SlavesinWar:The
HistoricalRecord 41
emergency
circumstances,a
deepopposition
toslaves
fighting
prevailed,
especiallyamong
thesettlers.
77
- Provincial
troops.
UnliketheMuslims,whomade slaves
theelite
corps,the
mainstay
ofarmies,andthe
protection
of
thecourt,theBritishusedslavesoldiersinaremote
region.
The
slaveshad
only
minor
importance
fortheBritish
Empire
asa
whole,comparableperhaps
tothe
Ottomans
employing
Janis-
saries
only
intheSudan.HadtheBritish
brought
theseslavesto
England,employed
themintheColdstreamGuard,and
placed
themintheHouseofLords,
they
wouldhavehadan
importance
comparabletotheirroleinIslamdom.
3.
Specific
task.Until1797,theWestIndia
Regimentswere
notconsidered
permanenttroops;
andeven
thoughthey
were
classifiedas
permanent
afterthat
year,they
weredisbandedas
soonasthe
Napoleonic
Warsendedin1815.
78
The
Regiments
cameinto
being
anddissolvedin
accordance
with
specificneeds;
they
werenot
part
ofan
on-goingmilitarysystem.
4.
Ideological
racism.Thefactthat
only
blackAfricansbe-
cameslaves
gave
adifferent
tenorto
theuseofslaves
inwar.
They
were
despised
andfearedina
way
thatslavesoftheMus-
limswere not.The
sight
ofblack
troops guarding
whitede-
serters struck white observers as a
"revoltingsight."
Whites
officeredtheblacksoldiersbecause"tocommissionblacksinthe
regularBritish
regiments
thatwereto
garrison
Britishislands
wouldbe
bestowing
onthema
dignity
andsocialelevationthat
was the
guarded preserve
of
upper-class
whites.
’’79
White
officerswhowereattachedtotheBlacks"loathedservice"with
them
andhadan
appalling
rateofabsenteeism
(forexample,
forty-seven
outof
fifty-nine).
8
TheWestIndia
Regimentspresent
themost
elaborate
useof
slavesassoldiersoutsideIslamdom.
81
WhiletheBritishdidem-
77.Slaveswererecruited
only
whenfree
Negroesdidnotsuffice,ibid.,
p.
25.
78.Ibid.,
pp.
28,94,134-36.
79.Ibid.,
p;
22.
80.
Ibid.,pp.32-33.
81.
Theymay
have
inspiredthePortugueseauthoritiesin
Ceylon
to
purchase