Cornelis Titus fled enslavement when he was 22 and joined the British Army as part of the Ethiopian Regiment, an all-Black unit whose rallying cry was “Liberty to Slaves.” Poorly trained, the unit was slaughtered in its second battle. Titus, one of the unit’s few survivors, became known for his bravery. He started calling himself ‘Colonel Tye’ and went on to command the Black Brigade.
The Brigade was wade up of Black freedom seekers, Native Americans, and poor loyalist white men. It unleashed terrifying night raids throughout Monmouth County, ransacking the homes of militiamen while freeing the enslaved. In 1780, it raided the home of American officer Joshua Huddy, who resisted the attack with his mistress Lucretia Emmons. Emmons loaded muskets while Huddy ran from room to room, shooting at the Brigade. But when the Brigade set fire to the house, Huddy surrendered.
Sailing north on the Navesink River with Huddy as their captive, Tye and his men were intercepted by Patriot militia. In the firefight that ensued, Huddy took a bullet to the leg, threw himself overboard, and swam to safety. But Colonel Tye was not so lucky. Shot through the wrist, he died of tetanus a few days later.
After the war, the remnants of the Black Brigade joined up with 3,000 Black loyalists in New York City. Throughout 1783, many resettled in Nova Scotia but found life there difficult. Some even moved to the Sierra Leone colony in Africa—and became enslaved once more.
