Peace for Britain was short-lived, and in 1803 the country once again found itself at war with Napoleonic France. Brigadier Skerrett was tasked with recruiting an infantry unit consisting of ten companies in Newfoundland for the purposes of local defence. Titled the Newfoundland Regiment of Fencible Infantry, the unit consisted of many veterans of the previous Newfoundland Regiment. By 1806 the regiment numbered nearly 700 men and was given the title Royal by King George III. 'Local defence' included all of British North America, and in 1807 the regiment was deployed to Fort Anne in Nova Scotia. The regiment was again transferred in 1808, this time to the Citadel in Quebec City where it remained until the outbreak of war in 1812.