Battle Road: "Masters, slaves, free blacks and at least one Indian…
…fought side-by-side in the running battle against the British on the memorable 19th of April 1775."
There were at least 21 men of African descent in the militia at Lexington and Concord in April 1775, and in the pursuit of retreating British red coats down Battle Road back to Boston. All were members of the militia. Some were "minute men" -- the elite militia force expected to move faster when called. They served in 12 different companies, and resided in eleven different towns. Some of them were free, but about half were enslaved. More precisely, they were standing by the side of the man who held title to them as property, holding a musket issued to them by their owner-of-record, both of them firing on British soldiers.
That sounds odd to the 21st century eye. It doesn't look right through the intervening fog of the Civil War era. Weren't people who held title to slaves afraid to let them anywhere near a weapon? But for most of human history, that was not such a common pattern. In hierarchical cultures, monarchies, empires, feudal estates, things were very different. Retainers were expected to follow lords and masters to war. Peasants, slaves, serfs, tenants, squires (to be sure squires were a higher order of subordinate, who hoped to become knights some day) were expected to fight for the interests of their overlords.
Massachusetts had already lost most of the trappings of lordship -- unlike, say, South Carolina. There were wealthy men who dominated politics, there were property qualifications to vote, but there was little in the way of titles or nobility. (Wage laborers and apprentices referred to their employer as "master," quite as much as a slave did). Africans in Massachusetts were generally treated like other servants, or apprentices, except their servitude was "for life" unless freed. So it was more or less normal for the adult males in a man's household to report for militia duty with him. That included slaves.
Its hard to know these men as individuals. Even muster rolls are incomplete. But a New England amateur historian named George Quintal has spent countless hours poring over available records, and provided a lot of detail in Patriots of Color: 'A Peculiar Beauty and Merit' -- African Americans and Native Americans at Battle Road and Bunker Hill. A free pdf can be downloaded by anyone who wants a copy. The known individuals are:
Augustus, Caesar: the servant of Mr. Tileston of Dorchester, taken prisoner 19 April 1775, and exchanged 5 June with other Americans taken prisoner.
Bason, Caesar: a little known "colored man," who was "perhaps the servant of James Burn." Served at Lexington in the company of Capt. Jonathan Minot, James Prescott's regiment. Killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill, and buried at or near the Bunker Hill Monument.
Boardman, Cato: served at Battle Road in the company of Capt. Samuel Thatcher, Col. Thomas Gardner's regiment.
Boylston, Prince: served at Battle Road in the company of Capt. Thomas White, in Col. William Heath's regiment. Enrolled as "Josh'a Boylston's Prince."
Burdoo, Eli: Baptized at Lexington, MA on 20 July 1775, the son of Moses and Phebe (Banister) Burdoo. Served in Capt. John Parker's company at Lexington. Later fought at the Battle of Saratoga.
Burdoo, Silas: Born in Lexington, MA, 14 February 1748, the son of Philip and Mary Burdoo. Reported volunteering in Capt. Boardman's company, although no military record has been found. After the war settled in Reading, Vermont. He was probably the most prosperous of the men listed here, and the last survivor, dying in 1837.
Comecho, Isaac: Baptized 27 October 1745 in Natick, Massachusetts, the son of Hezekiah and Elizabeth (George) Comecho. Marched from Dedham to Lexington in the company of Capt. William Elllis, Col. William Heath's regiment.
Estabrook, Prince: One of the best known Revolutionary War veterans of African descent. He was born around 1740, 'in the family of Benjamin Estabrook' of Lexington. Stood on Lexington Green 19 April 1775 in Capt. John Parker's militia company, where he was wounded. Later served at Ticonderoga in 1777, and a militia company at Cambridge in 1778.
Ferrit, Caesar: Born about 1720 in the West Indies, he boasted his grandparents were Dutch, French, Indian, and African. Raised by an English family in Milton, he moved to Boston, then purchased land in Natick, MA in 1751. Marched from Natick to Lexington in the company of Capt. Joseph Morse, Col. Samuel Bullard's regiment, arriving a short time before the British. Later served in New York and Rhode Island.
Ferrit, John: Born in 1753, the son of Caesar and Naomi Ferrit, marched to Lexington in the same company as his father, where they had opportunity to fire their muskets at the British, then secret themselves under the cellar stairs while British soldiers were searching the town. He married Mary Graves in May 1779. (See account of the elder Ferrits' marriage below).
Ferrit, Thomas: Another son of Caesar and Naomi Ferrit, born in 1751, served in Capt. Ebenezer Battle's company from Dedham, MA, at Battle Road, chasing the British back to Boston.
Gardner, Adam: Served at Battle Road in the company of Capt. Thomas White, Col. William Heath's regiment. Listed on the muster roll as "Squire Gardner's Adam." Nothing has been discovered of his early life. He is buried in the Walnut Street Cemetery, Brookline, MA.
Hemenway, Jeffrey: Born around 1737, he was a foster child of Ebenezer Hemenway, Jr, of Framingham. He had military experience in 1761 and 1762, during the French and Indian War, in Capt. John Nixon's company. He marched to Lexington as a Minute Man in Capt. Simon Edgell's company. He later served at Bunker Hill and the Battle of White Plains, then in 1778 at the Battle of Rhode Island.
Jones, Caesar: Initially the "Negro servant" of 2nd Lt. Timothy Jones, he was freed at some point before or during the Revolutionary War. Lt. Jones served in Capt. Jonathan Wilson's Bedford Minute Man company. A Bedford, MA town history cites family tradition that "Caesar, a freed slave, went to Concord with his master on the morning of April 19." The history ambiguously records "Although a freed man, Caesar was not a free man." This may mean, he was no longer property, but having no means of support, remained closely tied to Timothy Jones for employment and support, not an uncommon status at the time. The only military record lists Caesar Jones as enlisting for three years from May 1782 in Col. Benjamin Tupper's 10th regiment.He received money and grain from the Town of Bedford as a bounty for his enlistment.
Lamson, David: Born around 1749, was a veteran of the French and Indian Wars. On 19 April 1775, he was elected leader of an informal meeting of militia preparing to attack and seize a convoy of British supplies. Subsequently, he served in Capt. William Adam's company, Col. Thatcher's regiment at Dorchester Heights outside of Boston, in Rhode Island, and in Capt. Joseph Fuller's company, Col. Samuel Bullard's regiment, at the Battle of Saratoga.
Moore, Cambridge: Born around 1752, described as a "Negro servant" of Capt. John Moore of Bedford, MA. accompanied Capt. Moore to Concord 19 April 1775. He later enlisted in several regiments for service in Rhode Island, at the Battle of Saratoga, guarding prisoners captured at Saratoga, and again in Rhode Island.
Salem, Peter: Born in Framingham, MA, was owned as a slave by Capt. Jeremiah Belknap, then sold to Major Lawson Buckminster. He marched to Lexington 19 April 1775 as a Minute Man in Capt. Simon Edgell's company. It is not known if he was free previously, but a historian of Leiscester, MA, where he later settled, wrote that "as no slave could be mustered into the army," if "a master suffered this to be done, it worked a practical emancipation." Soon after he enlisted in Capt. Thomas Drury's company, Co. John Nixon's regiment. Testimony from several veterans at the Battle of Bunker Hill establishes that Salem shot Major John Pitcairn as he led British troops up the hill, shouting "Surrender, you damned rebels." Salem later served in the battles of White Plains and Saratoga, during the winter at Valley Forge, and the Battle of Monmouth. He was also enlisted in one of the elite light infantry units that stormed the fortress of Stony Point on 16 July 1779, ordered to use bayonets only, and not to fire their muskets.
Stedman, Cato: Marched 19 April 1775 in Capt. Samuel Thatcher's company, Col. Thomas Gardner's regiment, which served in the pursuit of British soldiers back to Boston along Battle Road. Nothing is known of his early life. He enlisted 27 May 1777 in Capt. Reuben Slayton's company, Col. William Shepard's regiment, for the duration of the war. The regiment served in the Saratoga campaign in 1777 -- ending with the first surrender of an entire British army to American forces.
White, Peter: Served in the pursuit of British soldiers down Battle Road after the confrontations at Lexington and Concord in the company of Capt. Thomas White, Col. William Heath's regiment. Listed in the muster roll as "Esq White's Peter," he was probably enslaved to Capt. White or a close relative. Peter White later served in the Continental Army in a detachment from Brookline, MA.
Whittemore, Cuff: Although listed before the Revolution as a servant of William Whittemore, was referred to for much of this time as Cuff Cartwright or De Carteret. Serving with the Menotomy militia under Capt. Benjamin Locke on 19 April 1775, he initially was alarmed and ran, but being intercepted by a lieutenant (as any soldier would be), turned and fought, killing at least two British soldiers. Cuff Whittemore enlisted in Capt. Benjamin Locke's company, Col. Thomas Gardner's regiment, serving at Bunker Hill. Lt. Col. William Bond reported that he "fought bravely in the redoubt" and when compelled to retreat, took the sword of a dead British offier as a trophy. William Whittemore interceded in support of his request for wages owed in October 1775. He served at Ticonderoga in 1776, and in the Saratoga campaign in 1777. Taken prisoner by the British, he was ordered to take General Burgoyne's horse to a brook for water. Whittemore took the opportunity to cross the brook and return to American lines under a hail of British bullets.
Wood, Cato: Very little is known about his life, but his name is on every known list of soldiers of color who fought at Battle Road. Quintal reports that he was listed on the roll of Capt. Benjamin Locke, in Col. Thomas Gardner's regiment, but his name is crossed out. He enlisted 18 May 1775 in the company of Capt. Edward Blake, in Col. Jonathan Brewer's regiment.
As a final note, a Natick, MA, newspaper records that Caesar Ferrit had before the Revolution worked for a time as coachman for a wealthy gentleman in Boston. "The ward of this gentleman had fallen in love with Caesar. Another choice had been made for the lady, and the wedding day appointed, when this affection for Caesar was discovered. The alternative was given -- wealth, and a husband of her guardian's choosing, or poverty, and a black husband. The girl chose Caesar, and himself and wife took up their lot in this home for the outcast -- Natick." Her name was Naomi, and they had at least seven children, who could count five nations among their ancestors: Lydia, Patience, David, Sarah, Thomas, John and Elizabeth. (In the book of Ruth, Naomi was Ruth's mother in law, to whom Ruth said "thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.")