De Lancey's Brigade
| De Lancey's Brigade | |
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A British Loyalist soldier, in "De Lancey's Rufugees", who were associators, known as a "Cowboys" and part of De Lancey's Brigade, in 1780, wearing a green wool coat, buff trousers, and a leather helmet with bearskin crest, on horseback, with stolen cattle, during the American Revolutionary War, from a painting by artist, Charles M. Lefferts
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| Country |
 Great Britain
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| Allegiance |
 British Army
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| Branch | British Provincial unit |
| Type | infantry, dragoons (mounted infantry), (auxiliary troops) |
| Role | special operations, maneuver warfare, guerrilla warfare light infantry, cavalry |
| Size | three battalions (500 each), brigade (1,500) |
| Garrison/HQ | Oyster Bay, Huntington, Brookhaven, Long Island, Kingsbridge, Bronx (Province of New York) |
| Nickname(s) | De Lancey's Volunteers, De Lancey's Corps, De Lancey's Provincial Corps, De Lancey's Refugees, Refugees, Cowboys, Cow-boys |
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| Commanders | |
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De Lancey's Brigade, also known as De Lancey's Volunteers, De Lancey's Corps, De Lancey's Provincial Corps, De Lancey's Refugees, and the "Cowboys" or "Cow-boys", was a Loyalist British provincial military unit, raised for service during the American War of Independence. Its commander was Brigadier General Oliver De Lancey.
De Lancey's Brigade was raised in September 1776 on Long Island, New York, after the Patriot forces had lost the Battle of Brooklyn during the British New York Campaign. The Brigade consisted of three battalions of five hundred men each, with De Lancey serving both as brigadier general and colonel of the 1st Battalion.
In the winter of 1776–1777, De Lancey's three battalions were stationed (one each) at Oyster Bay, Huntington, Brookhaven, Long Island, and Kingsbridge, Bronx. In May 1777, the 1st and 2nd Battalions moved to the Kingsbridge area, north of Manhattan. The following month, the 1st returned to Long Island, while the 2nd remained at Kingsbridge. In the spring of 1778, the forts that had been erected at Huntington and Brookhaven were abandoned, and the 1st and 3rd Battalions removed to encamp near New Town.
Brigadier General Oliver De Lancy conducted regular operations in the region east of New York City, in Westchester County, New York, between Morrisania and the Croton Rivers, which was infamously known as the "Neutral Ground" of eastern Long Island. Lawlessness and guerrilla warfare occurred between De Lancey's "Cowboys" and their rivals, the New Jersey Volunteers, known by their nickname, the "Skinners", British loyalist marauders who both stole cattle, looted, and gathered military intelligence in the New York island countryside.
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