Uniform Leg Wear 
At the outbreak of war, British infantry regiments in Canada wore white wool breeches and tall black wool gaiters for daily wear and ceremonial occasions between April and October. For fatigue duties, or when on the march, “overalls” (loose, durable white cotton trousers with or without side-buttoning seams) were worn to protect the breeches. Since the 1790s grey wool trousers had been worn for most duties in Canada during the colder months. These appear to have been of the tongued ‘gaiter-trouser’ style, as shown by a watercolour of a sentry of the 6th (Warwickshire) Regiment in 1806. These garments were considered additional ‘necessaries’ for service in Canada, and were thus purchased by the soldiers themselves. Towards 1812 orders also refer to conventional grey trousers, and specify when each type was to be worn. By 1812 use of the conventional variety was likely predominant, if not universal. Elsewhere, the British Army experimented with grey trousers for field use during the disastrous Walcheren campaign in Holland in 1809. Reports on their utility and comfort were favourable, yet grey trousers were not officially adopted (along with matching short grey gaiters) until the General Order issued at the behest of the Prince Regent in August 1811. Authorities in Canada were aware of the new regulations when the United States declared war on Great Britain in 1812. In compliance with regulations the 49th (Hertfordshire) Regiment had grey trousers and gaiters made up locally the year before. Shipments of clothing supplies, however, had not kept up with the change in regulations, as a number of regiments in Canada received breeches and tall gaiters for their 1813 allotment. Other units, such as the 41st Regiment may have worn their more comfortable white fatigue overalls during the early actions in the summer of 1812. Though use of white “overalls” fell into abeyance, soldiers continued to be issued both types of trousers in addition to their full dress garments. Claims submitted by soldiers of the 100th (HRH the Prince Regent’s County of Dublin) Regiment who lost their knapsacks after the capture of Fort Niagara in December 1813, and after the Battle of Chippawa in June 1814 repeatedly list pairs of trousers and breeches (apart from those on their legs) among their missing belongings. At the conclusion of the war a contemporary shift in military fashion towards a preference for trousers prompted the British Army to adopt them for common use throughout the year. While grey trousers remained regulated for service in the field and during the winter months, white trousers began to be used purely as summer garments. Thereafter, breeches and gaiters were reserved solely for ceremonial occasions, until they were abolished in 1821. |
Despite the confusion, grey trousers were ordered for all regiments in Canada by early 1813. Upon arrival from Malta in the spring of 1813, the De Meuron Regiment was instructed to acquire grey trousers to replace their thin white Mediterranean-issue garments. During the summer of 1813 Lt. John Le Couteur of the 104th (New Brunswick) Regiment sketched members of his own and other regiments in Upper Canada wearing grey trousers, confirming their universal use by that point. 
