William Flora

William Flora
William Flora
Born	1755; land speculator, soldier
Military career
Allegiance	Virginia, United States
Service/branch	Virginia State Forces (1775-1776) Colonel William Woodford's 2nd Virginia Regiment Continental Army (1776-1781) Captain William Grymes's company 15th Virginia Regiment, Virginia Line Consolidated into; 11th Virginia Regiment; Virginia Line Consolidated into; 5th Virginia Regiment; Virginia Line
Years of service	(1775–1781) (1807)
Rank	Private
Battles/wars	American Revolutionary War Battle of Great Bridge (1775); Battle of Brandywine (1777); Battle of Germantown (1777); Battle of Monmouth (1778); Siege of Charleston (1780); Battle of Yorktown (1781);

William "Billy" Flora (

African American from Virginia who served as a soldier on the Patriot side in the American Revolutionary War. He fought under Colonel William Woodford in the Battle of Great Bridge

in December 1775, where he is widely acknowledged as the hero of the battle. A sentry at the bridge reported he was the last to cross as the British advanced. As he retreated from his post, under heavy fire from the British line, he ripped up a plank from the bridge. This made the British crossing, under fire from the colonials, impossible. As a result, the British were forced to withdraw to their ships. The only casualty on the American side survived to speak very highly of Flora and his courage.

Before the war Flora owned a prosperous livery stable. After the war, with the purchase and sale of property, he grew his business into a tidy fortune.

Early life

William Flora was born, date unknown, in

African American

family.

American Revolutionary War

During the American Revolutionary War, William Flora fought under Colonel

Virginia Gazette

.

According to Continental Army muster and pay rolls, William Flora, in November 1776, served under "Captain William Grymes's company of the 15th Virginia Regiment", which participated in the 1777 Battles of Brandywine and Germantown and the 1778 Battle of Monmouth. While with his fellow soldiers in South Carolina, Flora avoided being captured by the British, in the 1780 Siege of Charleston where the majority of the regiment was captured. During the war, because the unit kept getting smaller, it was consolidated into the 11th Virginia Regiment and finally into the 5th Virginia Regiment, until the end of the war. Flora also fought in the Battle of Yorktown in 1781.

Post-war years

After the war, Flora became a successful businessman as a

livery stable owner. 30 years after his military service in the American Revolutionary War, he was honored with a 100 acre land warrant in what is now Southwestern Ohio. Flora was one of the first African-Americans to own land in Virginia. In 1807, after the HMS Leopard attacked the USS Chesapeake, Flora enlisted in the military again. This event was a major precursor to the War of 1812. Even though his second stint in the military was short, he served on a gunboat as a marine under Commodore Stephen Decatur

. Flora was honorably discharged again from the military and lived the rest of his years in peace until his passing in Portsmouth in 1820. He accumulated his earnings into a tidy fortune that was passed down to his son and eventually grandson.

References

Carey, Charles W., Jr. "Flora, William". American National Biography Online, American Council of Learned Societies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Inc., (2000).

Davis, Burke. Black Heroes of the American Revolution, (1976).

Kaplan, Sidney. The Black Presence in the Era of the American Revolution 1770-1800, (1973).

Quarles, Benjamin. The Negro in the American Revolution, (1961).

Survey Report: African American Historic Resources, City of Chesapeake, Virginia^[1]
Virginia Negro Soldiers and Seamen in the American Revolution^[2]
William Flora: American Battlefield Trust Biography ^[3]

^ Malvasi, Meg; Monroe, Elizabeth (2010). "Survey Report: African American Historic Resources, City of Chesapeake, Virginia" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources: 88 – via William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research.
ISSN 0022-2992
.

^ "William Flora". American Battlefield Trust. Retrieved 2024-04-26.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Flora&oldid=1220954181"

[1] Malvasi, Meg; Monroe, Elizabeth (2010). "Survey Report: African American Historic Resources, City of Chesapeake, Virginia" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources: 88 – via William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research.

[2] ISSN 0022-2992
.

[3] "William Flora". American Battlefield Trust. Retrieved 2024-04-26.