"There
was," said the venerable speaker, "a regiment of blacks in the same
situation,--a regiment of negroes fighting for our liberty and
independence, not a white man among them but the officers,--in the same
dangerous and responsible position. Had they been unfaithful or given
way before the enemy, all would have been lost. Three times in
succession were they attacked with most desperate fury by well-
disciplined and veteran troops; and three times did they successfully
repel the assault, and thus preserve an army. They fought thus through
the war. They were brave and hardy troops."
In the debate in the New York Convention of 1821 for amending the
Constitution of the State, on the question of extending the right of
suffrage to the blacks, Dr. Clarke, the delegate from Delaware County,
and other members, made honorable mention of the services of the colored
troops in the Revolutionary army.
The late James Forten, of Philadelphia, well known as a colored man of
wealth, intelligence, and philanthropy, enlisted in the American navy
under Captain Decatur, of the Royal Louis, was taken prisoner during his
second cruise, and, with nineteen other colored men, confined on board
the horrible Jersey prison-ship; All the vessels in the American service
at that period were partly manned by blacks.
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