Ethiopian Regiment
Ethiopian Regiment | |
---|---|
Active | 1775โ1776 |
Country | dragoons (mounted infantry), labor duty |
Type | British provincial unit |
Role | guerilla warfare, maneuver warfare |
Size | company (300) |
Nickname(s) | Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment, Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment, Royal Ethiopian Regiment |
Motto(s) | Liberty to Slaves |
Engagements | American Revolutionary War
|
Commanders | |
Ceremonial chief | King George |
Notable commanders | Governor Lord Dunmore Captain Samuel Leslie Captain Charles Fordyce |
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (June 2008) |
The Ethiopian Regiment, better known as Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment, was a British colonial military unit organized during the
Unit formed
In 1775, Lord Dunmore, Royal Governor of Virginia, issued a proclamation offering freedom to all slaves of revolutionaries who were willing to join him under arms against the rebels in the American Revolutionary War. Five hundred Virginia slaves promptly abandoned their Revolutionary masters and joined Dunmore's ranks. The governor formed them into the Ethiopian Regiment, also known as Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment.
During the war, tens of thousands of slaves escaped, having a substantial economic effect on the American South. An estimated 25,000 slaves escaped in
"
Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment, composed of escaped slaves, was probably the first black regiment in the service of the Crown during the revolution. By December 1775 the regiment had nearly 300 black people, including its most famous member, an escaped slave called Titus, then known as Tye. In later years, he became known as Colonel Tye as an honorary title for his military skills. Private Tye and his comrades believed that they were fighting not just for their own individual freedom but for the freedom of enslaved black people in North America.
Campaigns
The Ethiopian Regiment saw service from 1775 to 1776. The Ethiopians perhaps saw action for the first time at the Battle of Kemp's Landing in November 1775. The Earl of Dunmore defeated the rebellious colonial militia. Two of its colonels were captured. One colonel was taken by one of his former slaves. The black regiment in British service was a symbol of hope for Americans of African descent. That black people were trained to bear arms and kill was a revolutionary idea at the time, especially as they were with one of the world's best armies.
In 1775 the
Captain Samuel Leslie ordered Captain Charles Fordyce to lead 120 men of the 14th Foot down the causeway to attack the rebel position. The Ethiopian Regiment stood ready on Great Bridge supported by British cannon. Rebel sentries, notably the William Flora, slowed the British advance with "buck and ball". Alerted by the noise of battle, the rebels manned the breastwork. The Revolutionaries did not fire, and waited until the British were close. Emboldened by the lack of an all-out assault, the British rushed forward. "The day is ours!" declared Captain Fordyce.
Silence was followed by gunfire. The Americans cut down Fordyce and 12 privates. Of the wounded, two were former slaves who belonged to the Ethiopian Regiment: James Sanderson was wounded in the forearm; and Cesar was wounded in the thigh. Woodford marched some of his men through the swamps and attacked the Ethiopian Regiment's flank, forcing them back in confusion. The revolutionaries seized two British cannon, and the British retreated back into their fort. In the following days, the British evacuated the fort and then Norfolk, which was then occupied by revolutionary forces including Woodford and his men.
Colonel Tye
Titus was a slave who had run away from his master in Monmouth County, New Jersey before Lord Dunmore's proclamation of emancipation to slaves of rebels who would join his ranks. He heard of Lord Dunmore's proclamation, and went to Virginia to enlist in Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment.
Uniforms
Ethiopian Regiment regimental
Unit disbanded
Dunmore's defeat was the first significant engagement of the
Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment was formed under white officers and noncommissioneds, although it is probable that some of the black recruits later became sergeants.
Nothing is known of Tye's activities until he returned to New Jersey. He took part in the
See also
- Black Nova Scotians
- African Americans in the Revolutionary War
- List of British units in the American Revolutionary War
References
- Lanning, Michael Lee. African Americans in the Revolutionary War. Citadel Publishers, 2005. ISBN 0-8065-2716-1
- Lord Dunmore's letter to Major General William Howe, on board the Ship William off Norfolk in Virginia, 30 November 1775
- Liberty! The American Revolution Archived 2021-05-11 at the Wayback Machine, PBS Series (1997) and 3-pack DVD set
External links
- African Americans and the End of Slavery in Massachusetts, Massachusetts Historical Society
- "Ethiopian Regiment", The On-Line Institute for Advanced Loyalist Studies
- Bibliography of the Continental Army in Virginia compiled by the United States Army Center of Military History