Loyalists fighting in the American Revolution

Colonists who supported the British cause in the American Revolution were Loyalists, often called Tories, or, occasionally, Royalists or King's Men, or the King's Loyal Americans. Those Loyalists who moved to Canada after the war began to call themselves United Empire Loyalists. George Washington's winning side, in the war, called themselves "Patriots", a term of ridicule in Britain, and in this article Americans on the revolutionary side are called Patriots. For a detailed analysis of the psychology and social origins of the Loyalists, see Loyalist (American Revolution).

This article is an overview of some of the prominent Loyalist military units of the Revolution, and of the fighting they did for the British Crown.

Fighting in the American Revolution began in April 1775; independence became a Patriot goal in early 1776. The number of Loyalists who adhered to the British side after the fighting commenced is still debated. An American historian has estimated that about 500,000 Americans remained loyal to Britain during the Revolution. This would be about sixteen percent of the total population, or a little more than nineteen percent of Americans of European origin. This probably represented something of a coalescence around revolution. John Adams, the second U.S. president, estimated that at the time of the First Continental Congress, in 1774 (before fighting commenced), one-third of the Congress leaned toward revolution, one-third were "Tories," [Loyalists], and one-third were neutral.

The Loyalists were as socially diverse as their Patriot opponents but some groups produced more Loyalists. Thus they included many Anglicans (Episcopalians) in the North East, many tenant farmers in New York and people of Dutch origin in New York and New Jersey, many of the German population of Pennsylvania, some Quakers, most of the Highland Scots in the South, and many Iroquois Indians. In every colony, some of the wealthy and socially established families never wavered from their loyalty to the Crown. Other Loyalists came from outside these religious, social or ethnic categories.

Many African-Americans became Loyalists. These men were escaped slaves. They fought for the British not out of loyalty to the Crown, but from a desire for freedom, which the British promised them in return for their military service. (Other African-Americans fought on the Patriot side, for the same motive). The story of the black Loyalists is outlined, with references, later in this article.

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