Muster Rolls : 1777 - 1783.

            Muster rolls were, in a military sense, a register or list of all the men in a company, troop, or regiment, accountable and present on the day of gathering for review, by which they were paid and the strength of the army was known.

Henry Edward Fox (1755-1811) was a British army officer, and younger brother of British politician Charles James Fox (1749-1806).  He entered the military in 1770 as a cornet in the 1st Dragoon Guards; and was promoted and involved in the American Revolution in the regiments of the 38th, 49th and 2nd battalion of the Grenadiers, reaching the rank of brigadier (1782), and in 1783, colonel in the army and aide-de-camp to the King.  Fox was commander of the forces in Nova Scotia, arriving in July 1783.  Edward Winslow that year became his secretary.            

            The muster rolls dated 1777-1783 relate to members of the provincial corps, or American Loyalist corps, during the American Revolution (1775-83).  The types of data available in the muster for the units may include:  location of unit at a particular date, and soldiers' health, rank and promotions.  The collection also includes other types of documents pertaining to military units and personnel, such as, certificates; receipts; abstract of subsistence; correspondence of General Fox at Halifax with officers of public departments, officers of corps, and others within the District (1783); Record Book of the Grenadier Company of the Kings American Regiment (1783); accounts for the construction of Christ Church in Maugerville, New Brunswick; and a list of grants to the Queens Rangers along the River St. John.  General topics for research include the military (personnel, movements), war and post-war settlement, loyalists, Nova Scotia, black history, and to a lesser extent, religion, and germans.

The muster rolls of the following Corps have been included:  Governor Wentworth's Volunteers; Kings American Dragoons; Prince of Wales Royal American Volunteers; Kings American Regiment; Loyal American Regiment; Royal Fencible Americans; British Legion; Nova Scotia Volunteers; 1st Battalion, New Jersey Volunteers; 2nd Battalion, New Jersey Volunteers; 3rd Battalion, New Jersey Volunteers; 1st Battalion, DeLancey's Brigade; 2nd Battalion, Delancey's Brigade; Orange Rangers; Maryland Loyalists; Pennsylvania Loyalists; South Carolina Royalists; Kings Carolina Rangers; North Carolina Volunteers; Kings Rangers; American Legion; Guides and Pioneers; St. John's Volunteers; North Carolina Independent Company; Black Pioneers; Staff Officers; Armed Boat Company; and Queens Rangers.

Note:  Portions of the muster rolls are a very poor copy and difficult to read.  Originals are available through The National Archived (United Kingdom), WO 65, as a much higher quality copy.
            

            
A document listing providing the arrangement and dates for each document is available, and a typed title page appears before each section on the reel; see Electronic Finding Aid section.