OSPREY· ME -AT-ARMS SERIES

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Text by

PHILIP KATCHER

Colour plates by

MICHAEL YOUENS

e~merican

ProvincialGorps

1775-1784

Published in 1973 b}'Osprey Publishing Lid, P.O. Box 25,707 Oxford Road, Reading, Berkshire© Cop}'fighl 1973 Osprey Publishing Limited

This book is copyrighted under Ihe BerneColl\;enlion. All rights reserved. Apart from anyfair dealing for Ihe purpose of pri\'atc study,research, criticism or review, as permitted under theCopyright Act, 1956, no part ofmis publicationmay ~ reproduced, slored in a rClricval sySlcm, ortransmilled in any form or b}' any means, electronic,electrical, chemical, mechanical, oplical, photo­copying, recording or otherwise, without the priorpermission of Ihe copyright o\\'ncr. Enquiries shouldbc addressed to Ihe Publishers.

Ise:,-: 0 850-15 1-18 .5

'Pnm.ed in Great Bril3in byJ.-%aId & os Ltd, Xor",jch

qtJev'lillfrir(1!I 'Provil/rinl (cJorpJ 1775-1784

To say that policy concerning the raising and liseof American Provincial troops was confusedwould Ix: an undcrstatcmclll.

AI first it was thought thai the American rebels,:l mOl ley and untrained bunch of farmers withantique weapons, would flee in panic at the firstsight of the red-coaled might of King George Ill.Powder smoke rolling down o\'er the corpses ofBunker Hill smothered that dream, and IheBritish Army scnled down 10 a new and un­expected role as besieged troops in Boston.

British officials remembered how long it hadtaken to train Provincial troops during the SevenY('ars War, locally called the 'French and Indian\\"ar', to the point where Ihey were effecti\·csoldiers. Therefore ~Iajor-Gcneral Thoma~ Gage,commanding the army in Boston, d«ided iniliallyto accept Ihe offers of loyal subjects to form Iheirown units only for militia duties.

'Garrison Orders, 29th October liiS. Some:':onh British merchants residing here with theiradher('nts having offen::d their sen'ices for thedefense of Ihe place, the Commander.in-Chiefhas ordcr'd them (0 be armed and directed themto be formed into a company called "the Royal

:':onh British \·olunlcers··. They will be dis­tinguished by a blue bonnet with St. AndrewsCross lIpon it. :\1r. James Anderson 10 be Cil ptain,\\"Im Blair and John Fleming, Lieutcnants. TheGuard Room and Alarm Post 10 be near FennelHall. The Company will mount a guard at

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An officer lOnd prh':uc of Ihe Penns)'''' ..ni", Lop,Usls ­tnodern reconslruclion, of Provineillt unifortnll ",nd..(COOllnmenlS, The pd"llie ....e.rs I.he fllmiHar red coal,Iricorne and ....hi ... sn.aU...,IOIhell. Hi" carlddge-bo,", has abrass piuced inliignia, ,h.. roral opher, hack~ by It pieceof r~ ....001. His ....eapon is .he Loog Land Inodel 'BrownBess' Inuskel. The officer, who holds a spo.luoon, wear!;• scarlet coal faced gr.....n and e.mbroider~ wllh goldIn''''a1lic thread. H" w"ars a lorget, a critnson silk li'ashand a s ....ord; hili hal i, laced ....ith gold thread, whil" theprh'lue'll Is bound ....ith ....hile lin"'n. (Th.. Pennlorl"aniaLoraHsl>!)

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TIUCRO Duel MIL Dllsr"lIlAlIDOM.

Firlt Battalion of PENNSYLVANIA LOYALISTS.commanded by His Excellency Sir WI L L I A lit

How E. K. B.

ALL INTREPID ABLE-80DIED

HEROES.W HO are willing to fLTVe His MAJRSTY KINe

GEORGE the Third, in Defence ,of theirCountry. Laws and Conllitution, againft the ArbitraryU(urpation~ of a tyrannical ~rdS, llave now notonly an Opponunity of manifefting. their Spirit, byaffittinK in reducing to Obedience their too-long de­luded Countrymen, but alfo of llcquiring the politeAccomplilhmcnt' of :I Soldier. by ferving only twoYears. or during the prefen! Rebellion in Amenca.

Such fpiritcd Fellows, who arc wmin~ to enga~,

will be few-nul'<! at the End of the War. betidt!ll theirLaUl·t·I~, with 50 Acl'ClI of Lund, where every glllanlHero may retire, and enJoy his Bottlc and La&.

Each VoluntelT will receive lI.~ n Bonnty, F 1Y II

DOLLARIi. belides Anns, Cloathing and Accoulre­mentll. and every othrr Requifite proper to accommo·date a Gentleman Soldier, by applying to LieutenantColonel ALL EN, or at Captain KEARNY'S Ren­de-I.vou.•• at PATRICK TONRY's. threr Doors aboveMarket-ftreet. in Secood-1\reet.

gunfiring and patrol the streets .....;thin a ctttaindistrict and will take into cu IOdy any swpici<?usor disorderly persons found in the stre~ts at im~

proper hours,'So read the first notice of Pro\'incial units beingformed and put to usc by Ihe Brilish aUlhorities,

Aner this notice came Timothy Ruggks's LoyalAmerican Association, marked by the \\'earing of awhite sash 011 the lert ann; Jamcs Forrest's LoyalIrish \'oluntcers, marked by a white cockade, and~Iajor Daniel .\Iurray's red-coated Wentworth's\'olunteers, These early units ne\er reachedregimental strength <lntl, aner the army aban­doned Boston, the men went along 10 be mergedinto other, newly raised units, The leaving ofBoston in fact I1leaiH that ,\mericans selying theKing would ha\'c to sen'e as more than meremilitia thereaflcr,

\\'ith or without onicial British Arm)' appro\'alloyal Americ:llls insisted on forming thclllseh'esinto bands, In Septembcr 1775, during a militiafield day in .\Iaryland, half the Somerset County~li1itia put red cockades in their hats, Oints intheir muskets inslead of the usual woodensnappers, and drovc off the rebel haIr. tlchspontaneous uprisings of loyal men did notalways cnd well. The numerous Scottish High­landers li\'ing in the backwoods of :'\onh Carolinaformed into a lo)'al band and staned on their wayto the coast to join the GO\ernor's forces, :'\Ot farfrom their goal, on 27 February t776, they weremet at the Widow ~Ioore's Creek by a rebelmililia band, The rebels had r~moved most of theplanks of the bridge across Ihe creek, bUl, un­daunted, Caplain Donald ~lcLeod led hisHighlanders to the attack, Scottish broadswordsand ll111skClS in hand, yelling their battle-cry,'King George and Broadsword', the Highlandersscrambled across the bridge - only 10 be mel byheavy \'olleys from rebel muskets, It was Cullodenall O\'er again, The sword-swinging Highlanders,stumbling across the damaged bridge, were nomatch for the steady rebel \olleys, In less than aquarter of an hour the bailie was o\er,

The rebels pursued and caplUred most of theHighlanders, ~lany of them ended up in Phila­delphia's gaol, others changed loyalties quickly.This action damped for some time the generalenthusiasm for forming loyal units in Ihe south,

The Go\'crnor of \ 'irginia, howe\er, wasforming units on his OWI1, Besides a corps of(.'scaped and freed slaves, Lord Dunmore author­ii'.cd Lieutenant-Colonel James Ellegood 10 forllla regiment known as the Quecn's Loyal VirginiaRegiment, Together with a regular regiment, theqth Foot, Ihis unit held a fon on the island ofGreat Bridge, Yirginia, In December lii5 ano\'en\'llelming force of rebels :utackcd the twOregiments. After a fierce little fight, involvingchargcs back and forth into the fon and over thebridges connccling the island to either bank of theriver, the royal troops withdrew, Lord Dunmoreended up a guest of the Royal :'\a\'y, within viewof the land hc was to gO\'ern, and the Queen'sLoyal Yirginia Regimenl joined the main BritishArmy.

That main army had. by now, decided toabandon Bostoll, Under miles of white sail, thearmy had SCt on' for Halifax, Canada, to regroupand plan its strategy, Along \\'ith them weillhundreds of His ~laj<'"Str's loyal subjects. ~Ieeting

the fleet was one ,\rchibald C:unpbell, who pro­posed 10 raise a PrO\'incial regiment called the:\'ew York Volunteers, He had already raised twocomp:lIlil'~, but .\1:Uor-Gcner:l! Sir William Howe,K.B" now in chid command, refused to equipthem. 'It was not crediled', \\'rote Provincial:\Iuster ~bster Ed\\'ard Winslow, 'that a Grneralwhose command was so extensi\(.' could possiblylI':l.m the pOh'er to furnish cornmUll nccessal'irs for'200 men, if his disposition toward lhem WitS

favourable: His initial disposition may havc beenunravourable, but it mUSI have changed for" henthe British Army lert Halir.u 10 storm the importantcity and harbour of ~ew York, Campbell's twocompanies went with it.

The landings on Long Island, off :'\ew YorkCity, \\'ellt even better Ihan could have beenexpected, The rebel army, 110\\' under GeneralGeorge \\'ashington, had apparently hoped foranother Bunker Hill, bLll Sir William WilS nOt togive them this pleasure, He hit them on the flankinstead, and the rebel line fold('d like an accordion,On the left flank, under .\lajor-General Grant,were the :'\ew York \'olunlters who performedyeoman service.

Shonly after Long Island's fall, Sir Williambrought the army 0\ er 10 .\Ianhatlan Island,

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Major Ro~rl Ros~n - ali depicled in a meUOlinl done inLondl>n in 1776. He ""'ali then commander or the Queen'sRanSerti, and it it po>itible I.hal This uniform I, Ihe earlyone I>r Ihal unh. (John Ron Roberlton Collection, Melrl>_polhan Torl>nto Cenlrat Library)

again smashing into the rebel army all its flank.That island, tOO, fell rapidly. Then the majorcontinental POSt of Fan \\'ashington was takenand Xew York was firmly in British hands.

Xow loyal Americans began flocking to theroral standard. Lieutenant-Colonel RabenRogers, who had gained such fame in the Se\'enYears War with his rangers, began forming theKing's Rangers, largely among Connecticut men.They seem to appear first in September 1776, whenthe)' were posted beyond Ihe suburban Xew York10\\'11 of Xew Rochelle. 'This corps', reponed IheHessian Adjutant-General, 'as well as the XcwYork and Grant's \'oluntccr companies ha\'crepeatedly risked being fired upon, blll since theyresemble in many ways the rebels who have nollniform, the laner cOllld not distinguish betweenfriend and enemy.'

The uniform problem was soon to be soh-cd.

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Finally rcalil.ing the IXHellti,d or a PrO\'incialcorps, Sir \\'illiam ordered 10,000 green coatsr."\ced white, blue and green, which \\ere sent tohim from England in Deumber I fi6. L.ller, asthe corps grew more numerous, orange, blackand Imrrfacings were added. \\"aistcoats, brc(.'Che~.

hals, accoUln:ments and \\enpons wert.' the snme;LS the regular army issue, although in manycases the older types \\'cre givclI to Provincials.\\'hile the Shan Land model 'Brown lkss' W;\Stile usual \\capon of the regulars, the older LongLand model seems 10 ha\ e bcclI used h~ manyPrO\'incial units.

While the number of units and mell in thecorps was growing, lhe way of loyal recruiters wa'\far from easy. William Stone was shot to deathfor attcmpting to raisc troops in Hanford,Conllccticut. In fact that to\\'n, although hC;l\ilyloyal, seems to hn\'(' been a remarkably dangerousplace to recruit . .:\Ioses Dt1l1har was later hnngedthere for Ihe 'crimc' of accepting a British com·mission and recruiling troops.

The typical commission for raising a regimentis wonh looking at..\hhough dated rather Iatel',the one issucd by Sir \\'illirlTl1 10 another XewEnglandt'r, Licutenant-Colonel George \\'right­man, is typical:'You are hereby authorized and empo\\'ered toraise foJ' !-lis ~Iajesty's service, a Regiment ofable bodied melt. to be composed of 30 Seljeanb,30 Corporah, Ten Drummers, nnd 500 Privates.divided into 10 C.ompanies: eaell Company can­sislingof I Captain, 1 Lieut, I Ensign, 3 Seljcant~.

3 Corporal!>, one dnlnllllt.'1" and ':;0 Pri\ ,tics. who\\ill engagc \(j cary arllls under lll~ orders, orthe orders of" the Commallder in Chil'f of I-li'\.:\Iajesly's forccs, for the time being, for IWoyears, 01' if required during the COl1tinuance ofthe preselll Rebellion in Xonh America: torecei\'e Ihe same pay, and be under the sanll'discipline as His ~lajesIY's Regular troops.

'The OlTiee~ arc to be appro\'ed of by me, andtheir appoinllllents by Commission, will depend011 their success in Recruiting, they arc 10 beill~trUCl<'d 10 raise Ihe following numbers toI'midl" thelll 111('1'1'10 vizl a C"pl<lin, 30 111\"11:

a Lieut, t:l 111('11; an Ensign, 12 mell; and il i~ tube md(1t' 1..110\1'11 to them, lhat their pa) will notcommclIce ulltil half the aoo\'c number is raised,

and brought to lhe Rende1.\·ous of the R«ruitsat Rhode Island.

'In like manner when ant" half the Corps israised, mustered, and apprm·..:d by a rc\'ie\\ingofficer, a .\I:ljor will be commissioncd: and yourCommission as a Lieut CoIOlld \, ill bc made OUIon 400 mcn being raised. In Ilw mealllime )·ouwill receive pay as :l Captain llmil 150 men an:raised: as :-'Iajor unlil 400 are raised: and asLieul Colonel from Ihal period.

'Forty Shillings currency will be allowed asboumy for each man enlisled and approved.

'.\11 officer civil and mililary, and othen HisMlljCSly's liege Subjects, arc hereby required 10

be aiding and assisting unlO you and all con­cerned in the EX('clilion of Ihe alxwe service.For which Ihis shall be to you and them asufficient Warranl and AUlhority:

One would like 10 repon ('.olond Wightmanhad good fonullc in raising the Loyal XcwEnglanders, as he called his n'gimcnt. Such,sadly, \,'as not the casco On 28July 1779 .\luster:-'laster \\'insloh' reponed to his :'\ew Yorkheadquaners:'it is incumhCllt on me to obsern- that there is acorps calkd Ihe Loyal ~cw Englanders, com­manded by Lieul Colonel Wightman, in whichthere are only fifty eight efl"ecli\'cs, rank andfile, altho. Ihe warranl for raising this Corps hasbeen gramed abO\e twO years and officen ha\'ebeen appointed for three Companies - Forsomc time past its number of men has beendiminishing, lll1d since 1 ha\e resided al.\"c\\'I>on,not a singlc recruit has been added to thisCorps.

'From the most particular observations I amsatisfied there is nOI the least probability of Ihenumber being increased or of his .\Iajesty'sscn ice being benefited by the continuance ofIhis Corps,

'I therefore humbly submit to you, h'helher itmayor may not be expedient to recommendthat thc fe\\ men who remain Illay be draftedilllo somc other Corps, and Ihe officers seconded,as is usual in such caK's.'Such cases wcre indeed usual, especially among

units r:tised carly in the war, The Queen's Loyal\'irginians, with their commander captured atGreat Bridge, found thcmseh'es drafted into

Rogcn's unit. Rogers himself was found to be apoor n.'1:rlliICr, and his King's Rangers wererenamed the Qucf'n's Rangers as Rogers W,\S

replaced by :-'Iajor Christopher French,Yet, generally, recruiting \\'CI1I \\'cll in :\lew

York and e\'t~ntllalJy that colony pro\ ieit'd 23,500men 10 th... I'ro\ incial Corps, mostly sClying ill theWeslchesler Rerugees, Ihe Killg's Royal Regimentof Xcw York, Blltln·s Rangers, the Kinl(sOrange Rangers, the I.oyal American Regiml'llt,die Guides and !)ioncers, the Queen's Rangers,the King's .\meric<ln Regiment, Jessup's CoqlS,and Delancy's Brigade.

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A riflem... or I.be Quee..'s Ranl~u drawn b)' C.plai..Mu...ray or lhal ulim~"I. Th~ blac" lealher cap has abl.c.......d.J..~en re.lh~ ...uached .1 Ihe cockad~1 .nd I.heIIhon Ireen jackel hali limall while shoulder.wings, Th~powd~r-horn wa,. p ..obabl)' balanc~d by a bull~l.bag

worn on Ih.. l~rl. There Is no evidence or I.he sword whichSimcoe lilateli wali iuu.ed to th.. riAemen, The IrOUlierli.u white, Jailued, (Jobn Ross Robenso.. Collection)

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A s:rornadi.... of Ih.. Qu n'. R.n!...... Th.. (\lr cap al50 hasII. bl.cl< ...nd-A: n ( !.her, and the walstcoa, I, A'I" n.Th.. coal, A:r....n ( !HI &r....n, h." Ih.. 'winl!l"'d lappels' nin 110m", Brill,h rnililill "Dill. and amODI Continentalunits. Apart fro", hi. borin, which an blaell, thl, soldierwe.... typical British grenadie.. IlCCOIlI ........"n,,; althoughII i. In,pouible 10 lIay If he is w ..aring II. hanger.

The lauer unit was one or the first raised onceIhe arm)' had become settled in Xcw York.

'Several timcsrcocls hawcomc into Ihe Englishcamp at night in small boats to join OUf army[Ihe Hessian Adjutant-General reponed). Theywere assigned 10 Colonel Delancy's new brigade,which is now twO thousand strong. The Colonel'sancestors sculcd on New York Island and he hassllflcred much from the rebels. Several hundredof the prisoners taken in the action of the 27thof August (Long Island Battle) have also beenIlHIStered into this brigade.'

Delancy's Brigade, ,,'hich eventually numberedthree balta lions, was posted to Long Island forthat island's defence" It seems that in theiremhusiasm at recruiting a full brigade, just aboutan)'one interested in joining was enlisted and, inearly t7]i, Colonel Delancy had to order thatall ~egroes and other 'improper persons' were tobe discharged from the unit at once.

In addition, it was at ~ew York that Brigadier"

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A "shlinra.nryrnan and a hu••ar or Ihe Queen'. Ranseu;bolh w"'ar «r",en jack",u, The inranlryman I. in breeche5and hair_pliers, Ihe hussar In sre"'D lrou."'r. apparentlyworn OVer hi. booiS. The hunar cap wa. adopled when aHenian jiiSer lihol a trooper wearins Ihe earlier headgear,which dangerously re.ernbhtd .. Conlinen.al drasoon cap,(Both pictures rrom the John Ron Robert.on Collecdon)

General Cortland Skinner .·aised his green-coated:\"e\\·Jersey \"olunteers, \\'hieh, with six baltalions,bccame the largest Provincial regiment raisedduring the war. The King's Orange Rangers wereraised in Orange County, X.Y, by 6 foot 2 inchestall, and 'proportionately stout', Captain johnCoffin, The rebels offered SIO,OOO 'for the head'of the leader of this IllOllnted riOt, corps. The menof lhe Loyal American Regiment and the Guidesand Pioneers, who were mostly attached to thaIunit, WCft' raised by Colonel lk\·crlcy RobinsonfrOIll among the Scoltish senters \\'ho li\·cd inIhc highlands above ~ew York City. On the mherhand, thc King"s Royal Regiment of Sew York,also known as johnson's Royal Greens, was raisedby Sir john johnson on the Canadian-_'kw Yorkborder where it served in frontier skirmishes,\,'aher Butler's famous Butkr's Rangers usuallyservcd with them,

It was to Canada that the Continentals turnedtheir aHention now. They considered the country

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10 be a 'fOllriCCllIh colony', and scm an im'asionforce under General Richard :\Iolllgomery to

bring tbe Canadians into the fold, :\lolllrealquickly fell and only \\'caklr held Quebec re­mained. QUChl'C was held by a handful of regulars,six companies of English-speaking 'British' militiaand cleven companies of French-speaking 'C:l1la­dian' militia. In September '775 :;11l arlillerycompany was added 10 Ihe militia. Thc men, cladin plain, lapel-less grcen coats and buff waistcoatsand breeches, were reorganized into eight com­panies all Ihe Comill('lltal .\rmy's appl'Oach. Thercbels attackcd along Iile route tak('n by GeneralJames \\'olfe years before, in a blinding snow­storm. The militia, supporled by the few regulars,held on and broke up the rebel attack. TheaClion ended, in fact, wilh the dealh of General:\Iontgomery at the hands of some Canadianmilitia under Captain Francis Chabet. .-\ reliefcolumn of regulars arrived in May 1776, and themilitia was Ihen disbanded. Canada had beensa\'ed and was IlC\'er again so Ihreatened.

~ 'FoliC)' emerges

At last a definite plan concerning Pro\'incialtroops was being worked Ollt. It was being recog­nizcd that merely arri\'ing in a colonial CiIY,raising the royal standard, recruiting and thenhoping the PrO\'incials could maimain law andorder themseh-es, would not work. In April 1776Sir Henry Clinton wrole:

"Tis clear to me that there does nOI exist inanyone colony in America a number of friendsof Ihe go\'ernment sufficient to defend them-

seh-cs when Ihe troops arc withdrawn, The ideais chimerical, false, and if the meaSllre is adopted. , . all the friends ofgovernment will be sacrificeden detail. This is the case in Georgia, will bein South Carolina, is already in :-';:orth Carolina,in Virginia, will probably be in BaSion, and mustin my opinion be e\'erywhere. If go\'ernment arcdesirous that this experiment should be fairlytried anywhere, it must be in the pro\'inces of\'irginia and North CaroHna conjointly. Such adisposition may he made as it will gi\'e it a fairtrial, but if il Sllcceeds the troops must not berecalled.'

The lessons of ~Ioore's Creek and Great Bridgehad been learned - at least in some quarters.

The army was in :-';:ew York, however, and thereit intended to sta}'. A militia was therefore raisedto man the city's defences and free the regular andProvincial regime illS to engage the ContincntalArmy,

The Ntw rork Ga.:,tttt and .\facury reponed on20 No\'ember 1777:'The indulgences of the Commander-in-Chiefhas prompted Ihe principal gentlemen, inhabit­ants of Ihis city and refugees from OIher 1'1'0­

\'inces, to form themseh'cs into independentcompanies, twenty ofwhich are nearly completed.

'Last Monday several companies of themparaded on the fields, at the upper end ofBroadway, headed by the Worshipful Da\'idMatthews, Esq., and made a \'ery fine appear­ance. These companies, together with themilitia, will greatly add to Ihe strength of thecity, and re!ie\'e the King's troops, who may beemployed elsewhere.'

As was often the case, howe\'er, the BritishHigh Command did nOt grcally rcspect the localmilitia, An oAiccr of the 23rd Regiment of Footwrote:

'One of the Battalions of this CilY Militia iscommanded by Mr. Da\'id Mathews, the Mayor,and is Composed of ~'lcrehanlS and traders of.:xew York. General Robertson, the Go\'ernor,having made them Ihe present of a pair ofColours, they were OUI a few days ago to bereviewed by him, and some of lhe principalOfficers, in describing what Ihey could do, toldhim, they could, :\Iarch, Whee!, form Columns,Retire, Advance & Charge. "Yes, Gentlemen,"

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The Ballalion (lefl) and KinS'fiI Colour\! of Ihe Queen'.Rangerli, They are of Iypical deliign, and mealiure 6 (I, F6jfl, The ballalion colour i5;n Ihe reg;menlal fadns colour- gr~n, (John Ross Roberuon Collection)

said the General, "I am COllvinccd you cancharge hettel' than any othcr Corps ill His:-'1ajcsly's sen'icc,",:-"Iilitia, by all accounts, was the Icast useful

type of Provincial unit raised, The Pro,"incialInspector-General, Lieutenant-Colonel AlexanderInnes, wrOte: 'I look upon il that every manintitled to ser\"t' in a provincial corps during the\\'ar is a useful soldier gain'd to the King's Sen"iceand I am well com"inced the ~'Jilitia on theirpresent plan will CHI' pro,"e a useless, disorderly,distrllctive banditti.·

With Sew York well in British hands, and SirWilliam and Washington playing cat and mouseill .'\I"e\V Jersey, 1776 drew to an end. The newyear promised, if e\'erything went well, the war'send. ~lajor·General John Burgoyne was toad\"ancc from Canada down through Xcw Yorkstate to that city, cutting the southern colonies orrfrom the more rcbellious Xew England ones. Sir

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\\"illiam, at thc same time, decided to lake therebels' capital, Philadelphia. These two moves,once accomplished, should crush the rebellion.

General Burgoyne's army \,'as composed largelyof regular and Brunswick troops, with only ahandful of Provincials. Jessup's Corps, raised inNew "fork by ~Iajor Ebenezer Jessup on theXc\\' York-Canadian border, was sent along wilhthe expedition. At first the campaign WCllt \vell.The rebel stronghold of Fort Ticonderoga fellquickly, and thc army moved along on schcdule.Soon, hOh'c"cr, General Burgoyne.' diSCO\'crcdthe ,"ast American h'ilderness, which looked socas)' to cross 011 the maps ill his London club, wasslo\\' and tcdious to penetrate" Trees had to he cutdown and roads built for his wagons and anillel·y.The area was sparsely settled, and he failcd toattract as many loyal subjects 10 join his army :LS

he had expected.One of his Brunswick regiments was a horseless

dragoon regiment. This, along with J up'sCor)Js, was sent to Bennington, now in "ermollt,where the)' hoped to find horses. They found,instead, rebel mililia in o\'crwhelming numbers,and the twO unin, aner a fierce defence, werevirtually destroyed. The men of Jessup's Corpshere disco,'ered for lilcmselves how Pro\'incialsoldiers could expect to be treated by Ihe rebels,One of thcm, half dead with his left eyc smashedopen by a musket-ball, was slung on a capturedhorse with a similar \\'ound and led around forthe amusement of the rebel militiamen, Otherprisoners were ordered tied in pairs and attachedby traces to horses, driven by Xegroes. The statego\'ernment ordered them to tramp their waythrough deep snows to make roads for the rebelsto use - while clad only in thin shoes, or actuall)'barefom.

Burgoyne's main army was finally stalled atSaratoga, X.Y. There, after two ballies atFreeman's Farm, shon on supplies and surroundedon all sides by hostile militia, it was forced tosurrender.

From Xew York, thc city's commander,~1ajor·Gencral Sir Henry Clinton, led a dh'cr­sionar)' attack on the posts of Fan Clinton andMontgomery, a shan way up river, The movcwas an attempt to get the rebels to detach uninfrom their northern army to go on the defensivearound Xew York. While the di"ersion failed toreduce the pressure 011 Bllfgoyne, it was a classic

\'ictory, and the force, consisting of some regulars,Emmerich's ChasseufS, the Loyal AmericanRegiment, the Guides and Pioneers, the King'sAmerican Regiment, a company of lhe King'sOrange Rangers, and the Xcw York \'ollllHcel'S,rapidly captured the two strongholds.

Gop/lireof'Philfltlelp/zifl

The campaign against Philadelphia weillequally well. Sir William had come south by sea,landing below the Pennsykania city :l.l the Headof Elk, Nlaryland. Among the other troops h(" hadbrought with him on this campaign were theQueen's Rangers and elements of the LoyalAmerican Regiment and the Guides and Piollen...

-Th" .,·"ral" Provincial carried ahe Lone Land p"uernm.nk"t; som" UnilS, suC'h a.5 De.taney's Sril"d", wereissued "Ide.. ly wood"n_ramrod models li"e the musketsho..."" he Ma ....ed TOWER 1'4° on Ihe lock-pta,e. ,his·'5_lib weapon ill fraC'lionaUy under S fl. :I in, inlength. (George C. Neumann ColleC'lion)

nrawins IlbOwlnl d"l"i1ll of Lons Land Panern mU5k"t.(R"bet:ca KatC'hu)

I [

John G. Simcoe, commander of I.he Queen'. Ra.ngers.Allhough. probably of a laler period, Ihl~ porlrah .ee-m,10 iIIu.I.... 'e Ihe reslmenlal uniform of the War of Inde.p"'ndence ~riod. (John Ro... Roberilion Collection)

They hegan their march nonh 10 the city. Wash­ington had brought his main army south todefend his capital. On 16 September 1ii7 he drewlip his arm)' in dcfcnsh·c lines along the Brandy­wine Creek, wilh its centre on the ford orthe mainroad to Philadelphia.

.-\gain Sir \rilliam rooled Washinglon, display·ing on his (elllre, blll really swinging mOSt or his

2

army round the rebel's flank. Washinglon waiteduntil, too late, he learned or the British flankmanIXll\Te. Lea\"ing his cemre intact, he hlilTiedlysent in several regiments to hold ofr the BritishArmy while he withdrew his battered mell. At theford facing the Continental centre the Queen'sRangers had been posled. While Ihe guns ofPrOClor's .-\nillery RegimcllI fired on them rrom

across the ri\cr. thq stood th(:ir ground, Finally,much firing from the lert was heard - Washing­ton's flank had been turned - and tilt' order toadyance was shoutcd aliI. 'The Fourth Regimentled the column', wrote Queen's Rangers cllsignStephcn Janis, 'and the Queen's Rangersfollowcd, thc rebcl Batlcl)' playing upon us \\ ithgrapc shot which did much cxccution, The \\,lIcrtook us up to our breasts and was much staincdwith blood before the battery was can'ied and theguns turned on the ellemy.'

\\'ashington's army was smashed, and fell backas fast as it could to reform, The Queen's Rangersadded much glor) to their reputation, but only atgreat cost, Fourteen officers lay dead or woundedas did a third ofall the unit's other ranks, AlthoughWashington again olTered battlc, a fierce rain­storm just before the action soaked weapons andcartridges, ending an}' chance for a fight, Theway to Philadelphia was IlOW open, and in Sep­tember the Queen's Rangers were amOllg the firsttroops to cnter the city,

Pennsylvania had been one of the least rebel­lious cities in the colollics - besides being thesecond largest city in the EnglislHpcaking worldat tbe time - and its subjects made fine recruits,Command of thc Queen's Rangers passed to aregular officer, John Gra\"l:'s Simcoe, after its oldcommanding oflicer was \\'olluded at Germantownduring an abortive attempt by Washington torecapture the city, Simcoe immediately set aboutrecruiting and rebuilding his command,

In addition, from the popular royalist feelingsir William heard expressed, he confidently

predicted a large number of PrO'incial troopswould shonly be raised, On 21 OClOber 1777 hewrote Lord Germainc in London; 'I am torequest that additional clothing may be sent O\'erfor five thousand pro\incials, which, by includingthe ne\\ le\"ies expected to be raised in this andneighbouring counties h·ill certainly be wanting,'

Sir William's al'my recruited nothing like 5,000men, but certainly t1H'y did do well in the cit)',

William .\lIen,Jnr, \\'110 had been a lielltrnant­colonel in the rebel 2nd Pennsyh-ania Regiment,had resigned his commission llpon hearing of theDeclaration of Indep('ndence, I-Ie now set aboutraising the Pennsyl\'ania Loyalists, This unitne\"er had more than 200 mcn and, although it

sa" much scn"ice, the quality of recruits may nOth:l\'e been ofth(' highcst. On II ~lay t]iS we findan adn'rtisement in the PtnnJ.rh'a"ia IJdgtr:

'Left at a hOllSl' at the lower end of Third­street 011 Thursday the 7th ins!. by a soldierbelonging 10 the third regiment of PenllsylvillliaLoyalists, 18 pair of TROC ERS: if the personat whosc house they arc left will ddi\ er them tothe printer or ha\'c them brought to the LondonCoOce-hollse, shall recei\'(' OXE GUI.\1EAreward and no questions asked.'

What SOrt of soldier would leavc his company'strousers at some house which he couldn"t findagain, CVCll though he kncw the strcct, is certainlyopen to qucstion.

James Chalmers, bettcr known lor his bookPlai/l Truth, a rebuttal of Thomas Painc's inflam­matory (;0/1/1110" ,sl'lUt, ritiSl,d a sister battalion tothe Pcnusyh ani;! Loyalists, the ~larylal1d

LoyalistS,FOLlI' dragoon companies were raised in the

city: the Philadelphia Light Dragoolls, underCaplain Richard Hovcdcn; the Bucks CountyDragoons, unda Captaili Thomas Stanford:James's Troop of I>ro\incial dragoons, underCaptainJacobJanlts; and the WestJC'rsey Ca\'alry,under Licuten:lllt-Colonci JolIn' 'an Dyke, Thescunits hcre gentr:lIly attached to other organiL,\.tions, usually the Qu{'eu's Rangl'rs, tltl" Briti~h

Legion or the King's ,\mcricall Dragoons,francis Lord Rawdon raised his ,'olulltccrs or

In'land, which was later taken Oll to the Britishestablishment as the 105th Rtgiment of Foot.Sir William Cmhcan formed thc Citlcdonian\'olullteers, which would cvcntually become theoctter-knowll British Legion, The Roman Catho­lic \'oluntecrs, a corps which recruited among thecity's many Irish, besides til\: "oluntecl's or Ire­land, was organiud by .\Ifn:d Clifton, Finally,C.oloncl "an D~ke also raised a foot unit, the\\'est J crsey \ 'oluntecrs,

Life ill the liberated city \\as anything but dull,c\'cn thOlll:j:1t there were no major batt]cs, ThePcnnsyhania Loyalists and the Koman Catholic\ 'olllnlc('l"S wcre called upon to assist \\ itlt foragingc),pcdilions across the Ddaware River into rebcl­held Sew Jerscy, Otlter units l'OIlStantly skirm­ished around the city's suhurbs, A typical skirmishwas fought i April 1778. Some fony Philadelphia

13

Conl...mporary ...nlra",;nl of Fnncl., Lord R,...,don,probably In the ..nlforrn of hi. Voh.nleen of lrdand. The'brandenbu~s' ..,e..... com.n,on ;n He",lan reA";men1l bUIrare among Brhlsh or Pro.·lndal unlu. The .mall group

of ...Idier. depicled btoJow wtar f.. ll lallen .nd CIIpli,imilar to those of Ihe Queen'. RanA"en. They ....em 10h ....e lypic..1 reA"in,enlaJ COOl II, Iimall-elolhe. and whitebells. (New York Public Library)

Light Dragoons and fifty Bucks CoulIly Dragoonsrode OUi of lhe cit)" at dusk, Thc)' :lrri,'cd neM <I

rebel outpoSI Ileal' Ihe suburban lawn of FranHordIlear midnight. While a rcl.x.'1 lieutenant andeighteen Dlher ranks hid in the post, an old slOnehouse, til(' rest of the rebels fell Out inlo a batikline, Sabres glintinf{ in the moonlighl, thePrmincial dragoons charged the rebels, Dill'quick, scattered "olley, and the line broke up,each rebel running for his life, Suddenly, hO\l"c\"Cr,the men hiding in Ihc house poked their musketsIhrough \\ indows and doors, ;tIld open('d fire onIh(' dragoons' backs, Wh('e1ing in lille, thedragoons sped back to the house, surrounding itand capturing eight rebels, :'\ine other rebels laydead in the moonlight. :'\01 one Pro\incial was<:\'"n wounded,

Another typical action in\'olwd lhe Queen'sRangers, some of the Philadelphia Ligllt Dragoons,

James's Troop of provincial Dragoons and somert'gular infantry and dragoons, The liule brigad('made ilS way up the Old York Road to Ihe townof Billet where some 500 relxls had gathered,,\fter making only a brief defcnee the rebels f1('d,leaving bClwl'ell fifty and sixty prisoncrs, eighlYdead, and ten wagons full of IlmclHleededmilitary supplies, TIl(' whole Ilritish loss \\'35 twOwounded.

Aflcr actions such as Ihese the StatuS of lhePro\'incial Corps was challgin~, One Si~ll of tll('inreriority or tht' Pro\ ineial soldier ill the past h.ldbeen his coat of green, while the regular soldil'r'scoat was red. With the beginning or thi' I j78campaign, howc,'cl', it was decided 10 clotheProvincials in red coats, 100.

Some PrO\'incial troops, sueh ;IS lhe Print(' ofWales's American Regimcllt, bad apparentlybeen clad from the outset in red. Othl'rs \\ eregenerally glad or the change, exn'pt ('.olondSimcoe. He worked, succ('ssflllly, 10 hep hiscorps in green, and to obtain ~rt'en waistcoats,planning for the unil to Wt'ar the waistcoats,which had slec\cs, during the sumnwr's cam·paign, and the conts during the winter.

'Green', he wrote. 'is without compari,oll thebest colour for light troops \\ itll dark ;u:coutre­mCIIIS, nnd ifit is put on in the spring, b) au!Umllil nearly fades witlt tlw lea, ('S, pl'l:sel"\ ing itscharacteristics of Ix'ing ~carcd) disCt'rnahle :11 ;I

Sock~l b")'on~t for. 'Brown B~5.' _ the uJtitn.l~ w~apon

in the hands or lh~ BriU5h Artn)',lndudin5 the Pro..lnd.1Corp., (Aulhor'!; coll«tion)

dist:tnc(.'.· The Philadelphia I.igllt Dragoons,Bucks County Dragoons and Jaml's's Troop wen'ordcr('d into green, 100, so tllt'y could serve ,\·ilhthe Qucen's Rallgcr~, Captain Stanford himself,ho\\"e\er, seems tu ha\e fa\'oun'd n'd, and worc itinSlead of green.

The Quecn's Rangers, besides being acti\'c illlocal skirmishes, \\en.' actin.' in l"(.'cruiting, ~Ianr

adn'nisclllents appeared in the three local p.tperscalling lor nt'W lllClllhl'l"s, and ('\'el1 a surgeon'smate, to com<.· to the unit's Kensington Iwnd·quaners, ~ill1cO<.' rCjXJrted:

" .. thl' e1e\ ('Ilth comp.Ul) was formed ofHiglll.lndcl's, St'\eral of Illest' bra\t: lllt'll, whohad Ix· ...n defeated ill all .1It('mpt IU join tln­arm~ in :'\orth C;uolin.1 ;1\ ~Ioor~"s Cre~'k ,\\cn' 110\\ in tll<.' corp.'>; to tht:.'>e uthl'l"s \\('1"1'

added, and Ibt: command was gi't'n 10 Ci'1Jlain.\I"Kay: th('~ \\t'rc furnished \dth the Highlanddress, and their national piper, and \\"cre !>oslt'd011 thl' left nan" of lht' rl'gimcllt, which cOllsislCdof ei~ht compani...... , a grenadil'l" and .1 lightinfamry lompany. ILaler), Serjeant ,\I"PIn-rson,.1 corpor.il ;111(1 t\\'d,c lIlell. \\'~'re selected andpl.ln'd undt'r lhl' command uf l,ieutt'll,UH Sh.I\\;tht:~ \\l'n' ;lflllt'd \\ilh s\\ords .llld rilles; and,Ixilll;" d,til~ ell.erciscd in the firing at objects,soon bt'came the most .ldmirahle .md tlSCrU Imarksmen,'

.\ hU"'S,lr t"ompany \\as latt'l" added,

15

Sir William sailed from Philaddphia toEngland: Burgoyne's expedition had ended indisasler, and it ,,'as now up to Ihe \ictor of FortsClinton and ~lol1lgomcry, ~lajor·Gcneral SirHellr)' Clinton, to crt'ate lilt· final victory, Hedecided to conccnU',Ul' the Ro) al Army in SewYork at firsl, and eame down to I'ltiladdphiapt-'rsollal1y to lead thc troops Ihrough Ihe jers<"ys10 St'\\ York, In June Ijj8, the arllly hegan itsmal'ch, The Queen's Rangers wel'e in the \analong wilh the four dragoon companies; tlll'Pcnllsyh'ania Loyalisls Illowd along Ihe flanks:the Roman Catholic \'olul1tcers guarded thcbaggage; and the rest of the Pro\intials moved inIhe firsl di\-ision under Sir Henry.

SOl far from :\Ionmollth Coun HouS(' :1I

Frechold, :'\t'W jersey, the rebel army struck,initially by purc chancc, The attacker~ at firSlwerc Sew jersey militiamcll, easily drL\'en all'by Ille Queen's Ran~ers, As the rebels r:ln, thescouts of the Queen's Rangers could sec the mainContillental .\rmy, a single fOOl regimcnt in thelead. Into line, and straight ahead, bayonetslen'J1ed, the Queen's Rangers tlOW pressed intothis group. Tilt, \\'irlter's training at \'aJ1c~' Forgt'had proved its worth, howC\er. and a singlewell-aimed rebt'l \'olley, together with four orfi\"(, cannonballs, dro\ t' the grcen-coated menback.

The rebels, now formed into a single from,came on, "'hile ruost oflhe British Arlll)' fell intodefcllsi\'C positions, thl:: Qucen's Rangl::rs saw achance on the rebels' left flank. They stormL'(1across Ihe fit'lds IOwards that posilion, only to hemet b~ hea\·y fire from all sides, .\gain Iheyretircd, and \\ ere thell ordt'l"ro to r...11 hack toFrcehold, The rdJt'ls had beell unable to destro)'allY of the British Army or e\Cll stop its march.The Brilish had becn unable to destroy the rebelarmy. Both sides halted lIllIil, late th;:1t evening,th(': British Army resumed their march to\,'ards:-:ew York.

Once in :'\C\\ York, cenain problems in thePro\ iurial Corps had to bc e1l'ali with. Disciplillt'in l1w Roman Catholil" "olulIIe'c-rs h;lc! totall~

lallf'1l ;IP;Il·t. Olle lIlall was cOlln-mani.dlc-d fill;:l(h Lsim; ;1 r...llo\\ soldit'l" ro dl"S('rt to tilt, t'll('m~

wilh hi~ arms, .teCOUtl"emcnts and equipl1lcllt, anc!rcCt'i\Cd a thousand lashes b('fore being drummed

6

Of6~r'. 10rJ:~1 marked with Ih~ ullm~ntal na.m~, 'Th~

KlnS'. A.merican Rerme-nt', and at_ with the- ....mbe.r 4for the .he-,...,.t;"e- de-.ilnalioo, '41b Amuiean R~Slme-nt',

Worn by officu'. on duty, the Sorcel hunl round the- ne-ckOn a ribbon of the facinl c:olour, or allache-d by ro.e-lle-.10 the- lap coat collar button., (Metropolilan Museum ofArl)

Ollt of Ihe service, Captain ~IcKinnon. of thatIInit, was cashiered for 'ungendeman Like bc­havour', to wit, 'Plundering in the jerseys', and'sufrering himself to be Kick'd by Capt ~1cEvoyofIhe same corps on a Parade withoul properlyresenting it', :\lcE\"oy himself was cashiered forIhat kick, as well as 'taking a horse and cows' onthe march from Philadelphia. Certainly no suchcorps was of much lise 10 His ~lajesIY. and theofficers and men who remained were largelytransferred 10 the "olunteers of II·cland.

:'\cwpOl't, Rhode Island, had been takCll pre\'i~

ollsly, and was no\\' under siege. A relief columnconsisting of some regular regiments, elements ofthe Guides and I)ioneers, The King's AmericanRegimelH and the Prince of Wales's AmericanRegiment, were therefore sent to tllat cil)' in JL1lle1778. At the same time permission was grantedto raise IWO units, the Loyal :'\c\\' ElIglanders andthe Loyal Sewport Associalon. Despite Frenchreinforcements and a large rebel force, the garri·son there was able to hold on, and finally the siegewas abandoned,

them til(" following marks of his Royal favour:'Thl' articles were then enumerated and allmaterial 10 Ihal service: the principal were:"That the officcrs of the Pro,'incial corps shallrank as juniors of thc rank 10 which they belong,and if disabled in sen"icc, should be clllitied 10the same gralUity as officers of Ihe establishedarmy; and to distinguish the zeal of such I'egi.menls as will be completed, his ~Iajest}' will,upon Ihc recommendation of Ihe Commanderin Chief, make the rallk of those officers per·manelll in .\merica and will allo\,' them half.pay,upon Ihe reduction of Iheir regiments, in thesame manner ollicers of the llritish reducedregiments arc paid.""

This would be a major benefit to the ProvincialC.orps and its recruiting .

.-\t the same time, the Queen's Rangers \\'astaken on a new 'American establishmCIlI' as the1st American Regiment, the \'oluntccrsofIrelandas the 2nd :-\merican Regimcllt and the Xcw York

~ Officerll carried sponloons as insignia of rank, as well altj for more practical un., Many had cro!l!l.ban, Bt'ingnon.luut' ht'.m.., sponloonJ!l varied considerably IhrOlllh­Ollt tht' Provincial Corpli; Ibis t'.xample hali a head mountedon .. black 6 fl., in. slaR'. (Author's collecl1on)

.\ '-1(;Jl'1&

, r

• '\3,• J•· /, -•• --•r••••

Officu's lword-bell plate of the 4lh Ballalion, New JeneyVolunleers, (Thl' Nt'w Brunswick l\.luleum)

The yeal' 1779 now rolled round, "il.h troopswell entrenched in :\ew York, Canada andXewpon, as well as Ihe soulh. While the regularswellt into wintcr quaners the Provincials andIigbt troops remained active. III January a forceof Delancy's Refugees and some of the West·chester .\Witia raided a grain and flour magazinethrcc miles beyond White Plains, :\.Y., bringingaway Ihe elllire store loaded on thiny·scvenh'agolls, as well as some caplllrcd militia officers.In the carly spring a company of Delancy'sBrigadt raided some lowns Oll the Connecticutshore equally successfully.

Such service was finally rewarded. all 2 :"IlayI i/9 ' ... the Commander in Chief was pleasedto signify, in gCllcml orders, 10 the Pro"incialtroops, "that his :\lajest)', anxious to reward theirfaithful scn"iccs, and spirited conduct, UpOl1s(,,'cral occ<lsions, has l)('clI pleased to confer 011

17

The standard white line. tent ..Jiit:d by resulars andProvi..cials. This reconlilt .....cdo... accommodatin,; 6"'epri.... teA. stands 5 fl. tan and 6 fl. II«"S"' (Crisma.Colleetion)

\'oluntcers as the 3rd American Regiment. Later,011 i )'larch I i81, the King's American Regimentwas designated the .ph American Regiment andthe British Legion, the 5th American Regiment.The British Legion had been formed upon thearmy's return to Xew York from Lord Cathcart'sCaledonian \ 'olullleers and three other companies.Banastre Tarleton. thell an officer in the i9thRegimelll of Foot, became the unit's commander.Like the Queen's Rangt'rs, they kept greenjackets for their uniform.

As if to mark thc 'official recognition' of theirabilities, the new 2nd American Regimentcelebrated St Patrick's Day by parading, led bytheir band of music. into the city and forming infront of Lord Ra\\'doll's house, Said the Xtll' }'ork

Ca::.ttlt and .\!trwr.r 'This single battalion, thoughonly formed a few mOlllhs ago. marched foul'hundred strapping fellows, neither inOuenced byYankce or Augc; a number, perhaps, equal to allthe recruits formed into the rebel arJll)' in thesaJlle space of time, which shows how easily troopsmay be formed 011 this cominent.....

The Queen's Rangers had also been activeduring the h'inter and spring months. It was notuntil .\uguSt that. 'for the first time since theyleft winter quarters. they \\'ere) permitted to takeoff their coats, at night. ulltil iurther orders: incase of sudden alarum, they were ordered to formon their company's parade, undressed, witbsilcnce and regularity: the bayonets wcn' nc\"('rto be unfixed'.

18

In June lii9 the Pro\'incial regiments rrom.'\'ewport returned to Xew York and the corpswas up to strength for its next campaign.

CJ1ie"Ubrill thec30t/t/7

The war, it had lX':en decided, was not to becOlllinued in the northern colonies. The)' were tOOrebellious, the country tOO rough for profitablecampaigning. On the other hand, the sollthernroyal go\"ernors had strongly expressed theirbclicr thai soulherners were almost wholl)' loyal,and would quickly rally to the royal colours andthe legal gO\"Cl'llmenL Indeed, reports from Eastand \\'est Florida, which were held by the British.were most encouraging. In one case a group ofloyalists from the fons of the Broad and Saludari\"ers, the descendants or the Palatines. forcedtheir way from South Carolina, through Georgia,to East Florida. There lhey formed themseh"esinlO twO troops of rine dragoons orrOrty men each,and four infoullry companies of rorty·fi\,c menench. They took thc namc of the South CarolinaRoyalists and chose Colonel Innes. the Provincial11IslX·ctor-Gellenil. as their colonel. ColonelThomas Browll raised a ranger band known \"ari­ousl)' as the King's Rangers, the East floridaRangers, the Florida Rangers and the CarolinaRangers. This unit reached a strength ofsome 860men in all. Moses Kirkland and his LoyalRefugees had bcen SCnt from Xew York to EastFlorida in 177(; and they were e\'en now raidinginto Georgia. In West Florida, where defencewas to become more important than auack. the

Major John Small, O;:OTnm.ander or Ihe 2nd Ballallon.Royal Highland Ernls:ranlS. The typlo;:al miHlary Highlllndbonn"l I. IIdff"ned wllh lealher. The plaid 15 worn over

Wesl Florida Royal Foreslers and Ihe WestFlorida Loyalists \\'ere forming up.

The plan, Ihen, was to send reinforc('mcnts 10EaSI Florida. From (here Ihey would mo,'Cquickl)' nonh and capture Sa"annah and all of

one arm. The o;:ollllr Is unu5ual, bUl epauleue,liword, and'" .....ord.bell, .....il.h a ,"TnaU royal dpher on l.he end, llrel)'pical or Highland unil•. (Mo;:Cord MuseuRl, Montreal)

Georgia. In October I ji8 the British Legion,Delancy's Brigade and 111"0 bilualions of the ~c\\'

Jersey \'olulllecrs were sem 10 East Florida, along\\ ilh some regular and Hessian rcgimcllIs.Sa,annah quickly fdl.

19

Tradilional SCOll. pi~I(.I, Rladt tnlirdy of iron_ In regularUnilll privaleli no longer carried ,hese, bUI In Provincial"1lIhland relliRlenl!l il would nOI be unusual (or penonall)'ownl"d plslols 10 bt' ca.rriKi. Officen, and pon;blr5erteanl5, or OOlh reg..lar and Provin";al ..n;u. wo..ld lil.i11carry Ihe pililol_ (Richard Cla)"don Colleclion)

The rebels could llOt allow their sOllthcrnmostcapital to remain in British hands, and an alliedColitilH.·nlal-French eXIX"tlition was launcll('dagainst the cit~. Th(' city was b('ing hdd by thl'original Pro\ intial units, join('d by .\lajol' .Jam('~Wright's nell'l)/ raised Georgia Loyalists, the X('\\·'York \'olunh'cl's, the South Carolina Ro}'alistsand the KinS's Rangl'rs. 'I'll(' enemy armies wcr('unable to m;,\.;{' a dent in the city fortifications,and the Fr('llch were getting anxious to rClUrn to

the ,,'cst Indies. :\ grand assault must hi' mackbefon' the French left. On 9 Octohe,· I i79 til('Allies sprang their attack on the defences, direct­ing their major weight on the Spl"ing Hill redoubt.The outh C;lrolina Royalists WCl"C stationed inthat particular rcdoubt, and time and again theirwcll-directed volleys broke up encmy formations.Finally the enemy withdrew, lea\-ing the gmundcoated with white-co:lled dead ami 1I'0llnded,Savannah was sale and Georgia retul'IlI'd to thc'royal fold, Xow for South Carolina. \\'Ilile sollleregimclHs ,,'cn' marehcd across by land fromSavannah to South Carolina, Sir Henry Clintonbrought dowlI fC'inforcemems from Xcw Yorkto assist in the capture of Charleston.

~Io\'ing up li'om the south were till' BritishLegion, the South Carolina Royalists, a battaliollof Delancy' Urigade, a batt,lIion of the XewJers('y \'olunt<'ers, the Xew York \'oluntccrs andthe Georgia Loyalists. "'ith Clinton came se\'cralregular and Hessian regiments, the Prince of

20

"'ales's American Regiment, the second battalionof the Royal Highland Emigrants, raised inCanada, some of the Guides and Pioneers, the\ 'o!ulHcers of Ireland and the Queen's Rangers.

There had been an abortive attempt to takeCharleston by the sea in 1776. This time thelessons had been learned, and the troops weresellt to encircle and besiege the city by land. Thenow mounted Bl"itish Legion. along with mountedtroops of the Queen's Rangers and the threePennsyh-ania dragoon companies, closed on- thering and completed the encirclemcnt. The siegebegan in ~Iarch, and by 12 ~Iay 1780 the Con.tinental Brigadier-General Benjamin Lincoln andhis lllcn had had enough. The white lIag wCnt up,and thc entire solllhern Colllinemal Arm}' be­came prisoners. This was the greatest success forBritish and Provincial arms in the entire war_

Sir Henry returned to .'few York, leaving LordComwallis to command in the south. As in allpreviollsly captured cities, the royal standard wasraised and men invited to join Provincial units.Lord Charles .\lolHagu offcred rebels taken withthe city to S('l"\"{' their King instead of wastingaway in prison, and he managed to raise sixcompanies of fOlll" officcrs and ninety-four meneach into the Duke of Cumberland's Regiment,\\hicll was sellt to Jamaica in .\ugust 1781 tospend the rest of the war there. The Royal XorthCarolina Regimcnt, with rcd coms fhced bluC',was raised in the city that spring and e\'("lllU-

ally boasted 600 men. Lielltenant-Colonel JohnHamilton took the unit's command. Two smallunits, Captain Edward Fenwick's South CarolinaDragoons, with thirty-eight men, and :\IajorJohn Harrison's South Carolina Rangers, witheighty-one men, were raised. The latter unitremained in thc city until it was abandoned in:\'o\"ember I ;82, whereupon it was sent to 5t.\ugusline, East Florida. While not a unit mannedby Amcric;'ln subjects, Smrkloff's Troop of lightdragoons was, nc\'cnheless, placed on Provincialmuster rolls. The troop was formed by takingmen from each of the three Hessian regiments,and the)' did patrol work around the cit)' until theregiments were returned 10 :\'ew York.

After Charleston's surrender, Ihe 'hero ofSaratoga', Horatio Gales, assumed command oranew Continental Anny, Lord Cornwallis movedout to meet and destroy him. On Ii August t780Gates decided to attack Cornwallis's small army.The British smashed the ad\'ance party, andwaited as the main rebel army drew inlO view.They waited 011 the field and ;11 daybreak Corn·wallis formed his troops inlO one line. The regularsh'ere posted On the right, while the \'olunteers ofIreland, the Royal :\'orth Carolina Regiment, theBritish Legion ca.\·alry and two six·pounder andtwo three-pounder guns were on the left. The:\'onh Carolina Refugees and militia were keptin reserve on the righl. The rebels attacked allalong the line, ;lS :l.t Saratoga. During the attack,which was being held ofr steadily, Cornwallispotlt:d a \\eakness on his enemy's left. He hurlcd

the regulars forward, and thcy rolled up the rebelline, .\t that the em ire line mO\'ed to the attack,and the rebels fled, General Gates fal' ahe;ld of hisIroops.

II had been a totally sllccessful, but hard-fought\icwry. The \·olunu.'ers of Ireland losl 5e\'cntecnpri\'ates dead, with anOlher sixty-four \\'ollllded,along with Ihree officers, two sergeants and oncdrummer. Lord Rawdon was so pleased he hadsikcr medals struck and presented LO sc\'cral menwho had been pill'ticularly heroic.

The ~llth now lay open to Cornwallis. with no,tppre('iablc reiX'I force remaining. He di\-idcd hi..army LillO three sl'ctions. Lo"d Ra\\don was toremain around Ch;lr!tston, IMcirying and holdin~

the counu'y. .\lajor Patrick Ferguson or the

ThO! tin waler.canu~en U!i~ by Proviocial5 caine in'hair_moon' lOod 'kid..ey' shape5. Holdiog aboul ooe pint,il w:>ti plugged wilh wood :>nd sluog 00 a cord, Canu,eotiwere tiOlnelimu: painted 10 prevent rUI>!io!. (Author'"coll .."tion)

.\merical1 \'oIUllIl"t'rs, who had recovered fromwounds recei\'cd at Brandywine, was to leadtrOOps into the backwoods on a p;lth roughlyparallel to Cornwallis who was, himself, 10 mo\'c\\ith the m;lin army nonh into -,"onh Carolina.

Rawdon had his hands full in South Carolina ­large rcbel army or no large rebel army. His o\\'ncrack \-olunteers of Ireland had so many deser­tions that in desperation he adwnised: 'I will givethe inhabitallts to guineas for the head of anydeserter helonging w the \'olullicers: and 5guineas only if they bring him aliH'. They shalllike\\ isc be rewarded though 1I0t for that amountfor such deserters as they may secure belonging toany OIher regiment.'

Rawdon's force came to grips with thc rebelson 2.} April I ;81 Ileal' Hobkit'k's Hill, only a milefrom C_~l1ld('n, where they fought a bitler action.His units h('fl' the \'olullteers of Irdand, the :\'ewYork \'olullteers, lite South Carolina ROy;llistsand thl' 1'1'0\ ineial Light Batwlion. The l,lIter\\'as made up of \ ariOtls Pro\'incial regimentalOallk companies. Losses werc heavy, and the\'olllllteers alollc lost onc ollicer and tweke olherrank.. dead, \\ilh fi\e officcrs and scventy otherranks \\Ollnded. Despitc lite desertion orders.sixtCl'U pri\ ales and a drummcr werc missing.

The rcbds \\er(" ,11;"ain gru\dllg in strength and

21

confidence. All the Illoullled units ha\'ing gonewith Cornwallis, Rawdon needed ca,-alry. Thepeople of Charleston rose to the need and 3,000guincas were collccted to arm and accoutre aregiment of dragoons. In June 1781 the SouthCarolina Royalists wcrc so cOIl\-crtcd, and theyspent the rcst of the \\'al" mounted.

The town of Xinety Six meanwhile came undersiege by one of the rebels' tOP generals, XathanielGreene. Lord Rawdon quickly took the mountedSouth Carolina Royalists, the Xcw York '·ohm·teers and the Light Baualion, and rushed to thetown"s rclief. Cpon his approach Grceneabandonedthe siegc, and Rawdon was able to withdraw thetown's garrison to Camden. Another Slllall force,the Prince of Wales's American Regiment andpart of the Brilish Legion, were hit at HangingRock, S.C., and also forced to withdraw intoCamden. Finally Greene felt strong enough to dcalwith Lord Rawdon's force. On 8 September 1781he attacked at Eutaw Springs a force made up of abattalion of Delancy's Brigade, twO battalions ofXew Jerscy Volunteers, the 2nd Battalion of theRoyal Highland Emigrants, the South CarolinaRoyalists and some mounted Xew York "alun.teers, as well as some regulars.

The dcfensi,-e line was based on a stone house,and Rawdon deployed his Provincials mainly inthe centre, Thc South Carolina Royalists and_\lCW '''ork \'olunteers he posted on the left nank.After a "olley all'llong the rebel line, they le\'ellcdtheir bayonets and charged_ At first the line held,but the rebels pressed and finally dro\'e the troopsOllt of lhe stone house. Quickly they reformedsome yards away from the hOllse, while a battalionof regular lighl troops counter·allacked and dro\"('tbe rebels back to their old position. The rest of theline joined in the attack, and the line was re/{ained.

Both sides claimed \-ictor~'. Thc British andPr'l\'illcials remained on the field that night, butwithdrew the Ilext day into Charleston where,with all the troops from the other withdrawll out­pests, lhey remained until the city was llnall\':tbanclOllcd ill 1782.

G.,n.,rat a.,n.,diel Arnotd

G.,n.,ra.1 Hora.do GalU

G~n.,... t Nlltharu.,1 Grunt:

1(jltg's e3r(0w7fai17

When Lord Cornwallis had split his army intothree parts, :\Iajor Ferguson had been scnt on aline roughly parallel with Corll\\!allis's. His forceincluded men from his own American Volunteers,a detachment from the Queen's Rangers, theKing's American Regiment and the Xcw JerseyVolunteers. As his force ad,'anced further andfurther illlO the backwoods, he learned that anoverwhelming number of frontiersmen weregathering to fight him. Ferguson quickly withdrew(0 a perfect dcfensi,'c position on lOp of King's:\loumain. :\'onh Carolina. The ground therewas rocky, the hill deeply wooded. II was afortress rcady buill.

The mountain men followed, and on the after­noon of i October 1780 launched thtir attackright lip Ihe moullIain's sides. The Provincials'smoothbore muskets, (Otally inaccurate beyondfirty yards, wcrc no mateh for the deadly riflemenfrom the frontiers. Ferguson himself, riding frolllJX>Sition to position rallying his men, was hit byone of the rebel marksmen. As Ferguson"s deadbody was seen, caught by his stirrup and beingdragged abollt by his crazed charger, his secondill command, Captain Abraham de Peyster, hadthe white flag raised. Any chance of pacifying thebackwoods, and returning them to their royalallegiance, was now gone forever.

The war itself had been greally enlarged. WithBurgoyne's fall the French had joined the rebels,followed shortly aftef\\'ards by the panish. Both

European powers had losl badly to Great Britainin Ihe SC\'cn Years \\"ar, and ached for revenge.The Spanish began, under the able Governor ofLouisiania, Don Bernardo de Galvez, by attempt­ing to take British positions on the :\Iississippi andin the Floridas, which had been panish previously.Reinforcements would ha"e to be SCnt to theseposts, which were being held by handfuls ofregulars. It was decided to send the Pcnnsyh'aniaand :\1aryland Loyalists from Canada. The Penn­sylvania Loya)jsls, with some 165 errectives, andthe Marylanders with 2;;, were joined by tht,Waldeck Regiment from Germany. Two ',"cstFlorida units werc formed at the same time.

In the spring of 1779 the reinforcements landedat Pensacola, West Florida's capital, which hadsome small fortifications and an old stone po\\'dermagazine. In :\'Iarch 1780 the Pennsylvaniansand Germans were sellt (0 relicve .\lobile, thenunder Spanish siege. After a march of 120 milesthrough an uninhabited \\'ilderness ther found thecit)' had already surrendered, and returned,marching continuously for fourteen days in theprocess. Shortly after they gOt back Spanish sailswere seen 011 Ihe horizon, and the small garrisonfound that IhC'~ were the next to be besieged.The Loyal American Rangers, \\ ho had beenrecruited in ':-:cw York in 1 jBo from alllongContinental prisoners, were selll from Jamaicato lin the siege. On the way they heard Ihat tltt.'cit}' had fallen - il had not - and returned withoutfiring a shot.

Widely ISlued 10 Provincial troops under winter con­dition", I.b."e iron 'ice..:r••,...r"· ra..-Iened 10 Ibe "boe witba budded lealher nrap. (AUlhor'. collecdon)

23

Caplain Abraham de Pey.ter, Kinll'. Am.erican Resim.enl,who .urrendered aI Kinll'. Mounlain after l\lajor Ferll"·.on', dealh. Thi, intere.tins: primitive paintins: ,how,a red coal faced dark bl..e; Ihe ...... istcoat appears 10 M

..-\t the end of April 1781 the Spanish. who hadleft and rcturncd since first arnnng, brokeground for a formal siege. An assault was dri\·cnoIT by the city's garrison: the Spanish artillerysecmed 10 be making no appreciable dent in thefortifications: Spanish ammunition was runninglow. They were considering retiring when anofficer from one of Ihl' Provincial regiments

24

chamois leather. The epa..lelle and ii'll b..non are sold,Ihe coat b ..uon••ilver and the _islcoat b ..tton, fabric_covered. The overall effect i, of ralber odd tallonnS.(New York Hi.toncal Society)

deserted, bringing lhe Spanish the informationas to the position of the British powder magazine.Immediately they conccntrated their fire lhere,scoring a direci hit. Whrll lhe smoke had cleared,almost tOO soldiers and sailors lay dead. Despitethis sctback the garrison held on llntilg ~Iar 1;81,when Brigadier-General John Campbell, Ihecommanding officer, surrendered. The ,rest

MICHAEl. YOVEN$

North Carolina Militiaman, Y.7752 Private, The King's Royal Regim.ent of

New York, Y.7773 Private, Loyal American Association, Y.775

2

A

B

I Sergeant, Royal Fencible Americans.1776-8

2 Black Company of Pioneers3 Officer, King's Orange Rangers, 1777

..

3

MICHAEL YOUENS

MICHAEL YOUENS

I Officer, The Prince of Wales's AntericanReghnent

2 Butler's Rangers3 Private, Pennsylvania Loyalists,

Philadelphia, 1777

3

c

o

:1 Highland Company, Queen's Rangers, 17782 Hussar Company, Queen's Rangers, I7783 Officer, King's American Regiment, :1778

MICHAEL YOUENS

1 Grenadier Sergeant, New JerseyVolunteers, :1778

:z Private, Guides and Pioneers,1779

3 Private, Royal HighlandEmigrants, 1779

MICHAEL YOUENS

r-

)

---- -_.....

E

F

2

I Private, 1St Battalion, JamaicaRangers, 1780

2 Private, The NewfoundlandRegi.ment, 1780

3 Private, North CarolinaHighlanders

MICHAEl VOUENS

MICHAEL YOUENS

2

1 Private, Royal Garrison Regi.m.ent, 1783z Light Infantrylll.3.l1, Loyal AJnerican

Regintent, 17823 Private, 3rd Battalion, Delancy's Brigade,

I783

3

I Officer, British Legion, 178I

2 Officer, King's American Dragoons, 1782

3 Fifer, New York Volunteers, 1782

~ -=rl~

f~!1 I

\ \\I

I'I

'It

"

\ \II \ ,..... " , .,

II

1\

I'I

\I

\

HMICHAEL YOUEN$

Florida Loyalist units seem to have been paroledthere, while the rest were paroled to Xew York,where they en~=ntllall)' returned to duty,

Things were not altogether black for Britishanus, One of the rebels' best generals, the energeticand aggressive Benedict Arnold, had changedsides in an abortive attempt to turn over the rebelstronghold of West Point, above ~ew York City.He immediately organized his own unit, the,\merican Legion, which reached a strength ofsome 4'.5. Then he launclu..-d a series of raids instrength designed to further weaken the alreadyshakcn rebel morale, while destroying vital warmaterial, I tl December 1780 his American Legion,the Guides and Pioneers, the Loyal AmericanRegiment, the Queen's Rangers, the Bucks County"olullIcers and the :'\ew York "olullIeer RifleCompany "'ere landed at Portsmouth, "irginia,to begin a series of raids ,,'hich \"ould sec his menreach as far west as Petersburg and the rebelGo\'crnor's home, The troops burned a \"it;\1arsellal and forced the "irginia gO\'cnll11ent toflee its capital at Richmond,

While all this \,'as going on, Lord Cornwallishad I){'cn moving north, The rebel Gates hadbeen replaced by :'\athaniel Greene, whomCornwallis's army finally met at Guilford CourtHouse, There his regulars and Hessians smashedthrough the rebel battle lines to victory, hutsufrercd irreplaceable losses in the process, TheBritish Legion, much to its disgust, remained Inresen'e.

Greene had been moving constantly just infrollt of Cornwallis. To lighten his load and catchGreene, Cornwallis had the Royal Xorth CarolinaRegiment take ;ill his army's wagons back toSouth Carolina, XO\", suffering from his IOSSt·sat Guilford COLIn House, and lacking the supplies\,'hich had been sent south, Cornwallis felt he hadto get out of the Carolinas and into safer "in;inia,His other great hope for victory in the Carolinashad been destroyed when 8anastre Tarlelon, \,'ithhis British Legion and some regulars, had goneafter the rebel, Daniel ~Iorgan.

On 17 January 1781 ;"lorg311 bad halted, I,'ithhis back against a river. in a place called COh'pens.~lorgal1 arranged his men in three lines, \,'ithmilitia in frollt and Continelllais in the last line.Tarleton's men came streaming through the first

ElshlH:nth.cenn,ry knet: buckle., Top: Sterlins lill".. rbuckl.,., mad.. In E"Sla.nd. of Ih.. type wo", by P..ovinclaloffic ; c..nlr": crud.. modern r ..producllon of .-ank..... 'buckl - Ihe oMslnals ha".. lnsid..s mad.. of I..on, whileIhue ar....ntlr.. ly b.,.ss; bonom: bran buckles n.ade InLancasl..rCounly, P..nnsylvanla, ofa "on.n.on labourer'.p ..lt..rn, .u"h .... were wo..n by Provlncltll r ..nk.. rli.(AuI.hor'. collecdon)

lines, the British Legion ca\'alry striking towardsthe rear as the militia ned to their left flank. It wasthen that ~lorgall Iaullched his own ca\alry,which smashrd into the British Icft, t:l"llll1pling it.Tarleton tried LO bring his own mounted lllcnrOllnd to meet this attack, but it was all O\'er - theformations had been broken and red-coatedr('gulars and green-coatcd legionnaires \,'ere fleeingthe field,

Cornwallis's men said goodbye to the Caro­linas; the war was ending in the dcep south.Corn\\allis arri"cd in "irginia, Arnold returnee!to :'\cw York, lca\'ing behind the crack Queen'sRangers, That Scptembn he returned to theraiding scene, putting much of Xcw London,Connt"Cticut, to the torch, accompanied by his..\merican Legion and the Loyal ,'merican

25

Regiment.) Opposing Cornwallis in Virginia,while Greenc mo\"cd further south to rcgain allthe rebel lands, was a small force under Laf:l.yette.This was soon enlarged by thc Pennsylnnia Line,and the new army was commanded by theGerman, \"on Steuben. II fell to the 32o-man·strong Queen's Rangers to keep up constantskirmishing in front of the enemy - a duty ofwhichSimcoe reported, 'The incessant marches of theRangers, and their distance from their stores, hadso \,'orn out their shoes that, on Lt. ColonelSimcoc's calling for a return, it appearcd that nearfifty men were absolutely barefooted..... :-\onethe less, the Queen's Rangers had been newlyclothed and accoutred just prior to the campaign.The regiment, Simcoe said, '... had substitutedlight caps, ne,lt and commodius, in room of thcmiserable contract hats, which had been sent fromEngland'. In those caps were worn black andwhite feathers, a sign of mourning for ~Iajor

Andre, hanged by the rebels as a spy.

Plai", bra.. carlrids",-box plale wilh ensra"ed royalcipher. General-purpos", pial"'. 1.iII.. this were COnunonamonl Provincial llDits, while resuJa.... ofI..'" bad specialr ..Jimenl.ally marked pia..... Example.l.ille thi. bav", b«cnfound a' Tlconderola, and On th.. siles of British Ann)'camp. around N..w York. (Author's collection)

26

Major_General John Burloyne

Lord CornwalUs

Baron VOft Sleuben

Slowly Cornwallis's force cOl1linucd its with­drawal, cnding at the small town of Yorktown.It was there Washington saw his chance. Leavinga token force to oppose the :'-rew York g;u'rison, hehurried his main arm)' down to the small, sleepysouthern town. AI the same time, Ihe FrenchXavy had defeated Ihe Roral Xavy in Ihe bay on'Yorktown, and British superiority at sea wastemporarily ended, The noose was knot led, and aformal siege was begun. Cornwallis launched asortie across the ri\'er in an atlempt to mO\'e histroops to safety, 10 be led by the Queen's Rangers.A fierce Slorm blew up, howc\'cr, and il wasimpossible to ferry the men across the raging ri\'er.It was now only a matter of time. ir HenryClinton, in Xew York, felt too threatened to sendI'einforcements until too late. On 18 October 1i81Lord Cornwallis's army, including ,the Queen'sRangers and a handful ofother Pro\"incials includ­ing some from the ~ew Jersey \'olunteers,surrendered their arms.

The war in America was \'inually O\·er.

For the PrO\'incial troops there \\'as still actionahead. In February 1780 Governor Dalling ofJamaica gathered a force of the Jamaica Legion,lhe Jamaica \ 'ollinleers and the Royal BattealiXmen. He struck the Spanish first in Honduras,then moved to capture FOri Stjohn in Xie<lragua..\[though the capture was \'intlally bloodless,maintaining the fon brought \\'ith il diseases, andthe lillie force lost men by the dozens. Dalling

So-called 174Z-pauern hangu, a. worn by Provincia.lliergeant. and grenadiert. There are many variation.,hut thb bra...hilu,d example may be considered theet ••sic type. The blade length 15 ,58·s centimetre•. (Crl••man Collection)

finally simply abandoned it and withdrew toJamaica.

In August I j82 :\Iajor William Odell's LoyalAmerican Rangers successfully raided the SpanishPOSt at Black River, Honduras. Besides Odell'sown regiment there wcre some 500 Xegroes and600 ~lesqllite Indians. The raid ended with thecapture of the Spanish .\rmy·s entire GuatemalaRegimenl of 742 men, who wcre Rnl to Ornoa,

27

28

R"p;ion"ntal coat o( Williaon Jarvis, a captain in th"Qu""n's Ranl"U. The lall 'n.., and (all' colla.., Int ..o_duced about 1791, lndlcatu Chal Ihl, coat was p ..obably....orn dunnr; Ja .."ls's s"..vice ~Iw""n 1781 and 180::1.

How",,".., Ih" l"n"....1 cui. lac" and colours a .." p ..obablyid"nllcal to Ihon of Ihe pe..iod 1775-83. The .1I"e.. lau l:!IIeonb..olde..ed in an odd 'Iea ..-d ..op' dulin, bUI Ihe ch,,"ronladnl al I.he cuff, and Ih" Iwo ..paul"lIes, are Iypical o(onounl"d officers of Ihe period. (ColleCllons of the TOrOnlOHiSlOncal Board al HISlOrical Fori, York, ToronlO)

Epaulene delail on th" Jarvis coal. Typical o( Provincialoffic"rs, thl, "",aonple has lace or "mbroid"ry of on"taUleth....ad laid on an "paul"ue o( (acing colour. Solid onelalUclac" "paul"II"s, o(t..n wllh 'pips', thisll... or crown., we..eal.o wld"ly u."d. (To..onIO HiSlorical Boa..d)

Tall deCOrallon On che Jarvis coal. Thc lail. lire peronan_ently lurned back by (aSlenlnr; with a piece o( nglmenlal(aclnr; elolh ..onbroid"red whh a crown and w .."athdesign. Oth"r 81yles of Ihe period Included, (or OffiCUIi,bra •• hearts pinned 10 each lall and (alilened tOluh....;heanli 0 .. sim.i1ar Iihap"s cui (..oon (acinS clolh and sewnto each lall, concealinS • hook.and~ye (lI81eninl; or..imply hook. and eyu placed b"twHn the cOlltand Iinlns.Olbe.. ranks often used. piece of rer;im.enlal lace, sewno,·e....ed elolh and wiTh a ceDl.ral bUllon, to hold back tbetails. Note the 'raw' or unhen.oned oute.. edS"s, typicalo( Bntilib and Provincial onilitary coat. of Ihe penod.(TOrODtO Hilitoncal Board)

Hondu",s, as prlsoncrs or war, 'much to thedispleasure ornegrocs & Indians'.

There was still action around Ne\\' York. XCI\"PrO\'incial regimcnts cominucd to be raised. Anad\'enisemellt in an .\pril 1i82 copr or the city's&)'01 Ga~tlte called ror 'likely and spiriled younglads desirous or sen·ing lheir King and countryand who prcrer riding to going on rOOt'. \'ohm·teers were offered ten guineas on their enlistment,The unil \\'as the King's American Dragoons, lhenbeing raised hy Liellten3m-Colonel BenjaminThompson, latcr to become famous as CoulltRumrord. This new unit was completed wilhmembers or thc Queen's Rangers and the BdtishLegion who had been lert in the cit)', as well as the\'olunteers of New England, Stewart's ProdncialDragoons and \'arious other small units,

Prince William Henry, then a Ro)'al Xa\'ymidshipman, \'isited the city when his ship dockedthere that Aligust, and inspected the King'sAmerican Dragoons. According to ColonelThompson, the Prince '. , . might ha\'e easilymismhn liS ror an csmblished British Regiment orLight Dragoons'. Thompson ,,'as so pleased thathe said he \\'ollld nOt be ashamed to show theregiment in Hyde Park'. During the inspectionHis Highness presented the regiment its colours,111 a typical Pl'o\"incial colours presellmtiollceremoll)". The regiment marched herorc thePrince, Pl'l"rorming a marching salutc. Theil theyIT'llll"lu,:d, dismOlllllcd and rormed a semicirclein frOlll or the re\"iewing canopy, The regimemalchaplain deli\'ered 'an appropriate address', afterwhich the mcn took 00' their helmets, laid downtheir \\'eapons, raised their right Mms and tookan oath of fidelity..Hler the chaplain's benedic­tion, Thompson received the colours from thePrince, and passed them to the tWO eldcst cornets.There were tlm'c cheers: thc band played 'CodSa\'e the King', the guns fired a royal sa hue.'and thc ceremony was o\'e1'.

After such a rolllcy sl'nd-ofl: it would be nicc toreport somc stirring \ictories for the King'sAm('rican Dragoons..\Ias, Ihcy merely scn"cd insome local skirmishes until disbandcd a year lat('r.

Provincialullits \I·cre gCllerally growing smaller,both through ballic losscs ,l1ld desertiom, all21 \Iay 1782 the new C.omnl.lndcr-in-Chie,.'CGeneral 5ir GIl~ Carletoll, r('\ icwed Ihe,' King's

Engra"ed bra"" li ....ord.b"h pial" or the King'. " ..uri".nD....goons. (R"MCc:a Kau:h"r)

American Dragoons, the American Legioll, lheQueen's Legion, the British Legion and the I.oyal.\merican Regiment. He said that he was

'extremel)' well satisfied; (butl since the pro­\"ineial corps \,'('rc so weak, however, the com­manders werc asked to look around diligentlyrar recruits and send in without delay detailedaccounts or thc recruiting mOlley l'ccci\'ed, how itwas spellt, and who received rations. This,Isaid the Hessian Adjutant-GeneraIJ, will causemuch explanation. Later exact and delailt-dspecifications wcre drawn up as to who is emitledto receivc rations :lnd who not. In order to

prc\'ent dishonest)', the receipts arc counter·signed in the districts where the troops arcstationed. '

Th\· Pro\'incials' final action C;lIUC in .\pril I i8:!whcn \lajor Andrew De\'e:lUx, from SouthCarolina. led a small I'rodncial band from 5t.\Ilgustinc 10 S("w l'rO\ idcncc, Ihe most importantisland or thc Bahamas. The islands had f.dlcn to

29

Ensraved bran offic~r's sword.b~h pl:u~ or Bud~r's

Rans~rs. (R~~C'ca KalC'her)

the Spanish the year before, and in a daringbloodless bluff, the Pro\'incials coolly retook them.

In QClober I j82 word reached America thatGreat Britain would recognize American inde·pcndence.

'YOli cannot conceive [wrote Colonel Thompsonto an English friend], nor can all)' languagedescribe the Distress that all ranks of people here

Carlridg~.boxplale of Buder'. Ransen. Thi••~~m. to beIhe regular cast b ...... piau of the Iype issued 10 uSi.menu which bad nO particula.r unit desisn; Ihe words'Buder'. Ranlers' have ~en eng....ved lat~r. (Re~cca

Katcher)

han: been liuown ilHo by Ihe illlelligence of theIndependence of America being acknowledgedby Great Britain, and the loyalisls being given upto the :\Iercy of their Enemies. The :\'1ilitia whohave for some weeks done the whole of theGarrison duty in this City ha\'e premtOry refusedto sen'c any longer, and the General has beenobliged to relieve them by bringing regular

Pistol of the Iype carried by Provincial ca.....lry. OffiCi!u'pi.UOlli ....·ould be liirn.ilar In d~liiln but superior inm:ueriala and conStruction. Thi. weapon is of 0·65calibre, tSf i.n. in overall I~nsth with a 9_in. barrel(G~or8e C. Neumann ColI~cdon)

30

a"s;rn,enu.1 bUllons of a nl"ctioD of Provincial units. Top, ldl 10 riShl:the Qu"",n's Rans"'rs, 2nd American Re!;imenl, the New York VoluDle",rs,th", KinS'. a"'Slment; bollom, 1dl to rlShr: KinS'. Royal Resimenl o(NewYork, Buder'. RanSen, KinS'. OranSe RanSers, Royal Kishland Ern;.s-ranl., Ihe KinS'. American Drasoons. (Rebecca Katcher)

Troops into Town, The LoyaliSts on L10yds .\"eckand the other posts are in a state of Anarchyand confusion little short of actual rcbellion.I)apers haH becn struck up about town, ill\'itingSir Guy Carleton to take command of the .\rmyhere and oppose by force the measures of thc.\'ew .\dministration and promising thousands toassist him... , Thc Provincial Corps will disbandof themsel\"es or ... they will take arms inopposition to these measures"

Certain Provincial regiments wcre in a diffcrentclass, howevcr, as they had alrcady becn taken onthe British, or regular, establishment, Theyincluded thc Royal Highland Emigrallls, no\\' the8+th Regiment of Foot: tbe \'olunteers of Ireland,now the 1051h Regiment of Foot; thc BritishLcgion; the Qucen's Rangers; the King's Ameri­can Regiment; and the Royal Garrison Regiment.The latter unit had been formed in .\'ew York inSeptemher I i/8 from men of other regimcntsunablc, hecause of wounds or disease, to performacti\'e duty. They had served in garrison duties in.\"ew York and Bermuda.

In .\Iarch 1783 the Hessian Adjutant-Ceneralreported:'The prodncials have been notified that theymust expect some reduction, for this purpose

every battalion has bccn ordered to preparc itsrolls into COIUIllns, showing, li'olll the first oflicerto Ihe last man l whcthcr they want to cscape thisreduction, or be transported to .\"O\'a SCOliah·ithout cxpense to themselves, or, lastly, return10 their former homes with thrce months pay.The established provincial oAicers arc cxcludedfrom this al'rangcmcllt and will rccci\'c half pay"

Latcr, in August, he wrote:'Those who wish to remain in .\mcrica ha\'c beenordered to draw pay until the 25th of October,and twO weeks' maintcnance and ha\c bcen loldto cross the lines in groups of three. Only a lewhave chosen to rcmain in .\merica. ~lost of themdesire to go to :-.Iova Scolia, wither the provincialcorps noted bclow will be transported as units and\\'here they \\'ill disband, .\"one of them have beenoffered passage to England. The units are: Garri.son Battalion, whose lSI Battalion is in the Bel"mudas; .\"cw York \'olunteers; .\'ew Jersey \'01·untecrs, all threc battalions; Delancy's Brigadc,1St and 2nd Battalions; The Princc of Walcs'sAmerican Regiment; Pennsylvania Loyalists:.\laryland LoyalistS; Guides and Pioneers.'Two privatcs of the Xc\\' Jersey \'olunlccrs did

try to rClllrtl to their homes in Sussex County,Sew Jersey, where thc)' werc badly bcalcn by

31

A Brili"h caric:ature of an American riReman, (l\blro_polilan MU5l!:ul11 Of An)

their former neighbours, Another member of theregimem was killed while visiting his parents in;"[orris County, :\'ew Jersey, by the '[o\'ers ofliberty' ,

Besides their pay, the men who chose :\o\'aScotia received land grants. Xew Brunswick,Canada, was largely settled in 1783 by men fromthe Queen's Rangers, King's American Regiment,Xew York Volunteers, Loyal American Regi­ment, twO batlalions of Delaney's Brigade, threcbattalions of the :":ew Jersey Volunteers, thePrince of Wales's American Regiment, the ;"'lary­land and Pennsykania Loyalists, thc AmericanLegion, the British Legion and the Guides andPioneers, The garrison battalion, b(:causc of lhemen's poor health, \\'as disbanded in Englandwhere lhe c1imale was better than Xova Scotia.

The war was over,,\s a whole, the number of loyalists who fought

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on a regular basis has been put at between 30,000

and 50,000, In 178o, when Washington's armynumbered some 9,000, the Pro\"incial Corps hadsome 8,000 in its ranks, There were 312 com­panies commissioned throughoul the war.

Why, theil, did they llOt win? They were atfirst ignored. When finally accepted they neverfully won the confidence of lheir British comradesin arms. A South C.'lrolina loyalisl, ColonelRobert Gray, \\'rote: 'almost every British officcrregarded with colltempt and indifference theestablishment ofa militia among a people differingso mueh in customs and manners from them­seh'es', .-\n intelligent regular subahern recordedthat he felt Provincial troops were'. , . not re­markable for rallying, the first check they recei\'eensures victory o,'cr them', I t was only the workof Provincials which kept Cornwallis's wagonsmoving in :\orth Carolina, And }"et, a pcriodhistorian recorded shonly after the war: 'Inreturn for the exertions, the militia were mal­treated, by abusi"e language, and e"en beaten bysome officers in the quarter-master general'sdepartment: ,\ British claims commissioner afterthe war sneeringly commented on the petitionof a fonner SC\\' Jersey \'olulltccrs officer: 'It hasbeen his :\fisfol'tune that the Troubles put himfor a time into the situation ofa Gcntleman: TIll"officrr had bel'll a tavcl"ll-keeper.

Edward Winslow constantly complained abOlltlack of British suppon. The Pro\'illcials, he wroteat one point, 'ifdllly encollraged would ha"e beenmuch more rcspeclablc ill point of tllirnbers thanthey arc at prescnt'.

The loyalists werr also, at heart, Americans,,\I;~jor Walter Dulany wrote Sir Glly Carleton011 29 i\larch I j83:

':\Iy duty as a subject; the happiness whichAmerica enjoyed 11llckr lile British govcrnment;and the miseries to which she wOllld he reducedby an illdl'pendence were the motives thatinduced me to join the British Army; 1101' arcthere any dangt'l's, or diOicultit's thaI I would nOtcheerfully IIndt'l'go, to cffect :t happy l'cstoralion,

'Bllt :1\ Ihe same time, lhal I acted, with thegreatest zeal against my rebellious countrymenI lll'\er forgot Ihat I was an American - iftherefore, Sir, Illclepcndancc should be gralltcdand the war still continut'd, I should deem it

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•Tbue picltlres of a reproduction loyaliB( uniform andfield ~uiprnent, made from oritinal pallunll and care­fully matcb..d n>..alerialfi"i"" an impression of a soldier'lIap~a......ce in lh.. lat.. "i!lhleen1A «ntury

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R"produ"t;on of "ilbt""nl.h..,,,ntury '.mall..,loth.,.', mad"10 orilina.1 pau"rnll, and llbowlnl the "ha.ract"ri!lti"Iilhdy tailored I"K" and full ...al of Ih" hr.,..."h".. andth" lonl, puffed llhirt.l.,...v.... Th"." prm"nt. ar.. typicalof aU nat.ionaliti"l1 of th" pO'riod. (Author'. collf'Ctlon)

extremely improper to remalll in a situation,obliging me to act either directly or indirectlyagainst Americans.'Therc was, tOO, great prcssure put on loyalists

from their 'patriOlic' neighbours. On 6 June I j83a Phebe Ward wrOte her husband Edmund,scn'ing in a I'rodncial unit:

'Kind Husband, I am sony to aqualll you thatour farme is sold ... thay said if I did not quiltposesioll that they had aright to take any thinkon the farrnc or in the house to pay the Cost of alaw sute and impriscn me I have sufered mostEvery thing but death it self in your long absenspray Grant me spedy Rclcaf or God only knowswhat will become of me and my frendlesChildren ...

'Thay say my poscsion was nothing yourehusband has forfeted his estate b)' joining theBritish Enemy with a free and "ollelllary willand thereby was forfeted to the Stat and sold.

'All at present from you cind and 10"eingWife:

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The Continentals hated the Pro"incials withthat special bitterness which a civil war engenders.A captured rebel sailor recalled:

'The Refugees, or Royalists as the)' termedthcmscln..s, were ,·iewed by us with scorn andhatred. I do not recollect, however, that a guardof these miscreanlS was placed O"er liS more thanthree times, during which their presence occa­sioned much tumult and confusion; foJ' theprisoners could not endure the sight ofthes!: men,and occasionally assailcd thcm with abusivelanguage: while they in rcttll'll treated tiS withall thc se'erity in their power.

'Thc)' never answered any of our remarksrespecting them; but would merel)' point (Q theiruniforms, as if saying, We arc clothed by ourSovereign, while you are naked. They were asmuch gratified at the idca of Ica"ing us, as wewere at seeing them depart. ~'laI1Y provokinggcstures were made by the prisoners as they leftthe ship, :tnd our curses follo'\'ed them as far aswe could make otlrsch'es heard.'

cpe Plates

Al J{orlh Curo/ina .\lilitinmon, 1775

The militia which was defeated at Moore's Creek,:\Iorth Carolina, were nO! uniformed in any senseof tltt: word. One of their number recorded wear­ing a long hunting shirt, a garmcllI generallymade of white linen like a fringed farmer's smock,and buckskin breeches. This private wears a blackslouch hal, and his accoutrements consist of apowder-horn and bullet-bag only. His weapon isa long fowler, made not unlike a military weaponbut designed principally for hunting birds.

.12 Prit'Olf. Thl King's ROY'(1f Rtgimrl/I cif }ltw tork,lii7

Also known as 'johnson's Royal Greens', this wasone of the first well-equipped Prodncial units.The regiment sen'cd in a number of engagementsin upper ~cw York stale, and was finally dis­banded in Canada in June 1784. There werc t\\·obattalions, with a total of more than 1,290 men ofall ranks. Originally they wore green coats,probably with predominantly blue facings; how­ever, Provincials took an)" coats which wereissued, and il is possiblc Ihat rcd and whit(,facings werc also worn by some in thc regiment.In 1778 the regiment drew red coalS will, blu('facings, in which ther finished the war. Accoutre-­menu and arms were of the standard Britishpatterns, including the Long Land model musketllsually issLlcd to Pro\"lncials.

..13 Pr;j'ati', ~)'al AlIIi'l;rall A.uol'int;o1l, 177';

It was 1I0t until 'i76 that Prodncial troops \\l'rcuniformed. This member of the Loyal .\mcricanAssociation, illustrated as he would have appearedwhile in Boston during the siege, wears his civiliansuit and a h'hite scarf tied round his ann as aficld-sign. His accoutrements arc obsolete BritishArmy issue, and he carries a Long Land model'Brown Bess' muskt,t with wooden ramrod.

01 Stlgrnnl, Rflj'al Ftncible A!/Il1icol/s, 17i6-8

This unit was raised in :'\o\"a Scalia in June 1775,from Europeans and rebel deserters. :'\umberingonly about 460 men of all ranks, the unit remainedin :'\o\'a Scmia until disbanded in 1783, Originallythey wore green COilts faced white, as here; but in1778 they changed to red coau faced blue. Thesergeanl is distinguished by plain while laC('bound round his buttonholes, a scarlet \\'orstedsash with a central white stripe, sil\,('f hal lac(.'

" huntins bas with aua..hed powde...horn. Uu·d rorp ..eruence by riflemen, only in the ab~enct or carlrldsesby mUllkelee..., owlnS 10 the dlffer..nl loading techniques

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and a short Sh'ord or hanger - the regulationinsignia ofa British sergeant orthc day.

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n

A uJection or (lOp) ....n.erd.; (botlom) .ponfoonlli

112 Black COmIJmLI' oj PiollursIn Philadelphia it \\'as decided that a pioneercompany was needed to build the fortifications,keep the Strel'tS clear and work on the dock..\.\"egro unit was raised to perform these tasks.Each man was issued a greatcoat for wint('r wear.a. hat, a green s<'\ilor's jackel, a white shirt andwimer trousers. The winter trousers Ihen in uscby the British Army lended to be form-fittinggaiter trousers of red, blue or brown wool.

B3 Offictr, A"in 's Orang, Ranr:m, Iii7This unit was raised in Sew York in December1776 as a moullll'<i rifle company. The 'Orange'referred to their place of rccruitmclll - OrangeCounty, Sew York - as well as 10 their facings.It was a difficult colour to produce with lhe dyesof the period, and Ihe actual shad<' varied widdybetween yellow and b"ownish red. Officers' coatswould be Cllt from beller m:nerial than those ofother ranks. Tht" silver metal dccreed for thi~

corps appears as hat lace, coat lace and buttons,gorget and sword hilt. Thc officer's sash is ofcrimson silk, The ollicer illustraled wcars bootsfor riding, and uses a rnollllled man's sword.

C, OjJiur, TIlt P,illu oj I,'airs's Amn;m/l R".eimflllThis unit, which e\'entually mustered 610 men,mostly from Connecticut, was described by aBritish on"icCl' all its arrival at :\Ieh'port, RhodeIsland: 'They appear 10 be a \'ery good body ofmcn and arc well Clothed :llld Armed. They areprovided with new Camp Equipage.' An originalofficer's coat sUl"\'i\"cs lO tbis day; it is of scarletcloth f.'\ccd dark bille, and the faded copperbUItOIlS and metallic lace still bear traces ofgilding. As with many PrO\'incial ullits, some menof the regiment seem 10 haw worn green facing~

as well <IS th(' regulation hlile.

C2 BuJlt,'s HangUl

One of thc most effectivc of all Provincial units,Butler's Rangers were recruited :lIang Ihe SewYork-Canada border in 1in-B, By December

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~--->~ Sk~ICb of InJ-pauern liCbl dral!:oon sabrI', Is...e-d 10

Provincial onou.n,ed I.roops. \\'itb either a b ..... Or an IronhUt, the blade _s J (e..1 loo!_ (R"b«_ Kalchu)

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1778 the)' had six companies; eventually thestrength rose to ten companies, alld two light field­pieces. They were disbanded in Canada in JuneI iRt. The uniform consisted of a light infantry­man's leather cap with a brass frotH-plate, greenjacket and white linen gaiter trousers. Leatherbells were black, and officers had cngra\'cd brasspelt-plates on their sword-belts. ~Iost of the mencarried the 'Brown Bess', bUi the famous Penn­sylvania rifle was probably much in evidenceas \\'cll.

C3 PriDo!t, PtnnV'[l:onia Lo)'alisls, Philadelphia, '777This batlalion, of three companies, was raised inPhiladelphia in 1777; thc uniform was \'irtuallyidenlical to that of the British regular, and wastypical of the majority of Pro\'incial units. Thered coats wcrc faccCf oli\'e-green, and white linenor duck trousers were worn in the summer. Thcregimelllal lace had an inlel'wo\,en design, likethat of thc rcgulars, but I)rovincial lace patternsare no longer known. The distinctions of officerswere in gold metal.

DI High/anti Compo'!)', Q!utn's Ro',gtrs, 1778

While in Philadelphia the Queen's Rangersrecruited a Highland Company, dressed in tradi­tional coswme; they scem to ha\'e worn the usualgreen jacket of theil' corps, without lapels. Thebonnet was the small, Lowland type, and the kiltswere of the gO\"ernmelll sell used in all army-issuekilts, and known IOday as the 'Black Watchplaid'. TIley 1I'0re spOl'rans, cart ridge-boxes,dirks and bayonets.

D2 l-hlSSor Compon)', QUtt,,'S Ranl:trs, 1778

Although originally a fOOl unit, lhe Queen'sRangers were later augmellled by mountedtroops. At first the mounted mt'n seem to han'\\'orn cocked hat: howcver, after a trooper had

been shot in mistake fol' a rebel, the hussar hC<ld­dress shown here W<lS adopted. The sil\'er crescelllbadge was often cngra\"ed; one example has beenfound with the name ·.\lonmouth', a personalbaltic-honour. The accoutrements were standardBritish dragoon issue, except that biack leatherwas used in place of whitened buff.

D3 0ffiur, King's Amtrjcoll Regimtnt, 1778

One of the finest of the Provincial units, theregiment was designated 4th American Regimentin 1781, and taken on the British regular establish­ment the follo\\'ing year. it seems that they referredto themselvcs as the I loth Regiment of Fool. Thered coats were faced dark blue, and the officersworc gold metal. Speciall)' cngra\'ed gorgets andbelt-plates of officers still survi\'c; the regimentseems to ha\"e been one of the belter-dr~ssedunits.The strength is recorded at 833 men. The regi­mellt fought at Fon Clinton and Fon ~Iont­

gomery, at :\Tewpon, at King's ~Iountain, and onraids in \'irginia, Gcorgia, and East Florida.

EI G1t'nadi" Sergeant, .Xt/ll JtrJ~)' Volunturs, 1778With an eventual strength of six batlalions, thiswas the largest single Pro\"incial regiment raised.Originally dressed in green coats, the unit recei\'edred faced blue in t 778. The bUllons of the firstthree baU<llions were arranged e\'enly, in pairs orin threes, according to the ballalion. Officers woresih-er metal. ~Iany Pro\-incial units followedBritish regular practice and raised both light andgrenadier companies within the battalion. Thisgrenadier wears a typical bearskin cap, and isfurth('"f distinguished by a brass match-case on hiscartridge-box sling.

£2 Prim/" (;Ilidts alld Piollrers, lji9

This unit was raised with the Loyal .\mcricanRegiment, and sen I'd largely with them. Like

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their regular British cOlliHerpariS thc)' worcshorl brick-red jackcls with black cum and collars,and no lapels. The while linen gaitcr trouserswould ha\'c beell cOI1\'cniclll working drcss,

1:.) Prit'ott, Ro)'oilliglzland Emigrants, lJi9The Royal Highland EmigranlS were raised inC.·mada, recruiling among discharged \,eterans ofregular Highland regimenls of Ihe Se\'en YearsWar and Iheir families. Two batlalions wereraised, and the unit was taken on the Brilishregular establishment in January 17i9, as [he8+th Regiment of Foot. The men wore IypiealHighland uniform with blue facings. and laceconsisted of a blue stripe between twO red stripes.Officers used gold metal.

Ff Privott, lSt Bat/alion. Jamaica Rmzgtrs. 1780

This Negro corps was raised in the summer of1779, and e\'entually mustered three hallalions.

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The)' wore plain white coats with red facings, andstandard British Arm)' small-clothes and equip.mene

1-2 Prh'att. Tht Xtujoundland Rrgimtnt, '780

Raised in that year, the :\ewfoUl1dland Regimentwas placed on the British regular establishmenton 25 December 1782. They were issued with bluecoalS faced red. originally intended for RoyalArtiller)' troops at Gibraltar. The lace was plainwhite. however, and Ihe pewter bUlIons bore theword '.\'ewfoundland'. The rcgimclH saw noaction, and was disbanded in 178:\,

FJ Privatt. North Carolina HigMandrrs

When Lord Cornwallis moved into NOrlh Carolinathe colon)"s royal Governor, Joseph Marlin,raised the ro),al standard and called for the SCOIS

communities inlhe back cOlllHry wjoin his forces,He issued his Highlanders shon blue jackcts, and

Two I~' of can.ridc~ CODtaiD~.... Th~ ODe 010 the lefe, awoodeD box 10 hold twency.fo.... cartrid&es, with • 1~.I.he ..cove.., _. wo.... on Ihe soldie..'. riChl hip. 0 .. th~ ri&hl i.a ca...... r")"D1&n·. cartridCe bo.. wilh twelve pipes, desip'l'd10 be wo.... acro•• Ihe stomach. Both of these boxes haveonly oDe O,p> _ ehe..~ illi th~ hau.rd of dunpi lalel" .....od~l ..had IWO IlaPIli

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land kilts borrowed from the stores of theFool. The accoutrements were standard issue,

t unlike regular Highland regiments theunleers probably kept their broadsworcls as

as their muskets. The unit numbered 611

I Privatt, Ro)'al Garrison Regimt1l1, 1]83This unit was formed from men of other regiments

hose physical disabilities ruled Ollt more acti\"('rvice. Red coats with both blue and greendngs seem to ha\"e been issued. The regiment's

one battle was the defence of Paulus Hook, XewJersey, on 18-19 August 1779. At one stage abattalion was SCnt to Bermuda. Unlikc otherPro\'incial units, the men were allowcd to returnto England on disbandment, raliler than bcingobliged to face the harsh Canadian winter.

G2 Ligll! Injan/f)'mall, UJ)'al American Rtgimell/, /782Besides grenadier companies, Provincial regimentsoften had light companies; these were frequentl}'brought together in a separate 'light battalion'.Typical uniform features of the light troops WCI'C

the leather cap; a shan coat, like a croppedregulation coat; and a red waistcoat, The cap \\'asof boiled leather, with three chains sewn round itand a front-plate with a painted regimentaldesign. Feathers were often worn in the cap, Thisregiment was raised in I n6 and ser\'cd through­out the war; at onc time 01' another it seems toha\'e worn both buff and green facings, notuncommon among Pro\"incials.

Gj PrivatI', 3rt! Battalioll, Delanc.J"s Brigade, 1]83This brigade, made llP of three battalions, wasone of the first Pro\'incial corps raised in XewYork, Winter dress included wool gaiter trousersin red, blue or brown, The butlons were wornevenly spaced, in pairs or in threes, according tothe battalion number.

HI OjJicer, British ugion, IJ8/The title 'British Legion' once had far moresinister connotations than it docs today! A Britishofficer, Banastrc Tarleton, \\'as gi\"en command ofth:s unit, which had been created from sc\'cral

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ao"wood fife and case

independellt companies in :\cw York in 1778, Itser\'ed mainly in the south, and in that part of theCountry 'Tarlcton's Quarter' - i.e. a policy of noprisoners taken - became a hated phrase. Tarletonwas to attract attention years later \vhcn, as aWestminster ~LP" he led a faction bilterlyopposed to \,"ellington.) His Legion wore dragoonhelmets, green jackets, and standard dragoonaccoutrements; in the summer their campaigndress consisted of white smocks or white·slee\"edwaistcoats. The~f were taken on to the Americanestablishment as the 5th American Regiment, and,in 1782, on to the British regular establishment as'a regiment of horse'.

H2 Officer, King's American Dragoons, IJ82This was one of the last Provincial regimentsraised, created from six independent :\ew York

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companies and detachments from units internedat Yorktown. It was a liglll dragoon unit, createdstrictly along regular lines, and wearing red coatsfaced blue and dragoon hc!melS. Officers \,·oregold metal. Their horses were sold off in :\"C\,'

York and the regiment was disbanded at Halifas.:\"0\'3 Scotia, in April 1;83.

If] Fij,r, Stu.' Jork '-olunturs, li8~

The coalS of Provincial musicians, like those ofregulars. were in the reverse of the regimental

colours. Their caps were like those of grcnadiers.often with designs ofdrums and flags 011 the fronl­plate in place of grenadier insignia. The fifercarried his twO instruments in a brass fifc-cascslung on his right side by cords of dincremcolours, WO\'('n through a whitcned buff leathershoulder.beh_ The brass case itself was oftencngra\'cd with the royal arms. This musician'srrgimcnt was raised in 'i;6 and senl-d in bothnorthern and southern theatres. On '2 ~Iay ';;9it was redesignated the 3rd American Regiment_

Men-at-Arms Series

TITL£S ALREADY PUBUSHED

THE STONEWALL BRIGADE JM" &1."THE BLACK WATCH Charla CI/lftl

.'RENCH "'OREIGN LEGION Murtill Windrow

1'001' GR£KADIERS OF THE IMPERIALGUARD CJuulu Grlml

THE IRON BRIGADE Jolut Sdb"CHASSEURS OF THE GUARD Pdn Y-tWAFFE!\~·SS M.tiJI lVilJrow

THE COLOSTRUM GUARDS OImfu Crilllt

U.S. CAVALRY J- &1~

THE ARAB LEGION Pdn T"""'l

ROYAL SCOTS GREYS CAtulu era'ARGYLL A1','O SUTHERl...Ai....O HiGH-

LANDERS Willimn AleE/uy.,

THE COKNAUGHT RAKGERS AI. ShtJ1P"d

30TH PUl"UABIS James LilwjIKdGEORGE WASHINGTON'S ARMY

PI/t, J"flI"l

THE Bun's Cf'goryBbulDnd

LUFTWAFFE AIRBORi\E AND FIELDm';ITS Marti" lVi,""1IW

THE SOY) ET ARMY A/wI $alum

UNITED STATES MARINE CORPSJMlI Stilt,!

THE COSSACKS Alb"" S,QIM

BLOCHER'S ARMY Plln 1",,1UIl

THE PANZER DIVISIONS ,\tartUr lViJIJ,ow

ROYAL ARTI.LLERY IV. T. Ctmn.ut

JAPAi....ESE ARMY OF WORLD WAR IIPAiJi/I 1V..xn-

MOJ\iCAL\!'S ARMY Mltttia IV__

THE KING'S REGIM.E.yr ,ott.~"

THE RUSSiA..... ARMY OF THENAPOLEONIC WARS Alkrt St..

THE ENGLISH CIVIL WAR ARMIESPtfu r~

THE RUSSIAN ARMY OJ.' THE CRIMEAAl~, Stalcm

THE BLACK BRUNSWICKERS Olta LWl Pitka

THE t\USTRO·HUNGARIAN ARMY OFTHE NAPOLEONIC WARS AI.", StaJIM

WEUJ:\,GTON'S PENL'OSULAR ARMY}anw iAJ.ifm

FREDERJCK THE GREArS ARMYAIMt St.".

THE AUSTRQ-HUKGARIAN ARMY OFTHE SEVEN YEARS WAR AlwtSttlIMr.

THE KING'S GERMAN LEGIONOt~ lO'l Pitka

WOLFE'S ARMY C"a/JI &1M..

THE ROMAl.'\' IMPERIAL ARMYMicNul SPMiu

THE GERMAN ARMY OF THE NEWEMPIRE 1870-1888 AIMI S_

BRITISH ARMY OF THE CRIME."J. B. R.."""Mlst/II

PHILIP KATCHER is a member of the Company of Military Historians, theSociety for Army Historical Research and the Military Research Society. Hehas contributed to the journals of the first two organisations and has editedThe Brigade Dispat,h, the journal of the Brigade of the American Revolution.His first book, The Ency€loptdia ~British, Prouincial and Ger1tliln Units: 1775-1784was published recently in America. Mr Katcher lives with his wife anddaughter in PhiLaddphia.

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