| Name |
Data |
Sources |
| CAMPBELL, Peter |
LIEUTENANT,
October 1779 to May 1780. |
Public Archives of Canada, "Muster Rolls, Series C, RG 8, Vol 1883-5". |
|
Served in Captain James Edwards Company. |
Analysis of the Muster Rolls. |
|
Killed at Waxhaws, South Carolina on May 29, 1780 while serving with the cavalry. |
Tarleton, Banastre, "A History of the Campaigns of 1780 & 1781 in the Southern Provinces of North America", North Stratford, NH, 1999, p 84. |
|
| COCHRANE, Charles |
MAJOR,
1778 through 1781. |
Muster Rolls. |
|
Born January 23, 1749. Son of Thomas, 8th Earl of Dundonald. Married Catherine, daughter of Major John Pitcairn, Royal Marines, who was killed at Bunker Hill. Ensign in 25th Regiment for six years, Lieutenant in the 7th Regiment also for 6 years, purchased his Captaincy in the 4th Regiment in 1774. Was at Bunker Hill with his father in law. |
Ross, Charles (ed) "Correspondence of Charles First Marquis Cornwallis", 2nd Ed, Vol 1, London, 1859, p 125 Footnote;
Chamberlain, Mellen "Memorial of Captain Charles Cochrane" British Officer in the Revolutionary War. Reprint from the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society of May 1891. Cambridge, 1891, p 4. |
|
Raised a body of infantry volunteers for the Legion in 1778 and was appointed Major of the Legion Infantry. |
Analysis of the Muster Rolls. |
|
Led the Legion Infantry on the march from Savannah to Charlestown, SC. in March 1780. Had sole command of the infantry until he was joined on March 21 by Tarleton and the cavalry who had come from Beauford SC where they had disembarked to obtain horses for the cavalry. |
Allaire, Anthony, "Diary of Lieut. Anthony Allaire" of Ferguson's Corp, Arno Press, pp 5 and 8. |
|
Commanded the Legion Infantry until after the action at Waxhaws on May 29, 1780, when he requested and received permission on June 10 from Cornwallis to return to England to attend to his private affairs. He returned to New York sometime in 1781 with his wife. |
Chamberlain, "Memorial" p 8. |
|
His head was taken off by a cannon ball on October 17, 1781 standing next to Cornwallis, while looking over a parapet at Yorktown. He had come from New York, on October 10th, bearing dispatches from Clinton to Cornwallis, dated September 30th. He went in a British vessel as far as the Capes. From there he took a small boat, in which he passed undiscovered through the midst of the French fleet and arrived safely in Yorktown. |
Tarleton "History", pp 390, 424 and 446;
Ross, "Cornwallis Correspondence I", p 125 Footnote;
Chamberlain, "Memorial" p 12. |
|
His wife Catherine, having already lost a son and daugther in childhood, now had lost both a husband and father to the war. She later remarried on Feb 19, 1789 to Charles Owen Cambridge and lived at Whitminister House near Gloucester until her own
death on October 24, 1835. |
Pitcairn, Constance "History of Fife Pitcairn", London, 1905, pp 452-453. |
|
| DAWSON, GEORGE |
CAPTAIN,
1782. |
Muster Rolls. |
|
Born in America. Resident of Staten Island, New York. |
Davies, K.G. (Ed.), "Documents of the American Revolution (DOR)", Vol. XXI (1782-1783), Shannon, 1981, p. 228. |
|
Replaced Captain Charles McDonald. |
Analysis of the Muster Rolls. |
|
Transferred to the Legion from the Orange Rangers on August 25, 1782. |
Muster Roll of October 10, 1782. |
|
| DONOVAN, Jonathan |
LIEUTENANT,
June 1780 to April 1782 |
Muster Rolls. |
|
Born in Ireland. |
DOR, Vol. XXI, p. 228. |
|
Served in Captain John Rousselet's Company. |
Analysis of the Muster Rolls. |
|
Led the advance guard of 20 dragoons and 20 supporting infantry on August 15, 1780, enroute to Camden. |
Bass Robert, "Green Dragoon", Columbia SC, 1973, p 96. |
|
Wounded at Camden, North Carolina on August 16, 1780. |
Tarleton, "History", p 138. |
|
| EDWARDS, James |
CAPTAIN,
October 1778 to December 1782. |
Muster Rolls. |
|
Born in Ireland. Former Lieutenant in the 28th Regiment. |
DOR, Vol. XXI, p. 228. |
|
Captain of the Company raised by Charles Cochrane who was appointed Major of the Legion Infantry. |
Analysis of the Muster Rolls. |
|
His company at Cowpens on January 17, 1781. |
Muster Roll dated December 24, 1781. |
|
| MacKENZIE, John |
CAPTAIN,
August 1778 to December 1778. |
Muster Rolls. |
|
Originally raised as the "Scottish Volunteers" by William Lord Cathcart. |
Analysis of the Muster Rolls. |
|
Company disbanded at the close of 1778. |
Ibid. |
|
Resident of Cumberland County, North Carolina. Came to America in 1774 from Great Britain. Owned 450 acres at Pocket Creek. He was at Moore's Creek Bridge in February 1776 and was a prisoner for 18 months before escaping. Appointed Captain in Legion in 1778.
Resigned from the British Army in 1781 due to ill health. Went to St. Augustine, Florida after the war. |
NYC Public Library, "Loyalist Claims dated April 6, 1786 and "Loyalist Transcripts, Vol 27", pp 525-534. |
|
| McCRUMMIN, Donald |
LIEUTENANT,
September 1778 to December 1781. |
Muster Rolls. |
|
Born in Scotland. |
DOR, Vol. XXI, p. 228. |
|
Served in Captain Kenneth McCullough Company from September 1778 to April 1779. Served in Captain Thomas Miller's Company from April 1779 to December 1781. |
Analysis of the Muster Rolls. |
|
Native of Anson County, North Carolina. He was Lieutenant In Kingsborough Mc Donald's company at Moore's Creek Bridge in 1776. He was a refugee in the swamps for 2 years. His companion was Soirle McDonald. (See below) He joined the British at Philadelphia in 1778. Came from Scotland in 1773. |
NYC Public Library, "Loyalist Claims dated Feb 15,1786" and "Loyalist Transcripts Vol 27", pp 37-42. |
|
Went to Shelburne, Nova Scotia after the war. Arrived with a woman, 4 children and 4 servants. |
"The Global Gazette" Canada's On Line Magazine - Port Roseway Association (Shelburne N.S.) p 15. |
|
| McDONALD, Charles |
CAPTAIN,
August 1780 to August 1782. |
Muster Rolls. |
|
A new infantry company raised in the south. Replaced by Captain George Dawson. |
Analysis of the Muster Rolls. |
|
Son of Allan and Flora Mc Donald. |
Sabine, "The American Loyalists", Vol 2, p 58. |
|
Born 1751. Married Isabella MacDonald. Daughter of the Mac Donalds of Aird. |
N-Y Historical Society Collections, "Alexander Mc Donald Letter Book", p 394. |
|
Participated in the Hanging Rock Skirmish on August 6, 1780. He and Captain Patrick Stewart, with only 40 men
came on scene and pretending to be larger than they were persuaded Sumter into retreating by extending their line. |
Tarleton, "History", p 95. |
|
Wounded in a skirmish at Charlotte,NC on September 26, 1780. |
Tarleton, "History", p 159. |
|
His company at Cowpens on January 17, 1781. |
Muster Roll, dated February 23, 1781 & February 23, 1782. |
|
Went to Great Britain at the peace and died there prior to 1833. |
Sabine, "The American Loyalists", p 58. |
|
| McDONALD, James |
LIEUTENANT,
November 1778 to August 1782. |
Muster Rolls. |
|
Served in Captain John McKenzie's Company in 1778. Served in Captain Thomas Miller's Company - 1779-1782. |
Analysis of the Muster Rolls. |
|
Son of Allan and Flora Mc Donald - Born in 1757. |
Sabine, Lorenzo, "Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution", Baltimore, 1994, p 58. |
|
4th son. Married Emily McDonald, daughter of the McDonalds of Heisker. Took her to live at Flodigarry
where they lived in the house in which Allan and Flora had begun their married life. |
Vining, Elizabeth, "Flora: A Biography", New York, 1966, p 193. |
|
| McDONALD, Lachlan |
LIEUTENANT,
November 1778 to May 1780. |
Muster Rolls. |
|
Served in Captain John Scott's Company in 1778. Served in Captain John Rousselet's Company - 1779-1780. | Analysis of the Muster Rolls. |
|
A Sergeant In Fraser's Highlanders during the French and Indian War. Wounded at the siege of Quebec. Stayed in America after the war. Boarded the Asia at New York City having brought with him 30 men whom he had enlisted for the King's Service. Accompanied the 1776 expedition to Charlestown with his recruits and was taken prisoner. Escaped from imprisonment in Maryland and went to Philadelphia where he was appointed a Lieutenant in the Caldonian Volunteers which was later absorbed into the British Legion. He left a wife and 8 children. |
William Clements Library, Univ of Michigan "Sir Henry Clinton Papers, Vol 101, Item 45.
Memorial by Banastre Tarleton on Behalf of Lachlan Mc Donald. |
|
Killed at Waxhaws, South Carolina on May 29, 1780. |
Tarleton, "History", p 84. |
|
| McDONALD, Soirle |
ENSIGN,
August 1780 to August 1782. |
Muster Rolls. |
|
Born in Scotland. |
DOR, Vol. XXI, p. 228. |
|
Served in Captain Patrick Stewart's Company. |
Analysis of the Muster Rolls. |
|
Native of Anson County, North Carolina. Claimed to be a Captain at Moore's Creek Bridge in 1776. Came from Scotland in 1771. |
NYC Public Library, "Loyalist Claims dated Feb 16, 1786" and "Loyalist Transcripts, Vol 27", pp 51-56. |
|
Went to Shelburne, Nova Scotia after the war. Arrived with a woman, a child and 4 servants. |
"The Global Gazette" Canada's On Line Magazine - Port Roseway Association Shelburne N.S.) p 15. |
|
| McCULLOCH, Kenneth |
CAPTAIN,
September 1778 to August 1780. |
Muster Rolls. |
|
Originally raised as the "English Volunteers". |
Analysis of the Muster Rolls. |
|
Company disbanded after August 1780 and its members distributed to other companies. |
Analysis of the Muster Rolls. |
|
Killed at Hanging Rock, South Carolina on August 6, 1780. One hundred fifty men of the Legion Infantry charged the Americans twice. Mc Culloch and two other officers killed plus 20 rank and file killed and 30 wounded. One of the two other officers killed was Lieutenant Ralph Cunningham of the Legion. |
Tarleton, "History", p 95. |
|
| McPHERSON, Donald |
CAPTAIN,
December 1780 to December 1782 . |
Muster Rolls. |
|
Born in Scotland. |
DOR, Vol. XXI, p. 228. |
|
New infantry company raised in the south. |
Analysis of the Muster Rolls. |
|
Formerly a Lieutenant in Captain Patrick Stewart's Co. |
|
|
Formerly a Lieutenant in the 4th Battalion of the New Jersey Volunteers. |
Stryker, William, "The New Jersey Volunteers in the Revolutionary War", Trenton, 1887, pp 9 and 57. |
|
Wounded in the arm and hand in a March 14, 1780 skirmish while the Legion was enroute to Charlestown from
Savannah. |
Allaire, "Diary", p 7. |
|
Left the Legion on January 4, 1781 to go on recruiting duty. |
Tarleton, "History", p 246. |
|
His company at Cowpens on January 17, 1781. |
Muster Roll dated December 24, 1781. |
|
| MILLER, Thomas |
CAPTAIN,
October 1779 to August 1782. |
Muster Rolls. |
|
Replaced Captain Charles Stewart. Formerly a Lieutenant in Captain James Edwards Company. |
Analysis of the Muster Rolls. |
|
His company at Cowpens on January 17, 1781. |
Muster Roll dated December 24, 1781. |
|
On parole at Yorktown in October 1781. Departed on transport "Andrew" for New York after the surrender. |
National Archives "Revolutionary War - Misc Numbered Records", No. 31601. |
|
Went to England in 1782. Died at Leith, Scotland in 1792. |
Sabine, "The American Loyalists", Vol 2, p 80. |
|
| ROUSSELET, John |
CAPTAIN,
April 1779 to August 1781. |
Muster Rolls. |
|
Replaced Captain John Scott in 1779.
Former Lieutenant in Captain James Edwards Company. |
Analysis of the Muster Rolls. |
|
On August 6, 1780 at Hanging Rock, South Carolina, the partisan Sumter was repulsed twice by Rousselet's Company. |
Bass, "Green Dragoon", p 96. |
|
As of December 24, 1780, Lt. Donald McLeod, former member of Captain McCulloch's disbanded company, was in actual
command of the company, although Rousselet continued to be listed as the official commander through February 23, 1782. |
Muster Roll dated December 24, 1781 & February 23, 1782. |
|
His company at Cowpens on January 17, 1781. |
Muster Roll dated December 24, 1781. |
|
Rousselet later accepted a Lieutenant's commission in the 7th Regiment of Foot effective as of July 28, 1781. |
N-Y Historical Society Collections, "British General Orders - NYC- August 1, 1781 - February 20, 1782". |
|
| SCOTT, John |
CAPTAIN,
October 1778 to April 1779. |
Muster Rolls. |
|
Originally raised as the "American Volunteers". |
Analysis of the Muster Rolls. |
|
Retired from the Legion April 1779. |
Muster Roll dated April 23, 1779. |
|
Replaced by Captain John Rousselet. |
Analysis of the Muster Rolls. |
|
| STEWART, Charles |
CAPTAIN,
August 1778 to October 1779. |
Muster Rolls. |
|
Originally raised as the "Caldonian Volunteers" by William Sutherland, Aide to Clinton, but actual command given to Stewart. |
Analysis of the Muster Rolls. |
|
In Savannah, Georgia during the 1779 siege of Savannah. He was sent with dispatches to New York by Provost to Clinton in November 1779. He never returned to the Legion. |
William Clements Library, Michigan, "British Headquarters Papers, Vol 2 - Provost to Clinton dated November 22, 1779", p 64. |
|
Stewart was replaced by Captain Thomas Miller in 1779. |
Analysis of the Muster Rolls. |
|
| STEWART, Patrick |
CAPTAIN,
August 1780 to August 1782. |
Muster Rolls. |
|
A new infantry company raised in the South. |
Analysis of the Muster Rolls. |
|
Participated in the 8-6-1780 Hanging Rock, S.C. skirmish. With the Legion at Camden, SC, on 8/16/80. |
Tarleton, "History", p 95;
Tarleton, "History", p 99. |
|
His company at Cowpens on January 17, 1781. |
Muster Roll dated December 24, 1781. |
|
On parole at Yorktown in October 1781. Departed on transport "Andrew" for New York after the surrender. |
National Archives, Record No. 31601. |
|
Departed the Legion in 1782 to become a Captain in the 103rd British Regiment of Foot with date of rank January 14, 1782. |
N-Y Historical Society Collections "Clinton's 1783 Army List". |
|
Died in New York CIty on October 18, 1782. |
Royal Gazette - NYC - October 23, 1782. |
|
| Miscellaneous
Notes |
The British Legion Infantry started off with 5 companies created in 1778. One company, commanded by Captain John McKenzie, was disbanded in late 1778 or early 1779. Another company, commanded by Captain Kenneth McCulloch, was disbanded after his death at Hanging Rock
and after his company had suffered severe casualties. Three new companies were established in the 1780's during the Legion's southern campaign. |
Analysis of the Legion Muster Rolls. |
|
The Legion Muster Rolls from February 23, 1781 through February 23, 1782 listed the names of a large number of enlisted members as being a prisoner as of January 17, 1781 (the date of the Cowpens battle) or as of February 23, 1781 (the date of the first muster roll prepared after the battle). These names appear on the muster rolls of 4 troops of cavalry and 6 companies of infantry. I have therefore concluded that these particular units were present at Cowpens and have so indicated in the sketches of the Captains of these units. After the battle of Cowpens, the surviving Legion Infantry not taken prisoner, were either transferred to the cavalry or
sent to Charlestown, where they sat out the rest of the war. Only the Legion Cavalry stayed with Tarleton until the end at Yorktown. |
Analysis of the Legion Muster Rolls. |
|
