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Simcoe by Jean Laurent Mosnier

In Ontario, Canada, where he served as the first lieutenant-governor of the newly organized colony of Upper Canada, his name is immortalized in Lake Simcoe, Simcoe County, and the Simcoe Street which can be found in nearly every town of even moderate size. But for students of the American Revolution, John Graves Simcoe is best known for his command of the Queen's Rangers.¹

Educated at Eton and Oxford, Simcoe's military career began when he was appointed ensign in the 35th regiment in 1771. He came to America at the outbreak of the war, and by January 5, 1776, Howe's general orders announced his appointment as a captain of the 40th foot by purchase. On Oct. 15, 1777, he received command of the Queen's (American) Rangers, a provincial corps which had been originally organized by Robert Rogers, and later commanded by James Wemyss.²

Granted provincial rank as a lieutenant-colonel in June, 1778, Simcoe quickly gained a solid reputation for himself and his command, which was to be remembered as a highly effective fighting force. In the early days after the formation of the British Legion (August 1778), Tarleton's cavalry worked with Simcoe and his unit, and probably owe their distinctive green uniforms to that association. When other provincial regiments were switched over to red coats, Simcoe successfully defended his unit's green jackets as far more practical for their type of warfare, particularly once they had faded enough to blend into a background of forests and fields.

Simcoe and Tarleton seem to have gotten on well while the two units were stationed together (each was complimentary of the other in their respective narratives of the war), but Simcoe became embroiled in a conflict over chain-of-command with the Legion's then-commander, Lord Cathcart, (see Cathcart's bio note), which resulted in Cathcart and the Legion infantry transferring to another area, and Tarleton and his cavalry continuing to work under Simcoe's command until they had gained the experience and reputation to function on their own.

Simcoe was taken prisoner by the rebels in 1779, but he was exchanged and continued in active service throughout 1780-81. The Queen's Rangers took part in the diversionary expedition to the Chesapeake under the command of Benedict Arnold (December 1780), and linked up with Cornwallis's army during the campaign of 1781. Along with the British Legion, the Queen's Rangers were stationed at Gloucester Point during the siege at Yorktown.

Simcoe was in poor health throughout the siege, and he was among the first officers sent home on parole, arriving in London in December, 1781. On December 31, Lord George Germain introduced him to the King "on his gallant behavior against the rebels during his stay in America."³

He retired to his estates to recover, finally emerging to enter Parliament in 1790, representing St. Mawe's, Cornwall. In 1791, he was appointed lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, arriving in Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake) in July, 1792. He was an able and active administrator, accomplishing an amazing amount during his few years in the post and bringing many settlers into the region. Among them were some of his former soldiers (and some ex-members of the British Legion), whom he encouraged to immigrate from where they had originally settled in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. He also organized a self-governing militia among the Indians, put in place the first steps towards abolishing slavery in the colony, set up an advanced system of education by establishing high qualification standards for teachers, and formed a kind of early underground railroad for Loyalists who had been unable to leave the former lower colonies at the end of the war. In 1793, he moved his capital to what is now Toronto, and is remembered as one of the founding fathers of both that city and the nearby London, Ontario.⁴

In 1794, he was promoted to major-general, and appointed commandant of San Domingo. He finally returned to England in 1797, and was promoted lieutenant-general in 1798. He held command of Plymouth in 1801, in anticipation of an invasion attempt by the French, and was appointed commander-in-chief of India in 1806. He was destined never to reach that post. He took ill at sea and had to turn back. He died in Exeter, on Oct. 26, 1806 and was buried in Wolford Chapel on the family estate.

Simcoe married Elizabeth Gwillim of Hereford, a colorful woman who left her own mark on Canadian history and lore. Her diary of their years in Upper Canada is packed with social history, and she painted numerous landscapes of Southern Ontario. I have found a host of contradictory information on how many children they had. One source says five, another lists two sons and seven daughters, while a third gives the overall total as eleven. The last source provides a list of individual names, along with the dates for their births and deaths, and so would seem to be the most plausible -- though I'd be very curious to know why there is so much confusion on this issue.⁵

Further Reading:

• John Graves Simcoe, A Journal of the Operations of the Queen's Rangers, from the End of the Year 1777, to the Conclusion of the Late American War (Exeter: Printed for the Author, 1784; Reprint: Toronto: Baxter Publishing Company; 1962) is Simcoe's first-hand account of his adventures during the American Revolution. Under the title A History of the Operations of a Partisan Corps called the Queen's Rangers it was also printed (New York: Bartlett & Welford, 1844) and reprinted (North Stratford, NY: Ayer Company, 2000).
   
• D.B. Read, The Life and Times of Gen. John Graves Simcoe commander of the "Queen's Rangers" during the Revolutionary War and First Governor of Upper Canada (Toronto: G. Virtue, 1890)
   
• Marcus van Steen, Governor Simcoe and his Lady (Toronto, London: Hodder & Stoughton, c1968).
   
• Mary Beacock, John Graves Simcoe, 1752-1806 (Toronto, Tonawanda, NY: Dundurn Press, c1998).
   
• Duncan Campbell Scott, John Graves Simcoe (Toronto: Morang, 1912).
   
• William Renwick Riddell, The Life of John Graves Simcoe: First Lieutenant-governor of the Province of Upper Canada, 1792-96 (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, c1926).
   
• Elizabeth Simcoe, Mrs. Simcoe's Diary, ed. Mary Quayle Innes, (Toronto : Macmillan of Canada, 1983).
   

[Thanks to Gretchen Runnalls for sending along a list of Simcoe's multitudinous offspring.]

Notes:

¹ General information for this article comes from Simcoe's entry in Sir Leslie Stephen and Sir Sidney Lee, ed., The Dictionary of National Biography, 22 vols. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1882), 18:253, 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 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). [ back ]

² General Sir William Howe's Orderly Book at Charleston, Boston and Halifax, June 17, 1775 to 1776, 26 May to which is added the official abridgement of General Howe's correspondence with the English government during the seige of Boston, and some military returns and now first printed from the original manuscripts with an historical introduction by Edward Everett Hale, ed. Benjamin Franklin Stevens, (London: B.F. Stevens, 1890), p190. [ back ]

³ The London Chronicle, 01 Jan 1782. [ back ]

⁴ He renamed the settlement of Toronto, calling it "York." It retained that name until 1834 when it reverted to being Toronto. [ back ]

⁵ The Story Of John Graves Simcoe, First Lieutenant-governor Of Upper Canada and Guide Book To Wolford Memorial Chapel, Honiton, Devonshire, England (Ontario: Ministry of Colleges and Universities, n.d.) lists the number of children as five, the second list comes from his DNB entry, and the third from an appendix to Mary Beacock Fryer, Elizabeth Postuma Simcoe, 1762-1850 (Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1989). [ back ]