Butler's Rangers


Butler's Rangers was a Loyalist, British provincial military unit of the American Revolutionary War, raised by Loyalist John Butler.
Most members of the regiment were Loyalists from upstate New York. Among the Rangers was also a body of African American former slaves, the total number of their presence in Butler's Rangers is unknown, with estimates ranging from two to "more than a dozen". While some served in other Loyalist units and as sappers in the Engineer Corps and Royal Artillery, Sir William Howe prohibited their enlistment in the British Army, and ordered the disbandment of existing black regiments.
The Rangers were accused of participating in — or at least failing to prevent — the Wyoming Valley massacre of July 1778 and the Cherry Valley massacre of November 1778 of European settlers by Iroquois forces under the command of Joseph Brant. These actions earned the Rangers a reputation for ruthlessness no holds barred warfare tactics. They fought principally in Western New York and Pennsylvania, but ranged as far west as Ohio and Michigan and as far south as Virginia.
Their winter quarters were constructed on the west bank of the Niagara River, in what is now Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. Although the building that houses The Lincoln and Welland Regiment Museum, in that community was traditionally known as "Butler's Barracks", it is not the original barracks and never housed Butler's Rangers. It was built in the years following the War of 1812 to house the Indian Department, and received the name because Butler had been a Deputy Superintendent in that department.

Regiment formed

Similar to other Loyalist regiments that fought for the British Crown during the American Revolution, for example the King's Royal Regiment of New York, or Jessup's Loyal Rangers, Butler's Rangers were made up of American Loyalist refugees who had fled to Canada, following the outbreak of the American Revolution. John Butler was a French and Indian War veteran-turned landowner with a 26,000 acre estate near Caughnawaga in the Mohawk Valley. However, on the outbreak of American Revolutionary War, Butler abandoned these landholdings and fled to Canada in the company of other Loyalist leaders, such as the Iroquois chief, Joseph Brant. John Butler served as a deputy to Guy Johnson, himself a loyalist from the Mohawk Valley who led mixed anti-Republican First Nations and loyalist militias.

Campaigns

During the Saratoga Campaign Major Butler distinguished himself at the Battle of Oriskany on August 6, 1777. As a result, he was commissioned a lieutenant colonel and allowed to raise his own British provincial regiment. This military group would come to be known as Butler's Rangers.

Organization

The regimental company commanders of Butler's Rangers, 1777–1784, were:
There is an historical debate as to what the Butler's Ranger uniform actually looked like.
They primarily used both the Long-Land and Short-Land forms of the Brown Bess musket. A mix of other firearms may have been used but would have created a supply issue due to calibre variations.

Regiment disbanded and resettled in British Canada

Butler's Rangers were disbanded in June 1784, and its veterans were given land grants in the Nassau District, now the Niagara region of Ontario, as a reward for their services to the British Crown. In 1788 the Nassau Militia was formed with John Butler as its Commander, filling its ranks with the demobilized officers and men of Butler's Rangers. In 1792 the Nassau District was changed to the county of Lincoln and the name of the militia changed to Lincoln Militia by 1793. It was the Lincoln Militia who fought in the War of 1812.
This regiment exists today, following a splitting of Lincoln county into the counties of Lincoln and Welland in 1845, as The Lincoln and Welland Regiment, a primary reserve regiment of the Canadian Forces, based out of St. Catharines, Ontario.

Notable Butler's Rangers