Comparing regiments and brigades is usually
apples and oranges, although the Maryland line of
1776 is somewhat of an exception.  In September
1776 Smallwood's regiment was about 840,
including officers and 259 captured (at Long
Island), and in September 1778 his brigade was
about 1,724 strong.  An equivalent percentage of
blacks, if Smallwood's regiment did contain any
in 1776, would have been about 40 men, certainly
not an inconceivable number.  Wright in _The
Continental Army_ traces the lineage of the
Maryland line and gives a nice list of sources on
pp. 280-82, including the Muster Rolls published
by the Md. Hist. Soc. in 1900, which lists all
the troops by name as of 19 August 1776 (pp.
1-28).  The men's race, unfortunately, is not
designated, but if Scammell's list contains any
names you can look for them in the 1776 rolls.  A
great source for most of the prisoners captured
at Long Island is Mather's Refugees of 1776 from
_Long Island to Connecticut_ (1913), and other
than this, Peter Force's _American Archives_
would be the first place that I would look, for
he used all sorts of rolls that are scattered in
many obscure places.... Also, I'm not so sure how
heroic the action was, see Eric Manders' _The
Battle of Long Island_ (1980)....

You may also want to look at Sidney Kaplan and
Emma Nogrady Kaplan, _The Black Presence in the
Era of the American Revolution_ (Amherst: U of
Mass Press, 1989), which is cited in Gail
Buckley's _American Patriots_ as the source for 4
names of black participants of the Battle of Long
Island: London Citizen, Julius Cezar, Timothy
Prince, and Sameul Sutphin.

>From what I can see from the meager sources that
we have, black participation in the war didn't
really pick up until 1777 and especially 1778
when draft laws were changed and quotas were
changed; before that most probably were
substitutes for their masters.

Hope this helps, and can't wait for your book!


On Wed, 7 Aug 2002 13:23:32 -0400 Donna Lucey /
Henry Wiencek <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> For a book on George Washington and his slaves,
I > am at work on a chapter about the >
African-American role in the Revolutionary War.

> I'm wondering if someone can help with a
Maryland > question, or could direct me to a
source there.  > A "Return of Negroes in the
Army" prepared > by Alexander Scammell in August
1778 lists 84 > blacks in Smallwood's Brigade and
the 2nd > Maryland Brigade.  My question is this:
would a > similar number of blacks have been
enlisted in > William Smallwood's Maryland
Battalion two years > earlier, when that
battalion carried out the > heroic rear-guard
defense of Washington's army in > Brooklyn,
August 27, 1776? Any help would be > greatly
appreciated. >


--
Frank E. Grizzard, Jr.
Associate Editor
Papers of George Washington
University of Virginia

[log in to unmask]
http://www.virginia.edu/gwpapers

HEY, MY BOOK IS OUT!
_George Washington: A Biographical Companion_
published by ABC-CLIO in May 2002. See my website:
http://www.people.virginia.edu/~feg3e/GWBio/

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