies Rtgiment, 1814The 1st and 5th West Indies Regiments were sentto New Orleans. Their coats had half-lapels,white for the 1st and green for the 5th, and unlinedsleeves and cut-away skirts. Russia duck panta­loons were worn, and light slippers ins lead ofboots were worn because most of the men hadgone barefoot all their lives. Officers wore typicalBritish Army uniforms.

GI Private, 93'd Regiment of Foot, 1814The regiment'S kilts were cut up and made intotrews prior to being sent to New Orleans becauseof the bad weather they faced. The typical tower­ing feather bonnets were replaced with simple'Hummell' bonnets. Otherwise, their kits weretypical Highlanders' style.

39

G2 Private, Voluntur RifltS, 1814The company was raised from among sons of !.hebest Creole families in New Orleans and was asmuch a social as military organization. Theirdress was typical of militia riflemen.

G] Lieutenant, 4yd Regimtnt of Foot, 1814With the 52nd and 95th, the regiment made upthe famous Light Division in the Peninsula. Theirdress was typical of light infantrymen.

HI Privau, 7th RegimLnt oj Foot. 1815An elite regiment, just arrh'ed from France, the7th (Royal Fusiliers) had the regulation, up-to­date issue uniform of the British Army at theperiod.

Ih Private, 7th U.S. b!lantry Regimenl, 1815Opposing the 7th Regiment of Foot at NewOrleans was the U.S. 7th Infantry. It, too, isdressed in the latest regulation style. with plainblue coats trimmed only at the collar. and leathershakos. Officers had white nankeen summerpantaloons, and blue wool ones for winter. Fordress, enlisted men wore white breeches andleggings, but white duck and blue wool pantaloonswere most common.

11] Cadet, U.S. Military Academ)', 1815Round hats were worn for fatigue, while thechapeau-tie-bros was worn for parade and formaloccasions. Long-tailed coatS were also worn fordress, while the short-tailed coat was the normal

40

An 18IJ-pattern, I_ther, officer'. shako whh • llOn­

r .....I.tion pl.le. (Sn>lthsonJ... I......ltutio.j

dUly coat. Buttons were brass bullet buttons, andthe cadets carried short '54-calibre cadet musketsinstead of the issue ones. Despite regulations, onecadet of the claM of 1820 recalled that, '... every­thing [was] worn, according to fancy, up to amajor-general's uniform.'

Men-ai-Arms Series

WOLH:S ARMY ~ite Mq

THE BRITISH ARMY IX "'ORTHAMERICA 177S-1783 ~u. M..,

TilE GURKHA RifLES }. B. R. JliEW­

THE AMERICAN WAR 1812-1814Ph,/lp KQkhn

NAPOLEON'S POLISH TROOPS O/tQlilm l'il'*Q

TITLES ALREADY PtIBUSHED

TilE STO:,,/EWALL BRIGADE }fIul Stlb.! MOXTC\LM'S ARMY A!Qr,ite Wi>IdrIuI

THE IlLACK WATCH CluJrlu Gr..,.l TilE KING'S REGIMENT AI4It SA,ppmJ

fRENCH FOREIGN LEGION "'Qr/;Il 'nm RUSSIAN ARMY 0'" THEll'imirQW NAI'OLEO",IC WARS AIHrj SmtQIl

Tin: E!'\GLlSH CIVIL WAR ARMIES1'~ln 1""'w'

TIfE RUSSIA:-l ARMY Of THE CRIMEAAIMI Sad_

TUE BL\CK BRUXSWICKERS 01._I'UU

.\L:STRO-H1,;:"GARIA:-J ARMY OF THEXAPOLEOXIC WARS AIHri s...

TUE A:\IERICA.'-l PROVIl'\CIAL CORPSpltil., Kddur

"ELU:\,CTO:"'S PE:\'I:\'SULAR ARMY}_u LmtfflfJ

TilE AUSTRO-HU/'\'GARIA:-i ARMY OFTilE SEVE:,,/ YEARS WAR Albnt s,altlIf

TIlE ARMY OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE1870-1888 Alberf S~u/tm

,,'REDERICK TUE GREAT'S ARMYA/lin' Stm..

TilE ROMA.... ARMY FROM CAESARTO TRAjA.... Mtdwul SiJlrkilu

1UE BRITISH ARMY OF THE CRIMEA}, 8. R, #\idMhM

KIXG'S GER:\IA:-i LF.GIOX 01._Pd:.

FOOT GR"::"IADIERS OF TilE IMPERIALGUARD eluu/u Grlf1ll

TilE IRO:-J BRiGADE }.b Stl..,CHi\SSEURS OF THE GUARD P~1er T.,..

WAn·E,....·ss M.nite W-..-THE COLOSTRE.\M GUARDS a-lu

Gr..'u.s. C\\'ALRY }rJutsn..,

THE ARAB LEGIOX Pttn r..,.ROYAL SCOTS GREYS CMrln Crll1ll

ARGYLL A:"II) SUTHERLAl'\D HiGH-LANDERS William /ll,EIu.·"

THE CONNAUGHT RAl'\GERS A/u"S'"",",

30m PUNJABIS }_u l4wford

GEORGE WASHI:"GTOX'S ARMY Pderr_THE BUffS C,,~BluWtti

LL"n"W.\fFE AIRBOR::\"E AXD FIELDU::\ ITS M.nUcW~

THE SOVIET ARMY A1Hri s.t.l:XITED STATES MARI:"E CORPS

}oJu. &1..,

THE COSS,\CKS ..t/Jnl SHIM

BLOCHER'S ARMY Pd" r""V'

TilE PANZER DIVISIONS MlITfill lViJodrow

ROYAL ARTILLERY IV. r. Ca""a"

JAPANESE ARMY OF WORLD WAR IIPhIlip IVurnn

FUTURE TITLES INCLUDE

THE SOUTH WALES BORDERERS THE SPA....ISH ARMY IX THEau"." Wi.l4:w-.t...L'- ::\APOLEO:\'IC WARS 0,. ... 1'd.IJ

ARMY OF THE POTO~(AC pltJ.,K.u- :"IAPOLEOX'S ARTILLERY RMMrlW,lk_l.llt.U:.

ARMY OF XORTHERX VIRGIXIA EUROPEAX MEDiEVAL ARMIESPIIJ,pli..kA" 1300-1~ T"OfU Wi"

NAPOLEO:-i'S CERMAN ALLlf..5 (I)0',. _ Plcl:..

PORTL:GUESE ARMY OF THENAPOLEOXIC WARS OIU ... Pili.

Tluu ,i,ln un ..IIQ "lJ{JilfJ61. i" .. rlJ.U·lxnmd tdilil1'/{

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