Colonel Tye

Titus Cornelius, also known as Titus, Tye, and famously as Colonel Tye ( – 1780), was a slave of African descent in the Province of New Jersey who escaped from his master and fought as a Black Loyalist during the American Revolutionary War; he was known for his leadership and fighting skills. He fought with a volunteer corps of escaped Virginia Colony slaves in the Ethiopian Regiment, and he led the Black Brigade associators. Tye died from tetanus from a musket wound in the wrist following a short siege in September 1780 against Captain Joshua Huddy. He was one of the most feared and effective guerrilla leaders opposing the American patriot forces in central New Jersey."Colonel Tye"
''Africans in America'', PBS

Early life and slavery

Titus Cornelius was born into slavery in Colt's Neck, Monmouth County, Province of New Jersey and originally owned by John Corlies, a Quaker. Corlies' farm was located along the Navesink River, near the town of Shrewsbury, and Titus was enslaved there in his early life. At the onset of the American Revolution, there were about 8,200 slaves in the Province of New Jersey, second only to the Province of New York among the northern American colonies, in both the number and percentage of African-Americans. Corlies, Titus's owner, held slaves despite his denomination's increasing opposition to slavery.

By the 1760s, it was Quaker practice to teach slaves how to read and write and to free them at age 21. Yet, Corlies gave his slaves "no learning nd wasnot inclined to give them any". Known to be hard on his slaves, Corlies severely whipped them for minor causes. Corlies also kept his slaves past the age of 21, and he was one of the last slaveholders in the region. In late 1775, a delegation from the Shrewsbury Meeting of the Society of Friends approached Corlies about his treatment of his slaves.

Later that year, Titus escaped from slavery and found exile with the British occupants of the colonies. A reward for his capture was put out by his master reading:

Nov. 8, 1775. he group of Quakers disapproved of Corlies' refusal to provide his slaves an education and his lack of adherence to the 1758 Quaker edict to end slavery. Corlies responded by saying that "he has not seen it his duty to give he slavestheir freedom". Titus learned on his own about property, wealth, commodities, and the political leanings of the families in the area. Later, in 1778, the Society of Friends revoked Corlies' membership because of his unyielding refusal to emancipate his slaves.

Prelude to Revolution

In November 1775, John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, the royal governor of Virginia, issued a proclamation offering freedom to all slaves and indentured servants who would leave American masters and join the British. Lord Dunmore's act successfully prompted conspiracy among slaves in the Atlantic region, as many African Americans left their rebel masters to join the British. The proclamation and the disruption of the war contributed to an estimated nearly 100,000 slaves escaping during the Revolution, some to join the British. Planters considered Dunmore's offer a "diabolical scheme"; it contributed to their support for the Patriot cause.

Titus Cornelius coincidentally escaped from Corlies' property the day after Dunmore's proclamation and he joined British forces. Titus observed the Quakers' unsuccessful attempts to persuade Corlies to free his slaves. Reaching his twenty-first birthday also inspired Titus to escape, as it marked the age when most Quakers freed their slaves. Carrying only a small amount of clothing "drawn up at one end with string", Titus left Corlies' property and walked toward Williamsburg, Virginia. Corlies placed advertisements in Pennsylvania newspapers, promising a reward of "three pounds of proclamation money" for capturing Titus.

American Revolutionary War

Ethiopian Regiment service

Assuming the adopted name of "Tye", Titus enlisted in the Ethiopian Regiment. Here is when he would also join and become the leader of the "Black Brigade". This group was a "mixed race" militia and had been consistent of both whites and blacks. The "Black Brigade" had a home base in a camp known as "Refugeetown" in Sandy Hook, NJ on the Atlantic coastline. In his first experience seeing action at the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778, Tye captured Captain Elisha Shepard of the Monmouth militia and brought him to his imprisonment at the Sugar House in British-occupied New York City. Fought near Freehold, New Jersey, the Battle of Monmouth proved to be indecisive militarily, but it introduced British and Patriot forces to Tye's great ability as a soldier.

Leadership of Black Brigade

Colonel Tye's knowledge of the topography of Monmouth County and his bold leadership soon made him a well-known and feared Loyalist guerrilla commander. The British paid him and his group, consisting of blacks and whites, to destabilize the region. Orchestrated by Royal Governor William Franklin, the Loyalist son of Benjamin Franklin, this plan was an act of retaliation, in response to the Patriot confiscation of Tory properties. When Monmouth Patriots began to hang captured Tories under the vigilante law that governed Monmouth County, Franklin and other British officials raided Patriot towns. On 15 July 1779, accompanied by a Tory named, John Moody and 50 African Americans, Tye executed a daring raid on Shrewsbury, New Jersey, during which they captured 80 cattle, 20 horses, and William Brindley and Elisha Cook, two well-known inhabitants. British officers paid Tye and his men five gold guineas for their successful raids. Tye and his fellow guerrilla fighters operated out of a forested base called Refugeetown in Sandy Hook. They often targeted wealthy, slaveholding Patriots during their assaults, which frequently took place at night. Tye led several successful raids during the summer of 1779, seizing food and fuel, taking prisoners, and freeing many slaves.

By the winter of 1779, Colonel Tye served with the "Black Brigade", a group of 24 black Loyalists. Tye's group worked in tandem with a white Loyalist unit, known as the "Queen's Rangers", to defend British-occupied New York City. Traveling undetected into the towns of Monmouth County, Tye and his men seized cattle, forage, and silverplate, and returned the resources to the weakened British forces. The Black Brigade also helped to usher escaping slaves to their freedom inside British lines, and later assisted their transportation to Nova Scotia for resettlement. They also raided patriot sympathizers in New Jersey, captured them, and brought them to the British in return for rewards. Due to their unjust treatment as slaves, the Black Brigade often aimed their raids at former masters and their friends. Because the members of the Black Brigade knew the homes of Patriots from their time as slaves, the Patriots feared the Black Brigade more than the regular British army.

Henry Muhlenberg, a German Lutheran pastor sent to the colonies as a missionary, commented on how formidable the Black Brigade was: "The worst is to be feared from the irregular troops whom the so-called Tories have assembled from various nationalities– for example, a regiment of Catholics, a regiment of Negroes, who are fitted for and inclined towards barbarities, are lack in human feeling and are familiar with every corner of the country." Reports that African Americans planned massacres of whites in Elizabeth and in Somerset County inflamed the local population's fear of Tye and his men. Led by David Forman, the brigadier general of the New Jersey militia, the Monmouth County Whigs organized the Association for Retaliation to protect themselves against Tye and other Loyalist raids. Panicked white Patriots pleaded with Governor William Livingston to send assistance. For example, David Forman wrote to Livingston detailing the extent of Tye's attacks. Livingston responded by invoking martial law. This was a catalyst that convinced more African Americans to flee to British-held New York. For example, 29 male and female African Americans left slave owners in Bergen County

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