Loyal Regiment of Nova Scotia Volunteers (1775-1780) Royal Regiment of Nova Scotia Volunteers (1780-1783) | |
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Active | 1775-1783 |
Country | Great Britain |
Allegiance | King George III |
Branch | British provincial corps |
Type | infantry, (auxiliary troops) |
Role | garrison troops |
Size | 5 or 6 companies (battalion) |
Garrison/HQ | Halifax (1780-1783) Fort Sackville (Nova Scotia), Nova Scotia (1780-1783) Prince Edward Island (1782-1783) |
Engagements | American Revolutionary War
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Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Colonel Francis Legge Governor John Parr |
The Royal Nova Scotia Volunteer Regiment, also known as the Loyal Regiment of Nova Scotia Volunteers and Loyal Nova Scotia Volunteers, from 1775-1780, the Royal Regiment of Nova Scotia Volunteers, from 1780-1783, and the Royal Nova Scotia Volunteer Regiment and Nova Scotia Volunteers, was a British Loyalist provincial battalion, of infantry, raised in 1775, to defend British interests, in the colony of Nova Scotia. The unit was commanded by Col. Francis Legge, until replaced by Col. John Parr in 1782. The Royal NS Volunteers never saw combat, but did play an important role in the defense of the colony of Nova Scotia, in the later years, of the American Revolution.
Part of a series on the |
Military history of Nova Scotia |
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Francis Legge was appointed the royal governor of Nova Scotia in 1773, just as troubles were brewing in the American colonies. Legge, "an earnest but highly prejudiced and therefore much disliked man" [1] proposed to the Secretary of State on July 31, 1775 that he be permitted to raise a regiment of 1,000 men, to be recruited from the German, neutral and Irish settlers in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Legge had grave doubts about the loyalty of the New England Planters who made up the majority of Nova Scotia's settlers at this point. (Legge's distrust was not entirely misplaced, as the Eddy Rebellion was to prove.) He proposed the name "Royal Nova Scotia Volunteers", but this was denied and changed to "Loyal". Some time around 1780 the "Royal" designation was bestowed for the duration of the war.
Francis Legge received a dispatch from London dated October 16, 1775, authorizing him to raise the Loyal Regiment of Nova Scotia Volunteers as a fencible unit, for strictly local defense. The recruits were to be paid and equipped like regular soldiers; they would be, in effect, a full-time home guard. [2]
The officers of the "Royal Nova Scotia Volunteers" were mostly lawyers and other men of the Halifax establishment and Francis Legge's political hangers-on, with little or no military experience, along with a number of subalterns brought in from the British Fleet. The most distinguished senior officer was George Henry Monk, who became major and served for the duration. [3]
Recruiting for the Loyal Regiment of Nova Scotia Volunteers proved to be extremely difficult, owing to Francis Legge's unpopularity. He was finally ordered back to Britain in May, 1776, although he remained colonel and governor in absentia until replaced by John Parr in 1782. Despite a recruiting bounty of two guineas, by April, 1776, only sixty men had been mustered, at very heavy expense. The officers were so discouraged that they sent a petition of grievances to the Secretary of State on June 14. Rather than being trained as soldiers, the men were sent to Spanish River, Cape Breton to dig coal for the army. The next summer, forty men went back to colliery while twenty served as marines on the Royal Navy sloop HMS Gage. The subalterns were returned to the Fleet. [4]
As resentment of Francis Legge died away, the fortunes of the Loyal Regiment changed. Returns show that by February, 1780, 568 men had enlisted and 92 had deserted, for an overall strength of 476 rank and file. This was very close to the re-authorized strength of a half-battalion (500). Due to officer absences, the unit was under day-to-day command of the senior captain, John Solomon, at Fort Sackville. The Volunteers were taking a full share of garrison duties in Halifax and several outposts. [5] Given the importance of Halifax to the overall British war effort, this was useful employment. In 1782 a detachment was sent to the Island of St. John.
Not only the size, but the desirable reputation of the Loyal Nova Scotia Volunteers grew in later years. A few months before disbandment, Brigadier-General Henry Edward Fox expressed:
... the great satisfaction he has received in seeing the two provincial battalions of Royal N.S. Volunteers and the King's Orange Rangers, and highly approves of their discipline and military appearance, more particularly of the soldierlike manoeuvres and quick-step of the Royal N. Sco. Volunteers which has so much the appearance of troops that have been employed in active service. [6]
In 1775-1776 the men of the Volunteers mostly wore civilian clothing; essentially, whatever they were wearing when they enlisted. Their first uniforms arrived in early 1777, green coats faced white, with white smallclothes, in common with most other Loyalist corps of the American command at that time. Officers wore silver lace. By 1779 the regiment was wearing red coats faced buff, and officers' metal had changed to gold. There is a reference to red coats faced green in 1783. [7]
The Loyal Nova Scotia Volunteer Regiment was disbanded at noon on Monday, October 20, 1783. The officers went on half-pay, and those officers and men who wished received land grants in the area of Ship Harbour. [8] Cpt. Thomas Green, two sergeants, five corporals, and 22 private soldiers, some with their families, took up grants ranging from 100 to 450 acres. [9] Captain Timothy William Hierlihy and his father Lt Col. Timothy Hierlihy of the Regiment settled in Antigonish (Captain Island and Captain Pond are named after the son. [10] )
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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."
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The Old Burying Ground is a historic cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is located at the intersection of Barrington Street and Spring Garden Road in Downtown Halifax.
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.
John Parr was a British military officer and governor of Nova Scotia. He is buried in the crypt of St. Paul's Church.
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.
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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".
James Moody was a loyalist volunteer during the American Revolution who became a farmer and political figure in Nova Scotia. He represented Annapolis County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1793 to 1806. He wrote one of the most important loyalist memoires of the war.
Francis Legge was a British military officer and colonial official in Nova Scotia during the 18th century. He served as governor of Nova Scotia from 1772 to 1776. During the American Revolution, Legge raised the Royal Nova Scotia Volunteer Regiment.
The Raid on Lunenburg occurred during the American Revolution when the US privateer, Captain Noah Stoddard of Fairhaven, Massachusetts, and four other privateer vessels attacked the British settlement at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia on July 1, 1782. The raid was the last major privateer attack on a Nova Scotia community during the war.
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The King's Orange Rangers, also known as the Corps of King's Orange Rangers, were a British Loyalist battalion, raised in 1776 to defend British interests in Orange County, Province of New York and generally in and around the New York colony, although they saw most of their service in the Province of Nova Scotia. The battalion's commander was Lieutenant Colonel John Bayard. The Rangers had an undistinguished military record, through most of its existence, and saw very limited combat, mostly against Patriot privateers, but did play an important role in the defence of the colony of Nova Scotia in the later years of the American Revolution. The King's Orange Rangers are especially remembered for their role in the defence of Liverpool, in the Nova Scotia colony.
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The Province of Nova Scotia was heavily involved in the American Revolutionary War (1776–1783). At that time, Nova Scotia also included present-day New Brunswick until that colony was created in 1784. The Revolution had a significant impact on shaping Nova Scotia, "almost the 14th American Colony". At the beginning, there was ambivalence in Nova Scotia over whether the colony should join the Americans in the war against Britain. Largely as a result of American privateer raids on Nova Scotia villages, as the war continued, the population of Nova Scotia solidified their support for the British. Nova Scotians were also influenced to remain loyal to Britain by the presence of British military units, judicial prosecution by the Nova Scotia Governors and the efforts of Reverend Henry Alline.
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.
Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Vetch Bayard was a Loyalist military officer in the American Revolution who served in the King's Orange Rangers (KOR). He is the son of William Bayard who founded the KOR. He was the great-grandson of Governor Samuel Vetch and was the father of Robert Bayard.