This Sunday, March 1, the Saratoga National Historical Park is hosting an encore presentation of its program, "Men of African descent who served in Saratoga in 1777," in an effort to bring to light the great contributions made by African American men during the Battle of Saratoga, thus far largely undocumented.
"A study has never been done," Park Ranger Eric Schnitzer said, who
will be giving the presentation beginning at 1:30 p.m. free of charge
and open to all.
The program, as described by Schnitzer, is a PowerPoint presentation split up into three parts, focusing on the British, German and American forces and the African American men who fought with them during the Battle of Saratoga.
"Each of those three sections," Schnitzer said, "I start with generalities, and then I go into the specific information and biographies of what we know of some of these guys."
From the historical data Schnitzer has on hand (original pay lists, muster roles, memoirs and journals), he knows of two men of African descent working with the British forces, and estimates anywhere from 400 to 500 members in the American Army. The exact German figure is unknown.
"With the British Army specifically, there were two. That's it, just two, and they were both drummers. With the German forces we know for certain that they had men of African descent, and they too were also musicians," Schnitzer said.
For the American Forces, however, African American men were active members on the battlefield, a mixture of freed and enslaved men who took up arms.
"A study has been done on those men of African descent who served at the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775, and we actually find many of those who served there served at the Battle of Saratoga as well. About 50 percent of those men were enslaved men, and about 50 percent of them were free men. Theoretically, the ratio in 1777 should be no different," Schnitzer said.
After the war had ended, a resolution passed by Congress in 1779 decreed that any enslaved man serving with the Continental Army, upon the termination of their service, would be a freed man. And while a majority of men of African descent were freed, Schnitzer indicated that a large portion of them were not.
"Unlike today where you have a very rigid system of laws and enforcement as well as a very strong central government, that was not the case in the 18th century. And what about those enslaved men who served before 1779? Congress didn't grandfather the law, so if you're an enslaved man and you served in 1775, you weren't covered," Schnitzer said.
Schnitzer explained that presentations such as his are rare, that by and large the necessary studies have yet to be conducted.
"Unfortunately, social historians know very little about the military documentation, and of course it's vice versa. So [the presentation] is kind of an example of a marrying of military history with social history. And when you marry them together, you get much more powerful results."
The encore presentation will be held this Sunday at the Saratoga National Historical Park located between Rt. 4 and Rt. 32 in the Town of Stillwater, beginning at 1:30 p.m.
"The reason why we're doing an encore presentation is because last Sunday there was a pretty bad snowstorm. Because of that we got a lot of calls from people saying they wanted to make it, but were afraid to travel. So we've scheduled another presentation to make up for it," Schnitzer said.
No preregistration is required and admission is free. For more information, please call the Saratoga National Historical Park at (518) 664-9821, ext. 224, or check online at www.nps.gov/sara.
The program, as described by Schnitzer, is a PowerPoint presentation split up into three parts, focusing on the British, German and American forces and the African American men who fought with them during the Battle of Saratoga.
"Each of those three sections," Schnitzer said, "I start with generalities, and then I go into the specific information and biographies of what we know of some of these guys."
From the historical data Schnitzer has on hand (original pay lists, muster roles, memoirs and journals), he knows of two men of African descent working with the British forces, and estimates anywhere from 400 to 500 members in the American Army. The exact German figure is unknown.
"With the British Army specifically, there were two. That's it, just two, and they were both drummers. With the German forces we know for certain that they had men of African descent, and they too were also musicians," Schnitzer said.
For the American Forces, however, African American men were active members on the battlefield, a mixture of freed and enslaved men who took up arms.
"A study has been done on those men of African descent who served at the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775, and we actually find many of those who served there served at the Battle of Saratoga as well. About 50 percent of those men were enslaved men, and about 50 percent of them were free men. Theoretically, the ratio in 1777 should be no different," Schnitzer said.
After the war had ended, a resolution passed by Congress in 1779 decreed that any enslaved man serving with the Continental Army, upon the termination of their service, would be a freed man. And while a majority of men of African descent were freed, Schnitzer indicated that a large portion of them were not.
"Unlike today where you have a very rigid system of laws and enforcement as well as a very strong central government, that was not the case in the 18th century. And what about those enslaved men who served before 1779? Congress didn't grandfather the law, so if you're an enslaved man and you served in 1775, you weren't covered," Schnitzer said.
Schnitzer explained that presentations such as his are rare, that by and large the necessary studies have yet to be conducted.
"Unfortunately, social historians know very little about the military documentation, and of course it's vice versa. So [the presentation] is kind of an example of a marrying of military history with social history. And when you marry them together, you get much more powerful results."
The encore presentation will be held this Sunday at the Saratoga National Historical Park located between Rt. 4 and Rt. 32 in the Town of Stillwater, beginning at 1:30 p.m.
"The reason why we're doing an encore presentation is because last Sunday there was a pretty bad snowstorm. Because of that we got a lot of calls from people saying they wanted to make it, but were afraid to travel. So we've scheduled another presentation to make up for it," Schnitzer said.
No preregistration is required and admission is free. For more information, please call the Saratoga National Historical Park at (518) 664-9821, ext. 224, or check online at www.nps.gov/sara.
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