4th Regiment of Riflemen

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4th Regiment of Riflemen

The American Soldier, 1814.jpeg

Riflemen officer in gray (foreground) and troops in green smocks (background)
Active 1814–1815
Disbanded March 3, 1815
CountryFlag of the United States.svg  United States
BranchFlag of the United States Army (official proportions).svg  United States Army
Type Riflemen
Role Light infantry
Size Regiment
Weapons U.S. Model 1814
scalping knife
tomahawk,
Campaigns War of 1812
Commanders
Commanders James Gibson
James McDonald

The 4th Regiment of Riflemen was a unit of the U.S. Army in the early nineteenth century. It was first activated in 1814 during the War of 1812 when the War Department created three additional rifle regiments based on the success of the Regiment of Riflemen. The regiment was deactivated in May 1815.

War of 1812 32-month military conflict between the United States and the British Empire

The War of 1812 was a conflict fought between the United States, the United Kingdom, and their respective allies from June 1812 to February 1815. Historians in Britain often see it as a minor theater of the Napoleonic Wars; in the United States and Canada, it is seen as a war in its own right.

Regiment of Riflemen

The Regiment of Riflemen was a unit of the U.S. Army in the early nineteenth century. It was first activated in 1808. During the War of 1812, it was temporarily designated as the 1st Regiment of Riflemen when the War Department created three additional similar regiments. The regiment never fought as a unit. Companies, detachment from companies or collections of companies were stationed at a distance from each other and were often allocated to other commands. After the War, the other three regiments were inactivated and the regiment reverted to its unnumbered designation. The regiment was inactivated in June 1821.

Where can you find troops more efficient than Morgan's riflemen of the Revolution or Forsyth's riflemen of the last war with Great Britain?

Contents

Organization

The regiment was activated on February 10, 1814. It was consolidated with the other regiments of riflemen on May 17, 1815. [1]

Service

Regimental depots were placed in Utica, New York and western Pennsylvania. [2] Elements of the regiment participated with the 1st Regiment of Riflemen in relieving the Siege of Fort Erie [3]

Utica, New York City in New York ----, United States

Utica is a city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most-populous city in New York, its population was 62,235 in the 2010 U.S. census. Located on the Mohawk River at the foot of the Adirondack Mountains, Utica is approximately 90 miles northwest of Albany and 45 mi (72 km) east of Syracuse. Utica and the nearby city of Rome anchor the Utica–Rome Metropolitan Statistical Area, which comprises all of Oneida and Herkimer counties.

Siege of Fort Erie

The Siege of Fort Erie was one of the last and most protracted engagements between British and American forces during the Niagara campaign of the American War of 1812. From 4 August to 21 September 1814, the Americans successfully defended Fort Erie against a British army. During the siege, the British suffered heavy casualties in a failed storming attempt and also suffered from sickness and exposure in their rough encampments. Unaware that the British were about to abandon the siege, the American garrison later launched a sortie to destroy the British siege batteries, during which both sides again suffered heavy losses.

Notes

  1. Heitman p. 142
  2. Fredriksen p. 45
  3. Fredriksen p. 59

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References

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