When the 13 English colonies in America fought and won their independence and formed the United States, Connecticut had at least 820 Black soldiers in its ranks – roughly 20% of the Black population of Connecticut (~4300).
Enslavement of Black persons was legal in Connecticut, yet the same percentage of Black persons filled the State’s ranks in the Revolution as White persons.
The National Battlefield trust wrote in 2021:
“The main military force, which coalesced under General George Washington as the Continental Army, was not an integrated army until 1776. In November of 1775, Washington barred the enlistment of free Blacks and slaves. Within two months, however, Washington reversed this decision, and despite many attempts to block Blacks from serving their country, hundreds of Blacks enlisted nonetheless. Many Blacks who fought and were enslaved fought for their freedom and independence as a person of color. After the war, many Blacks gave their pensions and enlistment bounties to their former masters as a payment for their freedom. Cuffee Wells is just one example. Wells was a surgeon in the Continental Army and after his service in the Revolution, he paid his enlistment bounty to his former master and lived the rest of his life as a free man in Lebanon, Connecticut.”
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/george-washingtons-integrated-army