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Captain Robert Reuben Runchey (1759 – bur. 17 July 1819) was a Canadian
tavern A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern t ...
owner who served as the first commander of Captain Runchey's Company of Coloured Men in
Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of th ...
(now
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
) during the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...
. Runchey was an
officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...
in the 1st Lincoln Militia when Major-General Sir Isaac Brock appointed him commander of the all-black Company. He served from the summer of 1812 when the Company was created until the fall of that same year.


Early life

Runchey was born in 1759 in Ireland and joined the British Army's
5th Regiment of Foot Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash that ...
while it was stationed there. In 1774, around the outbreak of the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
, the Regiment was sent to the American colonies where Runchey fought in battles such as Bunker Hill, Long Island, and
Brandywine Brandywine may refer to: Food and drink *Brandy, a spirit produced by distilling wine *Brandywine tomato, a variety of heirloom tomato Geographic locations Canada * Brandywine Falls Provincial Park, British Columbia * Brandywine Mountain, British ...
. His unit was then sent to Saint Lucia in 1778 and eventually traveled back to Ireland in 1780, where it remained until the end of the American Revolution in 1783. The Regiment was dispatched to
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
from 1787 to 1797 where Runchey and his wife, Eleanor/Eléonarde (née Bonnat), settled. Their son, Robert Reuben, Jr., is listed as being born on the "Atlantic" on 22 December 1787, and was christened in the
parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...
of
Saint-Charles-sur-Richelieu Saint-Charles-sur-Richelieu is a municipality in southwestern Quebec, Canada, on the Richelieu River The Richelieu River () is a river of Quebec, Canada, and a major right-bank tributary of the St. Lawrence River. It rises at Lake Champla ...
,
Province of Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen p ...
(later known as
Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...
after 1791, now Québec) the next day. Runchey and Eleanor had another son, George, in the Province of Quebec (to become known as Upper Canada after 1791) in 1789, and Runchey was discharged from the Regiment in 1797. The government of Upper Canada granted Runchey land in Louth Township, Lincoln County, Upper Canada, just over 1.5 kilometres east of
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
in 1791. There, Runchey opened and operated an
inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...
and tavern that became a local landmark, serving as a
coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...
stop since at least 1798. He and Eleanor had their youngest son, Thomas, in Upper Canada around this time.


War of 1812

At the beginning of the War of 1812, Runchey was serving as a
Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...
in the 2nd Flank Company of the 1st Regiment of the Lincoln Militia. George was a sergeant in the same unit and Robert, Jr. acted as a private in the Niagara Light Dragoons. Runchey was not looked upon favourably by his fellow officers; on 8 June 1811, Colonel Ralfe Clench of the 1st Lincoln Militia described Runchey as
a worthless, troublesome Malcontent, it is rumord that he intents Personally to wait on his Excellency the Lieutenant Governor, and to request his acceptance of his resignation. This I sincerely hope he may do, and that his Excellency may be pleased to accept of the same, as he is almost the only one I can term a Black Sheep in our Regiment, and with whom the Officers I believe would gladly part.
Runchey did not resign from the Lincoln Militia, however, and in August 1812 Major-General Sir Isaac Brock chose him to lead Captain Runchey's Company of Coloured Men.


Captain Runchey's Company of Coloured Men

Richard Pierpoint Richard Pierpoint (Bundu – Canada ), also known as Black Dick, Captain Dick, Captain Pierpoint, Pawpine, and Parepoint was a British soldier of Senegalese descent. Brought to America as a slave, he was granted freedom to fight on the side of t ...
was a former slave who had fought for the British during the American Revolution as part of the
Butler's Rangers Butler's Rangers (1777–1784) was a Loyalist provincial military unit of the American Revolutionary War, raised by American loyalist John Butler. Most members of the regiment were Loyalists from upstate New York and northeastern Pennsylvania. Th ...
. At the outbreak of the War of 1812, he petitioned Major-General Sir Isaac Brock's administration to form an all-black military unit on the Niagara Frontier. His proposal was initially rejected by the colonial government, seeing it as unneeded, but later agreed after 12 July 1812, when American Brigadier-General William Hull attempted to invade Canada across the
Detroit River The Detroit River flows west and south for from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively referred to as Detro ...
. Runchey was chosen to take command of the unit by the colonial government. The Company was formed within the Lincoln Militia, and Runchey's son, George, also detached from the 2nd Flank Company to serve as a lieutenant. The number of those in Runchey's Company varies by source and ranges from 27 to 50; men who wanted to join the Company met at Runchey's tavern. Runchey separated the black soldiers under his command from white militiamen, once court-martialling "a white soldier for fraternising with "his nigros 'sic''" on 15 September 1812. There are also cases of Runchey hiring out his men as servants for other officers. On one occasion, Runchey did not carry out his promise to give a militia surgeon a "black man" as a servant and received a formal complaint. Captain Runchey's Company of Coloured Men fought at Queenston Heights on 13 October 1812, though Runchey did not participate and Lieutenant James Cooper of the 2nd Lincoln Militia took command instead. There are no surviving records that show Runchey ever commanded his Company on the battlefield. Runchey resigned by 24 October 1812, though his son, George, remained with the unit. The Company went on to participate in battles such as Fort George and the
Siege of Fort Erie The siege of Fort Erie, also known as the Battle of Erie, from 4 August to 21 September 1814, was one of the last engagements of the War of 1812, between British and American forces. It took place during the Niagara campaign, and the Americans s ...
and, after the war ended, disbanded on 24 March 1815.


Later life

Runchey went back to running his tavern after his resignation from the Company. He died sometime before 17 July 1819, when he was buried in St. Andrew's Anglican Churchyard in
Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of L ...
, Upper Canada; the exact date of his death is unknown.


See also

* Canadian units of the War of 1812


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Runchey, Robert Canadian people of the War of 1812 British Army personnel of the War of 1812 British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War Royal Northumberland Fusiliers soldiers 1759 births 1819 deaths Canadian people of Irish descent Irish military personnel Burials in Ontario