Books: “The Slaves’ Gamble”
May 9, 2013
GEORGE ROBERTS
Perhaps I just wasn’t paying attention, but my impression is that the War of 1812 didn’t get much air time when I was in elementary and high school. Where American history was concerned, as I recall, it was all about the Revolution and the Civil War. It took me a while to catch up; it was relatively recently that I caught on that the War of 1812 was, in effect, a continuation of the Revolution.
Among the things I didn’t know about the war was that black men, free and slave, fought on both the American and British sides and also on behalf of the Spanish authorities who were futilely trying to hang onto the Florida territories. Gene Allen Smith, a history professor at Texas Christian University, covers that in detail in his book The Slaves’ Gamble: Choosing Sides in the War of 1812.
An important aspect of this story is that the British, strapped for resources because their government was fighting what turned out to be the decisive war with Napoleon Bonaparte in Europe, encouraged American slaves to bolt from their masters and either emigrate to a British possession — notably Nova Scotia — or enlist in military service. Either way, the British promised the slaves their freedom.
Drum used by black drummer Jordan B. Noble at the Battle of New Orleans.
Besides filling their ranks, the British saw this strategy as a means of undermining the Southern economy. The number of slaves who took advantage of the opportunity was slight compared to the million-plus who were in bondage at that time, but the fact that the British were welcoming slaves sent shock waves through the South, where white people always feared a slave rebellion.
Although this is a story about a war fought on many fronts over three years, Smith puts a human face on it by providing anecotes about particular black men who played a part in the epoch.
One example was George Roberts, a free Marylander who served during the war on numerous American privateers — private vessels that harassed and even seized British shipping on the U.S. government’s behalf. Another was Jordan B. Noble, who was born a mixed-race slave in 1800 and joined the 7th U.S. Regiment as a drummer in 1813. He served in the Battle of New Orleans and later took part in the Mexican, Seminole, and Civil wars.
ANDREW JACKSON
A sad if not surprising episode in this history concerned Andrew Jackson, who recruited slaves to help in protecting New Orleans from a British attack. Jackson promised to free the slaves in return for their service, but, Smith writes, never intended to do so. Jackson, according to the author, “committed them to his cause rather than permitting them to assist the British, and this tied them to the United States.”
Allen explains that, once the war was over, the impact of the British strategy had the unintended effect of strengthening the plantation system in the South and opening new territory — namely, what had been the Spanish Floridas—to slavery. In general, the competence and bravery black soldiers and sailors contributed to the American cause during the War of 1812 was not adequately rewarded. On the contrary, some of the worst experiences for black people in the United States were yet to come.
May 9, 2013 at 2:48 am
So interesting – my first real foray into American history (apart from George Washington, Pilgrims and the drafting of the Constitution) was the War of 1812. Johnny Horton’s version of Jimmie Driftwood’s “The Battle of New Orleans” was my starting point for a class project. Until the vinyl got tossed, I still had my recording of Driftwood singing it.
The song tends toward hagiography, of course, which makes it a little startling to read about Jackson’s duplicity (or strategy, I suppose, depending on where you come down on such things). It’s what makes history so interesting and so resistant to final interpretations – there’s always something more to learn.
I can’t help wondering if the British were any better at keeping their promises to the Blacks they had recruited. I’ll have to read the book to find out!
Speaking of unintended effects, I’ve always remembered that before the Enterprise was a starship, she was a steamboat sent to aid the Americans at the Battle of New Orleans. Her return trip up the Mississippi, Ohio and Monongohela rivers was important for the development of river trading.
May 21, 2013 at 12:20 am
Yep, the British freed the refugees although they and their descendents never prospered financially. At least they were free!
May 9, 2013 at 1:19 pm
I still have a vinyl Johnny Horton album. As I recall the lyrics,the British “ran so fast that the hounds couldn’t catch ’em. right down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.” According to Smith’s account, it wasn’t quite as dramatic as all that. The battle just sort of petered out. On the other issue, Smith writes that the British did live up to their commitments, but the former slaves didn’t always wind up in ideal circumstances. For example, some of them who were used to the environment in the American South, found subsistence farming in Halifax to be rather harsh. Also, the British military policy didn’t take into account how the civil authorities in Canada, Bermuda, and the West Indies were supposed to deal with a sudden influx of more or less destitute immigrants.