The term Non-Associators was applied to American colonists who refused to support and sign "military association" charters. They were not affiliated with associators, or would choose instead, to pay a fine and suffer possible retaliation. During the American Revolutionary War, some associator units were said to operate more like, or were in fact loose-knit criminal gangs, taking advantage of the disruption of warfare.
In 1776, Pennsylvania, Patriot, volunteer, military groups, in the tradition of earlier, colonial, associator militias, used the name the Pennsylvania Associators and in 1777, were renamed the Pennsylvania State Militia.
4th Battalion of Philadelphia County Militia (1776)
Philadelphia Brigade of Militia (1747)
2nd Battalion, Philadelphia Associators
3rd Battalion, Philadelphia Associators
British Loyalist Associators
Many Loyalist irregulars who fought with the British in the American Revolutionary War were "associators". These units were sometimes commissioned by the commander in chief but could also be commissioned by the commander of a garrison or a royal colonial governor. They received no pay, and often no uniforms; they were usually issued provisions, but relied on labor or looting to earn money. Loyalist Associators often served in mixed-race units, composed of whites, escaped slaves, and even American Indians.
Perhaps one of the most famous Loyalist associators was Colonel Tye, a former slave and leader of the infamous "Black Brigade". He was the first known black officer in North American military history.
^ a bNewland, Samuel J. The Pennsylvania Militia: Defending the Commonwealth and the nation, 1669-1870, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Dept. of Military and Veterans Affairs (2002), pp. 36-45
^The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Volume 26. 1902. Retrieved February 27, 2010.
^Jonathan D. Sutherland, African Americans at War, ABC-CLIO, 2003, pp. 420–421, accessed May 4, 2010
^Black Loyalists: Our History, Our People. Canada's Digital Collection. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007.
^ a b c d e f g h i"Loyalist Institute: List of Loyalist Regiments". www.royalprovincial.com. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
^Adelberg, Michael S. (1997). Roster of the People of Revolutionary Monmouth County (New Jersey). Genealogical Publishing Com. ISBN 9780806346779. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
^"Loyalist Institute: Index to Hazard's Corps of Refugees History". www.royalprovincial.com. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
^David M. Griffin, Lost British Forts of Long Island. Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2017. p. 93.
^"Loyalist Institute: Index to Loyal Refugee Volunteers History". www.royalprovincial.com. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
^Todd Braisted, Thomas Ward and the Loyal Refugee Volunteers at Bergen Neck, 1779-1782. 1999.
^Alexander Fraser, United Empire Loyalists: Enquiry Into the Losses and Services in Consequence of Their Loyalty. Evidence in the Canadian Claims, Ontario. Department of Public Records and Archives. Ottawa, ON: L.K. Cameron, 1905. p. 654–655.
^James J. Gigantino, The American Revolution in New Jersey: Where the Battlefront Meets the Home Front Rivergate Regionals Collection. Rutgers, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2015. p. 73, 81, 83, 202, 206.
^"Loyalist Institute: Index to Loyal Newport Associators History". www.royalprovincial.com. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
^Abiel Holmes, The annals of America: from the discovery by Columbus in the year 1492, to the year 1826, Volume 1. Cambridge, UK: Hilliard and Brown, 1829 p. 286.
^Lorenzo Sabine, The American Loyalists; or, Biographical sketches of adherents to the British crown in the war of the revolution; alphabetically arranged; with a preliminary historical essay. Boston: C.C. Little and J. Brown, 1847. pp. 63, 269.
^Samuel Greene Arnold, 1701-1790 Volume 2 of History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Providence, RI: Preston & Rounds, 1899. p 749.
^William Field Reed, The Descendants of Thomas Durfee of Portsmouth, R.I., Volume 1. Washington D.C.: Gibson Bros., Printers, 1900 p. 207-208.
^Lorenzo Sabine, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution, Volume 3. Carlisle, MA: Applewood Books, 2009. p. 581.
^Theodore Savas and J. David Dameron, Guide to the Battles of the American Revolution. Savas Beatie LLC, 2006. p. xliii.
^Thomas N. Ingersoll, The Loyalist Problem in Revolutionary New England. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2016.
^Christian M. McBurney, Spies in Revolutionary Rhode Island. Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2014.
^Thomas Vernon, he diary of Thomas Vernon, a loyalist, banished from Newport by the Rhode Island general assembly in 1776. Providence, R.I.: S. S. Rider, 1881.
Sources
Farrelly, Maura Jane. Papist Patriots: The Making of an American Catholic Identity. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Newland, Samuel J. The Pennsylvania Militia: Defending the Commonwealth and the nation, 1669-1870. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Dept. of Military and Veterans Affairs, 2002.
Ryan, William R. The World of Thomas Jeremiah: Charles Town on the Eve of the American Revolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.