Black History Month Part 3

Written by Geoff Butler

Today, we will visit the ‘Coloured Corps’ Marker on Queenston Heights, near Brock’s monument.

Early after the War of 1812 began, a sixty-eight-year-old gentleman named Richard Pierpoint put forth a proposal to the British High Command (General Brock): “proposed to raise a Corps of Men of Colour on the Niagara Frontier.” His offer met some resistance and was rejected. However, a tavern owner and former officer in the 1st Lincoln Regiment of Militia named Richard Runchey decided differently and raised a small black unit of men. Runchey did not have the best reputation and was known as a “black sheep in our regiment (Lincoln), and with whom the Officers, I believe would gladly part.” Pierpoint and many others offered their services and joined the militia unit of ‘Free Black Men.’ Pierpoint served as a private from September 1, 1812, until March 1815. This unit of soldiers became known as the ‘Coloured Corps.’

Richard Pierpoint, also known as ‘Captain Dick,’ was born in the Kingdom of Bundu in present-day Senegal around 1744. He was captured and enslaved at 16 and sent to the Thirteen British Colonies in 1760. Upon his arrival to North America, he was sold to a British officer named Pierpoint. Pierpoint offered his services to fight for the crown during the American Revolutionary War. He enlisted with Butler’s Rangers stationed at Fort Niagara. In 1791, he was honourably discharged from the Rangers, was granted 200 acres in Grantham Township (St. Catharines) and remained in the Niagara region. He soon became the leader of the ‘Black Loyalists’ in the area. Pierpoint fought for their ‘Rights’ to own the land and their ability to settle adjacent to one another (as a coloured community) to support each other against prejudices and work collectively in the clearing and caring of their lands. He sent a document, signed by 18 Black residents, called ‘The Petition of Free Negroes’ to Lieutenant-Governor John Simcoe in this regard on June 29, 1794. Pierpoint’s petition was rejected by the Council of Upper Canada on July 8, 1794. According to the record, Pierpoint either sold his land or abandoned it after that and worked as a labourer until the war was declared in 1812.

The ‘Coloured Corps’ consisted of approximately thirty to forty men, excluding officers and sergeants. The men trained and drilled at Fort George in the fall of 1812. White officers commanded the Corps, and although their leader, Runchey, was deemed an ‘undistinguished officer’ and “worthless, troublesome malcontent,” the Coloured Corps distinguished themselves in battle and fought bravely at Queenston Heights (bringing forth the American surrender) and the Siege of Fort George, suffering a number of casualties and wounded.

The Corps also supported British forces at the Battle of Stoney Creek. They were generally residents of the Niagara region and were courageous soldiers. Although they were classified as British subjects, that status might not protect them from American enslavement if they were captured.

In 1813, the ‘Coloured Corps’ joined the Royal Engineers as ‘artificers’, an elite unit branch. They assisted in the construction of Fort Mississauga, performed garrison duty and helped with the repairs of the fortifications at Fort George.

The Coloured Corps was reactivated during the Rebellions of 1837-38, where approximately 1,000 Black Canadians volunteered to fight on behalf of the British. The Corps was instrumental in ‘putting down’ the rebellion and continued to support and assist in patrolling the frontiers and helping the government until they were disbanded in 1850.

When the war ended in 1815, Pierpoint and his unit were honourably disbanded on March 24th, and he returned to being a labourer in the Grantham area. In January of 1820, Pierpoint received a land grant in recognition of his services of 100 acres near present-day Fergus, Ontario. In 1821, Richard Pierpoint requested permission to return to his homeland in Africa, saying, “above all things desirous to return to his native country.” He was denied his request, but continued working his land and fulfilling the settlement requirements. Richard Pierpoint died in late 1837, having “no heirs or relations.”

The ‘Coloured Corps’ was an exceptional unit of men who fought heroically on Canada’s behalf during the War of 1812. But, unfortunately, the Coloured Corps received little recognition. Yet, despite the inequities they encountered throughout their lives, they sacrificed themselves to preserve both their and our country’s freedom, and for this we owe them a great debt of gratitude.

‘Lest We Forget’