Operations were, however, recommenced in February, 1814, and the regiment formed part of the corps under Sir William Beresford, who attacked, on the 22nd of that month, the fortified posts at Hastingues and Oyergave, and obliged the enemy to retire within the tête de pont at Peyrehorade.
The enemy being in position at Orthes, the Sixth, and other corps under Sir William Beresford, crossed the Gave de Pau on the morning of the 26th of February, and moved along the high road from Peyrehorade towards Orthes. On the following day they advanced to attack the enemy's right, on the heights on the high road to Dax, and at the village of St. Boes. The village was carried by the fourth division; and the Sixth advanced in column to turn the head of a ravine between themselves and the enemy; but on emerging from the village they were ordered to form line. Colonel Ross's brigade of horse artillery came up at full speed and unlimbered in the rear of the regiment, when sections were thrown back to permit the fire of the artillery to pass through the line. The ground was, however, so low that the troops could not deploy to attack the heights. The Sixth moved forward, and in the after descent of the back of the ravine the French fire told heavily on the regiment. Several officers and many men fell; Lieut.-Colonel Gardiner, of the Sixth[37], who commanded the brigade on this occasion, had his horse killed under him while leading the regiment forward, and as a serjeant and a private were extricating him from under the animal, the private was shot through the chest and died instantly, and the serjeant's hands were both pierced by musket-balls: one of the colour-staves was also damaged by a ball. At this moment the Marquis of Wellington came galloping past the regiment, and cried, "Sixth, incline to your right;" which was obeyed; but the ground was so rugged, and the enemy's fire so heavy, that some confusion took place: the road was, however, boldly gained; and from a ditch and earthen bank the regiment opened a destructive fire on the enemy, who were in line on each flank, and, some kneeling and others lying on the ground, kept up a heavy cross fire. Meanwhile the left of the height on which the enemy's right stood had been carried; Sir Rowland Hill had also forced the passage of the Gave above Orthes; and the troops opposed to the Sixth eventually gave way, when the regiment moved forward in pursuit.
The regiment lost, on this occasion, Lieutenants Patullo and Scott, five serjeants, and nineteen rank and file killed; Captains Rogers, Thompson, Smith, and Fitzgerald, Lieutenants Jones, Craufurd, and Gilder, with Ensigns St. Clair and Blood, sixteen serjeants, one drummer, and a hundred and four rank and file wounded. Colonel Gardiner, who commanded the brigade, and Lieut.-Colonel Scott, who commanded the regiment, were presented with gold medals; and the word "Orthes" was inscribed on the regimental colours as a testimony of its gallantry.
On the 8th of March the regiment was detached, with other forces under Sir William Beresford, towards Bourdeaux: the French troops in garrison withdrew to the right of the Garonne, and on the 12th of that month, as the British approached the town, they were met by the civil authorities and population of the place, and were received into the city with acclamations; the magistrates and city-guards removing the tri-coloured and displaying the white cockade.
The Sixth were subsequently employed against the French troops on the Garonne and Dordogne; and on the 5th of April two companies attacked the rear of a column of the enemy and took many prisoners. The regiment was afterwards employed in investing the fort of Blaye, which commanded the navigation of the Garonne; in which service it was engaged when Buonaparte abdicated the throne of France, and the Bourbon dynasty was restored, which gave peace to Europe.
The distinguished part which the Sixth had taken in the splendid achievements by which the kingdoms of Portugal, Spain, and France had been delivered from the despotic rule of Buonaparte was rewarded with the honour of bearing the word "Peninsula" on their colours. Soon after the termination of the contest in Europe they were destined to transfer their services across the Atlantic, to take part in the war between Britain and the United States of America, which commenced in 1812, in consequence of the resistance of the Americans to the British orders in council respecting the trade of neutral nations, and to the impressing of British seamen on board of American ships. The regiment embarked from Bourdeaux on the 5th of May, arrived in Canada in the beginning of July, and proceeded to Montreal, from whence it was removed to the Niagara frontier to reinforce the division commanded by Lieut.-General Gordon Drummond, who was engaged in the siege of Fort Erie. Having joined this division of the army, the Sixth formed part of the reserve brigade; and on the 6th of September the eighth company, commanded by Captain Pattison, cut off a strong piquet of Americans close under the walls of the fort, in a manner very creditable to the discipline, spirit, and enterprise of the officers and men. On the 17th of the same month the regiment was engaged in repelling a very bold sortie made by a numerous body of Americans, with the view of carrying by assault, and afterwards destroying, the British works and batteries; on which occasion the following order was issued:—
"Camp before Fort Erie,
18th September, 1814.
"District General Order.—Lieut.-General Drummond, having received the report of the general officer in the immediate direction of the troops engaged yesterday, begs to offer his best acknowledgments for their very gallant conduct in repulsing the attack made by the enemy on our batteries with his whole force, represented as consisting of not less than five thousand men, including the militia.
"The brilliant style in which the battery No. 2 was recovered, and the enemy driven beyond our entrenchments by seven companies of the Eighty-second, under the command of Major Proctor, and three companies of the Sixth regiment, detached under Major Taylor, excited Lieut.-General Drummond's admiration, and entitle those troops to his particular thanks."
Thus the Sixth were triumphant in the interior of France and on the frontiers of Canada in the same year, and their gallantry on the last occasion procured for them the royal permission to bear the word "Niagara" inscribed on their colours. This honour was, however, purchased with the loss of many lives: Captain Pattison was numbered among the slain; Captain Smith and Lieutenant Andrews were wounded, and the last-mentioned officer died of his wounds.