Since I have been writing a lot about the Black Experience in the United States in many of my other blogs lately in honor of Black History Month, I'll will be exploring one of their roles in the War of 1812.
From the Canadian Encyclopedia.
The Coloured Corps (also known as Runchley's Company of Colored Men, or Black Corps) was a militia company of black men raised during the War of 1812.
Created in Upper Canada, where enslavement had been limited in 1793, the corps consisted of free and enslaved black men. Many of them were veterans of the American Revolution, in which they fought for the British and were called Black Loyalists.
The Coloured Corps (British/Canadian spelling) fought in the Battle of Queenstown Heights and the Battle of Fort George before it was attached to the Royal Engineers as a construction company.
In later years, it was reactivated during the Rebellions of 1837-38 and also served as a police force during the construction of the Welland Canal.
--Brock-Perry
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