Negro in War of 1812

Were Black men drafted for service in the War of 1812?

Jim Elbrecht...

and Cheryl said;

"Fran"

singhals...

I wouldn't want to swear *anyone* was drafted for 1812.

Jim Elbrecht...

I can swear that they were-- at least in NY. There was no Federal
Draft-- but states were required to provide a certain number of men,
and they drafted to do so. My 25yr old ancestor [a farmer with 5
young kids] was drafted for 90 days in 1814.

If the question is, did black men serve, then yes. Both free blacks
and slaves.

Cheryl

singhals

Fran...

Cheryl, my question is as previously written "were Black men
drafted"? From your reply, it may be there was no draft during the
War of 1812?

Thanks for the reply.

Fran

"Fran"

Jim Elbrecht...

"Lesley Robertson" asked :

Lesley Robertson...

I stress that this is a purely idle question (I have no genealogical
links to the USA, although I do have slaves from other areas in my
ancestry), but if somone was a slave, wouldn't they have to be
drafted to be able to serve in the army? Presumably they couldn't
just inform their owner that they were off to join up? Or was the
army actually buying slaves? Lesley Robertson

Jim Elbrecht...

[noting that the OP said 'Black man' - and we're just expanding on the
thought, here]

*If* someone bought slaves to serve, it wouldn't have been the US
Army. It *could* have been states or towns. The Feds required a
certain number of troops from the states, and the states would
sometimes divide that number up amongst counties or towns. I'm
pretty sure I read of towns buying slaves during the Revolution to
make their quotas.

But it is more likely, that if a slave served he did so at his
master's bidding. Either as an act of patriotism by the master, or
as a substitute for someone. Or he could be a runaway- recruiters
were paid bonuses, so many were happy to sign someone up under
questionable circumstances.

An interesting aside-- according to this page;
It was 1815 when the government forbade blacks from serving in the
Army, Marines and militias. [I think it was 1952 before the Army
was integrated again.]

"Lesley Robertson"

Lisa Lepore...

Hi Lesley -

Not all blacks in the US were slaves. There were free black men in
the North, and many served in black units during the Revolutionary
war. As I understand, there was no federal draft for the war of
1812, but some states had a draft; NY being one of them. So yes,
there were blacks who served voluntarily in the war in 1812, but I'd
have to look around to see if any states actually included blacks in
their draft.

Lisa

"Lisa Lepore"

Steve W. Jackson...

I don't know who was drafted, but black men have fought in every
single conflict in American history. There were even black soldiers
fighting on *both* sides in the Civil War.