The war may be said to have ended with the surrender of the army under Lord Cornwallis, at Yorktown, on October 19, 1781, and little attempt at recruiting was made subsequently; consequently the regiments continued to dwindle until, at the evacuation of New-York, two years later, they were not more than one-third of their original strength. The New Jersey Volunteers, a year after their arrival in New-Brunswick, were mustered by Thomas Knox, under the supervision of Col. Edward Winslow. The return is dated at Fort Howe, September 25, 1784, and the number of those then on their lands, and for whom the Royal bounty of provisions was furnished, was as follows:-- Men Women Children Servants Total Over 10 Under 10 1st New Jersey Vols. 158 57 57 39 9 320 2nd " " 132 45 44 38 14 273 3rd " " 173 64 47 42 6 332 --- --- --- --- --- --- Total 463 166 148 119 29 925 The commander of the 3rd Battalion, Lieut.-Col. VanBuskirk, did not come with his men to the River St. John but settled in Shelburne, where he was the first mayor of the town. The troops for St. John sailed in charge of Lieut.-Col. Richard Hewlett as senior officer, with Lieut.-Col. Gabriel DeVeber second in command. They left New-York on September 15, 1783, and arrived safely in St. John harbour on the 26th, with the exception of the transports "Martha" and "Esther." The former was wrecked near Yarmouth and more than half of her passengers were lost. The "Esther," in which VanBuskirk's battalion had embarked, got off her course in the fog and narrowly escaped destruction, arriving a day or two behind her sister ships. As Peter Fisher was born on Staten Island, on June 9, 1782, he was a very young Loyalist indeed at the time of his arrival in Blue-nose Land, being, in point of fact, less than sixteen months old. Sir Guy Carleton's orders were that the several corps should proceed at once to the places allotted for their settlement, directions having been given to Captain John Colville, assistant agent of all small craft at the St. John River, to afford every assistance in his power to the corps in getting to their destinations. Three days after their arrival the troops disembarked and encamped above the Falls, near the Indian House. Hewlett wrote Sir Guy Carleton that he feared the want of small craft would greatly delay their progress. He writes again on the 13th October, 1783, that the troops had been disbanded and were getting up the river as fast as the scarcity of small craft for conveying them would admit.