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269:. Moncrief had great faith in the ability of African-American slaves to fight. In a letter to Clinton, at the close of the war, he offered to continue the war with a brigade of African-American troops. He also advocated for their freedom, in light of their service in the British Army. One of the most famous commanders of the Company of Black Pioneers was Colonel
252:
During the
American Revolution, the Black Pioneers would "Assist in Cleaning the Streets & Removing all Nuisances being thrown into the Streets." The company followed the British troops, under the command of General Clinton, as they moved from New York to Philadelphia, to Charleston, and, after
334:
Tens of thousands of slaves, up to one hundred thousand, escaped during the war and joined the
British military; others simply moved off during the chaos. In South Carolina, nearly 25,000 slaves, being 30% of the enslaved population, fled, migrated, or died from the disruption of the war. When the
301:, and originally blue, wool, short coats later replaced with provincial green wool that retained the former Ethiopian Regimental motto, which embroidered on their uniforms: "Liberty to Slaves". The Black Company of Pioneers may have been trained to use the standard British Army-issue
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to join the Black
Pioneers in 1776. After the Pioneers arrived in New York in 1783, many former slaves escaped from the harbor, in fear of being repossessed by their former masters. It is still unknown how many former slaves escaped from New York during this period.
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244:'s disbanded Loyalist unit, the Ethiopian Regiment. The Pioneers retained the Ethiopian regimental motto, which was embroidered on their uniforms: "Liberty to Slaves."
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in New York. Its company commanders were
Captain Allen Stewart and Captain Donald McPherson. In 1783, the company was disbanded in Port Roseway, Canada, now
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were soldiers employed to perform engineering and construction tasks. In 1778, the
Pioneers merged into the Guides and Pioneers, led by Colonel
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The
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British withdrew their forces from
Savannah and Charleston they also evacuated 10,000 slaves belonging to Loyalists.
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Goodbye, Columbus When
America won its independence, what became of the slaves who fled for theirs?
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company was raised by
General Sir Henry as a non-combatant replacement force for the disbanded
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After Lord Dumore's proclamation of freedom to escaped slaves that helped the
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Military recruitment, evacuation, and resettlement of escaped American Loyalist slaves
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Index to Black Pioneers History - The On-Line Institute for Advanced Loyalist Studies
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Black Soldiers - The American Revolution: War of 1812 - National Park Service
127:(no combat experience, except for former soldiers, coming from the disbanded
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The Pioneers wore black, wool, tricorn hats, trimmed with white
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The Black Pioneers were commanded, for a time, by Major
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List of British units in the American Revolutionary War
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Military units of Virginia in the American Revolution
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The Encyclopedia of African American Military History
253:
the fall of Charleston, back to New York once again.
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1276:Virginia Additional Continental Infantry Regiments
285:. Blucke received the honorary rank of "Colonel".
1421:Military units and formations established in 1776
92:Construction, street cleaning, garbage collection
1190:Virginia Numbered Continental Infantry Regiments
470:Black Company of Pioneers in Military Miniatures
240:military unit, established, in May 1776, out of
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522:African Americans in the Revolutionary War
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1298:Rawling's Additional Continental Regiment
1288:Grayson's Additional Continental Regiment
108:Black Pioneers, Clinton's Black Pioneers
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1283:Gist's Additional Continental Regiment
15:
414:, New York: Hill and Wang, 1994, p.73
7:
1328:Maryland and Virginia Rifle Regiment
725:See also Sierra Leone settlers below
430:. Prometheus Books. pp. 31–32.
1181:, State Forces, and Militia in the
881:Virginia in the American Revolution
1323:1st Continental Artillery Regiment
965:Give me liberty, or give me death!
465:Uniform of Black Pioneers Regiment
320:, a slave, ran away from General
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986:Formation of Ethiopian Regiment
976:Formation of Culpeper Minutemen
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1318:1st Continental Light Dragoons
1052:Virginia Declaration of Rights
1:
1364:Crockett's Western Battalion
1116:Battle of Spencer's Ordinary
216:in late 1777 or early 1778.
1354:3rd Virginia State Regiment
1349:2nd Virginia State Regiment
1344:1st Virginia State Regiment
412:American Slavery: 1619–1877
236:The Black Pioneers were an
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1183:American Revolutionary War
1011:Fourth Virginia Convention
1001:Second Virginia Convention
677:Port Rosey (now Shelburne)
570:American Revolutionary War
202:American Revolutionary War
125:American Revolutionary War
1359:Clark's Illinois Regiment
1037:Fifth Virginia Convention
1032:Formation of Lee's Legion
1006:Third Virginia Convention
938:First Virginia Convention
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583:Black Company of Pioneers
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186:Black Company of Pioneers
19:Black Company of Pioneers
1131:Battle of the Chesapeake
1091:Skirmish at Waters Creek
991:Battle of Kemp's Landing
637:involved in Emancipation
623:Petition of Free Negroes
559:Philipsburg Proclamation
194:Clinton's Black Pioneers
159:Captain Donald McPherson
1385:Fluvanna County militia
72:British provincial unit
1267:15th Virginia Regiment
1262:14th Virginia Regiment
1257:13th Virginia Regiment
1252:12th Virginia Regiment
1247:11th Virginia Regiment
1242:10th Virginia Regiment
1121:Battle of Green Spring
996:Battle of Great Bridge
981:Dunmore's Proclamation
700:Colonel Stephen Blucke
553:Dunmore's Proclamation
532:United Empire Loyalist
277:, after their leader,
226:Shelburne, Nova Scotia
1237:9th Virginia Regiment
1232:8th Virginia Regiment
1227:7th Virginia Regiment
1222:6th Virginia Regiment
1217:5th Virginia Regiment
1212:4th Virginia Regiment
1207:3rd Virginia Regiment
1202:2nd Virginia Regiment
1197:1st Virginia Regiment
1111:Raid on Point of Fork
954:Fincastle Resolutions
737:Sierra Leone Settlers
424:William Weir (2004).
157:Captain Allen Stewart
1337:Virginia State Units
1096:Battle of Cape Henry
907:Virginia Association
756:Sierra Leone Company
644:General Samuel Birch
289:Uniforms and weapons
188:, also known as the
1106:Action at Osborne's
1101:Battle of Blandford
1042:Augusta Declaration
831:The Book of Negroes
766:Sierra Leone people
692:Black Nova Scotians
517:Slavery in the U.S.
361:Black Nova Scotians
322:George Washington's
200:service during the
1380:Culpeper Minutemen
1027:Burning of Norfolk
971:Gunpowder Incident
588:Ethiopian Regiment
210:Ethiopian Regiment
129:Ethiopian Regiment
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1136:Siege of Yorktown
1126:Francisco's Fight
901:Virginia Resolves
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715:Richard Pierpoint
710:Rev. John Marrant
248:Duties of service
222:Beverley Robinson
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148:Sir Henry Clinton
116:Liberty to Slaves
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238:African American
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682:Shelburne riots
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649:Stephen Skinner
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634:White Loyalists
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613:Book of Negroes
607:Treaty of Paris
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537:Black Canadians
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837:miniseries
372:References
328:plantation
303:Brown Bess
281:, died of
257:Commanders
143:commanders
136:Commanders
49:Allegiance
667:Birchtown
625:(Niagara)
597:Post-war
527:Loyalists
172:Sergeant
166:Sergeant
82:auxiliary
27:1777–1783
823:In media
618:Merikins
350:See also
297:, black
218:Pioneers
198:Loyalist
161:Colonel
146:General
113:Motto(s)
1373:Militia
295:bunting
283:lockjaw
265:of the
141:Notable
84:troops)
62:Britain
32:Country
1307:Other
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609:(1783)
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555:(1775)
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306:musket
204:. The
152:Major
69:Branch
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24:Active
1311:Units
888:Early
1177:The
1079:1781
1063:1779
1020:1776
947:1775
926:1774
432:ISBN
192:and
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89:Role
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