From the nadir in 1809–11, Britain's prospects in the war began to improve. The navy's dominance of the supply routes allowed merchant transports to provide a relatively unimpeded, regular flow of troop reinforcements, horse replacements, arms and munitions, materials and provisions to the army based overseas. The main British forces overseas during the period 1808–15 were in: Canada, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia; the Mediterranean on Malta, Sicily and the Ionian Islands; the Peninsula, not only Spain and Portugal but also Gibraltar; India and Ceylon; and the Caribbean Islands, including Jamaica and the Leeward and Windward Islands, the Bahamas and Bermuda. However, by 1813 there were also many small forces in less immediately obvious locations such as Anholt (a Danish island in the Kattegat), the Cape of Good Hope, Honduras in South America, Madeira, Mauritius, New South Wales, Stralsund and the west coast of Africa in Sierra Leone, Senegal and Gorée.

The principal overseas dispositions of the regular forces are shown in table 9.1. This analysis demonstrates that the regular army grew from the July 1808 total of 165,284 men to peak in 1814 at a strength of 238,730. The line in the table for northern Europe illustrates the manpower commitment in 1809 to the Walcheren expedition; Sir Thomas Graham's attempt on Heligoland in late 1813–14 is shown under 1814 and is followed by the build-up for the Waterloo campaign in 1815. The Mediterranean line illustrates the extent of the forces committed to that theatre throughout the period, mainly to support the garrisons at Gibraltar, Malta and Sicily. The Peninsula entries show the build-up of the force under the Duke of Wellington which peaked at 63,121 in 1812. At the same time there was a constant commitment of approximately 20,000 troops in the East Indies and 30,000 in North America and the West Indies, rising further to 38,524 in 1813 to support the American war and increasing to 43,803 towards the culmination of that conflict. Table 9.1 includes foreign troops who served as pseudo-British, such as the King's German Legion, but excludes artillerymen and wagon-train drivers.