African-American Contributions During the American Revolution

African-American Contributions During the American Revolution. . At least 5,000 African-Americans, both free and enslaved, served in the Continental Army, state troops, navies, and militias. A substantial number of these African-American patriots came from North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Some served as body servants and laborers, but the majority served as front line troops, including non-commissioned officers. African-American also served in the British army and navy. There was no segregation in the military during the Revolutionary War, and troops of European, African, and Native American ancestry served side-by-side and suffered the same hardships., An example of an African-American soldier from Mecklenburg County is Dempsey Reed, a "free Negro" who served as a substitute for a Mecklenburg resident named Nathaniel Harris. Reed was wounded in battle and received payments for his military service from the state of North Carolina in 1783., Another local African-American soldier was Ishmael Titus, a slave from Rowan County who served as a substitute for his master, Lawrence Ross. Titus fought in the battles of Kings Mountain, Guilford Courthouse, and Deep River. He was granted his freedom after the war and died at the age of 110 in Massachusetts., (caption) Ishmael Titus by Thomas Kelly Pauley, Martin and Stormy Mongiello of the American Revolutionary War Living History Center (ARWLHC) at the inn of the Patriots and Presidential Service Center, sponsored the image of Ishmael Titus as painted by Thomas Kelly Pauley. Michael Scoggins, research director of the Southern Revolutionary War Institute and Jim Williams of the Mecklenburg Historical Association performed the research for this plaque.