Almost nothing is known of Virginian and former slave George Latchom. Most of what we do know relates to one incident during the American Revolution in which he displayed incredible strength and unselfish courage. He was not a Continental soldier; over eight hundred African Americans would ultimately fight alongside patriots in the Virginia Line. Nor was he a substitute who enlisted in his master’s place with the promise of liberty. During the climatic years of the American Revolution, far more African American bondsmen sought freedom by escaping to join the British army. British General Henry Clinton took Virginia’s former governor Lord Dunmore’s earlier lead, and promised freedom to any bondsmen of rebels who would do so. Though many slaves of patriotic masters took up Clinton’s offer, George Latchom chose not to.
A large population of African American slaves had remained at home throughout the war, working the fields or in artisan trades. Though Latchom was armed and fought a company of British soldiers, there is no evidence that he joined a militia organization in Accomack County, known as the Eastern Shore. Almost all the information we have about Latchom was supplied by Colonel John Cropper’s memoir which indicated the bondsman was a slave of Cropper’s neighbor. But for some reason, in September of 1781, when the British forces had invaded mainland Virginia, we find Latchom armed and firmly standing beside Colonel Cropper. Cropper’s militia company had fled leaving the two men alone to face a bayonet charge by a British raiding party. This action would eventually gain George Latchom’s personal freedom and lifelong friendship of Colonel Cropper. To understand how George Latchom and Colonel Cropper formed this bond, one must understand the dynamics of the time and the military experience of Colonel John Cropper.
Across the Chesapeake Bay from the mainland of Virginia runs a narrow peninsula southward from the Maryland boundary to Cape Charles. The region was originally called Accowmake after a Native American chief. In 1634, Virginia was divided into eight shires in which this region was one, the name having changed to Accomack. In 1662, this peninsula south from Maryland was divided into two counties, Accomack to the north and Northampton to the south. John Cropper was the fourth generation from one of Accomack county’s original and principal settlers, wealthy English gentleman John Bowman, whose daughter married a young Scotsman (though there is some dispute that he was an Englishman). John Cropper was born on Dec. 23, 1755. He was to inherit the large family estate along Folly Creek called Bowman’s Folly (after the original patriarch). In 1775, when hostilities with England seemed unavoidable, the county organized a militia of minutemen in which Cropper joined.
Later in the year, the county recruited a company of militia and made the nineteen year old Cropper a captain. While waiting for events to unfold, Cropper married Margaret (Peggy) Pettitt. He received his commission into the Continental Army on February 5, 1776, and was attached to the 9th Virginia Regiment under Colonel Thomas Fleming. The regiment was ordered north to join Washington’s army. Fleming died in route and Lt. Colonel George Matthews assumed command. The regiment did not see action in and around New York City, having been stationed in New Jersey. On Oct. 7th, Cropper was commissioned a major of the 7th Virginia. The 7th had wintered in Williamsburg, VA and later in York, PA and was not involved in the battles at Trenton or Princeton. Cropper wrote his wife from Philadelphia on January 12th, mentioning the battles in Jersey.
The 7th fought at the Battle of Brandywine Creek on Sept. 11, 1777 and was almost cut to pieces. By the time the army retreated, Cropper’s regiment could not muster more than 200 men for duty. They were battle worn and Cropper had been wounded in the thigh by a bayonet thrust. Shortly afterwards, on October 26th, 1777, Crupper was made a Lt. Colonel and was transferred to Colonel Daniel Morgan’s 11th Virginia Regiment. He was at Valley Forge during the 1777-78 winter and commanded the 11th at the Battle of Monmouth (June 28, 1778) because Col. Morgan was not present. After the battle, his regiment was posted north of New York City; the September roll lists Lt. Col. Cropper at White Plains. On Sept. 14th, he was transferred back to the Virginia 7th. Shortly after, Cropper, who had not been home in nearly two years requested and was granted a furlough of 190 days; his wife had given birth to a child he had yet to see.
When Cropper returned home to Accomack County, the entire Eastern Shore was embroiled in continual raids from British and Tory forces; often sailing up creeks to burn and pillage rebel farms. During his time home, Cropper aided in organizing militia to counter such raids. His furlough expired in July, 1779 and he traveled back north to rejoin his command which was still in the Hudson Valley Region. He must have made his decision to resign by early August for he was in West Point on the 6th, then at Morristown, NJ on the 11th arriving in Philadelphia on the 13th. He tended his resignation the 16th and departed for home, arriving on the 28th.
While home, Cropper remained active with the local militia that continued to battle frequent enemy raiding parties. It appears, through letters of Col. Cropper, that his request for resignation was never accepted; however, he was allowed to remain at home on an extended furlough in view of his past service and not having been drafted into the southern army. By August, 1781, Cropper was appointed County Lieutenant and oversaw all military matters for the county. This period was heightened by turncoat General Benedict Arnold’s invasion of Virginia and subsequent arrival of British forces under Generals Phillips and Tarleton, followed by General Cornwallis’ push towards Yorktown, just across the bay from Accomack County.
Colonel Levin Joynes, who was also a former minuteman with Cropper and a captain along with Cropper in the 9th, was on parole in Accomack after his release from three years as a prisoner, having been captured at the Battle of Germantown. He wrote on Sept. 10, 1781: “We have had most alarming times this summer, all along shore, from a set of barges manned mostly by our own Negroes who have run off. These fellows were really dangerous to an individual singled out for their vengeance whose property lay exposed.” This was to set up the action in which Colonel Cropper would command a company of militia and bondsman George Latchom would save his life.
The raid occurred at Henry’s Point, a low lying, wetlands on the ocean side or east coast of Accomack County; this Virginia county is a long strip of a coastal land that borders and runs south of Maryland. It is important to note that this raid occurred less than three miles from Cropper’s home along Folly Creek near Accomack. Since Latchom was the slave of a neighbor, he may have grabbed a musket and joined his master when the call went out for the militia to respond to the British threat. The following is taken from Colonel John Cropper’s memoir and also can be found in the 1892 Proceedings of the Virginia Historical Society, Vol. 11. There is no exact date listed, however it can be assumed that it occurred shortly after Cropper was made commander of militia in August, 1781 and just before or during the American siege of General Cornwallis’ forces at Yorktown which began in September of that year. It also coincides with Colonel Joynes’ September observations of increased raids by rogue loyalist African Americans. Since British troops were involved, this strengthens evidence that the raid occurred near the time General Cornwallis’ troops were assembled across the bay.
“Among the attacks of the enemy from the barges was one near Henry’s Point, where they landed from their boats, and were met by the militia, under Cropper. During the fight the militia retreated, leaving Cropper and a Negro named George Latchom, who were in advance of the rest, engaged actively with the invaders. These two kept up the firing, until the foe were within a few rods of them, when they were compelled to fall back. Cropper had to retreat through a sunken, boggy marsh, in which he stuck fast up to the waist in soft mud, the enemy at the time being so close as to prepare to bayonet him. At this critical juncture, the faithful colored man fired and killed the foremost man, and seized hold of Cropper and dragged him by main strength out of the mud, and taking him on his back carried him safely to dry land. This required great strength upon his part, Cropper weighing in the neighborhood of two hundred pounds. Latchom was at the time a slave, and was purchased and set free by Colonel Cropper, who befriended him in every way he could, as an evidence of his gratitude, till Latchom’s death.”
A thorough search of internet archives reveals nothing more on Latchom’s life except a tiny glimpse in a collection by Martha S. Putney entitled Blacks in the United States Army Portraits Through History. A painting by Roy LaGrane, 1976 Minority Group Art Program, features Latchom and is underscored that Latchom participated in the War of 1812. A George Latchom served in Captain Goodwin’s company from Delaware, but presently this writer cannot confirm if this is the same African American, George Latchom. By the War of 1812, fewer African American soldiers served alongside whites as did in the War for Independence. Colonel Cropper would be active in battling raiding parties and enemy incursions right up until peace in 1783. He died on January 15th, 1821, aged sixty five. George Latchom must have predeceased Cropper because the colonel’s memoir states that Cropper remained Latchom’s friend till death.
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RESOURCES
Alonzo, Brook Robert – Editor. Proceedings of the Virginia Historical Society Vol. 11. 1892: Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, VA.
Bodie, Idella. Brave Black Patriots: Heroes and Heroines of the American Revolution. 2002: Sandlapper Publishing Company, Orangeburg, SC.
Cropper, John. New River Notes: Historical and Genealogical Resources for the Upper New River Valley of North Carolina and Virginia. “Memoir of John Cropper.” 1998:
Davis, Burke. Black History of the Revolution. 1992: Odyssey Classic Harcourt Inc., New York, NY.
Hambleton, James P. A Biological Sketch of Henry A Wise… 1856: J. W. Randolph, Richmond, VA. [Gov. Henry Wise was the great grandson of Colonel John Cropper]
Heitman, Francis. Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army During the War of the Revolution. 1914: National Capital Press, Rare Bok Shop Publishing Co, Washington, DC.
Hine, Darlane & Jenkins, Earnestine L – Editors. A Question of Manhood, Vol. 1, A Reader in U.S. Black Men’s History & Masculinity. 1999: Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IN.
Joynes, Colonel Levin. The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. “Letters from Colonel Levin Joynes to Ann, His Wife: February 9, 1780 – December 28, 1790. Vol. 56, No. 2 (Apr. 1948), pp 142-153.
Putney, Martha. Blacks in the United States Army: Portraits Through History. 2003: McFarland & Company Inc., Jefferson, NC.
Raatma, Lucia. African American Soldiers in the Revolutionary War. 2008: Compass Point Books, Minneapolis, MN.
Summit Herald. Vol. 98 #27, Feb. 16, 1985. Pg. 1.