The Historical Unit

Raised in 1674, the Sixth Regiment of Foot had nearly 120 years of service behind it by the time the Napoleonic Wars began in earnest for Britain. Over that twenty-two year period (1793-1815), the Sixth saw service in numerous theatres consumed by the wars against France and the United States, winning no less than nine battle honours in the process. The regiment’s active service during this period began in 1794, when it was shipped to the West Indies. There it took part in the capture of Martinique, Guadeloupe, and St. Lucia.

From 1799-1806, the regiment was posted to Canada, but in 1807, following a brief stopover in England, the Sixth was sent to Gibraltar. The next year it became part of a force under General Brent Spencer, which was leaving Gibraltar to join the British army landing at Mondego, Portugal, under the command of Sir Arthur Wellesley. In this opening campaign of the Peninsular War, the Sixth Regiment of Foot participated in the battles of Rolica and Vimiero. Following Wellesley’s recall from Portugal, the regiment followed Sir John Moore on his advance into Spain, then on the torturous retreat to Corunna.

What remained of the First Battalion was evacuated to Britain, where drafts from the Second Battalion brought it back to combat readiness in time to embark on the Walcheren Expedition in the summer of 1809. “Walcheren Fever” nearly destroyed the regiment, leaving it on its return to England (December 1809) with only 93 fit for duty out of what had been a strength of nearly one thousand.

As a result, the years 1810-1812 saw the Sixth posted to England and then Ireland. The regiment rejoined Lord Wellington in the Peninsula in late November 1812, as the army was going into winter quarters around Ciudad Rodrigo. Here it was assigned to the Seventh Division.

The campaign of 1813 found the Sixth in action late in the day at Vittoria, but the regiment truly distinguished itself in the mountainous passes of the Pyrenees. On 2 August, the regiment made up the majority of a force which charged and dislodged two French divisions at the heights of Echelar. Wellington himself called the attack “the most gallant and the finest thing” he ever witnessed. Napier’s historical account claims that “by sheer volume and force of arms 1500 men had driven 6000 good troops from a position so rugged that there would have been little to boast of if the numbers had been reversed and the defense made good.” In November the Sixth was heavily engaged at the crossing of the Nivelle, where they helped break the French center.

The regiment’s last major action of the Peninsular War occurred in February 1814 at Orthez where, at one point in the action, the Sixth was led into action by Wellington himself. As a result of his conduct in this affair, the commander of the regiment’s light infantry company, Sackville Taylor, was brevetted major. The following month the regiment entered Bordeaux, and was still posted there when the news arrived of Napoleon’s abdication.

With the end of the war in Europe, the Sixth became part of the first wave of reinforcements to be sent to North America to aid in the two-year-old war with the United States. Departing the south of France on 5 May and arriving in Canada 3 July, 1814, the regiment was quickly sent to Kingston. Due to supply shortages, it was not until the middle of August that the Sixth left Kingston to join Lt. General Gordon Drummond’s army along the Niagara River. Reaching Drummond’s camp before Fort Erie on 2 September, the regiment immediately began to help with the construction of an additional artillery battery. The first taste of combat in North America came on the evening of 6 September, when a company of the regiment took part in the routing of an American piquet. On the afternoon of 17 September the American army inside Fort Erie staged a sortie against the British siege works, most notably the two newer gun batteries. After blowing through the two regiments on duty (the 8th and DeWatteville’s) they managed to capture two of the batteries. A force consisting of portions of the Sixth (under Major Taylor) and the 82nd Regiments was sent to retake Battery Number Two which it did “with the most intrepid bravery,” according to Major General DeWatteville. For this action, the Sixth received the battle honour “Niagara.”

Shortly after the American sortie, General Drummond withdrew his force from its entrenchment in front of Fort Erie and, in late September and early October, the Sixth was posted to Chippawa, with the exception of the light company, which was among the units posted as the advanced guard at Black Creek.

In mid-October, American forces under General Jacob Brown pushed this advanced guard back onto the Chippawa position, as a brigade of American troops moved on Cook’s Mills. On 19 October the Sixth was moved to Weishuhn’s to support a British attack on the American brigade, but General Brown retired his force before the regiment could be brought into action. The Sixth returned to Chippawa, where it seems they remained in garrison for the remainder of the war.

The Recreated Unit

The re-created Sixth Regiment of Foot portrays the light infantry company, as led by Captain (and Brevet Major) Sackville Taylor during the closing of the Peninsular War and service in North America,1814. Uniforms, equipment, and exercises are reproduced to a high standard of historical accuracy. While socially-oriented as well, one of the organization’s primary raisons d’etre is education, for its members and the general public alike. Current members have amassed over thirty years combined professional living history experience, although such experience is not a prerequisite for membership.

The organization annually attends historic programs in the greater Niagara region, with additional trips being made to events farther afield. Organizational meetings, work sessions, and purely social functions, both historical and non-historical in nature add to the annual calendar.

The unit recruits in western New York & southern Ontario, and persons over the age of eighteen who are interested in a high quality reenactment experience are encouraged to communicate with one of the contacts for further information.

Contact person:

Doug DeCroix
3352 East Ave
Youngstown, NY 14174
USA

Recruiting Area:

Western New York and Southern Ontario

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This page was created by John Sek © 1998-9.