Loyalists In The Adirondacks The Fight For Britain In The Revolutionary War

From the outbreak of the Revolutionary War to the summer of 1777, Loyalists and Patriot forces wove their way through the mountains and valleys of the Adirondacks, vying for land and control of the key waterways of the Hudson River, Lake Champlain, the St. Lawrence River and the New York Harbor. The majority of New Yorkers, particularly those who occupied the Adirondack Mountain Region and other wilderness frontier regions, were either Loyalist or neutral throughout the war. Their stories, motivations and actions are often overlooked out of a false impression that most colonists were unifed in favor of American independence. Author Marie Williams recounts the harrowing efforts, battlefield endeavours and conflicted hearts and minds of the forgotten British and Loyalists during the revolutionary era in the Adirondacks.

This book traces the history of those who remained loyal to the crown of Great Britain during the American Revolution. The book delves into the reasons behind loyalism, the political implications of loyalists, and the condition of life as a loyalist in the transition out of the United States.

In July 1776, the final group of more than 130 ships of the Royal Navy sailed into the waters surrounding New York City, marking the start of seven years of British occupation that spanned the American Revolution. What military and political leaders characterized as an impenetrable "Fortress Britannia"—a bastion of solid opposition to the American cause—was actually very different. As Judith L. Van Buskirk reveals, the military standoff produced civilian communities that were forced to operate in close, sustained proximity, each testing the limits of political and military authority. Conflicting loyalties blurred relationships between the two sides: John Jay, a delegate to the Continental Congresses, had a brother whose political loyalties leaned toward the Crown, while one of the daughters of Continental Army general William Alexander lived in occupied New York City with her husband, a prominent Loyalist. Indeed, the texture of everyday life during the Revolution was much more complex than historians have recognized. Generous Enemies challenges many long-held assumptions about wartime experience during the American Revolution by demonstrating that communities conventionally depicted as hostile opponents were, in fact, in frequent contact. Living in two clearly delineated zones of military occupation—the British occupying the islands of New York Bay and the Americans in the surrounding countryside—the people of the New York City region often reached across military lines to help friends and family members, pay social calls, conduct business, or pursue a better life. Examining the movement of Loyalist and rebel families, British and American soldiers, free blacks, slaves, and businessmen, Van Buskirk shows how personal concerns often triumphed over political ideology. Making use of family letters, diaries, memoirs, soldier pensions, Loyalist claims, committee and church records, and newspapers, this compelling social history tells the story of the American Revolution with a richness of human detail.

This book contains an historical essay and short biographies on those who stayed loyal to Britain during the American Revolution in the American colonies. The essay focuses on the coming of the Revolution and the reasons for American rebellion or loyalism, and the sparse biographies, organized in alphabetical order, offer what is known about the loyalist and their journey.

A global history of the post-Revolutionary War exodus of 60,000 Americans loyal to the British Empire to such regions as Canada, India and Sierra Leone traces the experiences of specific individuals while challenging popular conceptions about the founding of the United States.

" ... Hindsight and success have lent the stamp of respectable inevitability to the Revolutionaries, but there was a middle way between dependence and independence, the way of the American Loyalists. It is the story of these losers that this book seeks to tell" -- Pref.

Biographical notices of Loyalists, men in America who separate themselves from their friends and kindred, who are driven from their homes, who surrender the hopes and expectations of life, and who become outlaws, wanderers, and exiles.

Biography of the Revolutionary War patriot that turned traitor and fought for the British against the colonists.

Biographical notices of Loyalists, men in America who separate themselves from their friends and kindred, who are driven from their homes, who surrender the hopes and expectations of life, and who become outlaws, wanderers, and exiles.

Find out how this one-time American hero became the country's most notorious traitor. As a young child, Benedict Arnold never shied away from a fight. So when the French and Indian War began in 1754, Benedict was eager to join the militia and fight for the British colonies in America. And when he was eighteen years old, he got his chance. Arnold had no idea that less than twenty years later, he would be fighting against the British in the Revolutionary War. Now the captain of his own militia, Benedict won the admiration of his troops and George Washington when he captured a major British fort. He continued fighting for the colonies and was even considered a patriotic war hero after being wounded in battle. But in 1780, Benedict made a decision that no one could anticipate. He betrayed his fellow Americans and joined the British army. Author James Buckley Jr. takes us through Benedict's life and explains the events that led him to switch sides and become the most famous turncoat in American history.