James Anthony

Quick Facts

Significance:

Patriot of Color at the Battle of Bunker Hill

Place of Birth:

Natick, Massachusetts(?)

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

Nothing is known of the early life of James Anthony.^I

He joined the eight month’s service from Natick (MA) on 2 May 1775, in the company of Capt. James Mellen in Col. Jonathan Ward’s regiment.^II He is also shown in the same unit on a 26 December 1775 ‘order for bounty coat or its equivalent in money dated Dorchester.’^III

There is no record of 1776 service.

With Gen. Burgoyne preparing to advance on northern New York, the call once again went out for soldiers to meet this serious threat. He enlisted on 14 March 1777 for three years in the Continental Army, in Capt. Reuben Slayton’s company in Col. William Shepard’s 4^th Massachusetts regiment. This unit fought valiantly at both Battles of Saratoga and then spent the winter at Valley Forge. On a 30 January 1778 roll he is listed as ‘sick at home.’^IV

From July 1778 to April 1779, he was on duty in the same unit at Providence, the latter two months on command with Gen. John Glover. On 28 January 1780, he was at West Point. He was discharged 14 March 1780.^V

Footnotes:

1. Soldier description unavailable – soldier placed in database based on given (first) name alone; the name Anthony is found in the Natick and Dedham records and in all cases in considered of Indian heritage. Love, W. DeLoss, Ph.D. Samson Occum and the Christian Indians of New England (1899), 336 states that this name is common to the Narragansett Tribe of the Charlestown (RI) area.
2. Secretary of the Commonwealth. Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War (1896-1908), 1:278, listed as ‘Anthony.’ Also 2-CD Family Tree Maker^TM set “Military Records: Revolutionary War.”
3. Ibid 1:281, listed as ‘Antony.’
4. Ibid 1:278.
5. Ibid.

Learn more about Quintal's study.