Virtuous; British Army; United States; Proficiency

Connecticut Journal (published as THE CONNECTICUT JOURNAL.) (New Haven, Connecticut), September 16, 1778

A couple of months before the Connecticut Line settled into its winter encampment at Redding, Connecticut, the Connecticut Journal ran a long article about the British Army. In this excerpt, the author expresses his disgust at the British Army’s camp followers, a “female tribe of their needy wives and whores,” and “those who have run away from us.”

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Connecticut Journal (published as THE CONNECTICUT JOURNAL.) (New Haven, Connecticut), November 18, 1778

The desire for liberty meant something much more personal and immediate for Connecticut’s enslaved and indentured population. Obadiah, a 16-year-old boy, may have gone to join a regiment in the Continental Army.

Hartford, Nov. 24

Connecticut Courant (published as THE CONNECTICUT COURANT, AND THE WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER.) (Hartford, Connecticut), November 24, 1778

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Connecticut Courant (published as THE CONNECTICUT COURANT, AND THE WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER.) (Hartford, Connecticut), January 12, 1779

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Connecticut Journal (published as THE CONNECTICUT JOURNAL.) (New Haven, Connecticut), February 17, 1779

Gage was wearing a red regimental coat. It might have looked something like the one in the C.H. Booth Library Collections, 25 Main St, Newtown, CT 06470.

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Connecticut Courant (published as THE CONNECTICUT COURANT, AND THE WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER.) (Hartford, Connecticut), February 16, 1779.

Ads for stolen horses, livestock, clothing and other items appeared regularly in the newspapers. Note the reward of $60 for the horse, the $20 reward for the run-away indentured servant, Obadiah, above, and the run-away enslaved man, Clement, below, and the $8 reward for Tom Gage, the deserter. Horses, indentured servants, and enslaved people were chattel (moveable property) in Connecticut. They could be bought and sold. Tom Gage was not chattel, but he belonged to the Army. When he ran away (ad Feb. 3) and the horse was stolen (ad Feb. 5), rewards were offered to bring them back.

New-London, February 19

Connecticut Gazette (published as THE CONNECTICUT GAZETTE; AND THE UNIVERSAL INTELLIGENCER.) (New London, Connecticut), February 19, 1779

“A Detachment of Troops from the Continental Army arrived here last Week from the Westward, under the Command of Col. Dearborn; for the Protection of this Town and Harbour. They are an excellent Body of Men, well clothed, healthy, and in high Spirits, and it is believed are abundantly sufficient, (in Conjunction with the Militia stationed here) to answer the Purpose for which they came.

“And on Saturday the Hon. Brigidier General PARSONS arrived in Town, to take the Command in this Department.”

Col. Dearborn and General Parsons both commanded troops at the Redding Encampment. For more information, see “To George Washington from Major General Israel Putnam, 2 March 1779,” Founders Online, National Archives, [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 19, 15 January–7 April 1779, ed. Philander D. Chase and William M. Ferraro (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2009), 331–334.]

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Connecticut Journal (published as THE CONNECTICUT JOURNAL.) (New Haven, Connecticut), March 17, 1779

As the winter encampment was coming to an end, a 32-year-old enslaved man in the Ripton parish of Stratford, Connecticut, ran away. He played the fiddle. He “says he is free by enlisting in the Continental Army.” He may have sought refuge in the dispersing encampment, or with troops in Danbury.

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Connecticut Gazette (published as THE CONNECTICUT GAZETTE; AND THE UNIVERSAL INTELLIGENCER.) (New London, Connecticut), April 15, 1779

These two deserters were with Col. Henry Dearborn at the Redding encampment but left when he got to New London. Whites and Native people served side-by-side in the Continental Army. Units were not segregated. Later in the war, all-Black units formed, such as Varnum‘s Regiment of Rhode Island and Humphreys‘ Colored Regiment of Connecticut.

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Connecticut Courant (published as THE Connecticut Courant, AND WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER.) (Hartford, Connecticut), October 5, 1784

Clement was enslaved in Redding, Connecticut, probably by Lazarus Beach (d. 1800), a wealthy man who lived in the Hopewell neighborhood. Someone named Clement Neger was listed in the 1800 Federal Census from Weston, Fairfield Co., Connecticut, and it could be the runaway Clement. By 1784 when Clement ran away, the Revolutionary War was over and Connecticut had enacted a gradual emancipation statute, but slavery was far from over in the state.