Black History
1780 Revolutionary War Connecticut Payroll listing the 2nd Continental Regiment with Black Soldier "Prince Negro"
September 26, 1780-Dated Revolutionary War Period, Connecticut 2nd Regiment Payroll with a Black Soldier named "Prince Negro", Hartford (CT.), Fine.
An original Connecticut 2nd Regiment Payroll Manuscript Document, measuring 8.5" x 13", Fine with eye appeal of Very Fine but for some irregularities. Some scattered small paper loss internally, at the folds and edges, affecting some of the text, though most of the names and numbers can still be fully and easily read, as shown. This is a listing of the the names and money owed for each Officer and Soldier of the 2nd Continental Regiment, "... for service rendered the United States before Jan..." (though the exact length or period of service is unrecorded). Included in this list is at least one Black Soldier named "Prince Negro". A notation at the bottom of the document indicates that it was prepared in the presence of Captain Ichabod Hinkley. This list includes 85 Officers and Soldiers headed by Col. Joseph Hait. The total payroll due was 5,687 pounds, 5 shillings and 5 pence, a rather hefty amount at the time. Other named soldiers may possibly include additional Black Soldiers and further research is suggested. A nice boldly written manuscript listing payroll item that will display well.
The 2nd Connecticut Regiment was authorized in the Continental Army on 16 September 1776. It was organized between 1 January and April 1777 at Danbury, Connecticut of eight companies from the counties of Fairfield, Windham, and Hartford in the state of Connecticut and assigned on 3 April 1777 to the 1st Connecticut Brigade of the Highlands Department.



The regiment was reassigned to McDougall's Brigade on 12 June 1777; then three days later (15 June 1777 it was reassigned to the 2nd Connecticut Brigade. One month later, 10 July 1777 the regiment was reassigned to 1st Connecticut Brigade. On 13 November 1777 the regiment was reassigned to the 2nd Connecticut Brigade of the Main Continental Army. On 1 May 1779 the 2nd Connecticut Brigade was reassigned to the Highlands department and the regiment was re-organized to nine companies on 11 July 1779. The regiment was reassigned to the Main Continental Army on 16 November 1779. It was reassigned to the Highland's department on 27 November 1780.



On 1 January 1781 the regiment was merged with 9th Connecticut Regiment, re-organized and re-designated as the 3rd Connecticut Regiment of the 1st Connecticut Brigade. The regiment would see action in the New York Campaign, Battle of Brandywine, Battle of Germantown and the Battle of Monmouth. The regiment was furloughed 15 June 1783 at West Point, New York and disbanded on 15 November 1783.



The primarily integrated part played by the African American citizen soldier in the Continental Army was one that would not be repeated until the second half of the twentieth century. That is not to say that the War of American Independence did not set precedents for the use of African Americans in the United States military. The American Revolution began a pattern for the approach to be taken toward African American citizen soldiers for the succeeding 175 years. That pattern consisted of discouraging the involvement of these citizen soldiers until the necessity for manpower dictated that they must be used. The United States, for political and cultural reasons, preferred to leave the African American citizen soldier out of the fight. Often the military, even when allowing the use of African American citizen soldiers, preferred to use them in laboring and service-oriented roles.



The inhibiting of the African American as a combat soldier perpetuated a mythology in their inability as a soldier, a mythology that many Revolutionary War veterans could have debunked. The African American citizen soldier who, whatever his motivations, served in the Continental Army did so as part of America's first integrated army, an integration that would not occur again until the Cold War battles of the twentieth century.



In January 1778, Alexander Scammell replaced Timothy Pickering as the Continental Army's Adjutant General. One of his many tasks was to compile a reckoning of the total number of African Americans then serving with the Continental Army at White Plains, New York. The product of this count was a document, dated August 24, 1778, that recorded how many were serving in each individual brigade.



Virtually every brigade had at least one African American and most had considerably more than that. . . . Scammell's report confirms what observers of the Continental Army had affirmed about its integration of African Americans into the ranks. They were a noticeable presence in practically every Continental Army unit. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Scammell's report was that, of the two brigades with the highest proportion of African Americans, one was a southern brigade.