mess dress waistcoat

Report a Mistake

Object Number 19830092-004
Event 1775-1783 American Revolution
Affiliation --
Artist / Maker / Manufacturer --
Date Made 1780-1783

Place of Use Continent - North America, Country - United States of America
Category Personal artifacts
Sub-category Clothing, outerwear
Department Dress and Insignia
Museum CWM
Earliest 1780/01/01
Latest 1783/12/31
Materials Mammal wool, Linen, Animal bone
Rank Lieutenant
Service Component British Army
Unit King's Royal Regiment of New York (2nd Battalion)
Measurements Height 65.5 cm, Width 50.5 cm

Caption Loyalist Uniform
Additional Information In 1779, Loyalist soldiers received scarlet uniforms, similar to those worn by British regulars. This one belonged to Lieutenant Jeremiah French of the King's Royal Regiment of New York. The gold buttons bear the regiment's initials. They are arranged in pairs to indicate that French belonged to the 2nd battalion of the regiment. This is one of the oldest complete uniforms in Canada.
Caption Loyalist Uniform
Additional Information Loyalist Uniform.In 1779, Loyalist soldiers received scarlet uniforms, similar to those worn by British regulars. This one belonged to Lieutenant Jeremiah French of the King's Royal Regiment of New York. The gold buttons bear the regiment's initials. They are arranged in pairs to indicate that French belonged to the 2nd battalion of the regiment. This is one of the oldest complete uniforms in Canada.
Caption Jeremiah French
Additional Information Jeremiah French was a New York farmer and Loyalist who served with the British army during the American Revolution. When he fled to Canada in 1777, French was hunted by rebel Committees of Safety, who issued this wanted notice. THIRTY DOLLARS REWARD ESCAPED from the guards the 21st of April last, one Jerah FRENCH of Manchester, who was prov'd to be a notorious TORY and was confined therefore. Whoever will seize the said FRENCH and return him to the commanding officer at Ticonderoga shall be entitled to the above reward. Every friend of liberty is hereby requested to take him dead or alive. Per order, JOSEPH BRADLEY, chairman of the committee of several towns assembled at Dorset, Dorset 21st April 1777. Jeremiah French was perhaps not a typical Loyalist. Safe in Canada, he joined the Queen's Loyal Rangers as a lieutenant in 1777. According to the charges in his court martial in 1781, French immediately embarked upon a second career of fraud and embezzlement. The Loyalist lieutenant, said his commanding officer, had stolen and sold barrels of beef and flour that should have been issued to his troops. Acquitted, French nonetheless left the Queen's Loyal Rangers and joined the King's Royal Regiment of New York in November of 1781. A new regiment meant a new uniform, which French purchased in Montreal. The French family preserved this uniform for generations, until they donated it to the Canadian War Museum in 1983.