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Virginia Governor Benjamin Harrison signed this certification of the service of Private Daniel Cumbo of the Virginia Continental Line so that he could receive a land grant for his service. Major Charles Pelham, who had commanded the company in which Cumbo served, signed a certification on the same date as this document declaring that Cumbo served for three years as a private in the 1^st Virginia Continental Regiment from January 1, 1777, to January 1, 1780.

While the British promised runaway slaves freedom for enlisting in their army, American military leaders could not offer emancipation. Still, African Americans joined, By war's end, some 5,000 black soldiers had fought for the American cause.

Of the estimated 100,000 men who served in the Continental Army during the war, at least 5,000 were black. Both enslaved and free African-Americans served in the army as soldiers, laborers, and servants. In some cases, slaves were offered freedom when they enlisted, though others remained enslaved, fighting in place of their masters. Most black soldiers fought with integrated units, though some segregated units were soon formed. The Revolutionary War’s first battles, at Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill, were likely the most integrated America’s military force was until President Harry Truman’s desegregation order in 1948.

The 1^st Virginia Regiment was formed in October 1775 at Williamsburg, with Colonel Patrick Henry initially in command. In 1777, the regiment participated in the Battles of Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine and Germantown. It encamped with the Continental Army at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, during the horrible winter of 1777-1778. In June 1778, it fought at the Battle of Monmouth, New Jersey. In the summer of 1779, it participated in the assault on the British fort at Stony Point, New York. In December, it began a four-month march south to join General Benjamin Lincoln’s army in Charleston, South Carolina, where most of the regiment was captured on May 12, 1780.

BENJAMIN HARRISON V. Manuscript Document Signed, as Governor, Thomas Meriwether, Certification of Service, June 20, 1783, Richmond, Virginia. 1 p., 5¾ x 4 in.

Inventory #27838       Price: $19,000

Complete Transcript
I do Certify that Daniel Cumbo is entitled to the proportion of land allowed as Private of the Virginia Continental line for three years Service                                       Tho^s Meriwether

Council Chamber       }
June 20^th 1783            }
Benj Harrison

Historical Background
According to his compiled service record, Cumbo, from James City County, received $6? per month for his pay as a soldier.[1] He was absent on furlough from December 1777 to March 1778, and in May 1778 was listed as sick at the hospital. Cumbo’s service ended while the 1^st Virginia was undertaking a four-month march to Charleston, South Carolina, where most of the remaining soldiers were captured at the Siege of Charleston, which ended on May 12, 1780.

To qualify for bounty lands, a Virginia soldier or sailor had to serve at least three years in the Continental or state forces. A veteran or his heirs had to submit proof of military service, such as discharge papers or affidavits from commanding officers or fellow soldiers. The Governor’s Office reviewed the claims and issued a certificate that authorized the Land Office to issue a warrant for a specific amount of land based on the veteran’s rank and length of service. Warrants ranged from 100 acres for a private or sailor to 15,000 acres for a major general. Between 1782 and 1876, the Virginia Governor’s Office issued 9,926 certificates for Virginia bounty land in present-day Kentucky or Ohio.

In November 1781, the Virginia legislature passed an act to pay all soldiers of the Virginia Continental Line who had received certificates for the balance of their full pay. On June 20, 1783, the same date as this document, Cumbo received £54..12..4 for his arrears.

Benjamin Harrison V (1726-1791) was born in Virginia. His father’s death by lightning in 1745 forced him to leave the College of William and Mary to take charge of much of his father’s extensive land and slave holdings along the James River. He represented Charles City County in the Virginia House of Burgesses from 1766 to 1776. The House selected him as a delegate to the First Continental Congress in 1774 and the Second Continental Congress in 1775. As frequent chairman of the Committee of the Whole, he presided over discussions on the Declaration of Independence, andsigned the engrossed Declaration with most of the other delegates on August 2, 1776. Harrison again served in the Burgesses from 1777 to 1781, as Speaker from 1778 to 1781. He was the fifth governor of Virginia from 1781 to 1784 and returned to the Burgesses from 1785 to 1790. In 1787, he participated in Virginia’s Ratifying Convention for the Federal Constitution, initially opposing the Constitution because of the absence of a bill of rights. He was the ancestor of two U.S. Presidents—son William Henry Harrison (1773-1841) and great-grandson Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901).

The other signer was either Thomas Meriwether (1763-1802), or more likely Thomas Meriwether, Jr. (1754-1808). Captain Thomas Meriwether joined the 1^st Virginia State Regiment in January 1777, was promoted to major in June 1778, and retired in February 1782. Thomas Meriwether,son of another Thomas Meriwether (1718-1794), became assistant clerk of Virginia’s Council of State in May 1782. He retired in June 1789.

Condition: light staining, professionally conservation treated.