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. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

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 Cr ...

, 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 ...

, 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 the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

Regiment formed in Province of New York

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

Province of New York The Province of New York was a British proprietary colony and later a royal colony on the northeast coast of North America from 1664 to 1783. It extended from Long Island on the Atlantic, up the Hudson River and Mohawk River valleys to ...

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

Garrison duty

The New Jersey Volunteers experienced combat first 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 and near the western edge of Long Island in present-day Brooklyn ...

, during the British Campaign of New York offensive and after the defeat and flight of the Patriot forces, and was assigned to the initial British

garrison A garrison 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 military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

of the occupation army, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Campaigns

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

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The c ...

, 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 163rd Street to the south, and Webster Avenu ...

and the

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

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

guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrori ...

occurred between Skinner's "Skinners", marauders and their rivals, the British loyalist raiders, De Lancey's "Cowboys" who, both, stole cattle,

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 List of intelligence gathering disciplines, approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist Commanding officer, commanders in decision making pr ...

, in the New York countryside. One battalion of New Jersey Volunteers was later sent to

East Florida East Florida () was a colony of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1763 to 1783 and a province of the Spanish Empire from 1783 to 1821. The British gained control over Spanish Florida in 1763 as part of the Treaty of Paris (1763), Tre ...

, assisting with the

capture of Savannah The Capture of Savannah (also known as the First Battle of Savannah and the Battle of Brewton HillHeitman, pp. 670 and 681) was a battle of the American Revolutionary War fought on December 29, 1778. It pitted an American garrison of Continent ...

; others served in the Battles of Eutaw Springs and King's Mountain, with a detachment participating with the

Siege of Yorktown The siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown and the surrender at Yorktown, was the final battle of the American Revolutionary War. It was won decisively by the Continental Army, led by George Washington, with support from the Ma ...

. On September 6, 1781, the 3rd Battalion, New Jersey Volunteers, participated with 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 outlet of the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, which empties into Long Island Sound. The cit ...

, commanded by Brigadier General

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

, 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, after the British lost the war, the New Jersey Volunteers regiment was disbanded in the loyalist settlement of

Digby, Nova Scotia Digby is a Canadian town in southwestern Nova Scotia. It is in the historical Digby County, Nova Scotia, 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 ...

and

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

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. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...

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. * *{{cite book, author=Gue Belle Willey and John D. Felter, title=The Neutral Ground, location= Boston, publisher= Stratford Company, year= 1922, url=https://archive.org/details/neutralground00compgoog, pag
1
quote=revolutionary war neutral ground. *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