The unit was also known as "Johnson's Royal Greens". Johnson was the son of Sir William Johnson, Indian Commissioner to the Mohawks. The commissioner grew very wealthy from his dealings and fathered a good number of Mohawks. During the Revolution, many Tories were driven from the Mohawk valley, including the Johnsons. Most of the loyalists were Anglicans, while the Palatine Germans were generally Whigs. There were exceptions; Herkimer's brother was a loyalist officer, for example. Herkimer spoke German, English and Mohawk. His English was sprinkled with German words, a patois understood in much of the Mohawk Valley. Religious and ethnic differences thickened the stew. A ruse failed at Oriskany because a Whig recognized a Tory neighbor.
Added to this was the animus between New England Yankees (Congregationalists and such) and the multi-lingual, poly-ethnic settlers from New York. (Some things never change.) The Green Mountain Boys militia unit was formed before the war to keep New Yorkers out of the Hampshire Grants (Vermont).
The closer you look, the more complicated it gets.
