
FRESH STUFF DAILY
Seacoast New Hampshire
& South Coast Maine
Subscribe To Our Newsletter
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ddb
cialia or viagro canadian pharmacy viagra on line in australia no prescription canadian pharmacy cialis viagra levitra online vicodine canadian oharmacy canadian cialis united pharmacy buy cialis no prescription online pharmacy buy propecia without prescription propecia with out a prescription 25mg viagra with no prescription viagra canada pharmacy viagra canadian canadian pharmacy no prescription viagra canada prescription pharmacy online pharmacy to buy phentermine buying viagra cialis generic pharmacy viagra buy viagra online canada levitra online Levitra 10 mg
0
|
Untangling the Prince Whipple Legend
|
|
|
|
Written by J. Dennis Robinson
|
|
Page 1 of 3
NH BLACK HISTORY
Prince Whipple was among 180 New Hampshire blacks who fought in the Revolutionary War. But was he at Valley Forge with George Washington? Historians now think not. So then why is the Internet filled with stories saying that he was? Well, that little rumor is partly out fault. Here’s how it all got started.and why we're glad it did.
MORE NH Black History
I confess. I did not start the rumors about Prince Whipple, but I certainly spread them far and wide. According to legend, an enslaved man from Portsmouth, New Hampshire was with Gen. George Washington at Valley Forge. I got the story ten years ago from historian Valerie Cunningham, who discovered it in the writings of historian William C. Nell. Nell heard about Prince Whipple while writing his breakthrough book Colored Patriots of the American Revolution that was published in 1855. This amazing volume chronicles the lives of black Revolutionaries who fought and died in the war that freed Americans from the shackles of British tyranny – white Americans, at least. Enslaved black veterans remained slaves.
Prince Whipple did accompany William Whipple of Portsmouth during the Revolution. William was one of three New Hampshire men to sign the Declaration of Independence. As a founding father, he has been elevated to a position of honor in American history. The Whipple family purchased Prince at auction when he was a child. Nell suggests that the boy was descended from royalty, but there is no way to verify that Prince was really a "prince" from Amabou, Africa. Prince was a name commonly given to slaves who were stripped of their African or Caribbean identity and assigned the owner’s surname. Classical names like Pompey, Caesar, Venus and Prince may have been a means of further segregating blacks in the household from their white "family" members.
Nell places William and Prince Whipple with Washington in the famous camp at Valley Forge. As everyone knows, Washington crossed the icy Delaware River secretly at night and defeated the British at Trenton in a turning point moment in the Revolution. As everyone also knows, there is a dramatic painting of that event. It has been hanging in the Metropolitan Museum of Art for more than a century. Washington stands upright and unflinching in the boat, an American flag flying, as a dozen oarsmen battle the current and floating blocks of ice. In the gigantic 1851 painting by Emmanuel Leutze, the man rowing by Washington’s knee is black. Possibly, WC Nell suggested, the man is Prince Whipple of Portsmouth, NH.
I never actually said Prince was in the painting. I simply suggested in a 1997 essay that the man might be Prince. Although the melodramatic painting is by no means a factual depiction of the event, German artist Emmanuel Leutze was very concerned with the figures he placed in the boat. He chose to include a black figure because there were African Americans at Valley Forge. Although Leutze likely never heard the Prince Whipple story, there have been art critics and historians since who made the connection. Other slave names from other states have been suggested, but Prince Whipple has been the most popular. I simply jumped on the bandwagon back in ’97 and began waving the New Hampshire flag.
The article ran in a local newspaper an I posted the story on the Internet among hundreds of other essays. A few months later I got an email from historian Blaine Whipple who explained that, according to his exhaustive research, William Whipple was 130 miles away in Baltimore while Washington and 6,000 ragged, starving troops crossed the Delaware. I posted Blaine’s letter on my web site with a promise to correct my story. I didn’t get right to it. Life intervened. I finally fixed the details yesterday – about nine years later.
Continue with PRINCE WHIPPLE LEGEND
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 Next > End >>
|
Please visit these SeacoastNH.com ad partners.
Portsmouth Herald
|
Portsmouth Herald Latest Headlines
|
| Portsmouth Herald News from SeacoastOnline.com |
-
Thief stole charity jar from donut shop, say police
PORTSMOUTH — While a Dunkin' Donuts clerk turned her back to fill an order, Derrick Rice stole a counter-top jar filled with donations for children with cancer, allege police.
-
Portsmouth police log
7:08 a.m. Arrested Shari Webber, 29, of 258 Leslie Dr., for a count of driving after alcohol-related suspension.
-
City resident arrested on child porn charges
PORTSMOUTH — Eight months after a woman accused him of viewing child pornography, a Salmon Avenue man has been arrested on multiple counts of possessing child porn and a single...
-
Boys soccer: STA falls in double overtime
EXETER — For 110 minutes the St. Thomas Aquainas and Coe-Brown High School boys soccer teams battled for a spot in the Class I final, taking a 0-0 game into...
-
High School football: Clippers need to start strong
Like a stubborn man who refuses to take his medication, the Portsmouth High School football team has been living dangerously this season.
-
High School football: Weekend game capsules
WINNACUNNET VS. SPAULDING
-
Montreal edges Bruins in shootout
BOSTON — Patrice Bergeron's goal with 52 seconds left in regulation helped the Bruins avoid a historic third straight shutout, but Michael Cammalleri scored in the shootout to give the...
-
Little Clippers advance
-
High School football: Playoffs begin with York and Portsmouth
If you look at the Mountain Valley High School football team's two most recent games — losses to second-seeded York (33-14) and top-seeded Cape Elizabeth (34-0) ˆ' you might conclude...
-
UNH hockey regroups after Wisconsin losses
After spending much of their time in scrambling to get the puck out of their own zone against Wisconsin last weekend, the University of New Hampshire men's hockey team is...
-
Seacoast mourning Bavicchi, a 'visionary'
PORTSMOUTH — There is a granite slab outside the Shoals Building at Portsmouth Regional Hospital that recognizes the tireless work of three men who guided the health care facility to...
-
Ferris G. Bavicchi
RYE BEACH — Ferris G. Bavicchi, 84, died Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009, at Portsmouth Regional Hospital.
-
Stephen M. Carroll
PORTSMOUTH — Stephen Michael Carroll, beloved son, brother and uncle, died peacefully Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009, after a brief illness.
-
William C. Wilson
HAMPTON — William C. Wilson of Hampton Beach and Cape Coral, Fla., husband of Maryann T. (Fitzgerald), died Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009.
-
Gov. Lynch helps Red Cross honor 'Heroes'
PORTSMOUTH — Heroes may not be as rare as thought.
-
Community asked to welcome home Jordyn Boucher
BRENTWOOD — Jordyn Boucher is coming home after a two-month stay at Children's Hospital in Boston, and her family is asking the Seacoast community to help welcome her.
-
Plea deal follows police call alleging man had firearm
RYE — Arrested after police responded to a 911 call about an intoxicated man with a gun, Sean Tichey was absolved of a Class A misdemeanor Thursday as part of...
-
UNH study: Child porn probes take physical, mental toll on police
PORTSMOUTH — Police officers exposed to child pornography as part of criminal investigations live with "mental health problems," according to a University of New Hampshire study based on interviews with...
-
Woman on trek to feed need in Maine
If you see a lively lady in a bright yellow hard hat walking along the highways and streets of Maine, be sure to stop and say hello — and while...
-
Portsmouth shop to give away cupcakes Saturday
PORTSMOUTH — If there's one thing Debbie Mugherini, owner of the Old Stove Bake Shoppe, wants people to take away from her shop, it's a smile.
|
|
|
|
|
| Saturday, November 07, 2009 |
|
|
|