Francisco Menéndez: Commander of First Free Black Military Unit in North America

Francisco Menéndez, a Mandinka-born man who had been enslaved in South Carolina before escaping to Spanish Florida, was appointed captain of the Fort Mose militia in 1738, commanding the first legally recognized free Black military unit in North American history. He led his unit in repelling a British attack at the Battle of Fort Mose in 1740, and continued to serve as a military leader and privateer. His life documents extraordinary agency and leadership under extraordinary circumstances.