Mark Jodoin - Shadow Soldiers of the American Revolution: Loyalist Tales from New York to Canada

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC 29403

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2009 by Mark Jodoin

All rights reserved

First published 2009

e-book edition 2013

Manufactured in the United States

ISBN 978.1.62584.332.6

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Jodoin, Mark.

Shadow soldiers of the American Revolution : loyalist tales from New York to Canada / Mark Jodoin.

p. cm.

print edition ISBN 978-1-59629-726-5

1. American loyalists--New York (State)--Biography. 2. American loyalists--Canada--Biography. 3. New York (State)--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Biography. 4. United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Biography. 5. Exiles--Canada--Biography. 6. Americans--Canada--Biography. I. Title.

E277.J63 2009

973.30922--dc22 [B]

2009021535

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

For Harold, David and Brian:

three guys who knew how to tell a story.

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

If there was one thing I discovered during the three and a half years I was privileged to serve my country in Canada, it was this: most Canadians think they know everything about America, and most Americans think they know enough about Canada. The truth is, Americans and Canadians alike would be well served to know and understand one another a lot better. This book is one wonderful way to bridge that learning gap.

I served as the United States ambassador to Canada during a pivotal time in history for our two great democracies. In a post-9/11 world, our nations heroes stood shoulder to shoulder fighting terrorists in Afghanistan; we worked to protect and enhance our trade relationship (the worlds largest and most productive); and we confronted daunting economic challenges.

The work was supremely rewarding. Canadians are dynamic, generous people who made me and my wife, Susan, always feel at home. Their generosity (and in the case of the Vancouver Rescue Squad, their bravery) in the wake of Hurricane Katrina is etched on our hearts forever.

This is the essence of the American-Canadian bond. Regretfully, however, the demands of modern-day cynicism and politics cause many of our citizens to reflect more on the negative than on our long and positive shared history, which precedes the American War of Independence of the 1770s and 80s.

As a boy growing up in South Carolina, I learned how the American victory over the British in the Revolutionary War led to the expulsion and exile of many Tories who remained loyal to England and King George III. Many of these British-American Loyalists left for Canada, the Bahamas or other nearby outposts of England.

As ambassador to Canada, I had the privilege of living in the beautiful city of Ottawa, which is less than an hours drive from the New York border. There is rich history in and around this area. Veterans of the Revolutionary War opened up what soon became Upper Canadaan eighteenth-century frontier inhabited by Canadas First Peoples. Known as Ontario since Canadas Confederation in 1867, it is the countrys most populous province.

This book is all about the original ties that bind our two nations. Youll read about Ira Honeywellthe first settler on the Ottawa Riverand about his father, Sergeant Rice Honeywell, who served as an officer in the United States Continental army and saw much action during several significant battles in New York during the Revolutionary War. He fell in love with the daughter of a Loyalist and spy and followed her and her family to Canada at the end of the Revolutionary War. After a brief spell in a Kingston prison on suspicion of being an American sympathizer (which he was), he went on to marry and become a successful entrepreneur and land speculator on the Canadian shore of the St. Lawrence River.

Colonel Joel Stone was a Connecticut Yankee who spent much of the war fighting for the British on Long Island and in New York. Stone survived stints in Patriot prisons, being wounded in battle and being shipwrecked in Long Island Sound as he made his way north to settle the pretty town of Gananoque, the gateway to the Thousand Islands and the annual summer playground to thousands of Canadian and American tourists and vacationers.

There are many more such stories contained in Mark Jodoins Shadow Soldiers of the American Revolution: Loyalist Tales from New York to Canada. Mr. Jodoin casts light on many British Americans who fought with valor and honor equal to American Patriots but have remained, for many, in the shadows of North American history.

I write this as a South Carolinian devoted to the American-Canadian relationship, and I take great pleasure in the fact that this book will be brought to market by a South Carolina publisher. My country has long been blessed by Canadas friendship. This is a partnership that has stood the test of time. Mark Jodoins fine work of heritage writing helps us better understand our shared histories. I hope it leads us to better appreciate our shared stake in tomorrow.

David Wilkins

U.S. Ambassador to Canada, 200509

Greenville, South Carolina

April 2009

AUTHORS NOTE

Most Canadian readers will notice my use of American spelling. Canadian English generally follows British spelling, though American alternatives can be occasionally used. As this book has been printed and brought to market by a publisher in the United States, it is appropriate that American spelling be employed throughout.

The images contained in this book are copyright free unless otherwise noted. My use of prints by the prolific British illustrator W.H. Barlett may seem unusual in that they were drawn early in the nineteenth century; his are not unlike those created by later U.S. historian Benson J. Lossing with which Americans are likely to be more familiar. My intention was to introduce Bartletts iconic Canadian images to American audiences whenever possible.

My sketches are based on site visits or photographs and provided when no image or illustration was available or practical. In situations whereby no known image exists, I have provided an interpretation based on the vernacular of the day.

Lastly, I am responsible for the maps, and any mistakes in geographic positioning or chronology are mine.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The difference between a heritage writer and a historian was made indelibly clear to me under the most pleasant of circumstances in the summer of 2008.

I received a letter in response to a history feature I had written for the monthly magazine Esprit de Corps, the factual yet opinionated staple of Canadas military and defense communities. The envelopes return name was instantly recognizable to me: Mary Beacock Fryer UE. As I unfolded her letter, my mind regressed to the excitement and unease of a student about to be graded.

Ms. Fryers name carries historical heft. Her prolific and decades-long career could fill a library on its own. The breadth and depth of her work on the colonial history of Ontario is remarkable: biographies of frontier spies and Loyalists, commemorations and institutional histories and that trickiest genre of all, historical fiction written with a factual foundation. Her letter to me was courteous, charming and of course contained a helpful correction.