Active 1777-1779 Size company Allegiance Kingdom of Great Britain | Branch Loyalist associators Nickname(s) Brant's Volunteers | |
Type independent rangers (auxiliary troops) Role special operations, guerrilla warfare, light infantry Engagements American Revolutionary War, Battle of Oriskany Similar Butler's Rangers, King's Rangers, Rogers' Rangers, Fencibles | ||
Brant's Volunteers were irregular British Loyalist associators (volunteers) raised during the American Revolutionary War by pro-British Mohawk chief, Joseph Brant (Mohawk: Thayendanegea), who fought on the British side in the Province of New York.
Contents
Company formed
The initial size of Brant's guerrilla company was approximately 100 men, comprising 20% Mohawk allies of the British, and 80% white, New York Loyalists. The Loyalists were mostly of English, Scottish, and Irish descent recruited from the Province of New York.
Though Brant himself received a captain's commission in the Six Nations Indian Department, other members of the group were Loyalist associators (volunteers). They were unpaid by the British, and relied upon plunder—and sometimes Joseph's credit—for their compensation. Eventually Frederick Haldimand authorized provisioning, but no monetary payments. Since the unit had no official recognition, many members transferred to Butler's Rangers and the King's Royal Regiment of New York. Later in the war, Brant was able to attract a larger number of Indians to his unit, which grew to over 300 members.
Campaigns
Brant's Volunteers were at the 1777 Battle of Oriskany. They fought in 1778 at the Battle of Cobleskill, the Attack on German Flatts, and the Raid on Springfield. In 1779, they were engaged at the Battle of Minisink.
Uniforms
Brant's Volunteers wore yellow lace on their hats in order to be easily identified in battle. Brant's men, at least on one occasion, dressed as Indians to disguise themselves while raiding their former neighbors.
Company disbanded and resettled in British Canada
A few of the white Loyalist members of the Brant company were still with the unit at the end of the war, and settled with Joseph Brant and his Mohawks, along the Grand River, in the Province of Ontario of British Canada.
Legacy
There are three reenactment groups of Brant's Volunteers: 1) Brant's Volunteers (Oquaga), based in Brant's home in the Mohawk Valley of New York; 2) The Northwest Territorial Alliance (NWTA) group based in Indiana; and 3) a group based out of Fort Niagara in western NY.