Life in Butler’s Rangers
Food and Equipment in a Revolutionary War Corps
Historical evidence for the rations, uniforms and living conditions of the men of Butler's Rangers during the Revolutionary War.
In 1777, Lieutenant Colonel John Butler formally raised a corps of American colonists to fight for the British in the American Revolution. Known as Butler’s Rangers, many of these men had been farmers of German descent living in Mohawk Valley homesteads before the outbreak of fighting. To this day, American historians tend to view the rangers as a bloodthirsty and lawless crew, whereas many Canadians (who count these Loyalists among the earliest pioneer settlers) see them as a courageous force who fought for their families in difficult times.
In December of 1778, six companies of rangers were assembled at Fort Niagara, which the British had taken from the French in 1759. Winter quarters were sturdy wooden barracks constructed on the west bank of the Niagara River in what is now the town of Niagara-On-The-Lake (Canada). These are still partially standing, and serve today as the Lincoln and Welland Regiment Museum.
Although historians debate the particulars, and no original examples of the uniform coat are known to exist, the Ranger’s uniform apparently consisted of a dark green jacket trimmed with scarlet, and a low flat cap with a brass plate in front marked with the initials G.R., encircled by the words "Butler’s Rangers". According to one extant order for supplies (which seems to have been intended to equip a body of 360 men, likely the same six companies referred to above), the Rangers were supplied with the cloth, buttons and trimmings for their uniforms and knapsacks, as well as shirts, shoes with buckles, stockings, hats, breeches and shirts.
The men were evidently expected to maintain a smart appearance, as they were also provided with handkerchiefs, soap, ivory and horn combs, pomatum, hair powder, thread and needles, buckle brushes, shoe blacking, laundry whitening, starch and bluing. As well, each man was issued a tin canteen and a clasp knife, a good quantity of tobacco and a tobacco box, blankets and a supply of candles, camp kettles, frying pans, scissors, writing paper and quills.
As for food, the stocks from England included cheese, chocolate (probably as cocoa for drinking), coffee, tea, brown and loaf sugar, molasses, mustard, vinegar and pepper. These food rations were supplemented with fish that the men caught and cattle that they seized, as well as horse and bear at need, plus whatever could be grown or gathered around Fort Niagara.
In the early 1780s, the soldiers and their families who settled near the fort grew wheat, oats, corn and potatoes; they also owned horses, cows, sheep and hogs. It seems likely that they would also have harvested locally available wild food like raspberries, blueberries, mushrooms and so on. A German-Polish doctor who would later settle in Quebec named Liveright Piuze was turned over to Butler's Rangers at Fort Erie in 1778 after being captured by Indians. He reported that the rangers provided him with bread and lard (for which, at the time, he was most grateful).
The next article in this series describes the early settlement of the Canadian Niagara region by the Rangers, and illustrates some details of the life of one particular ranger, Jacob Anguish.
Sources:
- Butler’s Rangers, The Revolutionary Period by E.A. Cruikshank (Lundy’s Lane Historical Society, 1893, reprinted in various editions)
- Early Settlers in Niagara (Ontario Genealogical Society)
- "Recit des aventures de Liveright Piuze", Bulletin des recherches historiques, 1919
- Butler’s Rangers website
