Safety, did on the 17th of November, 1775, issue a
proclamation forbidding the further enlistment of Negroes. Less than two
months later, that is to say on the 30th of December, 1775, he issued a
second proclamation again authorizing the enlistment of free Negroes. He
advised Congress of his action, and stated that he would recall it if so
directed. But he was not. The splendid service rendered by the Negro and
the great and pressing need of men were such, that although the
opposition continued from some sections, it was not thereafter strong
enough to obtain recognition. So the Negroes went and came, much as
other men.

In all the events of the war, from Bunker Hill to Yorktown, they bore an
honorable part. The history of the doings of the armies is their
history, as in everything they took part and did their share. Their
total enlistment was about 3,000 men,--a very fair percentage for the
population of that period. I might instance the killing of Major
Pitcairn, at Bunker Hill, by Peter Salem, and of Major Montgomery, at
Fort Griswold, by Jordan Freeman. The part they took in the capture of
Major-General Prescott at Newport; their gallant defense of Colonel
Greene, their beloved commander, when he was surprised and murdered at
Croton River, May 13, 1781, when it was only after the last of his
faithful guards had been shot and cut down that he was reached; or the
battle of Rhode Island, when a battalion of 400 Negroes withstood three
separate and distinct charges from 1,500 Hessians under Count Donop,
and beat them back with such tremendous loss that Count Donop at once
applied for an exchange, fearing that his men would kill him, if he went
into battle with them again, for having exposed them to such slaughter;
and many other instances that are of record. The letter following,
written December 5, 1775, explains itself:

"TO THE HONORABLE GENERAL COURT OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY:

"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 named Salem Poor, of Colonel
Frye's Regiment, Captain Ames' Company, in the late battle at
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 to say, in the person of this Negro centers a brave and
gallant soldier. The reward due to so great and distinguished a