Let’s begin by reviewing some terminology pertaining to types of troops who served during the War of 1812 in British North America. Regulars are full-time soldiers who can be deployed anywhere the government pleases. Foreign nationals are found in the regulars. Likewise, entire foreign regiments could be bought to serve on the regular establishment. Fencibles (or provincials) are also full-time soldiers but typically only serve in North America. While they legally could be maintained after the war, they were released from service after the emergency passed as a means of keeping costs down. The Canadian Fencibles are obviously in this category. Militia Formations The above bodies were not militia organizations although militiamen certainly could volunteer to serve in either of those formations. Neither foreigners nor Indians served in the militia. The militia came in three general categories: volunteers, the sedentary militia and the select militia. The term “embodied” refers to the status of being called up for active service. Most select militia were embodied for long periods (a year or two) while the sedentary militia (a less useful body once the young men were gone) was embodied for shorter periods (perhaps three months of bateau service or during actual invasion). The Volunteers Volunteers, such as the Voltigeurs, agreed to serve for the duration as full-time soldiers. Regular officers often were selected to serve in volunteer corps. I use the term corps as it was used in those days as a word meaning an organized body of men, regardless of size or organizational structure. There were several volunteer militia corps of Lower Canada of which the Voltigeurs is the best known and longest-lived. The Canadian Voyageurs and its successor, the Commissariat Voyageurs, were assigned duties in support of transportation. The Royal Artillery Drivers existed for a short time. Volunteer infantry corps included the Quebec Volunteer Corps and the Montreal Militia Battalion. Cavalry is represented by the Royal Montreal Cavalry Troop. The Select Embodied Militia The select militia was a culling out of men who were younger (18-30) and more fit and organized into their own company and battalion sized units. For the most part, the select militiamen were conscripted although some volunteered to serve. The select embodied militia mutated during the course of the war. By February of 1813, there were six battalions of select embodied militia, each of two flank companies and eight center companies. Companies were small, not exceeding 75 militiamen. In April 1813, two battalions of Militia Light Infantry was formed from nine flank companies detached from the First through Fifth Select Embodied Battalions. In August of that year, ten companies were conscripted from the sedentary militia to form the Frontier Light Infantry. Later, men of the Frontier Light Infantry were selected to flesh out two more companies of Voltigeurs. Finally, one battalion of sedentary militia was brought up to select status as the Seventh Battalion Select Embodied Militia for a short time, returning to sedentary status after the crisis of 1813. The select embodied militia was trained, armed, and equipped like regulars. These soldiers released the regulars, fencibles, and volunteers to serve in the field. The select embodied militia were used for fatigue duties such as construction of fortifications as well as garrison troops and on several occasions sent to the field to reinforce the regulars and volunteers. Companies of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th Battalions fought at the Battle of the Chateauguay. The Select Embodied Militia were uniformed, as much as possible, like regulars. While the 1st Battalion always appears to have had red coats faced blue, the other battalions were initially issued green coats. However, by mid-1813, all were in red coats with facings as follows: 1st blue 2nd light green 3rd yellow 4th dark green 5th black 6th black In the spring of 1814, the 2nd Battalion changed its facing to yellow, and the 3rd changed to green facings. The Sedentary Militia The sedentary militia was composed of all males between 16 and 60 who were liable to a military obligation in certain circumstances (some trades such as judges and seamen were not required to enroll in the militia). Indians were recruited as a special case and were not enrolled in the militia. The sedentary militia had a confusing organization. Lower Canada was divided into three administrative militia districts: Quebec, Trois-Rivieres, and Montreal. These three districts were further sub-divided into “divisions” which typically supported a single battalion but some supported from two to 12 battalions. Confusion emanates from the naming convention of the time as these battalions oft took the term “division” into their local title. For example, the Vaudreuil Division (the administrative entity) of the Montreal District supported two battalions which called themselves the Vaudreuil Division (a tactical formation) and the Riviere du Chene Division respectively. The number of companies in a battalion could vary but companies typically started with a strength of 75. This number of men was depleted as men were conscripted into the select embodied battalions or joined a volunteer corps. The number of sedentary battalions is as follows: Quebec District: 16 battalions Trois-Rivieres District: 12 battalions Montreal District: 22 battalions The Sedentary Militia was not uniformed by the government and was armed and equipped only when embodied for actual field duty. They were trained minimally in the rudiments of drill. Some few militia captains with prior experience provided their men with uniforms and trained them to higher standards. Most typically, the sedentary militia was called up for fatigue duties (construction or the bateau service). However, seven companies of sedentary militia served at Chateauguay. 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