Under British service, they fought in the Mysore Campaign of 1799, the Mediterranean and Peninsula Campaigns. After being stationed in Britain the regiment was posted to Canada, where it served in the War of 1812. It was finally disbanded in 1816. The Regiment de Watteville was a Swiss regiment founded by Louis de Watteville and recruited from regiments that served between 1799 and 1801 in the Austrian army but in British pay. The Swiss soldiers were then transferred to British service. They fought in the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815), mainly around the Mediterranean. They were based in Malta and then in Egypt from 1801 to 1803, fighting in Sicily and Naples. The regiment fought in the Battle of Maida in Italy in July 1806. Kept up to strength by Spanish and Portuguese recruits from 1811 to 1813, De Watteville's Regiment was involved in the Peninsular War in Spain, defending Cádiz during the Siege of Cádiz. The regiment sailed to Canada in 1813 to fight in the War of 1812. It saw service at Fort Erie and Oswego, before being disbanded in 1816. During the period of formalization of the employment of Swiss mercenaries in organized bodies from the late 16th century on, customary capitulations existed between employing powers and the Swiss cantons or noble families assembling and supplying these troops. Such contracts would generally cover specific details such as the numbers, quality, pay rates and equipment of recruits. Provisions were commonly made that Swiss soldiers would only serve under officers of their own nationality, would be subject to Swiss laws, would carry their own flags and would not be employed in campaigns that would bring them into conflict with Swiss in the service of another country. It has been claimed that such contracts might also contain a commitment that Swiss units would be returned if the confederation came under attack. However, surviving capitulations from the 16th and 17th centuries are not known to contain provisions to this effect. With the passing of the amendment to the Swiss Constitution of 1874 banning the recruitment of Swiss citizens by foreign states, such contractual relations ceased. Military alliances had already been banned under the Swiss constitution of 1848, though troops still served abroad when obliged by treaties. One such example were the Swiss regiments serving under Francis II of the Two Sicilies, who defended Gaeta in 1860 during the Italian War of Unification. This marked the end of an era. Since 1859, only one mercenary unit has been permitted, the Vatican's Swiss Guard, which has been protecting the Pope for the last five centuries, dressed in colourful uniforms, supposedly drawn by Michelangelo, reminiscent of the Swiss mercenary's heyday.