Quote Originally Posted by BoldHighlander View Post
The Johnson's (Sir William & son, Sir John) had Scots Highland retainers at Johnson Hall. They were quite loyal & left with Sir John for Fort Niagara when the neighborhood got a wee bit "hot". They formed the nucleus of the Royal Yorkers (I've read that a few also joined Butler's Corps of Rangers). A lot of these Highlanders were F&I War veterans, having served in the 42nd, 77th, & 78th regt's.

The Scots Highlanders of the Cape Fear settlements were loyal not just because of their experiences in the '45 (a lot of these were former Jacobites), but they were also offered land if they remained loyal to the Crown. Great inducements indeed (land & a discharge was also an inducement for settlement after the F&I War).

After the defeat at Moore's Creek Bridge, a lot of these Highlanders went north, and along with those from NY formed the 84th RoF Royal Highland Emigrants, as far I know the only Highland Regiment formed in the American colonies -- unless you count the Loyalist militia the North Carolina Highlanders & Mackay's Coy (Highlanders) Queen's Rangers (they were the Headquarters Guard /Simcoe's bodyguard).
I'm glad someone brought in William and John Johnson, father and son. They were a couple of remarkable Scots Irish men who lived sort of baronial Northern Irish style lives right in amongst the Iroquois and forged a major alliance between them the Crown before the Revolution- and were probably the deciding factor in why those Iroquois fought on the side of the British. The Johnsons would probably be as famous today as Boone and Crockett are if they hadn't fought on the losing side. John in particular was quite a vindictive fighter on the British side, according to what I've been told; even Canadian Loyalist descendants tend not to like him very much.