Whose Freedom? Black Soldiers of the Revolution
Not everyone who fought in the American Revolution did so by choice. At least five Black men from Kennebunk and Wells served in the Continental Army, though the records reveal little about their lives. Some were likely enslaved; others may have been free. We do not know if they enlisted voluntarily, were forced by enslavers, if they ever received the bounties and pay promised to them, or their freedom after the war.
Free and enslaved Black residents would have heard talk of liberty and equality proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence, yet they lived under systems that denied those very rights. They faced impossible choices:
Fight for the Patriots, hoping freedom would follow victory.
Join the British, who explicitly promised emancipation.
Or resist enlistment and await the war’s end.
American victory in the Revolutionary War led to changes in the Massachusetts state constitution. In 1783, Quock Walker, an enslaved man in Massachusetts, leveraged these shifting legal parameters to successfully argue that slavery was now outlawed in the state. His case, and two others, provided the basis for emancipation in Massachusetts and what is now Maine.
Although the legal status of Kennebunk’s enslaved people changed following emancipation, the confines of their lives often remained the same for decades to come.
Revolutionary War Rolls for Town of Wells
Fighting for Freedom in an Unfree Land: Local Black Soldiers of the Revolution
Archival records tell us that at least five Black men from Wells and Kennebunk served in the American Revolution, all of whom are included in the Just History Database. Together, these fragmented stories reveal the limits of what written history preserves about Black lives in the region, and remind us that Black men fought for a nation that continued to deny them freedom.
Salem Bourne
Salem (later known as Salem Bourne) enlisted in 1778 at age 23, and served in the 1st York County Regiment. His unit was sent to Fishkill, New York to a major supply depot. At the time, he was enslaved by shipbuilder John Bourne of Kennebunk. Whether Salem enlisted voluntarily remains unknown.
Primus Goodale
In 1781, the Wells Selectman paid a bounty to Primus Goodale to serve in the Revolution for three years. Born in “Guinea” (West Africa), he was a mariner when he enlisted at age 36. Records list him in the 7th Massachusetts Regiment at West Point, but do not reveal if he was free or enslaved. The name “Joseph Goodale,” possibly his enslaver, appears in related documents, but the connection remains uncertain.
Scipio Black
Scipio enlisted early in the war in 1775, serving in Captain Samuel Sayer’s Company as part of the 30th Regiment of Col. James Scammon. Scipio was stationed with his company in Cambridge, Massachusetts for 25 days.
Scipio was enslaved by Dr. Joseph Sawyer of Wells. While some records show the name “Scipio Black,” others list him as
Shepard
Shephard, whose last name was not recorded, served as a private in Captain Samuel Sayer’s Company from Wells, like Scipio Black. He fought in the 1779 Penobscot Expedition at Fort George in what is now Castine, Maine. Shepard survived intense fighting where his commander, Samuel Sayer, was killed.
Cesar
Simply recorded as “Ceser, Negro” is listed as a soldier from Wells. Nothing more is known about his life or service.
Reflection Questions
What questions would you ask these five men if you were able?
Why might so many details about the lives of these men be absent from archival documents?
Why was certain information recorded in the archives, while other information was not?
What value systems can archival documents reveal?
This research was compiled as part of the Just History Walk: Lives Between Two Rivers which took place on November 8, 2025. For more information about this walk, click here. For more research related to this area, click on the tags below. To download a hi-res version of the poster below for educational use, please contact where@atlanticblackbox.com.
Poster design by Meadow Dibble
Poster design by Meadow Dibble