African-American Loyalist Sources

Over the course of the War for Independence, many African-Americans served the Loyalist cause. As with those African-Americans who served with Congressional forces, the Library contains records documenting the services of African Americans in the Royal Provincial Corps. Many of these documents can be found in our microfilms of records from the National Archives of Canada and the Archives of the New Brunswick Museum.




One of the principal African-American units in British service was the Black Pioneers. Todd Braisted, one of our regular patrons and the world authority on the Royal Provincial regiments, has provided an account of that unit's history which can be accessed here. Briefly, this corps was raised during Sir Henry Clinton's failed 1776 Carolina Campaign from escaped slaves who reached his lines near Wilmington, NC. African-Americans were not allowed to bear arms in either the regular British regiments nor their Royal Provincial auxiliaries, so instead served in a support role. As Braisted notes, pioneers in the eighteenth-century were tasked with back-breaking physical labor and fatigue details, including clearing obstructions, building fortifications, and, in the case of the Black Pioneers in Philadelphia in 1777-1778, cleaning garbage off the streets. Theirs was not a particularly glorious role, but it did earn these men and their families freedom and land in Canada at the end of the war.

The Library holds microfilm copies of the Black Pioneers muster rolls from 25 Dec 1779-23 Feb 1780, the originals of which are retained at the Archives of the New Brunswick Museum. Our collection, entitled "Loyalists and New Brunswick muster rolls and military records" can be found at call number FILM 271

Further records relating to the Black Pioneers can be found in the Ward Chipman Papers, the originals of which are property of National Archives of Canada MG 23, D 1, Series 1, Volume 25. The sub-collection entitled "Muster rolls and casualty returns, 1777-1783" includes an entire section on the Black Pioneers, which can be found at call number FILM 273

Ward Chipman, who was the muster-master of Royal Provincial forces, retained other records that shed light on the role of African-American Loyalists. In the muster rolls of the King's American Regiment, a unit raised in New York by Edmund Fanning, one can find references to black pioneers serving in most of the regiment's companies. A breakdown from returns covering the first half of 1781 provides an example of what can be found in these records, and what might be found in other Royal Provincial muster rolls:

Return for Captain Chapman’s Company lists “Black Samuel” as a pioneer

Return for Captain Atwood’s Company lists “Harry Black” as a pioneer

Return for Captain Clements’ company lists “John Black” as a pioneer

Return for Col Fanning’s Company lists “Harry Black” as a pioneer

Return for Captain Depyster’s Company lists “Jack Black” as a pioneer

Return for Captain Gray’s company lists “Hector Black” as a pioneer

Return for Captain Livingston’s Company lists “Wm Black” as a pioneer

Return for Lt. Col Peter Campbell’s Company lists “Bristol Black” as a pioneer

Return for Major Gray’s Company lists “Jacob Black” as a pioneer


William P. Tatum III

Have something you want to share, such as a question, research find, or a personal story about the Library? Email Will Tatum at tatum@dlar.org