On September 7, 1792, Julien Raimond, leader of a delegation of free men of color from Saint-Domingue (Haiti), petitioned the National Assembly to authorize the formation of a Legion of volunteers, so "We too may spill our blood for the defense of the motherland." The next day, the Assembly authorized the formation of a cavalry brigade of "men of color", to be called "Légion nationale des Américains & du midi", and appointed Citizen St. Georges colonel of the new regiment. St. Georges's Légion, the first all colored regiment in Europe, "grew rapidly as volunteers by his name flocked to it from all over France."