A Cape Cod man, John Gorham III, working with a squad of local Native American men whom he had recruited and trained for war on the colonial frontier, is now being recognized as one of the ‘founders’ of the U.S. Army Rangers. ‘Gorham’s Rangers,’ as this band became known, was heavily recruited from men of the Wampanoag and Nauset tribes, who by the 1740s lived mostly on tribal reservations located in mid and lower Cape townships. Earlier historians had credited the Mohawks of New York State as the majority, but contemporary records clearly show that the group consisted primarily of Native Americans from the Cape with ties to the Gorham family.

John Gorham (1709-51), born into one of the Cape’s established families, was a veteran officer in the colonial militia who sat on the advisory council of the Governor of Massachusetts. At the outbreak of King George’s War in 1744, the governor had urgently implored him to raise a fighting unit suitable for repelling the French, the Arcadians (settlers of French descent living in Arcadia) and their Native American allies, the Mi’kmaqs and Abenakis. At the time, this combination posed a threat to British forts along the remote frontier to the north, including in what is now Maine (then part of Massachusetts) and Nova Scotia.

Initially, about 55 of the 70 members of Gorham’s Rangers were Native Americans from southeastern Massachusetts, mostly Cape Cod. This group did a great deal of fighting from 1745 to 1749, and much more: the long-forgotten warriors also imparted to Gorham and his white fellow officers a new set of tactical skills now termed ‘ranging.’

Historian Brian D. Carroll, in work published in the New England Quarterly (Sept. 2012) describes ranging as “a uniquely American style of warfare” based on tactics long used by Native Americans and adapted to the continent’s forests, waters and frontier conditions. Gorham’s soldiers worked in small, fast-moving groups, and were experts at ambush and surprise night attacks. They also excelled in tracking, reconnaissance and sniping. Gorham’s Rangers became “an amphibious strike force,” Carroll adds. This was made possible by use of modified shore whaleboats (provided by Gorham) that allowed them to transport 10 to 15 rangers into attacks by land or sea at the time and place of their choosing.

Gorham proved to be an excellent candidate for readying this ranger force. He and his family, notably father Schubael (1686-1746) and brother Joseph (1724-90) were owners of the largest sea trading and shore whaling fleets then thriving in Yarmouth and Barnstable. The Gorham family also had interests in Maine, including lands in a town named after John III’s great grandfather (Gorham, MA). Too, the family had much experience in managing seamen and ships, and vast knowledge of the tricky waters surrounding New England and Arcadia.

Moreover, the Gorhams had long served as judges and overseers of the tribal reservations spread across the Cape, including Mashpee, Harwich and Indiantown in Yarmouth. By 1744, Native Americans had been driven from their hunting grounds and lands, and naturally turned to the sea for work. About half of the Cape’s trading and whaling crewmen at this time were Native Americans. For example, a surviving roster of the crew of Gorham’s sloop Neptune reveals that local Native Americans were a majority.

Overseer accounts indicate that Gorham’s call to arms had strong appeal for these men, since it played to their martial traditions. In addition, one third were in debt, and another third were indentured servants, both conditions inclining them to recruitment. There was also a promise of extra pay from bounty money, typically a reward for enemy kills and captures in frontier campaigns.

The first action of Gorham’s Rangers involved successful lifting of the French siege of Fort Anne at Annapolis Royal in Nova Scotia in 1744. The next year, the unit assisted in another triumph: the capture of Louisbourg, the major French bastion in the region. Gorham’s unit was later posted to Goat Island near Annapolis Royal, which facilitated its role in coastal attacks using their formidable whaleboats. They played a large (and sometimes brutal) role in crushing uprisings by Arcadian settlers and pro-French tribesmen. Thereafter, using two of Gorham’s private sloops, the unit led efforts to neutralize remaining French sea power in the region.

During 1744-49, vicious frontier fighting took a terrible toll on Gorham’s Native American troops. Estimates are that three-fourths of the original troops were dead, missing or captured in those years. This meant that roughly half of all Native American males of war-fighting age then resident in Cape townships had been lost.

Surprisingly, the names of a good number of these early rangers from Cape Cod live on in surviving records. For instance, we know of five men whose capture by hostile tribes prompted efforts for their release by paying ransoms. Relatives of the men pressured Gorham to mediate their return. The men were Jeremy Queach, Joseph Twiney and Benjamin Bangs (from Harwich), and Joseph Ralph (Yarmouth) and Peter Dogamus (from Yarmouth). The latter reportedly was the only captive who actually made it home.

In another instance, the families of surviving Native American soldiers called on Gorham to back their efforts to collect bounty money they claimed that the state owed them. Gorham took the issue to the state legislators, but to no avail--payments due were never made.

Historian Carroll says military service by these men proved to be a disaster for Cape Cod’s Native American communities. The high death toll undermined tribal family structures, increased the number of single-parents families resulting in increased marriage of women to men from outside the tribes. Other outcomes included debt and further dispossession of native land.

In 1751, John Gorham died of smallpox during an official visit to England. His successor in command of Gorham’s Rangers was his brother Joseph, who held the post until the unit was dissolved at the end of the French and Indian War (1756-63). In the later years, the composition of the unit changed since so few Native American men were left to replace the dead. By the end, 95% of members were white, mostly Scotch and Irish immigrants.

Explore Gorham’s digitized account book in the Nova Scotia archives by clicking on the image above. Enter words in the search box to see the resulting pages. Or click **here** to view each page in order.

The reputation of the unit also became tainted. Scorched earth tactics were increasingly employed against enemy tribes. Furthermore, Gorham Rangers played a major role in rounding up the entire Arcadian population for subsequent forced transfer to Louisiana. The descendants of these displaced Arcadians are now called Cajuns.

John Gorham III left no memoir, and his contribution to ranging has long been ignored. However, Gorham’s accounting book detailing his purchases during four years of frontier war has recently surfaced, revealing much information on his and his unit’s significant role. As a result, a new generation of historians now argues that John Gorham deserves to be included as one of the “founding fathers” of the U.S. Army Rangers.

Excerpted from an article written and researched by Bob Leaversuch

Below: grave of Captain John Beare in Ancient Cemetery, Yarmouth Port. Captain Beare was master of the schooner Anson, which was armed and provided support to Gorham’s Rangers.