Almost anywhere George Washington went during the Revolutionary War, there was a skilled, muscular, athletic horseman by his side: William Lee, a man Washington had purchased for 61 British pounds and 15 shillings in 1768.

Among the many historical events memorialized on September 11 is the Battle of Brandywine in 1777, a defeat for the Continental forces, but a significant turning point in the development of a capable United States Army.

While detailing the substantial participation by Americans of African descent in the Continental armies, its worth asking -- what was in it for them? What did they get out of it in the end? Lerone Bennett, Jr., in Before The Mayflower, refers to the early years of Independence as "the Black Pioneer period.

There were at least 21 men of African descent in the militia at Lexington and Concord in April 1775, and in the pursuit of retreating British red coats down Battle Road back to Boston. All were members of the militia. Some were "minute men" -- the elite militia force expected to move faster when called.

When Rhode Island needed more soldiers, early in 1778, both for its own defense against British invasion, and to contribute to the main Continental Army under General George Washington, the legislature reached into ancient practice, observing "history affords us frequent precedents of the wisest, the freest and bravest nations having liberated their slaves and enlisted them as soldiers to fight in defence of their country."

Long after the Revolution, myths developed of “the Continental soldier as American yeoman — the small farmer/landowner who grabbed his rifle from above his fireplace and marched willingly to war.” Not so. Less than ten percent owned property. One quarter were Irish, one eighth German, young, landless and unskilled.