‘They Were Good Soldiers’ African-Americans Serving in the Continental Army, 1775-1783

Join the Newport Historical Society for a talk by author John Rees titled “They Were Good Soldiers: African Americans Serving in the Continental Army, 1775-1783,” on Thursday, October 10, 2019 at 5:30pm at the Newport Historical Society, 82 Touro Street, Newport, RI. General admission costs $5 per person, $1 for Newport Historical Society members along with retired and active duty military. This lecture is generously sponsored by Hotel Viking.

African Americans, free and enslaved, served from the first action at Lexington to the end of the War for Independence, for the most part in integrated military units, alongside their white fellow-soldiers. John Rees will present an overview of their service, before focusing on black soldiers in the Rhode Island regiments, with an emphasis on correcting several long-held myths. African American women with the army will also be featured, as will the only known wartime letter written by a black Revolutionary soldier.