George Quintal's Patriots of Color Study

In 2004, the National Park Service published Patriots of Color 'A Peculiar Beauty and Merit,' African Americans and Native Americans at Battle Road & Bunker Hill by George Quintal, Jr., Revolutionary War consultant. It includes a preface by noted historian Alfred F. Young, Senior Research Fellow, Newberry Library, Chicago, and is a definitive Boston National Historical Park and Minute Man National Historical Park research project that Mr. Quintal, Jr. conducted. The publication identifies and provides short narratives of 21 African Americans and Native Americans who fought during the Battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775 and 103 African Americans and Native Americans who fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775.

In his introduction, Quintal notes that:

This report is definitely not the final word on the matter. More names will be found and more will be found about the Patriots already discovered. As feedback trickles in, corrections and additions will be made. Much work still needs to be done in the areas of church, deed, court, and probate research. But a foundation, hopefully strong and solid, has been laid. For men who possessed such dignity of purpose, a roll of honor has now been established. The memory of these men deserves no less.

The following entries list every Patriot of Color that forms this “Wall of Honor” from Quintal's original foundational work. As more research has come to light, new stories and additions by park staff, volunteers, and scholars continue to build upon that foundation through updated and additional profiles of Patriots of Color who served during the Revolution. The author may be contacted at [e-mail]