Colonel John Lasher, remembered as one of the
substantial citizens of the place. A man of property and influence,
with a taste for military affairs and evidently popular, he had been
elected colonel of the Independent Companies during the colonial
regime, and now, with most of his officers and men, had taken up the
Continental cause.[79] The battalion was a favorite corps, composed of
young men of respectability and wealth, and when on parade was
doubtless the attraction of the city. Its companies bore separate
names, and the uniform of each had some distinguishing feature. There
were the "Prussian Blues," under Captain James Alner; the "Oswego
Rangers," under Captain John J. Roosevelt; the "Rangers," under
Captain James Abeel; the "Fusileers," under Captain Henry G.
Livingston; the "Hearts of Oak," under Captain John Berrian; the
"Grenadiers," under Captain Abraham Van Dyck; the "Light Infantry,"
under Captain William W. Gilbert; the "Sportsmen," under Captain
Abraham A. Van Wyck; the "German Fusileers," under Captain William
Leonard; the "Light Horse," under Captain Abraham P. Lott; and the
"Artillery," under Captain Samuel Tudor. As reorganized in the summer
of 1776, the regiment had for its field officers Colonel John Lasher,
Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Stockholm, and Major James Abeel. The Second
New York City Battalion was originally commanded by Colonel William
Heyer, and among its companies were the "Brown Buffs," "Rifles,"
"Grenadiers," "Hussars," and "Scotsmen," the latter of whom were
commanded by Captain Robert Smith, of New York, who, after doing good
service at various times during the war, settled in Philadelphia,
where for nearly half a century after he filled offices of public and
private trust.[80] In 1776, in the reappointment of field officers,
William Malcom, formerly first major, became colonel; Isaac
Stoutenburgh, lieutenant-colonel; and James Alner, major.[81] The two
remaining regiments of Scott's brigade were commanded by Colonel
Samuel Drake, of Westchester, and Colonel Cornelius Humphrey, of
Dutchess County. Scott himself was a man of the highest public spirit.
A history of the progress of the revolutionary sentiment in the Colony
of New York would be incomplete without a record of his career. An
able lawyer and speaker, he early resisted the pretentions and
arbitrary policy of the home government, and when war became
inevitable, he spared no energy to provide for the crisis. In 1775 and
1776 h