African Americans in the American Revolution: Dragoon John Redman

Revolutonary War Journal is published by Harry Schenawolf, author of the Shades of Liberty Series about African American soldiers in the American Revolution.

John Redman was no different than any other farmer who enlisted in the Continental Army. He was among thousands who fought for what he believed in. For over three years, he and others of his company suffered hardships and extreme fatigue as they marched or rode fifteen to twenty miles a day for months on end, never knowing what horrors awaited. Many fell ill from disease, malnourishment, and died of dysentery.  The clothes on their backs literally disintegrated as few supplies were available for an army that subsisted on what they could obtain while on the march. The only difference between Redman and the next man beside him who totted a musket for the cause of liberty, was that John was an African American. But as a black soldier, he was not alone. Far from it. For it was common to find many African American among the patriot ranks who fought for the cause of freedom.

It is estimated between 5,000 and 8,000 African Americans soldiers fought and served right alongside white soldiers in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. From the very beginning of the war, there were black soldiers in every regiment of the American Army – including militia and the elite light horsemen who formed the American cavalry. It is believed, based on troop rosters and returns, that at the winter camp of Valley Forge, 1777-1778, where a new nation’s hopes hung by a thread, nearly one of every five soldiers facing General George Washington was black, a large percentage of them slaves! It is to those courageous African American men who stood firm to achieve a new nation’s dreams – suffering war’s depravities, while facing the hardships of slavery and racial inequalities, that we as a nation must come together and acknowledge what they did, and be forever grateful.

In fact, upwards of 10% of the American Army at any one time during the American Revolution were African Americans, many former and runaway slaves. The total number of whites soldiers who historians calculated served in the war included militia and ninety-day enlistments. For the most part, these men were short-term enlistees; whereas most black soldier enlistments remained for the entire war. When many enlistments were up or when hardships became unbearable, many men deserted or were furloughed over the long winter months. However, the black soldier remained in camp, sustaining the fight and thereby accounting for the higher percentage of African American soldiers’ presence throughout the war, rather than the total number compared to white soldiers.  Black and white soldiers would not fight side by side again in the United States military until the Korean war, nearly two hundred years later. During the Revolution, thousands more African Americans acted as support for both sides of the conflict as waggoneers, ditch diggers, hauling supplies, etc., in what were termed ‘pioneers’.

Generations of historical scholars and political leaders had made a concerted decision to ignore their importance to the founding of this nation. And thankfully, over the past decade, that has begun to change. The pages of time are being dusted and people are learning the truth. we as a nation must acknowledge what they did and be forever grateful.

John Redman (c1760 – Oct. 8, 1836) was one such man. When the time came, he courageously took up his musket and joined the Virginia Line. He selflessly endured countless months of deprivation and impoverishment, right to the last days of the war, as he fought for America’s right to self-determination in a new democratic government. To ascertain his incredible accomplishments during the American Revolution, this article examines Mr. Redman’s pension application, affidavits by those with whom Redman fought, a study of the commanders he stated he served under, and the movements and actions of the units in which he served.

John Redman’s Regiment

We know for certain, as recorded in regimental payroll documents of Captain John Hughes’ 5^th troop of the 1^st Continental Light Dragoons, that John Redman was a member of that unit and present in the Carolinas towards the end of the war in January, 1783. We also have a sworn affidavit by one with whom Mr. Redman served as well as the officers Redman stated were his commanders – all indicating he was with the 1^st Continental Light Dragoons. However, Redman himself stated in his pension application that upon enlisting, he was put in Henry ‘Lightfoot-Harry’ Lee’s Legion of Horse. Historian C. Leon Harris, who transcribed and annotated Mr. Redman’s pension application on July 20, 2015, presents a solution in his notes to this discrepancy. That “a John Redman was recorded in the 1^st Light Dragoons, which appears to have been part of Lt. Col. Henry Lee’s Legion.”  This assumption is incorrect as the 1^st Light Dragoons were never part of Lee’s Legion – in fact, early on in the war, the opposite was true.  Lee’s Legion was formed on June 8, 1776 in Williamsburg, Virginia as part of the 1^st Continental Light Dragoons and on April 7^th, 1778, they became their own separate autonomous regiment.  Detachments of both regiments fought together in and around Philadelphia in 1778 and later New Jersey and New York.  Lee’s Legion remained with Washington’s army while in July 1779, the 1^st Continental Dragoons had been sent south. The two would not fight alongside each other until 1781, when Lee’s Legion was also sent south.

Ancestor of Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

During research for the PBS series African American Lives, aired in February, 2006, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., professor at Harvard University and Director of the Harvard Du Bois Center for African American Studies, was informed by genealogist Jane Ailes, executive producer for the series, that Revolutionary War veteran John Redman was his fifth great grandparent. That Redman had fought for four years with the 1^st Light Dragoons during the American Revolution. Because of John Redman’s service in the American Revolution, Professor Gates applied to and was honorably accepted into the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. That same year, he wrote an excellent article “Native Sons of Liberty,” published in the New York Times, August 6, 2006. His ancestry research determined that John Redman was born in Culpepper, Virginia and lived in the vicinity of Williamsport, a tiny town in the Potomac Valley nestled in the Allegheny Mountains in what is now West Virginia. At the time Redman enlisted into a Virginia regiment to fight the war, he was listed as a free mulatto. After the war, John married Sarah Day Redman (1764 – 1848) in 1785 in Hampshire County, Virginia. There they lived and farmed in the northern Shenandoah Valley in Hardy County, Virginia, west of Winchester, Virginia, and what is now Grant County, West Virginia.

Pension Applications

It wasn’t until June 11, 1823, when, ‘above age 60’ and forty years after his unit was discharged at the end of the war, that John Redman was finally able to apply for a pension for his service. Prior to 1818, veterans of the war and their families were awarded pensions based only on disability or death [the exception being officers at half pay from 1778 onward]. March 18, 1818, pensions were finally offered to veterans without a stipulation of disability. Former soldiers began a process for approval because by then, many had lost their discharge papers and had to go before a board of inquiry. This included declarations by the veteran and those who he presented as evidence of service. However, just as some began receiving their long overdue pensions, the country’s financial instability and lack of funding caused Congress on May 1, 1820, to rescind the offer and many pensioners were stricken from receiving further money.

On March 1, 1823, there was a political turnaround. Those pensioners who had been removed were restored as well as opening the door for other veterans to come forward to claim service and apply. So, on that warm June morning in 1823, an African American warrior and former dragoon, freeman John Redman, walked into the courtroom of Judge Charles Lobb of Hardy County, Virginia, to claim that which was rightfully his, a long overdue pension from the United States Government. His application was approved and he was granted his Certificate of Pension of $8 per month until his death, thirteen years later.  You may view John Redman’s pension application that was made on June 11, 1823 by clicking John Redman’s Pension Application  C. Leon Harris transcribed and annotated Redman’s Pension application and revised it on July 20, 2015.

John Redman’s Affidavit – His Regiment and Enlistment

As to the year of enlistment and the regiment in which John Redman fought: we know for certain that he was with the Continental Light Dragoons during the American Revolution either on horse or on foot as Light Dragoon regiments had elements of both cavalry and infantry. At the start of the war, there were four main regiments of Continental Light Horse (numbered 1^st through the 4^th) with three additional Partisan Corps or Legions formed in 1778: Pulaski’s Legion on March 28^th in Baltimore, Lee’s Legion on April 7^th in Virginia, and Armand’s Legion on June 25^th in Boston. This is a portion of Mr. Redman’s affidavit: …John Redman aged above sixty years resident of said County of Hardy who being sworn according to Law doth on his oath declare that he served in the revolutionary War, Viz: that he enlisted in Winchester in Virginia about Christmas of the year [blank] for and during the War that he marched from thence with other recruits under Lieutenant Vincent Howell to Richmond in the spring of said year and was put into the regiment of horse commanded by Col. [Henry] Lee and marched from Richmond in the said year with a detachment of said regiment under Captains Hughes [possibly John Hughes] & Gun [possibly James Gunn (Gun) BLWt659-300] & said Lieutenant Howell to the South…

Forty years after his discharge, John Redman left his exact date of enlistment blank. Like other veterans applying after so many years, soldiers often could not remember their exact signing.  Mr. Redman stated that upon enlistment around Christmas, he and other recruits, under Lt. Vincent Howell, marched to Richmond the following spring and were put into the regiment of horse commanded by Henry ‘Light-foot Harry’ Lee. From there, they marched south with a detachment of horse of the 1^st Continental Light Dragoons under Captains John Hughes and James Gunn. Lee’s Legion of Horse had remained with Washington’s army throughout the war, however in November of 1780, after recruiting and re-organization, Lee marched south to join Major General Nathanael Greene’s southern army, arriving on January 8, 1781 at the army’s camp on the Peedee River in South Carolina. Lee’s six companies were at near full strength of 100 horse and 180 foot.

The 1st Continental Light Dragoons had been assigned to the southern army previously in July 1779 and had been active at the Siege and Battle of Savannah (Fall 1779), one company was with General Pulaski’s Legion, and the Siege of Charleston (March – May 1780). On May 6, 1780, at the Battle of Lenud’s Ferry, the regiment was decimated along with the capture of their commander, Colonel Anthony Walton White. Those remaining, less than a company, were incorporated into the 3rd Light Dragoons under Colonel William Washington, while plans were put into place to recruit a new regiment.  Upon the return of Colonel White (who was exchanged in October of 1780) the regiment was re-organized in Virginia with new recruits throughout late 1780 and early 1781. The re-organized units, four companies of horse and two of infantry, rejoined the southern army in 1781, at about the time Mr. Redman stated he marched south with a detachment from the 1^st Continental Light Dragoons. Therefore, evidence indicates Mr. Redman had enlisted into Lee’s Legion around Christmas, 1780, and with other recruits, marched south with a detachment of the newly reformed 1^st Dragoons in the spring of 1781.

However, Mr. Redman also stated “that he served four years in said regiment & was discharged in North Carolina, by s’d Captain Hughes, but has lost his discharge…”  The 1^st Dragoons were discharged at war’s end in Westchester, Virginia in October, 1783. Some detachments no doubt remained in the Carolinas to help manage the partisan war between loyalists and patriot militia, and would have been discharged from there. The question arises that if Redman had served a total of four years, he would have enlisted around Christmas of 1779. His earlier sworn testimony contradicts this as he is clear that after enlisting, he and other troopers were put into Lee’s Legion and marched south with a detachment of 1^st Light Horse. As indicated, Lee’s Legion did not march south until December 1780 after receiving marching orders in November, 1780.  The 1^st Continental Light Horse had re-organized in Virginia in the fall of 1780 (except for around thirty troopers who after the defeat at Lenud’s Ferry in May, 1780, had remained in the south with Colonel William Washington of the 3^rd Continental). The reorganized 1^st did not march south until the early spring of 1781.

John Jenkins Testimony. Virginia trooper John Jenkins was a fellow soldier with John Redman. On May 10^th, 1823, in sworn testimony in support of Mr. Redman’s pension application, he said that Redman served two years at least in the 1^st Virginia Regiment of Light Dragoons commanded by Colonel Anthony Walton White as a Water [waiter] to Lt. Vincent Howell in the company commanded by Captain Gunn.  Redman stated that when he marched south from Richmond with a detachment of the 1^st Continental Light Dragoons, he did so under the commands of Captains John Hughes and James Gunn (who were officers in the 1^st Dragoons); however, he did not state that he was placed into their regiment. Mr. Redman was clear in his pension application that he had enlisted in Lee’s Legion. Yet we know, by January of 1783, due to payroll records, that Redman had indeed served with the 1^st Light Dragoons. Therefore, one may raise the question, at which point did Redman, along with his direct commander, Lt. Vincent Howell, join the 1^st Continental Light Dragoons? The answer may be provided by examining Lt. Howell’s records.

Lieutenant Vincent Howell

Evidence indicates that Lieutenant Vincent Howell was commissioned into the 1^st Light Dragoons on July 11, 1781. Prior to that he, and Redman, may have been with Lee’s Legion as stated by Redman in his pension application. It is also possible that Redman was in error and that he and Lt. Howell were recruited directly into the 1^st Light Dragoons (the 1^st Dragoons were recruiting during this period) for all of the officers Redman testified he served under were with the 1^st Dragoons. Historian Will Graves, on May 4, 2014, transcribed bounty land warrant information by Major John Belfield, former of the 1^st Light Dragoons, that related to Vincent Howell (VAS1629 vsl 1). He declared that “I do certify that Lieutenant Vincent Howell was appointed in the 1^st Regiment Dragoons the 11^th day of July one thousand seven hundred and eight-one & that he continued in the said Regiment till sometime in eight-two when he died. Signed J. Belfield Major Dragoons.” Lewis Howell, younger brother to Vincent Howell, in his land grant, also transcribed by Graves in 2014, gave testimony on April 11, 1834, that he, his father William (who was with Morgan’s regiment and died of smallpox), and his brother Vincent, had enlisted from the same residence in Virginia and that Lewis had served for three years total. He also claimed that his brother Vincent had died while in service in 1782.  Upon arriving in the Carolinas, it can be assumed that by July 11^th of the same year, 1781, Lt. Howell, and John Redman, who served directly under Howell, either were already members of the 1^st Continental Light Dragoons or had transferred from Lee’s Legion.

Captains John Hughes and James Gunn

John Redman also mentioned that he marched south with a detachment commanded by Captain John Hughes. Hughes had been commissioned Quartermaster Sergeant of the 1^st Light Dragoons on December 27, 1777, as documented in General Orders, Washington’s Headquarters, Valley Forge. Hughes maintained that rank for over three years and not commissioned a captain of the 5^th troop until March 31^st, 1781.  Therefore, he would not have commanded a company of troopers until the spring of 1781, the exact timeline in which John Redman stated upon enlisting, that he marched south from Richmond with a detachment under Captain Hughes. The other officer Redman mentions, Captain James Gunn, had been commissioned a captain in the 1^st Continental Light Dragoons in February, 1779 and retired from the war on November 9^th, 1782.

John Redman’s Actions

John Redman’s pension application refers to his actions in the southern campaign during the war. He further declared: “that he was in the said service & lay in North Carolina at the time Cornwallis was taken [19 Oct 1781]. That he was in no battle except one in the neighborhood of Savannah with the Indians under their Chief, Sago [possibly attack by Emistisiguo at Ebenezer GA, 23 Jun 1782]. That he served four years in said regiment & was discharged in North Carolina, by s’d Captain Hughes, but has lost his discharge…”  We have no records of John Redman’s actions from the spring of 1781 to the war’s end.  His company of Light Horse remained in the south throughout the spring and summer of 1781, joining Greene’s southern forces. When Lee and detachments of Colonel White’s 1^st Light Dragoons were ordered north to aid in the capture of Cornwallis’ army at Yorktown, we know again from Redman’s testimony that in the fall of 1781, he had remained in the Carolinas. Historian C. Leon Harris noted in his translation of Mr. Redman’s pension application that “Lee was at Yorktown VA at the time of the surrender of Cornwallis on 19 Oct 1781, but at least some of the Legion remained active in South Carolina. I found no record of Lee’s Legion in Georgia.”  This observation by Mr. Harris, in reference to Lee’s Legion, is incorrect. From May 22 – June 4, 1781, Colonel Lee’s Legion was part of the forces that successfully sieged Augusta, Georgia including two garrisons, the larger Fort Cornwallis in the town.  Therefore, if we can trace Greene’s movements throughout the time Mr. Redman was attached to his army till the end of the war, we have a picture of his encounters with the enemy and hardships he faced, for Greene’s use of Light Horse was invaluable and critical throughout his campaign.

Reorganized 1^st Continental Light Dragoons

Most of the reorganized 1^st Continental Dragoons had marched south in the spring of 1781 to join Greene.  Lafayette had moved into Virginia in March, 1781 with a small army to counter traitor General Benedict Arnold’s arrival in December of 1780.  By early April, 1781, Lafayette was also facing Cornwallis’ troops who marched north after the Battle of Guilford Courthouse on March 15^th.  He found himself in dire need of Light Horse and in late May, kept 30 horse from Colonel White’s 1^st Light Dragoons who had been refitting in the Shenandoah region.  Redman, as stated, had already marched south. He must have joined Greene after the Battle of Guilford Courthouse on March 15, 1781, for he stated that he fought no battle except for one outside Savannah involving the Creek Indians.

British General Charles Cornwallis Marches North.  American Major General Nathanael Greene Remains in the South

By March 20^th, 1781, commander of the southern British forces, General Charles Cornwallis, realized that he could not afford another victory such as Guilford Court House.  Historian Christopher Ward wrote, “He had lost the campaign, and there was no hope of recovery; his army was too weak to fight another battle. If it should try and should lose as many men as in this last one, the patriot countrymen would rise and tear the rest of it to pieces. All he could hope for now was a swift, safe retreat to a place of refuge and a store of food.” So, Cornwallis marched his army north, to Virginia where he counted on restoring his army and gaining reinforcements from New York City. Greene, in North Carolina, decided not to follow the British north. He saw an opportunity to gradually rid the south of the many British outposts scattered over hundreds of miles of terrain. He detached some of Lee’s Legion to hasten Cornwallis’ move north and set his eyes further south. As early as March 29, 1781, Greene had written to General Washington that “I am determined to carry the war immediately into South Carolina.” Greene’s main objective was the British garrisons at Charleston and Savannah, but first he would deal with a chain of garrisons that needed to be broken. And to do so effectively he needed Light Horse.

The American commander had at his disposal Lee’s Legions and Colonel William Washington’s Light Dragoons which contained detachments from the 1^st Light Dragoons. Greene had lost his North Carolina and Virginia militia whose six-week enlistment had expired, but he still maintained four regiments of veteran Continental troops from Maryland (including a company from Delaware) and Virginia. Along with Kirkwood’s light infantry he had about 1,400 men to face British Lt. Colonel Francis Rawdon’s forces at Camden, S. Carolina, about 900 British regulars.

Actions in 1781

While Lee found Francis Marion’s troops in the swamps along the Pee Dee River and together attacked Fort Watson that was garrisoned with about 120 British regulars & Loyalists. Greene meanwhile marched his main force against the British at Camden. By what has been entitled the Battle of Hobkirk’s Hill, April 25^th, 1781, outside Camden, there is no mention of Colonel Anthony White’s troopers – only Colonel William Washington’s Horse of 87 troopers who were held in reserve, consisting of elements of the 1^st and 3^rd Dragoons. Research indicated that by May, 1781, Colonel White had gone north to join a detachment of his horse to assist Lafayette – so, by late April, he would have already left Greene’s army.

The Americans lost at Hobkirk’s Hill was partially due to Washington’s horsemen coming upon the rear baggage train of Lord Rawdon’s army. Washington took the time to gather prisoners and failed to attack the enemy rear as planned. They did swing back around the battle in time to save the artillery from being taken by British horseman and act as a rearguard during the American retreat. Like Cornwallis at Guilford, Rawdon won the field, but at a high cost in irreplaceable troops. Was Redman at Hobkirk with Washington’s Horse? He stated that he “lay in North Carolina at the time Cornwallis was taken.” But that was in October – his company’s movements might have previously taken him into South Carolina.

By May, Greene did not have enough troops for a regular battle. He declared to Colonel William Davie of North Carolina, who was on his staff, “that we must again resume the partisan war…as much distressed for ammunition as for men.” However, Greene had already began to effectively sweep the British from every foothold in the Carolinas for Lord Rawdon was in far more dire straights than the Americans. By Greene’s effective use of Partisan Bands and Horse, in which Redman no doubt played a role, Rawdon was cut off from food and forage. So too his troops were being worn out by constantly skirmishing with the enemy. On May 9^th, Rawdon abandoned Camden, leaving the town “little better than a heap of rubbish,” having burned much of the village. His forces marched towards Charleston which included 380 British dragoons under Major McArthur. During this time, the independent forces of Colonel Thomas Sumter, Lee, and Colonel Francis Marion had been cleaning up a scattering of British fortifications throughout the Carolinas. Though Greene had been beaten in every battle, he was gradually succeeding in his objective.

By June 4^th, 1781, the fort at Ninety-six (garrisoned entirely by loyalist troops) and British forces at Charleston, Savannah, and Wilmington, were all that remained of the British presence in Georgia and the Carolinas.  While Greene began the siege of Ninety-Six, he received word on June 11^th that a British fleet had landed reinforcements at Charleston and that they were marching to aid the loyalists at Ninety-Six. He sent Washington with all the cavalry under his command to join Colonels Sumter and Marion in intercepting the approaching British. When the British (2,000 strong and double the size of Greene’s men) were within 30 miles of Ninety-Six, Greene decided to storm the fort. Lee’s Legion of infantry, his horse having been sent to delay the advancing enemy reinforcements, were assigned to attack from the west. On noon, June 18^th, the attack began.  It failed and by day’s end, Greene was in full retreat as Rawdon’s reinforcements arrived.

Greene marched north to Charlotte, N. Carolina using the cavalry as rear guard in which Redman would have been engaged. Greene expected Rawdon to hold Ninety-Six, however Rawdon quickly decided to evacuate the fortification and began the march back to Charleston. Greene in turn, swung his men about and headed south. Both armies had suffered in their long marches under insufferable heat while covering 323 miles in just twenty-two days; even the food, that had been miserably scanty, had run out. For six weeks, from the end of June through early August, the two forces camped while their worn out men tried to recover. Rawdon, broken in health, returned to Charleston and sailed for home, being captured at sea by the French and later exchanged. By the end of August, Greene’ army had been reinforced with additional troops and with his men well rested, he renewed the offensive.

Change in British command. Greene takes the offensive and Yorktown

Lt. Colonel Charles Stuart was now in charge of British forces facing Greene. The two armies manuvered for the next couple weeks and by September 8, 1781, they clashed at Eutaw Springs, South Carolina, in what was the last major battle of the war in the south. Redman stated he remained in North Carolina when Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown in October and was in no major battle. It can be assumed that he was not present during this action, but had remained outside Charlotte, N. Carolina where American forces were stationed. The battle was one of the bloodiest of the war with high casualties on both sides. Afterwards, British commander Stuart, with 866 casualties in all, amounting to two-fifths of his army, had but one recourse, give up the fight and retreat back to Charleston, leaving the south’s interior entirely in Greene’s hands. That, and one month later, with the surrender of General Cornwallis at Yorktown, began what would be the finishing blows to England’s hopes of ever obtaining the colonies by force.

However, there still yet remained two British armies in the south – one at Wilmington, North Carolina and one at Charleston, Souoth Carolina, and a garrison at Savannah, Georgia. Nearly two years of skirmishing between enemy forces in the south and much hardship in long days and nights marching and countermarching with little or no food remained. All of this Redman and his company would suffer through.

After Eutaw Springs, over half of Greene’s army were disabled by wounds or fever. His men were so debilitated that at times there were “scarce men enough to mount two small guards.”  On October 25^th, Greene wrote to Washington that “Our troops have been exceedingly sickly, and our distress and difficulties have been not a little increased for want of medicines and hospital stores… We can attempt nothing further except in the partisan way…” His whole Virginia line’s enlistment would be up by December and he requested reinforcements. The army had received no pay or clothes for two years, subsisted without spirits and was continuously short of meat and bread, all which only added to his troops’ suffering. The British in the south, mainly Tories who were more involved in a civil war against the patriot militia, continued to sally out from the British strong points to attack and inflict damage and losses to American forces. Relief was on the way as some of the troops who were active in the British defeat at Yorktown were reassigned to Greene. But it would take over two months before they arrived.

Actions in 1782

By late fall, 1781, two thousand Continental troops weaved their way south to Greene. They included General Anthony Wayne who Redman’s company would be attached to. The march south was hard, however they arrived at Greene’s headquarters on January 4, 1782, having traveled 15 miles per day. While Greene remained in South Carolina within striking distance of Charleston, Wayne was sent into Georgia. His forces included 100 Dragoons under the command of Anthony Walton White who commanded Redman’s company. It was this action that Redman specifically mentioned in his pension application. They crossed the Savannah River on January 12^th and with 300 of Sumter’s mounted infantry, they were determined “to reinstate as far as might be possible the authority of the Union within the limits of Georgia.”

General Anthony Wayne in Georgia

Historian Christopher Ward describes Wayne’s actions succinctly in which Redman was actively involved. Wayne “suppressed Tory partisan bands, prevented Indian reinforcement of the garrison in Savannah, and invested that town so far as to cut off its supplies. Among his encounters with the enemy was one hot fight with a strong band of Creek Indians and a detachment of British soldiers that attacked his camp; he succeeded in routing them. He continued his work until July 11^th, when the British evacuated Savannah, and he took possession of the town. Then he returned and rejoined Greene in South Carolina.” The ‘hot fight’ to which Ward refers, and so too Redman’s pension statement, has been called the Battle of Ebenezer.

Battle of Ebenezer

The Upper Creek Chief Emistisigua [referred to as Chief Sago by Mr. Redman], was aliened with the British. On his way to Savannah, he avoided Greene’s camp outside the city, however he planned to strike Wayne’s pickets to let the Americans know they were not safe from his men.  Emistisiguo’s white loyalists and African American guides (former slaves) informed him that only a single sentry guarded the camp from attack. The Creek chief saw an opportunity to inflect damage on Wayne’s men and changed plans. On the night of June 23, 1782, Emistisiguo ordered a surprise attack on the sleeping Americans. The lone American was attacked, but prior to his death, he managed to get off a shot. It alerted Wayne’s camp, but by then, the attacking Native Americans had driven the patriots out of camp. Capt. Alexander Parker rallied the light infantry and ordered a bayonet charge. When Emistisigua tried to turn his artillery against the charging infantry, he was killed in a fierce hand-to-hand struggle. Upon that, the chief’s forces fled, making their way into Savannah. Total casualties were five American dead and seven wounded; British – eighteen killed and twelve wounded and twelve prisoners, including the capture of one hundred and twenty-seven Native American horses.

By August, 1782, the British commander Maj. General Alexander Leslie, who Greene had hemmed in in Charleston, requested that he be allowed to purchase needed supplies from the surrounding countryside. When that request was rejected, Leslie resumed hostile incursions to take provisions by force. Redman’s 1^st Continental troops (100 strong) were active in skirmishes against Leslie’s foraging parties. One such clash of arms occurred on August 23, 1782, resulted in the death of Colonel John Laurens, former aide to Washington, and rising star among American leaders.

There continued to be a number of hot skirmishes with the enemy right through the summer, fall, and into December of 1782, as Leslie’s sent out multiple foraging parties. Redman’s company of Light Dragoons were no doubt on constant patrol to counter the enemy’s incursions into the countryside. Historian Ward described the American army’s condition as being most miserable: “half naked, ill fed, sick with dysentery (which was often fatal), it barely survived as an army until the British fleet arrived on September 6 to carry away the Charleston garrison. Even then, it had to hang on for three months more before, on December 14, the embarkation of the enemy was accomplished. During these months the army endured sickness and malnutrition. John Redman’s commander, Lt. Vincent Howell died during this period – most probably with dysentery. We don’t have the exact date, except that he did so in camp in the Carolinas in 1782 as recorded in his brother Lewis’ Land Warrant Declaration of Service. Further proof that he had perished is provided by the one and only payroll document of January, 1783 that lists John Redman’s name, but not Lt. Vincent Lewis, who by then had died.

End of the War

Even after Cornwallis surrendered his army in October of 1781, King George III was still determined to carry on the war. However, the English public had enough. Parliament did not uphold his view and early in 1782, the Commons voted to authorize the King to make peace with America. Commissioners were appointed by both sides. On November 30, 1782, even while Redman’s company of Light Infantry were still battling foraging parties from Charleston, S. Carolina, the two sides signed provisional articles to conclude the war. It was not until September 3, 1783 when a definitive treaty acknowledged the independence of the United States and was signed. Therefore, throughout 1783 – the south continued to suffer a civil war between patriot and loyalist isolated groups – demanding the presence of Redman’s Company. It may be ascertained as the reason Mr. Redmond received his discharge in the Carolinas, and not in Westchester, Virginia where the 1^st Continental Army was officially decommissioned.

After the War

John Redman’s pension further stated, “…And the said John Redman declares that he is by occupation a Farmer but cannot on account of his age and infirmities perform much labour. And that he has no family except his wife who is also old and very infirm Hardy County Virginia…”  On August 9, 1838, his widow Sarah applied for a survivor’s pension stating that they had been married about fifty years previous and that her husband died on the 8^th of October, 1836. Richard Redman signed an affidavit stating that John Redman married Sarah about two years after the American Revolution. Mrs. Rachel Redman, wife of Richard Redman, made an affidavit stating Sarah’s maiden name was Sarah Day. In 1844, John’s widow, who was aged 80, received a military widow’s pension in Hardy County, Virginia. On May 26, 1849, their son Nimrod Redman, aged fifty one years, appeared in Hardy County, Virginia, stating that he was the son of John and Sarah and that his mother had died on Nov. 4, 1848.

A detailed list of all compiled tax and estate data, which includes family members and residents of the Redman household after the war, was created by Scott Fulkerson on Nov., 20, 2015 (last modified on Feb 17, 2019) and can be found by clicking John Redman – 1429   According to Mr. Fulkerson’s findings, he concluded that John and Sarah had nine children; all boys: Reuben (b1784), Moses (b1789), Isaac (b1796), Nimrod [Rod] (b1798), Robert (b1800), Sanford (b1804), Benjamin (b1805), Joel (b 1808), and Edmund (b1809). Also listed in tax records over the years are Lucy Redman, Fanny Redman, and Butrice (?) Redman; however, Fulkerson does not conclude that these were children of Sarah and John, (Lucy first listed in 1804 a being a weaver and is still present in 1813 tax records, listing spinner as her occupation).

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Also of similar interest on Revolutionary War Journal

African American Soldiers in the American Revolution – A Brief History

African American George Latchom in the American Revolutionary War. Courage and Incredible Strength Gains His Freedom.

Boyrereau Brinch – African American Continental Soldier’s Hand to Hand Combat and Daring Escape from British Dragoons

Battle of Red Bank, October 22, 1777. Incredible American Victory Against Overwhelming Odds.

Black Presence in the American Revolutionary Army was Much Larger than What We’ve Thought or Been Told

Austin Dabney. African American Artilleryman & Slave in the Revolutionary War. Georgia Honored Him for his “Bravery and Fortitude.” His Life – Fact & Fiction

First African American Regiment: Ethiopian Brigade in the American Revolution

RESOURCES

American Catholic Historical Researches. “General Count Casimir Pulaski: ‘The Father of the American Cavalry.” New Series, Vol. 6, No. 1 (JANUARY, 1910), pp. 1-128.

Battle of Guilford Courthouse prepared by the Daughters of the Am Revolution, March 2018.  Soldiers for whom there is evidence of participation in the battle.

Edgar, Walter. Partisans & Redcoats, The Southern Conflict that Turned the Tide of the American Revolution. 2001: Perennial, HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY.

Gates, Henry Lewis, Jjr.  “Native Sons of History.” New York Times, Aug. 6, 2006 

Gates, Henry Louis & Higginbotham, Evelyn Brooks. 2008: The African American National Biography. 2008: Oxford University Press, New York, NY.

General Orders December 27, 1777 relating to commission of Quartermaster Sergeant John Hughes in 1^st Continental Light Dragoons. 

Graves, Will.  “Bounty Land Warrant Information Relating to William Howell VAS1631, Lewis Howell, Vincent Howell.” Southern Campaign American Revolution Pension Statements & Rosters. Transcribed May 5, 2014.

Harris, Leon C. “Bounty Land Warrant of John Belfield BLWt254-400. Southern Campaign American Revolution Pension Statements & Rosters. Transcribed and annotated by C. Leon Harris. Revised Jne 30, 2014.

Harris, Leon C.  “Pension Application of John Redman W5691.pdf.”  Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution Pension Statements & Rosters.  Transcribed and annotated by C. Leon Harris, Sept. 2016.

Harris, Leon C.  “Pension Application of John Redman W5691.pdf.”  Enlistments, Muster Rolls, and Payrolls of Gen Pulaski’s Legion; March 1779 to November 1780.  Transcribed and annotated by C. Leon Harris.

Heinegg, Paul. “List of Free African Americans in the Revolution: Virginia, N. Carolina, S. Carolina, Maryland, and Delaware. 

Lamplugh, George R. “James Gunn: Georgia Federalist, 1789-1801. The Georgia Historical Quarterly Vol. 94, No. 3 (FALL 2010), pp. 313-341 (29 pages).

Lumpkin, Henry. From Savannah to Yorktown, The American Revolution in the South. 1987: toExcel Press, Lincoln, NE.

Maas, John R. The Road to Yorktown: Jefferson, Lafayette and the British Invasion of Virginia. 2015: Arcadia Publishing, Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina.

Massey, Gregory & Piecuch, Jim. General Nathanael Greene and the American Revolution in the South. 2012: University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, South Carolina.

Piecuch, Jim.  Calvary of the American Revolution. 2012: Westholme, Yardley, PA.

Royster, Charles. Light-horse Harry Lee and the Legacy of the American Revolution. 1981: Alfred A. Knoph, New York, NY.

Russel, David Lee. American Revolution in the American Colonies. 1943: McFarlane & Co., Jefferson, NC.

Schenawolf, Harry.  “American Light Dragoons and Partisan Corps in the Revolutionary War”. Revolutionary War Journal.   

 Selig, Robert A.  “The Revolution’s Black Soldiers.”  AmericanRevolution.org. 

Smith, Gordon Burns, History of the Georgia Militia, 1783-1861, Volume One, Campaigns and Generals, 2000: Boyd Publishing, Nashville, TN.

Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution. Vol. 5 No. 10 First Quarter 2008. “Lt. Col. ‘Light-horse Harry’ Lee – Wedded to My Sword.  

United States Army and Navy Journal and Gazette of the Regular and Volunteer Forces, Volume 4.  1866:  Publication Office, New York, NY.

Urwin, Gregory J. W.  The United States Cavalry: An Illustrated History, 1776 – 1944. 2003: University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK.

Virginia in the American Revolution. An Exhibition by the Society of Cincinnati. “Anthony Wayne’s Movements in the South.” Sept. 19, 2009 – March 6, 2010: Anderson House, Washington, DC.

Ward, Christopher. The War of the Revolution. 1941: Historical Society of Delaware, 2011: Skyhorse Publishing, New York, NY.

Wiki Tree:  John Redman.