Georgia Loyalists | |
---|---|
Active | 1779-1783 |
Country | Great Britain |
Allegiance | British Army |
Type | British provincial unit, (auxiliary troops) |
Size | ? |
Garrison/HQ | Savannah, Colony of Georgia |
Engagements | American Revolutionary War
|
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Major James Wright |
The Georgia Loyalists were a British provincial military unit, raised for Loyalist service during the American Revolutionary War. They were raised in August 1779 to provide a permanent garrison for the city of Savannah, with enlisted men contracted for two years service or upon the war's end. Its only commanding officer was Major James Wright, son of Governor Sir James Wright. The Georgia Loyalists fought during the Siege of Savannah that same year, during which Captain Simpson was killed on 8 October. [1] As conditions in the Southern Theatre rapidly deteriorated following the Siege of Yorktown, the Georgia Loyalists were merged into the King's Carolina Rangers. [2]
The Province of Georgia was one of the Southern colonies in British America. It was the last of the thirteen original American colonies established by Great Britain in what later became the United States. In the original grant, a narrow strip of the province extended to the Pacific Ocean.
The siege of Charleston was a major engagement and major British victory in the American Revolutionary War, fought in the environs of Charles Town, the capital of South Carolina, between March 29 and May 12, 1780. The British, following the collapse of their northern strategy in late 1777 and their withdrawal from Philadelphia in 1778, shifted their focus to the American Southern Colonies. After approximately six weeks of siege, Major General Benjamin Lincoln, commanding the Charleston garrison, surrendered his forces to the British. It was one of the worst American defeats of the war.
The Battle of the Rice Boats, also called the Battle of Yamacraw Bluff, was a land and naval battle of the American Revolutionary War that took place in and around the Savannah River on the border between the Province of Georgia and the Province of South Carolina on March 2 and 3, 1776. The battle pitted the Patriot militia from Georgia and South Carolina against a small fleet of the Royal Navy.
The siege of Savannah or the Second Battle of Savannah was an encounter of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) in 1779. The year before, the city of Savannah, Georgia, had been captured by a British expeditionary corps under Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald Campbell. The siege itself consisted of a joint Franco-American attempt to retake Savannah, from September 16 to October 18, 1779. On October 9 a major assault against the British siege works failed. During the attack, Polish nobleman Count Casimir Pulaski, leading the combined cavalry forces on the American side, was mortally wounded. With the failure of the joint attack, the siege was abandoned, and the British remained in control of Savannah until July 1782, near the end of the war.
John Martin was an American planter, soldier, and politician.
The Battle of Kettle Creek was the first major victory for Patriots in the back country of Georgia during the American Revolutionary War that took place on February 14, 1779. It was fought in Wilkes County about eleven miles (18 km) from present-day Washington, Georgia. A militia force of Patriots decisively defeated and scattered a Loyalist militia force that was on its way to British-controlled Augusta.
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The 3rd Georgia Regiment was an infantry regiment of the Georgia Line during the American Revolutionary War. Raised in Georgia but recruited in North Carolina, the regiment fought in the Siege of Savannah and was surrendered to the British in the Siege of Charleston.
The 4th Georgia Regiment was an American infantry unit raised for service with the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. The regiment was formed in February 1777 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from British deserters and Colonel John White was appointed its commander. The unit soon acquired a bad reputation for plundering the area in which it camped and was moved far from Philadelphia. In December 1777 it was assigned to the Georgia Brigade and took part in operations in Florida in 1778. It fought at Savannah in 1779 and was captured by the British at Charleston in May 1780.
The 84th Regiment of Foot (Royal Highland Emigrants) was a British regiment in the American Revolutionary War that was raised to defend present day Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada from the constant land and sea attacks by American Revolutionaries. The 84th Regiment was also involved in offensive action in the Thirteen Colonies; including North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia and what is now Maine, as well as raids upon Lake Champlain and the Mohawk Valley. The regiment consisted of 2,000 men in twenty companies. The 84th Regiment was raised from Scottish soldiers who had served in the Seven Years' War and stayed in North America. As a result, the 84th Regiment had one of the oldest and most experienced officer corps of any regiment in North America. The Scottish Highland regiments were a key element of the British Army in the American Revolution. The 84th Regiment was clothed, armed and accoutred the same as the Black Watch, with Lieutenant Colonel Allan Maclean commanding the first battalion and Major General John Small of Strathardle commanding the second. The two Battalions operated independently of each other and saw little action together.
The southern theater of the American Revolutionary War was the central theater of military operations in the second half of the American Revolutionary War, 1778–1781. It encompassed engagements primarily in Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Tactics consisted of both strategic battles and guerrilla warfare.
Colonel John Dooly (1740–1780), born in Wilkes County, Georgia, was an American Revolutionary war hero. He commanded a regiment at the Battle of Kettle Creek in 1779 and was killed at his home by Tories in 1780.
Thomas "Burnfoot" Brown was a British Loyalist during the American Revolution. Intending to become a quiet colonial landowner, he lived, instead, a turbulent and combative career. During the American Revolutionary War he played a key role for the Loyalist cause in the Province of Georgia as a Lt. Col in the King's Carolina Rangers. Following the overthrow of British rule and the Patriot victory in the Revolution, Brown was exiled first to British East Florida, and later to St. Vincent's Island in the Caribbean.
In the American Revolution, gaining freedom was the strongest motive for Black enslaved people who joined the Patriot or British armies. It is estimated that 20,000 African Americans joined the British cause, which promised freedom to enslaved people, as Black Loyalists. Around 9,000 African Americans became Black Patriots.
The King's American Regiment, also known as the "Associated Refugees", were a Loyalist regiment during the American Revolutionary War.
The Capture of Savannah, sometimes the First Battle of Savannah, or the Battle of Brewton Hill, was an American Revolutionary War battle fought on December 29, 1778 pitting local American Patriot militia and Continental Army units, holding the city, against a British invasion force, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell. The British capture of the city led to an extended occupation and was the opening move in the British southern strategy to regain control of the rebellious Southern provinces by appealing to the relatively strong Loyalist sentiment there.
The Province of Georgia was a significant battleground in the American Revolution. Its population was at first divided about exactly how to respond to revolutionary activities and heightened tensions in other provinces. When violence broke out in 1775, radical Patriots took control of the provincial government, and drove many Loyalists out of the province. Georgia also served as the staging ground for several important raids into British-controlled Florida.
Lachlan McIntosh was a Scottish American military and political leader during the American Revolution and the early United States. In a 1777 duel, he fatally shot Button Gwinnett, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Colonists who supported the British cause in the American Revolution were Loyalists, often called Tories, or, occasionally, Royalists or King's Men. George Washington's winning side in the war called themselves "Patriots", and in this article Americans on the revolutionary side are called Patriots. For a detailed analysis of the psychology and social origins of the Loyalists, see Loyalist.
The King's Carolina Rangers (KCR) was a loyalist militia regiment active during the American War of Independence. The KCR was composed of nine infantry companies, of which one was converted into a troop of dragoons in 1782. The unit primarily saw action in the South Carolina and Georgia theatres of the conflict.