In 1777, on his return home to Chelmsford, Lew joined Captain Joseph Bradley Varnum's company of volunteers, Dracut, Massachusetts. In September 1777, Varnum's militia was ordered to Fort Ticonderoga and the company marched to reinforce the Northern army. Joseph Bradley Varnum’s son John wrote in his Journal on November 1, 1777. "Jona Parkhurst came home from ye Army, brings word that all is well. "Zeal is selected" for a fifer and fiddler for the grand appearance the day that Burgoyne's Famous Army is to be brought in. A Wonderful Show, a day that our hearts should be employed to speak &amp; live to the praise of God." This 'wonderful show' was the surrender of British General John Burgoyne to American General Horatio Gates at Saratoga, after the Siege of Fort Ticonderoga (1777). During the American Revolution, African Americans from Massachusetts served as freemen or as slaves with their masters in many local militias.