Book Reviews 395

and bibliography will succeed in doing 
so.—Lynne F. Maxwell, Villanova University 
School of Law. 

Forgotten Patriots: African American 
and American Indian Patriots in the 
Revolutionary War: A Guide to Ser-
vice, Sources and Studies. Ed. Eric G. 
Grundset. Washington, D.C.: National 
Society Daughters of the American 
Revolution, 2008. 872p. alk. paper, $35 
(ISBN 9781892237101). 

Forgotten Patriots: African American and 
American Indian Patriots in the Revolution-
ary War: A Guide to Service, Sources and 
Studies hopes to inspire in readers an 
interest in African American, American 
Indian, and mixed descent soldiers in 
the fight for independence, as well as 
the work of the National Society of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution 
(DAR). DAR booklets on the subject led 
to the first edition in 2001. Seven years 
later, this 872-page tome expands the list 
of soldiers and sailors five-fold to 6,600 
names. The book defines the perimeters 
of military service from the Battles of 
Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, 
to the final evacuation of the British from 
New York City on November 26, 1783. 
The Massachusetts, New York, New 
Jersey, and Delaware chapters include 
sections on notable minorities preceding 
the conflict during the Boston Massacre 
in 1770, the Boston Tea Party in 1773, and 
Battle of Point Pleasant in 1774.

Following an introduction that pro-
vides context and explains documen-

tation challenges, the book organizes 
its findings into chapters that include 
historical commentaries, maps, illustra-
tions, sources, patriot names, and bibliog-
raphies. Chapters focus on Maine, New 
Hampshire and Vermont, Massachusetts, 
Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, 
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, 
South Carolina, and Georgia. A chapter 
entitled “The Old Northwest” comprises 
Illinois, Kentucky, and Ohio. Additional 
chapters cover miscellaneous naval and 
military records, foreign allies, and the 
West Indies.

Seven appendices include a map of 
the slave population based on the 1790 
census, Documenting the Color of Partici-
pants in the American Revolution, Names 
as Clues to Finding Forgotten Patriots, 
the Numbers of Minority Participants in 
the Revolution, a glossary, a master list of 
source abbreviations, and DAR contact 
information.

Copies of original documents from the 
National Archives and Records Adminis-
tration provide readers with examples of 
various types of papers useful in research 
endeavors. However, the grayscale repro-
ductions are hard to read due to their size, 
condition, and handwriting. While some 
documents include captions, transcrip-
tions would have also been helpful.

Forgotten Patriots notes that the list 
of patriot names may be open to inter-
pretation because racial terminology 
and meaning has changed over time. 
Description information is inconsistent, 
even within the same document, while 
some states like Maryland and Virginia 
did not record racial data. Other states, 
like New York, lost records of this period 
after natural disasters. Often the exami-
nation of private, local, state, and federal 
archives, as well as census records from 
1790 to 1830, helped identify race. Deci-
sions on minority ethnic background 
were based on a combination of name 
analysis, military occupation, and rank. 

Names of clear African or Native 
American derivation were often a clue to 

Index to advertisers
 

ACRL 2011 360
ACRL Publications 386
Annual Reviews 299
Brill 346-347
CHOICE 389
Counting Opinions cover 2, 295
ISTE cover 4
Joblist 301
Modern Language Assoc. cover 3, 

296, 374, 398



396 College & Research Libraries July 2010

ethnic background. The use of classical 
(that is to say, Roman or Greek) or literary 
names for enslaved people was common 
and distinct from the traditional English 
or Biblical names of those of European 
descent. However, using names alone as 
an indicator of race was problematic. For 
example, a source lists Africa Hamlin of 
Pembroke, Massachusetts, as a possible 
African American soldier; later research 
revealed that he was of European descent 
and had siblings named Asia, Europe, 
and America.

The book concentrates on groups 
defined as African American, American 
Indian, or “mixed descent” with descrip-
tors such as “mulatto” or “mustee.” Oth-
ers with African, Spanish, Portuguese, 
Azorean, Latin American, or mixed 
ancestry are also included because their 
names are indicators of African ancestry. 
The book provides additional terms, 
such as “Negro,” “free,” or “black com-
plexion,” to illustrate how an individual 
was described in eighteenth-century 
records. American Indian nations are 
included when specified. The editor 
states that a major challenge was that 
“while there are copious examples where 
a written description suggests a possible 
minority patriot when in fact subsequent 
research proves otherwise, it is much 
more difficult to identify a minority 
patriot whose description is devoid of 
any mention of color and whose name 
suggests European decadency.… It is 
well documented that by 1700, individu-
als of African descent had a presence in 
virtually every European country, often 
with names reflective of the local popu-
lace” (iv). 

This complexity is illustrated with 
the records of Massachusetts, the most 
comprehensive state in identifying Af-
rican American and American Indian 
soldiers, due to naming conventions and 
the 17-volume series Massachusetts Soldiers 
and Sailors of the Revolutionary War. Even 
with this comprehensive information, the 
Massachusetts chapter provides a sepa-
rate section for men listed with “brown 

complexions” who were found to be white 
after further research. The editor explains, 
“The use of specific colors to describe an 
individual is usually the observation of 
a ‘white’ man describing another man 
and trying to create distinctions between 
individuals. Because specific and designated 
terms such as ‘Negro,’ ‘mulatto,’ ‘mustee,’ 
‘black man,’ etc., were used to describe 
individuals of African descent or partial 
African descent, the use of terms such as 
‘ruddy,’ ‘sandy,’ ‘light,’ ‘dark,’ etc. usually 
refers to someone of European descent 
in an attempt to describe better [than] 
variations in skin tone lumped together 
by some as ‘white’” (138). 

The biggest drawback of the book is 
its lack of copyediting. Its formatting and 
spelling errors make one wonder if the 
list of patriots could be filled with inac-
curacies as well.

Despite this, Forgotten Patriots: African 
American and American Indian Patriots in 
the Revolutionary War: A Guide to Service, 
Sources and Studies offers comprehensive 
information unmatched by other publi-
cations. It is recommended for libraries 
that serve genealogists, especially those 
interested in the contributions of African 
Americans and American Indians in the 
fight for independence. The book’s low 
price, especially for a colossal hardcover, 
also allows family historians to purchase 
the volume for personal use and a starting 
point for research.—Margot Note, World 
Monuments Fund, New York, N.Y. 

Robert Allan. Virtual Research Environ-
ments: From Portals to Science Gateways. 
Oxford: Chandos Publishing, 2009. 
266p. $85 (ISBN 9787843345626).

This is a book that covers the develop-
ment of a system for doing research and 
e-science in all academic disciplines. 
Using the term “virtual research envi-
ronments” (VREs), the author explains 
how Web-based services should be 
loosely combined into portals to provide 
a comprehensive infrastructure for the 
support of research across all academic 
disciplines. The author feels that such