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Thesis advisor: Alan Rogers / Abstract: Splintered Loyalties: The Revolutionary War in Essex County, New Jersey By Gregory Francis Walsh Dissertation Director: Professor Alan Rogers "Splintered Loyalties" is a study of the people of Essex County, New Jersey and their experiences during the American Revolution. It is a careful analysis of their struggle to understand sweeping political change and their efforts to act in their community's best interest. This dissertation explores the momentous impact the Continental Congress's decision to declare independence had on Essex residents and stresses that both the British and American governments continued to fight for the hearts and minds of the people of Essex well after 1776. Relying on Essex County's military, economic, and judicial records and the public and private writings of ordinary people and their leaders, this project illustrates the waxing and waning of popular support for America's war effort between 1775 and 1783. Popular memory of the Revolution often divides the wartime population into distinct Patriot and Loyalist camps. This dissertation,however, argues that such a dichotomy recognizes neither the complexity of Patriots' and Loyalists' relationships with their wartime enemies nor the varying levels of commitment that Essex Patriots demonstrated in the war to establish a new republic. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: History.

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This dissertation is about the Loyalist Regiments of the American Revolution, 1775-1783. These were the formal regiments formed by the British, consisting of Americans who stayed Loyal to the British crown during the American Revolutionary War. They fought in most of the main campaigns of this war and in 1783 left with the British Army for Canada, where many of them settled. The Loyalist regiments have been neglected by academic historians with only one major work on them as a group. The intention of this dissertation is to give them their proper place in the historiography of the American Revolutionary War and of eighteenth century military history. The dissertation is laid out in the following way. Chapter one, will be an overview of the history of Regiments, from their origins in Colonial days until 1783. It will assess how they were dealt with by the British and examine both organisation and combat. Chapter two is a thematic chapter looking principally at the organisation of the regiments as well as their motivation and composition. The next four chapters are case studies of three Loyalist regiments. Chapters three and four are a case study of the Queens Rangers. A database of all the soldiers who served in this regiment was created and is included with this dissertation. Chapter five is about the controversial regiment, the British Legion. Chapter 6 is a case study of the frontier regiment Butler‘s Rangers.

This thesis uses a case study approach to examine loyalism during the American Revolution, by considering the Loyalists of Newburgh, New York. I examine the Loyalist community by exploring its origins before the Revolution, analyzing its composition, examining the Loyalists' wartime experiences, and by considering their post-war exile. Studying Newburgh's Loyalists allows for a nuanced understanding of loyalism both in the Hudson Valley and more generally. I argue that migration, religion, wealth, and geographic location shaped Loyalist communities and their experiences. My thesis is divided into four chapters, the first of which considers the origins of the Loyalist community, which dates to religious conflict in the town during the 1750s and 1760s. Anglicans fought with dissenting Protestants over control of the church glebe, creating a division which split the community along religious lines when the American Revolutionary War began. Anglicans often became Loyalists, while the Presbyterian-led dissenters were almost entirely Patriots. In the second chapter, I examine the size and composition of the Loyalists from Newburgh. The Loyalist population of Newburgh was smaller than average in New York, but was much larger than any Loyalist community in its area. Men loyal to the King were generally Anglican, poorer than their Revolutionary counterparts, and were often related to one another. My third chapter explores the war experiences of the Loyalists, both in Newburgh and behind British lines. In Newburgh, men loyal to the King faced increasing persecution as war progressed, which intensified when there was a military threat from British forces. Persecution peaked in 1777, when the Hudson Valley faced British invasion from New York City to its south as well as from Canada in the north. Patriots in Newburgh were vigilant in rooting out Loyalist dissidents as Newburgh's sizeable Loyalist population was a military liability in case of attack. As a result of their maltreatment, many Loyalists fled to British-occupied New York City. They often joined Loyalist provincial units where they were frequently used as guides and recruiters in the countryside because they had knowledge of the area. My final chapter considers the post-war exile of Newburgh's Loyalists in Canada. Most settled in what became New Brunswick where they tried to recreate aspects of their old society by settling near former neighbors, and continuing to adhere to the Anglican Church. Many of the Loyalists, who had been poor in Newburgh, improved their social status and gained wealth in their new society. This thesis fills a historiographical gap on the subject of loyalism in the Hudson Valley, and also demonstrates the influence of migration, religion, wealth, and geographic location on Loyalist communities and the experiences of individual Loyalists.

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Many historians of the American Revolution fail to accurately assess the impact British supporters in the Thirteen Colonies had on the military dimension of the war. The Crown's American allies, commonly referred to as Loyalists, were instrumental in British operations throughout the conflict, especially in the southern colonies. Reports from the royal governors of the southern colonies numbered the Loyalists in the thousands. British officials in London developed a plan to Americanize the war by utilizing Loyalists more comprehensively, lessening the burden for more British troops. The first steps toward Americanizing the war occurred when General Sir Henry Clinton and Lieutenant General Charles, Second Earl, Cornwallis incorporated southern Loyalists with their British troops to reconquer the southern colonies in 1780. After the British conquest of Charleston, South Carolina in June 1780, Lieutenant General Cornwallis was awarded the independent command of the British forces in the South and was additionally charged with rallying and protecting the Loyalists in North and South Carolina. Cornwallis consistently tried to organize the Loyalists into militia corps to combat Rebel partisans operating in the Carolina backcountry, The constant failure of the Loyalist militia persuaded Cornwallis of their inability to sustain themselves. As a result, Cornwallis abandoned the southern colonies, as well as the Crown's loyal subjects, in favor of offensive operations in Virginia. His aim was to prevent the Rebel southern army from receiving supplies and recruits. Many slaves joined Cornwallis' army in Virginia and persuaded him to utilize them to replace the services provided by southern white Loyalists. These failed decisions contributed to Cornwallis' humiliating defeat at Yorktown in October 1781, effectively ending the military dimension of the American Revolution. / History

The activity of southwest Virginia (Botetourt, Montgomery, and Washington Counties) Tories is important because of the presence of the all-important Lead Mines in what was then Montgomery County. During the Revolution the Montgomery Mines supplied the needs of the Continental Army, the Commonwealth of Virginia and the state of North Carolina. Along the frontier itself, the threat of Indian attack loomed as an ever-present fear and made protection of the lead works essential to the safety of its inhabitants. This study discusses Loyalism in general, as well as the presence of Loyalists in Virginia and the other twelve colonies. The work then focuses on the people who settled in and the environment of southwest Virginia. Characteristics of some ethnic groups, especially the Germans, made them more susceptible to becoming Tories; while traits of other groups made them likely to support independence. Throughout the Revolution frontiersmen faced a dual threat from Indians and Tories. It was in 1779 that the southwest Virginia Tories began their campaign to destroy the Lead Mines. Undaunted by failure, they attempted once more in 1780 to wrest the Mines from the Patriot's seemingly iron grip. Principal figures involved in suppressing these uprisings were Colonels Arthur and William Campbell of Washington County; Colonels Charles Lynch, Manager of the Mines, and William Preston of Smithfield in Montgomery County. The dearth of Tory success disheartened many, and no further attempts of any seriousness were launched. / M.A.