Part of a series of articles titled 12 Soldiers of the Revolution.
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Jude Hall: A Legacy of Courage, Sacrifice, and Enduring Freedom
Jude Hall is one of the many black American soldiers whose bravery and determination helped pave the way to the nation’s birth during the Revolutionary War. Born into slavery in New Hampshire, he was among the very few soldiers, black or white, to serve in the national Continental Army throughout its entire existence from 1775 to 1783.
Hall earned his freedom through military service, fighting in many of the war’s key battles. Often facing harsh and extreme conditions, his service helped secure American victory.
The statue of Jude Hall at Freedom Plaza honors his extraordinary military service, his quest for liberty, and his broader contributions as a patriot. Significantly, his grandsons continued the struggle against slavery during the Civil War, fighting in some of the nation’s most illustrious black units.
Hall’s legacy reminds us that the path to independence and achieving equality for individuals of all races involved extraordinary resolve and immense personal sacrifice.
DOI / Andrew King
Biography
Jude Hall (c. 1747–1827) was born into slavery either in Kensington or nearby Exeter, New Hampshire, likely on Captain Philemon Blake’s family homestead. He was later sold or given to Nathaniel Healey. Local historians describe him as a strong man who could lift a barrel of cider (which at that time weighed about 250 pounds) and drink from the bunghole (a hole bored into a barrel that was used to fill or empty its contents).
Seeking freedom from slavery, Hall seized the opportunity presented by the Revolution. On May 10, 1775, he enlisted as a private in Jacob Hind’s Company in the 3rd New Hampshire Regiment, which fought soon thereafter in June 1775 at the Battle of Bunker Hill. During the fight, a cannonball hit beside him, knocking him to the ground; but he survived.
Dedicated to fighting for American liberty, Hall reenlisted multiple times, serving throughout the entirety of the war. He was in the 2nd New Hampshire Regiment and participated in many major campaigns, including Bunker Hill, the Saratoga Campaign, Monmouth, and many others. He also endured the harsh winter at Valley Forge.
Following eight years of service, Hall was discharged after the signing of the peace treaty with Great Britain in 1783. He received land to go with the personal freedom he had secured through his wartime service. Settling in Exeter, New Hampshire, near what became known as Jude’s Pond, he married Rhoda Paul in 1785. He became a farmer and he and Rhoda eventually had 12 children, including 7 boys and 5 girls—all born free.
Consistent Soldier
Fighting in battle after battle, Hall survived countless dangers. In fact, local lore recounts how, in one battle, he sheltered behind a tree, shooting from behind it at enemy combatants. He received so much return fire that, after the fight was over, the tree was cut down—and from it, they retrieved a basin full of bullets.
His eight years of service earned him freedom and a farm, but the promise of liberty for all remained incomplete. Over the subsequent decades, slavery continued to be practiced in some states. Sadly, three of his sons—James, Aaron, and William—were kidnapped, or lured into situations where they were taken, and sold into slavery.
In 1807, Aaron, seeking work as a sailor, was taken and sold as a slave, never to be heard from again. About the same time, William went to sea as a sailor, but was then sold into slavery. He later escaped to England but was never reunited with his family. James was kidnapped from the family home in 1819 and taken to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he was sold as a slave to a Frenchman in Kentucky.
Two of Hall’s grandsons, Moses and Aaron, served in the legendary 54th Massachusetts and 3rd U.S. Colored Infantry during the Civil War, distinguishing themselves in battle. Such units paved the way for more than 180,000 black men who joined U.S. forces, helping turn the tide of the war and finally winning the equality promised in the Declaration of Independence.
Hall’s story highlights the thousands of courageous black patriots—up to 8,000—who fought in the Continental forces during the War for Independence. In the completely voluntary American military, the average black soldier reenlisted and served more than eight times longer than their white counterparts—a testament to their incredible patriotism.
Jude Hall in New Hampshire
Hall exemplified the integrated nature of early Revolutionary forces and the contributions of both free and formerly enslaved black Patriots. After the war, he became a respected member of the Exeter community, even testifying against a white defendant in a local murder trial—a significant civil right often not granted to blacks in many states at that time. Facing poverty in his later life, Hall applied for and was granted a veteran’s pension—a relief measure first approved in 1818.
Hall’s story is preserved in local histories as well as 19th-century accounts, such as William C. Nell’s Colored Patriots of the American Revolution (1855).
His Faith
Limited records exist about Hall’s personal faith, but he lived in a region with strong religious communities. His wife, Rhoda, came from a prominent free black family, and her brother, the Rev. Thomas Paul, was a key figure in Boston’s African Baptist Church.The United States & Slavery
Hall’s service contributed to the military victory that enabled the Declaration’s principles of natural rights to take root. The War for Independence inspired gradual emancipation as well as antislavery activism, but full abolition took not only generations but also a Civil War. Black veterans like Hall, and later his grandsons in the US Colored Troops, helped advance the journey toward racial equality.Tributes to Jude Hall
Local commemorations to Jude include a memorial stone in the Winter Street Cemetery in Exeter, New Hampshire, which is a 1743 burial ground with at least 30 American Revolution soldiers. Jude’s name is also engraved on a granite step at the American Independence Museum in Exeter, as well as on a special historic marker on the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire, which honors a dozen black veterans of the War of Independence.Legacy
Jude Hall’s remarkable military service, personal sacrifices, and his family’s ongoing fight for freedom serves as inspiration to honor worthy figures of America’s War for Independence.Last updated: June 3, 2026