in early 1775 lord dunmore, royal governor of virginia, wrote to lord dartmouth. he wrote he was going to free slaves owned by patriots in case they rebelled. on november 7, 1775, lord dunmore issued lord dunmore's proclamation which declared martial law. he promised freedom for any slaves of american patriots who would leave their masters and join the royal forces. slaves owned by loyalist masters, however, were not going to be freed by dunmore's proclamation. about 1500 slaves owned by patriots ran away and joined dunmore's forces. most died of disease before they could do any fighting. three hundred of these freed slaves made it to freedom in britain.