De Lancey's Brigade was raised in September 1776 on Long Island, New York, after the Patriot forces had lost the Battle of Brooklyn during the British New York Campaign. The Brigade consisted of three battalions of five hundred men each, with De Lancey serving both as brigadier general and colonel of the 1st Battalion. In the winter of 1776–1777, De Lancey's three battalions were stationed at Oyster Bay, Huntington, Brookhaven, Long Island, and Kingsbridge, Bronx. In May 1777, the 1st and 2nd Battalions moved to the Kingsbridge area, north of Manhattan. Brigadier General Oliver De Lancy conducted regular operations in the region north of New York City, in Westchester County, New York, between Morrisania and the Croton Rivers, which was known as the "Neutral Ground". Lawlessness and guerrilla warfare were carried out by De Lancey's "Cowboys" and their compatriots, the New Jersey Volunteers, known by their nickname, the "Skinners." Both were British loyalist marauders who stole cattle, looted, and gathered military intelligence in the New York countryside. The entire brigade was disbanded in Woodstock, New Brunswick in 1783. Many of the regiment settled in Nova Scotia after the war.