The 4th was returned to active duty in 1813 after it had
been re-equipped and reorganized. The Regiment was marched in two "March
Battalions," towards the US Base at Burlington, Vermont. Robert Purdy was now the
Colonel of the Regiment, James Miller having been promoted to command of the 21st Rt. He
was destined to win even great fame at Lundy’s Lane in their company. Josiah Snelling
was now a major and was acting as the Adjutant General for the forces at Burlington. The
4th spent much of their time patrolling and skirmishing along the border. On the 18th
&19th of July 1814 20 men under Lt. Shelburne fought a successful action against 70 of
the famed Canadian Voltigers. They had more experience in battle than most of the other
Regiments in General Wade Hampton’s two brigades of Regular Infantry and the odd
assortment of Volunteers so common in US expeditions of the era. In 1813 the US Army was a
group in search of a strategy. Secretary Armstrong desired an assault on Kingston. General
Wilkinson and Commodore Chauncey desired to move against Montreal. Adding to the confusion
was General Hampton’s deep disgust of the scheming James Wilkinson, a man whose own
biographer has labeled him as one who's actions, history can not redeem.
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