MA, USA
Prince Estabrook
Enslaved Person · Militiaman · Soldier
Enslaved Person · Militiaman · Soldier
Prince Estabrook was an enslaved man belonging to Benjamin Estabrook of Lexington. On April 19, 1775, he stood with the militia on Lexington Green—one of the first Black men wounded in the American Revolution.
His presence raises profound questions about the Revolution's meaning. Here was an enslaved person fighting for liberty—a liberty denied to him and thousands like him. Did he fight hoping for freedom? Out of loyalty to his owner? Under compulsion? The historical record does not tell us.
Estabrook survived his wounds and later served in the Continental Army throughout the war. After the war, he was manumitted (freed), suggesting his service may have been a path to liberty. He lived in Ashby, Massachusetts, until his death around 1830.
Prince Estabrook's story complicates simple narratives of the Revolution. He embodies both the promise and the profound hypocrisy of the American founding—a man who fought for freedom while enslaved, who won liberty for himself even as the new nation perpetuated slavery for millions.
In Lexington
- Apr 1775Battle of Lexington(Militiaman)
The first military engagement of the American Revolution. Approximately 77 Lexington militiamen, led by Captain John Parker, assembled on Lexington Green before dawn to face the approaching British column of about 700 soldiers under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith and Major John Pitcairn. As the British formed up and demanded the militia disperse, a shot was fired—by whom remains unknown. In the ensuing chaos, the British fired volleys into the militia. Eight Americans were killed (Jonas Parker, Samuel Hadley, Jonathan Harrington, Robert Munroe, Isaac Muzzey, Caleb Harrington, John Brown, and Asahel Porter) and ten wounded. Only one British soldier was injured. The brief, lopsided engagement lasted perhaps ten minutes, but its consequences were revolutionary.
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