17. The Black Pioneers
The Black Pioneers were not treated as a standard regiment. Instead, they were parceled out in small ad hoc units – typically companies of about 30 men each – that were attached to British armies. They served those armies by performing scouting, raiding, and military engineering missions. In their role as engineers, they were not a fighting unit, but they were often called upon to work under heavy fire, digging and shoring up entrenchments and fortifications.
In 1779, Clinton sailed to besiege Charleston, South Carolina, and took the Black Pioneers with him. They performed vital military engineering tasks that contributed to the city’s fall. The company then returned with Clinton to New York, where they remained until the end of the war. The Black Pioneers were one of the last provincial units remaining in New York, and accompanied the British when they evacuated the city in 1783.