On April 19, 1775 Black & White Minutemen Fought Gallantly At The Battle Of Lexington & Concord-1775. It Just Seems Like It Was Yesterday !

Black Buzz News Service
Lexington, Massachusetts
April 19, 2010
( BBNS)

Lexington Mass.... On April 19, 1775, Lemuel Haynes, Peter Salem, Pomp Blackman, Caesar Ferrit and his son, John Prince Eastbrook, and Samuel Craft were the Blacks known to have participated in the defense of Concord Bridge, the first encounter in the armed phase of the American Revolution.
Source : The Negro Almanac, p.803.
Salem Poor ( 1758-?) was the first Black soldier to win a battle commendation. A free man of color, Poor enlisted in a Massachusetts Militia company, and on June 17, 1775, fought valiantly at the battle of Bunker Hill( fought on Breeds Hill ), where he wounded a British officer.
Several officers petitioned the Continental Congress to recognize his bravery as a brave & gallant Soldier." There is no record that he received such notice. Other Blacks at the battle were Brazillai Lew, Cuff Whitemore, Titus Coburn, Charlestown Eads, Peter Salem, Sampson Taylor and Caesar Brown.
Source : Dictionary of American Negro Biography, p 500; Encyclopedia of Black America, p.684; Negro Almanac, p. 804.