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The Queen's Rangers 1776 1st American Regiment

Photo by contributor The Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation - Posted May, 2007

Plaque Location

The USA
Virginia
In storage at Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation's Central Support Complex, 200 Hawks Nest Drive, Williamsburg, Virginia, USA

Coordinates: N 37 16.504 W 76 37.822

Plaque Text

The Queen's Rangers, raised by Major Robert Rogers, was designated by King George III in 1779 as the 1st American Regiment in recognition of its outstanding service to the Crown. The regiment along with other troops laid down arms at Yorktown on October 19, 1781. Two years later it was disbanded and many of the Rangers went to British North America as United Empire Loyalists. The corps, re-established under Colonel John Graves Simcoe, first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, provided service in the newly-settled province between 1792 and 1802. The present-day Queen's York Rangers (1st American Regiment, Royal Canadian Armoured Corps) of Toronto, Ontario, traces its lineage back to the Queen's Rangers and Rogers' Rangers.

Related Ontario plaque
John Graves Simcoe 1752-1806

Related Toronto plaque
Queen's Rangers

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Here are the visitors' comments for this page.

> Posted May 22, 2012
Re: Comment of May 21. It's rare indeed that an Ontario historical marker is placed outside the province, but there was an era in which several were erected in Europe and two in the U.S. This is one; the other is at Grand Portage National Monument in Minnesota, not far from the Ontario border.
From what I know, this Queen's Rangers saw all of its action within the present-day United States, with several skirmishes in Virginia (but also in NY, NJ, SC and PA). The unit could rightly be commemorated by a Virginia plaque, and is mentioned on a couple there, as well as on markers in NJ and NY.
But since the modern Ontario unit traces its roots to this one, perhaps it's fitting an Ontario plaque was cast for it. I wonder if there are similar extra-jurisdictional plaques in Ontario, from other provinces/states/countries.
It's exceptional, too, for an Ontario plaque to note the date of its unveiling on its face (as opposed to a casting date stamped on the 'sleeve' fitting for a post). Here, the October 19, 1981, date suggests it was part of celebrations marking the American Revolution Bicentennial. This was the precise 200th anniversary of the victory at Yorktown.
As for why it's in storage--This plaque was taken down during the 1995-1998 renovation of the Yorktown Victory Center in Yorktown, VA, but never put back. A recent note from the foundation indicates they are building a new museum, set to begin construction this summer, opening in 2014. So the plaque will sit with others in storage for some time yet, it seems...nearly 20 years out of public view.
Perhaps the National Park Service might be given temporary custody, so it could be erected somewhere within the Yorktown unit of Colonial National Historical Park.
-Wayne

> Posted May 21, 2012
As a former QYRANG, I'm curious as to why this plaque is in storage in Virginia. Is this like having National historic sites in France, and elsewhere? Or a weird American taunt?

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