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John Harris Cruger was a wealthy New York Loyalist who served as lieutenant-colonel of the First Battalion of DeLancey's Brigade (provincial troops) and commanded the post at Ninety-Six through most of the Southern Campaign.¹

Sabine says he succeeded his father as a member of the Council of the Colony, and was Chamberlain of the city of New York at the start of the Revolution. He went south with Lt. Col. Archibald Campbell's expedition in 1778, and participated in both the capture of Savannah (Dec. 29, 1778) and its later defense (Oct. 1779). He was captured by the rebels in June, 1780 (supposedly taken at a dinner party celebrating the King's birthday), but was exchanged in time to take an active part in the rest of the Carolinas campaign.²

Around mid-August, 1780, Earl Cornwallis appointed him to the command of Ninety-Six, replacing Nisbet Balfour, who was transferred to Charleston. His garrison consisted of roughly 500 provincial forces, including members of his own regiment (DeLancey's), the New Jersey Volunteers and the South Carolina militia. In September, he led a detachment from Ninety-Six to the relief of Augusta, which was then under siege by the rebels.

In the face of enormous difficulties, Cruger defended Ninety-Six against a siege by Nathanael Greene's forces (May-June, 1781) until it could be relieved by Lord Rawdon. Sir Henry Clinton makes special mention of his "vigilance and gallantry" during the action, echoing a report by Balfour which described the survival of the post as "creditable to Colonel Cruger and his small garrison[.]"³

When Rawdon retired from Ninety-Six, he evacuated Cruger and his men, and after that they served with the main British force. Cruger fought at Eutaw Springs (Sep. 8, 1781), and again was commended for his participation in the action in Lt. Col. Stewart's report on the battle: "My particular thanks is due to Lieutenant Colonel Cruger, who commanded the front line, for his conduct and gallantry during the action[.]"⁴

He later took part in the defense of Charleston, in command of a critical forward defense post. According to the New-York Gazette, the Loyalists of Charleston gave Cruger a public thank you for his services, prior to his departure. The proclamation and Cruger's reply were both reprinted in a London newspaper a few months later:

New-York, Nov. 3. Just before Lieutenant-Colonel Cruger, commander of the first battalion of Gen. de Lan[c]ey's brigade quitted South Carolina in July last, he received the following address from the inhabitants of Charles-Town:

"SIR; Reflecting on the many brilliant actions that have so eminently distinguished the British arms in the Southern Colonies, which, had they been aided by a proper system of policy, would have effected the establishment of peace; we think it our duty, upon the eve of your departure, thus publicly to express our thanks to you for the conspicuous part you have taken in them.

"Addresses to men in office, procured by the influence of those who have basked in the sunshine of their authority, are the offsprings of flattery and dissimulation; having neither merit for their basis nor truth for their object. Unbiassed by such motives, ours to you, Sir, flows solely from the grateful sense we entertain of your merit, and of the ardent zeal which you have ever shewn in the cause of our Sovereign.

"The eminent services you have rendered in the course of the present war are not to be enumerated here; these will find a more durable monument in the annuls of Britain; but permit us to say, your gallant defense of Ninety-six must be ever remembered with admiration and applause.

"By uncommon exertions you have rendered the Provincial line as respectable for military talents as they have always been for loyalty to their King, and regard for the constitution of their country.

"Accept, Sir, our best wishes for your safe passage; may you find an ample field for the display of your abilities, and may you continue to receive the universal tribute of applause justly due to the honest soldier and virtuous citizen!

"Charles-Town, July 25, 1782."

Colonel CRUGER's Answer.

"Gentlemen, I am infinitely obliged to you for this honorable testimony of your approbation of my conduct in the discharge of my duty to my King and country.

"Applause from so respectable a body of his Majesty's loyal subjects is to me truly flattering, and greatly compensates for my utmost services, which have, and ever shall be zealously exerted in that just cause, in which we are jointly embarked.

"Be pleased, Gentlemen, to accept of my most sincere thanks for your friendly wishes, and permit me to assure you, that the prosperity of the virtuous loyal citizens will ever be an object nearest my heart.

(Signed) J.H. CRUGER."

To the inhabitants of Charles-Town. Charles-Town, July 26, 1782.⁵

After the evacuation of Charleston, Cruger returned to New York. He had lost all of his property to rebel confiscation, and began to make plans to "give up further military pursuits and go to England." In March, 1783, he delayed his departure when Sir Guy Carleton offered him some sort of local posting. Cruger agreed to accept, if the job were "accompanied by the rank of Colonel," but either the post was short term or the deal fell through. By June he was again making plans to leave, and collecting letters of recommendation from Carleton and others.⁶

According to Sabine, he arrived in London in July, 1783, lived out the remainder of his life in exile and died in London in 1807. While this is probably the case, it is interesting to note that his name is included in a 1783 document entitled "List of loyalists embarked on board the transport for St. John's River in the Bay of Fundy." Filed in the Royal Institute, its brief description of Cruger says that he "served during the whole war and in all the campaigns in the southern colonies, where his singular good conduct and gallantry in the most critical situation have distinguished him too much to require a particular detail of his services."⁷

Cruger was married to Ann DeLancey, the daughter of influencial New York Loyalist Oliver DeLancey, Sr. Not a stay-at-home sort of wife, Ann sailed from New York to join her husband while he was stationed in Georgia, but was captured en route by D'Estaing and remained his prisoner for a time. (She had little good to say about the French admiral, being of the opinion that he wasn't much of a gentleman.) When she was released, she joined her husband and remained at his side through the rest of the campaign, including accompanying him to Ninety-Six. When that post was under siege, Greene is said to have placed a guard on her house -- which was outside the fort itself -- to protect her from being harmed by members of his army. At the end of the war, Ann went into exile with her husband and died in Chelsea, in 1822.⁸

Notes:

¹ General information for this article comes from Mark M. Boatner III, Encyclopedia of the American Revolution (Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1994), pp310-311. Banastre Tarleton, A History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781 in the Southern Provinces of North America (London: Printed for T. Cadell, in the Strand, 1787), Sir Henry Clinton, The American Rebellion. Sir Henry Clinton's Narrative of his Campaigns, 1775-82, ed. William B. Willcox (New Haven: Yale University Press; 1954) and Robert Stansbury Lambert, South Carolina Loyalists in the American Revolution (Columbia, South Carolina: the University of South Carolina Press, 1987). [ back ]

² Lorenzo Sabine, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution, with an Historical Essay 2 vols. (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1864), 1:343. Boatner, pp310-11. [ back ]

³ Clinton, p315, pp551-2. [ back ]

⁴ Stewart to Cornwallis, 9 Sep 1781, in Clinton, p569. [ back ]

⁵ The Morning Herald, 6 Jan 1783. [ back ]

⁶ John Harris Cruger to Sir Guy Carleton, 21 Mar 1783, in Historical Manuscripts Commission, Report on American Manuscripts in the Royal Institute of Great Britain, 4 vols. (London: Printed for His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1901-9), 3:409. Oliver De Lancey to ?Maurice Morgann, 17 Jun 1783, ibid., 4:159. Sir Guy Carleton to Lord North, 18 Jun 1783, ibid., 4:161. Sir Guy Carleton to the Secretary of War, 18 Jun 1783, ibid., 4:162. [ back ]

⁷ The Morning Herald, 30 Jul 1783. Sabine, 1:345. "List of loyalists embarked on board the transport for St. John's River in the Bay of Fundy", 1783?, Report on Amer. MS., 4:479. [ back ]

⁸ Catherine S. Crary, The Price of Loyalty; Tory Writings from the Revolutionary Era (New York: McGraw Hill Book Company, 1973), p274. Sabine, 1:345. [ back ]