The southern Loyalists moved mostly to Florida, which had remained loyal to the Crown, and to British Caribbean possessions. When their cause was defeated, about 15 percent of the Loyalists (65,000–70,000 people) fled to other parts of the British Empire, to Britain itself, or to British North America (now Canada). He worked to build Loyalist military units to fight in the war, but the number of volunteers was much fewer than London expected. William Franklin, the royal governor of New Jersey and son of Patriot leader Benjamin Franklin, became the leader of the Loyalists after his release from a Patriot prison in 1778. Many outspoken or militarily active Loyalists were forced to flee, especially to their stronghold of New York City. Patriots watched suspected Loyalists very closely and would not tolerate any organized Loyalist opposition. The British were often suspicious of them, not knowing whom they could fully trust in such a conflicted situation they were often looked down upon. In practice, the number of Loyalists in military service was far lower than expected since Britain could not effectively protect them except in those areas where Britain had military control. The British government acted in expectation of that, especially in the southern campaigns in 1780–81. Prominent Loyalists repeatedly assured the British government that many thousands of them would spring to arms and fight for the crown. They were opposed by the Patriots, who supported the revolution, and called them “persons inimical to the liberties of America”. Loyalists were American colonists who stayed loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolutionary War, often referred to as Tories, Royalists, or King’s Men at the time. When their cause was defeated, about 15 percent of the Loyalists (65,000–70,000 people) fled to other parts of the British Empire. Moses after a painting by Benjamin West.) / Wikimedia Commons (Reception of the American Loyalists by Great Britain in the Year 1783. Britannia offers solace and a promise of compensation for her exiled American-born Loyalists.