Although Scottish soldiers could be found in the Americas during the seventeenth century—oftentimes originally transported as prisoners of war and subsequently recruited into the British army–It was not
until the mid-eighteenth century that the British government began to raise Highland regiments, such as Fraser’s Highlanders, to fight in North America. The French and Indian War led to significant
recruitment in Scotland, particularly in the Highlands, for service in America. The allocation of land to former military personnel in the aftermath of the war was a major incentive to settle by former soldiers.

On the outbreak of the American Revolution, former soldiers, who had received land grants in America, were recalled for duty by the British government. For example, many former Scottish soldiers, who had been settled in the Mohawk Valley of upper New York, were recruited into the King’s Royal Regiment of New York. After the war, large numbers of soldiers from former Loyalist units and from the regular British Army regiments were settled in what would become Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Ontario, and Quebec. The practice of settling former soldiers in the colonies continued into the nineteenth century. For example, when the War of 1812 revealed the insecurity of the American-Canadian borders, Britain alleviated the problems by establishing settlements for former military personnel along the American-Canadian border.

This consolidation edition in two volumes identifies over 10,000 Scottish soldiers who served in the Americas. The new comprehensive index of names at the back of each volume enables genealogists and historians to easily identify every person named in the soldier descriptions—spouses, children, parents, ship captains, and so on–and not just the soldiers themselves. Included in Volume II is a detailed list of Scottish regiments that were stationed in colonial America that originally appeared in Part Eight. The Appendix in Volume II contains all the “American” entries from the author’s 2021 book, Scottish Soldiers in Europe and America, 1600-1700, which was published separately from the colonial America series.

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Although Scottish soldiers could be found in the Americas during the seventeenth century—oftentimes originally transported as prisoners of war and subsequently recruited into the British army–It was not
until the mid-eighteenth century that the British government began to raise Highland regiments, such as Fraser’s Highlanders, to fight in North America. The French and Indian War led to significant
recruitment in Scotland, particularly in the Highlands, for service in America. The allocation of land to former military personnel in the aftermath of the war was a major incentive to settle by former soldiers.

On the outbreak of the American Revolution, former soldiers, who had received land grants in America, were recalled for duty by the British government. For example, many former Scottish soldiers, who had been settled in the Mohawk Valley of upper New York, were recruited into the King’s Royal Regiment of New York. After the war, large numbers of soldiers from former Loyalist units and from the regular British Army regiments were settled in what would become Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Ontario, and Quebec. The practice of settling former soldiers in the colonies continued into the nineteenth century. For example, when the War of 1812 revealed the insecurity of the American-Canadian borders, Britain alleviated the problems by establishing settlements for former military personnel along the American-Canadian border.

This consolidation edition in two volumes identifies over 10,000 Scottish soldiers who served in the Americas. The new comprehensive index of names at the back of each volume enables genealogists and historians to easily identify every person named in the soldier descriptions—spouses, children, parents, ship captains, and so on–and not just the soldiers themselves. Included in Volume II is a detailed list of Scottish regiments that were stationed in colonial America that originally appeared in Part Eight. The Appendix in Volume II contains all the “American” entries from the author’s 2021 book, Scottish Soldiers in Europe and America, 1600-1700, which was published separately from the colonial America series.

The post Scottish Soldiers in Colonial America, Consolidated Edition. In Two Volumes. Volume I appeared first on Genealogical.com.

Although Scottish soldiers could be found in the Americas during the seventeenth century—oftentimes originally transported as prisoners of war and subsequently recruited into the British army–It was not
until the mid-eighteenth century that the British government began to raise Highland regiments, such as Fraser’s Highlanders, to fight in North America. The French and Indian War led to significant
recruitment in Scotland, particularly in the Highlands, for service in America. The allocation of land to former military personnel in the aftermath of the war was a major incentive to settle by former soldiers.

On the outbreak of the American Revolution, former soldiers, who had received land grants in America, were recalled for duty by the British government. For example, many former Scottish soldiers, who had been settled in the Mohawk Valley of upper New York, were recruited into the King’s Royal Regiment of New York. After the war, large numbers of soldiers from former Loyalist units and from the regular British Army regiments were settled in what would become Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Ontario, and Quebec. The practice of settling former soldiers in the colonies continued into the nineteenth century. For example, when the War of 1812 revealed the insecurity of the American-Canadian borders, Britain alleviated the problems by establishing settlements for former military personnel along the American-Canadian border.

This consolidation edition in two volumes identifies over 10,000 Scottish soldiers who served in the Americas. The new comprehensive index of names at the back of each volume enables genealogists and historians to easily identify every person named in the soldier descriptions—spouses, children, parents, ship captains, and so on–and not just the soldiers themselves. Included in Volume II is a detailed list of Scottish regiments that were stationed in colonial America that originally appeared in Part Eight. The Appendix in Volume II contains all the “American” entries from the author’s 2021 book, Scottish Soldiers in Europe and America, 1600-1700, which was published separately from the colonial America series.

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Item 9642

The First 24 Hours of the American Revolution. An Hour by Hour Account of the Battle of Lexington, Concord, and the British Retreat on Battle Road

Item 8521

So You Think You Know George Washington? Stories They Didn’t Tell You in School!

Item 8523

Victory or Death: Military Decisions that Changed the Course of the American Revolution

Item 9641

Women Patriots in the American Revolution. Stories of Bravery, Daring, and Compassion

Item 9643

Strange, Amazing, and Funny Events that Happened during the Revolutionary War

Item 8524

The Story of Yorktown: Told by the Men Who Were There

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In the aftermath of the War of the Three Kingdoms, 1638 to 1651, significant numbers of Scottish prisoners of war were transported to the colonies by Oliver Cromwell. Consequently, many of them were recruited into the colonial militias there, notably in New England. Similarly, in Barbados the militia rolls in 1679/1680 identify many Scots enrolled there, most of whom arrived in chains, having been banished there. In 1698-1699 the Scots attempted to establish a trading settlement at Darien in Panama. To defend the colony, Scottish soldiers who had been fighting in Flanders were recruited; some of them died there, while others took refuge in the English colonies in the Caribbean and along the eastern seaboard of North America.

However, it was not until the mid-eighteenth century that the British government began to raise Highland regiments, such as Fraser’s Highlanders, Montgomery’s Highlanders, and the Black Watch, which were sent to fight in North America.  The Seven Years War, 1756 to 1763, known in America as the French and Indian War, led to significant recruitment in Scotland, particularly in the Highlands, for service in America. The allocation of land to former military personnel in the aftermath of the war was a major incentive to settle by the now-former soldiers. The massive increase in emigration from the Highlands that occurred in the decade after the Seven Years War resulted to some extent from the influence of returning soldiers. Scottish settlers among the residents of the colonies were also recruited into the military, and especially the militia.

At the outbreak of the American Revolution, former soldiers, who had received land grants in America, were recalled for duty by the British government. For example, many former Scottish soldiers, who had settled in the Mohawk Valley of upper New York, were recruited into the King’s Royal Regiment of New York. At the same time many new or recent immigrants from Scotland formed the Royal Highland Emigrant Regiment. After the war, large numbers of soldiers from former Loyalist units and from regular British Army regiments were settled in what have become Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Ontario, and Quebec. Scottish soldiers, thus, not only played an important role in defending the American colonies but also an important part in settling them.

The practice of settling former soldiers in the Atlantic colonies continued into the nineteenth century. In 1815 the British government was faced with a number of problems in the post-Napoleonic War period. The War of 1812 revealed the insecurity of the American-Canadian borders, while thousands of British soldiers and sailors had been demobilized and many were unemployed. The government alleviated these problems by establishing settlements for former military personnel along the American-Canadian border.

The attached list of Scottish regiments that were stationed in colonial America should be of interest to family historians. Regimental museums in Scotland, such as the Black Watch Museum at Balhousie Castle, Perth, are worth visiting. Before 1751 army regiments bore the surname of their colonel; however, this changed in mid-century when regiments began to be numbered. Sometimes the number was changed, for example the Black Watch, which was briefly known as the 43^rd Regiment of Foot, changed to the 42^nd Regiment. Also, when some regiments were disbanded, their regimental numbers were reissued to new regiments.

Scottish Regiments in North America

The majority of Scottish soldiers served in regiments, raised and based in Scotland; however, there were some Scottish officers and men who enlisted or were transferred into English regiments. The Scottish regiments that were sent to the American colonies were:

 1^st [Royal Scots] Regiment, founded in 1633, is the oldest regiment in the British Army. It was sent to America in 1757 and fought the French and Indians on the frontier; at Montreal in 1760; at Louisbourg, Guadeloupe, and Havanna. In 1781 it served in the West Indies at St. Eustatius and St. Kitts, then it returned to the West Indies in 1801 to fight in St. Thomas, St. Lucia, Demerara, Essequibo, and Guadeloupe. During the War of 1812, the regiment was in action at Sackett’s Harbour, Fort Niagara, Chippewa, Lundy’s Lane, Fort Erie, and at St. John’s, Newfoundland.

 3^rd [Scots Guards] Regiment was in New York by 1776; it fought at Long Island, Fort Washington, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Brandywine, and Monmouth in 1778 and later in Charleston, South Carolina, and was captured at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1782.

 21^st [Royal North British Fusiliers] Regiment. Its origins date from 1678 in South West Scotland. James O. Forbes, 1765-1843, prominent Colonel, was at Quebec in 1776, captured at Saratoga, New York, in 1777, and interned until 1783. During the Napoleonic Wars the regiment fought at Martinique and at Guadeloupe, and also during the War of 1812.

 26^th [Cameronians] Regiment had its origins in the Covenanter Risings of the 1680s. It was sent to Nova Scotia in 1767, to Canada in 1775, was at Ticonderoga and Crown Point and possibly Quebec and St. John’s. Served at Monmouth, New Jersey, in 1776; it was based in New York before returning home in 1779. Returned to North America in 1787 to garrison Quebec, Montreal, Niagara, and St. John.

 42^nd [Black Watch alias the Royal Highland Regiment] was formed in 1739 in Perthshire. It fought in the French and Indian War and also the Revolutionary War. It was in action at Louisbourg in 1757, at Ticonderoga in 1758, at Montreal in 1760, in the Caribbean in 1762, in New York in 1762, then on the frontier, returned to New York in 1776, fought at Long Island, Fort Washington, New Jersey. The unit also served at Philadelphia in 1778, Monmouth, Newport, and East Florida in 1778, at Charleston in 1779, returned to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1783.

 77^th [Montgomery’s Highlanders] Regiment was raised in 1757. It was sent to New York in 1758, fought at Fort Du Quesne, Ohio, in 1758, from there to fight in Martinique and at Havanna, Cuba, in 1762, returned to New York and the Battle of Bushy Run in 1763. It was disbanded with land grants being made to the soldiers in 1763.

 71^st [Fraser’s Highlanders] Regiment was originally raised 1775 in Inverness, Stirling, and Glasgow, by Lieutenant General Simon Fraser of Lovat. Was sent to New York in 1776, in action that year on Long Island, also at Fort Washington, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Brandywine, Little Egg Harbour, and Savannah in 1778. In 1779, at Stone Point, also at Charleston in 1780, and Guildford Courthouse in 1781. Captured at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781, the regiment was disbanded in 1786.

 74^th [Argyll Highlanders] Regiment was raised in 1777 by John Campbell of Barbrock, a veteran of the French and Indian War. Was sent to New York in 1779, then to Halifax, Nova Scotia, garrisoned at Montreal, disbanded in 1783, then raised and sent to Halifax in 1818, quartered in Newfoundland and Labrador; by 1828 was based in Bermuda.

 76^th [MacDonald’s Highlanders] Regiment was raised in 1777, and sent to New York in 1779, fought in the Southern campaign. Was captured at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1782, and disbanded in Scotland in 1784.

 78^th [Fraser’s Highlanders] Regiment was raised by Lieutenant Colonel Simon Fraser of Lovat, and was sent to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1757. From there to Connecticut 1757-1758; fought at Louisbourg in 1757, at Ticonderoga in 1758, at Quebec in 1759, and Montreal in 1760. Disbanded in 1763, the officers and men were offered land grants in Canada.

 80^th [Royal Edinburgh] Regimen was raised in 1778, and sent to New York in 1779, fought in the South, was captured at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1782.

 82^nd [Hamilton’s] Regiment was raised in Lanarkshire during 1778, and was sent to New York in 1779, fought at the Battle of Penobscot, New Ireland, Maine, in 1779, to Halifax, Nova Scotia, then to Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1781. Was captured at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781, and was disbanded in 1784.

 83rd [Royal Glasgow] Regiment was raised in 1778, and sent to New York in 1781 on garrison duty until 1783, then returned to Scotland in 1784.

 84^th [Royal Highland Emigrants] Regiment was raised in America in 1775, mostly from former soldiers settled there. The regiment fought throughout the thirteen colonies but mostly in Quebec and Canada, at Bunker’s Hill, at Fort St. Jean, Moore’s Bridge Creek, and Eutaw Springs. Disbanded in Canada in 1784, and many of its soldiers settled there.

 93^rd [Sutherland Highlanders] Regiment was raised by General William Wemyss in the county of Sutherland in 1799. During the War of 1812 it fought at New Orleans, Louisiana, later, from 1823 until 1834, it was stationed in the West Indies in Barbados, Antigua, and St. Kitts.

 100^th [Campbell’s] Regiment was raised in 1760 from independent companies in Stirling by Colonel Colin Campbell. In 1761, during the French and Indian War, it was sent to the Caribbean to fight the French in Martinique. In the aftermath of the War the regiment returned to Stirling, where it was disbanded in 1763.

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Did you know that Washington had a great sense of humor? What is the real story behind his teeth? What was in the love letter he wrote to his best friend’s wife, while he was engaged to Martha? How did he help start a war in the 1750s? How was he going to be brought back to life after his death? As President, why didn’t Washington like to shake hands? What gift did he accept from Spain that changed American farming forever?

Did you know that, at one time, Washington was the leading moonshiner in the country? How did he treat his slaves? Was he always for independence? How did he feel about religion? Why did he sentence an innocent man to death? Why did he curse and threaten his soldiers at times? Why was Washington considered a great general when he lost the majority of his battles? Why did he not free his slaves, and why did Martha finally free them? When Washington became president, what title did he really want used? What form of harsh punishment did he use on his soldiers?

George Washington traveled out of the North American continent only once—do you know where? Why is it believed that the Washingtons had no children of their own? What other eligible women did Washington pursue prior to his marriage? How did Washington win election to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1757?

These are just a few of the things you will learn about George Washington. There are dozens more of these little-known anecdotes that were told by the people who knew him personally, and these tales will give you a better understanding of what this great man was really like.

About the Author: Jack Darrell Crowder is a retired teacher and administrator with forty plus years in the classroom. He holds B.A. and master’s degrees from Texas Christian University and has written twelve books on the American Revolution. He gives talks on the Revolutionary War to school classes, historical societies, and Daughters of the American Revolution chapters.

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From 1638 to 1651 significant numbers of Scottish prisoners of war were transported to the colonies by Oliver Cromwell. Consequently, many of them were recruited into the colonial militias, notably in New England. Similarly in Barbados, the militia rolls in 1679/1680 identify many Scots enrolled there, most of whom arrived in chains. In 1698/1699, the Scots attempted to establish a trading settlement at Darien in Panama. To defend the colony, Scottish soldiers were recruited. Some of them died there, while others took refuge in the English colonies in the Caribbean and along the eastern seaboard of North America.

It was not until the mid-18th century, however, that the British government began to raise Highland regiments, such as Fraser’s Highlanders, Montgomery’s Highlanders, and the Black Watch, for service in North America. The Seven Years War from 1756 to 1763, known in America as the French and Indian War, led to significant recruitment in Scotland, particularly in the Highlands, to fight in America. The allocation of land to former military personnel in the aftermath of that war was a major incentive to settle. The massive increase in emigration among non-combatants from the Highlands that occurred in the decade after the Seven Years War resulted to some extent from the influence of returning soldiers. Scottish colonists were also recruited into the military and especially the colonial militias.

With the outbreak of the American Revolution, former soldiers, who had received land grants in America, were recalled for duty in Loyalist regiments by the British government. After the war, large numbers of soldiers from former Loyalist units and from the regular British Army were settled in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Ontario, and Quebec. Scottish soldiers, thus, played an important role in settling the British colonies in the Americas.

The post Scottish Soldiers in Colonial Amerca, Part Seven appeared first on Genealogical.com.

In The Story of Yorktown, Revolutionary War expert Jack Darrell Crowder provides a day-by-day account of the Siege of Yorktown as told by the participants in their journals, diaries, memoirs, pension applications, and letters, as well as in contemporary newspapers. The soldiers write of their fears, hopes, and impressions of these culminating experiences, as well as the destruction that took place. They describe the fortifications, the artillery, life on the battlefield, and the death of friends.

Mr. Crowder begins his coverage with a description of the town of Yorktown and the start of the siege. The narrative continues with the preparations made on both sides, the role of the artillery, the British failed attempt to escape, and their ultimate surrender. Besides the numerical superiority of the Franco-American armies and navy, as the Hessian soldier Johann Conrad Dohla makes clear, the British grossly underestimated the capacity of the Patriot artillery: “At night . . . the enemy began to fire on our left wing, then against our entire line, to fire bombs, cannon, and howitzers. This removed the belief, which we held previously that they had only their regimental cannon there and could not bring up heavy weapons because of the many forests and swamps.”

The Story of Yorktown concludes with the author’s endnotes, a bibliography, and a detailed index to persons and places. Clearfield Company is pleased to add it to its collection of Revolutionary War titles written by Jack Darrell Crowder.

About the Author: Jack Darrell Crowder is a retired teacher and administrator with forty plus years in the classroom. He holds B.A. and master’s degrees from Texas Christian University and has written twelve books on the American Revolution. He gives talks on the Revolutionary War to school classes, historical societies, and Daughters of the American Revolution chapters.

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Each chapter in Victory or Death provides a summary of specific events that were key to the War’s outcome. At the conclusion of every chapter, the author reviews the decisions, for good or ill, that led to the result. For example, he shows that England’s pyrrhic victory at Bunker Hill both raised the morale and preserved the numbers of American combatants, while exposing the danger of British overconfidence.  Making good use of illustrations of the people and places of the American Revolution, Mr. Crowder focuses on these momentous choices made by leaders on both sides:

• Selection of George Washington as America’s Commander-in-Chief
• Britain’s frontal assault on Bunker [Breed’s] Hill
• America’s ill-fated siege of Quebec
• General Howe’s reluctance to finish off the Americans in New York
• Washington’s attack on Trenton
• Britain’s miscues at Saratoga
• Significance of Washington’s Spy Ring
• How decisions about African Americans affected the outcome
• Choices made at Valley Forge to preserve the American army
• The Battle of King’s Mountain
• Appointment of Nathaniel Greene as Commander of America’s Southern army
• Yorktown

Victory or Death concludes with the author’s endnotes, a bibliography, and a detailed index to persons and places. Clearfield Company is pleased to add it to its collection of Revolutionary War titles written by Jack Darrell Crowder.

About the Author: Jack Darrell Crowder is a retired teacher and administrator with forty plus years in the classroom. He holds B.A. and master’s degrees from Texas Christian University and has written twelve books on the American Revolution. He gives talks on the Revolutionary War to school classes, historical societies, and Daughters of the American Revolution chapters.

The post Victory or Death appeared first on Genealogical.com.

Before 1800 Ireland was a separate kingdom but subject to the British king. The last king of Ireland was the Catholic King James II who encouraged the formation of Irish regiments. After James’ defeat at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 most of his forces, around 2,000 men, went to France, in what is known as the “Flight of the Wild Geese”, where they formed regiments in the French Army such as Montcashel’s, O’Brian’s, and Dillon’s. Irish soldiers fought in various campaigns in Europe and in Canada, and probably the Caribbean, until the French Revolution when they were disbanded.

The British Army did not enlist Irish Catholics during much of the 18th century as they were considered likely to be unreliable when opposing the forces of Catholic countries such as France and Spain, which contained many of their countrymen. Ireland was garrisoned mainly by British regiments, though new regiments were raised in Ireland, such as The Royal Regiment of Foot of Ireland and the Inniskilling Regiment.

Irish settlers in colonial America were recruited into local militias, such as the Virginia Regiment or the Montserrat Militia, which are identified in this book. During the American Revolution people of Irish origin could be found in both Loyalist and Patriot units, including the “Volunteers of Ireland”. The Loyalist Claims proved very useful in identifying Irish fighting men.

Between 1789 and 1815 Britain was at war with Napoleon’s France, necessitating an expansion of the British Army. In the aftermath of the Battle of Waterloo the British government settled substantial numbers of demobilised soldiers, including Irishmen, in Canada. From about 1780 onwards the British regiments enlisted at least one-third of their recruits in Ireland; this increased to about 40% by the early 19th century owing to demand from the British Army and the East India Company.

For additional information about Irish recruits that served in the Colonies, see “A Historical Record of the 27^th [Inniskilling] Regiment”, by W C Trimble, [1851];  Richard Cannon’s “Historical record of the 18^th [Royal Irish] Regiment of Foot”, [London 1848]; and Steven M Baule’s “Protecting the Empire’s Frontier, Officers of the 18^th [Royal Irish] Foot”, [Ohio, 2013]; as well as the journals of the Army Historical Research Society, and those of the “Irish Sword”.

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