The Loyal Rangers, or Jessup's Loyal Rangers, was a volunteer regiment of Loyalists in the American Revolution.
Jessup’s Loyal Rangers | |
---|---|
Active | 1781–1783 |
Country | Great Britain |
Allegiance | British Army |
Branch | British provincial unit |
Type | Auxiliaries Light infantry |
Role | Maneuver warfare Military intelligence Unconventional warfare |
Size | Battalion |
Garrison/HQ | Yamaska Île aux Noix Dutchman’s Point |
Nickname(s) | Loyal Rangers |
Engagements | American Revolutionary War |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Major Edward Jessup |
The Corps was established on November 12, 1781 by the amalgamation of several smaller units, including the King's Loyal Americans. They were commanded by Major Edward Jessup.
Since they were formed late in the war they served mainly a defensive role, being stationed in Yamaska, Rivière-aux-Chiens, Île aux Noix, and Dutchman's Point in present-day North Hero, Vermont near Alburg.
After the close of the revolution the regiment was disbanded on December 24, 1783 and received grants of land from the British Crown in Upper Canada, now the province of Ontario, Canada: Edwardsburgh, Augusta, and part of Elizabethtown, now Brockville, on the St Lawrence River, as well as Ernestown, near Cataraqui (Kingston, Ontario). [1]
Prescott is a town on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River in province of Ontario, Canada. The town is a part of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville. In 2021, it had a population of 4,078. The Ogdensburg–Prescott International Bridge, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) east of Prescott at Johnstown, crosses the Canada-United States border and connects the town with the city of Ogdensburg, New York.
The colonial militias in Canada were made up of various militias prior to Confederation in 1867. During the period of New France and Acadia, Newfoundland Colony, and Nova Scotia (1605–1763), these militias were made up of Canadiens, First Nations, British and Acadians. Traditionally, the Canadian Militia was the name used for the local sedentary militia regiments throughout the Canadas.
Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Crown, notably with the loyalists opponents of the American Revolution, and United Empire Loyalists who moved to other colonies in British North America after the revolution.
United Empire Loyalists is an honorific title which was first given by the 1st Lord Dorchester, the Governor of Quebec, and Governor General of the Canadas, to American Loyalists who resettled in British North America during or after the American Revolution. At the time, the demonym Canadian or Canadien was used to refer to the indigenous First Nations groups and the descendants of New France settlers inhabiting the Province of Quebec.
Butler's Rangers (1777–1784) was a Loyalist provincial military unit of the American Revolutionary War, raised by American loyalist John Butler. Most members of the regiment were Loyalists from upstate New York and northeastern Pennsylvania. Their winter quarters were constructed on the west bank of the Niagara River, in what is now Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. The Rangers fought principally in New York and Pennsylvania, but ranged as far west as Ohio and Michigan, and as far south as Virginia and Kentucky.
Rogers' Rangers was a company of soldiers from the Province of New Hampshire raised by Major Robert Rogers and attached to the British Army during the Seven Years' War. The unit was quickly adopted into the British army as an independent ranger company. Robert Rogers trained and commanded the rapidly deployed light infantry force, which was tasked mainly with reconnaissance as well as conducting special operations against distant targets. Their tactics were built on earlier colonial precedents and were codified for the first time by Rogers as his 28 "Rules of Ranging". The tactics proved remarkably effective, so much so that the initial company was expanded into a ranging corps of more than a dozen companies. The ranger corps became the chief scouting arm of British Crown forces by the late 1750s. The British forces in America valued Rogers' Rangers for their ability to gather intelligence about the enemy. They were disbanded in 1761.
Loyalists were colonists in the Thirteen Colonies who remained loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolutionary War, often referred to as Tories, Royalists or King's Men at the time. They were opposed by the Patriots, who supported the revolution, and called them "persons inimical to the liberties of America."
Peter Perry was a politician and businessman in Upper Canada.
Edward Jessup, together with his brother Ebenezer Jessup, was a large landowner in present-day New York State before the American Revolution, and later a soldier and political figure in Upper Canada, now the present-day Canadian province of Ontario, Canada.
Solomon Jones was a doctor, judge and political figure in Upper Canada.
Edward Jessup was a farmer and political figure in Upper Canada.
Gideon Adams was a farmer, soldier, and politician in Upper Canada, British North America, British Empire, now Ontario, Canada.
Ernestown is an historic and present-day geographic township in Lennox and Addington County in eastern Ontario, Canada. It was originally known as Second Town because it was surveyed after Kingston Township, but was renamed in 1784 after Prince Ernest Augustus, fifth son of George III. In 1998, it became part of the municipality (township) of Loyalist.
The Loyal American Regiment was a British Provincial regiment raised in 1777 for Loyalist service during the American Revolutionary War. The regiment fought in many engagements throughout the war and the men were among the thousands of loyalists who settled in Nova Scotia, after the regiment disbanded in 1783.
The Queen's Rangers, also known as the Queen's American Rangers, and later Simcoe's Rangers, were a Loyalist military unit of the American Revolutionary War. Formed in 1776, they were named for Queen Charlotte, consort of George III. The Queen's Rangers was a light corps in the tradition of British rangers during the Seven Years' War, operating on the flanks and in advance of Crown forces, manning outposts, conducting patrols, and carrying out reconnaissance and raiding operations.
Adams' Rangers, also known as Adams’ Company of Rangers, were a British Loyalist local volunteer corps and independent military company raised to support the British Army during the American Revolutionary War. Led by Dr. Samuel Adams of Arlington, New Hampshire Grants, the Rangers made their most significant contribution to the British war effort by serving with the ill-fated Burgoyne Expedition in the Saratoga campaign of 1777.
McAlpin's Corps, also known as McAlpin's Corps of Royalists and the American Volunteers, referred to either of two loyalist units in the British Army, in British Canada, commanded by Major Daniel McAlpin, during the American Revolutionary War. In most instances, the name described the American Volunteers, a corps of American Loyalists, who served in the 1777 Burgoyne Expedition, of the Saratoga Campaign. The term was also used, at times, to refer to a 'battalion' put under the command of McAlpin, in 1779, formed from the remnants of General Burgoyne's several loyalist corps, including the "American Volunteers", the King's Loyal Americans, the Queen's Loyal Rangers, and Adams' Rangers.
John Walden Meyers was an Upper Canada businessman and United Empire Loyalist.
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.