Rogers’ Rangers in the Great War

Badge of the 20th Battalion, CEF

James Patton

Rogers' Rangers were raised in 1755 in the Province of New Hampshire by the then self-styled  Major Robert Rogers (1731–1795) to serve with the British during the Seven Years War (aka French and Indian War). Rogers was inspired by the reputation and the unconventional tactics of the Indian fighter Benjamin Church (1639-1718). His command was to be rapidly deployable light infantry, tasked mainly with reconnaissance, ambushes and  hit-and-run raids. In 1759 he codified their tactics as his 28 Rules of Ranging. His Rangers grew to over a dozen companies, totaling over 1,200 men at the peak, who were the best scouts the British had in the upper Hudson country. No longer needed after the French surrender in 1760, they were discharged, however Maj. Rogers remained in service until 1765. 

During the American Revolution, Rogers re-constituted his outfit as a Loyalist unit, calling it the Queen’s  Rangers (“Queens”), which operated from 1775 to 1783. The unit received the honorary appellation ” 1st Americans” from the king in 1779. Following the end of the war,  a group commanded by Lieut. Col. John Simcoe (1752–1806), set up their base in Upper Canada (today’s Ontario) and were known first as Simcoe’s Rangers, then the York Militia and later the York Rangers (“Yorks”), with active service in 1793–1802, 1812–15,1837–38, then finally 1866 to date. 

A group of the Queen’s not under Simcoe remained in British service in New Brunswick  until disbanded in 1793. After WWI,  a new militia regiment was created from the 35th CEF which was named the West Toronto Regiment in 1921. After amalgamation with the 2nd Battalion of the Yorks in 1925, this unit was allowed to revive the name of the Queen’s. Subsequently, in 1927 this unit was also allowed to reclaim the appellation “1st Americans.” Finally, in 1936, this new Queen’s Rangers (1st Americans) were amalgamated with the Yorks to form today’s unit, the Queens York Rangers (1st American Regiment) (“QYR”). 

Thus the strongest claim to the heritage of Rogers’ Rangers belongs to this Toronto-based regiment, which has a direct line from Rogers’ second creation. Not currently serving as rangers, their current role is Light Armored Vehicle reconnaissance. 

The Great War Comes

By 1915 it had become apparent that the Western Front wasn’t going to be a ranger kind of war—it was going to be a Napoleonic cataclysm of big units engaging in big battles. The legacy of Rogers’ Rangers would extend into the Great War, but not as rangers. 

The Canadian Militia was limited to home service, so just as for the Boer War, an overseas service force was created.  This Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) had to be made up of standard British 960-man battalions and the Militia "regiments" were unsuitable building blocks because they varied widely in size and training. So their members were urged to enlist individually into new CEF battalions. Conveniently, this way all would serve under the same terms and conditions. Over the years men from the Yorks joined the 20th, 35th, 127th, and 220th  CEF battalions.

The 20th  (Central Ontario) Battalion CEF was authorized on 7 November 1914, mostly with men from the Yorks. They went overseas on 15 May 1915 and on to France on 15 September 1915. They fought in France and Flanders as a part of the 4th Canadian Infantry Brigade, 2nd Canadian Division. Until he was wounded in late 1917, the commander of the 20th was Lieut. Col. C.H. "Herman" Rogers OBE (1876–1946), a regular cavalryman who came over from the 3rd Prince of Wales Canadian Dragoons (he brought his horse with him), and he was a direct descendant of Maj. Robert Rogers. 

Lt. Col. Rogers

The 20th's battle honors include the Battle of the Somme (1916), Vimy  Ridge, Passchendaele (1917),  Hill 70, Amiens, the Scarpe, Canal du Nord, Canal de l'Escaut and the Pursuit to Mons (1918). Two of its members, Lieut. Wallace Lloyd Algie and Sgt. Frederick Hobson, were posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross (VC).

Four thousand three hundred ten officers and men served in the 20th—843 (19.6%) were killed in action or died of wounds, 1,855 (43%) were wounded, and 91 died due to disease or accidents. Only 22 were ever taken prisoner—nine of them from a stretcher party that got lost at Passchendaele—and there was only one deserter. All of these battle honors and the heritage of the 20th  CEF, including the VCs, are now attributed to the QYR.

As was the practice in the CEF, the 35th and the 220th supplied replacements, while the 127th became a railway unit. 

Officers of the 20th Battalion

The Descendants of Rogers' Ranger

Who else claims descent from Rogers’ Rangers? How about American rangers? In the 19th century there were U.S. units that operated sort of  like rangers, especially including two that were CSA, but all were short-lived. Today’s U.S. Army’s  Rangers, including the 75th Infantry and Ft. Benning’s Ranger School come to mind, but their history begins with Darby’s Rangers in 1942, who trained as British Commandos, not rangers. Instead their claim is based on being the repository for the ranger legacy in American service  (actually Rogers’ Rangers were in British service). Claiming that they are the true successors to the 1755–61 Rangers (not the Loyalist ones), they have embraced both the ranger ethos and a modern set of the Ranger Rules, outlined in U.S. Army publication TC 3-21.76 26 April 2017. 

Another American claim arises from an ad hoc local militia unit raised by Maj. Rogers to fight in Pontiac’s War (1763–65), which, although also in British Service, is regarded as the progenitor of the Michigan National Guard.  

What made a soldier a Ranger? The full text of Rogers’ 28 Rules can found HERE.

Perhaps thanks to Rogers, the term "Ranger" has long sported a certain cachet. Over the years, in British or Canadian service, it has been used by several other units that were not descended from Rogers’ Rangers and didn’t use ranger tactics. Right now there are the following:

The Rangers, a British regiment created in 2021. They aren’t rangers; their mission is to advise and train foreign partners in unconventional warfare, akin to the the U.S. Army’s Special Forces (“Green Berets”).

Historic Battle Flag of the Queen's York Rangers

The Rocky Mountain Rangers (RMR), formed in 1908 in British Columbia. Light infantry today rather than rangers, its members served in WWI with the 172nd (Rocky Mountain Rangers) Batttalion CEF. Before the 172nd CEF was broken up in 1917, they had received a set of colors from Princess Patricia of Connaught.  Due to the participation of its soldiers in the battles of Arras 1917 and 1918, Hill 70, Ypres 1917, Amiens, the Hindenburg Line, and Valenciennes, the RMR displays those honors today. 

The Canadian Rangers are a para-military unit formed in 1942. Made up of local residents  who can be called  upon to perform security, surveillance and search/rescue duties in the Far North, they carry bolt action rifles—until 2018 the venerable .303 Lee-Enfield No. 4.