History of the American Revolution
Enlist no Stroller, Negro, Or Vagabond General George Washington In 1775, when rhetoric turned to open conflict, some militia commanders welcomed freemen and slaves into their ranks. Twenty percent of the country’s residents were of African heritage with four percent of that number freeman. For many, especially recruiters pressured to meet Congress’ demands for enlistment …
Escaped Slave, British Soldier, and the Greatest Guerrilla Fighter Of the American Revolutionary War It is late fall, 1775. A British officer stares out over the river. The wide mouth of the James River is choked with dark hulls that sit peacefully at their anchors, their towering masts swaying in the stiffening breeze that flows …
Cato Alexander (1781 – 1858) was a freed African American slave who, in the early 1800’s, opened a tavern at the four mile stone north of New York City just west of the Boston Post Road (present day 54th and 2nd Ave.). The house/Inn was built in 1712 and was close to the famed Beekman …
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 …
Welcome my friends, from every land. Where freedom doth not reign; Oh! Hither fly from every clime, Sweet liberty to gain – John Mason Harlem Heights, ten miles north of New York City as the crow flies; September 16th 1776 – one hour before dawn. The Continental Army is entrenched on the high ground facing the British army, …
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 …