question of command, show that it was an army of allies. The four New
England colonies came together as equals, respecting each other's
equality, and with no idea in one of claiming precedence over the
others. The description of President John Adams is strictly correct,
and is borne out by contemporary documents. "Massachusetts had her
army, Connecticut her army, New Hampshire her army, and Rhode Island
her army. These four armies met together and imprisoned the British
army in Boston. But who was the sovereign of this united, or rather
congregated army? It had none." And he goes on to remark, that the
commanding officers of each colony were independent of each other.
Hence Elbridge Gerry (June 4, 1775) writes "We want a regular general
to assist us in disciplining the army." Hence the "committee of war"
of the colony of Connecticut, to remedy this evil of the want of a
commander-in-chief, on June 19th, 1775, considered the following
important votes:--
"On motion of the difficulties the army are and must be under for the
want of a general and commander-in-chief of the whole body, raised by
different colonies &c., and a due subordination, in consideration, &c.
"_Voted_, That his honor the governor be advised to give orders to
our officers and soldiers to be subordinate and yield obedience to
the general and commanding officer of the troops of the Massachusetts
Bay, while they act in that province, and until the governor, with
advice, shall see fit to order otherwise."
On the next day (June 20, 1775) the committee passed this order, when
the votes were as follows:--
"An order subjecting our officers and soldiers to the command of the
Massachusetts commander-in-chief, during their continuance in that
province, or until further orders, was read and agreed to.
A letter to General Ward, informing him thereof, and endorsing a copy
of said order, read and approved.
A letter to Deputy Governor Cook, of Rhode Island, informing him of
the same, and moving him to do the same respecting the troops of that
colony, read and approved.
A letter to the New Hampshire Congress of the like tenor and for the
same purpose, also read and approved.
A letter to General Spencer enclosing a copy of said order of
subordination, &c., read and approved.
And another letter to the same purpose, and copy, to General Putnam."
These facts certainly warrant the important inference, that there
was no _regular_ commander-in-chief; that the evil of not having one
had been felt; and that it had been determined to apply the needed
remedy, even as it regarded the four New England colonies. Besides
this, the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts (May 3) had _suggested
to the Continental Congress_ (convened May 10) the expediency of
raising "a powerful army:" and on the 15th it had sent an express
advising that body to assume the general direction and regulation of
the forces besieging Boston. Thus it was before the army had been
consolidated, before there was a commander-in-chief "of the whole
body," before the ranks of its officers had been determined, and
while it was in a transition state, that the Battle of Bunker Hill
was fought. It was while the troops were under the control of the
several colonies that had raised them, and before they had become
as Washington's first order (July 4, 1775) terms them, "the troops
of the United Provinces of North America." There was great want of
discipline, and there were many irregularities, but it gives a very
erroneous idea of the army to term it a mob; for even the hastily
assembled bands that fought the British troops from Concord, on the
Nineteenth of April, cannot justly be called an armed mob, but they
were an organized power, set apart, and trained, to do the thorough
and immortal work that was done that day. It also gives an idea quite
as erroneous to term the army regularly organized and consolidated.
The operations of this army were decided by its general
officers,--Ward, Thomas, Whitcomb, Pomeroy, Heath, Spencer, Putnam,
Greene, and perhaps others,--convened in council, and hence called
"The council of war." The Massachusetts committee of safety had no
power over it as a whole, though it was clothed with ample authority
to control the Massachusetts generals. Thus when it acted in the
important matter of occupying Bunker Hill, it passed but an advisory
vote. The ultimate, directing power was in the council of war. It is
however stated, that the orders of the day were copied by all the
troops, and that a voluntary obedience was yielded to General Ward as
the commander-in-chief.
The immediate occasion of this battle hardly needs a passing
remark. "_The commanders of the New England Army_" (the words
of the committee of safety account,) received authentic advice
that the British intended to penetrate into the country; when the
Massachusetts committee of safety (June 15) unanimously recommended
to the council of war to occupy Bunker Hill. This recommendation
was complied with. Hence the building of the memorable redoubt. The
object of the British was to drive the Americans from it.
The remarks that follow are not designed to present a narrative of
the battle, but as suggestions that may aid in showing more precisely
its character, and the agency that general officers exercised in it.
Artemas Ward, the commander of the Massachusetts army, graduated,
at Harvard University in 1748, had been a firm and useful member
of the general court and provincial congress, and had also seen
service in the military line. He was major in the Canada expedition
of 1758, and the next year was appointed colonel, but he had the
honor of having it revoked by the royal governor on account of his
prominence in the patriot cause. When forcible resistance had been
resolved on, and the first provincial congress, (October 1774) took
such admirable measures to keep the patriot cause free from any thing
like mob action, it appointed him (Oct. 27, 1774) one of the generals
to command, what then was very properly called "_the constitutional
army_," or minute men, or militia, whenever the committee of
safety should call them out to defend the colony. He was reëlected
Feb. 9, 1775, and in a long resolve commencing as follows:--"That
the Honorable Jedediah Preble, Esq., Honorable Artemas Ward, Esq.,
Colonel Seth Pomeroy, Colonel John Thomas, and Colonel William Heath,
be and they are, hereby appointed general officers," &c. Preble
declined, which left Ward the highest officer, and accordingly when
the minute men were summoned to the field on the nineteenth of April,
he on the next day took the command. But his commission was not
delivered to him until May 20, 1775, and it constituted him general
and commander-in-chief of all the forces raised by the Massachusetts
provincial congress; and it instructed him to obey the directions
of the committee of safety. General Ward had gained distinction
in Canada, was of great integrity of character, was a calm, cool,
intrepid man, and ranked high in public estimation; but he was
thought to be a better civilian than general.
General Ward's headquarters were at Cambridge on the day of the
battle. It is represented that, in the council of war, his opinion
was decidedly adverse to the measure of occupying so exposed a post
as Bunker Hill, and this would be in keeping with his cautious
character. At any rate, so thought the majority of this council,
until the resolution was suddenly taken (June 15) to occupy this
hill. Few contemporary allusions occur as to Ward's personal agency
in the battle. Dr Belknap's Diary (Oct. 20, 1775) supplies one:--"In
conversation with Mr Ward at Roxbury, I learned that the reason of
our throwing up the entrenchment at Charlestown, on the night of
the 16th June, was, that there had been intelligence received, such
as could be depended on, that the regulars had determined to make
a push for Cambridge after the arrival of their three generals and
reinforcements, who landed a few days before." There is nothing
satisfactory to show that General Ward did not concur with this
decision of the council of war.
His orderly book contains no orders relative to the expedition; but
Fenno's, contains a copy of the order issued to the Massachusetts
forces to parade. It was as follows: "June 16. Frye's, Bridge's and
William Prescott's regiments to parade this evening at six o'clock,
with all the entrenching tools in this encampment." This order,
it will be noticed, did not include the Connecticut forces, which
were also ordered to parade at this time. Now depositions say, that
General Putnam ordered these to parade. They did not consist of a
company under the command of Captain Knowlton, and were not all from
one regiment, but were ordered by Putnam to be draughted out of
several companies; and the next day, when more Connecticut troops
were ordered on, the fact is given by Chester, that Putnam also
ordered them on. But contemporary authorities and depositions, unite
in the fact, that the orders for the troops of New Hampshire and
Massachusetts to go on, went directly from General Ward. Thus Colonel
Stark, (June 20, 1775) states that he "_was required by the General_"
to send a party to Bunker Hill. So Prescott received his orders from
Ward, and when he applied for reinforcements, it was directly to him.
The orders of Ward to the forces of these two colonies, therefore,
did not _go through any other officer_, as they would have done had
one been specially detached to exercise a general command.
Throughout the action Gen. Ward had constant and frequent
communications with Charlestown. Henry Knox, afterward General Knox,
and Samuel Osgood, acted as his aids. Col. Joseph Gilbert is named
in the newspapers as having "at the request of General Ward" freely
exposed his life on this day by crossing the Neck several times "in
the time of action and under a galling fire to carry intelligence to
and from headquarters." But Ward remained at Cambridge. He considered
the attack on the redoubt as only a part of the object of the British
general, but that his main object was to march out of Boston, attack
his stores, break up his army, and then proceed to Charlestown Neck,
and enclose the Americans in the peninsula. It was not until the
intentions of the British general were clearly revealed, that he
detached large reinforcements to Charlestown. Such is the statement
made by General Ward's friends. And had the valor of the patriot band
on Breed's Hill been less, the greater might have been the estimate
placed on Ward's judgment.
The circumstances already stated, with others that might be named,
would seem to indicate that General Ward controlled the movements in
such a way, that he may be regarded as the general commander, if any
one can be so regarded. This view is supported by several allusions
that occur to him in contemporary letters. It should be borne in mind
that the result of the battle, the loss of the ground, occasioned
great indignation, and naturally gave rise to much unfavorable
comment. In some of this comment General Ward is spoken of _as the
direct commander_ of the battle. I will name here as one instance, a
letter of James Warren, (June 20, 1775) who was elected president of
the Massachusetts provincial congress, in the place of Joseph Warren.
He regards him and writes of him as the commander.
General Ward was in long and important service subsequently to the
battle. He was appointed by the continental congress first major
general, commanded the right wing of the army during the Siege of
Boston, and was left in command of the eastern department on the
removal of Washington to New York. He soon resigned his commission,
but at the request of congress, continued in service until the
close of the year. He subsequently filled most responsible offices,
being in 1777 president of the executive council of the colony,
in 1779 a member of the continental congress, in 1786 speaker of
the Massachusetts house of representatives, and sixteen years a
representative of the town of Shrewsbury. He died October 27, 1800,
age 73, leaving behind him an unblemished character, and a name
"precious among the friends of liberty and religion."
John Whitcomb was the officer next in rank who gave orders on the
day of the battle. He was chosen general by the provincial congress,
Feb. 15, 1775. He was an old veteran--took the field promptly on the
nineteenth of April, and, according to the orderly books, was one
of the three generals who formed the first council of war convened
on the 20th of April, at Cambridge. He was one of the sterling,
disinterested, uneducated patriot officers of the early revolution,
and appears to have enjoyed to a great degree the respect and
confidence of his contemporaries; and so valuable were his services
considered that when the provincial congress resolved, June 12, to
elect two major generals, on the next day (13th,) they elected him
the "first major general." He expressed an unwillingness to accept
this appointment, but on a "complaisant letter," dated June 16, being
sent to him by order of congress, strongly urging his acceptance,
the brave patriot replied, that "as the circumstances of the army
were so difficult and the enemy so near" he would accept. He was not
commissioned, however, until the 23d of June. But if Warren is to
be considered a major general--and his commission is to date from
the day of his appointment--so is Whitcomb. Indeed the evidence in
Scammans's trial shows that he was on duty on the 17th, and gave
orders in the afternoon. A letter of Samuel Gray, July 12, 1775,
states that two generals and the engineer went on to Breed's Hill
on the night of June 16, and reconnoitred the ground. One of them,
certainly, was General Putnam, and the other might have been General
Whitcomb. There is no mention, however, of his having been in the
battle, and no special service appears in connection with his name.
He was certainly in the field that day, gave orders, and was also the
officer next in rank to General Ward at Cambridge.
Joseph Warren was the officer next in rank, having been on 14th of
June elected the second major general of the Massachusetts army. It
is not necessary here to recount his history; but no one represented
more completely the fine enthusiasm and the self-sacrificing
patriotism that rallied to the support of the revolution, and no
one saw more clearly the great principle involved in this contest.
If he was of a high, chivalrous spirit, and of fascinating social
qualities, he had also a judgment beyond his years, and wielded
surprising influence with his contemporaries. He had been an active
and most efficient working patriot, in the civil line, and as such
he acted, as president of the Massachusetts provincial congress and
member of the committee of safety up to the day, and almost to the
hour of his death. He had twice exposed his life in the battle field,
once on the Lexington day, when he is said to have been the most
active man on the field, and again at Noddle's Island in May, under
General Putnam, yet it was as a volunteer and without a command; and
there is nothing on the records of the provincial congress, or among
its documents, to indicate that a commission as major general had
been made out for him, or that he had accepted this appointment; nor
does his name appear on such orderly books, as I have seen; neither
is it stated that General Ward ordered him, on the 17th of June, to
Charlestown, but on the contrary, his friends were urgent in their
entreaties that his valuable life should not be exposed in battle.
He went voluntarily, deaf to the most affectionate remonstrances,
listening only to the call of patriotic duty, in his own lofty spirit
of self-sacrifice, and to give the patriot band when it was in peril
the benefit of his presence. He went on, in his own simple words,
uttered after he got to the redoubt, "To encourage a good cause." On
his way from Cambridge he armed himself with a musket, took position
in the redoubt, and declined to give orders to Colonel Prescott.
Here I quote an entire note in Judge Prescott's MS. Memoir. It
indicates the cautious manner in which that eminent man wrote on this
interesting subject:--"General Warren came to the redoubt a short
time before the action commenced with a musket in his hand. Col.
Prescott went to him and proposed that he should take the command,
observing, he understood he had been appointed a major general a day
or two before, by the provincial congress. General Warren replied, 'I
shall take no command here, I have not yet received my commission;
I came as a volunteer with my musket to serve under you, and shall
be happy to learn from a soldier of your experience.' General Warren
fought gallantly with his musket, and unfortunately for his country,
fell; but, whether killed during the battle or on the retreat, is
made a question. I believe it was just after he left the redoubt, but
am not positive that I ever heard my father state it."
Deacon Samuel Lawrence, of Groton--the father of the Hon. Abbott
Lawrence--who went on under Colonel Prescott, aided in raising the
redoubt, was in it during the whole battle until the retreat, and
whose subsequent life was marked by great usefulness, integrity,
and public spirit, says of General Warren--"Just before the battle
commenced Gen. Warren came to the redoubt. He had on a blue coat
and white waistcoat, and, I think, a cocked hat, but of this I am
not certain. Colonel Prescott advanced to him, said 'He was glad
to see him, and hoped he would take the command.' General Warren
replied--'No, he came to see the action, but not to take the command;
that he was only a volunteer on that day.'" He further states--"I
knew General Warren well by sight, and recollected him perfectly
when Colonel Prescott offered him the command, and was sorry to see
him so dangerously situated, as I knew him to be a distinguished
character, and thought he ought not to have risked his life without
command on that occasion."
The determined spirit with which the leading officers went into this
battle could hardly have been exceeded. Putnam, Pomeroy, and Stark
were veterans beyond fear, and their names had become associated
with daring enterprise. Prescott went on to the hill on the night of
June 16th, with the resolution not to be taken alive--"I will never
be taken alive," he had remarked. "The tories shall never have the
satisfaction of seeing me hanged." Warren's high spirit had been
often stirred by the taunts which the British officers were wont
to indulge against the colonists. Indeed he felt them as keenly as
though they had been personal insults. It was only a few weeks before
the battle, that he remarked to William Eustis, afterwards governor,
at a moment when his spirit was galled by such insolence: "These
fellows say we won't fight! By heavens, I hope I shall die up to my
knees in blood." The report at first was that he disdained to fly. Mr
Bancroft, during his late residence abroad, got the account of the
battle which the French ambassador in London sent to Vergennes, the
French minister, which gives, with much particularity, an account
of the battle. It says--"Il (Warren) a refusé de le (Putnam) suivre
dans sa retraite; il est resté lui septième dans les entrenchments
de Charlestown et n'a pas voulu accepter de quartier." "He (Warren)
refused to follow him (Putnam) in the retreat; he remained one of
seven in the entrenchments at Charlestown and would not accept
quarter." General Ward (October 20, 1775) told Dr Belknap--"That
Dr Warren was the last man in the trenches after they were forced,
and died on the breastwork with his sword in his hand. That his
body was stripped naked, and buried so; his coat was sold in Boston
by a soldier for eight dollars. His body was dug up several times,
and buried again, to gratify the curiosity of those who came to see
it." In connection with the death of Warren is the chivalric act
attributed to the British Major Small, (which figures so largely
in Trumbull's picture,) who, in return for a similar service which
General Putnam had rendered him in the battle, it is said, endeavored
to save Warren's life. The whole relation, however, about Major
Small, bears too much the aspect of romance to be relied upon.
The most probable account, of the many accounts of his fall, is, that
he was killed early in the retreat, just outside the trenches. As the
contemporary notices of his death are interesting, a few more of them
are here quoted:--
The Remembrancer, (British) vol. 1, p. 250, says--"When the
provincials were retreating, of the three concurring circumstances,
Charlestown being on fire, the ships cannonading, and the regulars
advancing, the Doctor, with that intrepidity and contempt of danger
which peculiarly marked his character, stood alone for some time,
endeavoring to rally the troops and animate them by his example.
He was observed in this situation, and known by an officer in the
regulars, who, wresting a musket out of the hands of one of his men,
took aim, and lodged a bullet in his breast, of which he expired
without a pang."
A British lieutenant in the battle, John Clarke, in his pamphlet
account, printed in London, 1775, writes as follows of Dr Warren:--
"A report having prevailed that Dr Warren was not killed, I think
it necessary to contradict it, as I saw a soldier, after the Doctor
was wounded and lying in the trenches, going to run him through the
body with his bayonet; on which the Doctor desired he would not
kill him, for he was much wounded and could not live a great while
longer; on which the soldier swore that he would, for that he had
done more mischief than any one else, and immediately run him through
the body. The Doctor's dress was a light-colored coat, with a white
satin waistcoat laced with silver, and white breeches with silver
loops; which I saw the soldier soon after strip off his body. He
was supposed to be the commander of the American army that day; for
General Putnam was about three miles distant, and formed an ambuscade
with about three thousand men."
If John Clarke could stand idle and see this barbarity, he must have
been a fiend in human form. Both of these British accounts cannot be
true.
James Warren, MS. letter, June 20, 1775, says: "Here fell our worthy
and much lamented friend Dr Warren, with as much glory as Wolfe on
the plains of Abraham, alter performing many feats of bravery, and
exhibiting a coolness and conduct which did honor to the judgment of
his country in appointing him a few days before one of their major
generals; at once admired and lamented in such a manner as to make it
difficult to determine whether regret or envy predominates."
J. Palmer, Cambridge, MS., June 19, 1775, says: "We yet have about
60 or 70 killed and missing; but--among these, is--what shall I say?
How shall I write the name of our worthy friend, the great and good
Dr W----. You will hear by others who will write to-morrow, such
particulars as I am not possessed of."
William Tudor, MS., June 26, 1775, writes:--"The loss of Dr Warren is
irreparable--his death is generally and greatly lamented. But
'Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.'
This is a day of heroes. The fall of one will inspire the surviving
glorious band to emulate his virtues and revenge his death on the
foes of liberty and our country."[B]
[B] I am indebted to Hon. Charles Francis Adams for the three
letters from which these extracts are made.
Immediately after the battle it was reported in Boston that Dr Warren
had the command during the action, and statements to this effect
were written to England. Hence, in nearly all the British accounts,
this honor is awarded to him. The same thing is stated in some of
the almanacks of 1776. George's Cambridge Almanack, or the Essex
Calendar for 1776, says that he was the "commander in chief on the
occasion." The same account was printed in a handbill, with a parcel
of wretched rhyme, some of which also appeared in the newspapers.
Governor Trumbull, of Connecticut, in his Historical Letter, printed
in vol. VI. of the Massachusetts Historical Collection, dated August
31, 1779, gives an account of the action, and states that "the
brave General Warren" was the "commanding officer." The same thing
is stated in a History of the War in America, published by Coverly
& Hodge in Boston in 1781, and is repeated in an account in the
Analectic Magazine, (1818,) where it is stated that "General Putnam
directed the whole on the fall of General Warren."