"Queen's Rangers Confusion" Topic

Queen's Rangers/Queen's American Rangers/Queen's Loyal Rangers

Are these three different units?

Which unit are the figs that Perry's calls the Queen's Rangers, in green jackets, white trousers that has dragoons & riflemen elements?

Which unit was at the battle of Bennington?

Perry made the "Queen's Rangers." They also had a highlander company by the way.

They are all different units.

To encourage confusion, the "unit" known as the Queen's Rangers was an amalgamation of many different company (or smaller) size units. That is the main reason you see so many different troop types. Don't forget the hussars, BTW.

BTW, the plate in the Company of Military Historians categorically states that the Highlanders had a red tartan, McNabb. I have not seen that stated elsewhere. I painted mine that way (Hinchliffe) until I chickened out and painted the Government sett over "McNabb". That was when I wanted to conform, instead of choosing the "conflicting sources, paint the coolest version" route which is much more … cool. I may just redo them as McNabb. There are only 3 on one stand, so it won't be a lot of work.
Go to this
TMP link
if you want to get more confused.

I think it was the Queen's Loyal Rangers at Bennington; commanded by John Peters, although it is possible that the name was acquired later? Peters was at Bennington but I'm less certain that the QLR were, just making a logical connection.

They later merged with Jessup's King's Loyal Americans (also at Bennington?) to form the Loyal Rangers after the resolution of the war.

Others may be able to add more detail.

Steve

There was also a unit of "Queens Rangers" with Ferguson at Kings Mountain just to add to the confusion.

Well at least I am sort of sure that it wasn't the Queen's Rangers. It was probably the Queen's Loyal Rangers. I found a plate in Osprey "American Loyalist Troops 1775-84" From the plate description, the uniform was red faced green. I will try to find a couple of more sources. I doubt they were carrying colors at Bennington.

Thanks for everyone's help. This board is a tremendous resource. Unlike some of the other boards, it is very civil.

There were two Loyalist regiments with Burgoyne – the Queen's Loyal Rangers under John Peters (a former member of one of the pre-war Continental Congresses) and the King's Loyal Americans, raised by Ebenezer Jessup. Both were uniformed in red coats faced green – however, it appears that only the two or three companies containing the initial recruits in each regiment received this and both corps eventually contained much larger numbers of men in civilian clothes. After the Saratoga campaign, these two units and a much smaller third formation (MacAlpin's Corps of American Volunteers) were amalgamated in Canada.

The Loyalists at Bennington seem to have been a mix of QLR and recruits raised for a new corps by a man named Pfister (sometimes called DePeyster by the Brunswickers). Whether these were meant to form the nucleus of a third unit, or if they were intended for Peters' and Jessup's regiments, is unclear; Pfister was killed and those few men who escaped were absorbed into the other two units anyway.

The McNab tartan thing is a myth foisted upon history by John McNab of Dundurn. He was premier of Canada West ( Ontario or Upper Canada) after the War of 1812. He had his portrait painted in his supposed Queen's Rangers uniform during his period in office. Green faced black coatee, but of post 1799 style and wearing a full feather bonnet, AND the Mc Nab kilt. Completely bogus. Remember the Queen's Rangers were raised in the period of proscription of tartan and Highland dress. So, any tartan they wore would be a variation on Government tartan. As they were raised in the south around the time of the North Carolina Highlanders, I would say the QR's Highland company also wore kilts from surplus 71st. stores.

@ spontoon,

Good info. I've often wondered how long the "highland" company (which was really a second light company) stayed in kilts – if they ever really wore them in the field. At the time it was raised, almost all of the Regular highland units had abandoned kilts for either trews (made from the last kilt issue) or normal line infantry overalls, with or without woollen leggings. The reference to the companu being kitted out "in the highland manner" could well refer to just the different style of regimental coat, sashes over the should instead of round the waist, and belly-box cartridge pouches. I would doubt they even had broadswords, although they may have had the traditional highland steel-butted pistols as these were still being issued to highland units raised in Great Britain, according to de Witt Bailey.

I doubt if any but the Black Watch carried broadswords or pistols in N. America. The troops themselves actually complained of the weight and encumbrance!

As far as whether kilts were worn long in N. America, Macdonalds Highlanders, the 76th. wore them at Yorktown. I imagine they were kept for formal occasions in most cases.

Even the 42nd ditched their swords early on. Pistols were definitely being issue to highland units sent out in the second half of the war. I don't know about kilts at Yorktown – one wing of the 76th was mounted during the Virginia campaign and definitely wore overalls.

One request (maybe superfluous) but my understanding is that nobody was wearing the kilt at the time of the Revolution – it was the belted plaid if at all. I do not mean to be pedantic, but there is a genuine difference, and if anybody has information that the kilt was being worn at this time, I would truly love to be corrected.

Sorry if I sound overly nit-picking, but it is a topic of interest to me at least…

Fair enough, but bear in mind a lot of people on here don't have the level of interest in/knowledge of Scottish attire that they will easily understand the subtle (and not so subtle) differences. If you say "kilt" then pretty much everyone knows what you are talking about, even if it's not the exact description; say "belted plaid" and you're going to lose a lot of folk.

"…the 76th. wore them (kilts) at Yorktown"

Not sure what your reference is for this statement, but if true, isn't it possible they were wearing them as part of the new clothing issued to buck up morale?

I can't find a copy sufficiently detailed to confirm it, but I have always thought that there were kilted highlanders in the van Blarenberghe painting of the surrender. I think it was the unit in the middle of the column, just above the empty redoubt in the centre of the painting.

Anyone else managed to view a copy sufficiently closely to be able to tell?

"you're going to lose a lot of folk" -really -on a site as obsessed with nit picking uniform detail as this! There'd be a festival of interest. I for one didn't know this and I'm glad I do now. I@m starting to wonder if Highland regiments wore kilt or Highland dress in any theatre of war anywhere at anytime now I've also just found out they didn't go in for them much in the Napoleonic wars either.!!

A number of them were de-kilted in 1809 due to cost and lack of recruits.

The only tartans that would have worn at this time, by Highland troops, would have been the Govt. Sett, ie "Black Watch". There were no clan tartans before the Victorians so the MacNab tartan business is pure invention. The proscription of wearing Highland dress was lifted in 1782.

During Lord Stirling's raid on Staten island the 1st Amreican (Queens Rangers) Highland Company planted a St. Andrews flag on their redoubt and saying, to paraphrase, "none shall pass".

Kilts. Belted Plaids. Breachan an Feilidh. Most of us get the meaning. Yards and yards of itchy wool worn about the nether parts!

Yes, I'm sure the 76th were probably issued new uniforms,or took their kilts out of stores, for the occasion at Yorktown.
Kilts in the modern sense had been around since the first half of the 18th. century.

I really doubt any OR's were issued pistols by the time of the AWI, unless by extremely rich colonels!; as they actually cost more than a Brown Bess at the time! Dirks were pretty rare, too.

@ Masrewba;

There a scads of photos of Highland troops wearing kilts in action from Crimea to Arnhem!

>A number of them were de-kilted in 1809 due to cost and >lack of recruits.

Yep. This happened to the 73d in 1809--highland dress was seen as an impediment to recruiting. Nevertheless, they were still the 73d "Highland" at Waterloo, though they looked like all the other line battalions.