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Murray, John (Lord Dunmore)
(b. 1730/2; d. 25 February 1809),
the last royal governor of Virginia. John Murray, the fourth Earl of Dunmore, who was renowned for offering freedom to slaves willing to serve in the British forces during the American Revolution, was born in Perthshire, Scotland. After a brief military career during the Seven Years' War, he entered politics. In 1770 he was appointed governor of the colony of New York. Despite achieving some successes there, Dunmore moved to Virginia in 1771 to pursue greater economic opportunities. Dunmore's charm and skill at claiming western lands for Virginians made him personally popular with the colonists and blinded him to rising political tensions. He firmly believed that most Virginians were loyal to the Crown and that troublemakers could be easily contained. In April 1775 Dunmore seized powder from the public magazine at Williamsburg, Virginia, and threatened to raise a slave army against anyone who challenged his right to do so. At that point he began to be reviled; he would soon become one of the most hated men in America. After defeating the colonial militia at Kemp's Landing, Virginia, on 14 November 1775, Dunmore used the victory to announce a plan long contemplated by the British. Without official permission he declared Virginia to be in rebellion and called on all Virginians, including slaves, to rally to the King's aid. He promised freedom to any slave who joined him. The proclamation was designed to encourage the defection of useful slaves without instigating a general slave insurrection. Deprived of their workers, rebellious planters would be forced to return to their homes to protect their families and property. About five hundred blacks joined Dunmore within two weeks of his call. Most of the slaves who deserted to the British came as individuals or in small groups; on only a few occasions did the entire workforce of a plantation escape together. The men, used chiefly in a military force known as Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment, wore uniforms with “Liberty to Slaves” emblazoned across the chest. However, most of the slaves who joined Dunmore's camp fell to such diseases as smallpox, and Dunmore's regiment remained small. The threat of punishment and the difficulty of reaching British ships from inland discouraged many blacks from joining Dunmore. It is estimated that not more than eight hundred slaves succeeded in reaching the British lines, with perhaps one hundred accompanying their Loyalist masters. Additionally, fear of united action by slaves so badly frightened uncommitted slave owners that they chose to join the Revolution. In 1776 a series of military defeats prompted the British to abandon Virginia; in early August they set sail for New York with about three hundred of the healthiest former slaves. Other British commanders would copy Dunmore and offer freedom to slaves deserting their rebel masters. It is estimated that this policy brought thousands of slaves to the British lines; but the British never permitted black regular troops. After falling out of political favor, Dunmore died in retirement in Britain in February 1809. Many of the surviving men of the Ethiopian Regiment immigrated as freepersons to Nova Scotia, in Canada, and England. See also American Revolution; Black Loyalists; Fugitive Slaves; Military; and Seven Years' War.
Bibliography
- Berkely, Francis L. Dunmore's Proclamation of Emancipation. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1941.
- Foner, Philip S. Blacks in the American Revolution. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1976.
- Quarles, Benjamin. The Negro in the American Revolution. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1961.
- Selby, John E. Dunmore. Williamsburg: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 1977.
