REVOLUTIONARY REGIMENTS: WYOMING RANGERS, 1776-1781 Under an old colonial claim, Connecticut had settled the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania, in the northeast around present-day Wilkes-Barre. The territory was organized as the Town (later County) of Westmoreland and had its own militia. In August of 1776 Congress accepted the services of two Wyoming companies. Captain Robert Durkee enrolled 91 officers and men; Captain Samuel Ransom, 78. Originally both companies were intended for the defense of the valley. Due to the British successes of 1776, the men were ordered to join the main army. The Rangers arrived in January of 1777, too late fortheTrenton Campaign. They did fight at Brandywine and Germantown, and winter at Valley Forge. Then, in June of 1778, rumors of an impending I ndian raid reached the Rangers. Many officers resigned to rush home, resulting in thejoining of the two companies into Captain Simon Spaulding's Independent Company of 120 men. Washington was involved in the Monmouth Campaign, but finally detached a small force, including the Rangers, to guard the valley. The men arrived after the "Wyoming Valley Massacre" (in which Ransom and Durkee, among many others, were killed). Spa ulding Is company then remained in the area, taking part in Sullivan's Iroquois expedition of 1779. In view of the continuing dispute between Connecticut and Pennsylvania, Congress resolved in December of 1780 that the existing garrison should be replaced by men from neither state. It proved hard to pry the Rangers loose. Washington finally allowed liberal furloughs for those whose families would be most distressed. Further petitions, via the state legislature, drew a rebuke at Connecticut's "interference" in a matter foreign to its power. A few men did trickle South, and were absorbed into the First Connecticut line. Deserter descriptions (listed in Lefferts, ironically, under Pennsylvania) yield a "uniform" of white hunting shirt, white or tow cloth trousers, and (uncocked) felt hat. As frontiersmen, the Rangers might have carried rifles, though there is no direct evidence of it. Fitzpatrick, John C., ed. The Writings of Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745-1799. Washington: Government Printing Office. Hoadly, Charles J., ed. The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, XV and The Public Records of theState of Connecticut, 1-111. Hartford: The Case, Lockwood, & Brainard Company. Jenkins, Steuben. Historical Address... Wilkes-Barre: Robert Baur, 1878. Johnston, Henry P., ed. Record of Connecticut Men in the Military and Naval Service During the War of the Revolution. Hartford: Case, Lockwood, & Brainard, 1889. Lefferts, Charles M. Uniforms... in the War of the American Revolution, 17751783. New York: New York Historical Society, 1926. VALE STUDENT COMPANY, CONNECTICUT, 1775-1783 As the American Revolution started, Yale College (now University) in New Haven, Connecticut, was a hotbed of radical opinion. Although legally exempt, the students formed a separate militia company which the state supplied with 100 stands of arms. When Washington passed through New Haven on June 29, 1775, he was escorted to the edge of town by the student soldiers, "who made a very handsome Appearance, and whose Expertness in the military Exercises gained them the Approbation of the Generals". At that time the unit had several musicians, including future dictionary writer Noah Webster. The company got a chance to fight in July of 1779. When the British raided New Haven, 70 students turned out under senior Gideon Welles, and formed something like a quarter of the defending force. The students tried to fight well, and several died, but the vastly superior British swept the Americans aside. St. John Honeywell sketched Welles as he appeared at that battle. The copy I have seen is in black and white. My guess as to colors would be plain black tricorn; dark blue coat with red lapels, cuffs, and turnbacks; black collars (a neck stock?); white waistcoat and breeches; black knee boots; black scabbard with metal trim; brass buttons; gold lace on the shoulder; and two red sashes - one over the right shoulder and one around the waist. The sketch also shows some American fighters - perhaps students - in the background. They are in typical civilian clothes- long coats, orwhite shirt and dark sleeveless vest. Tucker, Louis L. Connecticut's Seminar of Sedition: Yale College. Connecticut Bicentennial Series, VI 11. Chester, CT: Pequot Press, 1974. W.L.S. "St. John Honeywell". Bulletin of the Connecticut Historical Society, XXV, No. 3 (July, 1960). 89-96. Warfield, Harry R. Noah Webster: Schoolmaster to America. New York: The MacMillan Company, 1936. CONNECTICUT GOVERNORS GUARDS, 1771-1783 The Governors Guards were formed in 1771 by a group of Hartford, Connecticut citizens who wanted to provide a suitable ceremonial escort for his excellency. Captain Samuel Wyllys led the two off icers and 64 men of the unit. It was renamed the First Company when, in 1775, Hartford's co-capital New Haven formed a Second Company under (the) Captain Benedict Arnold. The Second also contained 3 officers and 64 men. The companies operated pretty much independently. When news of Lexington and Concord reached Connecticut, Arnold immediately led his unit to Boston: the Second Company's charter prohibited it from leaving Connecticut, so the men blandly went as the "New Haven Cadets". However, the Nutmeggers soon joined other units or returned home. The only other time either company ventured out of the state came in 1777, when extraordinary orders released the First Company for service late in the Saratoga Campaign. The men do not seem to have done any serious fighting. In that year both Arnold and Wyllys, who had long since gone on to higher commands formally resigned their captaincies. Jonathan Bull took over the First Company and Hezekiah Sabin the Second. Sabin was succeeded by James Hillhouse in 1778. When the British landed to raid New Haven in 1779, Hillhouse took charge of the town's scanty defense force: the Second Company, a Yale student company, 40 gunners, and a handful of other militia. Not surprisingly, the defenders were swept aside. That was the end of the Guards' Revolutionary campaigning. With the formation of a Governor's Horse Guard in 1788, the two old companies were redesignated the Governor's Foot Guard. The unit still exists today, as part of Connecticut forces. The First Company originally adopted a scarlet coat with black facings, silver lace, and buff linings; buff waistcoat and breeches; black velvet leggings; and grenadier bearskins. Metal was probably silver. The modern uniform, a recreation, displays grenadier wings. This seems reasonable. The Second Company opted for a plainer "scarlet coat of common length, the lapels, cuff, and collar of buff and trimmed with plain silver washed buttons, white linen vest, breeches, and stockings; a small fashionable (cocked) hat, and narrow ruffled shirt." The coat was to have a side pocket and no flaps. In June of 1775 twelve men were chosen as grenadiers and given bearskins with the motto "For Religion and Liberty". The company's hair was clubbed and powdered. Both companies had standards and music, but details are known only for the Second Company. Its fifer wore an ordinary uniform, its two drummers buff faced scarlet. The Second Company flag was yellow and displayed the state's emblem - three grapevines - and motto, "Qui Transtulit Sustinet". Drums bore the same motto in gold. Note: In describing the Guards' uniforms I have chosen to rely on their contemporary resolutions, as preserved in various anniversary histories, overOgden's famous, pioneer, but probably inaccurate plate of American militia in 1775. Ogden shows black facings, which should have been the uniform of the First Company, not Arnold's Second. Cheney, Louis R., comp. History of First Company Governor's Foot Guard, Hartford, Connecticut, 1771-1901. Hartford: The Case, Lockwood, & Brainard Company, 1902. Ogden, H.A. Uniforms of the United States Army. New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1959. One Hundred Seventy Fifth Anniversary First Company Governor's Foot Guard. ----: - - - 1946. Second Company Governor's Foot Guards, 1775-1925. New Haven: The Tuttle, Morehouse, & Taylor Company, 1925. Sellers, Charles C. Benedict Arnold, The Proud Warrior. New York: Minton Balch and Company, 1930. Starr, Harris E. Second Company Governor's Foot Guard, 1775-1950. New Haven: The M.G. Davidson Company, 1950. Sullivan, Edward. Benedict Arnold, Military Racketeer. New York: The Vanguard Press, 1932. Trumbull, J.H., ed. The Memorial History of Hartford County. Boston: Edward L. Osgood, 1886. Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. VII #5 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1987 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com