Following the capture of Fort George on 27 May 1813 , Thom tended the wounded during the retreat to Burlington Heights .  Though Vincent’s retreat was praised by his superiors for its orderliness, Thom’s correspondence suggests the medical services were neglected during the march.  In the midst of the retreat Thom wrote dispatches concerning the condition of the casualties, addressing one in particular to, “Brigadier-General Vincent or Officer Com’g. British Troops.”[5]  Given Thom was the senior medical officer in the division (whose duties typically kept him near headquarters), his uncertainty over who was then in command of the Right Division is perhaps indicative of some degree of disarray.  Thom signed himself by his permanent rank of Surgeon, 41^st Regiment in this dispatch, indicating that his appointment remained temporary.  Ultimately Thom’s staff appointment was ratified on 29 July 1813 , when he was officially promoted to Staff Surgeon, thereby ending his service with the 41^st.  His earlier detachment to staff duties and promotion removed him from any involvement in the 41^st Regiment’s misfortunes under Procter’s command that year.  

In August 1813, Thom was stationed in York as the senior medical officer there.  One of his chief concerns was the accommodation of the wounded and sick, for which he requested the use of the town church (known simply as “The Church”, and later to be dedicated to St. James in 1828).  The Rev. Dr. John Strachan, ever a champion of the Anglican faith, reluctantly assented on the condition that another place for religious worship was found immediately.  Though Strachan differed to Thom’s discretion and judgement in the matter, he was grudging enough to insist that the use of the Church “be no longer than the urgency of the case require.”[6] Evidently the facilities at York were temporarily adequate, as the Church was only emptied of its pews and converted into a hospital during the summer of 1814 to accommodate the casualties from the fighting in the Niagara region.[7]  

Thom remained at York into 1814.  His activities there were noted by Private George Ferguson of the 100^th Regiment, who was wounded at the Battle of Chippawa and evacuated to York , and who vehemently disagreed with Thom’s insistence that his wounded arm be amputated:

Dr. Tom [sic], the head surgeon, said that my arm must come off immediately. I enquired if Dr. Ferguson was in the hospital. - ‘Do you want to see him?’ was the reply. ‘I do, sir,’ said I, and he was immediately sent for.[8]  

Thom remained on the Medical Department staff in Canada till the end of the war, and retired on half pay on 15 February 1817 , settling in Perth , Upper Canada .  In 1822 he appears on the civil lists as a Commissioner for the Peace and for taking affidavits.  Some time after 1830 he also served as Staff Surgeon and Medical Superintendent of the military settlements along the Rideau River .  On 11 January 1833 Thom fought a duel against Alexander McMillan, a local barrister.  The quarrel was apparently caused by Thom’s exclusion of McMillan’s wife from a party held by the doctor for the town’s social elite.  After an initial exchange of shots, in which Thom suffered a minor wound to the leg, the issue was resolved amicably.[9]  Alexander Thom died in Perth on 26 September 1845 .  

Surgeon John Garland Harford
(1^st Bttn., 8 July 1813 – 18 January 1816 )

John Garland Harford was commissioned Hospital Mate on 24 March 1799 .  A year later, he was appointed as Assistant Surgeon in the 17^th Regiment.  He continued to serve in that regiment till he was promoted to Surgeon in the 101^st Regiment on 8 November 1810 .  On 8 August 1811 he exchanged into the Royal Newfoundland Fencible Regiment with which he served at the outbreak of the war.  

Harford exchanged again to the post of Surgeon in the 41^st Regiment on 8 July 1813 . Which battalion Harford transferred into is uncertain.[10]   Technically, Thom was still on the regimental books as Surgeon of the 1/41^st, and would not officially leave the regiment till his promotion on 29 July.  Furthermore, the second battalion had arrived at Quebec on 15 May 1813 without a surgeon having been appointed.[11]  Harford therefore ought to have been posted to the vacancy in the second battalion.  Regardless of seniority, it appears that he immediately did duty with the first battalion. A return for Procter’s detachment of the Right Division dated to August 1813 lists 5 staff officers (almost certainly including the three medical staff) present with the 41^st Regiment; Harford must therefore have been amongst them.[12]  Presumably Harford was sent where the need was greatest, i.e. to the first battalion engaged on active service, and his appointment may have been in anticipation of Thom’s eventual promotion.  Ultimately he is listed on a roll of 1/41^st officers compiled by Brig. Gen. Procter at Quebec in October 1814, confirming his assignment to the first battalion one means or another.[13]  

Harford appears to have escaped capture at the Battle of the Thames, as his name is not listed amongst those imprisoned officers of the 41^st subsequently held in Kentucky .[14]  Thereafter, Harford’s services are unclear.  The amalgamated 41^st would have had three supernumerary medical officers, and it is uncertain whether the additional personnel accompanied the regiment during the 1814 campaign, or were immediately detached to other duties.  Reports written by Assistant Surgeon Kennedy in Ancaster , Upper Canada in November 1814 indicate Harford was in garrison in Montreal with the rest of the 41^st, but further information is elusive.[15]   Harford remained with the 41^st until 18 January 1816, when he retired on half pay and returned to Britain .  He died on 21 March 1830 in Richmond-upon-Thames , England .[16]  

Assistant Surgeon Thomas Moore
(1^st Bttn., 21 December 1809 – 26 January 1815)

Thomas Moore was commissioned as a Hospital Mate for General Service on 12 October 1809.  On 21 December 1809 he was appointed to the position of Assistant Surgeon, 41^st Regiment, and embarked for Canada .  

Moore ’s early-war activities are unknown, though he presumably remained with the 41^st in the Niagara region, as he is not listed amongst Brock’s forces at Detroit .  Along with Surgeon Harford and Assistant Surgeon Faulkner, Moore served in Procter’s offensive operations into Ohio during 1813, as suggested by the return from that expedition, and remained with Procter’s contingent until after the Battle of the Thames .  Moore also escaped capture at the battle, though not without some personal loss, as he submitted a claim from York on 14 June 1814 for the loss of his personal baggage in the ensuing rout.[17]  Like Harford, he was listed amongst the serving officers of the 1/41^st on the roll drafted by Procter in October 1814.[18]  

Moore was promoted to Surgeon in the 58^th Regiment on 26 January 1815.  On 3 August 1815 he exchanged into the Canadian Fencibles Regiment as Surgeon.  Moore retired on half pay on 14 June 1816, and settled in the Niagara region.  He died in St. Catharines , Upper Canada on 13 May 1818.
 

Assistant Surgeon William Faulkner
(1^st Bttn., 14 June 1810 – 7 March 1816)

Miniature Portrait of Assistant Surgeon William Faulkner, c.1811 (private coll.)  

William Faulkner was commissioned into the army as a Hospital Mate for General Service with the Army Medical Department on 17 May 1810.  Shortly thereafter, he was appointed Assistant Surgeon in the 41^st Regiment, and sailed to join the regiment in Canada .  Faulkner was noted as serving with detachments of his regiment at Fort Amherstburg by 1811.  

During the summer of 1812, Faulkner accompanied the detachment of the 41^st that fought at the Battle of Monguagon, MI on 9 August 1812.  His presence there was noted by Thomas Verchères de Boucherville, an acquaintance and Indian agent who also participated under the command of Captain Muir of the 41^st.[19]  Several days after the battle, Verchères consulted Faulkner regarding his slow recovery from a wound he sustained at Monguagon.  Faulkner agreed to allow a Shawnee healer personally recommended by Tecumseh to treat Verchères with compresses made of local herbs.  Verchères recalled the experience in his memoirs:  

I consulted with Dr. Faulkner of the regiment and with Dr. Richardson[20], my regular physician, and both agreed that there was no harm in the treatment.  My Indian doctor therefore returned the next day and started with his herbs.  Ten days later the wound was healed and I was able to resume my duties.[21]   

Faulkner’s actions in this case are a singular example of the willingness of British surgeons to adopt unfamiliar Native remedies, as well as an example of cross-cultural exchange of medical knowledge between Native and European doctors during the conflict.  One week later, Faulkner served with Brock’s forces at the siege and capture of Detroit , and was a recipient of prize money from the victory.[22]  Like Surgeon Harford, he likely participated in Procter’s foray in to the United States during 1813, his presence being accounted for in the return of the 41^st in Ohio during August of that year.[23]  Following the defeat at the Battle of the Thames, Faulkner escaped to the Niagara peninsula with the remnants of the 41^st.  

His active service apparently affected the state of his health, as he was transferred to Quebec , and took a leave of absence after the war.  In 1815 the 41^st were dispatched to Belgium for the Waterloo campaign, with Faulkner rejoining the 41^st at St. Denis , France in July.  He exchanged into the 1st Royal Veteran Battalion on 7 March 1816, and became the assistant surgeon at Pendennis Castle .  Upon the disbandment of the 1^st Royal Veteran Battalion, he retired on half pay on 25 August 1816.   William Faulkner returned to his birthplace in Huntingdonshire and married Ann Bond Gray on 18 September 1816.[24]  Faulkner then moved to Polton, Bedfordshire where he established a private practice. He died on 2 December 1823 at the age of thirty-six, apparently from "an affectation of the lungs due to his service in Canada ."[25]  Mrs. Faulkner applied for and received an army pension on account of her late husband’s services.  

Surgeon William Robertson
(2^nd Bttn., 29 July 1813 – 25 June 1815)

Portrait of Dr. William Robertson c. 1832 (Courtesy of Campbell House Museum , Toronto )

Born in Scotland into the landed gentry, William Robertson joined the British army at the age of 13.  In 1797 he was appointed to an ensigncy in the 73^rd Regiment and saw action during the Irish Rebellion of 1798.  From 1802 and 1805 Robertson studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh , one of the foremost medical schools in Britain .  Though he attended three sessions, he did not graduate, choosing instead to re-enter the army as a surgeon.  At that time regulations issued in 1795 regarding the qualifications of medical officers were still quite lax, and evidently Robertson’s professional knowledge was judged sufficient for employment as a medical officer despite his lack of formal certification from Edinburgh .[26]  Accordingly, he was appointed Hospital Mate on 9 July 1805.  Robertson therefore is but one of a myriad of medical officers in the British forces who served without the formal qualification of an academic medical degree.  

While en route to Canada , Robertson was shipwrecked off Cape Breton Island in 1805.  He convalesced in the home of William Campbell, the island’s attorney-general (and later Chief Justice of Upper Canada), whose daughter, Amelia Elizabeth, he subsequently married.  Upon his recovery, Robertson was appointed Assistant Surgeon of the 49^th Regiment, stationed in Lower Canada , on 23 October 1806.  Following the death of Surgeon Lennon on 6 July 1809, Robertson temporarily acted as regimental surgeon, though the vacancy was ultimately filled by Assistant Surgeon John W. Korb of the 41^st.  Acting in a higher rank without benefit of increased pay caused Robertson financial strain, as he submitted a petition for the reimbursement of his expenses to Governor-General Sir James Henry Craig on 24 October 1809.[27]  

During the winter of 1812 / 1813 Robertson was stationed at various posts along the Richelieu River in Lower Canada .  Writing to relatives from Isle aux Noix, he complained about the lack of medical staff throughout the colonies:  

All winter I had charge of a General Hospital at St. Johns [ St. Jean , QC ] and for the last two months have been the only medical man at this post where there ought to be three.  However, we have a hard duty lately for the scarcity of Army Surgeons in this country, more are daily expected from England .[28]  

On 3 June 1813 Robertson accompanied a party of the 100^th Regiment involved in the capture of American gunboats on Lake Champlain near Isle aux Noix:  

The commanding officer and I went in a Row Boat with Two flat Bottomed Boats full of men to act according to circumstances … There were ten wounded & one killed of the Americans only two of our men wounded being the only medical officer on the Island I had my hands full for half an hour on their arrival … it is to me unaccountable how we escaped so well for Round, Grape & Canister were falling like hail all around…[29]  

Robertson remained with the 49^th until promoted to Surgeon of the 2/41^st on 29 July 1813.  During the winter of 1813 / 1814 Robertson served with the amalgamated 41^st Regiment, participating in the capture of Fort Niagara on 18 December 1813.  By the end of the war he was stationed at Fort Wellington in Prescott , Upper Canada .  Robertson’s relatively uneventful time there was punctuated by a bizarre and tragic incident in April 1815.  According to a letter written by Robertson’s wife, his colleague, Surgeon Joseph Morrice of the 16^th Regiment (then stationed at the fort) died of uncontrolled haemorrhaging from the oesophagus on 19 April 1815.[30]  The cause of death was Morrice’s having swallowed a coin, a practice he was apparently prone to for an obscure reason.  In the midst of Morrice’s agonies Robertson was called to attend his colleague, but could not move due to being prostrated by an attack of malaria, and Morrice expired shortly thereafter.  

When the 2/41^st was reduced at the conclusion of hostilities, Robertson was granted permission to remain in Canada , and retired to Montreal on half pay on 25 June 1815.  As officers’ half pay was usually drawn in England on a biannual basis, Robertson specifically requested to have his half pay paid from the Canadian establishment to avoid the inconvenience of delays in the transmission of funds.[31]  Nearly seven months later, Robertson’s atypical arrangements had yet to be approved, and he was forced for write again to the Military Secretary for a response.[32]  Presumably his request was later granted.

Following the war, Robertson embarked on a lengthy and varied career in public service.  He served in a number of public medical offices, and helped found both the Montreal General Hospital in 1819, as well as the medical faculty of McGill College (later McGill University ).  Somewhat belatedly, he received an honorary MD from the University of Vermont in 1832.  Robertson was also active politically, being appointed a magistrate in Montreal in 1818.  His chief notoriety stems from his involvement in the Montreal election riots in 1832, when British troops under his authority fired on civilian rioters.  His handling of the incident was severely criticised by Louis-Joseph Papineau, leader of the 1837 Rebellion in Lower Canada .  Papineau’s condemnation prompted Robertson to challenge him to a duel, which Papineau refused to accept, on the excuse that he was critiquing Robertson as a public official, not as a private individual.[33]  Robertson continued to hold public offices until his retirement from ill health in 1842, and he died in Montreal on 18 July 1844.  

Assistant Surgeon John Kennedy
(2^nd Bttn., 4 March 1813 – 25 Aug. 1815)

 John Kennedy was commissioned as a Hospital Mate for General Service on 6 January 1813.  On 4 March 1813 he was appointed Assistant Surgeon of the newly formed 2/41^st Regiment.  That spring he sailed to Canada along with reinforcements sent to replenish the regiment’s first battalion, and arrived at Quebec on 15 May 1813.

By June Kennedy was at Burlington Heights , from whence he was ordered with a draft of the 2/41^st to reinforce the 1/41^st then serving in the west under Procter. However, upon his arrival at Detroit he was temporarily diverted to serve with the Lake Erie squadron by Commodore Thomas Barclay, as was appointed as surgeon of the HMS Lady Prevost.  Along with the rest of the 41^st serving as marines, Kennedy was taken prisoner at the Battle of Lake Erie that October and held at Erie , Pennsylvania .  Whilst treating the wounded there, Kennedy recalled having performed “several of the difficult operations in surgery with success (some of which had been deemed impracticable by both our own, and the American surgeons) … having seen every man who was wounded in the action cured of his wounds… [and] had the pleasure of leaving them with every mark of their gratitude and with every consciousness of having done his duty.[34]

 Commodore Barclay himself noted Kennedy’s professional merit, remarking that his “…most unremitting and scientific zeal and attention to his professional duty entitles him to His Majesty’s favour.”[35]  Nevertheless, his services and capture evidently caused Kennedy financial distress.  After his repatriation from the United States in May 1814, he submitted a request for additional pay as an acting naval surgeon due to his attachment to the Lake Erie squadron, and solicited the support of Commodore Barclay in that venture, though it is unknown whether he received recompensation.[36]   Furthermore, Kennedy was also included on a list of 41^st officers petitioning in February 1815 for the reimbursement of personal losses incurred while being held as prisoners in the United States .[37]

On 7 October 1814, Kennedy met the first contingents of 41^st prisoners returning from incarceration in the United States at Long Point , Upper Canada .  Kennedy was shocked by the frail condition of the men, and wrote an emotional letter to Lieutenant Colonel Evans of the 41^st describing the disembarkation of the prisoners:

 At the first sight of our poor fellows, it was with difficulty I could suppress my feelings of pity at their miserable condition, and of indignation at their rascality [sic] treatment which was the cause of it … The further we advanced the scene of misery deepened … we arrived gradually to the very essence of everything miserable – nakedness, disease & death.[38]

Kennedy later noted that more than thirty prisoners of the initial contingent died from the effects if their maltreatment while en route to Upper Canada .[39]  Inundated with scores of sick and emaciated prisoners, Kennedy established a general hospital for them at Ancaster.  Accommodations for Kennedy’s patients were quickly found in houses appropriated from American sympathisers, as well as the Union Hotel, in which several of those individuals were tried at the “Bloody Assize” trials several months previously.[40]  By late November 1814, of the 107 enlisted men in his charge, Kennedy reported “they certainly will be of no use to His Majesty this winter & a considerable part of it will pass before they are equal to a long journey….”[41]  However, he also noted his patients were “well lodged, well clothed and well fed,” and were “very comfortable.”[42]  Kennedy’s attentiveness to the sick at Ancaster was corroborated by Physician Erly of the Medical Department, who inspected the hospital at a time when the number of sick repatriated soldiers under Kennedy’s care had increased to 150 men.[43]

After the war, Kennedy was placed on half pay on 25 August 1815, and returned to England .  Later that fall, he was returned to full pay as Assistant Surgeon in the 3^rd Garrison Battalion.  Transferring once again, Kennedy became Assistant Surgeon of the 1^st Ceylon Regiment on 25 January 1816, and proceeded to the Indian Ocean .  Kennedy then served with his regiment during the Ceylon Rebellion of 1817 – 1818, and was killed in action by the rebels in 1818.

Assistant Surgeon William Pardey
(2^nd Bttn., 4 March 1813  - 12 May 1814)

William Pardey joined the 2/41^st on 4 March 1813, having previously served as an assistant surgeon in Ireland with the North Mayo Militia.  On 12 May 1814 he transferred to the 19^th Light Dragoons, also serving in Canada at that time.  He continued to serve until placed on half pay on 25 September 1817.  Pardey obtained his MD from the University of Vermont in 1818, suggesting he had remained in North America following the end of the war.  Like Surgeon Robertson, he is another example of a surgeon who served without holding a medical doctorate.  Pardey returned to full pay on the Medical Staff on 25 December 1822, although his exact rank is not recorded.[44]  On 26 April 1831 he transferred to the Rifle Brigade, and died at Montreal on 30 June 1832.

Assistant Surgeon William Forsyth
(2^nd Bttn., 26 January 1815 – 25^th Dec. 1818)

Forsyth was commissioned as a Hospital Assistant in the Army Medical Department on 21 June 1813.  On 26 January 1815 he was appointed Assistant Surgeon in the 41^st Regiment, most likely to fill the vacancy caused by Pardey’s transfer to the 19^th LD the previous May.  On 25 December 1818 he was placed on half pay.  According to Johnston ’s rolls, he died sometime before December 1820.[45]

Conclusion

 Despite the pervasive stereotype of incompetent military doctors during the period, the regimental surgeons of the 41^st Regiment played an important and successful role in providing medical care to the British forces during the War of 1812.  In the face of many hardships, they were frequently called upon to tend to large numbers of sick and wounded, having to make do with the materials and facilities at hand in largely rural Canada.  The surgeons of the 41^st showed a strong devotion to duty, as Surgeon Thom demonstrated by remaining with the wounded throughout the retreat to Burlington Heights in May 1813.  Far from being incompetent butchers, they were technically proficient in matters of surgery and professionally capable of providing for their patients’ comfort, as borne out by Assistant Surgeon Kennedy’s efforts after the Battle of Lake Erie and later in Ancaster.  They were innovative medical practitioners, willing to try unconventional treatments like Assistant Surgeon Faulkner did at Fort Amhertsburg .  Several remained in Canada after the war, and made significant contributions to their new communities, both medically and otherwise, as did Surgeon Robertson in Montreal .  The 41^st Regiment was a mainstay of the defence of Canada during the War of 1812, and the services of the regimental surgeons of the 41^st were every bit as difficult, challenging and no less creditable than those endured by their more famous colleagues serving in the Peninsular War.   

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