Revolutionary War News is an edited review of hand-picked news and articles related to American War of Independence 1775-1783.
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''Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all.''
- George Washington, Letter of Instructions to the Captains of the Virginia Regiments (July 29, 1759)
''The Revolutionary War lasted 8 years (1775-1783). George Washington lost every battle except for the last one, yet the Revolutionaries continued the battle, with the support of the colonists, until they won.''
American History 1775-1783: American War of Independence, Revolutionary War, was a war between Great Britain and revolutionaries in 13 colonies, who declared their independence as the United States of America in 1776.
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French and Indian War
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Category: Black Soldiers -- See latest Revolutionary War news here.
African-Americans ended up on both sides of the war
It seemed that the issue of African-Americans in the Continental Army would be settle easily. After taking command in 1775 General George Washington - a slave owner - ruled that no black, free or enslaved, could be recruited to fight. He was responding to southerners' fear that arming blacks would lead to slave rebellions, also many white soldiers didn't want to fight alongside "inferior" men. So a deal was struck: Those free blacks already in northern regiments would be able to finish their terms of service. Then Washington would have an all-white Army. But his plan didn't last long, as military realities soon made him to reverse course.
by usnews.com :: 2008-07-02 :: Black Soldiers
Event will introduce black Revolutionary War hero of Brandywine
Article no longer available from the original source.
Days after Delaware saw the Battle of Cooch's Bridge, the state's only Revolutionary War fight, the next skirmish revealed free black man Ned Hector as a hero. As a wagoner of the 3rd Pennsylvania Artillery Regiment he fought the British and Hessians on Sept. 11, 1777, at the Battle of the Brandywine and was hailed as the only American who saved a wagon and horses. Historians quote Hector as saying: "I will save the horses or perish myself." His one-of-a-kind success typifies the above-and-beyond efforts of black heroes in the war for independence - heroism that has "often been overlooked."
by delawareonline :: 2007-06-27 :: Black Soldiers
Freed slave's story - Revolutionary War hero Salem Poor
Salem Poor was was performing heroically for the patriots at Bunker Hill. For that he was honored in 1975 with his image on a 10-cent postage stamp. Details of Poor's life after the Revolution were unknown until genealogist David Lambert pieced them together over the past decade. "He was one of the first American heroes. I'm glad to have found the final chapter." Poor purchased his freedom in 1769 for 27 pounds, almost $5,600 in today's dollars. He is believed to have killed British Lieutenant Colonel James Abercrombie in Charlestown and fought also at Saratoga and Valley Forge.
by boston :: 2007-02-22 :: Black Soldiers
Haitians fought alongside colonial soldiers in American Revolution
Article no longer available from the original source.
The Haitian American Historical Society is planning a monument in Savannah, Ga., to honor the Haitians who fought alongside colonial soldiers in the siege of Savannah during the War of American Independence. 500 free black men from the French colony, that became Haiti, volunteered with American colonists and French soldiers in October 1779 in a failed attempt to drive the British from Savannah. Their little-known part to America's struggle for independence is a point of national pride in Haiti. After returning home, Haitian veterans of the Revolutionary War led their own rebellion and in 1804 won Haiti's independence from France.
by theledger :: 2007-02-15 :: Black Soldiers
Britain, the Slaves, and the American Revolution
"Seeing the Revolutionary War though the eyes of enslaved blacks turns its meaning upside down," Simon Schama writes; for a vast majority of slaves, "it was the royal, rather than the republican, road that seemed to offer a surer chance of liberty." An ambiguously worded 1772 court decision in London had widely, if wrongly, been perceived as ending slavery in England, and expectations ran high among Colonial slaves. Schama's pages are full of such unlikely tribunes, but also betrayals and setbacks, blood and courage, and shifts of fortune of ex-slaves. Most decisions affecting slaves were grounded in a savage pragmatism born out of military necessity.
by boston :: 2006-08-24 :: Black Soldiers
Black soldier in the "Cavalry" Regiment of Light Dragoons
On June 11, 1823, John Redman applied for a pension, claiming to be a veteran of the Revolutionary War. He testified that he had been in the First Virginia Regiment of Light Dragoons. The Light Dragoons fought mainly on horseback, using sabers, pistols, and light carbines. A few weeks later, he was granted his pension. But his appeal was anything but ordinary: He was the rarest of breeds: a black patriot - both a free Negro in a nation of slaves and a black man who had fought in a white man's war. Historians estimate that only 5,000 black men served in the Continental Army, whereas tens of thousands fled slavery to join the British.
by nytimes :: 2006-08-09 :: Black Soldiers
Project to ID Black soldiers in Revolutionary War
Thousands of black men fought for American independence during the Revolutionary War, yet their actions rarely appear in history books. Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and the Sons of the American Revolution are hoping to change that with an ambitious project to identify those soldiers. "My concern is that there are many people walking around, like me, who had no idea that I had an ancestor who fought in the Revolution." Of nearly 27,000 members of Sons of the American Revolution, fewer than 30 are black, and of 165,000 Daughters of the American Revolution members, only about 30 are black, Dooley said.
by startribune :: 2006-07-20 :: Black Soldiers
Re-enactors portray black patriots of the Revolutionary War
General George Washington. The Marquis de Lafayette. Hannah Till. All 3 figures contributed to the American colonies' victory over Britain. But the story of Till, a slave who cooked for Washington and his troops during the grueling winter at Valley Forge, has gone untold, until now. Every Saturday through Aug. 19, re-enactors will bring the stories of Till and other black colonials to life at the Valley Forge - the site of the Colonials' 1777-78 winter encampment. Severe cold and poor resources led to the death of nearly one-fifth of the men. 5,000 soldiers of African descent served in Washington's army, making it the most integrated US military until Truman desegregated the services after WWII.
by philly :: 2006-07-14 :: Reenactment & Reenactors