The failure of loyalism in Albany County during the American Revolution

Abstract

In order to understand the failure of the Loyalist movement within Albany County, notice must be given first of all to the early history, the early nature of that county. Long before the Revolution, it clearly demonstrated a staunch anti-British spirit, first given impetus from its Dutch inhabitants and its economic conflict of interest with the British Empire. All of this may have proven insignificant, had the leadership of the county been supporters of the King in 1773, as they had been prior to 1768, but they were not. The Livingstons, the Van Renssalaers, and Philip Schuyler, by this time, ousted from power by the rival DeLancey faction, had tied their fortunes to the extra-legal committees and activities that characterized the period, moving with them toward the dissolution of British rule in the thirteen colonies. Unfortunately, a number of the eventual Loyalists were helping them along by also sitting in on these various extra-legal bodies in the hope of acting as a moderate influence upon them. By the time they realized that this was an impossible task, they found themselves at the mercy of the very bodies in which they sat. They had done nothing about setting up their own organization to combat the Rebel influence. All their hopes by this time rested with the British army. The campaign of Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne gave them hope, and brought Loyalist activity in the county to its zenith. However, with his defeat, the Loyalists were in their worst position to date. Dispirited, many of them now fully exposed, they were left virtually alone to face the Rebel anti-Loyalist machinery, which by this time had reached its most effective state in the Albany Commissioners. Under their careful observation, Loyalism in Albany County became a non-entity in the British struggle to restore His Majesty's government to the rebellious colonies.