Active 1777-1780 Garrison/HQ Province of Quebec Allegiance United Kingdom | Country Great Britain Headquarters Province of Quebec | |
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Branch Loyalist local volunteer corps Type infantry (auxiliary troops) Size company of 70 soldiers and officers | ||
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, now present-day Vermont, the Rangers, made their most significant contribution, to the British war effort, by serving, with ill-fated, Burgoyne Expedition, in the Saratoga campaign, of 1777.
Contents
Company formed
The soldiers of, Adams's Rangers were recruited primarily, from the region, of the New Hampshire Grants also, known by the Patriots, as the Republic of Vermont, with the largest number of recruits, coming from Arlington, under heavy opposition, from the majority, Patriot population and their old enemies, the Patriot Green Mountain Boys. Dr. Adams later stated, that he had raised 70 men for the company. Either late, in the Burgoyne campaign or in early 1778, the Rangers absorbed a body of soldiers, from the Bateaux Service, under Jeptha Hawley, who was also, from Arlington.
Campaigns
In 1777, Adams' Rangers were a part of the scouting service, during the Saratoga Campaign. Very little has been recorded, concerning the activities, of the unit, during the disastrous campaign, but Loyalist claims made by men, of the Ranger company, described piloting the army, running dispatches, between British commanders, raiding cattle, from Rebel farms, and defending Loyalist farms, from Patriot foraging parties.
After the British Army's defeat and surrender at Saratoga, Adams' Rangers and other Loyalist units, were allowed to retreat to the Province of Quebec. For the next three years Adams' men, like most other Loyalist troops, in Canada, were occupied with garrison duty and employed in work parties, improving the defences of the Province. Several of the soldiers and their families lived, he refugee cam,p at the Machiche, near Trois-Rivières, Quebec. In early 1778, the company numbered 37 all-ranks — by mid-1780, their number had been reduced to 27.
Company Officers
Captains
Dr. Samuel Adams of Arlington, [[New Hampshire Grants Jeptha Hawley of Arlington, New Hampshire Grants
Lieutenant
Simpson Jenne of Clarendon, Vermont Arlington, Vermont|Arlington]], New Hampshire Grants
Ensign
Gideon Adams of Arlington, New Hampshire Grants
Company disbanded
Frustrated by lack of prospects and dispersement of his men, around the Province, Captain Adams demanded to be allowed to join his Company to Roger's Rangers (2nd Battalion King's Rangers) or go to New York, to serve in the Central department. When his demands were refused, Adams disbanded his men in late October 1780. Following the dissolution, of the Adam's Rangers, a few of the men, from the company, joined Roger's Rangers, but the majority were absorbed, into McAlpin's Corps, a collection of under-strength Loyalist units. In November 1781, these British units were consolidated, into a new Provincial regiment, the Loyal Rangers, commanded by Major Edward Jessup.
Resettled in British Canada
Following the war, a few of Adam's men returned to the United States, some settled in Quebec around Sorel, but most were granted land in South-Eastern Ontario along the St Lawrence River. The largest concentration of former Adam's Company men settled in Ernestown and Edwardsburg Townships.