Evening star., 1932-01-24

Hampshire. He was born in Africa of
wealthy parents and was sent to this
| country to be educated as an elder
brother had been. But the captain who
brought the young African and his cou-
sin over took them to Baltimore and
sold them to Portsmouth men, one OF
whom was bought by Gen. Whipple.
Scattered Throughout Army.
When Maj Montgomery was lifted
upon the walls Of Fort Griswold and
called upon the Americans to surren-
der, 1t was John Freeman, colored
man, who pinned him to the earth
with his pike.
But. one bent upon ascertaining the
colored mans contribution to the tri-
umph Of the Colonies over Great Brit
ain has set himself a task which is
herculean indeed. 1t is possible to wade
through tome after tome of the his
tories of that time without finding the
information which one seeks. OF
course, there is a reason for the his
torian's failure to give the colored man
the credit which he so richly deserves.
In the majority of cases colored men
did not fight in organizations ex-
clusively their own, as has already been
stated. They were scattered through
out the Army, two or three in COM
pany composed of whites, squad in
regiment, few companies with an
army, so that it was almost impossible
to separate the record which they made
as a racial group from that Of their
white comrades with whom they fought
side by side.
One must undertake the gruelling
job of reading painstakingly the his
tory of villages and towns. One must
browse carefully among the archives OF
the States, must go over Army rolls
patiently, name by name, IN order to
distinguish colored men from their
white compatriots, so close was the
comradeship which existed between
them. 1t is possible only to give a
bird's-eye view OF the services rendered
by colored men-citing a few OF the
battles in which they engaged-reiat-
ing their deeds of proves either as
individuals or small groups.
One of the finest tributes ever be-
slowed upon colored soldiers in the
Revolutionary War was delivered In the
House of Representatives In 1920 by
Charles Pinckney of South Carolina.
Among other things he declared that
Negroes were then as they still are as
FdlQdUlt d pdlt VI Jul EOph46tlOlA w S4AS
Union as any other equal number Of
inhabitants" They were" he said, ''in
numerous instances the pioneers, and
in all the laborers of your armies. To
their hands were owing the erection Of
the greater part of the Notifications
raised for the protection of our coun-
try some Of which, particularly Fort
Moultrie, gave at the early period OF
the inexperience and untried valor OF
our citizens Immortality to American
arms and in the Northern States nu-
merous bodies of them were enrolled
into, and fought side by side with the
whites, the battles of the Revolution"
In this day and generation practi-
mind stands aghast at the very thought
of war. Therefore 1t seems decidedly
out of tune with the times to be sound
ing the praises OF those who engaged
in the wholesale slaughter of human
beings, which for centuries has been
sanctioned by civilized nations under
the name OF war. Nevertheless, in re-
viewing the valuable contributions made
by colored soldiers in the struggle for
independence many will agree with
John Greenleaf Whittier, the Quaker
poet, who was asked to give some facts
relative to the military service of col
ored Americans in the Revolution of
ITS and the War Of 1912. u
Being member OF the Society of
Friends, Mr. Whittier disclaimed any
desire to deliver eulogy upon those
who shed human blood But" he said,
when we see whole nation doing
honor to memories OF one class of de-
tenders to the total neglect of another
class, who had the misfortune to be of
darker complexion, we cannot forego
the satisfaction of inviting notice to
certain historical facts which for the
last half century have been quietly ell
bowed aside"