Hudson

Most African American Soldiers who fought in the war took the British side, but hundreds also fought for the Patriots. Some were free blacks who believed strongly in the cause of liberty. Others were slaves who were promised their freedom for taking part in the war. Some slaves were placed in the army as substitutes for their owners, who did not wish to serve themselves. In 1778, there were nearly a thousand black men spread across every regiment in the Continental army. Black regiments with white officers existed in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Most African American soldiers who fought in the revolution fought for the Brits. Even so some fought for the Continentals, they would have done this for one of three reasons, one, they were under false belief that they would have emancipation, they were free and wanted to, or their owners sent them in their stead. Three years into the war almost a thousand black men had joined. Some regiments in Rhode Island and Massachusetts had black soldiers with white officers.

Didn’t the slave owners who sent their slaves to war not want their slaves to die. I think people did want their slaves to live but if losing their slaves meant not dying than it was worth it. People also didn’t treat slaves like people so what did it matter if slaves died. If slaves weren’t treated like people why everyone just force all the slaves to fight. I think it was because they thought there was no honor in that, and also that they thought that the slaves were weak.

Harvey Van Blerkom, 2016

Battle Tactics, Natives, British, American French, and African

Source:

Williamsburg, VA, Historical Interpreter Gunsmith. Interview. By Charlie Thackway and Aidhan Astrachan. 2015.

Quote:

“After many years of fighting with the native Americans and finally getting them out of the land that the English were colonizing the English were able to pick up some tricks on the way. Later the English and the French start to incorporate guerrilla tactics into their fighting, they are started to send in small groups of soldiers in camouflage into the woods. Back on the note of warfare on the battlefield the English had a way of defending against there own tactic of running at the enemy with something called the grape shot. When using the grape shot you would stuff a cylinder shaped can filled to the brim with musket balls, they would stuff the calendar in a cannon and shoot hundreds of musket balls all over the enemy. The big idea of linear tactics were to control the other side, if you can do that you can pretty much win the war.”

Paraphrase:

-The Europeans had different strategies than the Natives didn’t have

-The Natives used guerrilla tactics

-The English would use linear tactics

-The English also used the grape shot

-The idea of linear tactics was to control the other side

-The English and French started to incorporate gorilla tactics, modeling after the Natives

-They would send small groups of camouflaged soldiers into the woods and sneak up

-On the battlefield, the grape shot was key

My Ideas:

This quote is important because it shows tactics used on and off the battlefield. I think that it is really surprising that one tactic that is used a lot today came from a group of people that weren’t looked at as equals. I wonder if there is anything else that the Natives influenced or used. I know that they were the first to use insect repellent, and they also created bunk beds, but I think that there are more things that were originated from the Native Americans. The English and French stole the guerrilla tactics from the Natives, so I wonder if the Natives stole any tactics from the English or French. I think that they would because they got guns and other traded things that the English and French used. Getting those things would make them adapt the different tactics. I wonder if at some point of the war, the English, French, or British used guerrilla tactics on the battlefield. I don’t think that they did because it was the complete opposite of the linear tactics. It would be very confusing to both sides if you had fighters in camouflage, and also fighters in lines. It could be effective, but it would be very risky. I wonder if sometimes they would camouflage a cannon, and then send a grape shot at the enemy. I also wonder how often the grape shot was used. From this quote, it seems like it was used a lot, but in Williamsburg, they said that the grape shot was used as a last resort because it could inflict a lot of damage. I think that it was a combination of the two. I think it was used most as a last resort shot, but was used at other times depending on how the enemy was grouped. I also wonder if the grape shot was meant to inflict damage to the enemies because I know that a regular cannonball was to scare them. I don’t really know because it seems like the sort of thing that would be used to hurt people because it is scattering. At Yorktown, the weapons person told me that out of 100 musket balls from 100 different muskets or from a grape shot a lucky round would consist of 12-20 hits. I found this surprising because I thought that they would be able to figure out how to use a weapon that is more accurate. I wonder if the grape shot is used today. If it isn’t, I wonder if there is a weapon that’s original form was the grape shot. I wonder if the slaves had a role in the evolution of battle tactics because they probably had their own specialties. I sadly think that they didn’t get to use their specialties to their advantage because they didn’t mean anything. I think that if the Africans used the things that made them special, or if they channeled in their anger from being enslaved, they could definitely have had an impact on battle tactics.