About This Book

An Intimate Exploration of the Black Military Experience in Revolutionary Times

William and Benjamin Frank joined the Second Rhode Island Regiment in the spring of 1777, following the tradition of military service established by their father, a veteran of the French and Indian War. The brothers became part of a cohort of free Black soldiers serving in an integrated Continental Army. The Second Rhode Island saw action along the Delaware River in the defense of Fort Mercer and the battle of Red Bank, before falling back with the rest of the army to Valley Forge. Following the brutal winter of 1777–1778 and the pivotal Battle of Monmouth, New Jersey, in June 1778, veteran soldiers of color from the Second Rhode Island, including the Frank brothers, were transferred to the newly segregated First Rhode Island Regiment. This unit was composed of Black and Native American soldiers, including enslaved men who were promised their freedom in exchange for service. Allowing formerly enslaved men to serve was reluctantly authorized by George Washington to address manpower shortages, but in exchange, he introduced segregation into the army. The “Black Regiment,” as it became known returned to its home state, where it fought with distinction at the Battle of Rhode Island in August. While encamped near Providence in February 1780, Ben Frank deserted and ended up in British service. His brother William remained with his unit and served during the American victory at Yorktown, Virginia, where the Black Regiment once again demonstrated its effectiveness. William was honorably discharged and returned to Rhode Island, while Ben eventually relocated to Nova Scotia with other loyalists.

In Revolutionary Blacks: Discovering the Frank Brothers, Freeborn Men of Color, Soldiers of Independence historian Shirley L. Green takes the reader on a journey based on her family’s history, rooted in its oral tradition. Putting together the pieces of this puzzle through archival research, interviews, and DNA evidence, the author authenticates and expands the family’s oral history. In addition to providing context and substance to the Black experience during the war years, the author underscores the significant distinction between free Blacks in military service and those who had been enslaved, and how they responded in different ways to the harsh realities of racism. An original and important contribution to American history, Revolutionary Blacks presents a complex account of Black life during the Revolutionary Era and demonstrates that free men of color shared with white soldiers the desire to improve their condition in life and to maintain their families safely in postcolonial North America.

Shirley L. Green received her Ph.D. in history from Bowling Green State University after a twenty-six year career in law enforcement. She is an adjunct professor of history at the University of Toledo and Bowling Green State University. She is currently the Director of the Toledo Police Museum in Toledo, Ohio.

Praise for Revolutionary Blacks:

“Revolutionary Blacks provides a 14-page index, a 28-page bibliography, and 48 pages of notes that reflect the incredible research Dr. Green undertook to produce this narrative. As someone with Patriot ancestors, my family’s oral histories differ considerably from Professor Green’s, so it is refreshing to compare viewpoints of this transformational event. While both genealogists and historians recognize the roadblocks and blind alleys that the lack of definitive records creates for African Americans in researching their own family history, the same is true for many others with different heritages. Dr. Green is as much a detective as a historian assembling centuries-old clues from archival research, family interviews, and DNA evidence; and validating, reinterpreting, or expanding her great-grandfather’s family oral history. She lets the evidence stand on its own. It is also a wonderful family story where one can see the shared desires of Black and White, Loyalist and Patriot men to improve family circumstances and safety in the new United States and in loyalist Nova Scotia. Revolutionary Blacks should inspire those who seek to discover their own family stories whether their ancestors called America home for thousands of years, were transported on a colonial-era ship, came through Ellis Island on a tramp steamer, or simply walked across a porous border. It certainly underscores the importance of oral history and passing on family stories whether factual or fanciful.”—James Stacy, Journal of America’s Military Past

“Shirley Green’s Revolutionary Blacks delivers a movingly written, well-researched tale of two free Black Continental soldiers, their surprising split, and their family legacy that echoes even now. Green weaves together oral history, deep archival dives, and more to reconstruct the Frank brothers’ striving to be men in a society wiling to claim them as soldiers, but reluctant to include them as citizens. Revolutionary Blacks is more than the Frank family story: this is a great American story, as told by a gifted historian.”—Andrew M. Schocket, author of Fighting over the Founders: How We Remember the American Revolution

“This book introduces us to a great American story that we badly need to hear. Through William and Ben Frank, we gain an entirely new perspective on the Revolutionary Era—that of freeborn Black soldiers whose military service sprang from family tradition rather than resistance to slavery. With painstaking care, Green has reconstructed the brothers’ lives and traced their family lines. Weaving together evidence from archival research, oral history, and genealogical investigation, she has crafted a wonderfully satisfying narrative.”—Ruth Wallis Herndon, author of Unwelcome Americans: Living on the Margin in Early New England