Tryon County, New York

Here, it became a civil war between neighbors.

The Tryon County militia drew heavily from German Palatine families.

They drew from other settlers, the farmers, the businesses, the churches, the communities throughout the Mohawk Valley.

And around them lived families who would eventually become loyalists, along with the nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.

in the meantime william johnson had begun to improve his opportunities he had built up a prosperous trade with the indians he had learned their language and studied their ways and he had gained such an ascendancy over them that he came to be known as the indian tamer and was appointed the british superintendent-general for indian affairs in the seven years war he served with great distinction against the french he defeated baron dieskau at lake george in seventeen fifty five and he captured niagara in seventeen fifty nine for the first of these services he was created a baronet and received a pension of five thousand pounds a year during his later years he lived at his house johnson hall on the mohawk river and he died in 1774 on the eve of the american revolution leaving his title and his vast estates to his only son sir john just before his death sir william johnson had interested himself in schemes for the colonization of his lands in these he was remarkably successful he secured in the main two classes of immigrants germans and scottish highlanders of the highlanders he must have induced more than one thousand to emigrate from scotland some of them as late as seventeen seventy three many of them had been jacobites some of them had seen service at culloden moor and one of them alexander macdonnell whose son subsequently sat in the first legislature of upper canada had been on bonnie prince charlie's personal staff these men had no love for the hanoverians but their loyalty to their new chieftain and their lack of sympathy with american ideals kept them at the time of the revolution true almost without exception to the british cause king george had no more faithful allies in the new world than these rebels of the forty-five they were the first of the loyalists to arm and organize themselves In the summer of 1775, Colonel Alan McLean, a Scottish officer in the English Army, aided by Colonel Guy Johnson, a brother-in-law of Sir John Johnson, raised a regiment in the Mohawk Valley known as the Royal Highland Emigrants, which he took to Canada and which did good service against the American invaders under Montgomery in the autumn of the same year.

in the spring of seventeen seventy six sir john johnson received word that the revolutionary authorities had determined on his arrest and he was compelled to flee from johnson hall to canada with him he took three hundred of his scottish dependents and he was followed by the mohawk indians under their famous chief joseph in canada johnson received a colonel's commission to raise two loyalist battalions of five hundred men each to be known as the king's royal regiment of new york the full complement was soon made up from the numbers of loyalists who flocked across the border from other counties of northern new york and sir john johnson's royal greens as they were commonly called were in the thick of nearly every border foray from that time until the end of the war it was by these men that the north shore of the st lawrence river between montreal and kingston was mainly settled as the tide of refugees swelled other regiments were formed colonel john butler one of sir john johnson's right-hand men organized his loyal rangers a body of irregular troops who adopted with modifications the indian method of warfare it was against this corps that some of the most serious charges of brutality and bloodthirstiness were made by american historians and it was by this corps that the niagara district of upper canada was settled after the war it is not possible here to give more than a brief sketch of the operations of these troops in seventeen seventy seven they formed an important part of the forces with which general burgoyne by way of lake champlain and colonel st leger by way of oswego attempted unsuccessfully to reach albany an offshoot of the first battalion of the royal greens known as jessup's corps was with burgoyne at saratoga and the rest of the regiment was with st leger under the command of sir john johnson himself the ambuscade of oriskany where sir john johnson's men first met their whig neighbors and relatives who were defending fort stanwix was one of the bloodiest battles of the war Its fratricidal butchery denuded the Mohawk Valley of most of its male population, and it was said that if Tryon County smiled again during the war, it smiled through tears.

The battle was inconclusive, so bitterly was it contested, but it was successful in stemming the advance of St. Legere's forces.

the next year seventeen seventy eight there was an outbreak of sporadic raiding all along the border alexander macdonnell the former aide-de-camp of bonnie prince charlie fell with three hundred loyalists on the dutch settlements of the schoharie valley and laid them waste mcdonald's ideas of border warfare were derived from his highland ancestors and as he expected no quarter he gave none colonel butler with his rangers and a party of indians descended into the valley of wyoming which was a sort of debatable ground between connecticut and pennsylvania and carried fire and sword through the settlements there This raid was commemorated by Thomas Campbell in a most unhistorical poem entitled Gertrude of Wyoming.

The ambuscade of Oriskany, where Sir John Johnson's men first met their Whig neighbors and relatives, who were defending Fort Stanwix, was one of the bloodiest battles of the war.

Its fratricidal butchery denuded the Mohawk Valley of most of its male population, and it was said that if Tryon County smiled again during the war, it smiled through tears.

The battle was inconclusive, so bitterly was it contested, but it was successful in stemming the advance of St. Leger's forces.

The next year, 1778, there was an outbreak of sporadic raiding all along the border.