Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation

Impact

The impact of Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation was instantaneous and far reaching. Almost immediately, area newspapers reprinted the entire proclamation, both as information and as a warning. Restrictions on slave meetings were tightened, patrols doubled, and roads carefully watched. Anyone owning a small boat was warned to be particularly alert to the possibility of theft by runaways. Maryland also ordered a stricter alert for military forces to watch for runaways in Saint Mary’s County. Many colonials—Patriot and Loyalist alike—feared a major slave rebellion because of the proclamation. The growing distrust between slaves and masters was made worse.

Rumors began to spread that slaves were “stampeding” to the British lines. That there were actually enough slaves running to join the British to constitute a “stampede” is doubtful. However, because British propaganda promised good treatment from the governor—and, of course, freedom from slavery—about two hundred men joined the British within a few days, and within a week of the proclamation’s publication, there were about three hundred. Within the month, approximately eight hundred had enlisted. Undoubtedly there were many more who attempted to run away but did not succeed. The number of recruits might have been higher had the governor not been in exile aboard the William at the time.

The African Americans who reached the British lines were usually in good health and capable of being put to a great many uses. Indeed, Dunmore did put them to diverse service. Mainly, he envisioned them as soldiers. By December 1, 1775, approximately three hundred of his black troops were given military garb with the inscription “Liberty to Slaves” upon it. These troops were called Lord Dunmore’s Ethiopian Regiment.

Dunmore also used his African American troops in maritime service, often as pilots, since they knew the area better than the British. They were also used for foraging and messenger service on land. Being on the ground in Virginia was more dangerous at this time for British soldiers than it was even for runaway slaves. Dunmore was accused, too, of using the African American troops for biological warfare, by inoculating a few with smallpox and sending them onto land to infect the rebels. This was most likely propaganda rather than truth, but it made the rebels angry all the same. This propaganda also held a shred of truth, since many African American troops were indeed infected with smallpox. The cramped space on the ships where they were based and the lack of proper clothing made for horrible conditions, and the majority of the black men who fled to Dunmore ultimately died of disease.

The Patriots did their best to prevent slaves from running to enemy lines. The newspapers, besides printing Lord Dunmore’s proclamation in its entirety, also engaged in a type of psychological warfare. They published letters urging slaves not to join Dunmore, including several printed in the Virginia Gazette, pointing out that Dunmore was cruel to his own slaves and that the British were much harsher masters all around. If the Patriots lost, these black troops would be sold to the West Indies by the British. The Gazette also pointed out that Dunmore would free only those slaves who could bear arms, leaving women, children, the aged, and the infirm still in bondage and subject to the wrath of their masters. The slaves’ best bet was to place their hopes not on the British but “on a better condition in the next world,” according to one letter.

On December 2, 1775, the Continental Congress in Philadelphia responded to the proclamation by ordering ships to capture or destroy the governor’s fleet. Two days later, the Congress also told the Virginia Convention that they should do everything they could to oppose Dunmore. On December 8, the Virginia Convention met to appoint a committee to prepare an answer to the proclamation. Five days later, the committee reported back and was authorized to draw up a declaration stating that runaways to the British would be pardoned if they put down their arms and returned within ten days. If they did not, then they would be punished. This Virginia Declaration also reminded the runaways that the usual punishment for slave insurrection was death without the benefit of clergy. The Declaration was published as a broadside in order to reach the widest audience possible.

Despite this warning, the death penalty was in fact used sparingly. In general, slaves caught running to Dunmore were simply returned to their masters. Those captured “in arms” were sold to the West Indies, and the money from the sale, minus expenses, was given to the slaves’ masters. Slaves of British sympathizers who were caught were sent to work in the lead mines.

The only real military action seen by those African Americans joining Dunmore after the proclamation was the Battle at Great Bridge on the Elizabeth River on December 9, 1775. Because of the victory at Kemp’s Landing the month before and the fresh influx of black troops, Dunmore became overconfident and took the offensive at Great Bridge. His defeat was decisive, with at least one hundred casualties, half of them African American troops. After this failure, Dunmore was forced to operate exclusively from shipboard and never regained a foothold on the Virginia mainland.

As noted, many of the African Americans who ran away to join Dunmore died from disease. Otherwise, he might have had as many as two thousand African American troops. In the event, smallpox and harassment by the Virginia and Maryland militias forced Dunmore to move his fleet northward in May 1776. By June, fewer than one hundred and fifty African American soldiers were fit for duty. On August 6 Dunmore ordered his fleet to be broken apart (some dispersed and others destroyed), and the ablest of the African Americans were sent north for further military service with the British.

Had things gone better for Dunmore, his plan might have succeeded. However, one consequence of the proclamation would have been unavoidable. The proclamation helped secure to the Patriots those white colonists who had previously been moderate or undecided about the British. Many of them saw this proclamation as the last straw: It was an attack on private property and on their way of life and their peace, since it threatened to create a slave insurrection. These things reminded moderates that their ideals were the same as those of the more radical Patriots and that these ideals were worth fighting for.