Romans joined the Southern Campaign in 1780. It is not clear what Romans's assignment was to be, but an application for a pension filed by Elizabeth Romans in 1848 states that Romans "was ordered to go to the State of South Carolina, there to join the Southern Army". The ship on which Romans was traveling from New London, Connecticut, to Charleston, South Carolina, was captured by the Royal Navy. Romans was held prisoner until the war ended. He died aboard ship while returning home. Both his widow, Elizabeth Whiting, and at least one early historian believed that Romans had been murdered on the voyage.