Charles Lines (Charlestown Lyndes)

Quick Facts

Significance:

Patriot of Color at the Battle of Bunker Hill

Place of Birth:

Malden, Massachusetts(?)

Date of Birth:

Circa 1747

Place of Death:

West Point, New York(?)

Date of Death:

March 29, 1781

The following is from the 2004 National Park Service study Patriots of Color researched and prepared by George Quintal:

 

Charles Lines, sometimes called Charlestown Lyndes, was born circa 1747.^I

He joined the eight month’s service from Malden on 23 May 1775 in the company of Capt. Edward Blake, in Col. Jonathan Brewer’s regiment.^II This unit served at the Battle of Bunker Hill on the diagonal line between the redoubt and the breastwork. He was listed on an ‘order for bounty coat or its equivalent in money dated Cambridge Camp’ on 25 October 1775, in Capt. Aaron Haynes’ company.^III

There is no record of 1776 service.

On 20 February 1777, he enlisted from Malden^IV for three years in the Continental Army in Capt. Robert Allen’s company, in Col. Ichabod Alden’s regiment.^V This unit served in the Saratoga campaign and also at the Massacre at Cherry Valley (NY), where his Colonel was killed.

From 1 January 1780 to 31 December 1780, he served in Capt. Jacob Wales’ company, in Col. Thomas Marshall’s 10^th regiment. He is ‘reported a negro’ and listed on a descriptive roll at West Point on 12 February 1780:^VI

age: 33 yrs. (also given as 23)
stature: 4 ft. 9 in. (also given as 5 ft. 4 in.)
complexion: Black
hair: black
residence: Charlestown (also given as Charlton)

By 1 January 1781, he had transferred to Capt. Jonathan Turner’s company, in the 10^th Massachusetts now under Col. Benjamin Tupper. He died in the service, probably at West Point and probably of smallpox, on 29 March 1781.^VII

Footnotes:

1. Birth date backwardly-computed, based on age in military descriptive roll.
2. Secretary of Commonwealth. Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War (1896-1908), 9:834, listed as ‘Lines, Charles.’ Also 2-CD Family Tree Maker^TM set “Military Records: Revolutionary War.”
3. Ibid 10:84, listed as ‘Lynes, Charles.’
4. Ibid 10:82, listed as ‘Lynds, Charlestown.’
5. Ibid 10:80; also, Ibid 9:834, under ‘Lines, Charles.’
6. Ibid 9:384.
7. Ibid.

Learn more about Quintal's study.