Caesar Bason

Caesar Bason was a Black patriot who fought with the Massachusetts militia during the American Revolution. A free man and soldier, he defended his own home and liberty alongside other Minutemen at Lexington and Bunker Hill. His presence challenged Marvin Washington's mistaken belief that Black Americans had no place in the familiar story of the Revolution. Caesar helped build fortifications through the night before facing a much larger British force. During the desperate retreat from Bunker Hill, he was wounded and gave his life covering the escape of his companions. His courage showed Marvin that Black patriots were not absent from American history. They had stood, fought, and sacrificed within it from the beginning.