American Volunteers

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American Volunteers

AMERICAN VOLUNTEERS. This was the name given to Major Patrick Ferguson's corps of 150 loyalists, drafted from various Provincial regiments in New York City in late 1779. It accompanied Sir Henry Clinton's Charleston expedition in 1780, saw much service thereafter in the southern backcountry, and formed the core of the force that was virtually wiped out by the over-mountain men at King's Mountain on 7 October 1780.

SEE ALSO Charleston Expedition of Clinton in 1780; Ferguson, Patrick; Kings Mountain, South Carolina.

                            revised by Harold E. Selesky

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