Prince of Wales' American Regiment

Last updated
Prince of Wales' American Regiment
Prince of Wales' American Volunteers
Prince of Wales' Royal American Volunteers
Active1777-1783
CountryUnion flag 1606 (Kings Colors).svg  Great Britain
AllegianceUnion flag 1606 (Kings Colors).svg  Great Britain
BranchBritish Provincial unit
Type Infantry
Engagements Ridgefield, Rhode Island, Charleston, Hanging Rock, Cowpens, Fort Granby
Commanders
Notable
commanders

The Prince of Wales' American Regiment was a volunteer regiment of Loyalists in the American Revolution organized in 1776 and 1777 by Montfort Browne, former governor of the Bahamas. [2] [3] Recruits were largely from among Connecticut Loyalists. [4] [5]

The regiment was initially based in the New York City area [6] and saw early action in 1777 at the Battle of Ridgefield, in which the British sought to destroy American military supplies stored at Danbury, Connecticut. [7] [8] [9] The regiment later participated in the Battle of Rhode Island in 1778. [10] [11]

When the British refocused their efforts on a southern strategy, the regiment was moved to South Carolina, where it participated in the Siege of Charleston in 1780. [12] [13]

The regiment saw its heaviest action at the Battle of Hanging Rock, in which the regiment, under the command of Major John Carden, contributed substantially to repulsing a surprise attack by the Continental Army under the command of General Thomas Sumter. [14] [15] Although the battle was a tactical victory, the Prince of Wales' American Regiment suffered heavy casualties. [16] [17] In addition, Major Carden was disgraced for resigning his command in the heat of battle. [18] Portions of the regiment later served at the Battle of Cowpens [19] [20] and the Siege of Fort Granby. [21] [22]

The regiment remained in South Carolina until late 1782, when it returned to New York. [23] The regiment was disbanded on October 10, 1783. [24] [25] Over 150 members of the regiment, along with family and servants, resettled in New Brunswick, Canada. [26] [27] The community of Prince of Wales, New Brunswick was named for the regiment by Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel DeVeber, who settled there with his family. [28]

Related Research Articles

British Legion (American Revolution) Military unit

The British Legion was the name of a British provincial regiment established during the American Revolutionary War, composed of British Loyalist American infantry and dragoons. It was colloquially known as Tarleton's Raiders, the Green Devils, the Green Horse, and the Green Dragoons, after the British officer who led most of its day-to-day activities, Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton, and the green uniform coats of its officers. "Legion" was an 18th-century term for a military unit the size of a regiment, but consisting of infantry and cavalry, or infantry, cavalry, and artillery, all under one command, to make it more flexible for scouting or irregular operations than a regiment, which consisted of infantry or cavalry alone.

Royal Fusiliers Line infantry regiment of the British Army

The Royal Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881.

Options for Change was a restructuring of the British Armed Forces in summer 1990 after the end of the Cold War.

Battle of Cowpens 1781 battle during the American Revolutionary War

The Battle of Cowpens was an engagement during the American Revolutionary War fought on January 17, 1781 near the town of Cowpens, South Carolina, between U.S. forces under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan and British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton, as part of the campaign in the Carolinas. The battle was a turning point in the American reconquest of South Carolina from the British.

The South Essex Regiment, later the Prince of Wales' Own Volunteers, is a fictional infantry line regiment in the British Army that was created by Bernard Cornwell in the Sharpe novel series.

Black Loyalist People of African descent who sided with the Loyalists during the American Revolutionary War

Black Loyalists were people of African descent who sided with the Loyalists during the American Revolutionary War. In particular, the term refers to men who escaped the enslavement of Patriot masters and served on the Loyalist side because of the Crown's promises of freedom.

The Childers Reforms of 1881 reorganised the infantry regiments of the British Army. The reforms were done by Secretary of State for War Hugh Childers during 1881, and were a continuation of the earlier Cardwell Reforms.

The Battle of Thomas Creek, or the Thomas Creek Massacre, was an ambush of a small force of Georgia militia cavalry by a mixed force of British Army, Loyalist militia, and Indians near the mouth of Thomas Creek in northern East Florida. The encounter was the only major engagement in the second of three failed attempts by American forces to invade East Florida in the early years of the American Revolutionary War.

The Fencibles were British regiments raised in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and in the colonies for defence against the threat of invasion during the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Usually temporary units, composed of local recruits and commanded by Regular Army officers, they were usually confined to garrison and patrol duties, freeing Regular Army units to perform offensive operations. Most fencible regiments had no liability for overseas service.

James Chalmers was a Loyalist officer and pamphleteer in the American Revolution.

The 82nd Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1793. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 40th Regiment of Foot to form the Prince of Wales's Volunteers in 1881.

The Battle of Hanging Rock was a battle in the American Revolutionary War that occurred between the American Patriots and the British. It was part of a campaign by militia General Thomas Sumter to harass or destroy British outposts in the South Carolina back-country that had been established after the fall of Charleston in May 1780.

John Sargent was an American Loyalist during American Revolution who was exiled to Canada where he became a politician.

British Colonial Auxiliary Forces

This is a list of auxiliary regiments or units formed by the British in individual colonies of the British Empire. In some colonies, the units were led by officers seconded from the British Army. Especially in the case of units that recruited non-whites, even in colonies where the officers were primarily colonials, commissions were generally restricted to whites until after the Second World War. Non-white colonials, as well as non-whites from Britain itself served primarily in the other ranks. Although militias operating on the same principle as the militia in England and Wales were established in many colonies during the 17th and 18th Centuries, from the 19th Century onwards colonial units were mostly voluntary, and supplied a reserve force either to be called up in war time to reinforce regular British Army garrisons for home defence, or in some cases were entirely responsible for home defence. Many units, however, took part in active campaigns outside of the role of home defence in various conflicts the British Empire was involved in, including the two world wars.

Associators Military unit

Associators were members of 17th- and 18th-century volunteer military associations in the British American thirteen colonies and British Colony of Canada. These were more commonly known as Maryland Protestant, Pennsylvania, and American Patriot and British Loyalist colonial militias. But unlike militias, the associator military volunteers were exempt from regular mandatory military service. Other names used to describe associators were "Associations", "Associated", "Refugees", "Volunteers", and "Partisans".

Montfort Browne was a British Army officer and Tory, and a major landowner and developer of British West Florida in the 1760s and 1770s. He commanded the Prince of Wales' American Regiment, a Loyalist regiment, in the American Revolutionary War. He served as lieutenant governor of West Florida from 1766 to 1769, acting as governor from 1767, and then as governor of the Bahamas from 1774 to 1780.

Wilbur Henry Siebert American historian (1866–1961)

Wilbur Henry Siebert was an educator and historian from the United States.

Royal Lancers cavalry regiment of the British Army

The Royal Lancers is a cavalry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed by an amalgamation of 9th/12th Royal Lancers and the Queen's Royal Lancers on 2 May 2015. It serves as the Formation Reconnaissance Regiment of the 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade.

Timothy Hierlihy

Timothy Hierlihy (1734–1797) was a British officer who protected the British coal mines at Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia from attacks by American privateers. He also was the first British settler of Antigonish, known as the "founder of Antigonish." Hierlehy also became the commander of the Royal Nova Scotia Volunteer Regiment.

References

  1. John Carden, American Battlefield Trust webpage. Accessed June 19, 2020.
  2. McCain, Diana Ross (November 12, 1997). "Tories Hung Out In Colonial Middletown". Hartford Courant . Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  3. A History of the Prince Of Wales' American Regiment - Part 1 of 7 webpage. Accessed May 15, 2020.
  4. Fabel, R.F.A. (Autumn 1992). "Montfort Browne's Corps: The Prince of Wales American Volunteers". Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. 70 (283): 158–160. JSTOR   44224742.
  5. McCain, Diana Ross (November 12, 1997). "Tories Hung Out In Colonial Middletown". Hartford Courant . Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  6. Siebert, Wilbur H. (January 1931). "Loyalist Troops of New England". The New England Quarterly. 4 (1): 132–133. doi:10.2307/359219. JSTOR   359219.
  7. Fabel, R.F.A. (Autumn 1992). "Montfort Browne's Corps: The Prince of Wales American Volunteers". Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. 70 (283): 160–162. JSTOR   44224742.
  8. A History of the Prince Of Wales' American Regiment - Part 2 of 7, Baptism at Danbury webpage. Accessed May 15, 2020.
  9. Abbott, Tim (April 28, 2008), Walking the Berkshires: Tryon's Danbury Raid webpage. Accessed May 15, 2020.
  10. Fabel, R.F.A. (Autumn 1992). "Montfort Browne's Corps: The Prince of Wales American Volunteers". Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. 70 (283): 164–165. JSTOR   44224742.
  11. Siebert, Wilbur H. (January 1931). "Loyalist Troops of New England". The New England Quarterly. 4 (1): 133. doi:10.2307/359219. JSTOR   359219.
  12. Fabel, R.F.A. (Autumn 1992). "Montfort Browne's Corps: The Prince of Wales American Volunteers". Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. 70 (283): 165–166. JSTOR   44224742.
  13. Siebert, Wilbur H. (1916). "The Refugee Loyalists of Connecticut" (PDF). Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, 3d Series. X: 84.
  14. Fabel, R.F.A. (Autumn 1992). "Montfort Browne's Corps: The Prince of Wales American Volunteers". Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. 70 (283): 166–168. JSTOR   44224742.
  15. A History of the Prince Of Wales' American Regiment - Part 4 of 7, Hanging Rock webpage. Accessed May 15, 2020.
  16. Fabel, R.F.A. (Autumn 1992). "Montfort Browne's Corps: The Prince of Wales American Volunteers". Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. 70 (283): 167–168. JSTOR   44224742.
  17. Hanging Rock, American Battlefield Trust webpage. Accessed May 15, 2020.
  18. Chesney, Alexander (October 30, 1921). "The Journal of Alexander Chesney, a South Carolina Loyalist in the Revolution and After". The Ohio State University Bulletin. 26 (4): 90.
  19. Gilbert, Ed; Gilbert, Catherine (2016). Cowpens 1781: Turning Point of the American Revolution. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 31. ISBN   978-1472822383.
  20. The American Revolution in South Carolina: Cowpens webpage. Accessed June 19, 2020.
  21. Fabel, R.F.A. (Autumn 1992). "Montfort Browne's Corps: The Prince of Wales American Volunteers". Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. 70 (283): 171. JSTOR   44224742.
  22. The American Revolution in South Carolina: Fort Granby webpage. Accessed June 19, 2020.
  23. Fabel, R.F.A. (Autumn 1992). "Montfort Browne's Corps: The Prince of Wales American Volunteers". Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. 70 (283): 171. JSTOR   44224742.
  24. Siebert, Wilbur H. (January 1931). "Loyalist Troops of New England". The New England Quarterly. 4 (1): 145. doi:10.2307/359219. JSTOR   359219.
  25. A History of the Prince Of Wales' American Regiment - Part 7 of 7, Final Days webpage. Accessed May 15, 2020.
  26. Siebert, Wilbur H. (January 1931). "Loyalist Troops of New England". The New England Quarterly. 4 (1): 145–146. doi:10.2307/359219. JSTOR   359219.
  27. A History of the Prince Of Wales' American Regiment - Part 7 of 7, Final Days webpage. Accessed May 15, 2020.
  28. Point of Interest, Prince of Wales American Regiment, University of New Brunswick webpage. Accessed May 15, 2020.