By John D Ellis
In the eighteenth century the fashion for exotic “Turkish music” and belief in the “natural propensity of Black people for music” resulted in Black men being enlisted to serve as military musicians in British Army regiments. Playing percussion instruments such as cymbals, tambourines, big-drums and kettle drums, they were employed as symbols of regimental prestige, in a similar manner to Black servants. Initially enlisted by only higher status regiments, by the Napoleonic Wars (1793-1815), most regiments had some Black presence, be it individuals or small groups of drummers, trumpeters or bandsmen. In addition, the Black presence could include Black wives, girlfriends, and offspring. Mary Seacole, whose service as a nurse in the Crimea is well documented, was the daughter of a Scottish soldier.
The British Army of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries made no distinction between people of African or Asian origin – simply referring to them as being “Black” or “of colour.” Some were recruited whilst the Army served in the Americas, Caribbean, and India, however, most of them were recruited from the Black population resident in Britain and Ireland. They were largely restricted to racially defined musical roles and denied promotion, but Black soldiers were trained and paid the same as their White peers. In 1830 the Commanding Officer of the 78th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot reported that the regiment’s Black bandsmen were “…perfectly trained in the use of arms and very good marksmen…”
Whilst stationed “at Home” (in Britain and Ireland), the role of a Black military musician may well have been to promote regimental prestige. However, on campaign their role was to communicate orders in battle. With shot and shell making verbal orders difficult to hear, commands were relayed by the beat of a drum or the call of a trumpet. In several regiments Black soldiers were employed at company and Troop level (in the infantry and cavalry respectively), and these battlefield communicators required quick wits and situational awareness to fulfil their role. Thus, Black soldiers were not simply bandstand or parade ground eye-candy. They served with their regiments during the American Revolution, the Peninsular War and various small wars as Britain expanded its empire – including the 1st Afghan War.
The Waterloo Campaign of June 1815 dominates British and European history. The campaign itself was the end to a long series of conflicts between France, Britain and other European countries. The public reaction to the victory was comparable to that seen on VE and VJ days in 1945. A popular rhyme of the time sums up the significance of the battle and those who fought there in the minds of the British public:
Were you at Waterloo?
I have been at Waterloo.
Tis no matter what you do,
If you were at Waterloo.
To date, nine Black soldiers are known to have served in the Waterloo campaign. This is the story of one of them: Trumpet-Major James Goodwin.
James Goodwin was born in Bridgetown, Barbados c.1788-1789. Barbados was a British colony in the Caribbean, but nothing is known about Goodwin’s life, (enslaved or free), before he enlisted in the 18th Dragoons in Arundel, Sussex in June 1809. He served with the 18th until 1821 when he transferred into the 4th Dragoons with whom he served until 1840. In the 18th, Goodwin initially served as a Private in the band, (alongside a number of other Black bandsmen – two of whom had been captured by the French during the Peninsular campaign), but in 1812 he was appointed Trumpeter. He served as a Troop trumpeter in the Peninsular (1813-1814) and at Waterloo (1815), being awarded the “Waterloo Medal”.
When the 18th were disbanded Goodwin volunteered to transfer to the 4th. On leaving the 18th Dragoons the comment “he has distinguished himself in action” was written in his records by Lieutenant Colonel Henry Murray. Lieutenant Colonel, later General, the Honourable Henry Murray (1784-1860), was the fourth son of David Murray, 2nd Earl of Mansfield and his second wife, Louisa, daughter of Charles Cathcart, 9th Lord Cathcart. Henry Murray commanded the 18th Dragoons between 1812 and 1821, including in the Peninsular and Waterloo campaigns. If anyone was qualified to judge the worth of a soldier, and particularly a trumpeter in battle, it was Henry Murray. References to feats of arms are rare in the records of individual enlisted men. Murray’s comment regarding Goodwin’s prowess in combat is significant because it places a Black soldier as an active participant squarely in the middle of one of the most important battles in British and European history. At Waterloo, the 18th were part of the final charge of the day between Hougomount Farm and La Haye Sainte, that swept the French Imperial Guard and Line units before them. The comment “he has distinguished himself in action” would not have been made lightly and indicated the high regard Murray had for Goodwin. It was clearly written as a character reference for Goodwin to be read by the officers of his new regiment. Today, “distinguishing” oneself in action is often rewarded by a bravery medal or a “mention in dispatches” (MID). However, in the British Army Goodwin served in, no such award existed.
On transferring to the 4th Dragoons Goodwin joined a regiment who had employed Black military musicians as drummers and trumpeters since 1715. A painting dating from 1820, (prior to Goodwin’s arrival) depicts a Black trumpeter sounding the charge – a reference to the fact that the Black trumpeters of the 4th had been deployed at Troop level during the Peninsular campaign.
In 1821 the 4th Dragoons travelled to India on the Dunira. In May 1825 James Goodwin married Ann Julien in Kaira, India. The witnesses to the wedding were Private John Hodgetts (a White regimental comrade who subsequently died in October 1825), and Sarah Frederick (the wife of Thomas Frederick, another Black trumpeter). He was promoted Trumpet-Major in January 1836. The appointment of Trumpet-Major held the rank of Sergeant and gave him authority over White soldiers. Goodwin subsequently served in the Scinde and Afghanistan campaigns, (1838-1840), and was therefore entitled to the “Ghuznee Medal”. He was discharged on a pension of 1s/10d per day as a Trumpet-Major in March 1840, due to pains in the chest and rheumatic afflictions. On discharge he was 52 years old and 5/10″ tall, with black woolly hair, black eyes and a black complexion. He was a carpenter by occupation. He was described as “a good and efficient soldier, seldom in hospital, trustworthy and sober.”
Goodwin returned to England from India, landing in Gravesend in May 1841. He settled in London. In 1848 he received the retrospectively awarded “Military General Service Medal (1793-1814)”, with clasps for the Peninsular battles of Vittoria, Orthes and Toulouse.
Anne Goodwin died in King’s College Hospital and was buried in St Clements Danes Church in February 1851. The 1851 census reveals that James Goodwin was resident in Clement’s Lane in St. Clement Danes (Clement’s Lane was a small thoroughfare named after the church located on it). He was a widower, living alone and a Chelsea out-pensioner, born in Bridgetown, West Indies. In 1855, whilst a resident of St Clement’s Inn, he requested an increase in his pension, however it was refused. He remained a resident of St Clement Danes, London until his death from old age in October 1865[1].
[1] Sources: TNA WO 23/13, WO 25/280, WO 25/281, WO 97/54, TNA WO 100, WO 116/49 and WO 120/52. 1851 England Census. St. Mary, St. Clement Danes, Middlesex. Class: HO107. Piece: 1511. Folio: 282. Page 6. GSU Roll: 87845. GRO. England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915. #396. James Goodwin. 4th quarter 1865. St Clement Danes, Strand. London. Middlesex. Volume 1b. Page 386. JD. Ellis. “Trumpeter James Goodwin” in The Light Dragoon: The Regimental Journal of The Light Dragoons. Vol.3. Number 1. April 2002. pps 73-74. From Wendy Leahy: www.shadowsoftime.co.nz/4ths/dragoon.html For the 78th (Highlanders) Foot see the records of Thomas Inverness – TNA WO 97/887. JD.Ellis. Soldiers of African origin in British Army Regiments in England and Yorkshire, 1700s to 1840s. A paper presented at “What’s happening in Black British History? VIII.” University of Huddersfield, 10th May 2018. Also see www.academia.edu/ JD. Ellis, “Distinguished in action” The Black Soldiers of the 4th Dragoons, 1715-1842. The Chronicle: The Journal of The Queen’s Royal Hussars Historical Society. (Volume 1. Number 3. 2003). NAM. 1988-04-51-1. Major (Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel) James John Hugonin, 4th Light Dragoons, with his black trumpeter and the regiment beyond, 1820 (c). Oil on canvas by James Pardon, 1820 (c). Anne Goodwin died in King’s College Hospital and was buried in St Clements Danes Church on 21st February 1851. City of Westminster Archives Centre. Birth, marriage, death and parish records. Westminster Burials. www.findmypast.co.uk