Ethiopian Regiment
The Ethiopian Regiment ( German Ethiopian Regiment , also Lord Dunmores Ethiopian Regiment ) is a military unit that the British colonial governor John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore set up in Virginia during the American War of Independence . The regiment , commanded by British officers, consisted of African American slaves who had fled and were owned by patriots ; H. who campaigned for American independence. It is considered to be the first black military unit in the history of the British colonies in North America.
history
Formation of the regiment
Dunmore announced in 1775 that he would grant freedom to all patriotic slaves who join him as soldiers in the War of Independence. As the American military historian Thomas Fleming has shown, 500 slaves ran into Dunmore in a short time, from which he formed an "Ethiopian regiment". This regiment was believed to be the first black military unit in the history of English-speaking North America. In December 1775 the regiment consisted of nearly 300 blacks, the most famous of which was an escaped slave named Titus, who would later resign from the regiment under the name Colonel Tye . The Ethiopian Regiment was in service from 1775 to 1776. Private Tye and his comrades in arms probably assumed that they were fighting not only for their own individual freedom, but also for the freedom of other blacks. Across their uniforms or sashes, they wore the words "Liberty to Slaves" (German: freedom for slaves ).
Although the Ethiopian Regiment was mainly used to procure food, it also saw combat missions. The first of these came in November at the Battle of Kemp's Landing , in which Dunmore defeated the opposing militia. Two patriotic colonels were captured, one by one of his former slaves.
The black British regiment had a strong pull to African Americans, who viewed it as a symbol of hope. Its very existence - black soldiers trained in the best army in the world to kill whites - seemed as revolutionary as the war itself. For example, the story of a black New York woman who named her child Dunmore in honor of the commanding officer was reported ; or that of a black man in Philadelphia who mistreated two pedestrians who expected him to jump out of the way for them and proudly declared that they could just wait for "Lord Dunmore and his black regiment to come ..."
Occupation of Norfolk
In 1775 the Ethiopian Regiment took part in the conquest of Norfolk , a port city in Virginia, together with the Queen's Own Loyal Virginia Regiment and the 14th Regiment of Foot . Dunmore occupied the port and set up the British headquarters here that he so desperately needed.
Battle of the Great Bridge
General George Washington was convinced that the only way for the Patriots to win the war was to drive Dunmore out of Norfolk. He gave a corresponding order to Colonel William Woodford , who had over 500 patriotic soldiers in Virginia. On the march to Norfolk, the Patriots were stopped at a British barricade at Great Bridge, a causeway that connected the mainland to the port of Norfolk. Woodford decided to challenge Dunmore by building a fortification on the mainland side of Great Bridge. To make the temptation irresistible, he sent Dunmore as a double agent an African American who gave Dunmore inaccurate information about the strength and quality of the opposing forces; Woodford's units then comprised just under 300 men, who had also just been recruited and, according to the double agent, will flee as soon as the first shot is fired.
Dunmore believed the double agent and ordered Captain Charles Fordyce to lead 120 soldiers of the 14th Regiment of Foot across the levee to Woodford's makeshift fortification. The Ethiopian regiment, supported by British cannons, stood ready at the bridge. Patriotic guards, especially the black patriot William Flora, halted the British attack with buck and ball ammunition. Alarmed by the noise of the battle, the patriots occupied the breastwork of their fortifications, but did not fire, but waited until the British had come very close. Encouraged by the patriots not attacking, the British stormed forward. Captain Fordyce shouted: "The day is ours". Gunfire followed the silence. Fordyce and 12 British Privates fell, the rest fled. Woodford marched with his soldiers through the swamp, attacked the Ethiopian regiment on the flank, forcing it to withdraw in disorder.
The patriots gained two cannons in the battle. Dunmore was forced by this defeat to evacuate Norfolk. Woodford's soldiers stormed the Great Bridge. On the British side there were 61 dead and injured. Two of the wounded were former slaves belonging to the Ethiopian regiment.
Dunmore's defeat was the first fighting of the War of Independence after the Battle of Bunker Hill and the first to be fought in the southern states . The victory of the Patriots ended the flight of slaves to Dunmore's forces in Virginia. In 1776 the Ethiopian Regiment was disbanded.
Colonel Tye, the most famous recruit of the Ethiopian Regiment
Titus had left his owner the day before Lord Dunmore's call. When he heard about it, he was on the run. He made his way to Virginia and joined the Ethiopian Regiment there. The officers and non-commissioned officers of the regiment were white. While it is possible (if unlikely) that some of the black recruits were promoted to sergeants over time - possibly including Tye himself - it is undeniable that none of them ever rose to officer rank. In the 18th and 19th centuries the British did not appoint black officers.
Nothing is known about Private Tye's (or Sergeant Tye's) fate in the years 1776 to 1778. His first documented participation in an act of war was at the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778. He became known as a black loyalist guerrilla leader , although the title "Colonel" with which he was now referred to was very likely a mere title of respect.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Thomas Fleming: Liberty! The American Revolution