The 10th Infantry was one of a few regiments raised in the south and deployed in the north. Authorized by Congress in January 1812 as a two-battalion regiment, the unit got off to a slow start. James Wellborn was appointed colonel in March and on the same day, Andrew Pickens received his commission as lieutenant colonel. The regimental officers began recruiting in North Carolina and adjacent counties of Virginia. It was not until November that the regiment organized and mustered in Salisbury, North Carolina. The soldiers of the 10th received a mixed issue of uniforms, both blue and brown coats, both faced red, were issued. In the summer of 1813, a battalion of the regiment marched north to join Wade Hampton's division on Lake Champlain. The remainder of the regiment was not yet at full strength and these companies remained in the south with a recruiting rendezvous at Wilkesbarre, North Carolina. Under command of Major William Hamilton and with a strength of about 250, the 10th was assigned to Brigadier General George Izard's Second Brigade for the Battle of the Chateauguay. The 10th remained in the Lake Champlain after the battle as command of the division devolved upon Izard who was promoted to Major general in January, 1814. Lake Champlain was in the Ninth Military District and Izard's force was known as the Right Division. The Left Division, Under Major General Jacob Brown, was at Buffalo training for the summer campaign. In the late summer of 1814, Izard was ordered to bring his Right Division westward to join up with Brown's men. Initially Izard resisted the order as he rightly saw that he was leaving the Lake Champlain invasion route very poorly defended. Nonetheless, he moved his division slowly westward, arriving on the Niagara River on 5 October. Since Izard outranked Brown, Izard commanded the entire force which he named the Northern Army. With a strength of about 254, the 10th was consolidated for operations with the 4th Infantry and under the command of Colonel Robert Purdy of the 4th. The 4th/10th and the 12th Infantry together comprised the First Brigade under Brigadier General Thomas A. Smith. Izard now commanded one of the largest force of regulars assembled during the war but he could not bring the British to decisive battle. Smith's brigade missed the battle of Cook's Mill which was fought by Izard's Second Brigade. In November, Izard abandoned Canada and returned his troops to New York and within weeks news arrived of the end of the war. During 1814, Colonel Wellborn and three company commanders remained in the south on recruiting duty and reported about 200 recruits by summertime. Ordered to Washington, DC, the regiment arrived too late to participate in the defense of the capital. Following the war, the soldiers of the 10th, along with those of the 8th, 36th, and 38th Infantry, were thrown together to form the new 7th Infantry. Back to Table of Contents -- War of 1812 #2 Back to War of 1812 List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2001 by Rich Barbuto. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com