"In June 1781, the French and American armies joined forces at White Plains. Baron Closen, a German officer in the French Royal Deux-Ponts, estimated the American army to be about one fourth black, about 1,200 --1,500 men out of less than 6,000 Continentals! On the eve of its decisive victory over Lord Cornwallis, the Continental Army had reached a degree of integration it would not achieve again for another 200 years. Among the troops at White Plains was the Rhode Island Regiment, the two battalions had been consolidated on 1 January 1781, with its high percentage of African-Americans, which Closen considered the best American unit: 'the most neatly dressed, the best under arms, and the most precise in its maneuvres'."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Robert A. Selig, "The Revolution's Black Soldiers", American Revolution.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/American_Revolution
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
American Revolution
143 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by American Revolution →
Related Quotes
"Neither my father or mother, grandfather or grandmother, great grandfather or great grandmother, nor any other relati…"
"But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American war? The Revolution was effected before the w…"
"They are escaped convicts. His Majesty is fortunate to be rid of such rabble. Their true God is power."
"Not only do I pray for it, on the score of human dignity, but I can clearly forsee that nothing but the rooting out o…"
"A few more such victories would have shortly put an end to British dominion in America."
"For if our Trade may be taxed, why not our Lands? Why not the Produce of our Lands & everything we possess or make us…"
"Let us see delineated before us the true map of man. Let us hear the dignity of his nature, and the noble rank he hol…"
"As to the history of the revolution, my ideas may be peculiar, perhaps singular. What do we mean by the revolution? T…"
"Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all! By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall."
"Such a scene of sorrow and weeping I had never before witnessed.... We were then about to part form the man who had c…"