African Americans in the Revolutionary War

Contributions of Enslaved Africans in the Revolutionary War

The first enslaved Africans arrived in the American colonies in 1619 and were almost immediately put into military service to fight against the Indigenous peoples. Both free and enslaved Black people enlisted in local militias, serving alongside their white neighbors until 1775 when General George Washington took command of the Continental Army.

Washington, himself an enslaver from Virginia, saw no need to continue the practice of enlisting Black Americans. Rather than keeping them in the ranks, he released, through General Horatio Gates, an order in July 1775 saying, “You are not to enlist any deserter from the Ministerial [British] army, nor any stroller, negro, or vagabond, or person suspected of being an enemy to the liberty of America.” Like many of his compatriots, including Thomas Jefferson, Washington did not see the fight for American independence as being relevant to the freedom of enslaved Black people.

In October of that same year, Washington convened a council to re-evaluate the order against Black soldiers in the military. The council opted to continue the ban on African American service, voting unanimously to “reject all Slaves, and by a great Majority to reject Negroes altogether.”

Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation

The British, however, had no such aversion to enlisting people of color. John Murray, the 4th Earl of Dunmore and the last British governor of Virginia, issued a proclamation in November 1775 essentially emancipating any rebel-owned enslaved person who was willing to take up arms on behalf of the Crown. His formal offer of freedom to both enslaved people and indentured servants was in response to an impending attack on the capital city of Williamsburg.

Hundreds of enslaved Black people enlisted in the British Army in response, and Dunmore christened the new batch of soldiers his “Ethiopian Regiment.” Although the move was controversial, particularly among Loyalist landowners fearing armed rebellion by the people they enslaved, it was the first mass emancipation of enslaved Americans and predated Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation by nearly a century.

By the end of 1775, Washington changed his mind and decided to allow the enlistment of free men of color, although he stood firm on not permitting enslaved people into the army.

Meanwhile, the naval service had no qualms at all about allowing African Americans to enlist. The duty was long and hazardous, and there was a shortage of volunteers of any skin color as crewmen. Black soldiers served in both the Navy and the newly formed Marine Corps.

Although enlistment records are not clear, primarily because they do not contain information about skin color, scholars estimate that at any given time, approximately 10% of rebel troops were men of color.

Notable African American Names

Crispus Attucks

Historians generally agree that Crispus Attucks was the first casualty of the American Revolution. Attucks is believed to have been the son of an enslaved African and a Nattuck woman named Nancy Attucks. It is likely that he was the focus of an advertisement placed in the Boston Gazette in 1750, which read:

“Ran away from his Master William Brown from Framingham, on the 30th of Sept. last, a Molatto Fellow, about 27 Years of age, named Crispas, 6 Feet two Inches high, short curl’d Hair, his Knees nearer together than common: had on a light colour’d Bearskin Coat.”

William Brown offered 10 pounds for the return of the person he enslaved.

Crispus Attucks escaped to Nantucket, where he took a position on a whaling ship. In March 1770, he and a number of other sailors were in Boston. An altercation broke out between a group of colonists and a British sentry. Townspeople spilled into the streets, as did the British 29th Regiment. Attucks and a number of other men approached with clubs in their hands. At some point, the British soldiers fired upon the crowd.

Attucks was the first of five Americans to be killed. Taking two shots to his chest, he died almost immediately. The event soon became known as the Boston Massacre. With his death, Attucks became a martyr to the revolutionary cause.

Peter Salem

Peter Salem distinguished himself for his bravery at the Battle of Bunker Hill, in which he was credited with the shooting of British officer Major John Pitcairn. Salem was presented to George Washington after the battle and commended for his service. A formerly enslaved man, he had been freed by his enslaver after the battle at Lexington Green so that he could enlist with the 6th Massachusetts Regiment to fight the British.

Although not much is known about Peter Salem prior to his enlistment, American painter John Trumbull captured his deeds at Bunker Hill for posterity in the famous work "The Death of General Warren at the Battle at Bunker's Hill." The painting depicts the death of General Joseph Warren, as well as Pitcairn, in battle. On the very far right of the work a Black soldier holds a musket. Some believe this to be an image of Peter Salem, although he could also be an enslaved man named Asaba Grosvenor.

Barzillai Lew

Born to a free Black couple in Massachusetts, Barzillai (pronounced BAR-zeel-ya) Lew was a musician who played the fife, drum, and fiddle. He enlisted in Captain Thomas Farrington’s Company during the French and Indian War and is believed to have been present at the British capture of Montreal. After his enlistment, Lew worked as a cooper and purchased the freedom of Dinah Bowman for 400 pounds. Dinah became his wife.

In May 1775, two months before Washington’s ban on Black enlistment, Lew joined the 27th Massachusetts Regiment as both a soldier and part of the fife and drum corps. He fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill and was present at Fort Ticonderoga in 1777 when British General John Burgoyne surrendered to General Gates.

Women of Color in the Revolution

It wasn’t just men of color who contributed to the Revolutionary War. A number of women distinguished themselves as well.

Phyllis Wheatley

Phyllis Wheatley was born in Africa, stolen from her home in Gambia, and brought to the colonies and enslaved during her childhood. Purchased by Boston businessman John Wheatley, she was educated and eventually recognized for her skill as a poet. A number of abolitionists saw Phyllis Wheatley as a perfect example for their cause and often used her work to illustrate their testimony that Black people could be intellectual and artistic.

A devout Christian, Wheatley often used Biblical symbolism in her work, and in particular, in her social commentary on the evils of enslavement. Her poem "On Being Brought from Africa to America" reminded readers that Africans should be considered as part of the Christian faith, and thus treated equally and by Biblical principals.

When George Washington heard about her poem "His Excellency, George Washington," he invited her to read it for him in person in his camp at Cambridge, near the Charles River. Wheatley was freed by her enslavers in 1774.

Mammy Kate

Although her true name has been lost to history, a woman nicknamed Mammy Kate was enslaved by the family of Colonel Steven Heard, who would later go on to become the governor of Georgia. In 1779, following the Battle of Kettle Creek, Heard was captured by the British and sentenced to hang. Kate followed him to prison, claiming she was there to take care of his laundry—not an uncommon thing at the time.

Kate, who by all accounts was a good-sized and sturdy woman, arrived with a large basket. She told the sentry she was there to collect Heard’s soiled clothing, and managed to smuggle her small-statured enslaver out of prison, tucked safely away in the basket. Following their escape, Heard freed Kate, but she continued to live and work on his plantation with her husband and children. Of note, when she died, Kate left her nine children to Heard’s descendants.

Sources

Davis, Robert Scott. "Battle of Kettle Creek." New Georgia Encyclopedia, October 11, 2016.

"Dunmore's Proclamation: A Time to Choose." The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2019.

Ellis, Joseph J. "Washington Takes Charge." Smithsonian Magazine, January 2005.

Johnson, Richard. "Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment." Blackpast, June 29, 2007.

Nielsen, Euell A. "Peter Salem (Ca. 1750-1816)." 

"Our History." Crispus Attucks, 2019.

"Phillis Wheatley." Poetry Foundation, 2019.

Schenawolf, Harry. "Enlist no Stroller, Negro, Or Vagabond 1775: The Recruitment of African Americans in the Continental Army." Revolutionary War Journal, June 1, 2015.

"The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill, June 17, 1775." Museum of Fine Arts Boston, 2019, Boston. 

"The UMass Lowell Hang Gliding Collection." UMass Lowell Library, Lowell, Massachusettes.

Wheatley, Phillis. "His Excellency General Washington." Academy of American Poets, New York.

Wheatley, Phillis. "On Being Brought from Africa to America." Poetry Foundation, 2019, Chicago, IL.