Then came Bunker Hill. June 17, 1775. The British charged in tight, red lines—three times. Through smoke and blood they climbed. Among them: Major John Pitcairn, who had fired the war’s first shots at Lexington. Pitcairn shouted, “The day is ours!” And then Salem raised his musket.

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Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books. "Peter Salem shoots Major Pitcairn at Bunker Hill" New York Public Library Digital Collections. . https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47df-a121-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Newly emancipated, Peter Salem enlisted. He took up a musket—not for ceremony, but survival. He fought at Lexington. At Concord. He was among the first to answer the call for liberty, though the liberty he fought for had not yet been written with men like him in mind.

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Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division. "Brave colored artilleryman" New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 25, 2025. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47df-a122-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99