1 1 3 R AN S . T I N . S EC O I I , 9 T The A me rican Loya lists i n the Ea ster n S e igni o ries a nd To wnsh ip s of the r v n ue P o i ce of Q bec . Br WI L B " R . I E B E RT OHI o T A T E " N IVE RS IT Y . H S , S W . Presented by D r . D . Lesu eur Ma 28 (Read y , r t ian ul a dist ric t n o rt h V The g eat r g r lying of New York and ermont , F t h e . anc is with the St Lawrence and the St r forming other two sides , was a fav ou r ed region for loyalist im m ig r at io n during the Rev ol ut ion a r y W r H fi d w a . To the south was the valley of the udson lle ith adherents C own wh ile Lake Ch am l ain as n l ink of the r , p served a connecti g between Ric hel ieu wh ic h the valley and the River , along were situated several B itish — N o ix Y o k r posts , the Isle aux on the New r frontier , and at dis r . tances farther no th , St Johns , St Ours , Chambley , and Sorel , the l ast m r . na ed m a r k ing the j unc tion of the Ric hel ieu and the St . Law ence f alon . These posts , and others g the St Lawrence , of ered refuge to those whose op inions and ac tiv i ties rendered them ob nox ious to suc h of their - fellow co untrymen as espoused the cause of American independence . i m an c ond itions It is not surpris ng , therefore , that y sought escape from wh ic h they found intolerable by what m ay be called the Lake Champlain route . However , not all the American refugees who entered the Pro v ince of Quebec came by way of the lake : nu mbers of those from t he Mohawk Valley followed one of several western routes , by way of i w t o . Oswego or po nts farther east , whence they passed the St La rence i and so down the beaut ful river to Montreal or Quebec . With the beginn ing of the Revolution the m ovement of Tories n i to Lower Canada began . Lieutenant Colonel Al lan Maclean fled 1 775 from Schenectady by the Oswego route in the early summer of , i “ E ” tak ng with him a party of Royal Highland migrants , composed n chiefly of Scotch refugees and disbanded soldiers , in whose e l istment Guy Johnson had aided . These men were enrolled under instructions from G eneral Thomas Gage , authorizing the formation of a corps of two battalions to consist of ten companies each , each company to com i i * On prise n ne offi cers , two drummers , and f fty privates . its arrival in Quebec , the party numbered eighty men . A local offi cer described them in disparaging terms as Irish fishermen unacquainted with the ” In use of arms . September , Maclean and h is men were d ispatched W 4 TH E RO YA L SOCIETY OF CANADA a v from Quebec to St . Johns to help resist the inv sion of Canad a b m 1 500 Richard Montgo ery and h is force of Continentals . After b ut m arching as far as Sorel M aclean took post there , when the local i rt m l itia on whom he depended for support dese ed , he sought refuge with his troops aboard armed ves sels in the h arbor and returned to i n s m the capital of the prov nce , arrivi g j u t in ti e to render valuable service in the defence of that pl ace against the attacks of Benedict * Arnold . n If Quebec was saved from capture , Montreal was not , and remai ed l 1 7 76 . in possession of the Americans unti the last week in June , On n re - the day followi g its occupation by the Canad ians , Sir John Johnson arrived there with abo ut two hundred followers , having fled from his patrimonial estate in the Mohawk Valley toward the cl ose of the pre n Sir ceding m o t h . T John received a cordial welcome from Governor Guy Carleton , and was at once comm issioned to raise a battal ion , to ’ n be called the K i g s Royal Regiment of New York , from among h is i n companions an d the distressed people he had left beh nd . In granti g this commission Carleton was act ing under the express authority of in E a the home government ngland , which had given its pproval of the formation of a corps by Sir John in the previous March i Th is shows conclusively that the baronet ’ s mil itary preparations at Johnstown before his flight were part of a preconcerted pl an that might h ave been thwarted if General Ph ilip Sch uyler and his Cont inentals had taken Sir n i in 1 776 n i i Joh nto custody January , , i stead of disarm ng and releas ng 4 n him at that time . However , when the danger of arrest agai threatened i Sac o nd a a Johnson and his party escaped , depart ng by way of the g , n i thence taki g a northwestwardly route to avoid Lake Ch ampl a n , i lest it m ight be in the possession of the Americans , and enter ng the r . Provin c e of Quebec probably east of the St . Law ence by way of St Regis . The corps received frequent accessions from the colonies , the i w in first to be recorded be ng parties , some ith arms , who had come 5 n n in . at Crow Poi t for refuge , and who j oined the regiment November The spirit of the new organization was warm ly commended by Carleton t h e two months later . At the same time , provision was made for care of the unin corporated refugees with the regiment and for the adm inis “ t rat io n of the oath of allegiance to all who had thus far arrived . * ’ 1 65 66 55 n . B Can . 890 Arch , , State Papers , , ; Sir John Johnson s Orderly ook , , ; y m in 1 0 1 and n . Flick , Lo alis New York , , the references there give 1 890 73 n B o f Ont . TCan . Arch . , , State Papers , ; Seco d Report , ureau Archives , 7 76 38 1 382 383 384 4 1 0 4 1 1 . Prt . I . , 3 5 , 3 , , , , , , h 1 885 235 . Can . I Arc , , ‘ 1 4 n o f B n I . 2 . Sto e , Life ra t , , “ 1 890 a 78 . n . Ca . Arch , , St te Papers , ° 2 1 5 23 1 25 . an . h 88 C Arc , , , [e B E RT ] TH E A ME RICAN LOYAL ISTS 5 Ebenezer and Edward Jessup were not far beh ind Johnson in crossing the boundary line between New York and Canada . Accord ing to the testimony of Jonathan Jones , one of their party , they fled fro m l 1 776 A bany County , New York , in October , , with a following of eighty * n loyalists . The route they travelled brought them to Crown Poi t , where the y j oined the British Army before it retired to the Isle aux Noix and St . Johns on account of the lateness of the season . For n convenience in drawi g rations and other suppl ies , the party was ’ t eni o raril v p attached to Sir John Johnson s regiment , then in winter W . e quarters at La Chine on the St . Lawrence are told that Sir Guy ’ e ssu s Carleton was disposed at first to treat J p men merely as refugees , 4 1 7 77 but as early as November , , they were organized into three comp anies with Jones and the two J e ssup s as c apt ains f I n the follow ’ in i g spr ing , as the time drew near for the mov ng of Burgoyne s and ’ 1 6 St Leger s expeditions , Sir John Johnson gave orders (M ay ) that ’ ” ’ Jessup s Corps should be ready to march at a d ay s warning , and ’ a month l ater the three com pan ies left La Ch in e to j oin Burgoyne s army at St . whence the l atter was to proceed on its campaign r 1 7 1 . 7 78 down the Hudson In a communication to Bu g oyne , July , , Ebenezer J essup reminds his form er com m ander that his corps was mustered in at Ske ne sb o ro ugh under commissions in blank suppl ied by Carleton for th at purpose , that the corps or battalion , which was ’ i to be designated the K ing s Loyal Americans , was to be f lled to a i specif ed number before the commissions were issued , that as the i n expedition advanced nto the country many j oi ed the corps , but th at , — from a variety of causes , the battalion fell short by sixty three men of m ‘ the num ber required to entitle the officers to their com issions .