African American Soldiers

African American Soldiers. Red Bank Battlefield. , In 1819, Prince Bent, “a man of collour,” signed a sworn affidavit that he served with Dick Potter (another “man of collour”) in Colonel Christopher Greene’s Rhode Island regiment and that the two had fought together at Red Bank. Bent, a former slave, had been born in Africa in 1760 and served with Potter, a freeman, throughout the Revolutionary War., The Rhode Island Regiment is frequently referred to as the “Black Regiment” because in 1778, Rhode Island officially authorized the recruitment of African American soldiers, but we know from muster records that as early as 1777, African Americans already served with Colonel Greene. These muster rolls reveal a fascinating group of men including former slaves, Native Americans, and freemen who fought together to defend the Delaware River. This diverse lot, including Dick Potter and Prince Bent, helped to inflict one of the heaviest losses on the Hessians in the Revolution., < Sidebar : > , Richard Potter did serve in the revolutionary war, against the common enemy. , “ . . . this indigent application . . . is now very meanly clad, so much so as to appear indecent and has no means of subsistence . . . . an early disposition of his case . . . will be the only remedy that can rescue him from Public or private Charity.”Pension application, 1822, of Richard [Dick] Potter, veteran of the Battle of Red Bank.