Slavery was again an important factor in the city's role during the Revolutionary War. The British attacked the town in force three times, assuming that the settlement had a large base of Loyalists who would rally to their cause once given some military support. The loyalty of the white southerners had largely been forfeited, however, by British legal cases (such as the 1772 Somersett case which marked the prohibition of slavery in England and Wales; a significant milestone in the Abolitionist struggle) and military tactics (such as Dunmore's Proclamation in 1775) that promised the emancipation of the planter's slaves; these efforts did, however, unsurprisingly win the allegiance of thousands of Black Loyalists.