William Diamond

William Diamond was a young drummer with the Massachusetts Minutemen at the beginning of the American Revolution. On April 19, 1775, he stood with the colonial militia at Lexington and sounded the call that gathered them before British regulars arrived. In the Imagination Station, he mistook Marvin Washington for another soldier and helped introduce him to Black patriot Caesar Bason. William later traveled with the men toward Bunker Hill, where the colonists hurried to build fortifications before the next attack. His service placed a young musician close to the opening battles of the war. Through William, Marvin learned that courage on the battlefield required many kinds of contributions, including the signals that called ordinary neighbors to stand together.