Alicia Cohen, speaking as a member of the Black History Committee of the Friends of Thomas Balch Library, and the LoudounVA250 Committee, presented two programs on Black Patriots and Black Loyalists in the American Revolution. The first was at Cascades Library on Feb. 23, and the second at Rust Library on March 30. Among the individual patriots she identified was James Armistead Lafayette, an enslaved Virginian who served as a double agent for General Lafayette, and played a critical role in winning the battle of Yorktown. Another was Daniel Coleman, whose pension application was found at the Loudoun County Court House. While many Blacks joined the Continental Army, she said that also an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 enslaved persons joined the British side. After the war, the British promised to settle them in Canada, but they had much difficulty in obtaining land there, despite the British promises.
