recruiting an infantry unit consisting of ten companies in Newfoundland for the purposes of local defence. Titled the Newfoundland Regiment of Fencible Infantry, the unit consisted of many veterans of the previous Newfoundland Regiment. By 1806 the regiment numbered nearly 700 men and was given the title Royal by King George III. 'Local defence' included all of British North America, and in 1807 the regiment was deployed to Fort Anne in Nova Scotia. The regiment was again transferred in 1808, this time to the Citadel in Quebec City where it remained until the outbreak of war in 1812. War of 1812 The regiment, called at the time the Royal Newfoundland Regiment of Fencible Infantry, was significantly involved in the War of 1812. In May 1812, weeks before outbreak of the war with the United States, Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, commander of his Majesty's Forces in Upper Canada, deployed the regiment into smaller companies or detachments, combined with other units or regiments in defensive positions all over the province. Some were employed as marines on board naval vessels on the Great Lakes as part of the Provincial Marine. These marines were involved in a number of notable naval actions during the war, including the Battle of Lake Erie and the capture of USS Tigress and USS Scorpion. Battles in which elements of the regiment took part included: Skirmish at Canard River July 16, 1812, Battle of Detroit Aug 16 1812, Battle of Matilda Sept 16 1812, Battle of the River Raisin or Frenchtown, Michigan January 22, 1813, the British raid on Ogdensburg, New York February 22, 1813, the Battle of York (Toronto) April 27, 1813 and operations in northwest Ohio, including the siege of Fort Meigs in the spring of 1813 and the Battle of Fort George (Niagara-on-the-Lake) May 25–27, 1813. The regiment was also involved in the British Raid on Sacket's Harbour, New York on May 29, 1813 and provided soldiers who served as marines in the Battle of Lake Erie on September 10, 1813. The regiment's service continued at the Battle of the Thames or Moraviantown on October 5, 1813 and in northern Michigan at the Battle of Michilimackinac or Mackinac Island August 4, 1814 and as part of the capture of American naval vessels Tigress September 3, 1814 and Scorpion on Upper Lake Huron on September 6, 1814. It was largely distributed throughout the zone as attached sub-units