With recent events and the resurgence in popularity of Hamilton
(2015), I have heard many stating that blacks have been erased from history. In
a way, they are right. The contributions of minorities to this country have
largely been forgotten or ignored. For the most part, there just isn’t time in
school to teach everything about everyone. So, I decided to investigate black
soldiers during the Revolutionary War. Some information I knew and others I did
not. I was surprised that the information that I didn’t know. At the start of
the War, Washington was opposed to recruiting black men. “Most southern slave
owners (and many northern slave owners), found the idea of training and arming
slaves and thereby abetting a possible slave rebellion far more terrifying than
the British” (Collins, 2013). Eventually, as the war continued, the colonists
need every man they could, and many black men served bravery.
I remember hearing the name, Crispus Attucks, in my history
classes. Born circa 1723 in Framingham, Massachusetts, Attucks was a stevedore
(dockworker) of African and Native American descent. Historians disagree on
whether he was a free man or an escaped slave. March 5, 1770, a crowd of
colonists confronted a sentry who had chastised a boy who complained an officer
did not pay a barber bill. Soon townspeople and a company of British soldiers
of the 29th Regiment of Foot gathered. The colonists threw snowballs and debris
at the soldiers. Attucks, along with a group of men, approached, armed with
clubs. A soldier was struck with a piece of wood. Some witnesses claimed was
done by Attucks while other witnesses, including Samuel Adams, stated that
Attucks was "leaning upon a stick" when the soldiers opened fire
(Editors, 2020). Attucks and several others were killed. The event became known
as the Boston Massacre. Many historians believe he was the first American
casualty of the Revolutionary War. His body was carried to Faneuil Hall, where
it would lay in state until March 8 when he was buried, along with the other
victims of the massacre, in Boston’s Granary Burying Ground. “City leaders waived
segregation laws in the case and permitted Attucks to be buried with the others”
(Editors, 2020).
Salem Poor was born 1747 into slavery on a farm in Andover,
Massachusetts owned by John Poor and his son, John Poor Jr. Salem bought his
freedom on July 10, 1769 for 27 pounds, a year’s salary for an average worker
at the time (National Park Service). In May 1775, Poor enlisted in the militia
and served under Captain Benjamin Ames in Colonel James Frye's regiment, fighting
against the British troops occupying Boston. His name is best known for
performing heroically at the Battle of Bunker Hill (June 17, 1775). There are
no details to his exact deeds on the battlefield. The documents which survives
state “to set forth the particulars of his conduct would be tedious” (National
Park Service). Perhaps there were just too many to list. A petition to the
General Court of Massachusetts Bay Colony, a man from Colonel Frye’s regiment
“behaved like an experienced officer” and further calls him a “brave and
gallant soldier” (National Park Service). Very high praise. The petition was
signed by 14 officers who were present at the battle including William
Prescott. Of the 2,400-4,000 colonist at the battle, no other man was singled
out like Salem Poor was (National Park Service).
Prince Whipple (1750-1796), an African American slave and
later freedman who accompanied his former owner, General William Whipple of the
New Hampshire militia. According to legend, Prince Whipple was present on the
Delaware Crossing on Christmas Day, 1776. The famous painting of the crossing, by
German American artist Emanuel Leutze, has been said to depict Prince Whipple
at Washington’s knee. There is a black man portrayed pushing away ice with an
oar. However, many historians doubt that there is any basis for this story because
General Whipple or Prince Whipple was present at the Battle of Trenton (December
26, 1776) as the general was serving in the Continental Congress in Baltimore
at the time. According to records, General Whipple granted Prince Whipple the
rights of a freeman on February 22, 1781 and legally manumitted on February 26,
1784 (Portsmouth Town Records). The man in the painting could be Primus Hall
(February 29, 1756 - March 22, 1842) who was present at the Battle of Trenton
with the 5th Massachusetts Regiment. According to his obituary, Hall
was remembered, particularly by the younger citizens, for his “habit of
recounting scenes of the Revolutionary War” (Minardi, 2010).
Rhode Island had trouble raising the enlistment numbers the
Continental Congress wanted. At the urging of General James Varnum, the Rhode
Island General Assembly authorized the enlistment of “every able-bodied negro,
mulatto, or Indian man slave” who chose to enlist and allowed “every slave so
enlisting shall, upon his passing muster before Colonel Christopher Greene, be
immediately discharged from the service of his master or mistress, and be
absolutely free” on February 14, 1778 ( Lanning, 2016). “The 1st Rhode Island
was a segregated unit, with white officers and separate companies designated
for black and white Soldiers. It was the Continental Army's only segregated
unit, though. In the rest of the Army, the few blacks who served with each
company were fully integrated: They fought, drilled, marched, ate and slept
alongside their white counterparts” (Collins, 2013) The regiment would
participant in the Battle of Rhode Island on August 29, 1778, in which they successfully
held their line against the British and their Hessian allies for four hours and
allowed the entire American army to escape a trap (Collins, 2013). The 1st
Rhode Island Regiment was also at the Battle of Yorktown, on the night of
October 14, 1781, they took part in the assault and capture of Redoubt 10
(Collins, 2013). A monument to the 1st Rhode Island Regiment stands at Patriots
Park in Portsmouth, Rhode Island on the site of the Battle of Rhode Island and
the regimental flag is preserved at the Rhode Island State House in Providence.
In conclusion, it is disheartening to know that many black
soldiers would return to the heavy yoke of slavery until their masters
“remembered” they were promised freedom for their service, if they remembered
at all. It is even more disheartening that they were forgotten in the aftermath
as the colonists’ focus turned to becoming a nation. Retired Major Glenn
Williams, a historian at the US Army Center for Military History, said it best.
“They certainly did their part to earn not only their own freedom, but ours as
well. We should never forget that for them, it was a double fight for liberty:
their own and their country's” (Collins, 2013). Unfortunately, there just isn’t
enough time to fully teach history and acknowledge every person’s contributions
especially when schools are focused more on math and science. It is our responsibility
to take the extra step and learn as much as we can about everyone who played a
role in our history.
References
Lanning, Michael Lee (October 17, 2016). African
Americans in the
Minardi, Margot (September 2, 2010). Making Slavery
History: Abolitionism and the Politics of Memory in Massachusetts: Abolitionism
and the Politics of Memory in Massachusetts. Oxford University Press. Retrieved
July 15, 2020.
Portsmouth Town Records, Vol. III, p. 95, New Hampshire
State Library at Concord, New Hampshire
