COLORED AMERICANS IN THE
WARS OF 1776 AND 1812
By
WILLIAM C. NELL
PHILADELPHIA:
PRINTED FOR H. T. KEALING, 681 PINE STREET
1902
A STATEMENT.
This little volume sets forth in compact form the achievementsof the American Negro during the Revolutionary Warand the War of 1812. It is compiled from valuable records,diaries, documents and articles in newspapers nearly contemporaneouswith the times of which they treat, and it may,therefore, be considered a valuable compendium to the manwho seeks information on a subject but scantily treated inthe standard historical works to which reference is usuallymade.
The matter herein contained was first printed in a Canadaedition called "Services of Colored Americans in the Wars of1776 and 1812." It is now out of print, but matter of sogreat value in fixing the patriotic status of a people so longdenied honorable place among the nation-makers of Americamust not be allowed to fade from view; especially at this timewhen archives and libraries are being ransacked by scholarlymen of the Negro race for defensive data against the insidiousattacks of wily foes upon the claims and merit of the coloredrace considered as soldiers and citizens.
A reference to the bibliography and authorities quoted byMr. Nell, the author, is an addition to the original volumewhich will be appreciated by those inquirers who have accessto good libraries and wish to verify the facts here given.
To have collected all these scattered and fugitive allusionsinvolved no small labor, and deserves the thanks of all whowant to see the material for a full and fair history of theUnited States so gathered into one convenient place that thefuture historian cannot fail to find it, if he be desirous; norrefuse to use it, if he be conscientious.
It should be mentioned that matter which has became untrueby the progress of events since the first edition of thisbook has been carefully exscinded.
H. T. KEALING.
Philadelphia, Pa., September 1, 1902.
INTRODUCTION.
The following pages are an effort to stem the tide of prejudiceagainst the Colored race. The white man despises thecolored man, and has come to think him fit only for the menialdrudgery to which the majority of the race has been so longdoomed. "This prejudice was never reasoned up, and willnever be reasoned down." It must be lived down. In a landwhere wealth is the basis of reputation, the colored man mustprove his sagacity and enterprise by successful trade or speculation.To show his capacity for mental culture he must BE,not merely claim the right to be, a scholar. Professional eminenceis peculiarly the result of practice and long experience.The colored people, therefore, owe it to each other and to theirrace to extend liberal encouragement