USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Concord > History of the siege of Boston, and of the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill. Also an account of the Bunker Hill Monument. With illustrative documents > Part 17
USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > History of the siege of Boston, and of the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill. Also an account of the Bunker Hill Monument. With illustrative documents > Part 17
USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lexington > History of the siege of Boston, and of the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill. Also an account of the Bunker Hill Monument. With illustrative documents > Part 17
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It is worthy of remark, that, though the general evidently considered it to be important to make out a strong case for himself, he does not state that the original detachment was put under his command, or that he ordered the battle. The authority for this statement, if the depositions of the soldiers
1 The committee, in reply, dated June 18, 1776, state that General Putnam's conduct " while in Cambridge, in every respect, and more especially as a general, (without having it set forth,) we hold in the highest veneration, and ever shall."
Again, the committee state : "Nothing was ever aimed at treating you or yours unbecoming the many obligations that we are under for the extraordi- nary services you have done to this town, which must always be acknowl- edged with the highest gratitude, not only by us, but by rising generations." These extracts, and the one in the text, are taken from original letters, for which I am indebted to J. Harlow, Esq.
How widely different is this language of gratitude and justice from the disparaging language of later date! Rising generations have not always acknowledged the patriotism of this brave and noble-hearted man.
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be excepted, appears to rest mainly, if not entirely, on con- versations held with General Putnam. Without intending to question the honor or the veracity of any one, it is more rea- sonable to conclude that the facts communicated by the general have not been stated exactly and with the proper discrimina- tions, than it is to conclude that so many independent con- temporary authorities are incorrect in stating that the first detachment was placed under the orders of Colonel Prescott.
Colonel Prescott, therefore, was the only regular commander of the party who fortified Breed's Hill. He was detached on a special service, and he faithfully executed his orders. He filled at the redoubt, the most important post, the duty of a commanding officer, from the hour that ground was broken until it was abandoned. He detached guards to the shores, directed the labor of the works, called councils of war, made applications to General Ward for reinforce- ments, posted his men for action, fought with them until resistance was unavailing, and gave the order to retreat. General officers came to this position, but they did not give him an order, nor interfere with his dispositions. When Gen- eral Warren, for instance, entered the redoubt, Colonel Pres- cott tendered to him the command; but Warren replied that he had not received his commission, and should serve as a volun- teer. "I shall be happy," he said, "to learn from a soldier of your experience." Colonel Prescott, therefore, was left in uncontrolled possession of his post. Nor is there any proof that he gave an order at the rail fence, or on Bunker Hill. But he remained at the redoubt, and there fought the battle with such coolness, bravery,1 and discretion, as to win the unbounded applause of his contemporaries, and to deserve,
1 The bravery of Colonel Prescott has been universally acknowledged. Thus, Samuel Adams, September 26, 1775, writes to Elbridge Gerry : " Until I visited head quarters, at Cambridge, I never heard of the valor of Prescott at Bunker's Hill." Hon. Daniel Webster, in the North American Review, 1818, says : "In truth, if there was any commander-in-chief in the field, it was Prescott. From the first breaking of the ground to the retreat, he acted the most important part ; and if it were proper to give the battle a name, from any distinguished agent in it, it should be called Prescott's battle." See also Colonel Swett's history, and Rev. Geo. E. Ellis' oration.
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COLONEL PRESCOTT.
through all time, the admiration and gratitude of his coun- trymen.
Colonel Prescott, the son of Hon. Benjamin Prescott, of Groton, was born in 1726. He served with distinction as lieutenant of a company of foot, under General Winslow, at the capture of Cape Breton. He was invited to accept a com- mission in the regular army, which he declined. He became a warm patriot, and was chosen to command the regiment of minute-men. On the Lexington alarm, he promptly marched to the scene of action at their head. He continued in the service through the year 1776, at New York; and when the Americans retreated from the city, he brought off his men in such good order as to be publicly commended by Washington. He served as a volunteer under General Gates, at the capture of Burgoyne. He retired to Pepperell, set off from Groton in 1753, where he lived on his farm, dispensing a generous hos- pitality, until his death. His last military service was in the Shays insurrection of 1786, when he repaired to. Concord with his side-arms to protect the court. He was an acting magistrate during the remainder of his life. He died in Pep- perell, October 13, 1795. A simple tablet over his grave bears an inscription stating his name, the date of his death, and his age.
Colonel Prescott was over six feet in height, of strong and intelligent features, with blue eyes and brown hair. He was bald on the top of his head, and wore a tie wig. He was large and muscular, but not corpulent. He was kind in his disposition, plain but courteous in his manners; of a limited education, but fond of reading; never in a hurry, and cool and self-possessed in danger.1
1 Colonel Prescott married Abigail Hale, of Sutton, who died October 21, 1821, aged 88. They had one son, Hon. William Prescott, of Boston, rep- resentative, senator, and judge, who died in 1844, - sustaining through life a character which, for modest talent, substantial learning, and absolute fidel- ity in every relation of life, was such as rarely adorns the walks of profes- sional excellence. Judge Prescott's memoir of the battle has been used with a reliance warranted by the clear intellect and high probity of its author.
Judge Prescott married Catherine G. Hickling, daughter of Thomas Hick- ling, Esq., of the Island of St. Michael's. Of their seven children four died in infancy. Edward G., an Episcopalian clergyman, died in 1844 ; Elizabeth
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General Putnam exhibited throughout that bravery and generous devotion that formed a part of his nature. Though of limited education, fiery and rough in speech, he was a true patriot, and a fine executive officer. He was in com- mand of the Connecticut troops stationed in Cambridge, and shared with them the peril and glory of this remarkable day. In a regularly organized army his appearance on the field, by virtue of his rank, would have given him the command. But it was an army of allies, whose jealousies had not yielded to the vital principle of subordination; and he was present rather as the patriotic volunteer than as the authorized general com- mander. He exercised an important agency in the battle. He was received as a welcome counsellor, both at the laying out of the works and during the morning of the engagement. Besides being in the hottest of the action at the rail fence and on Bunker Hill, -fighting, beyond a question, with daring intrepidity, -he was applied to for orders by the reinforce- ments that reached the field, and he gave orders without being applied to. Some of the officers not under his immediate command respected his authority, while others refused to obey him.1 But no service was more brilliant than that of tlie Con- nectient troops, whom he was authorized to command. And that he was not as successful in leading the Massachusetts troops into action ought, in justice, to- be ascribed neither to his lack of energy nor of conduct, but to the hesitancy of inexperienced troops, to the want of spirit in their officers, and to the absence of subordination and discipline in the army.
married Hon. Franklin Dexter ; and William Hickling is the historian of Ferdinand and Isabella, who is adding so much reputation to the name. He married the grand-daughter of Captain Linzee, who commanded the sloop-of-war Falcon, that cannonaded the works on Breed's Hill. The swords used by Colonel Prescott and by Captain Linzee on the 17th June are now crossed on the walls of the fine library of the historian. Colonel Pres- cott's is quite a neat looking rapier. - Butler's Groton. Ms. Letter of a rel- ative of Colonel P.
' Captain Trevett, (Mass.,) for instance, applied to General Putnam for orders ; while Colonel Sergeant, (N. Hampshire,) in a letter, Ms., dated Dec. 20, 1825, writes : That Putnam " sent an officer to order me on to the hill ; but finding I did not attend to his order, he sent a second, who I took no notice of. A third came open-mouthed, saying," &c.
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GENERAL PUTNAM.
He did not give an order to Colonel Prescott, nor was he in the redoubt during the action.1 .
" The mass of matter relative to General Putnam's movements on this day presents the following account of them as the most probable :-- On the evening of June 16, he joined the detachment at Charlestown Neck ; took part in the consultation as to the place to be fortified ; returned in the night to Cambridge ; went to the heights, on the firing of the Lively, but immediately returned to Cambridge ; went again to the heights about ten o'clock ; was in Cambridge after the British landed ; ordered on the Connecticut troops, and then went to the heights ; was at the rail fence at the time the action commenced ; was in the heat of the battle, and during its continuance made great efforts to induce the reinforcements to advance to the lines ; urged labor on works at Bunker Hill ; was on the brow of this hill when the retreat took place ; retreated with that part of the army that went to Prospect Hill, and remained here through the night. He was on horseback, and in a few minutes' space of time could be not only at any part of the heights, but even at Cambridge. It is not, therefore, at all strange, that statements made by the soldiers as to the time when, and the place where, they saw the general, amid the confusion of so terrific a scene, cannot be reconciled ; and more especially as these statements were made after an expiration of forty or fifty years.
The extracts on page 165 will show how General Putnam stood with his contemporaries at Cambridge. The following extract from an article on the battle, printed in the Connecticut Courant in 1775, shows the popular feel- ing : "In this list of heroes, it is needless to expatiate on the character and bravery of Major-general Putnam, whose capacity to form and execute great designs is known through Europe, and whose undaunted courage and martial abilities strike terror through all the hosts of Midianites, and have raised him to an incredible height in the esteem and friendship of his American brethren ; it is sufficient to say, that he seems to be inspired by God Almighty with a military genius, and formed to work wonders in the sight of those uncircum- cised Philistines, at Boston and Bunker Hill, who attempt to ravage this country and defy the armies of the living God."
The officers of the army bear testimony to General Putnam's value and bravery. He was not a great general, but he was a useful officer. Thus Washington, January 30, 1776, writes : " General Putnam is a valuable man and a fine executive officer ;" and in March, 1776, he was selected to lead four thousand men in the contemplated attack on Boston. On hearing of this proposed attack, Joseph Reed, Washington's private secretary for some time, wrote to Washington, March 15, as follows : " I suppose Old Put was to command the detachment intended for Boston on the 5th instant, as I do not know any officer but himself who could have been depended on for so hazardous a service."- Reed's Life, vol. I., p. 172. So true was the saying of him, that " He dared to lead where any dared to follow." Again : when the British landed at Long Island, Reed writes to his wife : " General Putnam was made happy by obtaining leave to go over -, the brave old
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General Warren exerted great influence in the battle. Hav- ing served zealously and honorably in the incipient councils that put in motion the machinery of the Revolution, he had decided to devote his energies to promote it in its future battle-fields. He was accordingly elected major-general on the 14th of June, but had not received his commission on the day of the battle. Though he is understood to have opposed the measure of occupying so exposed a post as Bunker Hill, yet he avowed the intention, if it should be resolved upon, to share the peril of it; and to the affectionate remonstrance of Elbridge Gerry he replied : Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori. On the 16th of June he officiated as president of the Provincial Con- gress, passed the night at Watertown, and though indisposed, repaired on the morning of the 17th to Cambridge, where he threw himself on a bed. When he learned that the British would attack the works on Breed's Hill, he declared his head- ache to be gone; and, after meeting with the committee of safety, armed himself and went to Charlestown. A short time before the action commenced, he was seen in conversa- tion with General Putnam, at the rail fence, who offered to receive his orders. General Warren declined to give any, but asked " Where he could be most useful ?" Putnam directed him to the redoubt, remarking, that "There he would be cov- ered." "Don't think," said Warren, "I come to seek a place of safety ; but tell me where the onset will be most furious." Putnam still pointed to the redoubt. "That is the enemy's object, and if that can be defended the day is ours." General Warren passed to the redoubt, where the men received him with enthusiastic cheers. Here, again, he was tendered the command, by Colonel Prescott. But Warren declined it, - said that he came to encourage a good cause, and gave the cheering assurance that a reinforcement of two thousand were on their way to aid them. He mingled in the fight, behaved with great bravery, and was among the last to leave the redoubt. He was lingering, even to rashness, in his retreat. He had proceeded but a few rods, when a ball struck him in man was quite miserable at being kept here." - p. 220. No higher military testimony than this can be adduced, for Reed was a soldier, and as capable of judging as any person in the army.
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GENERAL WARREN.
the forehead, and he fell to the ground. On the next day vis- itors to the battle-field - among them Dr. Jeffries and young Winslow, afterwards General Winslow, of Boston-recognized his body, and it was buried on the spot where he fell. After the British evacuated Boston, the sacred remains were sought after, and again identified. In April they were re-interred, with appropriate ceremonies, when Perez Morton delivered a eulogy. They were first deposited in the Tremont Cemetery, and subsequently in the family vault under St. Paul's Church, in Boston.
The intelligence of his death spread a gloom over the coun- try. The many allusions to him, in contemporary letters and in the journals, indicate how strong a hold he had on the affections of his countrymen. "The ardor of dear Dr. War- ren," says one, " could not be restrained by the entreaty of his brethren of the Congress, and he is, alas, among the slain ! May eternal happiness be his eternal portion." Mrs. Adams, July 5, writes : "Not all the havoc and devastation they have made has wounded me like the death of Warren. We want him in the senate; we want him in his profession; we want him in the field. We mourn for the citizen, the senator, the physician, and the warrior." General Howe could hardly credit the report that the president of Congress was among the killed; and when assured of it by Dr. Jeffries, he is said to have declared that this victim was worth five hundred of their men. Nor was his death known for a certainty at Can- bridge, until a few days after the battle. On the 19th of June, the vote of the Provincial Congress, in assigning a time to choose his successor, says he was " supposed to be killed."
Eloquence and song, the good and the great, have united in eulogy on this illustrious patriot and early martyr to the cause of the freedom of America. No one personified more completely the fine enthusiasm and the self-sacrificing patriot- ism that first rallied to its support. No one was more widely beloved, or was more highly valued. The language of the committee of safety, who knew his character, and appreciated his service, though brief, is full, touching and prophetic. " Among the dead was Major-general Joseph Warren ; a man whose memory will be endeared to his countrymen, and to
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the worthy in every part and age of the world, so long as virtue and valor shall be esteemed among mankind." 1
1 The contemporary accounts of the death of General Warren differ much from each other ; so, also, do the subsequent statements of the soldiers who aver that they saw him fall. Among the relations is that of the connection of Major Small with his death. Colonel Trumbull states, March 30, 1818, that when in London, in 1786, Colonel Small gave him two anecdotes of the battle of Bunker Hill. One - that on the second attack, General Putnam saved his (Small's) life, by rushing forward and striking up the muzzles of guns aimed at him : and the other - that on the capture of the redoubt, Small endeavored to save the life of Warren. Seeing him fall, Small ran to him, spoke to him; but he only looked up, smiled, and died. Major Alexander Garden, also, heard Small's story, and in a letter dated June 2, 1818, says, " I myself heard the British General Small, in the year 1791, when I passed the summer in England, declare, that to the friendship of Putnam he owed his life at the battle of Bunker's Hill, for that when left almost alone, he pre- vented his men from firing on him, repeatedly saying, " Kill any but him, but spare Small." Major Garden further states, that he met Small at Major Pinckney's, where he was sitting to Colonel Trumbull for his portrait. " He has paid me the compliment of endeavoring to save the life of Warren, (said the general,) but the fact is, that life had fled before I saw his remains." These incidents, however, wear too much the air of romance to be implicitly relied upon. That Major Small felt grateful for an interference at some time in his behalf is undoubtedly true. It might have been the incident given on page 79.
The concluding portion of Captain Chester's excellent letter on the battle is lost. I regret that endeavors to recover it have proved unsuccessful. It is not improbable that it contains something about Warren. In the " Eulogium," printed in 1781, the following passage, coinciding with other accounts of his gallantry, indicates that Warren's last words were addressed to Captain Chester : -
" Ah, fatal ball! Great Warren feels the wound, Spouts the black gore ! the shades his eyes surround ; Then instant calls, and thus bespeaks with pain
The mightiest captain of his warring train :-
Chester,* 't is past ! All earthly prospects fly, Death smiles ! and points me to yon radiant sky.
My friends, my country, force a tender tear, -
Rush to my thoughts, and claim my parting care. When countries groan by rising woes oppressed, Their sons by bold exploits attempt relief.
* Col. John Chester, of Wethersfield, in the State of Connecticut, then a captain, who behaved with the greatest intrepidity in the battle of Bunker Hill.
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GENERAL POMEROY.
General Seth Pomeroy behaved so well in the battle, that in some of the accounts he is assigned a separate command. Thus President John Adams, in a letter,1 (June 19, 1818, ) says : " Who was the first officer of Massachusetts, on Bunker Hill or Breed's Hill ? I have always understood, he was Colonel Pomeroy, or General Pomeroy. Colonel Prescott might be the most determined, persevering, and efficacious officer of Massa- chusetts; but Pomeroy was certainly his superior in com- mand." General Pomeroy was a veteran of the French wars, as brave as he was patriotic. It is admitted that he also served as a volunteer. He requested of General Ward a horse to take him to the field, and one was supplied. On his arrival at Charlestown Neck, he declined to expose the horse to the severe fire that raked it, and coolly walked across. He joined
Already, long, unaided we've withstood Albion's whole force, and bathed the fields with blood. No more, my friend, our country asks no more ; Wisdom forbids to urge the unequal war. No longer trust your unavailing might, Haste, - lead our troops from the unequal fight ! - Farewell! - Senates shall hail you with their glad acclaim, - And nations learn to dread Columbia's name. He could no more ! - thick mists obscure his eyes, And from his cheeks the rosy color flies. His active soul, disburdened of its clay, To distant regions wings its rapid way."
1 President Adams, in this letter, makes the following remarks in relation to the army : " The army at Cambridge was not a national army, for there was no nation. It was not an United States army, for there were no United States. It was not an army of united colonies, for it could not be said in any sense that the colonies were united. The centre of their union, the Congress of Philadelphia, had not adopted nor acknowledged the army at Cambridge. It was not a New England army, for New England had not associated. New England had no legal legislature, nor any common executive authority, even upon the principles of original authority, or even of original power in the people. Massachusetts had her army, Connecticut her army, New Hamp- shire her army, and Rhode Island her army. These four armies met at Cambridge, and imprisoned the British army in Boston. But who was the sovereign of this united, or rather congregated, army, and who its com- mander-in-chief ? It had none. Putnam, Poor, and Greene were as inde- pendent of Ward as Ward was of them."
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the force at the rail fence, and was received with cheers. He fought with great spirit, and kept with the troops until the retreat. His musket was shattered by a ball, but he retained it, and with it continued to animate the men. He thought it strange that Warren, "the young and chivalrous soldier," says Colonel Swett, " the eloquent and enlightened legislator, should fall, and he escape, old and useless, unhurt." Soon after the battle, he declined, on account of age, the appoint- ment of first brigadier-general of the army, but as colonel commanded a regiment in the Jerseys. His exposure brought on pleurisy, and he died at Peekskill, New York.
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PRESCOTT'S REGIMENT.
CHAPTER VII.
Services of the Regiments. Notices of the Officers. Numbers engaged. British Criticism. Destruction of Charlestown.
IT is difficult to assign with precision the credit due to the American regiments engaged in the Bunker Hill battle. None of the early accounts mention them in detail. No official report specifies the service they performed. And the only guide, in the printed material of 1775, is a list of the killed and wounded of each regiment, that appeared in a Providence newspaper. The official returns of the army, previous to June 17, are very imperfect, while those of a later date con- tain names of soldiers not in the action. I propose to devote a few pages to such notices of the regiments and their offi- cers, and such incidents connected with the battle, as appear authentic.1
William Prescott's regiment, from Middlesex, was commis- sioned May 26, and a return of this date is the latest, before the battle, I have seen. Its lieutenant-colonel, John Robin- son, and its major, Henry Wood, behaved with great coolness and bravery. Its adjutant, William Green, was wounded. Captains Maxwell and Farwell were badly wounded, and Lieutenants Faucett and Brown were wounded, - the former mortally, and left in the hands of the enemy. Lieut. Pres- cott, a nephew of the colonel, and probably of this regiment, received a ball in the arm, but continued to load his musket, and was passing by the sally-port to discharge it, when a cannon shot cut him in pieces.
James Frye's regiment, from Essex, was commissioned May 20. The latest return is dated May 26. James Bricket was lieutenant-colonel ; Thomas Poor, major ; Daniel Hardy, adjutant ; Thomas Kittredge, surgeon. Colonel Frye did not
I See the Appendix for a table of the companies of the several regiments, and the number of the men.
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go to Breed's Hill with his regiment on the evening of June 16, on account of indisposition ; but was in the battle, behaved with spirit, and was active in urging on reinforcements. Lieutenant-colonel Bricket, a physician, was wounded early in the action, and, with other surgeons, repaired to the north side of Bunker Hill, and remained in attendance on the wounded.
Ebenezer Bridge's regiment was commissioned May 27. Moses Parker was lieutenant-colonel ; John Brooks, major ; Joseph Fox, adjutant ; John Bridge, quartermaster. A return, dated June 23, gives but nine companies belonging to it. Though the whole regiment was ordered to parade on the 16th of June, yet, it is stated that three of its companies did not go on under Colonel Prescott. Ford's company reached the field just before the action began; and a portion of this regiment, - two companies, - under Major Brooks, were on the way to the hill when the Americans were retreating. Colonel Bridge, though wounded on the head and in the neck by a sword cut, and though he was one of the last to retreat, did not escape the scrutiny that took place in relation to the battle. It was charged against him that he kept too cau- tiously covered in the redoubt. He was tried, and acquitted on the ground of indisposition of body.
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