As you read about the Militia men and Minutemen in 1775, you often find reference to Rogers Rangers? So just who were these guys?
Well, today’s US Army Rangers claim a heritage back to Maj. Robert Rogers and his specially trained fighting men during the French and Indian war. Yes, the original Rangers were a specialized unit of the British Army.
Wikipedia says, “It was trained by Major Robert Rogers as a rapidly deployable light infantry force tasked mainly with reconnaissance as well as conducting special operations against distant targets. Their tactics, built on earlier colonial precedents, but codified for the first time by Rogers, proved remarkably effective, so much so that the initial company was expanded into a ranging corps of more than a dozen companies (containing as many as 1,200-1,400 men at its peak). The ranger corps became the chief scouting arm of British Crown forces by the late 1750s. The British valued them highly for gathering intelligence about the enemy.”
They are often represented by a picture of a soldier with his musket and a hatchet. These were outdoors men, adept at being on their own in the woods, able to take care of themselves. They were said to fight much like the Indians, close in combat with a hatchet, swift and violent. This was an elite fighting unit. They were expert marksmen, fast, quiet and deadly.
If you couldn’t keep up because of illness or injury, Rogers sent you back to HQ (wherever that was at the time) to recover. You were welcome to rejoin the “teams” when you were 100%. Though they worked as a team, if surrounded or outnumbered, they could be counted on to react with individual strength and fortitude. This was one of the traits, by the way, that set the American Militia and Minutemen apart from the Redcoats. The Redcoats weren’t very good at reacting if their officers were taken out.
Will Munroe, owner of Munroe’s Tavern and 2nd in command of the Lexington Militia, was a former Ranger.
Note: Thank you to my Appleseed friend GearHeadPatriot for helping me get a feel for these Rangers so I can get to know Will Munroe better.