This stressed the states as event with the advent of bounties and land incentives to join, Early 1777 and into 1778. Without Congressional sanctions, Northern and Middle-Atlantic states authorized the enlistments of free blacks to meet their quotas.

Late 1777 and into 1778. As the war continued, Northern and Middle-Atlantic states were obliged to begin authorizing the enlistment of slaves. The slave owners would receive compensation and the slaves their freedom at war’s end.

January 1778. With two thirds of Rhode Island occupied by British troops, the state was having difficulty replacing those troops whose enlistments had expired. General James Varnum of Rhode Island proposed to Washington at Valley Forge that the two depleted Rhode Island regiments be combined to one regiment and that he returns home to recruit a ‘black regiment.’

Mid 1777. Initiation of some northern states of a ‘substitute system’ that allowed drafted whites to send their slaves instead.

Late 1777. Connecticut allowed masters to free slaves who served as substitutes for white citizens. New Hampshire permitted slaves and free blacks to meet the state levies; adding that slaves who signed up for three years received freedom and the same bounties as whites.

Oct. 22, 1777. Battle of Redbank, New Jersey. At Fort Mercer, two Rhode Island regiments held off a large Hessian force five times their size. Many African Americans were present in the RI ranks.

Oct. 23, 1777. So many draftees had sent their slaves to fight in their place that a Hessian officer wrote in his journal, “The Negro can take the field instead of his master, and therefore no regiment is to be seen in which there are not Negores in abundance, and among them are able-bodied and strong fellows.”

February 1778. Rhode Island Governor Nicholas Cooke approves Varnum’s proposal, and the state legislature authorized the formation of a black battalion.

February 1778. Rhode Island assembly grants black soldiers the same pay and bounties as offered white soldiers. Also for slaves, freedom throughout the conflict and at war’s end. Slave masters would be compensated up to $400 per slave. Governor Cooke explained to Washington that recruiting black soldiers was the only way he could meet his quota.

Spring, 1778. Colonel Christopher Greene, cousin of Major General Nathaneal Greene, was commissioned commander of the 1st Rhode Island ‘Black’ Regiment.

April 28, 1778. Massachusetts authorized black enlistments in its Continental regiments.

Summer 1778. Similar proposals like Rhode Island that recruited a black regiment failed in the Massachusetts and Maryland legislatures.

August 29, 1778. At the Battle of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island 1st Black Regiment held off three massive assaults by a large Hessian force, helping to allow the bulk of the American army escape.

Early 1779. The British had invaded the south in Dec. of 1778 and expanded upon their operations in 1779. British Commander-in-Chief General Sir Henry Clinton promised freedom to all southern slaves who deserted rebel masters for the British service.

March 25, 1779. Congress sent a committee of five to study the desperate situation in the southern states of Carolina and Georgia. On this date they reported that the number of militiamen and Continental soldiers stationed in the south was inadequate to stop the advance of British forces. They recommended that South Carolina and Georgia immediately raise a force of 3,000 black troops and organize them into battalions led by white officers. Slaveholders would be paid $1,000 per slave and black soldiers would be freed by war’s end.

March 29, 1779. With the support of John Laurens, southern delegate and diplomat, Congress adopted the committee of five’s proposal to raise 3,000 black troops; however, the South Carolina assembly rejected the proposal; South Carolina’s Assembly Hall resounded with a loud huzza after the defeat. The Georgia Assembly delayed Congress’ request until June of 1782, when it was rejected.

Sept. 16 – Oct. 18, 1779. During the unsuccessful American siege of Savannah, Georgia, 545 black soldiers, freemen and slaves, from Hati, fought alongside the Americans.

Mid-September, 1779. Spain had declared war on England in 1779. Spanish Louisiana, under Governor Bernardo de Galvez, led a “half black and half white army” who drove the British from the colony.

Sept. 23, 1779. Many black gunners and sailors served aboard the Bonne Homme Richard, captained by John Paul Jones, during the taking of the British ship HMS Scrapis. When ordered to surrender, Jones famously declined then declared that he had just begun to fight.

Spring, 1780. Faced with a large invading British force, American General Benjamin Lincoln implored the South Carolina and Georgia legislatures to allow him to arm black slaves. His appeal falls on deaf ears; however, they did allow 1,000 slaves to serve as pioneers (draymen and laborers). On May 12, 1780, Lincoln surrendered Charleston, South Carolina to the British, along with the largest American force lost during the war.

May 1780. Maryland’s legislature decreed that free blacks were subject to the draft.

June 1780. Connecticut organized a black company of 52 enlisted men. They served as a single unit until Nov. 1782 when they were disbanded.

1780, New Jersey. Black British loyalist Colonel Tye led his Black Brigade on many raids throughout mostly Monmouth County, New Jersey. He was considered the greatest guerilla fighter of the war on both sides.

October 1780. Maryland officially permitted slave enlistments with the consent of their masters.

Early 1781. Major General Greene arrived in the south as the new commander. He immediately endorsed the proposal to arm black slaves, but once again, as with Lincoln, he was ignored by the South Carolina and Georgia legislatures.

May 14, 1781. At Pines Bridge, Croton River New York, a large body of loyalists attacked Colonel Christopher Greene, commanding the RI 1st Black regiment. Several of his men surrounded Greene in a futile attempt to save him. All fought to the death.

Oct. 14, 1781. During the attack on redoubts 9 and 10, the Rhode Island 1st ‘Black’ Regiment spearheaded the assault on redoubt 10. This attack that denied the British of these two important outposts was the final ‘nail in the coffin’ for the British who surrendered Yorktown days later.

Oct. 1781. During review of American troops at Yorktown, Baron von Closen, aide de camp to French General Rochambeau, spoke of the black Rhode Island regiment, writing in his journal “that regiment is the most neatly dressed, the best under arms, and the most precise in its maneuvers.”

January 1782. John Laurens once more encourages South Carolina to arm black slaves. His pleas are ignored.

February 25, 1782. The South Carolina, to induce recruitment of whites, offered a bounty of one slave per enlistment.