The names of the two brave men of Color who fell, with Ledyard, at the
storming of Fort Griswold, were Sambo Latham and Jordan Freeman.
All the names of the slain, at that time, are inscribed on a marble
tablet, wrought into the monument--the names of the Colored Soldiers
last--and not only last, but a blank space is left between them and
the whites--in genuine keeping with the "Negro Pew" distinction;
setting them not only below all others, but by themselves--even after
that.
And it is difficult to say why. They were not last in the fight. When
Major Montgomery, one of the leaders of the expedition against the
Americans, was lifted upon the walls of the fort by his soldiers,
flourishing his sword and calling on them to follow him, Jordan
Freeman received him on the point of a pike, and pinned him dead to
the earth. (Vide Hist. Collections of Connecticut.) And the name of
Jordan Freeman stands away down, last on the list of heroes, perhaps
the greatest hero of them all.
Yours, with becoming indignation,