"Burke Davis, in and on the pages that follow, casts a bright beam of light on an aspect of the American Revolution that has, for too long, been steeped in shadow or darkness."

While history books have long extolled the white heroes of America's Revolutionary War, they have generally neglected to mention the black men and women who made enormous contributions to the winning of this country's independence. Our earliest martyr was an escaped slave, Crispus Attucks, whose "stolen" freedom ended when he fell dead in the Boston Massacre. Attucks has become a familiar name at last, but who has heard of Edward Hector, the brave wagoner of Brandywine, artilleryman and slave Austin Dabney, or William Lee, George Washington's aide and closest companion throughout the war? What student has been taught that the master spy of the Revolution was a black slave called James Armistea whose work contributed directly to the downfall of Cornwall? In what textbook has the tragic death of Lambert Latham been recorded? Black Heroes of the American Revolution is a tribute to these and to the nameless and countless others who fought gallantly in the hopes of winning their own independence—a hope that was realized by too few.

From the dust jacket