The LuLac Edition #5, 728, August 1rst, 2026

 

SIMON POOR  

SLAVE TURNED SOLDIER

BUNKER HILL BATTLER

Salem Poor was an enslaved African-American man who purchased his freedom in 1769 and became a soldier in 1775. He was involved in the American Revolutionary War, particularly in the Battle of Bunker Hill.

Salem Poor was born in 1747 into slavery on a farm in Andover in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The farm was owned by John Poor and Rebecca Poor and his son John Poor Jr. His first name may be derived from the Arabic word "salaam", meaning peace.[Other sources explain that his name may have been derived from his place of birth.[citation needed] He bought his freedom on July 10, 1769, from John Poor Jr. for £27 (equivalent to about $5,600 in 2019 dollars), a year's salary for an average working man at the time.

In May 1775, Poor enlisted in the militia when he was about 28 years old.[5][6] He served under Captain Benjamin Ames in Colonel James Frye's regiment. Colonel Frye's command consisted of Lieutenant-Colonel James Bricket, Major Thomas Poor, Adjutant Daniel Hardy, and Surgeon Thomas Kittredge. His regiment, with two others, totaled 850 soldiers. They marched from Cambridge to Charlestown,Massachusetts, where the officers decided to fortify Breed's Hill.  At Breed's Hill, the regiments built a fort on the top of the hill using pick axes and shovels. The men worked quickly and quietly to ensure the British army occupying Boston did not know they were there.

Salem Poor was one of three dozen African Americans who fought on Bunker Hill. As many as 5,000 soldiers, both free and enslaved African Americans fought for the Patriots. Meanwhile, about twenty to thirty thousand black soldiers fought for Britain. The British had an army twice the size of the Americans. They would assault Breed's Hill on June 17, 1775. The Americans would push the British back in two assaults but would run out of ammunition and retreat during the third assault.

Poor is remembered for his actions during the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775, where he was credited with mortally wounding British Lieutenant Colonel James Abercrombie, as the latter jumped onto the redoubt and yelled, "Surrender, you rebels."While Abercrombie suffered multiple wounds in the battle, he managed to compose reports in the two days following the incident. Fellow officers who visited and spoke with him noted that the fatal shot that ultimately killed him came from friendly fire behind his position.John Pitcairn's army had previously fired on the patriots at Lexington and Concord. John Trumbull would create his famous series of paintings, The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill, June 17, 1775, depicting the death of American rebel General Joseph Warren and British Lieutenant Colonel James Abercrombie.

Poor's valor and gallantry at the Battle of Bunker Hill prompted 14 officers, including Colonel William Prescott and Colonel Jonathan Brewer,  to cite him for heroism and petition the General Court of Massachusetts with the following statement:

The Reward due to so great and Distinguished a Character. The Subscribers beg leave to Report to your Honorable. House (Which We do in justice to the Character of so Brave a man) that under Our Own observation, we declare that A Negro Man Called Salem Poor of Col. Frye's Regiment, Capt. Ames. Company in the late Battle of Charleston, behaved like an Experienced Officer, as Well as an Excellent Soldier. to Set forth Particulars of his Conduct would be Tedious, We Would Only beg leave to say in the Person of this Negro Centers a Brave & gallant Soldier.

There is no evidence that Poor received a reward.

On July 10, 1775, George Washington ended the recruitment of African Americans. On November 12, he issued orders prohibiting all black men from serving in the Continental Army. Despite the ban on recruitment, those who had already been serving for some time were allowed to stay until this point. On hearing of this, Lord Dunmore, who at the time was Governor of Virginia, offered freedom to all enslaved people willing to serve with the British. Washington, sensing the disaster that would almost surely result, immediately changed his position, at once ordering all recruiters to enlist any black men who wanted to fight.

Poor is known to have retreated to the winter camp at Valley Forge and fought in the Battle of White Plains, Battle of Saratoga and Battle of Monmouth.He also served at Fort George. Salem Poor served in New York in 1776 under General Benedict Arnold. He would eventually re-enlist for three years and spend his time in Saratoga. In 1777–1778, he was at Valley Forge and fought in the Battle of White Plains. Poor immediately re-enlisted in the militia and fought with the Patriot forces until March 20, 1780, when he was discharged in Providence, Rhode Island.

Salem Poor believed in matrimony having been marred 4 times and died in 1802.