Muster Books and Pay Lists (WO 12/11099) : British Legion : 1782 - 1783.

            The British Legion was organized between January and April of 1778 during the British occupation of Philadelphia. It was made up of companies recruited from the City, Bucks, and Chester Counties, and absorbed the Bucks County Dragoons, Philadelphia Light Dragoons, Caledonia Volunteers, and later recruited among the South Carolina Royalists. The Colonel was Lord William Cathcart, and the field commander was Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton, a brilliant and fearless cavalry officer who had been an officer in the 16th Light Dragoons. The British Legion departed from New York for Savannah, Georgia, and the Southern Campaign, on 26 December 1779. On 5 March 1780, the Corps began a march overland to Charleston, South Carolina, where they took part in the siege of that city with the army of Lord Cornwallis. After the victory at Charleston, the Regiment ranged widely throughout the South and saw action in numerous engagements including: Waxhams, Hanging Rock, Camden, Fishing Creek, Cowpens, Guilford Court House, and others. The British Legion was present when the British army surrendered at Yorkton. By November 1782, the Regiment had returned from the South and was located on Long Island, New York. On 7 March 1781, the British Legion was designated the 5th Regiment on the American Establishment, and on 25 December 1782 it was placed on the British Establishment. After the war, a number of soldiers from the Regiment settled at Port Mouton near Liverpool, Nova Scotia.            

            Six muster rolls of British Legion Cavalry have been microfilmed on this reel. The period includes 182 days from the time the regiment was taken on the British Establishment on 25 December 1782 until 24 June 1783. Each muster roll contains the names of the commissioned and non-commissioned officers, private men, and casuals, in one troop of cavalry under the command of a captain. They are as follows: Captain Thomas Sandford, Captain Nathaniel Vernon, Captain Richard Hovenden, Captain Francis Gildart, Captain David Oglevie/Ogleve /Ogilvy, Captain Jacob James. Special circumstances that apply to individual officers and soldiers are recorded. These frequently include: prisoner with the rebels, absent on leave, deserted, on command, discharged, invalid, on duty (in N.Y.or another location), sick in hospital.            

TNA WO 12/11099