American Legion | |
---|---|
Active | 1780–1783 |
Disbanded | 24 October 1783 |
Country | Great Britain |
Allegiance | New York |
Branch | British Army |
Type | Provincial Troops |
Role | Cavalry and infantry |
Size | Corps (regiment) |
Part of | British American Forces |
Facings | Green |
Engagements | American War of Independence |
Commanders | |
Commanding Officer | Brigadier General Benedict Arnold |
The American Legion was a provincial cavalry and infantry corps (regiment) of the British Army in the American War of Independence commanded by Brigadier General Benedict Arnold.
The American Legion is notable for the fact that Brigadier General Benedict Arnold, who had previously served the United States and had defected to the British in 1780, was the commanding officer. [1] It was organised in October 1780 at New York. [2] The Legion accompanied Arnold in his raid upon Virginia. It was with him in his expedition into Connecticut in September 1781, in which two forts were stormed and dismantled, and the town of New London plundered and burned. The Legion was disbanded on 24 October 1783 at New Brunswick. [1]
The Legion's uniform consisted of a red coat with green facings.[ citation needed ] The coat had short tails, as opposed to those worn by British Regulars who wore long tails.
he is from South Carolina
Benjamin Lincoln was an American army officer. He served as a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Lincoln was involved in three major surrenders during the war: his participation in the Battles of Saratoga contributed to John Burgoyne's surrender of a British army, he oversaw the largest American surrender of the war at the 1780 siege of Charleston, and, as George Washington's second in command, he formally accepted the British surrender at Yorktown.
Benedict Arnold was an American-born military officer who served during the American Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of major general before defecting to the British in 1780. General George Washington had given him his fullest trust and had placed him in command of West Point in New York. Arnold was planning to surrender the fort to British forces, but the plot was discovered in September 1780, whereupon he fled to the British lines. In the later part of the war, Arnold was commissioned as a brigadier general in the British Army and placed in command of the American Legion. He led the British army in battle against the soldiers whom he had once commanded, after which his name became synonymous with treason and betrayal in the United States.
Robert Howe was a Continental Army general from the Province of North Carolina during the American Revolutionary War. The descendant of a prominent family in North Carolina, Howe was one of five generals, and the only major general, in the Continental Army from that state. He also played a role in the colonial and state governments of North Carolina, serving in the legislative bodies of both.
Major-General William Phillips was a British Army officer who served in the Royal Artillery during the American War of Independence.
Margaret "Peggy" Shippen was the highest-paid spy in the American Revolution, and was the second wife of General Benedict Arnold.
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The Yorktown campaign, also known as the Virginia campaign, was a series of military maneuvers and battles during the American Revolutionary War that culminated in the siege of Yorktown in October 1781. The result of the campaign was the surrender of the British Army force of General Charles Earl Cornwallis, an event that led directly to the beginning of serious peace negotiations and the eventual end of the war. The campaign was marked by disagreements, indecision, and miscommunication on the part of British leaders, and by a remarkable set of cooperative decisions, at times in violation of orders, by the French and Americans.
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