{"id":1712,"date":"2012-09-20T16:50:48","date_gmt":"2012-09-20T16:50:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=1712"},"modified":"2012-09-20T16:50:48","modified_gmt":"2012-09-20T16:50:48","slug":"oliver-cromwell-an-african-american-revolutionary-war-hero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/oliver-cromwell-an-african-american-revolutionary-war-hero.html","title":{"rendered":"Oliver Cromwell: An African American Revolutionary War Hero"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oliver Cromwell was no ordinary soldier of the American Revolution. This military hero\u2019s discharge was signed by General George Washington \u201cstating that he was entitled to wear the badges of honor by reason of his honorable services.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cromwell\u2019s story first appeared in a newspaper interview conducted when he was 100 years old by a reporter of the Burlington Gazette<\/em> (Burlington, New Jersey) in 1905, which was reprinted by the Trenton Evening Times<\/em>. As the newspaper article noted: \u201cthough feeble, his lips trembling at every word, when he spoke of [General George] Washington his eyes sparkled with enthusiasm.\u201d<\/p>\n

The archive of old newspapers in GenealogyBank is packed with thousands of these firsthand accounts of military service in the Revolutionary War, adding a personal touch to the facts of many of these early American military battles.<\/p>\n

In that 1905 interview, Cromwell told of his Revolutionary War service crossing the Delaware \u201cwith his beloved commander\u2026on the memorable Christmas night [in] 1776.\u201d<\/p>\n

The old newspaper article adds that Cromwell: \u201ctook part in the battle of Trenton, and helped to \u2018knock the British about lively at Princeton.\u2019 He also fought at the Revolutionary War battles of Short Hills, Brandywine, Monmouth and Springfield, where he was severely wounded, and saw the last man killed at York town.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"interview<\/a>
Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, New Jersey), 11 April 1905, page 5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A few days after Cromwell\u2019s death, the local Burlington Gazette<\/em> published an editorial calling for the erection of a monument in honor of the Revolutionary War hero.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd thus, one by one, the men who purchased with their blood the liberty we now enjoy, are going off the stage\u2026We suggest whether it would not be proper to erect some suitable monument over his grave\u2026it will be pleasant to know that the people of Burlington felt sufficient interest in him, to mark the spot where his ashes are buried.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reprint in the Trenton Evening Times<\/em> notes: \u201cUnfortunately no such monument was ever erected and there is nothing to indicate the last resting place of Oliver Cromwell.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oliver Cromwell lived in a different time and place, and life was more difficult than it would have been for him now. He was African American, one of the many that served in the American Revolution. Though honored by General Washington, his pension was revoked by a local pension agent. \u201cTears fell from his eyes when he told of his discharge being taken from him by the pension agent.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1984, this plaque was placed on the property where his home once stood.<\/p>\n

\"plaque<\/a>
Photo from the official Burlington County, New Jersey, website<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His grave has been located in the cemetery at Broad Street Methodist Church in Burlington, New Jersey. The local historical society was named in his honor in 1983.<\/p>\n

Oliver Cromwell (1752-1853), one of \u201cthe men who purchased with their blood the liberty we now enjoy,\u201d was \u201crespected by our citizens\u201d then and remembered to this day.<\/p>\n

See what other American Revolutionary War veterans\u2019 stories you can find in GenealogyBank\u2019s online historical newspaper archives. There are many more stories of Revolutionary War heroes like Oliver Cromwell waiting for you to discover.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oliver Cromwell was no ordinary soldier of the American Revolution. This military hero\u2019s discharge was signed by General George Washington \u201cstating that he was entitled to wear the badges of honor by reason of his honorable services.\u201d Cromwell\u2019s story first appeared in a newspaper interview conducted when he was 100 years old by a reporter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12713],"tags":[64,2452,517,1902,5277,5282,1731,45,5289,5302,1658,2233,12,558,465,5354,1070,432,27,836,2448,5370,441,1130],"class_list":["post-1712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-genealogy-research-tips","tag-african-american","tag-african-american-veterans","tag-american-revolution","tag-american-revolutionary-war","tag-battle-of-trenton","tag-british","tag-burlington","tag-christmas","tag-church","tag-death","tag-family-history-2","tag-family-research","tag-genealogy","tag-george-washington","tag-historical-newspapers","tag-life","tag-military","tag-new-jersey","tag-newspapers","tag-nj","tag-oliver-cromwell","tag-people","tag-revolutionary-war","tag-veterans"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1712\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}