Desertion of a British Light Dragoon:

Diary of Samuel Bixby

[An American]

[He was in Isaac Bolster's Company, of Sutton, in Colonel Larned's

Regiment. Enlisted May 1, to serve to Dec. 31, 1776. Page 285]

17th [August, 1775] Thurs[day], Three or four deserters came in from the ships of war. Also a light horseman from Boston by swimming his horse -- reports sickness among the regulars.

Source: Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings. "Diary of Samuel Bixby." March, 1876. Page 292.

Commentary:

This individual must have been from the 17th Light Dragoons since we know that the 17th Light Dragoons were the only British Dragoon Regiment serving in North America at that time. We know that Volunteer Thomas Stanley, later to hold a Cornetcy and then Captaincy in the 17th Light Dragoons, writes from Camp in Boston on August 7, 1775 that they arrived safely in Boston Harbour the Sunday before. Who was this deserter:

An examination of the Muster Rolls by Troop for the period mentioned does not reveal who this trooper may have been. Close examination of the Diary of Frederick MacKenzie ends prior to the date in question for the Boston period.