In this issue:

 


Twitter: http://twitter.com/uelac
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2303178326/?ref=share

Giving Thanks for $5,956.14 raised during the 2023 Scholarship Challenge
It is with a feeling of thanksgiving that the UELAC Scholarship Committee is able to announce the final amount that was raised during the 2023 Scholarship Fundraising Challenge that we called Funding Future Knowledge. This challenge was launched at the 2023 Conference with a reminder that the year 2025 will mark the 250th anniversary of the American War of Independence and the first of many chapters of our Loyalist story. Our current and past Scholarship recipients are joining others now conducting new research and writing innovative history that challenges the mythology of the American Revolution.
The dollar amount our members and friends raised in the 3 months from June 1 to September 1, 2023 was $5,956.14. Our sincere thanks for this support as well as the donations that come to the Scholarship fund or Scholarship Endowment Fund outside of this dedicated fundraising time.
Loyally,
The UELAC Scholarship Committee,
Christine Manzer UE, chair, Tim Compeau UE, Jane Leake UE and Heather Smith UE,

Rejected: Loyalists Denied Compensation:Part One of Four
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
What sort of behavior should define a Loyalist hero? Consider the case of Robert Morris who – up until 1776– lived in Shrewsbury, New Jersey.
In April of that year, he was imprisoned for refusing an offer to become a rebel commander. Following his escape from jail, he joined with 60 other Loyalists to join the British forces. He fought at the Battle of Monmouth Courthouse, and recruited Loyalist soldiers in New Jersey. When made a prisoner, Morris was threatened with hanging. Instead, he was sent to Philadelphia where 36 Loyalist prisoners were threatened with starvation. Somehow, Morris arranged for them to be fed.
After being sent to Yorktown, Pennsylvania, he contracted smallpox, survived, and treated others who had been infected. After a prisoner exchange, Morris went to New York City. Rebels captured him in July of 1782, and he was kept in New Jersey until the end of the American Revolution. He settled in Shelburne, Nova Scotia, and by the mid-1780s had become a deputy surveyor.
When the Royal Commission on the Losses and Services of American Loyalists (RCLSAL) convened in Shelburne in April of 1786, Morris sought compensation for the loss of his New Jersey home, a sawmill, and 102 acres of land. But despite his exemplary war record, Morris’ claim for wartime losses was rejected.
He wasn’t alone. During its five years of hearing Loyalists’ testimonies, the RCLSAL rejected 3,365 compensation claims. Given that it considered the merits of 5,656 Loyalists’ petitions, the RCLSAL rejected the claims of approximately 59% of those who appeared before its commissioners.
Although loyalist refugees sought compensation for a total of £10,358,413 in losses, they only received £3,0033,091 (about one third). The 2,291 Loyalists who did receive some form of financial compensation comprised only 4% of all Loyalist who had become refugees as a result of the American Revolution.
Given all that so many Loyalists had sacrificed for their allegiance to the British crown, the 3,365 who had their claims rejected must have walked away from the RCLSAL hearings in a state of shock. They received nothing for all of their lost properties, divided families, wounds, imprisonments, and livestock.
Granted, the RCLSAL commissioners had to determine which of he claims they heard were legitimate. They were ever mindful of how unscrupulous persons might try to defraud the British government of hundreds or thousands of pounds. The commissioners required deeds and wills to back up the refugees’ claims. The testimony of witnesses to verify the claims was an important part of the hearings. It is telling that more than one genuine Loyalist felt that the commissioners’ treated them as guilty parties rather than ever-faithful supporters of the crown. Loyal claimants often referred to the RCLSAL’s cross-examinations as an inquisition.
Of course, the commissioners were well within their rights to reject some of those who came before them. Lloyd Bowers of Swansea, Massachusetts was the part owner of several vessels whose cargoes were seized by the British. The commissioners later wrote “No Loyalist” on his petition for compensation.
John Sparling and William Bolden operated a company that conducted trade between Virginia and Liverpool, England. The buildings and ships that they lost in Virginia during the revolution were “Disallowed as arising from common instances of war and in no degree from loyalty of claimants“.
John Griffiths recruited 75 men for the Queen’s Rangers, and owned homes in New York City that the British used as a hospital and stables. He and his family of five children settled in Shelburne, Nova Scotia; two adult sons settled in New Brunswick and Quebec. Nevertheless, the RCLSAL commissioners concluded, “The claim in consequence of loyalty is reported fraudulent“.
Cain O’Hara’s claim for compensation was considered for rejection based on an incident that occurred after his return to England – a fact that hardly ought to have been a factor in determining whether his wartime loyalty merited financial compensation. O’Hara had been a tavern keeper in Norfolk, Virginia before he joined Lord Dunmore’s army. He saw action at the Battle of Kemp’s Landing and the Battle of Great Bridge (both in 1775).
During Norfolk’s great fire on January 1, 1776, O’Hara lost “property, his affectionate wife, and the infant she was then carrying, was left with two small children to care for.” The family returned to England where O’Hara was granted a small pension.
However, the pension came to an abrupt end when he was accused of sheltering two American prisoners of war who had escaped from Forton Prison near his home in Gosport, Hampshire. O’Hara had been absent from home on the Isle of Wight when searchers came upon the prisoners in a passage in his house. The RCLSAL records show that the Loyalist’s claim was “temporarily stopped” rather than rejected. But even if O’Hara had knowingly provided the POWs shelter, should that have been grounds for rejecting his claims for wartime losses – and discounting his military service against rebels?
The RCLSAL could be brutally frank as it interviewed the Loyalists who sought compensation at its hearings. Following their cross-examination of John Bonnell of Georgia, the commissioners wrote that the “claimant appears a suspicious character and his account {is} scarce{ly} credible.”
What is noteworthy about this quote is that the RCLSAL rejected Bonnell’s case based on his character and the account that he gave – not on the lack of witnesses or documentation. So why did it reject Robert Morris, a man who had endured so much suffering in service to the crown?
An examination of the circumstances of deserving Loyalists who had their compensation claims rejected by the Royal Commission on the Losses and Services of American Loyalists will be considered in the next three editions of Loyalist Trails.
To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.

Memorial to the 2nd Battalion, 84th Regiment, the Royal Highland Emigrants
I recently visited a unique memorial to a group of Loyalists who served in a British Regiment during the American Revolution which is the only one of its kind in Canada.It was erected by descendants of the Regiment.
It is the Memorial to the 2nd Battalion, 84th Regiment, the Royal Highland Emigrants, who settled Douglas Township, East Hants, Nova Scotia in 1784. Winston MacPhee and Peter Ashley, both descendants of men who served in the 2nd Battalion, 84th Regiment, constructed it in 1995. They were also both members of the 84th of Foot 2nd Battalion Regimental Association, a Reenactment group. The stones used came from original land grants of MacPhees in East Hants, Nova Scotia.
View a video which I prepared (90 sec)
Brian McConnell UE, President, NS Branch, UELAC

Hessian Soldiers Travelling to America: Chewing tobacco, drinking seawater.
From a Hessian Diary of the American Revolution.
This excerpt from the diary of Johan Conrad Dohla (170 pages).
Having set out marching on 28 February, they boarded sip and set sail on 29 March from Dordrecht, crossed the English Channel (first time on ocean waters for most; seasickness), passed Dover, anchored at Portsmouth to add provisions for seven days and finally set sail on 7 April.

10 April. We sailed with very favorable winds.
Our helmsman and sailors told us that they had estimated that we traveled more than ten or twelve miles in an hour. We now entered into the Great Ocean, that is, what is called the World Ocean because all the waters come together. It is also called the Atlantic Ocean, which, however, as far as America, is called by the sailors the Sea of the North, over which they have to travel at least 800 German miles, or 4,800 English miles.
Smoking is not permitted below decks nor in the cabins; when someone wants to smoke, he must go on deck. The English do not smoke much tobacco. Mostly they chew it, as our sailors themselves do, having it in their mouth and chewing it all day long. This chewing is most necessary and useful when a person is on the water, because the salted provisions and the stale, foul-smelling drinking water enables scurvy to enter the mouth and destroy the teeth and gums. Therefore, it is necessary for us to become accustomed to chewing in order to prevent this disease. Also, it is good if a person washes out his mouth with sea water every day so that the scurvy cannot be contracted easily.
It is also good, when one goes to sea, to drink a little sea water. It is better than medicine, enabling a person to overcome seasickness easily and happily, because if there is something impure in the body, this will drive it out. However, one must not drink too much at one time, especially if he has a weak system, because the sea water can have a strong effect. Several times every week a person should drink a small handful, which, until he becomes accustomed to it, tastes terrible and can cause vomiting, which, however, is also good. I have myself used this treatment and, praise God, recovered quickly from my seasickness, and have fortunately survived it.
Otherwise, everything is kept in good order aboard ship, and everything is kept as clean as possible. The ship is washed and swept every day, or a minimum of twice a week, and the fires receive the closest attention.
(To be continued)

Lord Rawdon at Camden—Giving a Victor His Due: Strategy and Tactics
by John Boyd 3 Oct 2023 Journal of the American Revolution
Departing from Morristown, New Jersey, the Continental Army’s Maryland Division, Delaware Regiment, and 1st Continental artillery (approximately 1,400 men), were ordered south in April 1780 to break the siege of Charlestown and reinforce Maj. Gen. Benjamin Lincoln’s beleaguered garrison. Upon reaching Petersburgh, Virginia, in early June, the surrender of Charlestown on May 12 became known. Despite this, Gen. George Washington authorized their commander, Maj. Gen. Baron Johann DeKalb, to continue his march south in order to support Southern militias and reestablish some semblance of the army’s Southern Department.
DeKalb’s command reached Hillsboro, North Carolina, on June 22 after a difficult march plagued with heat and a lack of provisions. Unable to sustain his army, DeKalb kept moving south, eventually reaching Cox’s Mill on Deep River (present day Randolph County, North Carolina) on July 19.[1]
During DeKalb’s march the Continental Congress on June 14 officially appointed Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates as commander of the Southern Department. Washington had preferred Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene, but Gates, the Hero of Saratoga, was the popular choice—his reputation preceded him. A former British officer, he had served during the Seven Years War until being severely wounded at Fort Duquesne in 1755. Retired and living in Virginia at the start of the Revolution, he embraced the Patriot cause and served as the Continental army’s adjutant general where he earned a reputation as an able administrator. Read more…

Ten Rifle Companies: Why Rifles, and Not Muskets?
by Clark H. Summers 5 Oct 2023 Journal of the American Revolution
The official birthday of the United States Army is June 14, 1775. On that day, the Second Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia passed the following:
Resolved, That six companies of expert riflemen, be immediately raised in Pennsylvania, two in Maryland, and two in Virginia . . . as soon as completed, shall march and join the army near Boston, to be there employed as light infantry, under the command of the chief Officer in that army.
Why ten rifle companies? To a non-military reader, or even a war history enthusiast, this question might seem a bit silly. Even among the most casual of observers, the decision by the Second Continental Congress to form a new army most likely seems to be pretty obvious. The Colonies found themselves in an actual “shooting war” with the British Empire; establishing an army would certainly make sense. But: why rifle companies? The decision by the Continental Congress to raise rifle companies was driven by one specific set of strategic demands, then subsequently ordering them to Boston in response to a different and competing set of political and military concerns. Read more…

American Naval Hero: Silas Talbot
The USS Constitution – “Old Ironsides” – is apparently the only active ship in service in the United States Navy to have sunk an enemy ship in combat. She was launched in 1797 and is a true national treasure. Immediately after commissioning in 1798 she was to plunge into more than a decade and a half of war, first against the French in the undeclared “Quasi-War”, thereafter in the Barbary Wars and lastly, and against the Royal Navy in the War of 1812, when in frigate-to-frigate “single ship actions” she defeated the British HMS Guerriere and HMS Java. It is with the Constitution’s second captain, Silas Talbot (1751 – 1813) that this blog is concerned, most especially regarding his service as a privateer during the American War of Independence, a type of combat largely overlooked in many accounts of the conflict. A man of many parts, Silas Talbot had experience in business, politics and armed service both ashore and afloat during his lifetime. He was wounded thirteen times and was credited with carrying five bullets in his body. Much of what follows is based, at second hand, on a book published in the United States in 1803 and entitled “The Life and Surprising Adventures of Captain Silas Talbot; containing a Curious Account of the Various Changes and Gradations of this Extraordinary Character.” It was apparently based on information by Silas Talbot himself.
Hailing from Massachusetts, Silas Talbot went to sea as a cabin boy at the age of twelve, working his way up so successfully that nine years later he could buy substantial property ashore. In the early stages of the American Revolution Talbot was appointed as a captain in a Rhode Island Regiment and one of his early exploits was the use of a fire ship to attack the Royal Navy’s “64”, HMS Asia, at New York in September 1776. The fire ship collided with the Asia and set fire to her, but the crew, with aid from nearby vessels, managed to extinguish the flames. Silas Talbot escaped but sustained severe burns. Read more…

The Guianan Foundations of Newfoundland Colonization
By Joe Borsato a PhD Candidate at Queen’s University in Cataraqui (Kingston, Ontario) in Borealia 2 Oct 2023
When examining Anglo-Indigenous relations and colonization in the early seventeenth century Americas, scholars rarely treat colonial experiences in North America and South America together. Yet, a hemispheric framework brings fresh insight into the history of colonial expansion.
In northern South America, a region commonly referred to as Guiana, or Güiri noko (“the land of many waters” in Lokono, the language of the Arawak peoples), Anglo-Arawak relations inadvertently shaped English arguments for colonization on the island of Newfoundland. Initially, English colonizers saw significant value in Guiana as a potential base from which to plunder Spanish treasure fleets in the Caribbean.
However, English merchant corporations struggled over the question of how to justify their colonial expansion in the face of clear Indigenous expressions of territorial possession, forcing the colonizers to recognize the existence of law, governments, and political society in the respective Indigenous communities. Contemporary natural law theory, particularly in the works of the Salamanca theologian Francisco de Vitoria, held that as long as a people occupied their land then they were its rightful possessors.
It was only when the English companies developed a form of comparative ethnology, a theoretical framework which compared Indigenous societies to one-another, that they checked this moral uncertainty. This comparative ethnology thereby became the basis for English colonizers to deny any Indigenous capacity to possess territory. Read more…

A Bell’s Journey through Texas History
By Kristin Dutcher Mann Oct. 2023 at Common PLace
For those in later years, the bell’s value lay not in its powerful sound, but in its visual representation.
The importance of this object lies not only in its history, but also in the way in which it has been remembered and valued.
What is it about bells that fascinates us? Few other objects generate such interest among the public and inspire so much poetry, song, and art. Their peals communicate emotion and information, while a glimpse of their form might bring to mind freedom or faith. At the same time, they embody contradiction, representatives of both authority and revolution; the sacred and the secular; joy and sorrow. In Listening to Nineteenth-Century America, historian Mark Smith noted that “bells and their distinctive sounds anchored people to place and time, and emotion was invested in campanological soundmarks.” My ongoing research about the 250-year journey of one bell from a Spanish mission to a museum highlights the symbolic nature of bells and prompts questions about how and why objects are valued by individuals and groups.
On September 17, 1874, the Galveston Daily News ran a front-page notice about a recent acquisition of the local historical society. Members heralded the transfer of “the celebrated garrison bell of the Alamo” from Fort Bend County Judge William Kendall into their care, although the judge explained that he could not recount the precise history of the item. Over the next month, the newspaper received several replies narrating the bell’s travels. Today it rests in a display case on the second floor of Galveston’s Rosenberg Library Museum. Read more…

Spy Letter: George Washington’s Teeth: His Letter to Dr. Baker
George Washington Letter to Dr. Baker, May 29, 1781. Henry Clinton Papers.
Throughout most of George Washington’s life he had problems of continuing deterioration of his teeth. Slowly but surely all of Washington’s teeth were extracted. Finally, George had to have false teeth made. They were made out of hippopotamus ivory and cow’s tooth, carved by hand, and held in his mouth with metal springs, Today, the teeth can be viewed at the University of Maryland’s National Museum of Dentistry.
This letter, written in 1781, requests cleaning utensils for his false teeth. Having been captured by the British before it reached its destination, the letter may have led the British forces to understand the where-abouts and movements of the General. However, this is not confirmed. See the letter…

Advertised on 1 October 1773: “WATCHES are restored to their pristine vigour”
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
“WATCHES are restored to their pristine vigour, and warranted to perform well, free of expence for one year.”
Thomas Hilldrup, “WATCH MAKER from LONDON,” apparently considered his advertising campaign effective. On October 1, 1773, his notice with the dateline, “Hartford, July 20, 1773,” once again appeared in the Connecticut Journal and New-Haven Post-Boy and the New-London Gazette. Four days later, the same notice ran once again in the Connecticut Courant, the only newspaper printed in Hartford at the time. When Hilldrup first arrived in Hartford in 1772 he commenced advertising in the Connecticut Courant, but it did not take long for him to surmise that he might benefit from advertising more widely. Read more…

Antique Samplers
From time to time we have an item referencing samplers. This might be of interest.

M. Finkel & Daughter is widely considered to be America’s leading dealer in the field of antique samplers and needlework. The world of schoolgirl needlework, generally from the 18th and early 19th centuries, provides fascinating opportunities to collectors, scholars, curators and any who admire this interesting work. An antique sampler acts as a window into the specific history of a young girl, her family, her school, an instructress, a town, a region and a tradition, and as such provides us with unusual insight. It goes without saying that these antique samplers, from a simple marking piece to an elaborate scene, are also extremely visually appealing.
See the current selection of antique samplers – most are early 19th century but a small number are dated 17th. Click on the image to see moe details. Most are marked sold, but the others marked new or are not marked at all show the price.
Submitted by Bonnie Schepers UE

Loyalists and descendants who participated in the War of 1812: Charles Green & Son Reuben
Reuben Green was born in February, 1783, in Sussex County, New Jersey. In the summer of 1786, he made the long and arduous journey with his brother Henry and his United Empire Loyalist parents Charles Green and Rebecca (Scritchfield) Green from New Jersey to Canada. As they passed through the Blue Mountains of Pennsylvania, three and a half year old Reuben, seated in the saddle basket (pannier) of their horse, had a terrifying view of the deep gorge below; this memory of the journey haunted him for the rest of his 90 year life. They crossed at Lewiston to Queenston on 18 September 1786 and settled in Mount Dorchester, (later known as Stamford, and finally as Niagara Falls). Eight days after their arrival his pregnant mother gave birth in the Bender’s barn to his sister Rebecca; the first white child born in the district.
Reuben’s father was given a 200 acres land grant for being a United Empire Loyalist. This land was known as Lots 132 and 13. Today the junction of Lundy’s Lane and Montrose Rd. is known as Green’s Corners. Present day Green Rd. and Greendale School and Lundy’s Lane Cemetery are situated on the original land grant.
Reuben grew up clearing the land and working on the family farm until he was old enough to marry Elizabeth Fortner by whom he had 14 children. Two years before the War of 1812 he bought 100 acres of land in the Beechwoods just south of Lundy’s Lane and he lived here during the struggle. He served as a private and then as a sergeant in Robert Hamilton’s and John Burch’s companies of the Flank Company, 2nd Regiment Lincoln Militia. He was present at the Battle of Beaver Dams, the Battle of Chippawa and the Battle of Lundy’s Lane. Tales of his exploits in the war are treasured among his descendants. Read more…
Submitted by Cathy Green-Redekop UE

Read about other Loyalists and the sons and daughters of Loyalists who participated in the War of 1812.

Submissions are still welcome. Send up to 500 words describing the Loyalist’s experience or participation in the war, and where settled before and afterward, to loyalist.trails@uelac.org. Please reference both the Loyalist experience, perhaps to a lesser degree, along with the 1812 history.

UELAC Loyalist Directory: New Contributions
Entries which have been added, or revised, this week, with thanks:

  • Kevin Wisener, Abegweit
  • Brad Cunningham UE provided information about Lieut. Johan DeBeck and Linda Nygard UE added a couple of items. Born in Germany but settled in New York before the war, DeBeck served in the Emmerick’s Chasseurs, then New York Volunteers (3rd American Regiment). He married Elizabeth Althouse and they had a son, George Ludwig DeBeck. Johan died in 1784 the first winter after arriving in 1784.

If you are willing to submit some information, send a note to loyalist.trails@uelac.org All help is appreciated. …doug

Upcoming Events

Author’s Talk – Revolutionary Things: Material Culture and Politics in the Late-Eighteenth Century Atlantic World

October 11, 2023 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm. The American Revolution Institute
In her new book, Ashli White, professor of history at the University of Miami, explores the circulation of material culture during the American, French, and Haitian revolutions and argues that radical ideals in the eighteenth century were contested through objects as well as in texts through a consideration of how revolutionary things brought people into contact with these transformative political movements in visceral, multiple and provocative ways. Focusing on a range of objects—ceramics and furniture, garments and accessories, prints, maps and public amusements—Dr. White shows how material culture held political meaning for diverse populations. Enslaved and free, women and men, poor and elite—all turned to things to realize their varied and sometimes competing visions of revolutionary change. Details and registration..

Nelles Manor Museum, Grimsby ON Harvest Tea Saturday October 14 2023 1:00

Autumn is the second spring when every leaf is a flower. Nelles Manor Museum invites you to a Harvest Tea in our 225-year-old Upper Canada Manor. Also “Fashion Through the Ages” Display. See graphic. Tickets $45 per person.

Toronto Branch: Loyalists in the Town of York walking tour. Sun. 15 Oct

We have designed a special “Loyalists in the Town of York” walking tour with Rebecca Rizzo, the Museum Coordinator at The Town of York Historical Society, on October 15th at 2 pm. Rain or shine. Limited to the first 15 participants. Email torontouel@gmail.com

Sir William Johnson and the Wars for Empire Conference

October 20-22, 2023 in Johnstown, NY
Sir William Johnson was a larger than life character who dominated the Mohawk Valley and beyond during the 18th century in warfare, politics, trade and diplomacy.
This conference will address aspects of Johnson’s historical impact as well as the larger scope of the great wars for empire. This new Fort Plain Museum conference will offer a look at the colonial era when major personalities, like Sir William, dealt with overlapping cultures and the impact of war on society. Bus Tour on Friday, lectures on Saturday and Sunday. See details, registration, accommodation etc

In the News

Brant Railway Heritage Society brings Mt. Pleasant Pioneer Cemetery to life
By Kimberly de Jong 5 Oct 2023 Brant Beacon
The Brant Railway Heritage Society brought guests along the Mount Pleasant Pioneer Cemetery Heritage Walking tour on Wednesday, October 4, 2023.
The small group was taken on a nearly one-hour guided tour through the oldest parts of the cemetery while stopping at the graves of the community’s historical pioneers.
Along the way, certain stops featured people dressed up in period attire, with some even being descendants of those buried in the Mt. Pleasant Pioneer Cemetery.
Brian Wood, the walk’s guide, started off by speaking to the group about the United Empire Loyalist’s buried on the grounds. “The American Revolution was a war that was fought in the United States between the British and the Americans way back in the 1700s,” said Wood. Read more… (great pics)

From the Twittersphere and Beyond

  • Brian McConnell visit to Memorial to 2nd Battalion, 84th Regiment, Royal Highland Emigrants on Georgefield Road in Saint Thomas Anglican Church Cemetery, MacPhees Corner, Hants County, NS.
  • Townsends – or Food
  • This week in History
    • 7 Oct 1763 London King George III signs Proclamation of 1763 forbidding colonial settlements west of the Appalachian demarcation line. The measure stirred colonial resentment against the restriction, especially among settlers west of the line.
    • 1 Oct 1768 London. Parliament passed the Suspending Act, dissolving the NY colonial assembly for refusing to support certain provisions of the Quartering Act.
    • 2 Oct 1768 Boston, MA. British troops arrive to enforce the Townshend duties (taxes on paint, paper, tea, etc., passed in June 1767) & clamp down on local radicals. Doesn’t sit well with locals. The occupation of Boston lasted until 17 March 1776.
    • 2 Oct 1775, Norridgewock, ME Benedict Arnold’s Quebec Expedition passes over Norridgewock Falls. Arnold’s expedition was part of the Continental Army campaign to capture Canada from the British at the beginning of the American Revolution.
    • 5 Oct 1775 Gen Washington informs Congress that the Surgeon General of the Continental Army, Dr. Benjamin Church, was a spy. “I have now a painful tho’ a Necessary Duty to perform respecting Doctor Church, Director General of the Hospital.”
    • 3 Oct 1777 NYC British General Henry Clinton marches some 4,000 men up the North (Hudson) River to Tarrytown as the start of a diversion effort to help relieve General John Burgoyne’s beleaguered forces near Saratoga.
    • 4 Oct 1777 Germantown, Penn. In a very complex plan, hampered by poor visibility (fog), General Washington launched a surprise early morning attack on the British, but the fog, poorly coordinated attacks, and stiff resistance forced him to retreat. Both sides suffered heavy losses.
    • 6 Oct 1777 British capture Ft Montgomery & Ft Clinton in NY. After fierce defense, the forts were overrun. Close to 300 Americans were killed, injured, or captured. British lost 200. The tenacious defense delayed British efforts to aid Gen Burgoyne at Saratoga.
    • 5 Oct 1778 Mincock Island, NJ. Capt. Patrick Ferguson leads 250 men on a raid, surprising & bayonetting Polish Count Kazimierz Pulaski’s cavalry in camp… Over 25 are wounded or captured before help arrives.
    • 6-8 Oct 1778 While Chief Joseph Brant is away, Lt Col William Butler’s PA Continentals destroy the Iroquois settlement at Unadilla, NY, then withdraw.
    • 3 Oct 1779 Captain John Paul Jones‘s squadron slips away from pursuit by 8 British warships and reaches the safety of Trexel, Holland.
    • 2 Oct 1780 Tappan, NY British Maj John Andre is hanged as a spy. Caught behind enemy lines in mufti, the case was open & shut. General Washington wanted a way to spare his life, but the British refusal to give up traitor Benedict Arnold sealed his fate.
    • 7 October 1780, King’s Mountain, South Carolina. Over Mountain militia trapped and decisively defeated a large force of Loyalists under British Major Patrick Ferguson. In a short but bloody firefight, the Loyalists suffered 290 killed and 163 wounded. Some 668 became prisoners who were harshly treated by their captors. The British effort to secure Loyalist support in the Carolinas was stymied., causing Thomas Jefferson to say the battle was “The turn of the tide of success.” The defeat caused British General Charles Cornwallis to cancel plans to invade North Carolina.
    • 3 Oct 1781 1781, Gloucester, VA Lt Col Thomas Dundas, leading 1,000 British troops, encounters French Gen Marquis de Choisy, leading French troops & Virginia militia totaling 800 men across York River from Yorktown, under Franco-American siege.
    • 3 Oct 1789, George Washington issued his Thanksgiving Proclamation, the first such proclamation from the government of the newly formed United States under its new Constitution. Washington issued the proclamation at the request of both houses of Congress.
  • Clothing and Related:
  • Miscellaneous

Last Post: FADER UE, Kenneth Allan August 6, 1937 – September 29, 2023
Ken, RCMP veteran age 86 of Regina, SK, passed away peacefully surrounded by his family.
He is predeceased by his parents Hugh and Flora (Wood) Fader. Ken will be dearly missed by Joyce, his wife of 61 years and his family; his son Jeff (wife Kelly Oman and son Keaton), daughter Melissa Reid (husband Jim, daughter Lisa and her partner Brett Sheridan, and daughter Jenna), son Bradley (wife Mary Jo) and sister Alice Keiwan (husband Ken and family).
Ken was born and raised on a dairy farm in community of Marvelville in the Ottawa Valley. His father Hugh died when Ken was 10 and his sister Alice only 3. After his father’s death, his mother went back to teaching in a little red schoolhouse as well as managing the family dairy farm. Ken and Alice were fortunate enough to grow up in this community. Ken went to high school in Kenmore and Metcalf. He was active in hockey and softball. Gilbert Skuce, his first cousin was in the RCMP, and it was Gib who suggested that Ken “join the RCMP and see Canada”. Ken trained in Regina in 1959-1960 and was stationed in Saskatoon, Humboldt, Watrous, Melville, Ottawa and Regina. After retiring in 1987, he worked for 14 years at CAA Saskatchewan as the provincial road service manager and provincial branch manager.
Ken was a descendant of United Empire Loyalist (Lucas Vetter) and a member of UELAC, Saskatchewan Branch. He was a member of the Broadway United Church and active in senior men’s curling and lawn bowling. Ken was a tour guide at the RCMP Heritage Centre and a member of the RCMP Veteran’s Association. Ken was very proud and always interested in his three grandchildren and their activities. Ken loved life and enjoyed each day. His family and friends were central to his life. His family will greatly miss his sense of humour and wit.
A private family service will be held at the RCMP Cemetery. Donations on behalf of Ken can be made to the RCMP Heritage Centre https://rcmphc.com/
At Speers Funeral Services

I recall Ken from UELAC Conferences, especially in 2005 when hosted by the Saskatchewan Branch in Regina and Ken arranged the visit to the RCMP Heritage Centre. He was our guide. …Doug Grant

Published by the UELAC
If you do not now receive this free newsletter directly but would like to, you can subscribe here.