lasses:'
and each class was required to furnish one or more men, as
the town's quota required, to answer a draught. Now, the
Assembly, at the same session at which the proposition for
enlisting slaves was rejected (May, 1777), passed an act
providing that any _two_ men belonging to this State, 'who
should procure an able-bodied soldier or recruit to enlist
into either of the Continental battalions to be raised from
this State,' should themselves be exempted from draught
during the continuance of such enlistment. Of recruits or
draughted men thus furnished, neither the selectmen nor
commanding officers questioned the _color_ or the civil
_status_: white and black, bond and free, if 'able-bodied,'
went on the roll together, accepted as the representatives
of their 'class,' or as substitutes for their employers. At
the next session (October, 1777), an act was passed which
gave more direct encouragement to the enlistment of slaves.
By this existing law, the master who emancipated a slave was
not released from the liability to provide for his support.
This law was now so amended, as to authorize the selectmen
of any town, on the application of the master,--after
'inquiry into the age, abilities, circumstances, and
character' of the servant or slave, and being satisfied
'that it was likely to be consistent with his real
advantage, and that it was probable that he would be able to
support himself,'--to grant liberty for his emancipation,
and to discharge the master 'from any charge or cost which
may be occasioned by maintaining or supporting the servant
or slave made free as aforesaid.' This enactment enabled the
selectmen to offer an additional inducement to enlistment
for making up the quota of the town. The slave (or servant
for term of years) might receive his freedom; the master
might secure exemption from draught, and a discharge from
future liabilities, to which he must otherwise have been
subjected. In point of fact, some hundreds of blacks--slaves
and freemen--were enlisted, from time to time, in the
regiments of the State troops and of the Connecticut line.
_How_ many, it is impossible to tell: for, from first to
last, the company or regimental rolls indicate _no
distinctions_ of color. The _name_ is the only guide, and,