Recommendation of
Salem Poor a free Negro
for his Bravery at ye Battle
of Charlestown
leave to withdraw it
Although histories have been written of the members and actions of
Col. Frye's regiment and Capt. Ames's company, of which Salem Poor was
a member, the account given of him shows that the story of his life
was not known. It is, however, noted in Miss Bailey's "History of
Andover" that he was a slave, owned by John Poor. At the Battle of
Bunker Hill, when Lieut. Col. Abercrombie, of the British forces,
sprang upon the redoubt, while the Americans were running in retreat,
and exclaimed, "The day is ours," Salem Poor turned, aimed his gun and
felled with a bullet the English leader. The deed was considered by
the officers of the regiment to be one of great bravery, as their
petition to the General Court of Massachusetts shows.
Other colored men serving at the Battle of Bunker Hill were Titus
Coburn, Alexander Ames, Barzillai Lew, all of Andover; Cato Howe of
Plymouth, and Peter Salem.
Among those who gave valued services in the Continental Army was
Deborah Gannett. She assumed the dress of a man, and under the name of
Robert Shurtliff, enlisted in the fourth Massachusetts Regiment,
Captain Webb, serving in the ranks without once revealing her sex from
May 20, 1782, to October 23, 1783, a period of seventeen months. By an
act of the legislature, Jan. 20, 1792, she was paid £34 by the State
for her services.
The extract below is from a discussion of the questions of pension and
bounty for Negro soldiers by James Croggon. It appeared in the
_Washington Star_.
"January 21 Gen. Jackson read an address to each of the commands
which had taken part in the battles, reviewing the campaign, and
saying of the engagement of January 8 that the loss of the enemy
was more than 3,000 while the American loss was but thirteen--"a
wonderful interposition of heaven! An unexampled event in the
history of war!" Gen. Jackson characterizes the event.
"In his general orders of January 21, prior to breaking camp,
Gen. Jackson complimented the various regiments and commands,
saying of the two bodies of colored volunteers: 'They have not
disappointed the hopes that were formed of their courage and
perseverence in the performance of their duty. Majs. Lacoste and
Daquin, who commanded them, have deserved well of their country.'
"REWARDS HELD UP
"Yet, although these colored troops were commended for their
coolness and bravery under fire, especially in the memorable
engagement of December 23 when they were attached to Coffee's
brigade, which opened the series of battles, recognition for
their services, by way of pension and bounty, was withheld for
several years after their discharge from the service and then was
granted only after an opinion had been given by William Wirt,
Attorney General of the United States at that time, that they
might legally be so recompensed.
"When the colored troops enlisted the act of Congress of December
24, 1811, provided a bounty of $16, with three months' pay, and a
grant of 160 acres of land to those who had served five years,
the same amount of land to the heirs of those killed in battle,
and the same amount of land to the heirs of those who had died in
the service after having served five years. The act of January
11, 1812, carried like provisions, and the act of December 10,
1814, again carried the provisions, except that the amount of
land granted was doubled.
"After the colored troops were mustered out, application was made
in their behalf for recognition under these acts, especially for
the bounty of 320 acres of land, but it was not until 1823 that
their claims were recognized.
"JACKSON PRAISED TROOPS
"This apathy and long delay ensued notwithstanding the fact that
under date of December 27, 1814, Gen. Jackson had reviewed the
first engagement in a report in which he spoke highly of the men
of color attached to Coffee's brigade. He said in this engagement
a number of prisoners were taken, and the British loss was about
100. On the night of the 23d of December, in the engagement below
New Orleans, the British left 100 killed, and 230 wounded, their
loss in prisoners taken making their total loss that night about
400.
"Again, reporting on the battle of January 8, Gen. Jackson said
that the enemy advanced in two strong columns, and that 'they
were received with a firmness which defeated all their hopes.
For upward of an hour the firing was incessant, but the enemy at
length fled in confusion from the field, their losses including
Gen. Sir Edward Pakenham.' Under date of January 19 Gen. Jackson
informed the War Department that the enemy had decamped, leaving
eighty of their wounded and fourteen pieces of heavy artillery,
and that he believed Louisiana was then 'clear.'
"ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OPINION
"It was to J. C. Calhoun, then Secretary of War, that William
Wirt, then Attorney General, wrote, under date of March 27, 1823,
declaring that it was not, in his opinion, in the power of the
government to deny the colored troops and their heirs the
emoluments of their service in the army. Mr. Wirt's letter is as
follows:
"'Sir: Had I been called on a priori to give a construction to
the several acts of Congress, which are the subject of Mr.
Cutting's letters of the 21st of May, 1821, and 30th of January,
1823, of Maj. Charles J. Nourse's of the 20th of January, 1823,
and Mr. J. W. Murray's of the 22d of December, 1822, I should
have had no hesitation in expressing the opinion that it was not
the intention of Congress to incorporate negroes and people of
color with the army, any more than with the militia of the United
States. But the acts of Congress, under which this body of people
of color are understood to have been raised during the late war,
uses no other terms of description as to the recruits than that
they shall be 'effective, able-bodied men' (act 24th December,
1811), 'for completing the existing military establishment,' and
act 11th January, 1812, 'to raise an additional military force,'
of 'free, effective, able-bodied men' (act December 10, 1814),
'making further provision for filling the ranks of the army of
the United States.'
"ALL REQUIREMENTS FULFILLED
"As either of these descriptions was satisfied by the persons of
color in question; as the recruiting officers, who were quoad hoc
the agents of the United States, recruited these persons on a
contract for the pay and bounty stipulated by law, as the
officers of government recognize them as a part of the army, by
their regular returns of this corps, who received, till the close
of the war, the same pay and rations with other troops, were
subject to the same military law and performed the same military
services, it seems to me that a practical construction has been
given to the law in this particular, from which it is not in the
power of the government justly to depart.
"I think, therefore, that they ought to receive the promised land
bounty. But, without some further and more explicit declaration
of the purpose of Congress, I would not recommend a repetition of
such contracts on any future occasion on laws worded like those
under consideration; by which I mean, not merely the three laws
which I have cited, but the whole military system of the United
States, militia included."
* * * * *
Mrs. R. L. Pendleton has published the new edition of the _Life and
Works of Phillis Wheatley_ by G. Herbert Renfro. This volume contains
a sketch of G. Herbert Renfro and a much more detailed sketch of the
life of Phillis Wheatley by this writer. It contains the
correspondence of the poetess and a larger number of her poems than we
find in some of the other editions of her works. The book is well
printed and nicely bound and may be purchased for the small sum of
$1.50 from R. L. Pendleton, 1216 You St., Washington, D. C.
* * * * *
Longmans and Company have published A. J. McDonald's _Trade, Politics
and Christianity in Africa and the East_. It is a valuable
contribution to the British colonial policy.
H. O. Newland's _Sierra Leone; its People, Products and Secret
Societies_ has come from the press of Bale, Sons and Donnelson. The
author is a student of sociology and knows much about West Africa. To
this is appended 44 pages of information on Sierra Leone by H. Hamel
Smith.
_In the Hands of Senoussi_ has been published by Mrs. Gwatkin
Williams. This book is a collection of facts compiled from the diary
of Captain R. Gwatkin Williams, giving an account of nineteen weeks of
captivity of the survivors of H. M. S. _Tara_ in the Libyan Desert.
The tales of General Botha's desert march in Southwest Africa have
been published as _Sun, Sand and Sin_ by Hodder and Stoughton.
Articles of interest on Africa recently published are _Islam on the
Congo_ by W. J. W. Roome in the Moslem World, _L'Islam en Mauritanie
et au Senegale_ in the Revue du Monde Musulman and _Observations on
the Northern Section of the Tanganyika-Nile Rift Valley_ by Captain C.
H. Stigand in the Geographical Journal.
_The Early History of Cuba_, 1492-1586, by I. A. Wright, has been
published by MacMillan Company. The book shows evidence of extensive
research and scholarly treatment.
The Association for the Study of Negro Life and History is making
extensive preparation to bring together during the last week in August
all persons who are now seriously interested in the study of Negro
history. It is hoped that a large number of members may be able to
attend and that interest in the work may extend throughout the
country. Some of the leading historians of the United States will be
invited to address this body.