America

American War Of Independence

1775 to 1783

April 1776 the 9th was off to put down a small rebellion in the American colonies. However history recognises this as the start of the War of Independence and the beginning of the United States of America. The British Army had successfully defeated the French in North America, and assumed that the colonies were theirs for the taking. However the colonists thought otherwise because of poor political management and unreasonable economic demands.

This war was very important in that it taught the British about the importance of skirmishing and the value of lightly equipped highly mobile troops, it was the start of the Light Infantry and the Rifle Brigade.

The 9th served with Johnny Burgoyne and in October 1777 were at the surrender following the defeat at Saratoga by overwhelming numbers. For three years they remained prisoners of war. However during the whole of this period the Americans failed not only to find the 9th colours but did not even manage to recover the American colours that the Regiment had taken earlier in the war.

The American War of 1812

This war was fought between the Crown and the Loyalists of Canada and New Brunswick against the Americans of the North Eastern states, their militias and the Continental Army. It was principally fought around the Great Lakes and involved many of the Indian tribes on both sides of the boarder. The newly established American Congress was concerned that both sides in the European wars were trying to deny trade access to the American traders. It came to a head when the British Navy continually interfered with American merchantmen. Their cargoes were confiscated but worse of all the British impressed Americans to serve in the Royal Navy and treated them very badly. Consequently Congress declared war on the Crown.

The Congress also thought that if it could drive the British from Canada then it would be an easy matter to absorb the relatively small number of colonialists into the American states. It was clear that the French actively encouraged the Americans in their plans since it would effectively distract troops and ships from the Napoleonic wars.

It was fought over a large area and the numbers of troops were relatively small. The British seemed more concerned to contain the matter rather than win. Clearly the government was much more concerned with continental Europe rather than the New World, especially as they had taken Quebec and defeated the French in upper Canada. From the British perspective this was a defensive action since there was apparently no desire on the Crown's part to retake the lost colonies of America.

However there were a number of land battles in and around the Great Lakes. The American forces tried to lay siege to both Montreal and Quebec but both campaigns failed. There were a number of naval battles on the lakes during which the fledgling American Navy had the upper hand against a very small British detachment. However the picture began to change as the war in Europe ended and troops and ships began to become available. The peace talks which had already begun took on an urgency that had been lacking up to then.

The 1/IX had not been in Canada very long, although by August 1814 it was in barracks in Kingston. They had not seen any active service, before they were re-called in early June 1815 to Wellington's Army following Napoleon's departure from Elba and his restoration to the Imperial throne. However before they left North America the army commander highly praised the Regiment since it was one of only two British Regiments (the other was the 88th Regiment of Foot) which had no deserters while serving in Canada. The American forces offered considerable inducements if the British soldiers would desert and join their army.

The next period is known as the 100 days campaign which effectively ended following the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo. The 1/IX arrived back at the port of Antwerp on about 6 July 1815 and were sent to Paris, camping in the Bois de Bolougne as part of the Army of occupation. They remained on garrison duty in various parts of northern France until in late October 1818 when they were returned to England and were then sent off to serve in the West Indies.