LOYALIST SOLDIERS IN THE REVOLUTION
MANY AMERICAN MEN ARMED THEMSELVES AND Fought ALONGSIDE The BRITISH ARMY
The American War of Independence bore many of the hallmarks of a civil war. Many Americans opposed the idea of separating from Great Britain and remained loyal to King George III. A large, but never large enough, number of these Loyalists were organised into provincial regiments and militia bands to fight on behalf of the Crown against the rebelling Patriots. Major Patrick Ferguson, who met his end at Kings Mountain, organised his American Volunteers in the second half of 1779 in New York. The recruits were picked men drawn from several other Loyalist groupings.
Another, much more renowned and infamous unit was the British Legion. Raised in July 1778 by Lord Cathcart, it then came under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton the next year. Comprised of infantry and cavalry, every one of the soldiers in the Legion could ride a horse. The British Legion participated in many engagements, including the siege of Savannah in the early autumn of 1779 and the capture of Charleston, to name just a few. It would end the war at Yorktown in october 1781, where it surrendered to Patriot forces and was interned.
one of the most ferocious of Loyalist regiments in the north was the Westchester Refugees, better known as 'Delancey’s Cowboys'. This unit was formed by the
New York Loyalist and former Westchester sheriff James Delancey, and it conducted a bitter partisan struggle against Patriots in the ‘neutral ground’ of Westchester County, north of New York City.
The provincial regiments differed from the militia units, which were less formal in organisation. The provincial units were raised from all over the Thirteen Colonies. Many originated in the region of New York City, the main Loyalist stronghold in America and the headquarters of the British Army on the continent.
Militia was raised locally. Following the fall of Charleston, South Carolina, beginning in August 1780, loyal subjects of the king asked to “embody, arm and uniform themselves” into companies of militia for service on behalf of the Crown. Altogether, 11 companies totalling some 400 men were raised. Additional militia units were mustered at Camden, South Carolina and in North Carolina.
once the war was over, many Loyalists, having experienced continuing friction with their victorious Patriot neighbours, opted to depart the united States, and settled elsewhere within the British empire. over 40,000, including soldiers and their families, would make new homes in Canada in the early 1780s.
“MANY AMERICANS OPPOSED THE IDEA OF SEPARATING FROM GREAT BRITAIN AND REMAINED LOYAL TO KING GEORGE III”