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 19
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 19
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 19
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40
Captain Henry Dearborn, who afterwards became so dis- tinguished in the history of the country, both in civil and military capacities, commanded one of the companies of this regiment, and has supplied an account of the action full of interesting details.
The chaplain of the regiment, Dr. McClintock, was in the battle, animating the men by his exhortations, prayers, and intrepidity.
James Reed's regiment, consisting, June 14, of 486 rank and file, was stationed at Charlestown Neck. Israel Gilman was lieutenant-colonel; Nathan Hale, major ; Stephen Pea- body, adjutant ; Isaac Frye, quartermaster ; Ezra Green, sur- 16*
188
BUNKER HILL BATTLE.
geon. Few details have been preserved of the service of this regiment. Colonel Reed was, Colonel Swett remarks, "a highly respectable officer, and served at Ticonderoga in 1776. His letters to the New Hampshire Congress bear evidence of a patriotic spirit, while his orders to his regiment evince a good disciplinarian. No special mention appears of him in the accounts of the battle. General Folsom, however, in writing of the gallantry of the New Hampshire troops, makes no discrimination. Adjutant Peabody behaved, General Sul- livan writes, with great courage and intrepidity. William Lee, first orderly sergeant of Spaulding's company, "not only fought well himself," - say the officers and men of this com- pany, in a petition to Washington, August 10, 1775, - " but gave good advice to the men to place themselves in right order, and to stand their ground well."
The Connecticut forces at Cambridge were under the com- mand of General Putnam. His regiment (see page 100) was full, containing ten companies. Experience Storrs was his lieutenant-colonel, John Durkee his first major, and Obadiah Johnson his second major. A letter dated June 20, 1775, states that the whole of this regiment, excepting Captain Mosely's company, was in the action. Two companies that appear in the returns as belonging to General Spencer's regiment were certainly in the battle, - Chester's and Coit's. The number given - one hundred and twenty - as constituting the fatigue party that went on under Knowlton on the night of the 16th, rests on Grosvenor's letters. Chester states, that "by orders from head quarters, one subaltern, one sergeant, and thirty privates, were draughted out over night to intrench, from his company." Captain Clark, in a letter, June 17, 1818, says, he received orders from General Putnam "to detach one ensign, with twenty-eight men," to march early in the even- ing of the 16th of June. Draughts were made from Putnam's and Knowlton's company, and probably from one other.1 No order for more of the Connecticut forces to go on appears to
1 It is certain that the two hundred Connecticut men went on which Chester states were called for. Thus, Sylvester Conant, of Storrs' com- pany, was on the hill during the night ; Josiah Cleaveland states that thirty of his company went on.
189
THE CONNECTICUT TROOPS.
have been given, until General Putnam gave it, after the Brit- ish landed, about noon, on the 17th.
The conduct of the Connecticut troops is mentioned in terms of high commendation in the private letters and the journals of the time. Major Durkee; Captains Knowlton, Chester, Coit ; Lieutenants Dana, Hide, Grosvenor, Webb, Bingham, and Keyes, are specially named as deserving of credit. One letter states that the officers and soldiers under the command of Major Durkee, Captains Knowlton, Coit, Clark, and Ches- ter, and all the Connecticut troops ordered up, and some from this province, did honor to themselves and the cause of their country. An article printed directly after the battle in the Connecticut Courant says : "Captain Chester and Lieutenant Webb, who marched up to the lines and reinforced the troops, by their undaunted behavior, timely and vigorous assistance, it is universally agreed, are justly entitled to the grateful acknowledgments of their country." They went on near the close of the battle. In a letter dated July 11, 1775, and addressed to Silas Dean, Lieutenant Webb gives a vivid idea both of the hotness of the fire, and of the desperate nature of the hand-to-hand contests of the day. "For my part, I con- fess," he writes, " when I was descending into the valley, from off Bunker Hill, side by side of Captain Chester, at the head of our company, I had no more thought of ever rising the hill again than I had of ascending to heaven, as Elijah did, soul and body together. But after we got engaged, to see the dead and wounded around me, I had no other feeling but that of revenge. Four men were shot dead within five feet of me, but, thank Heaven, I escaped, with only the graze of a mus- ket ball on my hat. I think it my duty to tell you of the bravery of one of our company. Edward Brown stood side by side with Gershom Smith, in the intrenchments. Brown saw his danger, - discharged his own and Smith's gun when they came so close as to push over our small breastwork. Brown sprang, seized a regular's gun, took it from him, and killed him on the spot ; brought off the gun in triumph, and has it now by him. In this engagement we lost four brave men, and four wounded."
The conduct of Captain Thomas Knowlton elicited high
190
BUNKER HILL BATTLE.
praise. He was a native of Boxford, Massachusetts, but while a boy removed to Ashford, Connecticut. He served with distinction in the French wars, then became a prosperous farmer; and on his appearing on the Lexington alarm, as a volunteer in the Ashford militia company, to march to the camp, was unanimously elected captain. General Putnam knew his merit, and selected him to command the fatigue party to accompany Colonel Prescott. He commenced the construction of the rail fence protection, and fought here with admirable bravery and conduct, until the retreat. He received from a Bostonian a gold-laced hat, a sash and gold breast- plate, for his behavior in this battle. Soon after, he was pro- moted ; and while major, he made, January S, 1776, a daring and successful excursion into Charlestown, to burn several houses used by the British; and as lieutenant-colonel, was the confidant of Washington in the enterprise of the memor- able Nathan Hale. On the 16th of September, 1776, while exhibiting his usual intrepidity, he was killed at the battle of Harlem Heights. Washington, in the general orders, after alluding to his gallantry and bravery, and his fall while " gloriously fighting," said he " would have been an honor to any country." He was about thirty-six when he was killed.
General Ward expressed his thanks to the troops engaged in this battle, in the following order, of June 24: "The gen- eral orders his thanks to be given to those officers and soldiers who behaved so gallantly at the late action in Charlestown. Such bravery gives the general sensible pleasure, as he is thereby fully satisfied that we shall finally come off victori- ous, and triumph over the enemies of freedom and America."
So conflicting are the authorities, that the number of troops engaged, on either side, cannot be precisely ascertained. " The number of the Americans during the battle," Colonel Swett says, "was fluctuating, but may be fairly estimated at three thousand five hundred, who joined in the battle, and five hundred more, who covered the retreat." General Put- liam's estimate was two thousand two hundred. General Washington says the number engaged, at any one time, was one thousand five hundred, and this was adopted by Dr. Gordon. This is as near accuracy as can be arrived at.
191
NUMBERS ENGAGED.
General Gage, in his official account, states the British force at "something over two thousand," and yet the same ac- count acknowledges one thousand and fifty-four killed and wounded. This certainly indicates a force far larger than" two thousand. Neither British accounts, nor the British plans of the battle, mention all the regiments that were in the field. Thus, the movements of the second battalion of marines are not given; yet the official table of loss states that it had seven killed and thirty wounded; and Clarke, also, states it was not until after the Americans had retreated that General Gage sent over this second battalion, with four reg- iments of foot, and a company of artillery. Americans, who counted the troops as they left the wharves in Boston, state that five thousand went over to Charlestown; and, probably, not less than four thousand were actually engaged.
Statements were made as to the numbers engaged, in a debate in the House of Commons, December 7, 1775. The lord mayor, -Mr. Sawbridge, -said it had been very fash- ionable, both within and without doors, to stigmatize the Americans as cowards and poltroons, but he believed the truth would be found on the other side; for he was well informed that the king's troops, in the action of Bunker's Hill, consisted of twenty-five hundred men, and the pro- vincials not quite fifteen hundred; and even those fifteen hundred would have completely defeated the king's troops, if their ammunition had not been totally spent. Lord North said, he was but an indifferent judge of military operations ; but, by the best accounts he could obtain, the provincials were, at least, three to one, and were, besides, very strongly intrenched. He estimated the number of Americans at eight thousand, at least. Colonel Morris estimated the Americans at five thousand, and the British at twenty-five. hundred.
The time the battle lasted is variously stated; some ac- counts state four hours, but they include the heavy fire of artillery that covered the landing. The committee of safety (Ms.) account says: "The time the engagement lasted, from the first fire of the musketry till the last, was exactly one hour and a half." The losses of individuals in the battle were allowed by the colonies, and there are hundreds of peti-
192
BUNKER HILL BATTLE.
tions from the soldiers in it. They often state the number of times the petitioner discharged his musket. Thus, one says : " He discharged his piece more than thirty times, within fair gun-shot, and he is confident he did not discharge it in vain." Another says: "He had an opportunity of firing seventeen times at our unnatural enemies, which he cheerfully improved, being a marksman." Several letters unite in stating the time of the action at one hour and a half. The general battle, with small arms, began about half past three, and ended about five.1
The following is the record in General Ward's orderly book, -the only reference to the battle it contains, -of the loss of the Americans: "June 17. The battle of Charlestown was fought this day. Killed, one hundred and fifteen; wounded, three hundred and five; captured, thirty .? Total,
1 No mention is made of colors being used on either side. At one of the patriotic celebrations of 1825, a flag was borne which was said to have been unfurled at Bunker Hill; and tradition states that one was hoisted at the redoubt, and that Gage and his officers were puzzled to read by their glasses its motto. A Whig told them it was -" Come if you dare !" In the eulogy on Warren is the following, in a description of the astonishment of the British on seeing the redoubt : -
" Soon as Aurora gave the golden day, And drove the sable shades of night away, Columbia's troops are seen in dread array, And waving streamers in the air display."
In a Ms. plan of the battle, colors are represented in the centre of each British regiment.
2 The following list of prisoners taken by the British June 17 appeared in the journals of September, 1775 : -
Lieutenant-colonel Parker, . . Chelmsford, Dead.
Captain Benjamin Walker, . . Chelmsford, 66
Lieutenant Amaziah Fausett, Groton, 66 Lieutenant William Scott, . Peterborough, Alive.
Sergeant Robert Phelps, Lancaster, . Dead.
Phineas Nevers, Windsor, .
Oliver Stevens, . Townsend,
Daniel McGrath, Unknown,
John Perkins, . New Rutland, Alive.
Jacob Frost, Tewskbury, 66
193
LOSS OF THE AMERICANS.
four hundred and fifty." They, also, lost five pieces of can- non out of six, and a large quantity of intrenching tools. The following table shows the loss sustained by each reg- iment, and presents a somewhat different result :-
Killed. Wounded.
Killed. Wounded.
Prescott's, 42
28
Gridley's, Ward's,
0
4
Bridge's, .
15
29
1
6
Frye's, 15 31 Scammans', 0 2
Brewer's, 7 11 Gerrish's, . 3 2
Little's, 7 23 Whitcomb's, 5 8
Gardner's, 6
Nixon's, 3
10
Reed's, 5 21
Woodbridge's, I
5 Putnam & Coit Co., 11 26
Doolittle's, 0
9
Chester's Co., 4 4
Killed, 140; wounded, 271;1 captured, 30.
Some of the dead were buried on the field of battle. One deposit appears to have been a trench near the line of the
Amasa Fisk,
Pepperell, . Dead.
Daniel Sessions,
Andover, . Alive.
Jonathan Norton, .
Newburyport,
Philip Johnson Beck,
Boston-Mansfield,
Benjamin Bigelow,
Peckerfield,
Benjamin Wilson, .
Billerica, .
66
Archibald McIntosh,
Townsend, Dead.
David Kemp,
Groton, 66
John Deland,
Charlestown, . Alive.
Lawrence Sullivan,
Wethersfield, 66
Thomas Kettel, (a lad,)
Dismissed Charlestown.
William Robinson,
Unknown, . Dead.
Benjamin Ross,
Ashford, Conn., 66
John Dillon,
Jersey, Old England,
One unknown, .
William Kench,
Peckerfield,
James Dodge,
Edinburgh, Scotland,
William Robinson,
Connecticut, 66
John Lord, .
Unknown, .
James Milliken,
Boston,
Stephen Foster,
Groton,
66
Total, - 20 dead, 10 alive, 1 dismissed.
1 This list has been made up from letters, official returns, and an article in a Providence newspaper. The latter is not correct. It does not give the loss in Reed's regiment.
7 Stark's, 15 45
194
BUNKER HILL BATTLE.
almshouse estate, running parallel with Elm-street. Here a large number of American buttons have been found attached to bones. Americans were buried in other places in Charles- town, which are known from similar circumstances. The wounded were carried to the western side of Bunker Hill, and then to Cambridge. Doctors Thomas Kittredge, William Eustis, -afterwards governor, -Walter Hastings, Thomas Welsh, Isaac Foster, Lieut .- col. Bricket; David Townsend, and John Hart, were in attendance. The house of Gov- ernor Oliver, in Cambridge, known as the Gerry estate, was improved as a hospital. Many of the soldiers who died of their wounds were buried in a field in front of this house. Rev. Samuel Cook's house, at West Cambridge, was also used for a hospital. The prisoners were carried to Boston jail.
The loss of the British was admitted, in the official account, to have been two hundred and twenty-six killed, eight hun- dred and twenty-eight wounded; total, one thousand and fifty-four. But the Americans set it as high as fifteen hundred. The wounded, during the whole night and the next day, were conveyed to Boston, where the streets were filled with groans and lamentation. A letter, June 30, 1775, says: "I have seen many from Boston who were eye-wit- nesses to the most melancholy scene ever beheld in this part of the world. The Saturday night and Sabbath were taken up in carrying over the dead and wounded; and all the wood- carts in town, it is said, were employed, -chaises and coaches for the officers. They have taken the workhouse, almshouse, and manufactory-house, for the wounded." The physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries of Boston rendered every assist- ance in their power. The processions 'were melancholy sights. "In the first carriage," writes Clarke, " was Major Williams, bleeding and dying, and three dead captains of the fifty-second regiment. In the second, four dead officers; then another with wounded officers." The privates who died on the field were immediately buried there, -"in holes,"- Gage's report states. Collections of bones have been occasion- ally found on the east side of Breed's Hill, in digging wells or cellars, having attached to them buttons, with the numbers
-
195
COLONEL ABERCROMBIE -MAJOR PITCAIRN.
of the different regiments. "On Monday morning," a British account says, " all the dead officers were decently buried in Boston, in a private manner, in the different churches and churchyards there."
A large proportion of the killed were officers, and among them some highly distinguished. Lieutenant-colonel Aber- crombie, at the head of the grenadiers, was shot while storm- ing the works. He was a brave and noble-hearted soldier ; and when the men were bearing him from the field, he begged them to spare his old friend Putnam. " If you take General Putnam alive," he said, "don't hang him; for he's a brave man." He died on the 24th of June.
Major Pitcairn, the commander of the marines, was widely known in the country from his connection with the events of the nineteenth of April, and many of the Americans claim the honor of having killed him in this battle. Dr. John Eliot wrote in his almanac the following account of his fall: "This amiable and gallant officer was slain entering the intrench- ments. He had been wounded twice; then putting himself at the head of his forces, he faced danger, calling out, 'Now for the glory of the marines!' He received four balls in his body." 1 He was much beloved by his command. "I have lost my father," his son exclaimed as he fell. "We have all lost a father," was the echo of the regiment. His son bore him to a boat, and then to a house in Prince-street, Boston, where he was attended by a physician, at the special request of General Gage,2 but soon died. He was a courteous and accomplished officer, and an exemplary man. His son was soon promoted.3
Major Spendlove, of the forty-third regiment, another dis- tinguished officer, died of his wounds. He had served with
' Memorandum in his almanac of 1775. 2 Ms. Letter. 3 A British account states that he was shot from the houses. Gage's official account implies that he did not die on the field. " Major Pitcairn wounded -since dead." The following notice appears in a newspaper of Aug. 15, 1775: "Lieutenant Pitcairn, of the marines, (who brought his father, Major Pitcairn, when mor- tally wounded at Boston, off the field of action,) is appointed a captain-lieu- tenant and captain in the said corps, though not in his turn, as an acknowl- edgment of the services of his gallant father."- Major Pitcairn had eleven children. A pension of £200 a year was settled on his widow.
17
196
BUNKER HILL BATTLE.
unblemished reputation, upwards of forty years, in the same regiment, and been three times wounded, - once when with Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham, again at the reduction of Martinico, and at the capture of Havana. His conduct at the battle was favorably mentioned by the commander. Other officers of merit fell. Captain Addison, related to the author of the Spectator, and Captain Sherwin, Howe's aid- de-camp, were killed. The slaughter of officers occasioned great astonishment in England.
Of the officers who acted as aids to General Howe, all were wounded, and only one of them, Lieutenant Page, of the engi- neers, lived to reach England.1 He distinguished himself at the storming of the redoubt, and made the fine plan of the battle that was the first correct one engraved in England, and is now first engraved in this country for this work. Many of the wounded officers returned to England; and for many months the British journals contain notices of their arrival, and presentation at court. One of them, selected as a speci- men, reads as follows : " March, 28, 1776. - Yesterday Capt. Cockering, who lost his arm at Bunker's Hill, was introduced to his majesty at St. James', by the Duke of Chandois, and graciously received ; at the same time his majesty was pleased to present him with a captain's commission in a company of invalids."
The British journals contain many comments on this battle, and for years they continued to publish incidents in relation to it. For several months after it took place letters from offi- cers engaged in it continued to appear in them. They were astonished at its terrible slaughter. It was compared with other great battles, especially with those of Quebec and of Minden. Officers who had served in all Prince Ferdinand's campaigns remarked, that " so large a proportion of a detach-
1 The London Chronicle, January 11, 1776. - "A few days ago arrived in town, from Boston, Lieutenant Page, of his majesty's corps of engineers, on account of the wounds he received the 17th of June, in the action at Charlestown. This gentleman is the only one now living of those who acted as aids-de-camp to General Howe, so great was the slaughter of officers that day. He particularly distinguished himself in the storming of the redoubt, for which he received General Howe's thanks. "
-
197
THE REDOUBT.
ment was never killed and wounded in Germany." It far exceeded, in this respect, and in the hotness of the fire, the battle of Minden. The manner in which whole regiments and companies were cut up was commented upon. The 5th, the 59th, the Welsh Fusileers, were severely handled, and specially mentioned. One company of grenadiers, it was said, persevered in advancing after their officers fell, and five of their number only left, and they led on by the oldest soldier. This was adduced as a memorable instance of English valor ; and it was exultingly asked, "What history can produce its parallel ?" Attempts were made to account for the facts that so many of the British, and so few of the Americans, fell. One officer writes of the former, that the American rifles " were peculiarly adapted to take off the officers of a whole line as it marches to an attack." Another writes, "That every rifleman was attended by two men, one on each side of him, to load pieces for him, so that he had nothing to do but fire as fast as a piece was put into his hand; and this is the real cause of so many of our brave officers falling." One reason given why the British troops killed so few of the pro- vincials was, that the over-sized balls used by the artillery would not permit of a true shot.1 Mean-time, transports with the wounded, and with the remains of the regiments which had been so cut up, as they arrived in England, continued to afford living evidence of the terrible realities of this conflict.2
The British officers described the redoubt as having been so strong that it must have been the work of several days. One says : "The fortification on Bunker Hill must have been the work of some days; it was very regular, and exceeding
! A British paper says : " The reason why the royal army killed so few of the rebels was entirely owing to the mistake of those who had the care of the artillery, - taking with them a prodigious number of twelve pound shot for six pound pieces. Hence," the article gravely says, "it naturally required a great while to ram down such disproportioned shot ; nor did they, when dis- charged, fly with that velocity and true direction they would have done, had they been better suited to the size of the cannon."
2 March 5, 1776. - "A few days ago the shattered remains of the 18th regiment of foot, which was engaged in the action at Bunker's Hill, and reduced to only twenty-five men, arrived at Maidstone." -- British newspaper.
198
- BUNKER HILL BATTLE.
strong." ' A plan of it appeared in the Gentleman's Mag- azine, which is here presented as a curious memorial of the battle. It is called "Plan of the Redoubt and Intrenchment on the Heights of Charlestown, (commonly called Bunker's Hill,) opposite Boston, in New England, attacked and carried by his majesty's troops, June 17, 1775."
FRONT
A
B
FENCE
D
WOODEN
STRONG WOODEN FENCE
C
STRONG
E
10
20
30
40 50
Yards on a scale of 50 to an inch.
Very deep hollow way.
The Gentleman's Magazine says : "This redoubt was well executed. In the only side on which it could be attacked were two pieces of cannon. In the two salient angles were two trees, with their branches projecting off the parapet, to prevent an entry being made on the angles. The two flanks
! This letter, Boston, June 22, says : " The fortification on Bunker Hill must have been the work of some days ; it was very regular, and exceeding strong, insomuch that herc the rebels thought themselves secure from danger, and sure of success in destroying the town of Boston, which they had determined to do. Here they reserved their fire till our noble troops were almost under their ramparts, and stubbornly opposed them. Had the rebels gained the day, the town of Boston could not have stood long."
.
199
BRITISH CRITICISM.
(A and B) of the intrenchment were well contrived, as the fire from them crossed within twenty yards of the face of the redoubt. The flank C sufficiently secures its face ; and the bastion D, with its flanks E and B, is the best defence against such troops as might endeavor to pass or cut down the fence."
General Dearborn says : " It was a square redoubt, the cur- tains of which were about sixty or seventy feet in extent, with an intrenchment or breastwork extending fifty or sixty feet from the northern angle, towards Mystic River. In the course of the night the ramparts had been raised to the height of six or seven feet, with a small ditch at their base; but it was yet in a rude, imperfect state."
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