ARENA EVENT – With a big bang!
The Association of Crown Forces (1776), are a re-enactment group who formed in 1982 and were the first re-enactment society in the UK to specialise in the American War of Independence.
They portray the flank companies of the Coldstream Guards, the Light Infantry and Grenadier Guards, as they were at the beginning of the American War of Independence.
The War of American Independence 1775-1783
Trouble was brewing in North America so the British government decided to act. A composite battalion from all three regiments was formed and sailed for America in March 1776. After a journey of almost five months they landed and were immediately in action, being involved in the capture of New York. The Guards were involved throughout the campaign in most of the engagements of 1776-1777 which was followed by two years of garrison duties in New York. From there they headed south to Carolina joining General Cornwallis. Because of the nature of the terrain and the muted clothing of the local population, the British had a hard time of it, with the same drills and in the red clothing they wore when fighting on the continent, this gave the opposition a great advantage in covert operations. So much so that it was decided to form a Light Company who fought independently to the rest of the army as skirmishers, this was the first time that Light troops were used in the Guards and it was not until 1793 that each regiment of Foot Guards had a permanent Light Company.
The Guards Brigade distinguished itself when they waded waist high for some 500 yards across the river Catawba in North Carolina under heavy fire and drove the American defenders back. On 15th March two battalions of Guards took part in the Battle of Guildford Court House where they defeated a superior American force.
Unfortunately the army lost half of it strength here and it was the start of the end of the British campaign in America. The British were defeated at Yorktown and on the 19th October 1781 Cornwallis surrendered with his entire force of 6,000 men including some 500 men of the Guards Brigade. The American colonies were granted their independence in November 1782 and the army sailed home to England.
The information above about the The War of American Independence was taken from this website: https://theguardsmuseum.com/…/the-wars-of-the-1700s/
Please see the links below to websites giving more information about the involvement of the British Forces involvement in The American War of Independence.
The uniform: https://www.military-historians.org/…/guards/guards.htm
Royal Regiment of Foot Guards in the American Revolutionary War
https://revolutionarywarjournal.com/british-brigade-of…
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