The most battle-proven part of the British army was in Spain from around 1810 to 1813, and it was some of these regiments that came to fight at New Orleans. Enough of these Iberian Peninsular veterans went to North American that when the Duke of Wellington had to fight the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815 against Napoleon, he was handicapped by the fact that the only British troops available to him were non-veterans. I suppose if the British had lost at Waterloo the American war would be listed as one of the reasons. Mark C. -----Original Message----- From: Sue Mclean [mailto:smclean@deadsquid.com] Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2004 6:23 PM To: WARof1812-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [WARof1812] WAR of 1812 the British must have been strained financially as well after many years fighting Napoleon Yes, this may be true, but they also had a large, well trained, battle-hardened army (and navy) who were no longer fully occupied in Europe. It would not have been difficult to transfer this force to North America. The British regulars garrisoned there had already proved themselves more than a match for the American forces. Had the war continued, and that military force been focused on the United States, the war would have gone on longer with much different results. However, the war ended. And now we have a great time re-enacting it, then afterward, happily sharing good times with "the enemy". Huzzah for history! And for those who share a passion for it! -- Sue McLean smaclean@deadsquid.com ==== WARof1812 Mailing List ==== This WAR of 1812 List is sponsored by ROOTSWEB Let them know how much you appreciate our list by visiting them at: http://www.rootsweb.com ============================== Search Family and Local Histories for stories about your family and the areas they lived. Over 85 million names added in the last 12 months. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13966/rd.ashx