HISTORY

Troop Training

Almost all the regiments sent north to the Canadian front were newly formed regiments, not prewar regiments that had been trained prior to 1812. In fact, troops rarely received any training at all, despite the fact that they were assembled in "Training Centers." More often than not these "Training Centers" were nothing more than assembly points and not the type of training centers used by the British to organize their troops. Often U.S. troops arrived at local camps sans weapons, uniforms or any form of military instruction.

That meant that officers were obliged to turn their field camps into training grounds and universally had to spend a large amount of time getting their troops ready for combat. One inspector described troops arriving at Buffalo as men who "if taken into action in their present state would prove more dangerous to themselves then to their enemy."

Gen. Lewis in 1813 wrote: "the troops are still as ignorant as when they first enlisted" and "officers require as much instruction as the men."