African Americans in the Revolutionary Warby Andrew Curry
The battle's unlikely hero was apparently a figure named Salem Poor. A 27-year-old freed slave, Poor joined the Massachusetts militia in time to face down the British on top of Bunker Hill and fatally wounded a British colonel during the battle. Afterwards, more than a dozen Colonial officers cited him for extraordinary bravery. "A Negro Man Called Salem Poor ... behaved like an Experienced Officer, as Well as an Excellent Soldier," they wrote. Poor was the only soldier at the battle to be singled out for such praise, but the specifics of his exploits are frustratingly out of reach - "to Set forth Particulars of his Conduct," the officers wrote with no regard for history, "would be Tedious."
Go back to the beginning with Continuing reading about the Battle of Bunker Hill with Battle of Bunker Hill, or read the previous article, Don't Shoot Until You See the Whites of Their Eyes!
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