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28-658: Francis Legge was appointed the royal governor of Nova Scotia in 1773, just as troubles were brewing in the American colonies. Legge, "an earnest but highly prejudiced and therefore much disliked man" proposed to the Secretary of State on July 31, 1775 that he be permitted to raise a regiment of 1,000 men, to be recruited from the German, neutral and Irish settlers in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland . Legge had grave doubts about

56-610: A dispatch from London dated October 16, 1775, authorizing him to raise the Loyal Regiment of Nova Scotia Volunteers as a fencible unit, for strictly local defense. The recruits were to be paid and equipped like regular soldiers; they would be, in effect, a full-time home guard . The officers of the "Royal Nova Scotia Volunteers" were mostly lawyers and other men of the Halifax establishment and Francis Legge's political hangers-on, with little or no military experience, along with

84-569: A number of subalterns brought in from the British Fleet. The most distinguished senior officer was George Henry Monk, who became major and served for the duration. Recruiting for the Loyal Regiment of Nova Scotia Volunteers proved to be extremely difficult, owing to Francis Legge's unpopularity. He was finally ordered back to Britain in May, 1776, although he remained colonel and governor in absentia until replaced by John Parr in 1782. Despite

112-421: A recruiting bounty of two guineas , by April, 1776, only sixty men had been mustered, at very heavy expense. The officers were so discouraged that they sent a petition of grievances to the Secretary of State on June 14. Rather than being trained as soldiers, the men were sent to Spanish River, Cape Breton to dig coal for the army. The next summer, forty men went back to colliery while twenty served as marines on

140-567: Is a reference to red coats faced green in 1783. The Loyal Nova Scotia Volunteer Regiment was disbanded at noon on Monday, October 20, 1783. The officers went on half-pay, and those officers and men who wished received land grants in the area of Ship Harbour . Cpt. Thomas Green, two sergeants, five corporals, and 22 private soldiers, some with their families, took up grants ranging from 100 to 450 acres. Captain Timothy William Hierlihy and his father Lt Col. Timothy Hierlihy of

168-652: The Battle of Lake George . In 1756, he was stationed at Fort Edward under the command of the Earl of Loudon and then in 1757 under the command of General Webb. In 1758, under the command of General Abercrombie he fought in the Battle of Ticonderoga. The following year, he fought again at Ticonderoga and Crown Point under Sir Jeffrey Amherst. In 1759 he fought in the siege of Oswego, taking of Fort William Augustus, Montreal and Canada. In 1761 he fought at Crown Point and then in 1762, he

196-630: The Royal Nova Scotia Volunteer Regiment . His wife Elizabeth died in Halifax on 2 April 1784. On their passage to Antigonish eight days later, Hierlihy’s oldest daughter died. (She is the first British person buried in Antigonish.) He fought alongside John Small in the French and Indian War . John Small supported his application for a land settlement in Nova Scotia. He died at age 63 on 19 Sepatember 1797, and

224-781: The Regiment settled in Antigonish ( Captain Island and Captain Pond are named after the son.) Francis Legge Francis Legge (c. 1719-15 May 1783) was a British military officer and colonial official in Nova Scotia during the 18th century. He served as governor of Nova Scotia from 1772 to 1776. During the American Revolution , Legge raised the Royal Nova Scotia Volunteer Regiment . Legge had served in

252-512: The Royal Navy sloop HMS Gage . The subalterns were returned to the Fleet. As resentment of Francis Legge died away, the fortunes of the Loyal Regiment changed. Returns show that by February, 1780, 568 men had enlisted and 92 had deserted, for an overall strength of 476 rank and file. This was very close to the re-authorized strength of a half-battalion (500). Due to officer absences, the unit

280-466: The Volunteers mostly wore civilian clothing; essentially, whatever they were wearing when they enlisted. Their first uniforms arrived in early 1777, green coats faced white, with white smallclothes, in common with most other Loyalist corps of the American command at that time. Officers wore silver lace. By 1779 the regiment was wearing red coats faced buff, and officers' metal had changed to gold. There

308-542: The art of making himself agreeable to those whom he sought to influence or to work with. He had no gifts for the compromises with human frailty which alone can grease the wheels of politics". Legge's actions, particularly an attempt to audit the province's accounts, earned him a growing number of opponents among the local merchant oligarchy and turned both the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly against him, and open rebellion broke out against Legge in

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336-672: The commander of the Royal Nova Scotia Volunteer Regiment . Timothy Hierlihy was born in 1734, in Mallow, County Cork, Ireland. At age 19, he arrived in Connecticut (1753). He married Elizabeth Wetmore on May 10, 1755 in Christ Church, Middletown and they had 10 children. During the French and Indian War , in 1755 he was in the Connecticut Regiment, under the command of Sir William Johnston , when he fought in

364-530: The crew was transported to Halifax on April 7. He eventually was posted to Halifax and became Lieutenant Colonel In 1782, Hierlihy’s Independent Companies were transferred to Halifax and merged with the Nova Scotia Volunteers to form the Royal Nova Scotia Volunteer Regiment . After 6 years, in 1783, Major Hierlihy returned to New York where his wife and 10 children were released from prison. He returned to Nova Scotia and began command of

392-413: The foundation of Antigonish, Nova Scotia.) On 7 April 1778, Major Hierlihy arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia in command of his Independent Companies. He and his unit were on board HMS Hope and were sent to protect and work in the coalmines at Sydney Cape Breton. The miners were often soldiers. Sydney, Cape Breton provided a vital supply of coal for Halifax throughout the war. The British began developing

420-509: The great satisfaction he has received in seeing the two provincial battalions of Royal N.S. Volunteers and the King's Orange Rangers , and highly approves of their discipline and military appearance, more particularly of the soldierlike manoeuvres and quick-step of the Royal N. Sco. Volunteers which has so much the appearance of troops that have been employed in active service. In 1775-1776 the men of

448-536: The loyalty of the New England Planters who made up the majority of Nova Scotia's settlers at this point. (Legge's distrust was not entirely misplaced, as the Eddy Rebellion was to prove.) He proposed the name "Royal Nova Scotia Volunteers", but this was denied and changed to "Loyal". Some time around 1780 the "Royal" designation was bestowed for the duration of the war. Francis Legge received

476-526: The mining site at Sydney Mines in 1777, where American prisoners and newly arrived Loyalists were forced to work. On 14 May 1778, Major Hierlihy arrived at Cape Breton. While there, Hierlihy reported that he “beat off many piratical attacks, killed some and took other prisoners.” While Hierlihy was in Cape Breton, two American privateers attacked St. Peter's, PEI. Hierlihy was ordered to go to Charlottetown and left with six vessels on Nov. 11. There

504-412: The province loyal to Britain. According to one account: "[He] began to expose every scandalous detail of the spoils system which permeated Halifax and extended across the province. Even granting that he was an officer and a gentleman dealing with civilians whom he deemed socially his inferiors, he showed an alarming lack of imagination about how men behave when they are cornered and revealed almost none of

532-465: The province to the rebellious colonies during the American Revolution . A decision was made to replace him with a more conciliatory administrator, Mariot Arbuthnot . Legge was not permitted to return to Nova Scotia but remained governor in name only until 1782. In 1775, Legge was granted permission to form the Royal Nova Scotia Volunteer Regiment of which he became the colonel. Because of his unpopularity, very few men were willing to be recruited, and

560-531: The regiment to the Commander in Chief Howe . According to Hierlihy's account, the route included crossing Long Island Sound “in the dead of Night, Twenty Six Miles wide in a little open leaky Boat, passing by a Rebel Battery ( Fort Black Rock ) of 23 Guns.” Howe was so impressed with Hierlihy’s plan that he immediately negotiated with George Washington to have Browne released from prison. While Hierlihy

588-663: The south of the province. Legge was recalled to London in 1776 because of the complaints against him. The Board of Trade in London founding him "wanting" in "that Gracious and Conciliating Deportment which the delicacy of the times and the Tempers of Men under agitation & alarm more particularly demanded". The new Colonial Secretary, Lord George Germain , was concerned that "the Province will be lost, utterly lost" due to Legge's actions in alienating Nova Scotians and possibly losing

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616-593: The territory during the Seven Years' War "without distinction or promotion". However, Legge happened to be a relative of the Earl of Dartmouth. Major Legge was appointed vice-roy of Nova Scotia by Colonial Secretary William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth in 1773. He arrived in Halifax on the Adamant on 6 October 1773 with orders to determine what were the financial difficulties in Nova Scotia and cure them. He proceeded to cut unnecessary expenses and tried to keep

644-493: The unit languished until the later years of the war. He remained colonel in absentia until 1782. Timothy Hierlihy Timothy Hierlihy (Heirlehy, Hirolyhy, Hierlehey) (1734–1797) was a British officer who protected the British coal mines at Sydney Mines , Nova Scotia from attacks by American privateers . He also was the first British settler of Antigonish , known as the "founder of Antigonish." Hierlehy also became

672-400: Was a storm and three of the ships were wrecked. Four officers and 35 privates were lost in the passage to PEI. One ship lost at Whitehead, with seven men drowned, and another was lost off Sable Island , where two soldiers drowned. All the crew (except 2) survived the winter stranded on Sable Island. In the spring, a few men were sent to Halifax and then a rescue operation began and the rest of

700-730: Was at the capturing of Havana under the command of Earl of Albemarle . He became a major in General Phineas Lyman to capture the Spanish Caribbean Islands, the campaign that concluded the war. During the American Revolution , Major Hierlihy lived in Middletown, Connecticut . His friend Montfort Browne had been taken prisoner on New Providence by Commodore Esek Hopkins of the Continental Navy on 3 March 1776. While Montfort Browne

728-632: Was imprisoned in Middletown, Hierlihy raised the Prince of Wales’ American Regiment in Long Island (July 1776). (Hierlihy and Browne knew each other previously in the province of West Florida, when Hierlihy was with the "Company of Military Adventurers," and the Browne was the lieutenant governor.) In September 1776, while Browne was imprisoned, Hierlihy risked his life to deliver the plan to raise

756-560: Was raising the new regiment, the Patriots took his family members prisoner and kept them until the end of the war (six years). In 1777, he created the Independent Companies (Hierlihy's Corps; 2nd Battalion, Prince of Wales American Volunteers ). He was part of the expedition against Danbury, Connecticut , where they lost 130 men. He was later stationed with his own unit at Harlem Heights , Morrisania . (This unit laid

784-662: Was under day-to-day command of the senior captain, John Solomon, at Fort Sackville . The Volunteers were taking a full share of garrison duties in Halifax and several outposts. Given the importance of Halifax to the overall British war effort, this was useful employment. In 1782 a detachment was sent to the Island of St. John . Not only the size, but the desirable reputation of the Loyal Nova Scotia Volunteers grew in later years. A few months before disbandment, Brigadier-General Henry Edward Fox expressed: ...

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