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Page 4
Portland Observer
Thursday, April 22. 1976
Black defenders of America’s freedom
by Mark Hyman
The massive and mounting Birenten
niai celebrations in America are actually
salutes to this Nation's freedom; robust
cheers for the victorious American Re
volution...with Oteavy emphasis on pa
triotism and love for America during the
200 years of the Republic. The attention
and laudable citations are overwhelm
ingly in favor of deeds of unselfish
heroism where men and women showed a
willingness to die for America.
The willingness to die for America has
been the constant yardstick for measur
ing contributions to the country. It is
proof positive of deep concern for the
freedom and the survival of the Republic.
The willingness to die.
Midst the loud, joyous and ever in­
creasing celebrations is a mixture of
that fateful Monday. Crispus Attucks had
a reputation on the Boston dorks as be.ng
tough, respectable, a born leader and a
ready fighter.
Other Blacks joined with Whites in
isolating the loyalists and in culminating
the final break with England.
They
rioted against British officials and loudly
demanded representation. Black pre
sence in the Stamp Act riots was felt
beyond all doubt. August 28, 1765, was
an example. Blacks helped set the big
bonfire on King Street which brought
citizens out of their homes, their taverns,
and garrets yelling and singing for liberty
and property. After a usual skirmish
with soldiers, a British colonel publicly
objected to his men being beaten by
citizens, especially Black citizens. Boston
was boiling.
Although Blacks had helped contain
A little seen drawing of the Battle of Bunker Hill shows a Black soldier, crouching
right, reloading his musket. In this celebrated battle, Peter Salem, a freed slave, fired
the shot that killed British Major Pitcairn. Many Blacks were at Bunker Hill as they
were in all the major battles of the war.
dissenting voices. The one of greatest
concern here comes from Blacks. Should
American Blacks take part in the
Bicentennial celebration? One powerful
faction says no. Blacks have absolutely
nothing to celebrate. Another strong
voice says yea. Black people helped build
America. They fought for her freedom
from England in 1776 and fought to
maintain this freedom in every war
thereafter from the War of 1812 to
Vietnam.
No decision can be made here. How­
ever, the facts can be presented of Black's
participation in the Revolution and their
willingmess to die for America.
The
debating voices can take it from there.
Black patriotism did not begin on King
Street on Boston Commons that crisp day
on March 5, 1770, when six-foot-two,
fighting-mad Crispus Attucks became the
first American to die before British
gunfire. A full decade before and onward
Blacks had joined with whites in fights
with British soldiers and other eitiac-.s
who were loyal to the king. Long before
This is the first of a series of four
articles about contributions of Blacks in
the military service of our country.
Mark Hyman studied history under the
late Dr. Leo Hanaberry at Howard
University. He has written, lectured on
and broadcast Black history for 25 years.
Presently, be is treasurer of the Afro
American Historical and Cultural *76
Bicentennial Corporation He also oper­
ates Mark Hyman Associates, Incorpor
ated, a public relations firm at 401 North
Brood Street.
the British before the formal announce
ment of open warfare, and even though
Blacks had fought for the British in the
French and Indian War and had been a
part of the Continental Army, enlist
ments now were barred to them.
John Hancock, the Constitution signer
with the fancy signature, and John Ward,
both of the Massachussetts Committee of
S afety, exp ressed the sta te's view:
Blacks were savages and should not be
allowed to take part in a struggle
between white men. Georgia and South
Carolina joined in opposing Black enlist­
ments.
When George Washington took com­
mand of the Continental Army at Cam­
bridge. he turned down any suggestion of
Black recruitment.
He, in turn, was
supported by the Continental Congress.
Black regulars of the army were dis­
charged.
One of the few intellectual eyeball-to-
eyeball confrontations Washington had
with Blacks came when dynamic Prince
Hall and four other fellowcraft masons
called on the general in July of 1775. Hall
assured him that hundreds of Blacks
were ready to fight for freedom from
Britain. Washington refused. He did,
however, ask where Hall and his com­
panions came by their masonic pins.
When told they had been initiated by a
lodge in a nearby British camp, the
general admonished them for going to the
enemy for initiation. Hall is said to have
replied, "General, we tried your lodge
first. We were refused.” A very few
years later, Prince Hall brought free
masonry to American Blacks. One of the
strongest masonic orders in the country
still bears his name.
S tiff opposition softened among
American officials when British Lord
Dunmore, governor of Virginia, offered
freedom to slaves who would help him
regain his position. Angry white colo-
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msts had driven him away.
He made the offer from his boat
anchored outside Norfolk. Freedom was
the goal Blacks sought. They rallied to
the governor's cause. During the des
perate fighting at Kemp's landing, the
slaves drove their former masters into
the swamp. Dunmore came back to his
home. The Blacks were freed, Later
Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian regiment be
came very well known.
The voice of James Madison, a future
president, was heard. Enlist Blacks, he
urged. Alexander Hamilton, was the
financial wizard who gave America her
first solid banking system. Hamilton said
the army should recruit Blacks. The
reasoning was simple: if the British
offered freedom, the colonies could not
survive with the forces of the slaves
joined with English soldiers.
The British moved quickly. Twenty-
five thousand salves in South Carolina
answered the call to help the loyalist's
cause. Between 1775 and 1783 there
were attempts to organize two Black
regiments in North Carolina.
Three
fourths of the Georgia slave population
ran away. Some joined the British, some
simply ran. and still others organized into
commando-type bands and carried out
raids against former masters and pianta
tions along the Savannah River.
One third of the Blacks stationed at
Fort Cornwallis took part in the British
siege of Augusta. Approximately fifteen
thousand Blacks served with the British
in Canada and the West Indies.
The American changeover was painful.
The Congress, General Washington, John
Hancock, and John Ward had to give in.
Blacks were to be recruited. However,
the states were given the right to
organize and field their own fighting
units. Black veterans of the Continental
Army re-enlisted. The high desertion
rate at Valley Forge because of the bitter
hardships, prompted General Varnum to
ask Rhode Island for its Black battalion to
fill the depleted ranks. General Wash
ington agreed. These were the same
Blacks who, later on the march north
ward, performed valiantly at the Battle of
Trenton. Benjamin Locke, Cato Stedman,
Pomp Blackburn and Cato Brodman were
with Captain Samuel Thatcher in Cam­
bridge.
Colonel Middleton, a Black Officer,
commanded a detachment of Black vo­
lunteers from Massachusetts.
At famous Lexington and the Concord
Bridge, there were Lemuel Haynes, who
fought in several major engagement, and
Job Potemea.
Haynes was at Fort
Ticonderoga. Along with Epheram
Blackman and Primas Black, he was with
the famous Allen's Green Mountain boys.
At Bunker Hill, Peter Salem stood out.
But the records show the presence of
other Blacks: Caesar and Pharoh were
with Colonel James Scammons' York
County Regiment of Foot. There were
Seymour Burr and Caesar Brown. Titus
Coburn, Grant Cooper, Caesar Dickerson,
Cuff Hayes, Prince Hall. Brazelli Lew,
Sampson Talbot. Cato Tufts, Cuff Whit
temore and Caesar Weathersee.
There were instances of outstanding
unit heroism among Black troops. At the
Battle of Rhode Island, August 29,1778, a
regiment under Colonel Greene with
stood three heavy charges by Hessian
mercenaries.
A Doctor Harris said,
"Three times in succession they were
attacked I by the Hessians) with more
desperate valor and fury by well disci­
plined troops, and three times did they
repel the assault...thus preserved our
army from capture.” Frenchman Mar
quis de Chastellux explained: "Had they
been unfaithful in any way, all would
have been lost."
Conversely in 1781. Colonel Greene
was surprised and killed at Points Bridge
in New York. His Black soldiers stood
fast against the British, defending their
position until all of them were slaughter
ed. That was the only way the enemy
could reach Greene's body.
On October 19, 1781, a Black recruit
from the West Indies, fighting in Ameri­
ca, found General Cornwallis and forced
him to surrender.
That severe and awesome closeness of
hand-to-hand fighting tested the strength
and the bravery of all soldiers.
An
example was shown at Fort Griswold. It
was being defended by an integrated
contingent. When British Major William
Montgomery came over the hall, Jordan
Freeman buried his bayonet in him.
Afterwards, in a tussle nearby, American
Colonel William Ledyard was slain with
his own sword. Lambert Latham killed
the British officer who had done it.
Instantly. In lightening return, Latham
suffered thirty fatal bayonet stabs.
This brief account of the Black pre
sence in the Revolutionary War cannot
possibly give full and detailed account of
the hundreds of deeds of heroism and
selfless acts...in this willingness to die for
America's freedom. There are, however,
three remaining items of great impor
tance.
Little mention is made of Black Haitian
troops who came to this country to help
America. Their valor and fighting skill at
the Battle of Savannah saved that Geòr­
gie city for the Americans.
Another factor is the vital role Blacks
played as spies during the Revolutionary
War. A slave named Pompey convinced
th>. British of his honesty and, in some
way, he learned the password of the day.
This information paved the way for
General Anthony Wayne to capture the
fort at Stony Point, New York, in 1779.
Pompey was rewarded with his freedom.
James Armistead, a Virginia slave, was
a key double agent.
He worked for
. ..< ."lght that started it all on Roston Commons. Here the
artist shows the British firing on citizens on the fateful May 5.
1775, where Crispus Attucks was the first man to die for
America's freedom. Records report he was carrying a big stick
and that he was aggressive and charged the redcoats.
French General L afayette and tr
Americans. He brought valuable infe.
mation from the British ramp where he
was thought to be a spy for the English
against the Americans. When General
Cornwallis on his surrender, saw James
in the American Camp at Yorktown, he
was surprised. Isfayette was so im
pressed with Armistead that years later,
when visiting America, he went to
Richmond to see him.
Why the willingness to die for Ameri
ca? Personal freedom and freedom for
their brothers came first.
When the
British offered freedom. Blacks took it.
When the American offered it, it was
accepted. Of course there was love for
America. Prince Hall, Richard Allen and
other Revolutionary Blacks insisted
America was their country and their
home. Certainly they would defend it.
Since the Bicentennial will be centered
mainly in the Delaware Valley...and since
Valley Forge will be a central place of
interest...and since millions of Whites and
Blacks know nothing of Black presence
there...it might be a constructive idea to
let it be known. Especially the fact that a
Black soldier. Philip Field of Dutchess,
New York, died there from the bitter cold
like any other soldier.
If there is no determination about
Black participation in the Bicentennial,
the follow ing series will add more
material to be judged. In the next issues
At the Battle of Cowpens during the Revolutionary War, a Black soldier on
will be Black participation in the War of
horseback I left) fired the shot that saved the life of Lieutenant Colonel William
1812, The Civil War, the Spanish
American War. the Mexican War, the Washington. In this close skirmish, the Americans executed a double envelopment to
Indian Wars, the World Wars, Korea and defeat the British.
Vietnam.
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