Nathaniel Small

Quick Facts

Significance:

Patriot of Color at the Battle of Bunker Hill

Place of Birth:

Gloucester, Massachusetts(?)

Place of Death:

Monmouth, New Jersey(?)

Date of Death:

July 13, 1778

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 Nathaniel Small.

He joined the eight month’s service from Gloucester on 30 May 1775, in the company of Capt. Barnabas Dodge in Col. Samuel Gerrish’s regiment. He is listed on a 10 June 1775 list of those who took loyalty oath required by Congress, on an August 1775 pay abstract, and on a 2 October 1775 return dated ‘Camp at Chelsea.’ His name also appears on a 27 December 1775 ‘order for money in lieu of a bounty coat, dated Chelsea,’ on which he is reported ‘a negro.’

On 13 November 1775, he signed an enlistment agreement agreeing to join the same unit (now under Lt. Col. Loammi Baldwin) in Continental Army service from 31 December 1775 for one year. A 7 December return and a 30 December 1775 list of new recruits confirm this engagement for Continental service. May and June 1776 pay abstracts show him in ‘Camp at New York.’ His unit retreated from New York to what is now Washington’s Crossing (PA) with the other remnants of Washington’s army. It is highly likely that Small was engages in the crossing of the Delaware to attack Trenton. On 1 January 1777, just after the victory at Trenton, Washington made entreaties to his men to stay in service for an extra six weeks past their enlistment. Nathaniel Small decided to remain with Washington and was probably also engaged at the Battle of Princeton just two days later.

With Gen. Burgoyne preparing to advance on northern New York, the call once again went out for soldiers to meet this serious threat. He joined the Continental Army on 16 March 1777 for a term to last the duration of the war, in the company of Capt. Amos Cogswell in Col. James Wesson’s 9^th Massachusetts regiment. This unit fought at both battles at Saratoga, spent the long winter at Valley Forge, and fought in the sweltering heat at the Battle of Monmouth (NJ) on 28 June 1778. Just two weeks after the Battle, Small died on 13 July 1778. He may have been wounded or died of disease.^I

Footnotes:

1. Secretary of Commonwealth. Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War (1896-1908), 14:316. Also 2-CD Family Tree Maker^TM set “Military Records: Revolutionary War.”

Learn more about Quintal's study.