Charles Ball
Place of Birth: Calvert County, Maryland
Date of Birth: c. 1781
Charles Ball was an African
American enslaved in Calvert County, Maryland and who served as a naval officer
during the War of 1812. He is best known
for his account as a fugitive slave in his memoir
Slavery in the United States: A Narrative of The Life and Adventures of Charles
Ball, first
published in 1837. Born
into slavery in Calvert County, Maryland, Charles Ball was separated from his
family at an early age of four years old.
During adulthood he was kidnapped and sold to southern plantations, escaped to
freedom, and served in the U.S. Navy during the War of 1812. The War of 1812 was a war declared by the U.S
against the British and officially ended in 1815. As depicted in his memoir,
Charles Ball, like thousands of African Americans, escaped the atrocities of
slavery and served on both British and
U.S. armed forces during the War of 1812.
In his memoir, Ball recalls his life as not only once slave and soldier,
but as a businessman, father, and husband.
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“My Grandfather was brought from
Africa, and sold as a slave in Calvert County, Maryland, about the year
1730…[he] claimed kindred with… royal family in Africa, and had been a great
warrior in his native country”. pg. 19 (from Slavery in the United States: NewYork: Published by John S. Taylor, 1837)
