DESCRIBING STATEN AND LONG ISLAND 1776 The following was taken from a letter written by Lieutenant Johann von Hinrichs (later Captain) of a company of Hessian Jaeger riflemen or chasseurs (taken from the French which literally means ‘hunter’) to Professor Schlozer. Hinrichs (1752-1834) briefly describes his travels from Bremerlehe to the American colonies via Portsmouth …
Revolutionary War Captain 2nd New York Theodosius participated in several major battles of the Revolutionary War. He fought in the Battle of Long Island, his unit, the 4th Battalion of New York, was among the last to leave the field. Shortly after the defeat on Long Island, his regiment was sent north and joined General …
Very little has been recorded about Benjamin ‘Daddy Ben’ Scott Mayes. He was an ‘outlandish’ (colloquial term for those born in Africa) who remained a slave until death. He made his mark on history during the American Revolution when he had accompanied his master, then Captain John Scott, to war. According to written accounts, Benjamin …
African Americans who Fought in the Revolutionary War From Plymouth County, Massachusetts Taken from recruiting documents in the collection of the Pilgrim Society. Compiled by Jeremy D. Bangs in 1996, visiting curator of Manuscripts, Pilgrim Hall Museum. Silas Accro, age 29, from Plymouth, Col. Theo. Cotton’s regimentPero Blakely, age 28, from Bridgewater, Maj. Cary’s regimentWilliam …
Foreign Soldier in America’s Continental Army It is April 20th, 1777. The morning sun shimmers through the lifting fog as the fifty five year old battle scarred German warrior stands along the stone promenade of an ancient wharf in the small Spanish Port of Passage. He gazes out at the French ship Victoire as she …
Always to the front in a fight and the last in a retreat, Lord Rawdon proved himself a brilliant and successful partisan leader. Sir George Otto Trevelyan Francis, Lord Rawdon[1] epitomized the perfect British officer in the eyes of those fine gentlemen who sat smugly in their distinguished seats in the House of Lords. …
Then did we see old Bonner rise, and borrowing Spite from Hell, They stride along with magic eyes, where Sons of Freedom dwell Lemuel Haynes Oliver Cromwell was an African American soldier who participated in nearly every major battle of the Revolutionary War’s northern campaign. He spent six years and nine months in the New …
Two gentlemen called upon Captain Wilson and asked him to sign the agreement which a number of colonists had entered into to resist the mother country England to the last. This Captain Wilson positively refused to do. “I am an Englishman,” he said, “and my sympathies are wholly with my country. I do not say …
Captured at battle of Kip’s Bay and died in captivity on Oct. 11, 1776 Rouse the People to see their Danger. Stir them up by all that is dear in this life. Our Wives, our Children, our property, our Liberty is at Stake… Colonel Samuel Selden Colonel Samuel Selden [1] During the Revolutionary War many men paid an …
Capture of British General Richard Prescott July 10th 1777 A tawny son of Africa’s race. Them through the ravine led, And entering then the Overing House, They found him in his bed. But to get in they had no means, Except poor Cuffee’s head, Who beat the door down, then rushed in, And seized him in his bed. –Anonymous ballad spread from …