Adjutant General Alexander Scammell’s “Return of Negroes in the Army”
Although there was no uniform effort to record the complexion or race of Continental Army soldiers during the Revolutionary War, there are enumerations that provide some clue to their presence. Once was undertaken by Adjutant General Alexander Scammell, 24th August 1778. This was a “Return of Negroes in the Army” directly under George Washington’s command, two months after the Battle of Monmouth. (A good part of the army that won the Battle of Saratoga in October-November 1777, is not included, although some regiments had been transferred back to the main Continental Army).
Scamell counted 586 present. Adding those enlisted, but sick, absent, or on command, the total was 755. They served in 14 different brigades, only three of which are listed by the name of their state of origin: one from North Carolina (with 58 soldiers of African descent), the 2nd Maryland (60), and the 2nd Pennsylvania (35). The remainder are listed by the names of their commanding officers.
Every one of the original 13 states had legal provisions for ownership of slaves, or “servants for life.” State laws were not consistent. Some states, like Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, provided under colonial statutes for some (not all) Africans to be sold “for a term of years” – resulting in a small “free colored” population even before the war for independence. Most states had some “free colored” residents, and many enslaved men were offered freedom on condition of enlistment. Not a few African American soldiers were from southern or mid-Atlantic states.
Brigadier General William Woodford’s brigade, consisted of the 3rd, 7th, 11th and 15th Virginia regiments, served after leaving Valley Forge in the division commanded by the Marquis de Lafayette. There were 40 men of African heritage serving in this brigade. Another Virginia brigade, commanded by General Peter Muhlenberg, reported 98. This brigade’s encampment at Valley Forge has been reconstructed by the National Park Service. General William Smallwood’s brigade, about 1500 troops from Delaware and Maryland, reported 24 soldiers of African descent.
Larger numbers were reported in New England units. Samuel Holden Parson’s brigade, a reorganization of the Connecticut Line in late 1777, reported 148, one of the largest numbers in a single brigade. Brig. General Jedediah Huntington’s brigade, also consisting of four Connecticut regiments, reported another 62. Clinton’s brigade most likely referred to several regiments of the Massachusetts Line serving with the main Continental Army, showing 39 soldiers of African descent. John Nixon’s Massachusetts brigade reported another 27. Patterson’s brigade was also from Massachusetts, reporting 89. Learned and Poor’s Massachusetts brigades added 46 and 27 more, respectively.
A page from George H. Moore’s Historical Notes on the Employement of Negroes in the American Army of the Revolution, published in 1862.
A record of Scammell’s enumeration can be found in George H. Moore’s Historical Notes on the Employement of Negroes in the American Army of the Revolution (page 17), published in 1862. Its a rare book, but a full scan is available on Google Books. The entire book is well worth reading, and will be cited here again in the future. Moore does not paint a pretty picture – there were plenty of formal decisions that enlistment of Negroes should not be allowed, that it would bring discredit upon Continental forces. But Moore, who served as Librarian of the New York Historical Society, also documents that Americans of African descent were, nonetheless, full participants in the war for independence.