Sergeant

The sergeant was one of the senior Non-Commissioned Officers in a Regiment during the War of 1812.

The Sergeant’s uniform was made of a finer cloth than that of the private soldier (musketman), but was trimmed with the same colour regimental facings - in the case of the 41st, red. The lace is plain white, and does not contain the black ‘worm’, nor any other distinctive regimental decoration. The buttons on the red coat were inscribed with the regimental insignia.

The hackle or plume of the sergeant was slightly taller than that of the private soldier and made of wool, not a feathered plume as is common with some reenactor regiments.

Around his waist the sergeant wore the sergeant’s sash, a woolen sash made of red wool with the regimental facing colour in the centre. In the case of the 41st, since both colours are red, a central strip of white was used.

Across his right shoulder, and underneath the sash the sergeant wore his sword belt, with the regimental belt plate, and a sergeant’s sword in a ‘frog’ on the left hip. This sword was rarely drawn in battle, and resembled the 1796 Infantry officer’s sword, though plainer in design. The sergeant’s ‘sword knot’ was usually of plain buff leather.

The sergeant of a company of line infantry did not carry a musket or carbine into battle. Instead he was armed with the “half-pike”, a 7-foot pike designed to defend the regimental colours, and, in maneuvering in the field to keep the line straight. This weapon was being phased out by 1812, but many contemporary pictures show sergeants using them.

On his greatcoat the sergeant carried the regimental facings on his collar and cuffs, and on his right sleeve (in the case of a company of line infantry) his sergeant’s chevrons.

The sergeant was an experienced soldier who could command the loyalty of men, and was in many senses the backbone of the early 19th century British army. Officers relied heavily upon them. Sergeants could read and write and were often given administrative duties, such as that of Regimental Adjutant or Quartermaster. Some were promoted into the officer corps, and quitted themselves extremely well in battle. Such a man was Major Adam Muir, a hero of the 41st during the war of 1812. Muir joined as a private soldier in 1790, and finished the war as a Major (Brvt). When he was retired from the army in 1819 he was a Major on full pay.