Peter Salem

Peter Salem
Salem (far left) shooting John Pitcairn at the Battle of Bunker Hill
Born(1750-10-01)October 1, 1750
Framingham, Massachusetts
DiedAugust 16, 1816(1816-08-16) (aged 65)
Framingham, Massachusetts
Burial place
Framingham Old Burying Ground
42°18′10″N 71°26′17″W / 42.3028°N 71.4380°W / 42.3028; -71.4380
SpouseKaty Benson (1783–1816)
Military career
AllegianceUnited Colonies
United States
Branch
Massachusetts Militia
Continental Army
Service years
1775–1780
Rank
Private
Unit6th Massachusetts Regiment
Conflicts

Private Peter Salem (October 1, 1750 – August 16, 1816) was an American soldier who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Born into slavery in Framingham, Massachusetts, he was manumitted by one of his enslavers, Major Lawson Buckminster, to serve in the Massachusetts Militia. At the Battle of Bunker Hill, Salem was recorded as fatally wounding British Major John Pitcairn. He subsequently enlisted in the Continental Army and served for five years, seeing action at the Battles of Saratoga and Battle of Stony Point. Following the end of his military service in 1780, Salem married and worked as a cane weaver before dying in Framingham. A monument was erected to him in the late 19th century at his grave.

Early life

Salem was born on October 1, 1750, to an enslaved mother in Framingham, Province of Massachusetts Bay. His enslaver was Jeremiah Belknap, who later sold him to Major Lawson Buckminster. When Buckminster became a major in the Continental Army, he emancipated Salem in 1775 so he could enlist in the Massachusetts militia in what soon became the Revolutionary War.

Salem's last name may have been given to him by his original enslaver Belknap, who may have chosen the name after Salem, Massachusetts, where he once lived. His last name may also be derived from the Arabic word "salaam", meaning peace.

Military service

Salem took part in the war's first engagement at the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. He is on the roll of Captain Simon Edgell's militia company from Framingham as having served four days from April 19, 1775. On April 24, he enlisted in Captain Drury's company of Colonel John Nixon's 6th Massachusetts Regiment.

Battle of Bunker Hill

John Pitcairn (right) falling into his son's arms after being fatally wounded at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Salem is traditionally identified as the Black man on the far right.

Salem, another hero of this event, fought with his company in the Battle of Bunker Hill. According to Samuel Swett, who chronicled the battle, Salem had mortally wounded British Major John Pitcairn who died from a musket shot. This has been disputed. About a dozen other free African Americans took part in the battle, including Phillip Abbot of Andover Mass †, Barzillai Lew, Salem Poor, Titus Coburn, Alexander Ames, Cato Howe, and Seymour Burr.

Salem reenlisted for another year in the 6th Massachusetts Regiment on January 1, 1776. When that enlistment expired, he signed up for three years in the 6th Massachusetts Regiment of Colonel Thomas Nixon, a brother of Colonel John Nixon. Salem fought at the battles of Saratoga and Stony Point. He was honorably discharged on December 31, 1779, having served a total of four years and eight months. Salem apparently extended his enlistment for two months and served with Captain Claye's company in the 6th Massachusetts Regiment from January 1 to March 1, 1780, which marked the end of his military service

Later life and death

Salem spent the rest of his life living peacefully. He married Katy Benson in Salem, Massachusetts in September 1783, and he later built a cabin near Leicester, where he worked as a cane weaver.

Peter Salem died on August 16, 1816, aged 65. He was buried in the Old Burying Ground in Framingham, and the town spent $150 to erect a monument in his memory in 1882.

The Freedman's Bank of Boston for many years commemorated Salem's deeds by printing his picture on their bank notes.

Media portrayals

At one time Salem was thought to have been depicted in John Trumbull's painting The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill, June 17, 1775. Modern authorities differ. David Barton identifies Salem standing to Thomas Grosvenor's right. Professor David Brion Davis, citing evidence from Professor Sidney Kaplan, states that the African American to Thomas Grosvenor's right "was not Peter Salem".

Peter Salem is one of the supporting characters in the 2015 television miniseries Sons of Liberty. He is played by British actor Jimmy Akingbola.

References

  1. 1 2 3 BlackPast.org "Salem, Peter"
  2. ↑ Smithsonian NMAAHC
  3. ↑ Celebrate Boston "Peter Salem"
  4. 1 2 American National Biography "Salem, Peter"
  5. 1 2 3 "Salem, Peter". American National Biography Online. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 24 March 2017. The identification of the black soldier in Trumbull's painting has since been widely disputed, and other African Americans in the colonial forces have been proposed as models for the figure.
  6. ↑ Barry, William (1847). A History of Framingham, Massachusetts: Including the Plantation, from 1640 to the Present Time, with an Appendix, Containing a Notice of Sudbury and Its First Proprietors; Also, a Register of the Inhabitants is of Framingham Before 1800, with Genealogical Sketches. Framingham, Massachusetts: J. Monroe and Company. p. 160. Retrieved 2013-08-13. Peter Salem.
  7. ↑ "African Muslims in Early America". National Museum of African American History and Culture. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  8. ↑ History of Framingham, p. 278.
  9. 1 2 3 Quintal, George (2004). Patriots of Color: A Peculiar Beauty and Merit, African Americans and Native Americans at Battle Road and Bunker Hill. Boston, MA: Division of Cultural Resources, Boston National Historical Park. pp. 190–196. ISBN 0160749808. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
  10. ↑ "MOAA - Rising Through the Ranks". www.voicesfortroops.org. Archived from the original on 2019-07-26.
  11. 1 2 3 Davis, David Brion (May 18, 1989). "It Wasn't Peter Salem". The New York Review of Books (Letter to the Editor). Retrieved December 18, 2015.
  12. ↑ Vital records of Andover Mass p,573
  13. ↑ Died May 5,1821 age 81 Andover Mass Vital record .p.573
  14. ↑ Sidney and Emma Nogrady Kaplan, The Black Presence in the Era of the American Revolution, Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1989 revised edition.
  15. 1 2 Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War. Vol. 13, pp. 743–744.
  16. ↑ Greene, Robert Ewell (1974). Black Defenders of America, 1775–1973. Johnson Publishing Company. ISBN 0874850533. [page needed]
  17. ↑ David Barton,Setting the Record Straight: American History in Black & White, WallBuilder Press; 1st edition (September 1, 2004), p.5
  18. ↑ IMDb "Sons of Liberty: The Uprising"

Sources