Editing John Graves Simcoe (section)

==Military career in American Revolutionary War==
In 1770, Simcoe entered the British Army as an ensign in the [[35th Regiment of Foot]], and his unit was dispatched to the [[Thirteen Colonies]]. Later, he saw action in the [[American Revolutionary War]] during the [[siege of Boston]]. After the siege, in July 1776, he was promoted captain in the [[40th Regiment of Foot]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=11681| date=6 July 1776|page=1}}</ref> He saw action with the [[grenadier]] company of the 40th Foot in the [[New York and New Jersey campaign]] and the [[Philadelphia campaign]]. Simcoe commanded the 40th's Grenadiers at the [[Battle of Brandywine]] on 11 September 1777, where he was wounded. Legend has it that Simcoe ordered his men at Brandywine not to fire upon three fleeing rebels, among whom was [[George Washington]].<ref>Jarvis Archives and Museum [http://jarvisarchives.ca/main/history/john-graves-simcoe-and-the-queens-rangers "John Graves Simcoe and the Queen's Rangers."]. Retrieved 8 May 2015.</ref>

In 1777, Simcoe sought to form a Loyalist regiment of [[free people of color|free blacks]] from Boston but instead was offered the command of the [[Queen's Rangers]] formed on [[Staten Island]] on 15 October 1777. It was a well-trained light infantry unit comprising 11 companies of 30 men -- 1 [[grenadier]], and 1 [[hussar]], and the rest light infantry. The Queen's Rangers saw extensive action during the Philadelphia campaign, including a successful surprise attack (planned and executed by Simcoe) at the [[Battle of Crooked Billet]].

In 1778, Simcoe led an attack on [[Hancock House (Lower Alloways Creek Township, New Jersey)#Massacre|Judge William Hancock's house]] during a foraging expedition [[Battle of Quinton's Bridge|opposed by Patriot militia]]. Hancock was also killed, although he was not with the Americans. The attack took place at night and with bayonets. On 28 June of that year, Simcoe and his Queen's Rangers took part in the [[Battle of Monmouth]], in and near [[Freehold Township, New Jersey|Freehold]], New Jersey.

On 31 August 1778, Lieut. Col. Simcoe earned a victory over [[Daniel Nimham]]'s Native American force serving under the Continental Army as the [[Stockbridge Militia]] in the [[Stockbridge Militia#The Stockbridge Massacre|Battle of Kingsbridge]] (also known as the “Stockbridge Massacre”). The skirmish had been planned by Simcoe for an earlier ambush by the same unit, and took place in what today is [[Van Cortlandt Park]] in the Bronx, New York. The battlefield is recognized as the [http://www.americanrevolution.org/ind3.php Indian Field] there.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.americanrevolution.org/ind3.php|title=Death in the Bronx|website=www.americanrevolution.org|access-date=15 January 2018}}</ref>

On 26 October 1779, Simcoe and 80 men launched an attack on central [[New Jersey]] from southern Staten Island known as Simcoe's Raid, from what is known today as the [[Conference House]], resulting in the burning of Patriot supplies inside a [[Dutch Reformed Church]] in [[Finderne, New Jersey|Finderne]], including hay and grain; the release of Loyalist prisoners from the [[Somerset County Courthouse (New Jersey)|Somerset County Courthouse]]; and Simcoe's capture by [[Charles Armand Tuffin, marquis de la Rouërie|Armand Tuffin de La Rouërie]].<ref>Hester, John. [https://web.archive.org/web/20150518104239/http://www.nj.com/specialprojects/revwar/rev15.html "Queen's Rangers raid brings destruction and terror."] ''The Star-Ledger''. Retrieved 8 May 2015</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=If you don't like Toronto, blame him|last=Cote|first=Joe|date=4 August 2008|work=Toronto Star|pages=AA6}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uppercanadahistory.ca/simcoe/simcoe1.html|title=John Graves Simcoe|last=Wilson|first=W. R.|year=2007|access-date=16 September 2008}}</ref> Simcoe was released at the end of 1779<ref>Read,George Breakenridge. ''The Life and Times of Colonel John Graves Simcoe'' (Toronto: George Virtue, 1890), p. 63</ref> and rejoined his unit in [[Virginia]]. He participated in the [[Raid on Richmond]] with Benedict Arnold in January 1781 and was involved in [[Battle of Spencer's Ordinary|a skirmish near Williamsburg]] and was at the [[siege of Yorktown]]. He was invalided back to England in December of that year as a lieutenant-colonel, having been promoted in March 1782.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=12283| date=30 March 1782|page=2}}</ref>

Simcoe wrote a book on his experiences with the Queen's Rangers, titled ''A Journal of the Operations of the royal Queen's Rangers from the end of the year 1777 to the conclusion of the late American War'', which was published in 1787.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/cihm_42313/page/n5/mode/2up ''A Journal of the Operations of the Queen's Rangers, from the End of the Year 1777, to the Conclusion of the Late American War''], 1787</ref> He served briefly as Inspector General of Recruitment for the British Army, from 1789 until his departure for Upper Canada two years later.<ref name="Glover1963">{{cite book |last1=Glover |first1=Richard |title=Peninsular Preparation: the Reform of the British Army 1795–1809 |date=1963 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=218}}</ref>