“No Longer Concealed”. The Career of Private Edward Baptist, a Black bandsman in the 44th (East Essex) Regiment of Foot.
John D Ellis.
Edward Baptist was an Afro-Caribbean military musician in the band of the 44th (East Essex) Regiment of Foot between 1798 and 1821. His service took him from enlistment in Suffolk to participation in the War of 1812 and then garrison duty in Ireland (where he was discharged as an out-pensioner of the Royal Kilmainham Hospital, Dublin). This piece explores the service of Edward Baptist in order to provide an insight into the presence of Black soldiers in the British Army during the early nineteenth century.