Nero hawley biography

Nero Hawley (1742 – January 30, 1817) was an African-American soldier who was born into slavery in North Stratford, Connecticut, and later earned his freedom after enlisting in the Continental Army in place of his owner, Daniel Hawley, on April 20, 1777, during the American Revolution.^[1] His life is featured in the 1976 book From Valley Forge to Freedom, which also notes other areas of present-day Trumbull, Connecticut associated with Hawley.

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American Revolutionary War

2nd Connecticut

The 2nd Connecticut Regiment was raised in the spring of 1777 for the new army or Continental Line and was made up of free and enslaved men, among them Hawley, from throughout Connecticut. Ordered to assemble in Danbury, Connecticut, to prepare to take the field, they went into camp in Peekskill, New York, soon after.

They served during the summer and fall of 1777 along the Hudson River under the command of General Israel Putnam. On November 14, 1777, they were o A Connecticut Slave in George Washington’s Army FUNOF