In addition to an individual’s age and whereabouts, the ads tell a great deal more about the character and physical appearance of runaways than we are accustomed to learning from most source records. While many of the physical descriptions found in the ads are generic, some stand out. One was Michael Toole with “fore teeth like a hog’s tusks.” Irishman Daniel Dunleavy had a scar on his face “and marked with gunpowder all over it, by firing a blast in his hands”. A Black slave named Joe “has a remarkable seam on one side of his head, occasioned by the cut of a hand-saw.” Advertisements by men whose spouses “eloped” from them are included. Francis Brumfield reported that wife Elizabeth “eloped from my bed and board without any provocation” and forbad anyone to deal with her. Adam Strickstroke’s wife, Otillow, eloped and “carried with her my Bed, Furniture and several other Articles.” Black slaves and Indians listed in these advertisements are listed by race as well as by surname, when one is given.

In preparing this latest volume in the series, Mr. Boyle consulted more than twenty late 18^th-century newspapers from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, as well as from Maryland. Indeed, some runaways made their escape from places beyond their base in Maryland. The roughly 1,000 ads found here name close to 4,000 persons.

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The runaway ads abstracted for this new volume are more diverse than have appeared in previous ones. For instance, multiple ads for slave and Native American runaways appear, and they are identified by race and surname (when available). The Pennsylvania Slave Act, passed on March 19, 1780, which was the first extensive abolition legislation in the western hemisphere, likely encouraged some African Americans to seek their freedom in Pennsylvania. The act stopped the importation of slaves into the state, required all slaves to be registered, and established that all children born in the state were free, regardless of race or parentage. Many of the newspaper ads provide distinctive physical features of the escapees, such as “a slow hobbling gait” or “his feet remarkably deformed,” or “both his arms are marked with the letters W. H.” As he has with previous books, Mr. Boyle has included ads placed by men whose spouses “eloped” from them for one reason or another.

Mr. Boyle’s transcriptions of the runaway ads, taken from twenty-eight different newspapers (including papers from Rhode Island to Virginia, as well as Pennsylvania), provide valuable demographic information, giving name, age, sex, height, place of origin, clothing, occupation, speech, physical imperfections, and sometimes personal vignettes. Individuals whose very existence would have been hidden from us in late 18^th-century newspapers.

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Each chapter in Victory or Death provides a summary of specific events that were key to the War’s outcome. At the conclusion of every chapter, the author reviews the decisions, for good or ill, that led to the result. For example, he shows that England’s pyrrhic victory at Bunker Hill both raised the morale and preserved the numbers of American combatants, while exposing the danger of British overconfidence.  Making good use of illustrations of the people and places of the American Revolution, Mr. Crowder focuses on these momentous choices made by leaders on both sides:

• Selection of George Washington as America’s Commander-in-Chief
• Britain’s frontal assault on Bunker [Breed’s] Hill
• America’s ill-fated siege of Quebec
• General Howe’s reluctance to finish off the Americans in New York
• Washington’s attack on Trenton
• Britain’s miscues at Saratoga
• Significance of Washington’s Spy Ring
• How decisions about African Americans affected the outcome
• Choices made at Valley Forge to preserve the American army
• The Battle of King’s Mountain
• Appointment of Nathaniel Greene as Commander of America’s Southern army
• Yorktown

Victory or Death concludes with the author’s endnotes, a bibliography, and a detailed index to persons and places. Clearfield Company is pleased to add it to its collection of Revolutionary War titles written by Jack Darrell Crowder.

About the Author: Jack Darrell Crowder is a retired teacher and administrator with forty plus years in the classroom. He holds B.A. and master’s degrees from Texas Christian University and has written twelve books on the American Revolution. He gives talks on the Revolutionary War to school classes, historical societies, and Daughters of the American Revolution chapters.

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Before 1800 Ireland was a separate kingdom but subject to the British king. The last king of Ireland was the Catholic King James II who encouraged the formation of Irish regiments. After James’ defeat at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 most of his forces, around 2,000 men, went to France, in what is known as the “Flight of the Wild Geese”, where they formed regiments in the French Army such as Montcashel’s, O’Brian’s, and Dillon’s. Irish soldiers fought in various campaigns in Europe and in Canada, and probably the Caribbean, until the French Revolution when they were disbanded.

The British Army did not enlist Irish Catholics during much of the 18th century as they were considered likely to be unreliable when opposing the forces of Catholic countries such as France and Spain, which contained many of their countrymen. Ireland was garrisoned mainly by British regiments, though new regiments were raised in Ireland, such as The Royal Regiment of Foot of Ireland and the Inniskilling Regiment.

Irish settlers in colonial America were recruited into local militias, such as the Virginia Regiment or the Montserrat Militia, which are identified in this book. During the American Revolution people of Irish origin could be found in both Loyalist and Patriot units, including the “Volunteers of Ireland”. The Loyalist Claims proved very useful in identifying Irish fighting men.

Between 1789 and 1815 Britain was at war with Napoleon’s France, necessitating an expansion of the British Army. In the aftermath of the Battle of Waterloo the British government settled substantial numbers of demobilised soldiers, including Irishmen, in Canada. From about 1780 onwards the British regiments enlisted at least one-third of their recruits in Ireland; this increased to about 40% by the early 19th century owing to demand from the British Army and the East India Company.

For additional information about Irish recruits that served in the Colonies, see “A Historical Record of the 27^th [Inniskilling] Regiment”, by W C Trimble, [1851];  Richard Cannon’s “Historical record of the 18^th [Royal Irish] Regiment of Foot”, [London 1848]; and Steven M Baule’s “Protecting the Empire’s Frontier, Officers of the 18^th [Royal Irish] Foot”, [Ohio, 2013]; as well as the journals of the Army Historical Research Society, and those of the “Irish Sword”.

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Soldiers deserted from all theaters of the Revolution, although roughly as many deserted during the first two years of the war as in the period after June 1777, as the Patriot army became more professionalized. When soldiers ran away, a designated officer placed an advertisement in the local newspaper describing the deserter in considerable detail and offering a reward for his capture. Each ad describes the deserter by physical features, his place of birth or last residence, occupation, company served in, date missing, and other characteristics.

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Mr. Boyle examined thirty newspapers, from New England to Maryland, including The Vermont Journal, The Boston Evening Post, The Boston Gazette, The Connecticut Courant, The Connecticut Journal, The Essex Gazette, The Massachusetts Spy, The New Hampshire Gazette, The Newport Mercury, Pennsylvania Ledger, The New York Journal, The Norwich Packet, and The Maryland Gazette.

Each ad gives a number of details about the runaway and his/her master, including names and aliases of the runaway, physical description, personality quirks if any, location in New England (including the future states of Vermont and Maine), and where to contact the advertiser. This book contains about 1,200 ads and names over 2,200 persons.

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Curiously, several ads seem to have been intended to let the runaways know how little the master thought of them as very low rewards were posted. In 1774, Jesse Kimball advertised for his apprentice, Nathan Estry, but offered only “One Shilling reward, but No Charges.” The next year David Robinson offered “three Spanish Potatoes Reward” for William Jenneis, a runaway boy. Hezekiah Stevens offered only “ONE PENNY Lawful Money REWARD” for his apprentice John Campbell. The printers of The Boston Evening Post offered but “ONE PENNY” for apprentice James Hogan, who had developed great proficiency in “Profaneness, Lying, and some ancient and modern Vices.”

This compilation lists all individuals mentioned in the ads. If an individual is listed with more than one name, all the names appear in the index. While many of the Negroes and some Indians are listed as slaves, many are not, so they may have been paid servants. In compiling the present work, Mr. Boyle examined over a score of newspapers from New England to Maryland, including The Boston News-Letter, The Boston Post-Boy, The Boston Gazette, The Connecticut Courant, The Connecticut Gazette, The Massachusetts Spy, The New Hampshire Gazette, The Pennsylvania Gazette, The New York Gazette, and The Maryland Gazette.

Each ad in this collection conveys a number of details about the runaway and his/her master, including names and aliases of the runaway, physical description, personality quirks if any, location in New England (including the future states of Vermont and Maine), and where to contact the advertiser. In all, this book contains about 1,200 ads and names over 2,200 persons with connections to colonial New England.

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“ANDERSON, ALEXANDER, born 1772, a labourer from Fortingall, with his wife Isobel born 1776, son John born 1798, daughter Ann born 1800, daughter Christian born 1802, and daughter Isabel born 1804, emigrated aboard the Clarendon of Hull bound for Prince Edward Island in August 1808. [NSARM] [TNA.CO226.23]”

The period covered in this volume was one of rapid change in Scottish society brought about by the agricultural revolution and Industrial revolution, The former led to the formation of larger farms causing the surplus rural population to drift to the rapidly expanding factory towns. For example, in Perthshire the land-loom weavers who produced textiles in their home were replaced by textile mills, in towns like Stanley. The population of the city of Perth grew by 19,000 between 1755 and 1821, while that of Blairgowrie increased almost tenfold in the same period. Genealogists possessing ancestors from this era are encouraged to consult the Statistical Report of Scotland (the O.S.A.) compiled between 1791 and 1799; and the New Statistical Report, researched between 1832 and 1845, to put their ancestors into historical context. Both sources are available on the website of the National Library of Scotland.

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Over 420 African Americans who were born free during the colonial period served in the American Revolution from Virginia. Another 400 who descended from free-born colonial families served from North Carolina, 40 from South Carolina, 60 from Maryland, and 17 from Delaware. At least 24 from Virginia and 41 from North Carolina died in the service. Over 75 free African Americans were in colonial militias and the French and Indian Wars in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Although some slaves fought to gain their freedom as substitutes for their masters, they were relatively few in number. By the same token, those who were not serving under their own free will are not included in this list. It was simply not their fight.

While the information on each of the free black veterans of the War for Independence varies, in most cases the author has provided the individual’s name, state and county, unit served in, military theater, some family information, often a physical description, pension applied for or received, sometimes other information, and the source. The case of Isaac Brown of Charles City County, Virginia, is illustrative of many of the descriptions found in the volume:

Isaac Brown was born in Charles City County and enlisted there in the Revolution for 1-1/2 years on 12 September 1780: complexion black, 5’2-1/2″ high, a farmer [Register & description of Noncommissioned officers & Privates, LVA accession no. 24296, by http://revwarapps.org/b69.pdf (p.45)]. He was taxable in Lower Westover Precinct of Charles City County in 1786 [PPTL, 1783-7], head of a Charles City County household of 10 “other free” in 1810 [VA:959] and 4 “free colored” in 1820 [VA:13]. He applied for a pension in Charles City County at the age of 69 on 19 May 1829, stating that he enlisted in Charles City County in the fall of the year 1780 and served in Captain Sanford’s Company in Colonel Campbell’s Regiment for 18 months. He was in the Battle of Guildford Courthouse, the Siege 14 of Ninety Six, and the Battle of Eutaw Springs. He owned 70 acres in Charles City County [NARA, S.39,214, M804, Roll 366, frame 240 of 893; http://fold3.com/image/11713004].

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Free African Americans of Maryland and Delaware is a work that will intrigue genealogists and historians alike. First and foremost, Mr. Heinegg has assembled genealogical evidence on more than 400 Maryland and Delaware black families (naming nearly 10,000 individuals), with copious documentation from the federal censuses of 1790-1810 and colonial sources consulted at the Maryland Hall of Records, county archives, and other repositories. In fact, the author has examined all extant court records for Maryland and Delaware for the period under investigation. No work that we know of brings together so much information on colonial African Americans, except Mr. Heinegg’s three-volume series volume on Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. This second edition of Free African Americans of Maryland and Delaware from the Colonial Period to About 1810 is nearly 60% larger than the original.

The author offers documentation proving that most of these free black families descended from mixed-race children who were themselves the progeny of white women and African American slaves or free blacks. In all, Heinegg proves that these families descended from 264 white women who had had 374 mixed-race children. He has also identified another 112 white women who bore 127 mixed-race children for whom no direct evidence of offspring could be found. While some of these families would claim Native American ancestry, Mr. Heinegg offers evidence to show that they were instead the direct descendants of mixed-race children.

Colonial Maryland laws relating to marriages between offspring of African American and white partners carried severe penalties. For example, one 18th-century statute threatened a white mother with seven years of servitude and promised to bind her mixed-race offspring until the age of thirty-one. Mr. Heinegg shows that, despite these harsh laws, several hundred child-bearing relationships in Delaware and Maryland took place over the colonial period, as evidenced directly from the public record. Maryland families, in particular, which comprise the preponderance of those studied, also had closer relationships with the surrounding slave population than did their counterparts in Delaware, Virginia, or the Carolinas. Mr. Heinegg recounts the circumstances under which a number of these freedmen were able to become landowners. Some Maryland families, however, including a number from Somerset County, chose to migrate to Delaware or Virginia, where the opportunities for land ownership were greater. For example, the freeman John Johnson, of Somerset County, patented 400 acres in Rehoboth Bay, Sussex County, Delaware in 1677. Other Maryland families who settled in Kent County, Delaware, included Butcher, Fountain, Gibbs, Grinnage, Lacount, Norman, Parsons, Plummer, Poulson, Proctor, Roach, Saunders, and Toogood.

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