Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Vetch Bayard (born 1757, New York – d. 28 May 1832

Wilmot, Nova Scotia Wilmot is an unincorporated community located in Annapolis County in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. The community takes its name from Wilmot Township, one of the early subdivisions of Annapolis County. The township was named after Montag ...

) was a

Loyalist 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 ...

military officer in the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

who served in the

King's Orange Rangers The King's Orange Rangers, also known as the Corps of King's Orange Rangers, were a British Loyalist battalion, raised in 1776 to defend British interests in Orange County, Province of New York and generally in and around the New York colony, al ...

(KOR). He is the son of William Bayard who founded the KOR. He was the great-grandson of Governor

Samuel Vetch Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bi ...

and was the father of Robert Bayard.

Career

In March 1778, Lt. Col. Samuel Bayard was charged with murdering one of his own officers in the ranger unit. Bayard was tried and found guilty of

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...

in October, and sentenced to be suspended for three months and then removed from his command. This sentence was overturned on a technicality by the Judge Advocate General, but probably played a role in Bayard's subsequent difficulties in retaining his command. On November 17, 1778 the KOR arrived by sea at Halifax, Nova Scotia. The reason for the transfer was probably to stem the rate of desertion by relocating the men to a place much farther away from their homes. The KOR was assigned to protect the Eastern Battery on the shore of Halifax harbour at the north end of

Eastern Passage Eastern Passage is an unincorporated suburban community in Halifax Regional Municipality Nova Scotia, Canada. Eastern Passage has historically been tied to the fishing industry. Its waterfront has several small wharves and piers. The constru ...

, where the community of Imperoyal now exists. At the end of 1779, Lt. Col. Bayard learned of a plan to merge the KOR with the Royal Fencible Americans, which would entail Bayard losing his command. He wrote in protest to Brig. Gen. Francis McLean (British army officer), noting that he had already given up his commission with the

60th Regiment of Foot 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

, and that the KOR currently had more men than the RFA. He wrote a similar letter to Sir Henry Clinton, the British C-in-C in North America. Clinton decided not to proceed with the plan at that time, but Bayard's position remained insecure.

Liverpool

In the 1770s,

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

was the second-largest settlement in Nova Scotia, after Halifax. Unlike Halifax, nearly everyone in Liverpool was a

New England Planter The New England Planters were settlers from the New England colonies who responded to invitations by the lieutenant governor (and subsequently governor) of Nova Scotia, Charles Lawrence, to settle lands left vacant by the Bay of Fundy Campaign ( ...

. The town was at first sympathetic to the cause of the American Revolution, with outlying outports like Port Medway and Port Mouton almost continuously visited by American privateers,Brebner. Neutral Yankees. 334-335 but after repeated attacks by American privateers on local shipping interests and one direct attack on the town itself, Liverpool citizens turned against the rebellion.

Simeon Perkins Colonel Simeon Perkins (February 24, 1735 – May 9, 1812) was a Nova Scotia militia leader, merchant, diarist and politician. Perkins led the defence of Liverpool from attacks during the American Revolution, French Revolutionary Wars and the Nap ...

wrote a successful appeal to the authorities in Halifax, and on December 13, 1778 Capt. John Howard's company of the Samuel Bayard regiment arrived aboard the transport ''Hannah''. The company consisted of Howard, 2 lieutenants, 1 ensign, 3 sergeants, 2 or 3 corporals, 48 privates, and several camp followers, both women and children. During the next year the men assisted the locals in re-building

Fort Morris (Nova Scotia) Fort Morris was a British fort or blockhouse built during the French and Indian War, located at Liverpool, Nova Scotia. The fort was located at present-day Fort Point Lighthouse, while a surrounding blockhouse was at the corner of Lawrence and W ...

at what is today called Fort Point.

Port Williams

At Port Williams, Nova Scotia, the threat of American privateer attacks had subsided. In the spring of 1781, Major Samuel Bayard was ordered to take a detachment of Rangers overland from Halifax to

Fort Hughes (Nova Scotia) Fort Hughes (also known as the Planters Barracks) was a fortification that was built at present-day Starr's Point, Nova Scotia during the American Revolution to protect against raids by American privateers. The fortification was named after the G ...

to overawe local Planters who were planning to erect a

Liberty Pole A liberty pole is a wooden pole, or sometimes spear or lance, surmounted by a "cap of liberty", mostly of the Phrygian cap. The symbol originated in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of the Roman dictator Julius Caesar by a group of R ...

and thereby break with the King. There they fixed bayonets and "with bright weapons glittering, colours flying and drums beating, they marched up Church Street and back to Town Plot, where the barracks stood." This show of force brought the locals back in line. Bayard took an interest in the

Annapolis Valley The Annapolis Valley is a valley and region in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It is located in the western part of the Nova Scotia peninsula, formed by a trough between two parallel mountain ranges along the shore of the Bay of Fundy. St ...

, and after the war he took up a grant of 4,730 acres at

Wilmot Mountain Wilmot Mountain is a ski area in Kenosha County, Wisconsin. It is located in the community of Wilmot and lies in both the Town of Randall and the village of Salem Lakes, just north of the Illinois border. Located in the southern region of ...

. The reputation of the Regiment grew in these later years. A few months before disbandment, Brigadier-General

Henry Edward Fox General Henry Edward Fox (4 March 1755 – 18 July 1811) was a British Army general who served brief spells as Governor of Minorca and Governor of Gibraltar. Family He was a son of Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland and Lady Caroline Lennox (1723–17 ...

expressed:

... 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 ...Piers, Harry; "The Fortieth Regiment, Raised at Annapolis Royal in 1717; and Five Regiments Subsequently Raised in Nova Scotia"; ''Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society'', vol. XXI, Halifax, NS, 1927, p 163

The King's Orange Rangers were disbanded in the autumn of 1783. After the war Bayard was granted land in Aylesford, which he sold off and purchased land in Wilmot. Bayard became a Lieutenant Colonel of the

Duke of Kent Duke of Kent is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of peerage of Great Britain, Great Britain and the peerage of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom, most recently as a Royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom, royal dukedom ...

's regiment, the

Royal Nova Scotia Regiment The Royal Nova Scotia Regiment (Nova Scotia Fencibles) was a battalion of infantry raised in 1793 to defend British interests in the colony of Nova Scotia during the Wars of the French Revolution. The unit was commanded by Colonel John Wentworth ...

(1793 – 1802). He is buried in the Bayard Family Cemetery in South Farmington,

, Canada.

Legacy

* namesake of Bayard Road, Wilmot, Nova Scotia

References

External links