Regiment of Riflemen

Regiment of Riflemen
Riflemen officer in gray (foreground) and troops in green smocks (background)
Active	1808–1821
Disbanded	March 2, 1821
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army
Type	Riflemen
Role	Light infantry
Size	Regiment
Posts	New Orleans, Territory of Louisiana Washington, Mississippi Territory Fort Atkinson, Louisiana Purchase
Weapons	Harpers Ferry Model 1803 U.S. Model 1814 scalping knife tomahawk,
Engagements	Tecumseh's War Battle of Tippecanoe War of 1812 Raid on Gananoque Assault on Ogdensburg Raid on Elizabethtown Battle of Ogdensburg Battle of York Battle of Fort George Battle of Point Iroquois Battle of Crysler's Farm Occupation of Cornwall Battle of Big Sandy Creek Battle of Conjocta Creek Siege of Fort Erie Battle of Plattsburgh
Campaigns	Battle of Tippecanoe War of 1812
Commanders
Commanders	Alexander Smyth (1808–1812) Thomas Adams Smith (1812–1814, 1815–1818) George Washington Sevier(1814–1815) Talbot Chambers (1818–1821)
Key Subordinate Commanders	Benjamin Forsyth Daniel Appling Lodowick Morgan
Insignia
Cap insignia authorized in 1817

The Regiment of Riflemen was a unit of the U.S. Army in the early nineteenth century. Unlike the regular US line infantry units with muskets and bright blue and white uniforms, this regiment was focused on specialist light infantry tactics, and were accordingly issued rifles and dark green and black uniforms to take better advantage of cover. This was the first U.S. rifleman formation since the end of the American Revolutionary War 25 years earlier.^[1]

Where can you find troops more efficient than Morgan's riflemen of the Revolution or Forsyth's riflemen of the last war with Great Britain?

— Major Bennet Riley, U.S. Army, Letter to Lewis F. Linn

The regiment was first activated in 1808. During the War of 1812, it was temporarily designated as the 1st Regiment of Riflemen when the War Department created three additional similar regiments. The regiment never fought as a unit. Companies, detachment from companies or collections of companies were stationed at a distance from each other and were often allocated to other commands. After the War, the other three regiments were inactivated and the regiment reverted to its unnumbered designation. The regiment was inactivated in June 1821.