In the Massachusetts State Archives is a petition
to the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, stating that
in the "late Battle at Charlestown," a man from Colonel
Frye's Regiment "behaved like and experienced officer"
and that in this man "centers a brave and gallant soldier."
This document, dated December of 1775, just six months after the
Battle of Bunker Hill, is signed by fourteen officers who were present
at the battle, including Colonel William Prescott. Of the 2,400
to 4,000 colonists who participated in the battle, no other man
is singled out in this manner.
This hero of the Battle of Bunker Hill is Salem
Poor of Andover, Massachusetts. Although documents show that Poor,
along with his regiment and two others, were sent to Bunker Hill
to build a fort and other fortifications on the night of June 16,
1775, we have no details about just what Poor did to earn the praise
of these officers. The petition simply states "to set forth
the particulars of his conduct would be tedious." Perhaps his
heroic deeds were too many to mention.
Few details of this hero's life are available
to us. Born a slave in the late 1740s, Poor managed to buy his freedom
in 1769 for 27 pounds, which represented a year's salary for the
typical working man. He married Nancy, a free African-American woman,
and they had a son. Salem Poor left his wife and child behind in
May 1775 and fought for the patriot cause at Bunker Hill, Saratoga,
and Monmouth. We can only speculate about the motives for Poor's
sacrifice: was it patriotism, or the prospect of a new and better
life? The Battle of Bunker Hill was a daring and provocative act
against established authority; all who participated could well have
been hanged for treason.
Salem Poor is one of some three dozen African
Americans who fought at Bunker Hill. As many as 5,000 African Americans,
both freemen and slaves, fought on the patriot side, while many
more, perhaps 20 to 30 thousand, aided the British in some way.
The hopes of blacks that military service for either side would
lead to full equality were dashed. Although revolutionary sentiment
led to the abolition of slavery in northern states, slavery persisted
in the South, and free blacks everywhere faced discrimination in
every aspect of life, notably in education, employment, and housing.
to biography listing