6 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



Very soon after the arrival of Adams, the McDonalds appeared 

 in Canada with a body of a hundred recruits for Maclean's and Johnson's 

 regiments. These McDonalds were Alexander and Jt)hn, the two Tory 

 Scotchmen who had lived on Sir John Johnson's estate until they were 

 taken captive in January, 1776. Later, they obtained permission from 

 General Schuyler to visit their families, and seized the opportunity to 

 abduct some of the Scotch settlers and German loyalists of the neigh- 

 borhood, effecting their departure in March, 1777.* Early in the fol- 

 lowing April the McDonalds were at La Chine preparatory to taking 

 the field when ordered, f 



The arrival of these parties of loyalists in quick succession, and 

 their readiness to enlist for service, led Carleton to issue instructions, 

 December 12, 1776, for the formation of corps of refugees. He already 

 had a partial warrant for doing so in the establishment of Sir John 

 Johnson's regiment under authority from the Colonial Office, and his 

 action anticipated by only a few months new instructions from the same 

 source, dated March 26, 1777, authorizing an invitation to all loyal 

 subjects of the neighboring frontiers to join the King's forces under the 

 assurance of receiving the same pay and allowances as the other corps 

 raised in America, while to each of those serving until the restoration of 

 peace a grant of two hundred acres of land was promised in addition. J 



Of the parties mentioned above, those of Jessup and Adams 

 set out with Burgoyne upon his expedition. Another corps that 

 accompanied Burgoyne was that of John Peters, a colonel of militia 

 and judge of the court of common pleas from Gloucester County, 

 New York. As early as August, 1774, Peters had been ''mobbed 

 and kept from his house" for eight months, and after returning had 

 received the same treatment. In consequence he fled to Canada, 

 arriving there in March, 1776. In June he was in Montreal, warning 

 the town of the intended attack upon it by the Americans. Thence 

 he went to join the British army at St. Johns. Less than a year later 

 his wife and seven sons came to Canada, after they had been " plundered 

 of everything excepting their wearing apparel " by the revolutionists. 

 By May 12, 1777, Peters had gathered up twenty-four officers and men. 

 On June 24, he received formal enlisting orders from General Carleton 

 for his batallion, which was to be called the Queen's Loyal Rangers, 

 and in the following month he was commissioned lieutenant colonel 

 of the new corps.* 



♦Can. Arch., 1890, 84; 1888, 643; Stone, Burgoyne's Campaign, 144; Johnson's 

 Orderly Book, 56, n. 



fJohnson's Orderly Book, 30. 



tCan. Arch., 1885, 251, 237, 238. 



*Haldimand Papers, B. 215, pp. 209, 210; B. 167, p. 31. 



