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Choosing Sides—Patriot & Loyalist Terminology

Choosing sides during the Revolutionary War in the Back Country

Militia or Citizen Soldier nomenclature irrespective of professional soldiers, i.e. American Continentals and British Redcoats & exclusive of allies

Flag of Revolutionary America
American

Partisan
Sometimes applied to South Carolina Patriot militia

Patriot
General term for American forces across the country

Refugee
Georgia militia, associated with being constantly on the move

Whig
Patriot more in a political sense

Flag of Great Britain (1707–1800)
British

King’s Man
Sometimes applied to South Carolina Loyalist militia

Loyalist
General term for colonists who sided with the British Crown

Provincial
Served in a more regulated unit versus militia

Regular
British trained Loyalist, term also applicable to British troops

Royalist
Another term for Loyalist

Tory
Loyalist more in a political sense

There were also several derogatory terms for those on either side, Rebel being one the most common applied by the British to American troops.

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