Private Thomas Dority*
Thomas Dority was a Black veteran of the Revolutionary War.
On April 21, 1775, two days after the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Massachusetts Committee on Safety voted to enlist 8,000 men and organize them into regiments. A week later, on April 30, 1775, Private Thomas Dority enlisted in the company of Captain James Mellen, in Colonel Jonathan Ward’s Regiment.
On May 15, 1775, Private Thomas Dority “received of the Selectmen of Natick for the use of the Massachusetts service one gun prized at sixteen shillings.”
Private Dority and the regiment saw action during the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775. The next day, Private Dority was listed on an order for cartridge boxes.
His unit, the 21st Continental Regiment, participated in the Siege of Boston which was an eleven-month period from April 19, 1775 to March 17, 1776. After serving with the 21st Continental Regiment, Private Dority was likely discharged in early 1776 at the end of his 8 month enlistment.
On August 16, 1777, Private Thomas Dority enlisted in Captain Joseph Winch’s Company in Colonel Samuel Bullard’s Regiment. Private Dority was discharged on October 7, 1777.
In 1790, Private Thomas Dority was listed as a head of household of two free people in the Natick census.
Thomas Dority was a Black veteran of the Revolutionary War. He was a citizen soldier of Natick.
On April 21, 1775, two days after the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Massachusetts Committee on Safety voted to enlist 8,000 of men and organize them into regiments. A week later, on April 30, 1775, Private Thomas Dority enlisted in the company of Capt. James Mellen, in Col. Jonathan Ward’s regiment for likely 8 months. Ward's Regiment, also known as the 21st Continental Regiment, was raised April 23, 1775, as a Massachusetts militia regiment at Cambridge, Massachusetts. The regiment joined the Continental Army in June 1775.
The colonists who fought in 1775 were primarily citizen soldiers who fought the British regulars with French-Indian War era muskets, hunting fowlers, and captured military arms. Some of the men were issued weapons. On May 15, 1775, Private Thomas Dority “received of the Selectmen of Natick for the use of the Massachusetts service one gun prized at sixteen shillings.”
Private Dority and the regiment saw action during the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775. He undoubtedly used the gun supplied by the Natick Selectmen. The next day, Private Dority was listed on an order for cartridge boxes.
His unit, the 21st Continental Regiment, participated in the Siege of Boston which was an eleven-month period from April 19, 1775 to March 17, 1776. Following the Battle of Bunker Hill, Private Thomas Dority and his fellow colonial militiamen effectively contained British troops to the peninsula of Charlestown.
After serving with the 21st Continental Regiment, Private Dority was likely discharged in early 1776 at the end of his 8 month enlistment.
On August 9, 1777, the Massachusetts General Court passed a resolution which directed that militiamen be mobilized to support the Northern Army. A week later, on August 16, 1777, Private Thomas Dority enlisted in Capt. Joseph Winch’s company in Colonel Samuel Bullard’s regiment of the militia. This unit served in the Saratoga campaign to repel the British forces led by General John Burgoyne which had captured Fort Ticonderoga on July 6, 1777. General Burgoyne’s goal was to march his 8,000 men from Montreal, Canada south following Lake Champlain, and attack Albany, New York. Following General Burgoyne’s defeat at the 2nd Battle of Saratoga in October 1777, the French decided to officially join the Revolutionary War in support of the American cause in February 1778.
Colonel Samuel Bullard’s was one of seven regiments which were organized by county. Private Dority and fellow residents of Middlesex county served in one of the eight companies that comprised Col. Bullard’s regiment. All of the companies, including Captain Winch’s, were composed of sixty-eight men including non-commissioned officers, with one captain and two lieutenants for each company.
The Massachusetts militiamen were ordinary infantrymen. They traveled as light as possible. They had no tents and slept in the open, in barns or in makeshift shelters. Private Dority’s armament, like his fellow soldiers, was a musket and 24 cartridges. These armaments were used to inflict heavy losses on the British forces during the first Battle of Saratoga on September 19, 1777.
After 7 days' travel, Private Dority was discharged on October 7, 1777. On that date the decisive second Battle of Saratoga began.
In 1790, Private Thomas Dority was listed as a head of household of two free people in the Natick census. No enslaved people were listed in the 1790 census throughout Massachusetts. This was due to the 1783 Quock Walker case effectively abolishing slavery in Massachusetts and the then territory of Maine.
Private Dority served honorably with the colonial forces and Natick is listed as his hometown on the list of Massachusetts’ African American Soldiers, Marines and Patriots of the Revolutionary War.
Note: More often than not, service, vital, and/or other historical records were created and kept by men of English and European backgrounds. They employed a wide range of descriptive terms, such as "mulatto," negro," and "dark complexion." These terms cannot fully capture any soldier's identity, but they do offer clues. In some cases, the surname of a soldier of color connects him to a Natick family that is well documented. Often, these soldiers are Indigenous men. The biographies in this project make it possible to say more not only about a soldier's identity or background, but also about the life he led in Natick and beyond.