Bucks of America

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The Bucks of America was a patriot Massachusetts military company during the American Revolutionary War that was composed of African American soldiers. Little evidence survives about the unit.

When the American Revolutionary War began in 1775, black soldiers—both slaves and freemen—served with white soldiers in integrated militia units in the New England colonies. Later that year, these New England militia units became the nucleus of the newly created Continental Army, the national army of the colonies. The presence of black soldiers in the army was controversial, and by the end of 1775, the Continental Congress and the army's Commander-in-Chief, George Washington, decided to stop enlisting black soldiers. Washington soon reversed this decision, however, because of manpower shortages and because the British had started encouraging black slaves to run away and join the British. Thereafter, free blacks were permitted to enlist in the Continental Army, and slaves were often enrolled as substitutes for their white owners.

On the local level, states made independent decisions about the enlistment of African Americans. Massachusetts continued to accept black soldiers in its integrated militia units,^[1] and it was also one of several northern states to create a segregated unit of black soldiers.^[2] Blacks and abolitionists generally disapproved of the creation of segregated units, preferring integrated units instead.^[3] The Bucks of America was the name given to the all-black Massachusetts company. Little is known of the campaign history of the company, but it seems to have operated in the Boston area.^[4] It may have acted primarily as an auxiliary police or security service in the city during the war, and probably never saw action against the British.^[5]

The dates that the Bucks were formed and disbanded are unknown.^[6] The company was celebrated in Boston after the American Revolution ended. Governor John Hancock and his son, John George Washington Hancock, presented the company with a white silk flag, featuring a leaping buck and a pine tree, the symbol of New England. The original flag is currently in the possession of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

George Middleton was one member of the Bucks of America, and is considered by some sources to have attained the rank of colonel. Middleton is the only member of the "Bucks of America" to be known by name; there is the possibilty that the other members of this unit were-like Middleton-members of the Prince Hall Freemasonry Lodge-but proof is lacking.