In the early part of April 1816, the flank companies of the regiment were detached into the interior of New South Wales, and received in General Orders the thanks of Major-General Macquarie, Commanding the Forces, for their arduous services in pursuing into the interior, and reducing the aborigines to a state of obedience. Captain Schaw commanded the light company, and Captain Wallis the grenadiers. "_Head Quarters, Sydney, Tuesday, 7th May, 1816._ "GENERAL ORDERS. "Captains Schaw and Wallis having returned to head-quarters, with the detachments of the FORTY-SIXTH regiment under their respective commands, recently employed against the hostile black natives, and having executed the service they were thus employed on to the entire approbation of His Excellency the Governor and Commander of the Forces, he requests Captains Schaw and Wallis will accept his best thanks for their zealous exertions, and strict attention to the fulfilling of the instructions on this delicate but very important service. "The Commander of the Forces also requests that Captains Schaw and Wallis will convey to the officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates of their respective detachments, his best thanks for their zeal and activity, and for the patience with which they endured a great deal of marching and fatigue, through a very rough and intricate country during the said service. (Signed) "L. MACQUARIE, "_Major-General_." In July 1816, Serjeant Broadfoot, and sixteen rank and file were detached from the head-quarters of the corps at Sydney into the interior of the country, to protect the inhabitants from the natives, and were employed on this service until December of the same year, during which period their conduct was such as to call forth the thanks of Major-General Macquarie, from whom Serjeant Broadfoot received a certificate approving of his "_zeal and activity during his services against the natives_." After chasing the bushrangers for six months, Corporal McCarthy and his party, in July, came up with the main body, consisting of eleven desperate characters, and headed by a deserter from the seventy-third regiment, named Geary. They were all armed, each with a musket and a brace of pistols, and well supplied with ammunition. The corporal and his men, now reduced to five, engaged them for an hour and a half, when the leader of the bushrangers being mortally wounded, his followers endeavoured to escape; two, however, were taken, tried, and executed. The corporal and his men received one hundred pounds for Geary, and twenty-five pounds for each of the other two, and were highly recommended by Lieut.-Governor Sorrell for their zeal, courage, and perseverance. On the 10th of August following, this small party again came up with the remainder of the banditti. Their leader was shot during the action, and another of his followers was wounded, and made prisoner. [Sidenote: 1817]