capotes and trowsers of home-spun stuff, and their blue tuques (night caps) were all of the same cut and color, which gave them an air of uniformity that added much to their military look, for I have always remarked that a body of men's appearance in battalion, depends much less on the fashion of their individual dress and appointments than on the whole being in strict uniformity. They marched merrily to the music of their voyageur songs as they perceived our [scarlet] uniform as we came up, they set up the Indian War-Whoop, followed by a shout of along the whole line. Such a body of men in such a temper, and with so perfect a use of arms as all of them possessed, if posted on such ground as would preclude the possibility of regular troops out-manoeuvring them, and such positions are not hard to find in Canada, must have been rather a formidable body to have attacked. Many militia had their own hunting weapons, and during the war, large numbers of British muskets were imported and issued to the militia. In theory, 54,000 men were available for service with the militia. Each parish provided a militia company. These were organized for administrative purposes into "divisions", equivalent to regiments though of very variable size. These in turn were administered by the Districts of Montreal, Trois-Rivières and Quebec (although the Eastern Townships were largely independent of the Montreal district command). Except in one or two units raised in the cities of Quebec and Montreal, militiamen and junior officers generally wore serviceable homespun clothing, perhaps with a gorget for officers. Field officers sometimes wore a variety of quasi-military uniforms. Two companies from Beauharnois were heavily engaged at the Battle of Châteauguay. Upper Canada In Upper Canada, several parts of which were attacked or occupied by American forces during the war, there were conflicting demands on the militia. On the one hand they were required for military duty; on the other, they were urgently needed to grow and harvest crops. This hampered most attempts to organise their efforts consistently. The Upper Canadian militia were organised into Regiments, based on the "ridings" of each County, such as the 1st and 2nd Essex Militia based out of Essex County, Ontario. Normally in Upper Canada, militia units would meet once a year to receive minor military training. They would wear their own clothing and many