The New Jersey Volunteers, also known as Jersey Volunteers, "Skinners", Skinner's Corps, and Skinner's Greens (due to their green wool uniform coats), were a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

provincial military unit of

Loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

, raised for service by

Cortlandt Skinner Cortlandt Skinner (December 16, 1727 – March 15, 1799) was the last Royal Attorney General of New Jersey and a brigadier general in a Loyalist force, the New Jersey Volunteers, also known as Skinner's Greens, during the American Revolutionary W ...

, during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

Regiment formed in Province of New York

In 1776, American loyalist soldiers, formed the New Jersey Volunteers, which was raised in

Province of New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the U ...

, first, as three battalions and eventually as six, of 500 men each.

Garrison duty

The New Jersey Volunteers saw their first combat at the

Battle of Long Island The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, was an action of the American Revolutionary War fought on August 27, 1776, at the western edge of Long Island in present-day Brooklyn, New Yor ...

, during the British

New York Campaign The New York and New Jersey campaign in 1776 and the winter months of 1777 was a series of American Revolutionary War battles for control of the Port of New York and the state of New Jersey, fought between British forces under General Sir Will ...

offensive and following the defeat and flight, of the Patriot forces, was assigned to the initial British

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mili ...

, of the occupation army, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Campaigns

Brigadier General Cortlandt Skinner conducted regular operations, in the region north of New York City, in

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population ...

, between

Morrisania Morrisania ( ) is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern Bronx, New York City, New York. Its boundaries are the Cross-Bronx Expressway to the north, Crotona-Prospect Avenue to the east, East 161st Street to the south, and Webster Avenue ...

and the

Croton River The Croton River ( ) is a river in southern New York with three principal tributaries: the West Branch, Middle Branch, and East Branch. Their waters, all part of the New York City water supply system, join downstream from the Croton Falls R ...

s, which was known as the "Neutral Ground". Lawlessness and

guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run ta ...

occurred between Skinner's "Skinners",

marauders Marauder, marauders, The Marauder, or The Marauders may refer to: * A person engaged in banditry or related activity ** Piracy ** Looting ** Outlaw ** Partisan (military) ** Robbery ** Theft Entertainment * ''Marauder'', the second novel in the ' ...

and their rivals, the British loyalist

raiders Raider(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Paul Revere & the Raiders, an American rock band * "Raider", a track from the 1969 album ''Farewell Aldebaran'', by Judy Henske and Jerry Yester * "Raiders", a track from the 1987 album ''Young and ...

, De Lancey's "Cowboys" who, both,

stole cattle Cattle raiding is the act of stealing cattle. In Australia, such stealing is often referred to as duffing, and the perpetrator as a duffer.Baker, Sidney John (1945) ''The Australian language : an examination of the English language and English ...

looted Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

, and gathered

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

, in the New York countryside. One battalion, of "Skinner's Greens", another nickname, for the loyalist New Jersey Volunteers, because of their green, wool, uniform coats, was later sent to

East Florida East Florida ( es, Florida Oriental) was a colony of Great Britain from 1763 to 1783 and a province of Spanish Florida from 1783 to 1821. Great Britain gained control of the long-established Spanish colony of ''La Florida'' in 1763 as part of ...

, assisting in the

capture of Savannah The Capture of Savannah, or sometimes the First Battle of Savannah (because of the siege of 1779), or the Battle of Brewton Hill,Heitman, pp. 670 and 681 was an American Revolutionary War battle fought on December 29, 1778 pitting local Ameri ...

, others served in the Battles of Eutaw Springs and

King's Mountain Kings Mountain is a small suburban city within the Charlotte metropolitan area in Cleveland and Gaston counties, North Carolina, United States. Most of the city is in Cleveland County, with a small eastern portion in Gaston County. The popul ...

, with a detachment, participating in the

Siege of Yorktown The Siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown, the surrender at Yorktown, or the German battle (from the presence of Germans in all three armies), beginning on September 28, 1781, and ending on October 19, 1781, at Yorktown, Virg ...

. On September 6, 1781, the 3rd Battalion, New Jersey Volunteers, took part in the raid, on

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decade ...

, commanded by Brigadier General

Benedict Arnold Benedict Arnold ( Brandt (1994), p. 4June 14, 1801) was an American military officer who served during the Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of major general before defect ...

and fought at the

Battle of Groton Heights The Battle of Groton Heights (also known as the Battle of Fort Griswold, and occasionally called the Fort Griswold massacre) was a battle of the American Revolutionary War fought on September 6, 1781 between a small Connecticut militia force le ...

Regiment disbanded and resettled in British Canada

In 1783, the disbandment of the New Jersey Volunteers regiment, occurred, after the British lost the war, in the loyalist settlement of

Digby, Nova Scotia Digby is an incorporated town in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is in the historical county of Digby and a separate municipality from the Municipality of the District of Digby. The town is situated on the western shore of the Annapolis Ba ...

and

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

British Canada British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

References

*Crary, Catherine S. "Guerrilla Activities of James De Lancey's Cowboys in Westchester County: Conventional Warfare or Self-Interested Freebooting?" ''In The Loyalist Americans: A Focus on Greater New York''. Tarrytown, NY: Sleepy Hollow Restorations, 1975. * * *Kemble, Lieut. Col. Stephen. ''Journals of Lieut. Col. Stephen Kemble, 1773-1789: And British Army Orders: Gen. Sir William Howe, 1775-1778; Gen. Sir Henry Clinton, 1778; and Gen. Daniel Jones, 1778, American Revolutionary series: British accounts of the American Revolution, British accounts of the American Revolution, Volume 16 of Collections of the New-York Historical Society for the year ...'' New York: Ardent Media, 1972. * Lossing, Benson J. ''The Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution'', 2 vols. Reprint, Rutland, VT.: C. E. Tuttle Co., (1851) 1972. *Shenstone, Susan Burgess. ''So Obstinately Loyal: James Moody, 1744-1809''. Montreal: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, 2001. *Stryker, William Scudder. ''"The New Jersey Volunteers" (loyalists) in the Revolutionary War''. Trenton, NJ: Naar, Day & Naar, 1887. *Ward, Harry M. ''Between the Lines: Banditti of the American Revolution''. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2002.

External links

Index to New Jersey Volunteers History - The On-Line Institute for Advanced Loyalist Studies

4th Battalion, New Jersey Volunteers, Captain Samuel Hayden's Company, recreated unit
Loyalist military units in the American Revolution {{US-mil-unit-stub