Brant's Volunteers

Brant's Volunteers was an irregular corp raised in spring of 1777 during the American Revolutionary War by Joseph Brant which fought on the British side in the Province of New York.

The corps initial size was about one hundred men consisting of one-fifth Mohawk and the rest New York Loyalists. The Loyalists were mostly of English, Scottish or Irish descent and drawn from New York. Lacking uniforms, the volunteers dressed and painted themselves as Indian warriors. They wore a piece of yellow lace on their hats as identification. Why the Loyalists would prefer Brant's command is difficult to explain; some refused any other service whatsoever. A simple explanation is that they were wild and undisciplined. The Indian guise marked them as race traitors and subjected them to immediate execution when captured by the rebels.

They were unpaid by the British and relied upon plunder for their compensation. Eventually, Frederick Haldimand authorized provisioning, but no money. Since their unit had no official recognition, many members transferred to Butler's Rangers and the King's Royal Regiment of New York. It grew to at least three hundred men. Later in the war, Brant was able to attract a larger number of Indians to his unit.

They were at the Battle of Oriskany, Battle of Minisink and at other battles.

A few of the non-natives were still with the unit at the end of the war and settled with Brant along the Grand River in Canada.

Legacy

There are two reenactment groups. One is associated with the Brigade of the American Revolution (BAR) [http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/4171/kingsmen.htm]

The second group is associated with the Northwest Territorial Alliance (NWTA) and are based in Indiana.

References

* Kelsey, Isabel, "Joseph Brant 1743-1807 A Man of Two Worlds", 1984, ISBN 0-8156-0182-4
* Taylor, Ann, "The Divided Ground", 2006, ISBN 0-679-45471-3