'They were good soldiers': African-Americans serving in the Continental Army, 1775-1783

In: From reason to revolution 1721-1815 no. 34

Abstract

Introduction -- 'I do promise to every Negroe ... full security .. within these Lines' : black Americans in service to the crown -- 'Numbers of free Negroes are desirous of inlisting' : an overview of African Americans in the Continental Army -- Analysis : 'return of the Negroes in the army,' August 1778 -- Soldier narratives and regimental service -- Massachusetts : 'the person of this ... Negro centers a Brave & gallant Soldier' -- Connecticut : 'he ... entered the service upon condition of receiving his freedom ...' -- New Hampshire : 'I was in the battles of Harlem-heights & Monmouth' -- Rhode Island : 'very much crippled in one arm ... [by] a wound received ... [at] Monmouth' -- New York : 'the Enemy made a stand and threw up a b[r]east work' -- New Jersey : 'enlisted ... for nine months ... was in the Battles of Crosswick & [M]onmouth' -- Pennsylvania : 'wounded in the right thigh, at Brandywine ...' -- Georgia : 'he served as a drummer in this company' -- South Carolina : 'a Ball ... passed through his left side, killing the Drummer immediately behind' -- Maryland : 'he will never forget the roaring of Cannon ...' -- Delaware : 'discharged ... 1782, being a slave for life & claimed' -- Virginia : 'served for two years ... in the light infantry commanded by Colo Harry Lee' -- North Carolina : 'the men sent on Board of Prison Ships--myself among them ...' -- 'They had a great frollick ... with Fiddling & dancing' : small things forgotten -- 'Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness' : post-war societal attitudes, the black experience, and slavery -- Afterword : 'they were good soldiers" -- Appendices. 'Being a coloured man he was taken as a waiter' : overview of soldiers as officers' servants ; 'While at the camp I had the small Pox' : African American women with the army ; 'Peters is an East-India Indian ...' : compendium of deserter notices for soldiers of color ; Analysis of the Chesterfield supplement's black soldiers.