Captain Alexander Fraser

Alexander Fraser

Alexander Fraser may refer to:*Alexander Fraser of Touchfraser and Cowie, died by 1332 AD*Alexander Fraser , soldier and political figure in Upper Canada and Canada West*Alexander Fraser Alexander Fraser may refer to:*Alexander Fraser of Touchfraser and Cowie, died by 1332 AD*Alexander Fraser...

 of the 34th Regiment, a veteran of the French

French and Indian War

The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...

 and Indian War

Indian Wars

American Indian Wars is the name used in the United States to describe a series of conflicts between American settlers or the federal government and the native peoples of North America before and after the American Revolutionary War. The wars resulted from the arrival of European colonizers who...

, commanded what became known as the Company of Select Marksmen during the Burgoyne campaign

Saratoga campaign

The Saratoga Campaign was an attempt by Great Britain to gain military control of the strategically important Hudson River valley in 1777 during the American Revolutionary War...

 in 1777.

The Marksmen, sometimes known as Rangers, were to consist of two good men from each company of the regiments then in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 (9th

9th Regiment of Foot

The 9th Regiment of Foot was a infantry line regiment of the British Army from 1751 to 1881. It became the Norfolk Regiment following the Army reforms of 1881.-Early history:...

, 20th, 21st, 24th, 31st, 34th, 47th

47th Regiment of Foot

The 47th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army. First raised in 1741 in Scotland, the regiment saw service over a period of 140 years, before it was amalgamated with another regiment to become The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment in 1881...

, 53rd

53rd Regiment of Foot

The 53rd Regiment of Foot was a British Army regiment founded in 1755. In 1881, as part of the Childers Reforms, it became The King's Shropshire Light Infantry Regiment. Its traditions are currently held by the 3rd battalion of The Light Infantry....

 and 62nd)

62nd Regiment of Foot

The 62nd Regiment of Foot may refer to:*60th Regiment of Foot, later the King's Royal Rifle Corps, known as the 62nd Regiment of Foot between 1755 and 1757...

 excluding the 8th (or King's) Regiment. This company, acting as scouts and light infantry under Capt Fraser did much good work participating in the battles of Hubbardton

Battle of Hubbardton

The Battle of Hubbardton was an engagement in the Saratoga campaign of the American Revolutionary War fought in the village of Hubbardton, then in the disputed New Hampshire Grants territory . On the morning of July 7, 1777, British forces, under General Simon Fraser, caught up with the American...

, Bennington

Battle of Bennington

The Battle of Bennington was a battle of the American Revolutionary War that took place on August 16, 1777, in Walloomsac, New York, about from its namesake Bennington, Vermont...

 and Saratoga

Battle of Saratoga

The Battles of Saratoga conclusively decided the fate of British General John Burgoyne's army in the American War of Independence and are generally regarded as a turning point in the war. The battles were fought eighteen days apart on the same ground, south of Saratoga, New York...

. Capt Fraser either escaped or was one of four British officers to be given passports from Saratoga with General Burgoyne's papers, returning to Fort Ticonderoga

Fort Ticonderoga

Fort Ticonderoga, formerly Fort Carillon, is a large 18th-century fort built by the Canadians and the French at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain in upstate New York in the United States...

 and Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

 with news of the defeat. Alexander Fraser continued fighting and raiding throughout the American Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

 and afterwards eventually becoming the commanding officer of the 45th (or Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...

) Regiment in 1795.

The Revolutionary War re-enactment unit 'Company of Select Marksmen' portray members of the 34th and other member units with their women, children and native allies.