1807
The services of the Tenth regiment of foot became connected with the interests of the exiled royal family of Naples in the autumn of 1807, when the regiment embarked from Gibraltar, and arrived on the 28th of September at Messina, a city on the north-east side of the island of Sicily. The Tenth did not land at Messina, but were ordered round to Augusta, where they disembarked on the 2nd of October, and occupied quarters in the citadel.
1808
On the 5th of April, 1808, Major J. Otto Beyer, five lieutenants, one ensign, six serjeants, and three hundred and sixty-two rank and file joined from England.
About this period the two flank companies were ordered to be completed to one hundred rank and file each, and to join the flank battalion formed on the island.
In June four companies were sent to reinforce the garrison of Syracuse, a fortified town situated on the south-east of the island, and celebrated in ancient times for its great population. These companies returned in August; but were again detached on the same services in October.
1809
On the 20th of March, 1809, the head-quarters marched from Augusta, and the detachment from Syracuse, for Catania. At this celebrated city, which is beautifully situated in the Val di Demona, on the east coast of the island, and on the borders of Val di Nota, the regiment remained ten days, and afterwards marched to the port of Melazzo, and joined the army encamped on the plains of that town. Meanwhile Joseph Buonaparte had been removed to the throne of Spain, and the French Emperor had placed Marshal Murat, his brother-in-law, on the throne of Naples.
In the beginning of June, General Sir John Stuart, Count of Maida, commanding the British troops in Sicily, embarked fifteen thousand men for the south of Italy, and for the capture of Naples, as a diversion in favour of the Austrians, who were once more at war with France. The Tenth regiment embarked on this enterprise, leaving two companies in garrison at Melazzo.