Revolutionary War Soldier
Maybe it was because my ancestor, Charles Tripp, had fought on the side of the patriots in the American War of Independence, but information in a recent webinar called Colonizing Canada caught my attention. The presenter called the members of the Highland Regiments recruited to fight against the Americans, Loyalists. It was my understanding that the Scots who were recruited may have been given land grants because they fought on the side of the crown but they were not Loyalists. In the definitions I had seen, a Loyalist was someone from the thirteen colonies who remained loyal to the crown during the conflict and subsequently settled in Canada.
I also found the information interesting because my personal research included someone who had obtained a land grant in Canada after having been a member of a Highland Regiment. Could he have been one of the 84th Regiment of Foot as was mentioned in the webinar? If so, maybe then, I had an interest in men who fought on both sides in the War of Independence/American Revolution.
Now I am intrigued. This will require a more in depth look to see what information I have already amassed on the line of my Highland soldier, how he fits into the family tree and if anything further can be found. At least I remember that the surname was McNeil and any land grant would have been in Nova Scotia, so I have a starting point.
UEL definition:
"The United Empire Loyalists were generally those who had been settled in the thirteen colonies at the outbreak of the American Revolution, who remained loyal to and took up the Royal Standard, and who settled in what is now Canada at the end of the war."*
Sources:
Images:
By
Scan by NYPL -
https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/a20151f8-d3cf-5c25-e040-e00a18066189,
Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46447639
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