His first known master was Philemon Blake of nearby Kensington,on whose farm Jude worked,who sold him to his fellow townsman Nathaniel Healy in early 1775.Jude was so distressed by the sale that he ran away from his new master and had made it far as Amherst,New Hampshire,when the first battle of the Revolution broke out at Lexington and Concord.With the uproar caused throughout New England by the war's outbreak he could have mad an easy escape.He seems to have been filled with the patriotic spirit of the day and on May 10th 1775 he enlisted as a soldier in the company of Captain Jacob Hind in Colonel James Reed's Third New Hampshire Regiment.
Jude service in the New Hampshire militia was not unsual.While New Hampshire had a 1719 statue that prohibited African Americans (along with the mental ill and "Native Americans) from serving in the militia,the law was ignored and African American soldiers were mustered,paid the same,and shared the same hardships as any other colonies, notably Massachusetts and Connecticut,was the subject of considerable debate,the same did not hold true for New Hampshire,and
nearly two hundred African American men that saw service in the state's forces have been documented.The legal condition under which New Hampshire's African American soldiers (and sailors) performed their service was varied; some were freed men, others were slaves who were freed by conscientious masters on the eve of the Revolution,and some were slaves that purchased their freedom with the bounty money they received for enlisting.Not be forgotten are those men that served in the army,sometimes as substitutes for their masters,and were only freed when their service was over,as well a small number of men that served
but never gained their freedom and remained slaves even after the war
ended. as for Jude,tradition holds that he was formally freed,by presumably by Nathaniel,after his military service was completed.
Whether or not Jude's company commander had any reservations about using African American soldiers is unknowm; if he did,his fears were quickly dispelled as Jude was a tough soldier.He fought with his regiment at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17 1775 and was "thrown headlong by a cannonball striking near him" while stationed at the rail fence at the bottom of the hill.Jude would continue serving in the Third New Hampshire until November 13 1776. He then immediately re-enlisted in Col.Nathan Hale's Second New Hampshire Regiment.The reasons for this switch are unknown,they may have been motivated by the lure of additional bounty money for additional term of service,as well as chance to serve with men from the part of the state that Jude knew well, Kensington, included.Despite the fact that Jude had ran away, the town of Kensington claimed him as one of its own soldiers; so did Amherst, where Jude had stopped his running to enlist.
The two towns would later argue over the matter,futher demonstrating that color was not an issue when it came to troop enlistment in the state.
Described on his regiment muster rolls "Negro," twenty-three years old, five feet, ten inches tall, with "black" complexion,
hair, and eyes,he became a battle-hardened veteran and served with his regiment at least through 1782. He particularly distinguished himself in the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778,gaining the nickname "Old Rock" in fighting that took place in 100 heat.Later in the war Jude served garrison duty with his regiment in the area of West Point, New York, from January to February 1783 Jude was absent on leave and may have returned to Exeter or Kensington, New Hampshire, to spend time with his future wife, Rhoda Paul.Whether or not he returned to serve with the New Hampshire Battalion until its disbandment in January 1784 is unknown but likely.It would not be until 1786 that he was paid in full for his seven years of nearly uninterrupted miluitary service.
As with many veterans, both African Americans and white, times were tough for Jude after the war, and he suffered through many economic and physical hardships, the latter no doubt aggravated by his years of grueling service. Living in and around the Former Revolution established population of free African Americans, he was warned out of town a number of times-indicating his severe poverty.In 1786 he married Rhoda Paul and they would have ten children. Life for their children was equally difficult; three of his grown children sons were kidnapped and sold into slavery, two of whom were never heard from again. For a time the family lived in a cabin in the woods near Exeter, close to a body of water called Jude's Pond, Jude was known as a skilled fisherman. The family's financial situation eased somewhat in 1818 when he began receiving a small pension for his military service. After his death, Rhoda moved to Maine and colected a wodow's pension until her death in 1844.
His service as a soldier in the American Revolution is respresntative of the valuable service peformed by large numbers of patriotic African American soldiers from New England. Though his own future freedom was assured, Jude and others like him fought as if they were indeed free men.In the case of Jude, his influence would continue beyond his own lifetime; during the Civil War two of his grandsons, Moses ( third U.S. Colored Regiment) and Aaron (Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment) Hall would enlist as soldiers undoubtedly spurred on by the legendary service of their granddaddy.
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