De Lancey's Brigade

DE LANCEY'S BRIGADE. Oliver De Lancey (the elder) was authorized in September 1776 to raise a Provincial brigade of three battalions to fight alongside the British. The Third Battalion, under Gabriel Ludlow, remained in the New York garrison throughout the war. The two others, commanded by John Harris Cruger and George Brewerton, were sent south in late November 1778 as part of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell's expedition against Savannah, Georgia, and helped defend the city from the Franco-American counter-attack in September-October 1779. Both battalions remained at Savannah when Sir Henry Clinton took Charleston, South Carolina, in May 1780. Thereafter, the First Battalion participated in the long campaign to help pacify the interior of South Carolina, notably in the defense of the post at Ninety Six from 22 May to 18 June 1781. Withdrawn into the defensive perimeter around Charleston, it helped defeat the Americans at the Battle of Eutaw Springs on 8 September 1781. Consolidated with the Second Battalion, the First Battalion evacuated Charleston in December 1782. Back in New York, it joined the Third Battalion in garrison on the western end of Long Island. The bulk of the brigade evacuated New York for New Brunswick in early September 1783 and was discharged on 19 October.

SEE ALSO Campbell, Archibald; Cruger, John Harris; De Lancey, Oliver (1718–1785); Eutaw Springs, South Carolina; Ninety Six, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia (29 December 1778); Savannah, Georgia (9 October 1779).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cole, Nan, and Todd Braisted. "The On-Line Institute for Advanced Loyalist Studies." Available online at http://www.royalprovincial.com

Katcher, Philip R. N. Encyclopedia of British, Provincial, and German Army Units, 1775–1783. Harrisburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 1973.

Smith, Paul H. "The American Loyalists: Notes on Their Organization and Numerical Strength." William and Mary Quarterly, third series, 25 (1968): 259-277.

                             revised by Harold E. Selesky