Present From The Beginning: Lexington, Concord and Bunker (Breed's) Hill
Some history books record that only one or two Negroes, or a small handful, fought at Bunker Hill. More recently, many estimate one hundred. But George Quintal Jr.s Patriots of Color: A Peculiar Beauty and Merit, offers the most exhaustive review of military and census records, providing a reliable tabulation for both Americans of African descent and for Native Americans. As Quintal notes, his report is not the final word either: more names will be found, and more details will be learned about the lives of those already identified.
Quintal tabulates 103 "patriots of color" serving at the Battle of Bunker Hill, and that there may have been as many as 150. Several dozen names were not included because of insufficient evidence. Quintal includes 16 Native Americans, from the Mohegan, Hassanmisco, Mashpee, Pequot and Tunxis people, as well as men of African descent, under this description. One Mohegan woman, Rebecca Tanner, lost five sons serving in the Continental Army -- a situation close to deaths in action of several brothers in the movie "Saving Private Ryan" in World War II. Rev. Samuel Ashbow, a Mohegan living in North Parish of Norwich, Connecticut, had four sons serving in the army, and only one, John Ashbow, survived. Samuel Ashbow, Jr, the first Native American to die in the war, was killed in action at Bunker Hill,
Examining "Battle Road" -- the road along which the British army took most of its casualties on the retreat from Lexington and Concord -- 21 names were discovered. These were members of the militia, some of them among the elite "Minutemen." With five soldiers who served in both battles, a total of 119 were studied in detail. They served in over 50 different companies, with no separation by race or color.
Whether free, servants, or slaves, the overwhelming majority among New England's population of African descent were staunch patriots. A good anecdotal example can be found in the report of two officers sent out toward Worcester by British General Thomas Gage in February 1775: ""a little out of [Watertown] we went into a tavern, a Mr. Brewer's, a whig, we called for dinner, which was brought in by a black woman, at first she was very civil, but afterwards began to eye us very attentively... we observed to her that it was a very fine country, upon which she answered so it is, and we have got brave fellows to defend it, and if you go up any higher you will find it is so... we resolved not to sleep there that night..."
While abolition of slavery was never contemplated as a goal of the revolutionary war, by the 1790 census, there were no slaves in Vermont, Maine, or Massachusetts, where 271, 538, and 5463 "free persons of color" were enumerated. Rhode Island reported 948 still held as slaves, and 3407 free, New Hampshire 158 enslaved and 630 free. Connecticut lagged badly: although 2808 free persons of color were counted, another 2764 remained in slavery. The last person enslaved in Connecticut died in 1848.