British Range 7 Year War (Rodgers Rangers)

Rogers’ Rangers was a company of soldiers from the Province of New Hampshire raised by Major Robert Rogers and attached to the British Army during the Seven Years’ War (French and Indian War). The unit was quickly adopted into the British army as an independent ranger company. Robert Rogers trained and commanded the rapidly deployed light infantry force, which was tasked mainly with reconnaissance as well as conducting special operations against distant targets. Their tactics were built on earlier colonial precedents and were codified for the first time by Rogers as his 28 “Rules of Ranging”. The tactics 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 forces in America valued Rogers’ Rangers for their ability to gather intelligence about the enemy. They were disbanded in 1761.

Later, the company was revived as a Loyalist force during the American Revolutionary War. Nonetheless, a number of former ranger officers defected to fight for the Continental Army as rebel (Patriot) commanders. Some ex-rangers participated as rebel militiamen at the Battle of Concord Bridge.