Robert Runchey was an officer in the 1st Lincoln Militia when Major-General Sir Isaac Brock appointed him commander of the all-black Company.
15 Facts About Robert Runchey
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Robert Runchey served from the summer of 1812 when the Company was created until the fall of that same year.
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Robert Runchey was born in 1759 in Ireland and joined the British Army's 5th Regiment of Foot while it was stationed there.
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In 1774, around the outbreak of the American Revolution, the Regiment was sent to the American colonies where Robert Runchey fought in battles such as Bunker Hill, Long Island, and Brandywine.
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Robert Runchey's unit was then sent to Saint Lucia in 1778 and eventually traveled back to Ireland in 1780, where it remained until the end of the American Revolution in 1783.
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At the beginning of the War of 1812, Robert Runchey was serving as a Lieutenant in the 2nd Flank Company of the 1st Regiment of the Lincoln Militia.
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Robert Runchey was not looked upon favourably by his fellow officers; on 8 June 1811, Colonel Ralfe Clench of the 1st Lincoln Militia described Robert Runchey as.
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Robert Runchey did not resign from the Lincoln Militia and in August 1812 Major-General Sir Isaac Brock chose him to lead Captain Robert Runchey's Company of Coloured Men.
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Robert Runchey's proposal was initially rejected by the colonial government, seeing it as unneeded, but later agreed after 12 July 1812, when American Brigadier-General William Hull attempted to invade Canada across the Detroit River.
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Robert Runchey was chosen to take command of the unit by the colonial government.
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Robert Runchey separated the black soldiers under his command from white militiamen, once court-martialling "a white soldier for fraternising with "his nigros [sic]"" on 15 September 1812.
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On one occasion, Robert Runchey did not carry out his promise to give a militia surgeon a "black man" as a servant and received a formal complaint.
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Robert Runchey resigned by 24 October 1812, though his son, George, remained with the unit.
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Robert Runchey went back to running his tavern after his resignation from the Company.
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Robert Runchey died sometime before 17 July 1819, when he was buried in St Andrew's Anglican Churchyard in Grimsby, Upper Canada; the exact date of his death is unknown.