Edward F. De Lancey

“ He was nearly six feet high, of graceful mien and commanding presence, united with the most courteous manners and great vivacity, and was one of the most agreeable of men. He was a most eloquent and forcible speaker, and few clergymen could read the service so well and so impressively. ”

“ After the conclusion of hostilities he was made the head of a commission to settle the accounts of the war. In 1794 he was promoted to be lieutenant-colonel of his regiment, and subsequently colonel. After serving as deputy-adjutant-general, he was appointed barrack-master-general, an office which he held for ten years. On 3 Oct., 1794, he was named major-general, in 1801 lieutenant-general, and in 1812 general. He sat for many years in parliament as a representative of Maidstone. Gen. De Lancey never married. ”

“ But he was unsuccessful, and, as hostilities had meantime begun, he decided to remain abroad, and in the following year sent for his family. He never returned to this country. His immense estates were confiscated and he was banished, for voting against the resolutions of the congress of 1774. When, in 1788, parliament finally passed an act partially compensating the loyalists for their losses, De Lancey was chosen by those from New York to act as their representative in the board of agents, and he became, after Sir William Pepperell, its most active member. ”

“ Howe on Staten Island; and, had that officer profited by his honest advice, the American war, I will be bold to say, would have ended in a very different manner from what it did.” In September of that year he raised three regiments of loyalists, largely at his own expense. of 500 men each, known as “ De Lancey's battalions.” Of these regiments a brigade was formed, and Col. De Lancey was commissioned brigadier-general, becoming the senior brigadier-general in the loyalist service. He was assigned to the command of Long Island, where he remained during the war. ”

“ Abercrombie (about 5,000 strong) , as colonel-in-chief. In the attack on Fort Ticonderoga, 8 July, 1758, he supported Lord Howe, and was near that officer when he fell mortally wounded. In November of the same year the assembly of New York again voted him its thanks “for his great service and singular care of the troops of the colony while under his command.” In 1760 he was appointed a member of the provincial council, retaining his seat until 1776. In 1763 he was made receiver-general, and, in 1773, colonel-in-chief of the southern military district of the province. ”

“ No man had the confidence of that venerable prelate to so great an extent as he, and no man knew directly from the bishop so many of the details of the history of the inception and progress of the Protestant Episcopal church from the close of the Revolutionary war to the year 1836 as did Mr. De Lancey. In March, 1823, he was unanimously elected by the vestry of the three united churches in Philadelphia one of the assistant ministers of the parish, the other two being the Rev. ”