15. The Context that Explains the Return of Black Soldiers to the Continental Army Despite its Commander in Chief’s Wishes
Dunmore’s Ethiopian Regiment marked a significant step in British policy, as its members were the first of thousands who fought for the British during the war. As British prospects in Virginia collapsed, Lord Dunmore disbanded the regiment, and many of its members joined other units, particularly the Black Pioneers, in New York. One former Ethiopian Regiment soldier, a runaway slave from New Jersey named Titus Cornelius, grew famous upon his return to his birthplace, where he became a Loyalist guerrilla leader nicknamed Colonel Tye.
In April, 1776, a British expedition into North Carolina under the command of general Henry Clinton was joined by 71 runaway slaves. Clinton took an immediate liking to the runaways, and formed them into a company that came to be known as the Black Pioneers. It was in that context that blacks were allowed once again in the Patriot army. The recruitment of runaway slaves by the British led the Continental Congress to override George Washington’s wishes to keep blacks out of the Continental Army. In 1777, the eligibility of blacks to serve in Continental forces – rescinded by Washington in 1775 – was restored.
