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The King’s Orange Rangers reenactment society was created to re-live the life
and times of the American Revolution; however the French-Indian War* period, 1740s
to 1750s, is of historical significance in Nova Scotia so the group also takes
on the personae of Cobb’s Rangers, a militia created by Silvanus Cobb
(link to a professional biography of Cobb) of New
England, to support the first attack on Louisbourg in 1745.
Cobb and his men joined Sir William Pepperell (link to a professional biography of Pepperell) in the successful siege and shortly thereafter Cobb bought a sloop and as master hired her to the British government for various military purposes e.g., ferrying materiel and troops between Fort Anne (Annapolis Royal), Halifax and Forts Edward and Lawrence. Silvanus Cobb was credited with having an extensive knowledge of the Nova Scotian waterways and in 1753 he was instrumental in providing transportation for the settlement of Lunenburg.
In 1755, with the onset of the French-Indian War, Cobb was commissioned as a privateer and captured a number of French trading vessels for which he received substantial funds. Cobb and his rangers were part of the British force during the successful second and final siege to Louisbourg in 1758. He continued to provide ocean transport along the coast of Nova Scotia and into the Bay of Fundy. Cobb built a house in Liverpool to be part of an extensive land base for his mercantile activities however, volunteering once more for active duty, Silvanus Cobb died in 1762 during the British expedition against Havana.
* the North American portion of the European Seven Years War Visit our Photo Gallery
Information and photo contributed by: rh
Disclaimer: All photos without direct credits have been contributed by members and it is no longer clear whom was the original photographer. If you recognize one of your photos please contact us so credit may be given. Permission is assumed to have been granted for all photos submitted.
