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 [This fac-simile is from a bond given by Israel Putnam to his brother David, in 1743.] 
 
LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 ISRAEL PUTNAM 
 
 ("OLD PUT"), 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL IN THE CONTINENTAL ARMY. 
 
 BY . ii/) 
 
 INCREASE N. TARBOX. 
 
 i/-/' 
 
 1 t. 
 
 / 
 
 Mit^ pap sub Illustrations. 
 
 
 ^. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 LOCKWOOD, BROOKS, AND COMPANY. 
 
 1876. 
 
 kA 
 

 Copyright, 
 
 INCREASE N. TARBOX, 
 
 1876 
 
 THOMAS TODD, 
 
 etereotj'per and Electrotyper, 
 1 Somerset St., Boston. 
 
6?o 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 It is not the aim of this volume to report any new histori- 
 cal discoveries, but simply to bring back to its old anchorage 
 ground an important piece of American History, which, for a 
 quarter of a century, by a subtle undertow, has been drifting 
 from its place. I have attempted to write the Life of Major 
 General Israel Putnam by the light and with the evidences of 
 tbs last century, and not by the false lights of 1875. Whether 
 I have succeeded in this purpose, the intelligent reader must 
 judge. 
 
 In the preparation of this volume, I have had, for my 
 assistance, first of all and chief of all. Force's "American 
 Archives." Here we find the old revolutionary papers and 
 documents, in every form and variety. To these volumes I 
 have turned continually for original and reliable information. 
 Next in importance has been the " Siege of Boston," by Rich- 
 ard Frothingham, Esq. This volume contains, unquestionably, 
 the most full and careful collection of facts and incidents 
 which we have, covering the period from the battle of Lex- 
 ington, April 19th, 1775, to the Evacuation of Boston by the 
 British troops, March 17th, 1776. For the early life of Put- 
 nam, most important information has been drawn from the vol- 
 umes of Charles W. Upham, Esq., entitled " History of Witch- 
 craft and Salem Village." Israel Putnam's birth-place was on 
 the very ground covered by Mr. Upham's graphic narrative. 
 In this same department, much valuable assistance has been 
 gained from the "History of the Danvers Church," by Rev. 
 Charles B. Rice. The " Life of General Israel Putnam," writ- 
 
4 Preface. 
 
 ten by General David Humphreys of New Haven, one of 
 General Putnam's Aids, has been constantly at hand, for refer- 
 ence. This work was first published about 1790, but was 
 afterwards brought out in a new edition in 18 18, with an 
 Appendix by Colonel Samuel Swett of Boston. Colonel Dan- 
 iel Putnam's vindication of his father, in his reply to General 
 Dearborn, as also his valuable paper published in the first 
 volume of the " Connecticut Historical Collections," have been 
 often consulted. For the period immediately after Putnam's 
 removal to Connecticut (1739), the writer has been greatly 
 assisted by Miss Ellen Larned's new " History of Windham 
 County," Connecticut. I have had, for constant reference, 
 the compilation of Bunker Hill authorities, found in the 
 "Historical Magazine" for June, 1868, prepared by its editor, 
 Henry B. Dawson, Esq. In the same connection, free use has 
 been made of the carefully prepared and extended list of authori- 
 ties on this subject, recently furnished by Justin Winsor, Esq., 
 Superintendent of the Boston Public Library. I have also 
 turned frequently to the smaller histories of the Battle 
 of Bunker Hill, by Rev. George E. Ellis, D.D.; Samuel A. 
 Drake, Esq.; W. W. Wheildon, Esq. ; and Col. Francis J. Par- 
 ker. Valuable information has been gained from the pub- 
 lished Memorial Address, by Rev. L. Grosvenor, given at the 
 gathering of the Putnam family at Putnam, Connecticut, in 
 1855. Bancroft's " History of the United States " has been all 
 the while near at hand, for reference. 
 
 But in addition to these helps, I have received valuable 
 hints and suggestions, as also more extended information, from 
 Miss Susan Putnam, who now owns and occupies the house at 
 Danvers where General Putnam was born ; from Prof. Benja- 
 min Silliman, of New Haven ; from J. Hammond Trumbull, 
 LL. D., of Hartford; from Hon. Daniel P. Tyler, late of 
 Brooklyn, Connecticut ; from E. P. Hayward, Esq., Town Clerk 
 of Pomfret, Connecticut; from Rev. Edwin S. Beard, present 
 pastor of the church in Brooklyn, Connecticut; from Rev. 
 Henry A. Hazen, of Billerica, Massachusetts ; and from John 
 Ward Dean, Esq., of Boston. 
 
Preface. 5 
 
 Chapter XI., entitled " The testimony of Bunker Hill Litera- 
 ture and Art," is especially devoted to the question. Who com- 
 manded in the Battle of Bunker Hill ? The same question is 
 raised and discussed at other points in the narrative, but not 
 continuously — only partially, according to the suggestions 
 made by passing facts and events. 
 
 I am well aware that this volume will disturb some of 
 the modern literature pertaining to the Battle of Bunker 
 Hill. It is not from delight in controversy for controversy's 
 sake ; but believing as I sincerely do, that this most impor- 
 tant chapter in our revolutionary historj' has been gradually 
 warped, and turned aside from truth and righteousness, I 
 have sought simply to make "crooked things straight." 
 
 INCREASE N. TARBOX. 
 West Newton, Feb. nth, 1876. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HIS ANCESTRY AND EARLY HOME. 
 
 Ancient Salem. — Salem Village, now Danvers. — Mr. Upham's graphic 
 Pictures of the early Society. — Character and Standing of the Put- 
 nam Family. — Customs among the early Settlers. — Birth-place of 
 Israel Putnam. — History of the House. — Education and Schools 
 in Salem Village. — Emigration from Massachusetts Towns to Con- 
 necticut. — Putnam prepares to remove. — Plis Marriage to Hannah 
 Pope II 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 REMOVES TO POMFRET, CT. 
 
 Settlement of Woodstock, Ct, by Colonists from Roxbury. — Land Pur- 
 chases and Speculations. — Settlement of Pomfret. — Captain Black- 
 well. — Mortlake Manor. — Original Plan given up. — Gov. Belcher 
 and his Purchase. — Israel Putnam and John Pope buy of Gov. 
 Belcher. — Character of Pomfret Population. — The Wolf Story as 
 told by Miss Earned. — Mortlake Parish. — Vigorous Farming. . . 34 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 GOES TO THE FRENCH WAR. 
 
 Bancroft's Idea of the French and Indian War. — Call for Men in 1755. — 
 Putnam raises a Company and becomes its Captain. — Names of his 
 Children. — Rendezvoustat Albany. — Fort Edward. — First Battle. — 
 One of the Rangers. — British Pride and Pomp. — Taken Prisoner. — 
 Constant Exposures. — Is chosen Major. — Invasion of Canada. — 
 West Indies. — Close of French War. — Returns to Pomfret in 1764, 
 a Colonel 5° 
 
 7 
 
8 Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ELEVEN YEARS OF HOME LIFE. 
 
 Death of his Wife. — Selectman and Moderator of Town-meeting. — 
 Joins the Church. — Watching the Movements of the British Gov- 
 ernment. — The Stamp Act. — The Sugar Act. — The Boston Port 
 Bill. — Early Remonstrances from Connecticut. — Growing Excite- 
 ments. — False Alarm in September, 1774. — Colonel Deming's Ora- 
 tion. — News from Lexington. — Ride to Cambridge and Concord. . 66 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE ARMY THAT GATHERED AT CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 False and pernicious Conceptions of this Army. — Was it " Four Armies " 
 or one "American Army".' — Assortment of Troops. — Putnam a 
 Brigadier-General. — Exchange of Prisoners. — Battle of Chelsea. — 
 March of the Army around Charlestown and over Bunker Hill. — 
 What is a Council of War? — Spirit of Massachusetts. — Generals 
 and Colonels at Cambridge and Vicinity. ...... 87 
 
 CHAPTER VI, 
 
 LEADING OFFICERS OF THIS ARMY. 
 
 Artemas Ward. — John Thomas. — Joseph Spencer. — Seth Pomeroy. — 
 William Heath. — Nathaniel Greene. — Joseph Warren. — Israel Put- 
 nam. — The Colonels and their subsequent Promotions. — Who was 
 the most popular Officer ? — Who would most naturally lead in any 
 bold Military Enterprise ? 105 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PREPARATIONS FOR THE BATTLE. 
 
 Action of Committee of Safety. — Council of War. — Relations of Put- 
 nam and Prescott to the projected Movement. — Night Detachment. — 
 Night Council. — Forces detailed to take Part in the Battle the next 
 Day. — From Connecticut. — From New Hampshire. — From Massa- 
 chusetts. 130 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE FORENOON OF JUNE SEVENTEENTH. 
 
 Putnam's Desire to fortify Bunker Hill. — Ward does not send the prom- 
 ised Reinforcements. — Scene at the Redoubt, and its Moral. — Con- 
 
Contents. 9 
 
 struction of the Fence Line. — Arrival of two hundred New Hampshire 
 Men. — Stark's and Reed's Regiments. — Coming of Warren upon the 
 Field. — Lateness of the Massachusetts Reinforcements. . . . 151 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE BATTLE. 
 
 Description of Bunker Hill and its Surroundings. — Landing of the 
 British, and Plan of Attack. — ^ First Assault and its Consequences. — 
 Burning of Charlestown. — Second Assault. — Interval. — Change of 
 Plan. — Reinforcements. — The Redoubt Carried. — The Retreat — 
 Killed and Wounded 183 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 WHO LED THE ARMY FROM THE FIELD .? 
 
 Condition of a defeated Army. — What became of the American Army 
 after the Battle. — Prescott goes to Cambridge. — Fortifications on 
 Prospect Hill. — Daniel Putnam and Mrs. Inman. — Diary of Mr. 
 Haskell. . 207 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 TESTIMONY OF BUNKER HILL LITERATURE AND ART. 
 
 Art. — Three Pictures. — Mr. Dawson. — Early Notices of the Battle, 
 American and English. — General Dearborn and the Controversy of 
 1818. — What was its Import ? — " Siege of Boston." — Frothingham. — 
 Bancroft. — Irving. — The Question of To-day a new and modern 
 one. — Mr. Frothingham's later Pupils. 216 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 FOUR YEARS MORE OF ARMY LIFE. 
 
 Putnam chosen to be near Washington. — Honored and trusted by 
 Him. — Operations during the Summer and Autumn of 1775, and fol- 
 lowing Winter. — Occupation of Dorchester Heights, March 5th. — 
 Evacuation of Boston, March 17th. — Putnam in full Command at 
 New York. — Letters. — Battle of Long Island. — Sent to Philadel- 
 phia. — Headquarters on the Hudson. — Ride down the Stone Steps. — 
 Struck with Paralysis, 1779. — Compelled to leave the Army. . . 281 
 
lO Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 CLOSING YEARS. 
 
 Returns to Pomfret, Connecticut. — Sore Disappointment. — His cheerful 
 Resignation. — His manner of Life. — Letter from Washington. — 
 Some Estimates of his Character, and the Results of his warlike Activ- 
 ity. — Sudden Death in 1790. — His Funeral. — His Tomb. . . 318 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE BUxMKER HILL CENTENNIAL. 
 
 Spirit of the Day. — Commendable Action on the Part of Massachusetts 
 and Boston. — Efforts of Individuals to make it a Day for Prescott's 
 Glory. — Outward Beauty of the Day. — The Military Review in the 
 Morning. — The Procession. — Incidents 332 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 A. — Address of Col. Henry C. Deming 343 
 
 B. — Letters of Col. John Trumbull and Daniel Putnam. . . 350 
 
 C. — British Accounts of the Battle 353 
 
 D. — Letters from Prof. Benjamin Silliman 362 
 
 E. — Articles of Hon. John Lowell in 1818 367 
 
 F. — "North American Review," July, 1818 — Daniel Webster. . 375 
 
LIFE OF ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HIS ANCESTRY AND EARLY HOME. 
 
 Ancient Salem. — Salem Village, now Danvers. — Mr. Upham's graphic 
 Pictures of the early Society. — Character and Standing of the Putnam 
 Family. — Customs among the early Settlers. — Birth-place of Israel 
 Putnam. — History of the House. — Education and Schools in Salem 
 Village. — Emigration from Massachusetts Towns to Connecticut — 
 Putnam prepares to remove. — His Marriage to Hannah Pope. 
 
 WITHIN the last few years, many signs have indicated 
 that, for the interests of individual justice, as also for 
 historical truth and accuracy, there is needed another biog- 
 raphy of General Israel Putnam. No patriot soldier in our 
 revolutionary struggle bore a better name for heroic courage 
 and effective leadership than he. Though he was already 
 fifty-seven years of age at the very beginning of that long 
 contest, and had thus reached a period when most men 
 begin to look about for rest and exemption from the hard- 
 ships and toils which they are willing to encounter in their 
 youth, yet the story of his prodigious activities and well-nigh 
 superhuman endurance, in the early years of that war, reads 
 to us now almost like the exploits of some of the demi-gods 
 and mythical heroes of old. There was such an abundance 
 of life in him, such an overflowing energy, that his very 
 presence filled other men with a courage of which they had 
 not before known themselves to be possessed. During the 
 war and at its close he was the second in military rank in 
 
12 Life of Israel Putnam. [171S-39. 
 
 the American army, Washington only before him ; and as 
 he was second in mihtary office and title, so was he in the 
 enthusiastic affections of his countrymen. In 1790, having 
 passed his " three-score years and ten," — full of days and 
 honors, he " slept with his fathers," and the grave closed 
 over as pure and unselfish a patriot as the world often knows. 
 Who could have surmised, at that time, that his name 
 would ever be drawn into angry disputes, and would become 
 a mark at which men would shoot their poisoned arrows } 
 
 What the particular occasion of controversy was, when 
 Michael the archangel contended with the devil about the 
 body of Moses, we are not very distinctly informed. But 
 the secret of that contention which has gone on over the 
 grave of General Putnam is not hard to guess. Little bitter- 
 nesses and jealousies among army officers were not a new 
 thing in 1775, and that they have not yet ceased from the 
 earth, our recent war of the Rebellion, and the still later 
 European wars, abundantly testify. There are always so 
 many men connected with an army that want honors and 
 offices that do not strictly belong to them, that they are 
 often quite unscrupulous in their methods of gaining them. 
 And when this jealous controversy has once been let loose 
 among men, it catches hold of new minds, where some 
 inflammable material is stored up, and it may be long before 
 the strife is stayed. In this general fact we have the 
 fountain-head of all difficulty in this particular case. 
 
 General Putnam, with his high and patriotic impulses, 
 and with his military ability, native originality and bold 
 leadership, carved out a large domain for himself in Amer- 
 ican history. But he never stopped to fence it in and call 
 it his own. He left it open and unprotected for others to 
 forage upon, and make out of it reputations for themselves 
 as best they could. 
 
 Israel Putnam was born in the ancient town of Salem, 
 
Mr. 1-2 1.] Hts Ancestry and Early Home. 13 
 
 Mass., on the 7th of January, 171 8. The original territory 
 of Salem was very large, embracing a tract of wild country, 
 out of which many of the surrounding towns, as they now 
 exist, have been organized. The first church in the Massa- 
 chusetts Bay was planted at Salem in 1629, and this was 
 the earliest centre of life and population opened under the 
 Massachusetts Bay charter. 
 
 John Putnam and his wife Priscilla came from England 
 in 1634, bringing with them three sons : Thomas, then 
 twenty-four years old ; Nathaniel, twenty ; and John, twelve. 
 They took their places in the early Salem society as among 
 the most worthy, intelligent and enterprising citizens. All 
 the records agree in ascribing to the Putnams from the first 
 an uncommon amount of energy and force of character. 
 They were thrifty, forehanded men, and had the art of 
 making their way in the world by honest means. 
 
 In 1641, the head of this family had a grant made him of 
 one hundred acres of land. Thomas, the eldest son, went 
 for a time to reside at Lynn, and he appears in the Lynn 
 records for a few years, as one of their most important 
 citizens. Afterwards he came back to Salem, and through 
 all his subsequent life acted a conspicuous part in the local 
 affairs of the town, both civil and ecclesiastical. 
 
 The home of the Putnams was in what is now Danvers, 
 anciently called Salem Village. This was the scene of the 
 witchcraft delusion in 1692. We know of no more graphic 
 picture of early New England life, than that which is 
 presented in the opening part of Mr. Charles W. Upham's 
 two volumes, entitled, " History of Witchcraft and Salem 
 Village. " While we should seriously dissent from some of 
 the conclusions which he reached, at a later stage of the 
 work, his description of that primitive society in the years 
 before the outbreak, — its employments, its family histories, 
 its institutions, its joys and sorrows, its fears and alarms, 
 
14 Life of Israel Putftam. [1718-39. 
 
 its strifes and divisions, — is more deep and subtle in its 
 power over the reader than any other piece of writing in 
 this line with which we are acquainted. The following 
 brief passage may serve to show the picturesque beauty 
 and searching force of this style. It must be borne in 
 mind that he is all the while unfolding the causes which 
 contributed to prepare the place for that dreadful experi- 
 ence of 1692. 
 
 " Cultivation had made but a slight encroachment upon 
 the wilderness. Wide, dark, unexplored forests cov- 
 ered the hills, hung over the lonely roads, and frowned 
 upon the scattered settlements. Persons whose lives have 
 been passed where the surface has long been opened, and 
 the land generally cleared, little know the power of a primi- 
 tive wilderness upon the mind. There is nothing more 
 impressive than its sombre shadows and gloomy recesses. 
 The solitary wanderer is ever and anon startled by the 
 strange mysterious sounds that issue from its hidden depths. 
 The distant fall of an ancient and decayed trunk, or the 
 tread of animals as they prowl over the mouldering branches 
 with which the ground is strown ; the fluttering of unseen 
 birds brushing through the foliage, or the moaning of the 
 wind sweeping over the topmost boughs, — these all tend 
 to excite the imagination and solemnize the mind. But the 
 stillness of a forest is more startling and awe-inspiring than 
 its sounds. Its silence is so deep as itself to become audi- 
 ble to the inner soul The forests which surrounded 
 
 our ancestors were the abode of a mysterious race of 
 men, of strange demeanor and unascertained origin. The 
 aspects they presented, the stories told of them, and every 
 thing connected with them served to awaken fear, bewilder 
 the imagination, and aggravate the tendencies of the gen- 
 eral condition of things to fanatical enthusiasm." * 
 
 * Upham. Vol. I. pp. 7 and 8. 
 
^T. I-2I.] His Ancestry and Early Home. 15 
 
 In the natural unfolding of his plan of work, the Putnams 
 of the early generations lie directly in his path and come 
 very distinctly into our view, and no man need desire for 
 his ancestry a more honorable record than Mr. Upham here 
 gives them. When John Putnam, the founder, died in 
 1662, he left a large estate to be divided among his three 
 sons. " Thomas, the eldest, as was then the custom, 
 inherited a double share of his father's lands. He was of 
 age when he came to America, and had received a good 
 education." We have spoken of his residence for some 
 years in Lynn. We find in the Massachusetts Colonial 
 Records the following item for 1645, and substantially the 
 same, year by year, for three years afterwards : " Thomas 
 Lay ton, Edward Bircham and Thomas Putnam are chosen 
 to end small controversies in Linn." His grandson was 
 chosen to end a much larger controversy a hundred and 
 thirty years later. But of this Thomas, Upham says : 
 " Upon removing to Salem, he was chosen, as the town 
 records show, to the office of constable. This was consid- 
 ered at that time, as quite a distinguished position, carrying 
 with it a high authority, covering the whole executive local 
 
 administration He seems to have been a person of 
 
 a quieter temperament than his younger brothers, and led a 
 somewhat less stirring life. Possessing a large property by 
 inheritance, he was not quite so active in increasing it, but 
 enjoying the society and friendship of the leading men, 
 lived a more retired life." 
 
 Nathaniel Putnam, the next son, had a fourth part of his 
 father's estate, and his wife also brought him seventy-five 
 acres of land. Mr. Upham says of him, " Nathaniel 
 Putnam was a deputy to the General Court, and constantly 
 connected with all the interests of the community. He 
 had great business activity and ability, and was a person of 
 extraordinary powers of mind, of great energy and skill in 
 
1 6 Life of Israel Putnam. [1718-39. 
 
 the management of affairs, and of singular sacagity, acumen 
 and quickness of perception. He died July 23, 1700, 
 leaving a numerous family and a large estate." * 
 
 Of John, the youngest son, he says, "John Putnam 
 had the same indefatigable activity as Nathaniel. He w^as 
 often deputy to the General Court, and accumulated a very 
 great landed property." f To show the standing of these 
 three men, as to property in 1 681, he finds that of a tax 
 levied that year in Salem Village, of ;^200 total, raised 
 from ninety-four tax-payers, for the support of the local 
 church, Thomas Putnam pays £\o 6s. -^d., Nathaniel, £() 
 los., and John, £d>, so that these three pay nearly a seventh 
 part of the whole tax. 
 
 A custom worthy to have been perpetuated prevailed 
 among some of these early families of Salem Village, and is 
 thus described by Mr. Upham : 
 
 "These brothers (Thomas, Nathaniel and John Putnam), as 
 well as many others of the large land-holders in the village, 
 adopted the practice of giving to their sons and sons-in-law, out- 
 right, by deed, good farms, as soon as they became heads of 
 families ; so that as the fathers advanced in life, their own es- 
 tates were gradually diminished ; and when unable any longer 
 to take an active part in managing their lands, they divided up 
 their whole remaining real estate, making careful contracts with 
 their children for an adequate maintenance, to the extent of 
 
 their personal wants and comforts In his last years, 
 
 John Putnam (who, as we have seen, paid £Z tax in 168 1) was 
 on the rate-list for five shillings only, while all his sons and 
 
 daughters were assessed severally in large sums Where 
 
 this practice was followed, there were few quarrels in families 
 over the graves of parents, and controversies seldom arose 
 about the provisions of wills. In some cases no wills were 
 needed to be made. It is apparent, that, in many respects, this 
 
 * Upham. Vol. I. p. 157. t IbiA 
 
Mr. I-2I.] Hts Ancestry and Early Home. 17 
 
 was a wise and good practice. It was moreover a strictly just 
 one. As the sons were growing to an adult age they added by 
 their labors to the value of lands, inserted a property into them 
 that was truly their own ; and their title was duly recognized. 
 In a new country, land has but little value in itself ; the value is 
 imparted by the labor that clears it and prepares it to yield its 
 products." * 
 
 To go back now to Thomas Putnam, After a few years' 
 residence in Lynn, he returned to Salem Village to dwell 
 among his kindred. While living in Lynn he married his 
 first wife, Ann Holyoke. She was of that family which, 
 two generations later, gave Edward Holyoke to be Presi- 
 dent of Harvard College, holding the ofifice for the long 
 period of thirty-two years (1737-69). This wife died in 
 1665, and in the following year he married the widow of 
 Nathaniel Veren. This Nathaniel Veren had been a mer- 
 chant trader, with business upon the sea, and his widow, in 
 her marriage to Thomas Putnam in 1666, brought to him a 
 large property to be added to his own landed estate. She 
 had wealth in Jamaica and Barbadoes, and the union of these 
 two streams gave a real opulence for that generation to 
 this household. Thomas Putnam had two sons by his first 
 wife, and one by his second. These were Edward and 
 Joseph Putnam. He died in 1686, leaving large estates to 
 each of these sons, and not forgetting a faithful servant, to 
 whom he gave fifteen acres of valuable land. 
 
 From the organization of the old church in Salem, 
 (the oldest in the Massachusetts Bay,) under the care of 
 Mr. Francis Higginson and Mr. Samuel Skelton, in 
 1629, down to the year 1671, all these scattered dwellers 
 for many miles around went through the forest by-paths 
 and over the stony hills to Salem harbor, to attend meeting. 
 Mr. Higginson died in one year after the founding of that 
 
 * Upham. Vol. I. p. 158. 
 
 2 
 
1 8 Life of Israel Putnam. [1718-39. 
 
 church, and Mr. Skelton in five years. But Mr. Roger 
 Williams, and Hugh Peters and others, had preached there 
 in the early years, and in 1660, Mr. John Higginson, son 
 of the first minister, came back from Connecticut, where 
 he had already been twenty-four years in the ministerial 
 work, and was set over this ancient church, and continued 
 in office forty-eight years, making his whole ministerial life 
 seventy-two years. In 1 671, the scattered population to the 
 north and north-west, living upon the farms, had so increased 
 that a branch church was opened at Salem Village, not far 
 from the present church in Danvers. This continued as a 
 branch church until 1689, when it was organized as an inde- 
 pendent church. Of this branch church, Edward Putnam, 
 son of Thomas, was the first deacon, holding office for 
 forty years. In his eightieth year, he gave this compre- 
 hensive summary of the Putnam family, which we quote 
 from Mr. Upham : " From the three brothers proceeded 
 twelve males; from these twelve males, forty males; and 
 from these forty males, eighty-two males ; there were none 
 of the name of Putnam in New England, but those from 
 
 this family I can say with the Psalmist, I have 
 
 been young and now am old ; yet have I not seen the 
 righteous forsaken, nor their seed begging bread, except of 
 God, who provides for all. For God hath given to the 
 generation of my fathers a generous portion, neither poverty 
 nor riches." 
 
 It does not consist with our plan that we should turn 
 aside to depict the terrible scenes that agitated and afflicted 
 these lonely and scattered homes in the year 1692. That 
 story, one of the saddest in our New England annals, may 
 be read elsewhere, and especially in this work of Mr. 
 Upham. But we will give one fragment, not from Mr. 
 Upham's volumes, but from the " History of the Danvers 
 Church," by Rev. Charles B. Rice. As this concerns a 
 
jet. 1-2 1.] IIzs Ancestry and Early Home. 19 
 
 member of the Putnam family, it will be akin to our general 
 purpose. 
 
 At the 200th anniversary of this ancient church (reckon- 
 ing from its first existence as a branch church) Mr. David 
 Stiles of Middleton, one of the speakers, gave the follow- 
 ing incident, which most forcibly illustrates these terrible 
 scenes of 1692. He said: 
 
 " I will relate a little story that has never been in print, show- 
 ing our intimate connection nearly two hundred years ago. At 
 the time of the witchcraft excitement, in 1692, a sister of Joseph 
 Putnam .... and aunt of the famous General Israel Putnam, 
 had a wish, like many others at that time, to see the proceedings 
 of the court, then held in the first meeting-house, a little east of 
 where we are now assembled. But as she entered the house she 
 was accused of witchcraft. The officers of the law were advised 
 by Mr. Parris not to arrest her until the trial then going on was 
 closed. Meanwhile the poor girl fled to the house of Bray Wil- 
 kins, living under the brow of Will's Hill. She took her weary 
 and anxious way through the swamps, among the thorns of the 
 wilderness, fording Ipswich River, leaving behind one or both 
 shoes, lost in the mud ; and with her clothing nearly torn from 
 her body, she entered the house of this well-known good man. 
 But the officers were already on her track, and were soon seen 
 on the plain land below. Again she ran with bleeding feet to 
 the dismal locality at the head of Middleton Pond ; and there 
 among the thorns and briers, wild beasts and reptiles, she 
 secreted herself till the search was given up." * 
 
 We return now to the other son of Thomas, Joseph 
 Putnam, who, like his brother Edward, had inherited a large 
 estate from his father. Joseph Putnam was the son of the 
 second wife, the Widow Veren. He was born in 1670, and 
 at the age of twenty was married to Elizabeth Porter, 
 daughter of Israel Porter, the bride being then sixteen 
 
 * Rice's "History of Danvers Church," p. 217. 
 
20 Life of Israel Putnam. [1718-39. 
 
 years and six months old. Upham says of this bridegroom 
 and bride, " We shall see what a valuable citizen he became ; 
 and she was worthy of him, A large and noble family of 
 children grew up to honor them, one of the youngest of 
 whom ^2ls, Isj-ael Putnam, of illustrious revolutionary fame." 
 
 There has sometimes been a kind of slur or secret insin- 
 uation, that General Putnam was of plebeian origin and of 
 an obscure family. But if there was any family in Massachu- 
 setts, at the beginning of the last century, more worthy to 
 give birth to one of the great revolutionary heroes than 
 this, we fail to discover where it had its dwelling-place. By 
 that time the Putnams, having done a large share in break- 
 ing into the primitive wilderness, and subduing the rough 
 and rocky soil that lay about Salem, began, as Upham says, 
 " to give their sons to the general service of the country in 
 conspicuous public stations, and in the professional walks of 
 life. Their names appear on the page of history and in the 
 catalogues of the colleges." Daniel Putnam, a grandson of 
 Nathaniel, heads the list of college graduates of this name, 
 and he became the minister of North Reading. The tri- 
 ennial catalogue of Harvard alone shows more than twenty- 
 five graduates from this stock, and other colleges would 
 swell this list very considerably. If any other Massachu- 
 setts family can present from the early years a more honest 
 and solid basis of dignity than this, it has liberty to propose 
 its claim. 
 
 The house in which Israel Putnam was born, and where 
 his father Joseph lived, is fortunately still standing. The 
 very chamber in which he first saw the light may still be 
 seen in something of its old-fashioned simplicity. This 
 house is believed by Mr. Upham (who has explored the 
 antiquities of this locality as no other man has) to have 
 been built by Thomas Putnam in 1648, about the time of 
 his returning from Lynn to Salem. Very large additions 
 
iET. I-2I.] His Ancestry and Early Home. 21 
 
 have since been made to it, but with rare good taste and 
 judgment, the original structure has been kept in a great 
 measure intact. One can easily trace the ancient dimen 
 sions, and look upon the roughly hewn timbers of the prim- 
 itive frame. It stands only two or three minutes' walk 
 from the " Swan's Crossing" depot, on the Salem and Law- 
 rence Railroad. It is at the crossing of the roads, where 
 the old Newburyport turnpike intersects one of the Dan- 
 vers roads. It is in the immediate vicinity of that immense 
 and almost bewildering structure which the State of Massa- 
 chusetts is now erecting in Danvers, as a new and additional 
 Insane Hospital. Looking from the door of this Putnam 
 mansion, westerly, this gigantic construction nearly one- 
 third of a mile in length, ranging along the crest of the 
 ancient " Hathorne Hill," is in full view, less than half a 
 mile distant. 
 
 But this ancient house received large additions in 1744, 
 and again in 183 1, so that now, while it is antique and 
 venerable in its appearance, the rooms are numerous, spa- 
 cious and comfortable. The barns and outlying buildings 
 show at once to the passer-by that this has long been a 
 scene of thrift and industry. It is an ancient New Eng- 
 land farm-house of the better quality. But the interest of 
 the visitor centres about that original structure, still so 
 clearly traceable. And his wonder is excited, when he sees 
 with his own eyes what was regarded as a house of a high 
 class and order in New England, more than two hundred 
 years ago. Hardly any man in Salem Village was in a con- 
 dition to build a better house than Thomas Putnam in 
 1648. Here he lived with his first wife, Ann Holyoke, and 
 with his second wife, the rich widow of Nathaniel Veren, " en- 
 joying the society and friendship of the leading men " of 
 Salem. And yet this ancient structure does not make cer- 
 tainly more than a third part, if even so much, of the present 
 
22 Life of Israel Putnam. [1718-39. 
 
 farm-house. It was called of two stories, and was so, but 
 both stories would not make more than one in some of the 
 palatial residences of the present day. It faced toward the 
 east or north-east, while the present farm-house faces to 
 the west or south-west, and as one passes along the present 
 road, nothing is seen of the early structure. The region 
 where this house stands is about six miles north-west of 
 Salem Harbor, and about a mile and a half north of the old 
 Salem Village (now Danvers) meeting-house. In this gen- 
 eral locality in 1692, the year of the witchcraft outbreak, 
 there were living upon their farms, and in separate houses, 
 twelve families of the name of Putnam. And we cannot 
 resist the temptation to copy one or two delightful passages 
 from Mr. Upham, showing what kind of work the Putnams 
 and their neighbors had wrought upon these lands. 
 
 "Among all the achievements of human labor and persever- 
 ance recorded in history, there is none more herculean than the 
 opening of a New England forest to cultivation. The fables of 
 antiquity are all suggestive of instruction, and infold wisdom. 
 The earliest inhabitants of every wooded country, who subdued 
 its wilderness, were truly a race of giants. Let any one try the 
 experiment of felling and eradicating a single tree, and he will 
 begin to approach an estimate of what the first English settler 
 had before him, as he entered upon his work. It was not only 
 a work of the greatest difficulty, calling for the greatest possible 
 exercise of physical toil, strength, patience, and perseverance, 
 but it was a work of years and generations. The axe swung by 
 muscular arms, could one by one, fell the trees. There was no 
 machinery to aid in extracting the tough roots, equal often, in 
 size and spread, to the branches. The practice was to level by 
 the axe a portion of the forest, managing so as to have the trees 
 fall inward, early in the season. After the summer had passed 
 and the fallen timber become dried, fire would be set to the 
 whole tract covered by it. After it had smouldered out, there 
 would be left charred trunks and stumps. The trunks would 
 
JEt. 1-2 1.] His Ancestry and Early Home. 23 
 
 then be drawn together, piled in heaps, and burned again. 
 Between the blackened stumps, barley or some other grain, and 
 probably corn, would be planted, and the lapse of years waited 
 for, before the roots would be sufficiently decayed to enable oxen 
 with chains to extract them. Then the rocks and stones would 
 have to be rismoved before the plough could, to any consider- 
 able extent, be applied 
 
 "The opening of a wilderness combined circumstances of 
 interest which are not, perhaps, equalled in any other occupa- 
 tion. It is impossible to imagine a more exhilarating or invigor- 
 ating employment. It developed the muscular powers more 
 equally and effectually than any other. The handling of the 
 
 axe brought into exercise every part of the manly frame 
 
 He who best knew how to fell a tree was justly looked upon as 
 the most valuable and leading man. To bring a tall giant of 
 the woods to the ground was a noble and perilous achievement. 
 .... Accidents often, deaths sometimes, occurred. A skilful! 
 woodman, by a glance at the surrounding trees and their 
 branches, could tell where the tree upon which he was about to 
 operate should fall, and bring it unerringly to the ground in the 
 
 right direction There were elements also in the work 
 
 that awakened the finer sentiments. The lonely and solemn 
 woods are God's first temples. They are full of mystic influ- 
 ences j they nourish the poetic nature ; they feed the imagina- 
 tion. The air is elastic, and every sound reverberates in broken, 
 strange, and inexplicable intonations. The woods are impreg- 
 nated with ajaealth-giving and delightful fragrance nowhere else 
 experienced. All the arts of modern luxury fail to produce an 
 aroma like that which pervades a primitive forest of pines and 
 spruces. Indeed, all trees in an original wilderness, where they 
 exist in every stage of growth and decay, contribute to this 
 peculiar charm of the woods. It was not only a manly but a 
 most lively occupation. Where many were working near each 
 other, the echoes of their voices of cheer, of the sharp and ring- 
 ing tones of their axes, and of the heavy concussions of the fall- 
 ing timber, produced a music that filled the old forests with life, 
 and made labor joyous and refreshing." 
 
24 Life of Israel Putnam. [1718-39. 
 
 We have thus brought into view the birth-place of our 
 subject with its primitive surroundings. He was of the 
 fourth generation from the beginning, reckoning John Put- 
 nam the founder as the first. He was born not until twenty- 
 eight years after the marriage of his father and mother, and 
 was the youngest but one in a family of eleven children. At 
 that time the opportunities for education were few. The 
 college was doing its work at Cambridge. Ezekiel Cheever, 
 the schoolmaster of seventy years' service, was busy in Con- 
 necticut and Massachusetts, especially in the department of 
 classical instruction. 'Others followed his example. The 
 better-educated ministers could also fit boys for college. 
 But the common school system, as a system, had not borne 
 its better fruits in Massachusetts in the days of Israel Put- 
 nam's childhood. The families were so scattered, and the 
 ways so rough and lonely, that little children might not 
 safely traverse them. Mr. Upham, speaking of the condi- 
 tion of things in this repect, in the early days of Salem 
 Village, says : " Indeed, anything like regular schools was 
 rendered impossible by the then existing circumstances. 
 Clearings had made a very inconsiderable encroachment on 
 the wilderness. There were here and there farm-houses 
 with deep forests between. It was long before easily trav- 
 ersable roads could be made. A school-house placed perma- 
 nently on any particular spot would be within the reach of 
 but very few. Farmers most competent to the work, who 
 had enjoyed the advantages of some degree of education, 
 and could manage to set apart any time for the purpose, 
 were, in some instances, prevailed upon to receive such 
 children as were within reaching distance as pupils in their 
 own houses, to be instructed by them at stated times, and 
 for a limited period. Daniel Andrew rendered this service 
 occasionally. At one period we find them (the people of 
 Salem Village) practising the plan of a movable school and 
 
^T. I-2I.] His Ancestry and Early Home. 25 
 
 schoolmaster. He would be stationed in the houses of par- 
 ticular persons, with whom the arrangement could be made, 
 a month at a time, in the different quarters of the village 
 from Will's Hill to Bass River. Of course there was a very 
 great lack of elementary education." All this refers to a 
 time antecedent to 1692. How great were the advances 
 which had been made between these times and the birth of 
 Israel Putnam in 171 8, cannot very distinctly be told. It 
 is quite possible, if he had been born and reared in that 
 State which afterwards became his by adoption, he might 
 have been better off as to education than in his native 
 State. Before his birth, the laws in Connecticut required 
 that every town or ecclesiastical parish numbering seventy 
 families or upward should maintain a public school contin- 
 uously the year round, for the instruction of all the chil- 
 dren of the place ; and that a town or parish with less than 
 seventy families should maintain such a school for half the 
 year. Besides these schools there were by law maintained 
 four schools at the greater centres, to be called grammar 
 schools, in which Latin and Greek and some of the higher 
 English studies were to be taught. But beyond the mere 
 laws, there was at that time in Connecticut, as we read the 
 early records, a stronger public spirit in favor of universal 
 education than in Massachusetts. Laws are of little ac- 
 count, unless they are lifted up and borne out by the con- 
 senting and active spirit of the people. 
 
 We get some very distinct glimpses of the state of things 
 at Salem Village in the early times, as to this matter of 
 schools, from Rev. Charles B. Rice's history of the church. 
 He says : "The first reference to the subject which I have 
 noticed in the parish records is for the year 1 701, when it was 
 voted : ' That Mr. Joseph Herrick and Mr. Joseph Putnam 
 and John Putnam, Jr., are chosen and empowered to agree 
 with some suitable person to be a schoolmaster among us, 
 
26 Life of Israel Putnam. [1718-39. 
 
 in some convenient time ; and make returns therefor to the 
 people.' These men were the first school committee in 
 our town. It is doubtful, however, if with this committee 
 the ' convenient time ' for hiring a teacher ever in fact 
 came. The passage of such a vote in one of these meet- 
 ings, it must be said, does not of necessity signify accom- 
 plishment. Money was of right to be expected, and was 
 afterward received from the town of Salem, where their 
 taxes were paid. And the next mention of the matter is 
 eleven years later, at which time a committee was appointed 
 to receive whatever might be furnished by the selectmen 
 of Salem. And they were directed with this money to 
 make payment to ' ye Widow Daland of five pounds which 
 is her due for keeping school in ye village formerly ; ' and 
 also ' to invite her to come and keep school in ye village 
 again, and to engage her five pounds a year for two years, 
 or that money which is granted to us by the town for a 
 school.' Nearly a year later there is a receipt signed by 
 ' Katharin Daland ' for this five pounds, due ' for keeping 
 school at Salem Villig, at the school-house near Mr. 
 Green's.' " 
 
 This Mr. Green was then the minister of the parish, and 
 Mr. Rice has culled some extracts from a^ diary he kept, 
 which shows what was passing in his mind in these distant 
 years. Under date of March 22, 1708, he says: 
 
 " I went into ye Town Meeting [/. e. a meeting of the inhab- 
 itants of the village], and said to this effect: Neighbours, I am 
 about building a school-house for the good education of our chil- 
 dren, and have spoken to several of our neighbours who are will- 
 ing to help it forward, so that I hope we shall quickly finish it ; 
 and I speak of it here so that every one that can have any bene- 
 fit may have opportunity for so good a service. Some replyed 
 that it was a new thing to them, and they desired to know where 
 it should stand, and what the design of it was. To them I 
 
^T. I-2I.] His Ancestry and Early Home. 2^ 
 
 answered that Deacon Ingersoll would give land for it to stand 
 on, at the upper end of the Training field, and that J designed to 
 have a good schoolmaster to teach their children to read and 
 write and cypher and every thing that is good. Many com- 
 mended the design, and none objected to it. 
 
 " March 25. Began to get timber for school-house." * 
 
 Altogether, this is not a very promising outlook for popu- 
 lar education in the year 1708, Where the principles and 
 habits for the general education of the children and youth 
 have taken no deeper root than is here indicated, a boy born 
 ten years later, a mile and a half away from the school-house 
 which this good minister seems mainly to have built out of 
 his own pocket, will not come under any very strong and 
 constraining system of popular education. 
 
 But when we turn to the Massachusetts laws on this sub- 
 ject, the aspect is much better than in this actual view of 
 the condition of the people at Salem Village. As early as 
 1642 it became a law in the Massachusetts Bay Colony 
 that every township in the jurisdiction, after the Lord had 
 increased it to fifty householders, shall appoint one within 
 the town to teach such children as should resort thither, to 
 read and write, etc. And it was made incumbent upon the 
 town authorities to see that the children were not neglected 
 in this matter of education. In 1683, it was provided that 
 whenever a town has five hundred families, two grammar 
 schools should be supported. In 1689, it became a law that 
 all towns of fifty families should keep a school at least six 
 months, and all towns of over two hundred families should 
 have a grammar school. But we do not discover in the 
 early laws of Massachusetts on this subject one provision 
 that early in the last century was introduced in Connecti- 
 cut, viz., that parishes should be reckoned in this respect 
 as towns. This was the difficulty in the ancient Salem 
 * "History of Danvers Church," pp. 57 and 58. 
 
28 Life of Israel Putnam. [1718-39. 
 
 Village. It did not become the town of Danvers until 
 1757. It was a part of Salem. Doubtless there was a good 
 school in Salem, but these people were too far away to be 
 able to avail themselves of it, and the law did not compel 
 them to maintain a separate school. 
 
 We will not, however, throw all the blame in the case of 
 Israel Putnam upon the Massachusetts laws, or upon the 
 spirit of the people. It is certain that the early education 
 of young Putnam was in some way sadly neglected, and 
 there was no one in after years, who more sincerely regret- 
 ted this defect than himself. It is probable that Rev. L. 
 Grosvenor, one of General Putnam's descendants (who de- 
 livered the memorial address at Putnam, Connecticut, in 
 1855, at a meeting of the Putnam family), has given us the 
 essential truth on this point. He said : 
 
 " Putnam was a ' self-made man,' so far as that appellation 
 may be applied to any human being. He was not a product of 
 the schools. No schoolmaster or military chieftain could boast 
 of having made hi7n. Like all such men he possessed individ- 
 uality and originality, for which he owed no debts, save to 
 nature. It is proof of his uncommon talents, that he acquired a 
 reputation so solid with the scantiest literary attainments ; it is 
 proof of his uncommon worth of character, that with all his igno- 
 rance of belles lettres, and all his lack of those graces which the 
 dancing-master contracts to furnish at so much per head, he 
 was able to maintain such influence and popularity among 
 officers accustomed to figure in the polite circles of society, and 
 possessing the highest scientific attainments. But a pearl is 
 precious, though encased in the roughest shell, and a diamond 
 is a diamond, without any polishing from the lapidary. 
 
 " It is altogether probable that he little valued learning in his 
 boyhood. A youth of his uncommon physical vigor is apt to 
 have too great a flow of animal spirits to submit cheerfully to 
 confinement to books, or to have any very profound respect for 
 the pedagogue. He likes the schoolmaster better when he is 
 
Mr. 1-2 1.] Hzs Ancestry and Early Home. 29 
 
 abroad than when he is mousing round on tiptoe among the 
 school benches. There is every reason to believe that the pecu- 
 niary circumstances of his family were sufficient to have given 
 him a good education had he been disposed to study. [There 
 is more of doubt in this last sentence than is needed. His 
 father, Joseph Putnam, as we have seen was a man of large 
 estate.] But he loved the tangled and howling forest, better 
 than the tame and close-trimmed groves of the academy. His 
 handwriting proves clearly that he left school forever just after 
 manufacturing, with great labor, a few copies of the longest sized 
 'pot-hooks,' and long before he had attained the dignity of 
 'small-hand.' It is, like himself, remarkable for broad plain- 
 ness rather than clerkly elegance. His spelling, too, is evi- 
 dently all done upon the phonographic principle, entirely unham- 
 pered by the arbitrary rules of the dictionaries. He was conse- 
 quently during all his military life conscious and ashamed of 
 his ignorance of letters. He carried on all his military corre- 
 spondence with the aid of amanuenses, that his ignorance might 
 be exposed to the world as little as possible. He took care to 
 impress on all his children the necessity of education, and gave 
 them the best the country afEorded." 
 
 It is impossible at this late day to gather out of the 
 remote and misty past many incidents of Putnam's early 
 childhood. We can infer from his very nature, that among 
 the boys of the neighborhood he was the mOst active and 
 daring, "ready," as was said of him afterward, "to lead 
 where any would follow. " General David Humphreys of 
 New Haven, who was one of General Putnam's Aids in the 
 war of the Revolution, and who wrote the earliest biogra- 
 phy of him, has preserved one small anecdote which is 
 highly natural and probable. He went to Boston, when a 
 boy (probably with some of his kindred), and while there a 
 bigger Boston boy began chafRng him on his rustic appear- 
 ance, and seemed willing to pick a quarrel. Israel stood it 
 for a while, but at length turned to and gave his insulter a 
 sound flogging, to the great delight of the lookers-on. 
 
30 Life of Israel Putnam. [1718-39. 
 
 Early marriages and the formation of new households 
 were at that time in order. Land was abundant, and with 
 resolute hearts and hands accustomed to toil, the young 
 men of that day were encouraged to strike out for them- 
 selves and help to subdue and populate the country. We 
 have seen that Israel's father was only twenty and his 
 mother sixteen when they were married. And so, in turn, 
 when Israel had reached the age of twenty he was united 
 in marriage to Hannah Pope, daughter of Joseph Pope of 
 Salem Village, she being but seventeen. This marriage 
 took place in 1738.* He was the son of Joseph Putnam, 
 and she was the daughter of Joseph Pope, so that it was 
 necessary to go beyond the initials in indicating those 
 names. In the very year of this marriage, Israel Putnam 
 and his young wife were evidently getting ready to emi- 
 grate.! For in that year (1738) he sold to his brother 
 
 * There is some doubt about the date of Putnam's marriage. Upham puts 
 it in 1739, and it is quite generally so stated. But the Putnam family have 
 some records and traditions that point to 1738. It is not a matter of any 
 special consequence in which year he was married. 
 
 t To show how the Putnams have abounded in this their ancestral home, a 
 few striking facts may be given. Mr. Upham says : " Though there were 
 descendants of this family in every company of emigrants that went from 
 Salem Village, in all directions, in every generation, .... there is about as 
 large a proportionate representation of the name within the precincts of Salem 
 Village to-day as there ever was. Fifty Putnams are at present (1867) voters 
 in Danvers, on a list of eight hundred names." 
 
 The following facts we compile from Rev. Mr. Rice's history of the church. 
 In that volume, there came into view, in the years the history covers, 132 
 different persons, male and female, of the name Putnam. These, of course, 
 are not all the residents of this place, bearing this name, but are such as 
 the course of his narrative brought to the light. Of the 27 persons who 
 united to form the regular church in 1689, 11 were Putnams, 7 men and 4 
 women. Of the 74 men who have been recording clerks in that parish, 24 
 •were Putnams. Of the 23 men who have been deacons, 15 have been Putnams. 
 Of the 26 treasurers, 12 have been Putnams. Of the 18 superintendents of 
 the Sabbath school, 7 have been Putnams. Of the 92 pews in the meeting- 
 house of 1786, 25 were bought by Putnams ; and of the 92 pews sold in 
 
iET. I-2I.] His Ancestry and Early Home. 31 
 
 David the interest he had in the landed estate of his father. 
 We have seen the veritable quitclaim deed which passed 
 from Israel to David. It is a brown and rusty document, 
 but exceedingly well-preserved. For the sum of seven hun- 
 dred pounds and nineteen shillings, he releases to David in 
 part the title and interest in the real estate which came to 
 him from his father. We do not think that Mr. Grosvenor 
 is quite borne out, in the passage quoted above, as to Put- 
 nam's handwriting. The signature to that deed is appar- 
 ently from a hand more accustomed to handle the axe than 
 the pen ; nevertheless it is a good, strong, fair signature, 
 perfectly distinct, and as well written as though it had been 
 executed by an average farmer of the present day. Prob- 
 ably he was a little more at home in signing his own name, 
 than in general writing. But certainly that signature 
 would not be called mean and coarse in any generation of 
 New England common life. 
 
 In those years there was quite a wave of emigration from 
 the towns of the Massachusetts Bay to Eastern Connecti- 
 cut. Traces of this movement can easily be found in all 
 the records of that period. Quite a large number of fam- 
 ilies went from Salem. Lynn was also sending out little 
 colonies. The valley of the Connecticut River had been early 
 occupied by movements from the Massachusetts Bay. In 
 1635 and '36, the towns of Windsor, Hartford and Wethers- 
 field were formed by colonies moving from Dorchester, 
 Cambridge and Watertown. The region along the shore of 
 Long Island Sound was also taken possession of at an early 
 date. New Haven, Milford, Guilford and other shore towns 
 are only a very few years younger than Salem and Boston 
 and Charlestown. 
 
 the meeting-house of 1806,21 were bought by Putnams. Of the 11 persons 
 who met to organize the first Sabbath school in 1818, and to become the 
 first teachers, 6 were Putnams. 
 
32 Life of Israel Putnam. [1718-39. 
 
 But in Eastern Connecticut, along the shores of the 
 Quinebaug and its tributary streams, there was a region 
 of fine farming land which had not so soon come into the 
 market. If one rides at this day here and there through 
 the ancient township of Pomfret when the summer glory 
 is on those Connecticut hills, he will be impressed with the 
 richness and beauty of those fields — mowing-lands and 
 corn-lands — as they spread out in wide, sloping ranges 
 before his eye. Probably no stranger ever rode from the 
 present town of Putnam up to the old Pomfret Centre and 
 through it without being surprised at finding among those 
 hills farms so full of richness and so attractive to the eye. 
 
 This country was not exactly new in 1739. The lands 
 which Putnam bought in that region in that year were not 
 wild lands strictly speaking, as will be seen by the price 
 which he paid for them. Woodstock, just to the north 
 (anciently belonging to Massachusetts), had had a settled 
 ministry since 1686. Pomfret had enjoyed preaching, with 
 rude accommodations, since 171 3, but its first meeting- 
 house was erected in 1734. The lands in that general 
 locality had acquired quite a marketable value before Put- 
 nam went there. But we will not in the present chapter 
 speak particularly of them. 
 
 Before closing, however, we desire to make a somewhat 
 fuller and more exact reference to the Pope family, out of 
 which young Israel Putnam had selected his wife. The 
 home of the Popes was some four miles away from his, to 
 the south-west, toward Lynn, and not very far off from the 
 border line. The house belonging to the Popes was orig- 
 inally occupied by Mr. Edward Norris, minister at Old 
 Salem in 1640. Of this house Mr. Upham says : " Orig- 
 inally given as an ordination present to a minister of the 
 old town, it has after the lapse of two hundred and twenty- 
 six years come round into the hands of another. The house 
 
^T. I-2I.] His Ancestry and Early Home. 33 
 
 in which the Popes lived one hundred and twenty-nine 
 years, and the famiHes that succeeded them for about half 
 a century more, — a venerable and picturesque specimen of 
 the rural architecture in its best form of the earliest times, 
 — has within the last ten years given place to a new one 
 on the same spot. In that old house, besides unnumbered 
 and unknown instances of the same sort, Israel Putnam 
 conducted his courtship " 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 REMOVES TO POMFRET, CT. 
 
 Settlement of Woodstock, Ct., by Colonists from Roxbury. — Land Pur- 
 chases and Speculations. — Settlement of Pomfret. — Captain Blackwell. 
 — Mortlake Manor. — Original Plan given up. — Gov. Belcher and his 
 Purchase, — Israel Putnam and John Pope buy of Gov. Belcher. — Char- 
 acter of Pomfret Population. — The Wolf Story as told by Miss Lamed. — 
 Mortlake Parish. — Vigorous Farming. 
 
 IN the closing part of the last chapter we referred to 
 Putnam's plan for emigration, about the time of his mar- 
 riage to Hannah Pope. It was some fifty years before this, 
 as early indeed as 1684, that there began to be a move- 
 ment in the older portions of the Massachusetts Bay Col- 
 ony to purchase and take possession of the wild lands of 
 Eastern Connecticut. Almost at the same time the valley 
 and shore towns of Connecticut were reaching eastward, 
 as the Massachusetts towns were westward, to take up and 
 occupy this wilderness tract. The first thoroughly organ- 
 ized plan started in Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 1683. The 
 purpose of this volume will not permit us to go minutely 
 into these matters, but if any one wishes to study all the 
 details of these emigrations and their after results, he may 
 find them most carefully and fully stated in Miss Ellen 
 Larned's new " History of Windham County, Connecti- 
 cut," — a volume that may be referred to as a model in 
 the department of local histories. It took two or three 
 years after the beginning of this organized movement, 
 before the pioneers were ready to move in a body. But 
 individuals had been back and forth from time to time; 
 
 34 
 
yET. 2I-37-] Removes to Pomfret, Ct. 35 
 
 the tract to be settled had been fixed upon, and in some 
 measure laid out ; and in the year 1686, forty men, mostly 
 from the town of Roxbury, with their wives and children, 
 moved through the wilderness and appeared on the hills of 
 what is now the town of Woodstock, next north of Pom- 
 fret. When these pilgrims had passed the town of Med- 
 way, the rest of the way was a wilderness. About the 
 same time the present town of Windham, the county-seat 
 of Windham County, was settled by companies coming 
 from the older towns of Connecticut. Settlements were 
 made soon afterwards in districts now known as the towns 
 of Thompson, Killingly and Canterbury. 
 
 Not much progress was made in the settlement of Pom- 
 fret until the beginning of the last c.entury, though as early 
 as 1684 Major Fitch, also of Roxbury, had purchased this 
 territory as wild land. After the Woodstock settlers had 
 planted themselves firmly in their new habitation, they 
 began to tell their old Massachusetts friends and neighbors 
 " of a fair land stretching southward into Connecticut," and 
 in 1686 Major Fitch sold to six men, all of Roxbury, 15,- 
 000 acres of wilderness land for the sum of £,"^0. These 
 six purchasers immediately associated with themselves six 
 more, so that twelve men, all of Roxbury, then owned this 
 wild country. But this was not all the land included in the 
 purchase which Major Fitch had made two years before. 
 He still owned a large territory adjoining this, but farther 
 to the south. 
 
 In 1685, there came to Boston from England a Captain 
 John Blackwell. He was a noted Puritan and a man of 
 distinction. He was a son-in-law of General Lambert, who 
 was closely connected with Cromwell's army, and also a 
 member of Parliament during Cromwell's public adminis- 
 tration. England was not a very comfortable place under 
 the restored Stuarts for a man with the associations of 
 
36 Life of Israel Putnam. [i739-SS- 
 
 Captain Blackwell. He had managed to keep out of the 
 way during the reign of Charles II. ; but now with the com- 
 ing in of James II, he did not object to have an ocean be- 
 tween him and the English throne. He came over com- 
 missioned by a company of Englisli and Irish dissenters to 
 purchase a tract of country in America on which they 
 might settle in a body. He reached Boston just when these 
 land purchases and speculations in Eastern Connecticut 
 were greatly occupying the thoughts of men in the Massa- 
 chusetts towns. That generation was not probably so very 
 different from some that have lived since, in respect to the 
 excitements that may be raised by land speculations. And 
 so Major Fitch traded with Captain Blackwell and sold 
 him, just south of the tract which the Roxbury men had 
 bought, 5,750 acres, which constituted the south-east corner 
 of his (Fitch's) original purchase. Captain Blackwell was 
 very desirous that this should be a territory by itself, sep- 
 arate and distinct, on which his colony might plant itself 
 without dispossessing or interfering with any one else. And 
 so he wished from the first to fix upon it a peculiar name 
 which would be a little romantic in that wilderness country, 
 and he called it Mortlake Manor, from the village Mortlake 
 in Surrey, England, where his father-in-law General Lam- 
 bert lived, and where the men of Cromwell's party used much 
 to resort. Just after this purchase was completed, Sir Ed- 
 mund Andros came over to New England, appointed by 
 that weak and gloomy tyrant James II. Andros was a man 
 exactly fit to do a tyrant's work in New England. His 
 arrival suddenly cut short all Captain Blackwell's plans. 
 But the reign of James was short, and when he was deposed 
 and Andros recalled, there was no longer any necessity for 
 Blackwell and his company to move into the western wil- 
 derness. 
 
 So matters lingered on. Years passed away. In 1707 
 
^T. 21-37.] Removes to Pomfret, Ct. 37 
 
 Captain Blackwell died, and this great landed estate passed 
 to his son. But this son did not wish to occupy it, and he 
 sold it to Jonathan Belcher of Cambridge. This Jonathan 
 Belcher was a very conspicuous figure in New England, 
 from the beginning of the last century on for fifty years. 
 Though of a humble family, he graduated at Harvard Col- 
 lege in 1699, and soon rose into favor and success. He was 
 fortunate in early winning, in some way, the smiles of the 
 royal family of England, the Princess Sophia and her son 
 George II. ; and so in his lifetime he was Colonial Gov- 
 ernor of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New Jersey, 
 and in connection with his administration in the latter 
 State he became the founder of the College of New Jersey. 
 Wealth and honors rolled in upon him. He appears to 
 have had no objection to the purchase of this wild country, 
 and probably it was a relief to the son of Captain Black- 
 well to have him take it off his hands. 
 
 Mr. Belcher through his agents undertook to break up 
 and subdue portions of this territory. He also divided it 
 up and called a part of it Kingswood and a part Wiltshire. 
 In the course of this process of breaking and subduing, 
 and making small sales, he drew some settlers on to the 
 territory from whom afterwards he desired to be free. 
 There was one man by the name of Jabez Utter whom he 
 especially wished to have gone. He bought him out fairly 
 and honestly, but just about that time Utter was arrested 
 for stealing. The story of Mr. Belcher's troubles in clear- 
 ing this fellow out, and especially his wife (for she had 
 more power of cohesive attraction than her husband), is 
 amusing, but too long to be here told. 
 
 Not, however, to dwell upon these details at any greater 
 length, by 17 14 Mr. Belcher had his matters so in hand 
 that he was able to sell portions of this territory to suit 
 purchasers. But as the years went on, the improvements 
 
38 Life of Israel Putnam. [i739-SS' 
 
 that had been made in the lands themselves, and the pop- 
 ulation that was gathering in that general region, caused 
 this tract to rise in value far beyond what it was worth 
 when Mr. Belcher came into possession of it. 
 
 In 1739, Israel Putnam and John Pope {Putnam's wife's 
 brother) bought of Gov. Belcher (he was made Governor of 
 Massachusetts and New Hampshire in 1730) a portion of 
 this old Mortlake district, in the part of it known as Wilt- 
 shire, five hundred and fourteen and a half acres, for 
 which they were to pay £,2,^'J2 los., about ^^5 an acre. 
 But it must be borne in mind that these were not English 
 pounds sterling. This debt was payable in bills of credit 
 on the province of Massachusetts, and this was a sadly 
 depreciated currency. The year following Putnam bought 
 out his brother-in-law, and in one year more, 1741, he had 
 paid for the whole tract, and the mortgage was raised. 
 This is so like what we have seen of the Putnams in their 
 old home in Salem Village ! There was a family thrift 
 among them, from generation to generation, which no 
 impediments seemed to hinder. We have seen that he had 
 from his brother David £,'J00 \<^s., and how much more 
 may have come from the personal estate of his father we 
 do not know. It is not likely that he had any great amount 
 of property with his wife, for the Popes in Salem Village, 
 though of good standing and fair property, were not wealthy 
 as the Putnams were. At any rate, in 1741, Israel Put- 
 nam owned the whole tract of five hundred and fourteen 
 acres without encumbrance.* 
 
 * Since writing the above we have received from a member of the Putnam 
 family in Danvers, a statement based upon the careful examination of the old 
 records, showing that between the years 1 738-1 743 seven different parcels of 
 land were sold by Israel Putnam in Salem Village, for which he received the 
 round sum of ;^i,920. It is not unlikely that his father had made him pres- 
 ents while he was yet in his minority, in accordance with that wise custom 
 already spoken of, and as a reward for his strong and faithful industry. 
 
^T. 21-37.] Removes to Pomfret, Ct. 39 
 
 This land lay in what was long known as a part of Pom- 
 fret, but is now the town of Brooklyn, Connecticut. The 
 traveller who passes down the Norwich and Worcester Rail- 
 road, when he reaches Danielsonville, in South Killingly, 
 is about three miles east from this purchase. We have 
 already spoken of the beauty of the lands near the centre of 
 ancient Pomfret. This Mortlake tract is perhaps not quite 
 so fair and fertile, but is nevertheless of much the same 
 general character. The old name Mortlake still lingers in 
 that region, and is variously attached. The stranger stop- 
 ping at the hotel in Brooklyn, Connecticut, finds himself at 
 the Mortlake House. 
 
 Though, as we have said, this land which Putnam owned 
 was not exactly wild land, it was not, after all, very far 
 removed from that condition. The main work of subduing 
 it and bringing it under easy culture was yet to be done. 
 Forests were to be removed ; and walls and fences were to 
 be built. Much hard work was to be done, and hard work 
 was what Putnam was used to, and in it he took delight. 
 With his prodigious vigor, his physical strength and energy, 
 obstacles that would have intimidated many quickly van- 
 ished before him. At this time Pomfret had made consid- 
 erable progress. But he was in the outskirts of the town, 
 some miles distant from the centre. It was indeed a mat- 
 ter of some uncertainty, in those early years, to what town 
 this old Mortlake Manor of Captain Blackwell should 
 belong. In his original purchase he had been particular to 
 have it a region separate and distinct, for the sole occupa- 
 tion of his colony. This idea to some extent lingered about 
 it long afterwards. In 1 747 the people then living upon it 
 petitioned the Legislature to be made into a separate town. 
 But the request was not granted. 
 
 But before Putnam removed to Connecticut (as early as 
 1734), an ecclesiastical parish had been formed, covering not 
 
40 Life of Israel Putnam. [1739-55- 
 
 only the whole of the original Mortlake Manor, but reaching 
 south and embracing essentially the same territory that is 
 now included in the town of Brooklyn. This at the first 
 was called Mortlake Parish. For more than twenty years 
 it bore this name. In 1754 this name was dropped, and it 
 became the Brooklyn Parish, and in 1786, when Brooklyn 
 was incorporated as a separate township, the town took its 
 name from the parish. In matters ecclesiastical, therefore, 
 Putnam had a distinct centre ; but in matters pertaining 
 to the town, he was at first almost the same as nowhere. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Grosvenor, to whose commemorative address 
 we have already referred, thus describes the old Putnam 
 farm in Pomfret, and the owner's early labors upon it : 
 
 " This farm is situated on the summit of the high hill between 
 the villages of Pomfret and Brooklyn ; and the present line of 
 separation between these townships passes through this tract. 
 It is nearly all fertile soil, admirably adapted to cultivation, being 
 level or gently sloping. The first house he built is not now 
 standing, but the spot where it stood is pointed out. There still 
 lie many of the stones of the old foundation ; there is the first 
 well he dug, but covered now with the modern invention of a 
 platform and a chain pump. There is an old pear tree, almost 
 leafless and lifeless from old age, which it is said he planted. It 
 stands about a hundred yards back of the house now occupied 
 by Mr. Benjamin Brown. About a quarter of a mile south-east 
 of this house is another* which he built, and in it is the long, 
 narrow bed-room, ancient and comfortable in its appointments, 
 in which he died. The main road from Pomfret to Brooklyn 
 passes through the farm, and is planted on both sides for a long 
 distance with very aged apple trees, which the old men of the 
 neighborhood affirm were set out by the General. From thd 
 time of his arrival in Pomfret, even down to his death, he was 
 
 * From information received from Brooklyn we judge that Mf. Grosvenor 
 may have been mistaken in some of his statements concerning this second 
 house. 
 
iEx. 2I-37-] Removes to Pomfret, Ct. 4 1 
 
 as fond of the peaceful pursuits of agriculture and horticulture, 
 as of the excitement of hairbreadth escapes in the deadly breach, 
 and by flood and field. He gave great, and at that time very 
 unusual, attention to the cultivation of fruit trees. His neigh- 
 bors give him the credit of introducing all the best varieties into 
 Pomfret and Brooklyn, and especially the famous winter apple, 
 the Roxbury Russet, now so abundant here, he is said to have 
 brought with him from Salem, when he first settled in Pomfret." 
 
 For a new town planted at first in the wilderness, there 
 was in Pomfret a very unusual degree of culture within a 
 comparatively few years from the settlement. By the year 
 1 73 1 there were over one hundred landed proprietors resi- 
 dent in the town, with an exceedingly fine range of family 
 names. We have given some glimpses, showing the actual 
 state of things in Salem Village in respect to the general 
 education of the children in the early part of the last cen- 
 tury. In contrast with what was there shown, mark the 
 spirit of Pomfret. She had her public school from a very 
 early date. But in consequence of the scattered condition 
 of the families, it was provided by the town that any num- 
 ber of families might combine, according to the conven- 
 ience of neighborhoods, and the selectmen had discretion- 
 ary power to provide for them a separate school. In 1723 
 there were three, and in 1733 four, public schools sus- 
 tained at the general expense. In the very year (1739) 
 in which Putnam arrived in those parts, there had actually 
 been formed among these people of Pomfret, a society with 
 no less a name and aim than the following : " The United 
 Society or Company for Propagating Christian and Useful 
 Knowledge." And lest any should suppose that these peo- 
 ple were merely amusing themselves with large words, let 
 it be said that this association was in its first organization 
 composed of thirty-five men, of whom no one paid in to 
 the general fund less than £,\o, while quite a number 
 
42 Life of Israel Putnam. [i739-5S- 
 
 paid ;^i5, ;^20, and even ;^30, and ;^40, The whole sum 
 subscribed by the thirty-five first members was ;^539. 
 Their plan included a library, which was soon put in opera- 
 tion, and furnished reading for these scattered families. 
 After a time all the leading men of the town became mem- 
 bers and proprietors, and this institution had a vast influ- 
 ence in cultivating a taste for learning. As a remarkable 
 illustration of this spirit and tendency we give the following 
 sure and absolute fact, which cannot probably be matched 
 by any town of like age and circumstances in all the years 
 of New England history. There were at one time in Yale 
 College, from this remote and lonely township yet in its 
 comparative infancy, eleven young men. Ten of them 
 graduated in one class, that of 1759, and one of them in 
 that of 1760. Lest any should think there must be some 
 mistake here, we give their names. The first was a minis- 
 ter's son, bearing his father's peculiar name, Ebenezer 
 Devotion. The rest were Rev. Enoch Huntington, Mr. 
 John Chandler, Rev. Ebenezer Grosvenor, Rev. Ephraim 
 Hide, Mr. Ebenezer Craft, Rev. Abishai Sabin, Rev. Joshua 
 Paine, Rev. Joseph Dana, D. D., Rev. Ezra Weld and Rev. 
 Joseph Sumner, D. D., — eight ministers and three of other 
 professions, — and their names may all be seen on the Yale 
 triennial catalogue for 1759 and 1760. 
 
 If Israel Putnam's own early education had been neg- 
 lected, he had at least now joined himself to a community 
 where there was all needed stimulus, and where there were 
 abundant advantages for the education of his children. 
 And they, as we have already had testimony, were all care- 
 fully educated. 
 
 We cannot very well pass over the early years of Put- 
 nam's residence in Pomfret without referring to the wolf 
 story. It is an old and familiar tale, but in narrating the 
 events of his life it would seem almost impossible to leave 
 
^T. 21-37] Removes to Pomfret, Ct. 43 
 
 this transaction out. And as we are quite sure that we 
 cannot tell the story in so good a way as it stands narrated 
 in Miss Larned's recent " History of Windham County," * 
 we shall allow her to relate its incidents. She tells it with 
 such an explanation of the outward circumstances, and 
 such a minute detail of the internal facts, that it will be in 
 some sense a new story to our readers. She says : 
 
 " At the time of the formation of the United Library Associa- 
 tion, that famous historical personage known as 'Putnam's 
 Wolf ' was making much disturbance. No mythical phantom 
 like the she-wolf of Roman tradition, but a veritable flesh and 
 blood denizen of Windham County — the story of her exploits, 
 pursuits and capture, is known to the whole civilized world, and 
 her den in Pomfret included among the notable places in Amer- 
 ica. Part of her fame is doubtless due to the subsequent celeb- 
 rity of her conqueror. Had Putnam remained obscure, his wolf 
 might have been long ago forgotten, but she undoubtedly dis- 
 played great prowess and tenacity, and has fairly won a place in 
 historic annals. 
 
 " Wolves had abounded in every Windham County town at 
 their first settlement, but had gradually disappeared with advanc- 
 ing civilization. Indians Tom and Jeremy had routed them in 
 Plainfield and Killingly; Woodstock's last reported wolf was 
 shot by Pembascus in 1732 ; Ashford's succumbed in 1735, leav- 
 ing Pomfret's in sole possession of the field. A craggy, precip- 
 itous hill range, bristling with jagged rocks and tangled forests, 
 south of the Mashamoquet and between the Newichewanna and 
 Blackwell's Brook, was her favorite place of residence, where she 
 enjoyed the privilege of entire seclusion and easy access to the 
 richest farms of Pomfret and Mortlake. The grave and rever- 
 end seigniors who met with Mr. Williams to devise means for 
 propagating Christian and useful knowledge, were but half a mile 
 from the lurking place of this surviving representative of barbar- 
 ism, and doubtless discussed the exploits of the wolf as well as 
 the projected library. For "years this creature ranged and rav- 
 
 * P. 360. 
 
44 Life of Israel Putnam. [i739-5S- 
 
 aged the country. There was not a farm or door-yard safe from 
 her incursions. Innumerable sheep, lambs, kids and fowls had 
 fallen into her clutches. Little children were scared by her out 
 of sleep and senses ; boys and girls feared to go to school or 
 drive the cows home, and lonely women trembled for absent hus- 
 bands and children. In summer she was wont to repair to wilder 
 regions northward, returning in autumn with a young family to 
 her favorite haunt in Pomfret. These cubs were soon shot by 
 watchful hunters, but the more wary mother resisted every effort. 
 She evaded traps, outwitted dogs, and made herself, in the words 
 of her biographer, ' an intolerable nuisance.' 
 
 " The great increase of stock following the sale and occupa- 
 tion of Belcher's tract opened a new source of supply to this 
 enterprising and keen-sighted animal. Israel Putnam's farm was 
 only separated by a deep, narrow valley from her favorite hill- 
 side^ This young farmer had devoted himself to the cultivation 
 of his land with much skill and energy, and within two or three 
 years had erected a house and out-buildings, broken up land for 
 corn and grain, set out fruit trees and collected many valuable 
 cattle and sheep. This fine flock soon caught the fancy of his 
 appreciative neighbor, and one morning some ' seventy sheep and 
 goats were reported killed, besides many lambs and kids torn 
 and wounded.' Putnam was greatly exasperated by this loss and 
 butchery. He was not one to submit tamely to such inflictions. 
 From his boyhood he had been distinguished for courage and 
 reckless daring. He was a bold rider, a practised and success- 
 ful hunter. He had a bloodhound of superior strength and 
 sagacity. His stock was very dear to him, and he at once 
 resolved to rid Pomfret of this nuisance. For books at this time 
 Putnam cared little. The United Library Association had no 
 attraction for him, but he was very eager to enter into combi- 
 nation with others for the destruction of this ' pernicious animal.' 
 With five of his neighbors he agreed to hunt the wolf continuously 
 by turns till they had caught and killed her. 
 
 " How long they watched and waited is not known. The final 
 hunt is believed to have occurred in the winter of 1742-3. A 
 light snow-fall the night preceding enabled the watchful hunters 
 
Mt. 21-37.] Removes to Pomfret, Ct. 45 
 
 to trace the wolf far westward over wood and valley, and thence 
 back to her lair in Pomfret. 
 
 " The report of their success in tracking the enemy had pre- 
 ceded them, and men and boys with dogs and guns hurried out 
 to meet the returning hunters, and join in the pursuit and cap- 
 ture. The track led onward into the heart of that savage fast- 
 ness, never before penetrated by white men. John Sharpe, a lad 
 of seventeen, grandson of the first William Sharpe of Mashamo- 
 quet, ran boy-like in advance of the others, following the trail 
 up the icy crag as it wound on between overhanging rocks, 
 gnarled stumps, and fallen tree trunks, to a small opening 
 among the granite boulders on the hillside — the mouth appar- 
 ently of a narrow cave or passage, tunnelling far down into the 
 depths of the earth. A joyful shout from the lad announced 
 the discovery of the wolf's hiding-place. The news soon spread 
 throughout the neighborhood, bringing new actors and specta- 
 tors. Great was the interest and excitement. The wolf was 
 trapped, but how could she be taken ? The day was spent in 
 fruitless efforts to force her from her position. Hounds were 
 sent in, but came back cowed and wounded. Straw and brim- 
 stone were burned in the cavern's mouth without effect. Secure 
 in her rock-bound fortress, the enemy disdained to parley or sur- 
 render. Night brought with it new fears and anxieties. The 
 cave might have some outlet by which the wolf might steal away 
 in the darkness. After all their efforts and anticipated triumph, 
 it was possible that their foe might even now escape them. 
 
 " It does not appear that Putnam had joined in the hunt, or 
 seige, or that his absence was noted or regretted. The future 
 world-renowned General was then a person of very little con- 
 sequence. He was a young man and a stranger. He was not 
 connected with any of Pomfret's old families. He lived in Mort- 
 lake, with whose inhabitants Pomfret had as little concern as 
 possible. He was not a member of the church. School Commit- 
 tee, or Library Association. He was only a rough yonag farmer, 
 making his own way in the world, with a good eye for stock 
 and a very superior bloodhound, which in this moment of de- 
 spondency was remembered, and summoned to the rescue. 
 
46 Life of Israel Putnam. [1739-55- 
 
 "But the obscure young farmer of 1743 had every distin- 
 guishing characteristic of the brave ' Old Put of '76.' A crisis 
 brought him at once 'to the front.' Emergency and peril proved 
 him a leader. With dog and gun he instantly obeyed the sum- 
 mons. His coming changed the aspect of affairs. Doubt and 
 fear vanished before his eagerness and impetuosity. Not a mo- 
 ment was to be lost. The wolf must be routed at once, 
 whatever the hazard. If she would not come to them, they must 
 go to her. The passage must be stormed and its hidden citadel 
 carried. If dog and negro 'declined the hazardous service,' Put- 
 nam himself was ready for the onset. Remonstrance and rep- 
 resentation of danger were unheeded. Divesting himself of 
 coat and waistcoat, Avith a rope fastened around his body and a 
 blazing torch in his hand, he slowly crawled down the black, icy, 
 narrow passage, — 'a mansion of horror,' unvisited before but by 
 'monsters of the desert,' — and at its farthest extremity descried 
 the glaring eyeballs of his terrified adversary. Drawn back by 
 those without, he descended a second time with torch and 
 weapon, and with one dexterous shot brought down the wolf as 
 she was preparing to take the offensive, ' and the people above, 
 with no small exultation, dragged them both out together.' 
 Pomfret's last wolf was destroyed, and her most famous hero was 
 brought to her knowledge." 
 
 We have already spoken of the anomalous condition of 
 things in the Mortlake parish, growing out of that peculiar 
 charter originally given to Captain John Blackwell. All the 
 rights and peculiarities of that charter descended with the 
 property to his son in 1707, and were again transferred 
 with the land to Governor Belcher. Though Mr. Belcher 
 broke the property up, and by so doing seemed to scatter the 
 ancient conditions belonging to it, yet this old network, 
 though broken, still lingered. People who planted them- 
 selves on these lands thought they had some rights and 
 privileges peculiar to themselves, though they did not 
 very well know what they were; and the people round 
 
JEt. 21-37.] Removes to Pomfret, Ct. 47 
 
 about thought the Mortlake folks were somehow a commu- 
 nity by themselves. They tried, as we have stated, to get 
 organized in 1747 into a town, but failed. But they had 
 their parish and their church. The church was organized 
 in 1734, five years before Putnam's arrival, and in 1735 
 Rev. Ephraim Avery was settled in the ministry, and con- 
 tinued till his death in 1754. Then Rev. Josiah Whitney, 
 D. D., was settled for one of those very long ministries of 
 which New England has a goodly number to show. His 
 pastorate lasted from 1756 to 1824, a period of sixty-eight 
 years, till his death. But ten years before his death he had 
 a colleague. Rev. Luther Wilson, and through his agency 
 Unitarianism was introduced into Brooklyn (it then was a 
 town), and a small Unitarian parish sprung up, which is the 
 only one that the State of Connecticut has ever been able 
 steadily to maintain. 
 
 But we go back to Mortlake at the middle of the last 
 century. Having failed in their efforts to become a town, 
 in 1752, by act of the Legislature of Connecticut, these peo- 
 ple and their territory were taken out of their uncertain 
 state and condition, and made distinctly a part of the town 
 of Pomfret. But \kvQ parish oi Mortlake remained as be- 
 fore, and went on its own way. From 1752, then on till 
 1786, Putnam was a regular citizen of Pomfret. For the 
 thirteen years before he had been only a quasi citizen. 
 
 In building the first meeting-houses in the old towns and 
 parishes of Connecticut (and the same was true in other 
 parts of New England), the structures were often exceed- 
 ingly rude ; sometimes unfurnished with seats of any kind, 
 or if they had them, only of the roughest description. The 
 process of building pews would generally be started by 
 some enterprising young men, while the older and more 
 conservative people looked on with not a little concern, and 
 perhaps talked about the " fast generation" that was com- 
 
48 Life of Israel Putfiam. [i 739-5 5- 
 
 ing upon the stage. In the old Mortlake. meeting-house 
 things were in this general condition when, soon after the 
 wolf adventure, Israel Putnam, John Hubbard and Daniel 
 Tyler, on condition that they would reset the squares of 
 glass that were broken out of the meeting-house windows, 
 should have the privilege of building pews for their own 
 private use in the hinder part of the house, provided that 
 " they spile not above two seats on a side." But awhile 
 after, the glass having got broken out again, and no ambi- 
 tious young men appearing who were willing to buy the 
 privilege of building themselves pews by resetting the glass, 
 it was voted by this parish " to board up the meeting-house 
 windows," i. e. those which were broken. But Mortlake 
 Centre even in those years had a good school and a school- 
 house rather stylish for those times, and after its distinct 
 assignment to the town of Pomfret in 1752, it was voted by 
 the town that schools be kept at five places for the general 
 accommodation of all the inhabitants. 
 
 In 1756, when the Rev. Josiah Whitney, a graduate of 
 Yale College, was settled in the ministry in what was now 
 Brooklyn Parish (the name Mortlake having been dropped 
 with the action of the Legislature in 1752), the parish voted 
 him £,120 for settlement and £,6^^ yearly salary. 
 
 Meanwhile th'e young farmer was getting his lands more 
 and more under cultivation, and by hard work was laying 
 the foundations of an ample fortune for those days of 
 ancient simplicity. Children were growing up around him. 
 His oldest child, named for himself, was born in 1740. 
 This is the Captain Israel Putnam whom we shall meet 
 thirty-five years later around Bunker Hill. His next son 
 was David, born in 1742, and named from that brother 
 whom he had left in the old homestead at Salem Village. 
 But this David died in early life, as did also another son of 
 the same name born years afterwards. His third child was 
 
^T. 21-37.] Removes to Pomfret, Ct. 49 
 
 Hannah, bearing her mother's name. Then come Ehza- 
 beth, Mehitable, Molly, Eunice, till we reach Daniel, born 
 in 1759, who as a boy of fifteen years followed his father 
 to Cambridge in 1775, and was with him through all those 
 stirring scenes. After Daniel was born the second David, 
 of whom we have spoken as also dying in childhood, and 
 his last child, born in 1764, was named after one of his 
 compatriots in the French and Indian War, Peter Schuyler. 
 It was through the skilful agency of this Peter Schuyler, a 
 fellow-prisoner, that Putnam was delivered from captivity. 
 He was taken prisoner by the French and Indians, and had 
 been in imminent peril of his life. The services of Schuy- 
 ler were gratefully remembered, and he attached his name 
 to his youngest boy. But as the eye ranges down the list 
 of those ten children, with their Scripture names given 
 after the old New England custom of his fathers, the last 
 one makes a sudden and unexpected contrast ; though even 
 here Peter redeems it and keeps it within the Scripture 
 enclosures. 
 
 We have made frequent references to the United Libra- 
 ry Association. It may gratify the reader to know that 
 before Putnam ever went to the wars he became a member 
 of this society. Rev. Daniel Hunt, formerly pastor of the 
 church in Pomfret, in connection with its 150th anniver- 
 sary, gives a little sketch of the history of the town and 
 says : " To this Association General Israel Putnam was ad- 
 mitted August 27th, 1753, and paid sixteen pounds 'old 
 tenor.' " His children were now coming forward into life, 
 and he meant they should have the opportunity of acquir- 
 ing knowledge, and was all the more earnest because he 
 knew and felt his own deficiencies. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 GOES TO THE FRENCH WAR. 
 
 Bancroft's Idea of the French and Indian War. — Call for Men in 1755. — Put- 
 nam raises a Company and becomes its Captain. — Names of his Children. 
 — Rendezvous at Albany. — Fort Edward. — First Battle. — One of the 
 Rangers. — British Pride and Pomp. — Taken Prisoner. — Constant Expos- 
 ures. — Is chosen Major. — Invasion of Canada. — West Indies. — Close of 
 French War. — Returns to Pomfret in 1764, a Colonel. 
 
 BANCROFT in his " History of the United States" calls 
 the French War the First Epoch of the American Rev- 
 olution. It was a war for colonial independence against 
 French aggression and interference. The American Col- 
 onies bore the great burdens of that war, fighting gallantly 
 under the British standards. In a variety of ways the defi- 
 nition of Mr. Bancroft above given will hold good. Even 
 if we leave the broader connections which he probably had 
 in mind, and look at this French War simply as a grand 
 field for the military training of men, — officers and soldiers, 
 — nothing could have been more opportune in preparation 
 for the scenes that were to be enacted a few years later. 
 The young men of the country who displayed military 
 genius in that war were all the while rising from the ranks 
 of the common soldier to positions of military command. 
 We had then no military school like our present West 
 Point Academy for the training of officers, but this war of 
 1755, lasting several years, brought forward a large number 
 of men who, instructed in the school of experience, knew 
 how to guide an army and set its ranks in battle array. 
 The great commanders in the revolutionary war were most 
 5° 
 
^T. 37-46.] Goes to the French War. 51 
 
 of them officers of lower or higher grades in the French 
 War. 
 
 Troubles between the French and English for the pos- 
 session of this continent were not new in 1755. The story 
 reaches far back, but we cannot spend time to tell it. The 
 English General Braddock had suffered a most disastrous 
 defeat in this summer of 1755, and the remnant that re- 
 mained of his boastful army was saved largely through the 
 military genius of that young provincial officer, George 
 Washington. 
 
 The special point for which the New England forces 
 were to rally was for the relief of Crown Point and the half 
 wilderness regions about Lake George, where the French 
 had gained a strong foothold. In the early part of 1 75 5 
 the plan was adopted that the four New England Colonies 
 should raise a force of three thousand two hundred men, in 
 the following proportions : Massachusetts was to send twelve 
 hundred; Connecticut one thousand; New Hampshire six 
 hundred ; and Rhode Island four hundred. It was noticed 
 that Massachusetts was drawn upon not so heavily in pro- 
 portion to her population as the other colonies.* This 
 produced a slight current of discontent at the first in Con- 
 necticut. Massachusetts at that time included Maine, and 
 her population was far larger than that of Connecticut. But 
 Connecticut generously considered that Massachusetts was 
 much more exposed on her wide north-eastern borders, and 
 upon second thought, cordially raised the one thousand 
 men, and added to the number five hundred more for such 
 exigencies as might soon arise. 
 
 * Bancroft, in his history, gives the population of the New England States 
 in 1754 approximately as follows: Massachusetts, 207,000; Connecticut, 
 133,000 ; New Hampshire, 50,000 ; Rhode Island, 35,000. It will be seen 
 therefore, in this apportionment of men, Massachusetts furnished the least 
 number in proportion to her population, and New Hampshire and Rhode 
 Island the largest. 
 
52 Life of Israel Putnam. [1755-64. 
 
 This call for a thousand men summoned Putnam from 
 the quiet labors of the farm into scenes of war. From 
 1739 to 1755 he had been most industriously occupied in 
 bringing his large landed estate under vigorous culture, and 
 he had wrought upon it a wonderful change. He had now 
 become a substantial and honored citizen of the quiet town 
 of Pomfret. He had grown rapidly in wealth, not by feed- 
 ing at any public treasury, but by hard, skilful, intelligent 
 industry upon the soil. Mr. Grosvenor says of him at 
 this period of his life: "Pursuing every branch of his 
 calling with all his native ardor and perseverance, his flocks 
 and herds increased around him, and his fields yielded 
 abundance, so that by the time of the opening of the 
 French War in 1755 he had acquired a handsome property, 
 and when he went out at the call of his country, he was 
 enabled to leave his wife and children in a comfortable 
 house and sufficiently provided for in case of his death." At 
 that time six of his ten children were born, but two of them 
 had died young, so that he left four at home with their 
 mother, the oldest of whom was Israel, a stout youth of 
 fifteen, and capable in some good measure of taking his 
 father's place in the management of the flocks and herds, 
 and in the cultivation of the lands. 
 
 The first glimpse we get of Putnam on this broader field 
 of action, is given us in Bancroft's " History of the United 
 States." He is describing the little army as it moves from 
 the southern end of Lake George to relieve Fort Edward 
 on the Hudson. He says : "Among them was Israel Put- 
 nam, then a private soldier." Now, it certainly serves to 
 show that Putnam's after life must have made a deep 
 impression upon the mind of the historian, that he should 
 pause at this stage of his narrative, and from those thou- 
 sand private soldiers single out this one alone and call him 
 by his name. But we suspect that Mr. Bancroft has made 
 
^T. 37-46.] Goes to the French War. 53 
 
 a mistake in speaking of him as a "private soldier." We 
 have always understood that the first military service that 
 Putnam ever performed was to raise a company of men in 
 his own immediate neighborhood, of which he became cap- 
 tain. Mr. Grosvenor, a descendant, ought certainly to know 
 about this, and he says : " He was appointed to a captaincy 
 by the Legislature of Connecticut, before he had seen a 
 single day's military service." And General David Hum- 
 phreys ought also to know, who says : " His reputation 
 must have been favorably known to the government, since 
 among the first troops that were levied by Connecticut in 
 1755, he was appointed to the command of a company in 
 Lyman's regiment of Provincials As he was ex- 
 tremely popular he found no difficulty in enlisting his com- 
 plement of recruits from the most hardy, enterprising and 
 respectable young men of his neighborhood." 
 
 To understand the first warlike movements in which Put- 
 nam was engaged some few words of explanation are needed. 
 Crown Point lies near the eastern boundary of New York, 
 close upon the borders of Vermont, and about eighty miles 
 north of Albany. It is on the southern waters of Lake 
 Champlain, where the lake becomes narrow and is rap- 
 idly fading to a point. Lake George is between Crown 
 Point and Albany, a little west of a straight line drawn 
 between these two extremes. General William Johnson of 
 New York, afterwards Sir William, was the commander-in- 
 chief of the American forces in this expedition, and Gen- 
 eral Phinehas Lyman of Connecticut was the second in 
 command, with the rank of Major General. The troops 
 raised in New England joined those from other colonies, 
 (especially New York) at Albany. That was the place of 
 rendezvous during the summer of 1755. There was gath- 
 ered here a force of 6,coo Americans, besides quite a large 
 body of Mohawk Indians under the command of their chief 
 
54 Life of Israel Picinam. [1755-64- 
 
 Hendrick. For though this is called the French and Indian 
 War, the name itself implying that the Indians were chiefly 
 on the French side, yet there were Indians also on the Eng- 
 lish side, and this force which Hendrick led consisted of 
 several hundred warriors. The country between Albany 
 and Canada was a wild border land, which very naturally 
 became a field of strife, as the two parties in the war were 
 then situated. 
 
 In leaving Albany to go northward the army could use 
 Hudson River for transport for a considerable distance, and 
 then it was necessary (in order to reach Lake George, which 
 was their first main destination) to leave the river and make 
 a path some ten or fifteen miles through the wilderness 
 to the southern end of the lake. But for the security of 
 their supplies it was needful to construct a fort at the junc- 
 tion of this road with the river. The building of the fort, 
 which was called Fort Edward, consumed some six weeks. 
 A garrison under the command of Colonel Blan chard was 
 left to man this fortification, and the main force under 
 General Johnson moved on to the southern end of Lake 
 George. 
 
 It was this Fort Edward which Putnam, at a later period, 
 with immense hazards and by almost superhuman exertions, 
 saved from being utterly destroyed by fire. 
 
 Before General Johnson had time to fortify himself in 
 his new position at Lake George, news arrived that Baron 
 Dieskau, the newly arrived French commander, was moving 
 to attack Fort Edward ; and Colonel Ephraim Williams 
 from Massachusetts, with a thousand white soldiers and 
 some two hundred Indians, was sent back for the relief of 
 this fortress. But by a curious turn of affairs Baron Dies- 
 kau, having heard that Fort Edward was furnished with 
 mounted cannon and might prove a dangerous place to 
 attack, changed his plan and was moving to attack the main 
 
uK 
 
 
 
 
 ,1 ^f 
 
 t i|5 
 
 :.^-r-v'^'^p 
 
 
 
 ,^ 
 
 \\ - 
 
 -^\ 
 
 :^N 
 
 
 ^p£:r \)4 ■^- \>4^ J 
 
 b^ 
 
 I'UTNAM SAVING rOKT tiJWAKU. 
 
yET. 37-46-] Goes to the French War. 55 
 
 body at Lake George. The two armies met in the forests, 
 and before the Americans were aware of their danger, they 
 were trapped in an ambush and a most deadly fire opened 
 upon them, by which Colonel Williams, the Indian Sachem 
 Hendrick, and many other subordinate officers, and a large 
 number of the men, were almost immediately killed and 
 wounded. It was in connection with this party that Ban- 
 croft names Israel Putnam. They were thrown into utter 
 confusion and fell back, without keeping military order, to 
 the main body at the lake. They came in as flying fugi- 
 tives, each one escaping for his life. But the firing, only 
 three or four miles distant, had been heard by General 
 Johnson and his force, and it was noticed also that the 
 guns were each moment drawing nearer and nearer. 
 Putting themselves in battle array as well as they could, 
 and receiving back to themselves their flying comrades, 
 order was at length brought out of confusion, and the army 
 of Baron Dieskau, composed of French, Canadians and Indi- 
 ans, met with a terrible repulse. Baron Dieskau was him- 
 self wounded and taken prisoner, and about seven hundred 
 of his men were left dead upon the field. Thus a most 
 mortifying and bloody repulse was turned into a decisive 
 victory, which caused great rejoicings throughout the col- 
 onies. This was Israel Putnam's first baptism of fire and 
 blood. 
 
 Colonel Williams, who commanded this relieving party, 
 was an officer greatly trusted and beloved, and his name is 
 destined to live in the quiet walks of learning through com- 
 ing generations. Before setting out upon this campaign, 
 while he was yet at Albany, knowing the uncertainties of 
 the expedition upon which he was entering, he made a will, 
 by which he bequeathed his property (which was consider- 
 able) for the founding of a free school in what was then a 
 comparatively wild region. He had been in command of 
 
56 Life of Israel Putnam. [1755-64- 
 
 Fort Massachusetts, which was in the region now covered 
 by the town of Adams in Berkshire county. His school 
 was to be in the town next west of that locality, then almost 
 wild country, on condition that the place should be named 
 Williamstown. For several years the funds were allowed 
 to accumulate. But in 1785 trustees were appointed, 
 and in 1791 the school was started, and in 1793 it was in- 
 corporated as Williams College. 
 
 Besides the one thousand men and the five hundred 
 reserves which Connecticut had already raised, before this 
 summer of 1755 was over she had also equipped and sent for- 
 ward two regiments more, each numbering seven hundred 
 and fifty men. But it became evident before advancing far- 
 ther into that almost pathless wilderness, that several forts 
 and strongholds should be built to keep a sure and safe con- 
 nection with the more settled portions of the country. The 
 autumn of 1755 was spent in this way, and when the winter 
 set in, enough of the forces were kept to man these newly- 
 built fortresses, and the rest allowed to return home to 
 await the operations of another year. 
 
 Though France and England had been more or less at 
 war on this continent for a long course of years, yet the 
 real declaration of war in what is commonly called the 
 French and Indian War was not made until 1756. In May 
 of that year England openly declared war against France. 
 To give dignity and force to her plans, she also sent over 
 several English regiments, with General Abercrombie to be 
 chief commander on the field, and the Earl of Loudoun to 
 be Governor of Virginia and a sort of viceroy over all the 
 colonies. 
 
 And now for a time, the Americans had to endure that 
 peculiar English pride which showed itself in Braddock the 
 summer before, who disdained the idea that a young Amer- 
 ican upstart in the person of George Washington could 
 
^T. 37-46.] Goes to the French War. 57 
 
 teach a British General how to fight. In hke manner 
 Abercrombie and Loudoun, despising all suggestions from 
 men born on this soil, proposed to astonish the provincials 
 at their methods of conducting a campaign. The conse- 
 quence was that the summer of 1756 was used up in long 
 and tedious delays. Abercrombie had the idea of removing 
 the native officers from the regiments raised on these shores 
 and substituting Englishmen, so that the Americans would 
 be only of the rank and file. But he found that the men 
 of New England, and especially those from Connecticut, 
 who by their charter had never been ruled by foreign gov- 
 ernors, would not submit to this measure. The season was 
 mainly used up in pompous nothings. Mr. Hollister in his 
 " History of Connecticut " says : " It was a sore affliction 
 that brought Abercrombie to Albany to delay the provincial 
 troops, who, had they been led on by Winslow, would prob- 
 ably have taken Crown Point without British aid." The 
 season ended with the defeat of the English and American 
 forces by Montcalm, which sent over the colonies a wave 
 of weariness and discouragement, in strong contrast v/ith 
 that tide of rejoicing which followed the close of the cam- 
 paign in 1755. 
 
 There are multitudes of people yet living v/ho, in their 
 early life, used to hear the stories of this French War from 
 aged men who had been actors in it. It was a war of most 
 peculiar hardships and rough adventures. Carried on in 
 such wild and inaccessible regions, provisions often grew 
 short, and many a man spent days and weeks almost upon 
 the verge of starvation. Moreover, the operations that 
 went on in the winter months were attended with such 
 sharp exposures to the cold, that none but men of iron con- 
 stitution could endure them. 
 
 But let us get such glimpses as we can of Putnam in 
 
58 Life of Israel Pittnam, [1755-64- 
 
 these scenes of 1755 and '6. When the army disbanded in 
 the autumn of 1755 (except such as were required to man 
 the northern fortresses which had been erected during the 
 summer), Putnam did not go home, but remained on the 
 field of action. He became one of that famous band of 
 Rangers, who employed their time most industriously in 
 picking up valuable information as to what was going on 
 in the French army, and at the same time annoying and 
 troubling the enemy in every way possible. General 
 Humphreys says on this point: "Soon after his arrival in 
 camp he became intimately acquainted with the famous 
 partisan Captain, afterwards Major, Rogers, with whom he 
 was frequently associated in traversing the wilderness, re- 
 connoitering the enemy's lines, gaining intelligence, and 
 taking straggling prisoners, as well as in beating up the 
 quarters and surprising the advanced pickets of their army. 
 .... The first time Rogers and Putnam were detached with 
 a party of these light troops, it was the fortune of the latter 
 to preserve with his own hand the life of the former, and to 
 cement their friendship with the blood of one of their 
 enemies." 
 
 Mr. Hollister, in a note on page 58, volume H. of his 
 history, has furnished the record of a vote passed in the 
 Connecticut Assembly in May, 1756. The Assembly 
 granted "to Captain Israel Putnam the number of iifty 
 Spanish milled dollars, and thirty such dollars to Captain 
 Noah Grant, as a gratuity for their extraordinary services 
 and good conduct in ranging and scouting, the winter past, 
 for the annoyance of the enemy near Crown Point." Mr. 
 Bancroft in his history thus describes Putnam: "There 
 was the generous, open-hearted Israel Putnam — a Con- 
 necticut Major — of a gentle disposition, brave, incapable 
 of disguise, fond of glorying, sincere and artless." Upon 
 
^T. 37-46] Goes to the French War. 59 
 
 this sentence Mr. Grosvenor in his memorial address, thus 
 remarks : 
 
 " This is mostly a high eulogium, and it may seem ungrateful 
 to find fault with it. But we must be allowed to repel with some 
 warmth the charge of glorying, /. e. boasting of his exploits. We 
 claim that whatever else might be lacking in Putnam's character 
 he was every inch a soldier, and a boastful spirit is a very unsol- 
 dierly trait. We challenge Bancroft to produce from any living 
 acquaintance of Putnam, or from any dead record that is worthy 
 of credit, any the slightest proof that Putnam was ever a braggart. 
 Here where he lived is the place to come and inquire the truth 
 on this point. Here it can be learned that even in his old age, 
 a time when most soldiers love to 'shoulder the crutch and show' 
 how fields were won,' he instead of being boastful was a remark- 
 ably modest man Judge Paine of the United States Dis- 
 trict Court of Vermont, who was Putnam's neighbor for thirty 
 years, says, ' he was a modest, unassuming man, and had noth- 
 ing of the braggadocio about him Universally considered 
 
 by all his neighbors a man of the strictest truth and veracity.' " 
 
 We cannot go over minutely the events of this French 
 War. It would occupy space that we need for more impor- 
 tant purposes. If any one wishes to know in detail the 
 military history of Putnam through those years, he may 
 find the story fully written out in General Humphreys' 
 " Life of General Putnam," of which the first edition was 
 published in about 1790. The French War was compara- 
 tively near to him in time, but distant from us. He had 
 lived in General Putnam's society, and it was but natural 
 that he should dwell upon the bold deeds and hairbreadth 
 escapes of his hero. In that war Putnam passed through 
 many an adventure, where he exhibited the same un- 
 daunted courage shown in his encounter with the wolf. He 
 was often brought into the closest quarters where escape 
 seemed impossible, but by his quick perceptions and amaz- 
 
6o Life of Israel Putnam. [175S-64. 
 
 ing energy, — by keeping himself master of all his powers 
 and faculties in the most critical moments, it was his habit, 
 if we may so speak, to wrest his victory from what in 
 others would have been sure defeat. As an example of 
 what we mean (and there are many similar adventures) we 
 will give one illustration in General Humphreys' own 
 words. He says : 
 
 " As one day Major Putnam chanced to be with a bateau and 
 five men, on the eastern shore of the Hudson near the rapids, 
 contiguous to which Fort Miller stood, his men on the opposite 
 bank had given him to understand that a large body of savages 
 were in his rear and would be upon him in a moment. To stay 
 and be sacrificed, to attempt crossing and be shot, or to go down 
 the falls with an almost absolute certainty of being drowned ; 
 were the sole alternatives that presented themselves to his choice. 
 So instantaneously was the latter adopted that one man who had 
 rambled a little from the party was of necessity left, and fell a 
 miserable victim of savage barbarity. The Indians arrived on 
 the shore soon enough to fire many balls on the bateau before it 
 could be got under way. No sooner had our bateau-men 
 escaped by favor of the rapidity of the current beyond the reach 
 of musket shot, than death seemed only to have been avoided in 
 one form to be encountered in another not less terrible. Prom- 
 inent rocks, latent shelves, absorbing eddies, and abrupt descents 
 for a quarter of a mile, afforded scarcely the smallest chance of 
 escaping without a miracle. Putnam, trusting himself to a good 
 Providence whose kindness he had often experienced, rather than 
 to men whose tenderest mercies are cruelty, was now seen to 
 place himself sedately at the helm, and afford an astonishing 
 spectacle of serenity. His companions, with a mixture of terror, 
 admiration and wonder, saw him incessantly changing the course 
 to avoid the jaws of ruin that seemed extended to swallow the 
 whirling boat. Twice it turned fairly round to avoid the rifts of 
 rocks. Amidst these eddies in which there was the greatest dan- 
 ger of its foundering, at one moment the sides were exposed to 
 the fury of the waves, then the stern, and next the bow glanced 
 
^T. 37-46.] Goes to the French War. 61 
 
 obliquely onward with inconceivable velocity. With not less 
 amazement the savages beheld him, sometimes mounting the bil- 
 lows, then plunging abruptly down, at other times skilfully veer- 
 ing from the rocks, and shooting through the only narrow pas- 
 sage ; until at last they viewed the boat safely gliding on the 
 smooth surface of the stream below. At this sight, it is asserted 
 that these rude sons of nature were affected with the same kind of 
 superstitious veneration which the Europeans in the dark ages 
 entertained for some of their most valorous champions. They 
 deemed the man invulnerable whom their balls, on his pushing 
 from shore, could not touch, and whom they had seen steering in 
 safety down the rapids that had never before been passed. They 
 conceived it would be an affront to the Great Spirit to attempt to 
 kill this favored mortal with powder and ball, if they should ever 
 see and know him again." 
 
 No wonder these Indians thought that Putnam bore a 
 charmed life, for it was no more than many white men 
 thought. How he could always come out alive and gen- 
 erally unharmed from his many dangerous encounters, was 
 a mystery. It is among the strange allotments of this life 
 (some would say chances) that certain men can never seem 
 to come even remotely into the region of danger, without 
 a disastrous and often fatal issue ; while other men all their 
 lives long pass unscathed through the most perilous situ- 
 ations. From the day that Putnam entered the den at 
 Pomfret till he rode down the steep declivity of stone steps 
 at Greenwich, Connecticut (being then sixty years old, and 
 weighing two hundred pounds), history hardly affords a 
 parallel, in case of any one man, to the many places of im- 
 minent peril which he occupied. He did not indeed escape 
 without wounds and scars, but he bore off his life, and died 
 in old age in his own home. 
 
 General Humphreys says : " The active services of Cap- 
 tain Putnam on every occasion attracted the admiration of 
 the public, and induced the Legislature of Connecticut to 
 
62 Life of Israel Putnam. [1755-64- 
 
 promote him to a majority in i757 j" which is the simple, 
 old-fashioned way of telling us that he rose from the rank 
 of Captain to that of Major in 1757. 
 
 The war dragged its weary length along. It is some- 
 times sportively said of certain physicians that they act 
 and speak as if their patients ought to be willing to die if 
 they can only die scientifically. And those great British 
 Generals that came over in the early part of the French 
 War, carried themselves with such lofty and pompous airs, 
 that it seemed a matter of small consequence whether they 
 led their armies to victory or defeat, provided they only 
 exhibited before the untutored provincials the rules of sci- 
 entific warfare. Too proud and haughty to receive sugges- 
 tions from practical men who knew far better than they 
 what needed to be done, they squandered the time through 
 1756 and '57 in the idleness of the camp, or if they made 
 a military movement, it was almost sure to end disastrously. 
 Mr. Hollister, speaking of the operations of 1756, says: 
 "While this fine army was thus passing the summer in 
 shameful inactivity, settling points of etiquette and wait- 
 ing for leave from its officers to do what at an earlier day 
 Major Treat, or at a later day Putnam, would have done in 
 six weeks with six thousand effective men, the enemy was 
 gaining every advantage by the delay." 
 
 After two years of this style of management under Lou- 
 doun and Abercrombie, but especially the former, as he was 
 chief in authority, the colonies became disgusted and dis- 
 couraged. And when in 1758 Loudoun called together the 
 Colonial Governors to ask for more troops, and to block out 
 the course of future action, he found them cold and formal, 
 and in no hurry to comply with his requests. But fortu- 
 nately just then William Pitt, the Earl of Chatham, had 
 come again to the front in English politics, and Loudoun 
 was recalled. A strong hand had now taken hold of the 
 
iET. 37-46-] Goes to the French War. 63 
 
 helm of state, and there was to be a very different system 
 of operation. 
 
 In 1758, Putnam was taken prisoner by the Indians, 
 those savage allies of the French, and in this captivity he 
 suffered more horrible outrages, and was in more often and 
 imminent danger of losing his life than ever before or af- 
 terwards. All these painful and cruel details need not be 
 repeated, but he bore to his grave the huge scars from 
 wounds then inflicted. But at last he was passed along to 
 the French authorities, and was held as a prisoner of war, 
 awaiting exchange. We have before made reference to this 
 matter in connection with the name given by Putnam to his 
 youngest son, born in 1764. The story is pleasantly told 
 by General Humphreys, and as it is brief we quote it. 
 
 "The capture of Frontenac by General Bradstreet afforded 
 occasion for an exchange of prisoners. Colonel Schuyler was 
 comprehended in the cartel. A generous spirit can never be sat- 
 isfied with imposing tasks for its generosity to accomplish. 
 Apprehensive if it should be known that Putnam was a distin- 
 guished partisan his liberation might be retarded, and knowing 
 there were officers who from the length of their captivity had a 
 claim to priority of exchange, he had by his happy address 
 induced the Governor to offer that whatever officer he might 
 think proper to nominate should be included in the present car- 
 tel. With great politeness of manner but seeming indifference 
 as to object, he expressed his warmest acknowledgements to the 
 Governor and said, ' There is an old man here who is a provin- 
 cial Major and wishes to be at home with his wife and children ; 
 he can do no good here or any where else ; I believe your Excel- 
 lency had better keep some of the young men who have no wife 
 or children to care for, and let the old fellow go home with me.' 
 This justifiable finesse had the desired effect." 
 
 We do not exactly vouch for the morality of this transac- 
 tion, but it is an old adage that " all is fair in war." At any 
 
64 Life of Israel Putnam. [i755-64. 
 
 rate one can easily see that Putnam, with his noble and mag- 
 nanimous nature, would never be likely to forget a friend 
 who had thus given him his liberty. 
 
 The year 1758 closed with failure again in the operations 
 around Ticonderoga and Crown Point, but with some grand 
 triumphs elsewhere which tended to encourage the army 
 and the people ; but the year 1759 was to be memorable for 
 its successes, as it included among other victories the cap- 
 ture of Quebec by General Wolfe. This is one of those 
 battles that appeals strongly to the imaginations of men. 
 The preceding circumstances, as well as the issue of the 
 battle, give it a most romantic place in human annals. Not 
 even the flippant story, as told by the Irish driver who in 
 these modern days carries you out to the Plains of Abra- 
 ham, and who has learned his lesson by rote, can wholly 
 destroy in your mind the romantic impressions of that 
 battle. 
 
 The success of Wolfe at Quebec opened the way in the 
 following year for the general conquest of Canada. Put- 
 nam, by this time had risen to the rank of Lieutenant-Col- 
 onel, and was rapidly acquiring skill and experience as a 
 leader of men. He was an important officer under General 
 Amherst in the completion of this Canadian campaign. 
 
 When these northern conquests were over, the scene 
 shifted to the French possessions in the West India Islands. 
 Fleets came out of England to co-operate with the land 
 forces, which were transferred to those heated regions, and 
 Putnam was put in command of General Lyman's regiment, 
 numbering one thousand men. Here success followed suc- 
 cess in a very rapid manner, though this southern climate 
 was terribly destructive to men who had just been living 
 amid the cold of these northern regions. The war finally, 
 in its last act, passed from the French to the Spanish pos 
 sessions, and Havana the capital of Cuba was taken. Then 
 
^T. 37-46.] Goes to the French War. 65 
 
 followed in 1763 the treaty of peace between Great Brit- 
 ain and France, and in 1764, after a brief expedition to our 
 western borders, Putnam returned to his home with the 
 title of Colonel. 
 
 We are aware that this is only the briefest outline sketch 
 of the French and Indian War, and that is all that has 
 been attempted. It serves to keep the succession of times 
 and seasons, and to show the heroic proportions of this 
 farmer from Connecticut. Putnam had acquired a very rare 
 and unique reputation for the services he had thus ren- 
 dered. His name and his deeds were everywhere upon the 
 tongues of the people. Especially was he known for his 
 new and original way of overcoming all obstacles and get- 
 ting out of all difficulties. In the appendix may be found 
 a larger reference to this trait of his genius, in which he 
 was well-nigh unsurpassed. In any sharp, sudden and un- 
 expected crisis his decisions were made with the quickness 
 of instinct, but hours of the most sober reflection could 
 hardly have improved them. He had gained too a character 
 for courage and military ability which was not then trifled 
 with. Men turned toward him as a tower of strength in 
 any future complications that might arise. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ELEVEN YEARS OF HOME LIFE. 
 
 Death of his Wife. — Selectman and Moderator of Town-meeting. — Joins the 
 Church. — Watching the Movements of the British Government. — The 
 Stamp Act. — The Sugar Act. — The Boston Port Bill. — Early Remon- 
 strances from Connecticut. — Growing Excitements. — False Alarm in 
 September, 1774. — Colonel Deming's Oration. — News from Lexington. — 
 Ride to Cambridge and Concord. 
 
 THE long war was at last over, and the American Col- 
 onies were free from French insult and interference. 
 Putnam went out to this war in 1755, a plain, uneducated 
 farmer. He came back in 1764, with large military knowl- 
 edge gained in the rough school of practical experience. 
 But like the officers and soldiers in our late war of the 
 Rebellion, when his warlike service was ended he went 
 back to the quiet pursuits of the farm just as naturally as 
 he left them in 1755. 
 
 In the year 1765 two events occurred which deserve spe- 
 cial notice. In that year, the wife of his youth and the 
 mother of his ten children died, leaving her youngest son 
 an infant of a year old. It added a pang to this affliction 
 that now, after his long absence and painful separation from 
 his family, this bereavement should fall just as he had come 
 back to enjoy the rest and comfort of his substantial home. 
 This was the Hannah Pope of Salem Village, with whom 
 his destinies had been united for more than a quarter 
 of a century. 
 
 In this year 1765 Putnam made a public profession of his 
 Christian faith, and united with the church in Brooklyn, then 
 66 
 
^T. 46-57.] Eleven Years of Home Life. 6y 
 
 under the pastoral care of Dr. Josiah Whitney, whose long min- 
 istry has already been noticed. But in all the years before 
 this, Putnam had walked strictly in the ways of his fathers. 
 He came of a race, that in its several generations, from the 
 beginning until now, had been a strongly religious race, as 
 we have seen. In his life in Danvers and in Pomfret he 
 was a regular attendant upon the worship of the sanctuary, 
 and a firm supporter of religious institutions. There are 
 no braver men on earth than those who humble themselves 
 before God. History is full of its examples, showing us 
 that the best soldiers are often the truest Christians. Many 
 a godless scoffer has found to his cost that there are no 
 more fearful men to encounter in the day of battle than 
 those who have the fear of the Lord before their eyes. In 
 the early days of our late Rebellion great stories were told 
 as to the wonderful things those zouaves from the low pur- 
 lieus of New York city were to do when they came in face 
 of the enemy. But it was found when the trial was made, 
 that they were as poor soldiers as they were citizens, and 
 that no trust could be reposed in such men in the day of 
 battle. In every long and trying war which this country 
 has passed through, the burden has rested back at last upon 
 solid character. And especially has it rested upon the 
 Christian people — the ministers and churches of the coun- 
 try, without whose aid and support no one of our great 
 wars seemingly could have been carried through.* 
 
 * The general spirit and position of the New England ministers in the war 
 of the Revolution are pertinently illustrated by the following extract from a 
 letter published in the "Independent Chronicle," May 29, 1777. The letter 
 had been waylaid and so came to light. John Cochran, the writer, was a tory, 
 then on Long Island. His wife, to' whom the letter is addressed, is in New 
 Hampshire, and he wants her to go from where she is to a place of more pri- 
 vacy and security. He says : 
 
 " I shall either hope to find you at the Isle Shoals or up at Londonderry. 
 If you intend to tarry where you are, I pray for God's sake, that there be no 
 CLERGYMAN in the house ; if there is, your life is not worth a farthing." 
 
68 Life of Israel Putnam. [1764-75. 
 
 It has sometimes been doubted whether Putnam ever 
 was a member of the church. There need be no doubt 
 whatever upon that point. The date of his admission to 
 the church in Brooklyn is given us by Mr. Grosvenor, and 
 is abundantly shown by many witnesses. He made this 
 public profession May 19th, 1765, so that he was a com- 
 municant full twenty-five years. 
 
 The West India campaign, of which we spoke in the 
 former chapter, was terribly destructive to life and health 
 in those who took part in it, and the British government 
 gave a tract of land to the men of Connecticut who sur- 
 vived those fearful exposures. This land was situated on 
 the Mississippi River, near Natchez. In the winter of 
 1772-73 General Lyman, Colonel Putnam and others char- 
 tered a vessel, and made a voyage to examine this land tract 
 with a view to the establishment of a colony upon it. They 
 extended their voyage beyond the mere necessities of the 
 case and visited the island of Jamaica, and also entered the 
 harbor of Pensacola. Mr. Grosvenor tells us that in con- 
 nection with this voyage Putnam kept a diary which is still 
 in existence, and which is probably the longest piece of 
 writing that he ever executed. This diary is valuable 
 for the settling of a point about which there is some dis- 
 pute. We call attention to this subject distinctly, because 
 the matter will come up again in another form. Major 
 Small, an English officer, was stationed at Pensacola as a 
 subordinate of General Huldeman. Under date of March 
 8, 1773, Putnam records in his diary: "I went from the 
 General's to see Major Small, who was not well. Stayed 
 there all night." Again on the 13th of March he says: 
 "Supped with Major Small; lodged at night." These 
 items are of importance as showing that Putnam not only 
 knew Major Small, but apparently knew him intimately, or 
 he would not have been likely twice at least in this short 
 visit to have spent the night with him. 
 
^T. 46-57.] Eleven Years of Home Life. 69 
 
 It is not needful that we should attempt to expand to any- 
 great length the circumstances of his life, during the ten 
 years and more that intervened between the close of the 
 French War and the opening of the revolutionary drama. 
 Our interest centres mainly about one feature of this life, 
 viz., his intense indignation at that system of oppression 
 which the mother country was trying to establish over these 
 colonies. They had suffered and toiled and been impov- 
 erished by the burdens and hardships of the French War, 
 which had just closed, and it seemed now that after all their 
 faithful services, England was determined to extract from 
 them the money wherewith to pay the expenses of this 
 protracted conflict, Mr. Hollister says of the state of 
 things at this period : 
 
 " An old national debt, by gradual accretions, had grown at 
 last to the appalling sum of seven hundred millions of dollars. 
 Even at the beginning of the last French War, the alarm of the 
 government had been excited, and the Board of Trade had pro- 
 posed a plan of taxing the American Colonies. But in the whirl 
 of those exciting campaigns that followed each other like a suc- 
 cession of autumn gales upon an exposed ocean shore, the scheme 
 had been allowed to slumber for about eight years. No sooner 
 had the peace of 1763 given the nation an opportunity to look 
 at its internal condition, than the British ministry again turned 
 its eye toward the American Colonies as the proper field for 
 financial experiment." * 
 
 England passed the Stamp Act in 1665. The excite- 
 ment caused by this event, especially in the New England 
 Colonies, was intense. As Massachusetts was the older 
 and the larger colony, and had the chief seaport in New 
 England, her course of action in those years has been more 
 distinctly and largely written out, and many people sup- 
 pose that it was mainly her influence that aroused the other 
 * Vol. I. p. 120. 
 
70 Life of Israel Putnam. [1764-75- 
 
 New England Colonies, and that she did the chief work in 
 organizing opposition. But Connecticut did not borrow 
 her indignation from Massachusetts. From the earliest 
 dawn of this oppressive policy Connecticut was taking 
 action by herself. Her peculiar charter made her the more 
 keenly alive to the dangers that threatened. Hitherto she 
 had known far less of English rule and English interfer- 
 ence than the other colonies. Her charter exempted her. 
 She had chosen her own Governors, and lived in peace and 
 prosperity under them. When the haughty Andros, the 
 minion of James H., undertook to be Governor of all New 
 England, 1686-89, and came to Hartford to demand 
 that charter which especially stood in his way, he went 
 back a wiser man than he came, but without the document. 
 Israel Putnam, though born in Massachusetts, had now 
 been a citizen of Connecticut for more than a quarter of a 
 century, and had thoroughly identified himself with her in- 
 terests. As we are writing his life, it becomes more nat- 
 ural that we should look at this opening strife preceding 
 the revolutionary struggle from the Connecticut standpoint. 
 Not that we would in any degree neglect or disparage the 
 course of Massachusetts. Her record is clear and vigor- 
 ous. Her example was noble and inspiriting. She has on 
 her historic rolls for those years the names of men whose 
 words and deeds will never be forgotten. But Connecticut 
 was not the less bold, active, determined. What was called 
 the Sugar Act was made a law in 1764, and the Stamp 
 Act was under discussion. In that very year the Con- 
 necticut Assembly, when it came together in May, and be- 
 fore any other colony had taken public action, began to 
 move in this matter. They appointed three men who, in 
 conference with Governor Fitch, should prepare a paper of 
 remonstrance against the policy of the British government. 
 The paper was finished and forwarded. One of these three 
 
Mt. 46-57.] Eleven Years of Home Life. yi 
 
 men, Mr. Jared Ingersoll, soon after went to England, and 
 though he did his duty faithfully in the way of remonstrance, 
 yet when it was a foregone conclusion that the Stamp Act 
 would pass, he unwisely (though it was done by the advice 
 of the wise Doctor Franklin) allowed himself to be ap- 
 pointed Commissioner for Connecticut to sell this stamped 
 paper. 
 
 When Mr. Ingersoll came back to this country with this 
 commission in his pocket, the wrath of the people was 
 kindled to a white heat. His residence was at New Haven, 
 but not being able to stand the indignation of his towns- 
 men, he set out for Hartford to consult the Connecticut 
 Assembly and bring himself under the protection of Gov- 
 ernor Fitch. His journey was nearly ended. He had 
 reached the vicinity of Wethersfield, when he first met five 
 men on horseback, who offered him no violence, but rode on 
 in his company. Soon he met thirty more, who joined 
 the procession and passed on with him towards Wethers- 
 field. Then after a little he found himself received into 
 the midst of a cavalcade of five hundred, who attended him 
 into Wethersfield. The leader of this cohort was a man 
 by the name of Durkee. Once in the street of Wethers- 
 field they commanded him to resign his office of Stamp- 
 master. He desired to parley, and wished to consult the 
 Assembly and Governor Fitch, but they were not to be put 
 off. He must resign then and there. It became more and 
 more apparent to him each moment that these men meant 
 all they said, and that he should never escape with his 
 life from this company except by resigning the hated 
 office. And he resigned. They had a form of resignation 
 all ready for him, by which they made him say that he did 
 this of his " own free will and accord." 
 
 Putnam was now a prominent member of the Connect! 
 cut Sons of Liberty. The stamped paper for Connecti- 
 
']2 Life of Israel Putnam. [1764-75, 
 
 cut had been brought as far as New York, and it was 
 uncertain what would happen. It was the Governor's place 
 to appoint a Stamp-master in the room of Mr. Ingersoll, 
 who had resigned of "his own free will and accord." Put- 
 nam called on the Governor as a deputy from the Sons of 
 Liberty, on this Stamp Act business. The Governor said 
 to him, " What shall I do if the stamped paper should be 
 sent to me by the King's authority.-'" "Lock it up," said 
 Putnam, " until we [the Sons of Liberty] shall visit you 
 again." " And what will you do with it then } " Putnam's 
 reply was, " We shall expect you to give us the key of the 
 room where it is deposited ; and if you think fit, in order to 
 screen yourself from blame, you may forewarn us upon 
 our peril not to enter the room." " And," asked the Gov- 
 ernor, " what will you do afterwards ? " " Send it safely 
 back again." "But," said he, "if I should refuse admis- 
 sion } " " Your house will be leveled with the dust in five 
 minutes." It must be borne in mind that Governor Fitch, 
 in this colloquy, had no more love for stamped paper than 
 Putnam himself. He was not a foreign appointee, but was 
 elected Governor dy the people and for the people. And 
 it should be said also for Mr. Ingersoll, that he was an ear- 
 nest friend of liberty, and fought against the Stamp Act at 
 home and in England. And when he could not prevail to 
 stop it, he did prevail to have the time of its enforcement 
 put off, and this delay really caused the death of the bill. 
 The stamped paper reached New York, but never got into 
 Connecticut. The English ministry, finding what a furious 
 storm they were raising, repealed the act in March, 1766, 
 but superseded it by the Boston Port Bill, which was cun- 
 ningly contrived to make a fair show, but upon close exam- 
 ination had the same essential elements of oppression in it 
 that the Stamp Act had, though acting in quite a different 
 way. This was especially fitted to rouse the indignation of 
 
Mr. 46-57.] Eleven Years of Home Life. 73 
 
 Boston, and it did thoroughly arouse it. The people took 
 the matter in hand and on the loth of June, 1768, the 
 pent-up wrath broke out into open violence. Then came 
 the tax on tea, and other arbitrary measures. 
 
 So passed these weary years of turmoil and excitement. 
 The industry of the country was kept almost at a stand- 
 still by the wide preoccupation of the public mind, and by 
 the immense uncertainties which overhung the future. 
 England still held fast to her purpose, in one form or an- 
 other, to tax America and raise her home revenues by 
 sharp exactions upon her provinces. Men began to see 
 that these matters would never end without the interven- 
 tion of the sword. And yet this must be a struggle with 
 many most painful features ; officers and soldiers who had 
 fought side by side through the French War, who had con- 
 tracted close friendships, must now meet face to face upon 
 the battle-field as mortal foes. 
 
 General Humphreys, in his " Life," etc., has given a kind 
 of summary of Putnam's course of action during this period. 
 It being settled in the minds of men that war must come, 
 he says : 
 
 " All eyes were now turned to find the men who, possessed of 
 militaiy experience, would dare in the approaching hour of sever- 
 est trial to lead their undisciplined fellow-citizens to battle. For 
 none were so stupid as not to comprehend that want of success 
 would involve the leaders in the punishment of rebellion. Put- 
 nam was among the first and most conspicuous who stepped 
 
 forth As he happened to be often at Boston, he held 
 
 many conversations on these subjects with General Gage, the 
 British commander-in-chief, Lord Percy, Colonel Sheriff, Colonel 
 Small [here he saw Colonel Small again] and many officers with 
 whom he had formerly served, who were now at the headquar- 
 ters. Being often questioned, in case the dispute should pro- 
 ceed to hostilities, what part he should really take, he always 
 answered, with his country, and that, let whatever might happen, 
 
74 Life of Israel Putnam. [i764-75. 
 
 he was prepared to abide the consequences. Being interrogated 
 whether he^ who had been a witness to the prowess and victories 
 of the British fleets and armies, did not think them equal to the 
 conquest of a coimtry which was not the owner of a single ship, 
 regiment, or magazine, he rejoined that he could only say jus- 
 tice would be on our side and the event with providence ; but 
 that he had calculated if it required six years for the combined 
 forces of England and her colonies to conquer such a feeble 
 country as Canada, it would at least take a very long time for 
 England alone to overcome her own widely extended colonies, 
 which were much stronger than Canada : that when men fought 
 for everything dear, in what they believed to be the most sacred 
 of all causes, and in their own native land, they would have great 
 advantages over their enemies who were not in the same situa- 
 tion ; and that having taken into view all circumstances, for his 
 own part he fully believed that America would not be so easily 
 conquered by England as those gentlemen seemed to expect. 
 .... This was the tenor, our hero hath often told me, of those 
 amicable interviews ; and thus, as it commonly happens in dis- 
 putes about future events which depend upon opinion, they parted 
 without conviction, no rnore to meet in a friendly manner until 
 after the appeal should have been made to heaven, and the issue 
 confirmed by the sword." * 
 
 There is a man among us (vi^e are happy in the belief 
 that he was not born on our American soil) who has, within 
 a comparatively few years, outraged history by repeated 
 insinuations that Putnam was playing the part of a traitor 
 in the opening scenes of the Revolution, especially in June, 
 1775. If a man ever lived, against whom these " fiery darts 
 of the wicked" might be shot harmlessly, that man was 
 General Putnam. With a character as transparent and 
 open as the day, if the men of his own time did not know 
 what he was about and what was the great current of his 
 thought and feeling, then by all means let us have a for- 
 
 * Humphreys' " Life of Putnam," pp. 87-89. 
 
Mt. 46-57.] Eleven Years of Home Life. 75 
 
 eigner come a hundred years afterward and tell us. The 
 man who makes these insinuations is one of large histori- 
 cal learning, and has greatly helped other men (even on 
 this particular subject) by his immense accumulation of pri- 
 mary facts and documents. But if ever a theory defied the 
 common sense of mankind, his theory does. 
 
 In violent contrast to this mean and skeptical philoso- 
 phy, we propose to introduce a passage from the oration of 
 Colonel Henry C. Deming * of Hartford (now deceased), 
 delivered in 1859, on the occasion of the presentation of 
 General Putnam's sword to the Connecticut Historical 
 Society. He gives us one of the most graphic delineations 
 of General Putnam's character that we have ever seen. He 
 said : 
 
 "If Connecticut had foreseen her future from 1745 to the rev- 
 olutionary period, and made for herself a hero, she would have 
 forever forfeited her repute for practical common sense, if she 
 had not made precisely such an one as General Putnam, The 
 style of hero which those thirty years demanded was essentially 
 military, for wars and convulsions decisive of our destiny were 
 distinctly prognosticated; and yet a military hero that was 
 adapted to our peculiar wants, graded to our scale, and willing 
 to make himself generally useful. We were a feeble folk far 
 away in the backwoods, just opening a stingy soil to tillage, just 
 beginning to raise crops enough for home consumption, with 
 naught but homespun manufactures, with meagerest foreign com- 
 merce, in wholesome fear of Indian massacres ; for in 1746 the 
 tomahawk and scalping-knife had been freely used within a few 
 hours' march of our borders ; environed with French settlements 
 and posts, and at times in imminent danger of vassalage to the 
 House of Bourbon, and liable to requisitions from our own sov- 
 ereign liege, whenever the wars of European ambition kindled 
 into flames his American dominions. What this little frugal 
 colony could have done with a hero of more magnificent and 
 * Appendix A. 
 
^6 Life of Israel Putnam. [1764-75. 
 
 colossal proportions, an Alexander, a Cromwell, a Napoleon, 
 except to offer up itself as one meal to his insatiable maw, it is 
 impossible to conceive. We craved a hero of dauntless pluck, 
 of unwearisome endurance, shrewd, generous, self-abnegating, 
 fertile in expedients, with more genius for forest war than for 
 pitched battles and complicated campaigns, a man of muscle 
 and might and will, capable of intense wrath and inviolable ob- 
 stinacy, who could bend or break into military subordination 
 and trustful self-surrender the Connecticut levies, raw, verdant, 
 awkward as soldiers, but independent and self-complacent as 
 freeholders ; while under his stubborn and imperious rule they 
 were marched to Ticonderoga or Frontenac or Havana, or wher- 
 ever else his Majesty chose to order them ; and after the cam^ 
 paign was over and the troops discharged could render an 
 exact and conceivable account of receipts and disbursements 
 to the Commissioners of the Pay Table. We wanted a hero 
 shajDcd more like a Cincinnatus than a Ceesar, who in the breath- 
 ing times of peace could join his fellow-citizens in productive 
 industry, and support the Gospel and sit in the General Assem- 
 bly, — no useless drone in our hive, no barnacle on our poor 
 treasury, — a hero, who in the fulness of time, when petitions, 
 prayers and remonstrances had all failed, and our unborn 
 rights and privileges were brought to the arbitrament of 
 the battle-field, held in himself a sufficient volume of slumber- 
 ing courage and martial enthusiasm to electrify our whole people, 
 and dared to lead a sturdy yeomanry where any dared to follow. 
 The model man which our era and our environments craved 
 was none of your imperial spirits who bend all mankind into 
 homage, and contemn the civil power and cross Rubicons and 
 convulse the world ; but a shield and sword to an untamed com- 
 monwealth in a steady struggle with untamed nature and with 
 savage and civilized foes ; the farmer that could subdue its stub- 
 bornest glebe ; the hunter that could cope with its most formida- 
 ble beasts of prey ; the ranger that could banish the terror of 
 the Indian and give security to the traveller in the forest, the 
 laborer in the field, and the child in the cradle ; the advanced 
 guard on the Canadian war-path, behind whom women and chil- 
 
^T. 46-57.] Eleven Years of Home Life. 'jy 
 
 dren could sleep secure ; the trusted leader who could hold our 
 untried ploughmen to a breastwork of hay through three assaults 
 from British grenadiers." 
 
 To illustrate this passage from Colonel Deming, and to 
 show the simple-hearted and serviceable spirit of this man, 
 take the following incident. In 1774 British troops were 
 gathering in Boston, and the business industry of the town 
 was almost paralyzed. Indeed the place began to be iso- 
 lated, cut off from the interior towns, and serving simply as 
 a British military post. There was distress among the loyal 
 inhabitants; and other parts of New England sent large 
 contributions for their relief. We copy the rest from 
 Bancroft (Vol. VII. p. loi) : 
 
 " Putnam of Connecticut, famous for service near Lake George 
 and Ticonderoga, before the walls of Havana and far up the lakes 
 against Pontiac, a pioneer of emigration to the southern banks of 
 the Mississippi ; the oracle of all patriot circles in his neighbor- 
 hood, rode to Boston with one hundred and thirty sheep as a gift from 
 the parish of Brooklyn. The ' old hero ' became Warren's guest 
 and every one's favorite. The officers (English) whom he visited 
 on Boston Common bantered him about coming down to fight. 
 'Twenty ships of the line and twenty regiments,' said Major 
 Small [notice that here he sees Major Small again], ' may be 
 expected from England in case a submission is not speedily made 
 in Boston.' *If they come,' said the veteran, 'I am ready to 
 treat them as enemies.' " 
 
 Now, we may be sure, first of all, from the very nature of 
 the man, that his own flock was as heavily drawn upon to 
 make this contribution as that of any other person in Brook- 
 lyn parish. And besides, he volunteered his service to see 
 those sheep safely in Boston. A man of cold and aristo- 
 cratic proprieties would have thought himself ruined for life 
 if he had been caught in such service as this, even though 
 it might be for the relief of suffering Boston. But we are 
 
78 Life of Israel Putnam. [1764-75. 
 
 not aware that the man of cold and aristocratic proprieties is 
 any more beloved of God or men than one who exhibits a 
 spirit like this. 
 
 And we are the more ready to take passages like this 
 from the pages of Mr. Bancroft, because, as we shall see in 
 the later stages of his work, he is drawn into the acceptance 
 of theories, apparently without independent investigation, 
 which tend to dishonor this " old hero " of whom he here 
 speaks so nobly. 
 
 This was in August, 1 774. Hardly had Putnam reached 
 his home again in Pomfret, when a rumor went through the 
 New England Colonies, which grew as it travelled, but which 
 was founded upon a small amount of fact. It stirred the 
 people of Connecticut from centre to circumference. This 
 excitement was caused by a movement in the British army 
 to seize the powder which had been gathered for future 
 exigencies, and which was stored in a magazine between 
 Cambridge and Medford. The British were successful in 
 this attempt. It caused a great stir about Boston, but the 
 proportions of the story, as was natural, were magnified as 
 it moved on into the interior. This event happened on the 
 first day of September, 1774, apparently toward night. The 
 news reached General Putnam as soon as it could be carried. 
 And we have the copy of the letter which he immediately 
 sent to Captain Aaron Cleaveland, with the endorsement of 
 Captain Cleaveland upon it, and a further endorsement by 
 some one in Norwich whose name is not given. The mis- 
 sive went like the war signals which the Highland Scotch 
 used to speed through their vales and mountains. 
 
 "Pomfret, Sept., 1774. 
 
 " Capt. Cleaveland : Mr. Keys has this moment brought the 
 
 news that the men and troops begun to fire upon the people last 
 
 night at sunset at Boston, when a post was sent immediately off 
 
 to inform the country. He informs that the artillery played all 
 
^T. 46-57.] Eleven Years of Home Life. 79 
 
 right ; that the people were rallying universally from Boston as 
 far as here and give all the assistance possible. The first was 
 occasioned by the country being robbed of their powder from 
 Boston as far as Framingham ; and when found out, the persons 
 who went to take them were immediately fired upon. Six of our 
 number were killed the first shot, and a number more wounded, 
 and beg you will rally all the forces you can, and be upon the 
 march immediately for the relief of Boston and the people that 
 way. Israel Putnam." 
 
 " N. B. — Send an express along to Norwich. 
 
 "Aaron Cleaveland." 
 " Forwarded from Norwich." 
 
 Now it would be very easy for a grammarian to suggest 
 several emendations in that letter in respect to style.* 
 There are some awkward gaps in it, which the impetuous 
 old warrior could not stop to fill up. He had to trust to 
 the common sense of the man who received it to leap the 
 chasms. But the man who received it took its whole 
 meaning in an instant, and took it sooner than though the 
 writer had stopped to fill his sentences and round out his 
 periods. 
 
 The rumor thus set in motion travelled quickly across the 
 little State even to the borders of New York. Hollister, in 
 
 * We have freely conceded that General Putnam greatly lacked literary cul- 
 ture, but compare him with Colonel James Reed of New Hampshire, who did 
 heroic service in the battle of Bunker Hill, and he seems in contrast like a 
 liberally educated man. Here are a few sentences from a letter of Colonel 
 Reed, dated at Fitz William, N. H., June 8th, 1775, copied frotn the seventh 
 volume of " New Hampshire Provincial Papers," p. 508. 
 
 " HoNRAD Sir, I bag Leve to Trobel you with one word in faver of the 
 Barer Captain Colburn — that is to inform that he is one of the Siners of the 
 paper of a greement to Rase a Regiment under command, and Sir as my Reg- 
 iment is fit,d up with out him and as I had in Corigement that any officer that 
 had got men should be taken Notis of, &c. &c. . . . . if your Honours the 
 Committee would favor him in the next Regiment as a Major if a greeabel. 
 .... would bag leve to subscribe myself &c." 
 
 Colonel Reed was afterwards Brigadier-General. 
 
8o Life of Israel Putnam. [1764-75. 
 
 his history says (Vol. II. p. 158), "The whole colony was 
 in commotion, and it is believed that more than twenty 
 thousand men were on their march for Boston before they 
 were made aware that the story was without foundation." 
 Mr. Hollister says "without foundation." It had, as we 
 have seen, a germ of truth, but the story, in the proportions 
 with which it reached Connecticut, was essentially without 
 foundation. 
 
 From these warlike thoughts and associations we turn 
 now a moment to look upon Putnam amid the scenes of his 
 home life, and as a citizen of the goodly town of Pomfret. 
 It has been already explained how, owing to the complica- 
 tions of the Mortlake Manor, Putnam did not distinctly be- 
 come a citizen of Pomfret until 1752. The interval between 
 that and 1755, when he went to the French War, was so short 
 that he would not naturally be much developed as a citizen 
 of the town. But after his return from that war, in the 
 eleven years that intervened before the opening of the rev- 
 olutionary period, he was quite active as a citizen. Mr. E. 
 P. Hayward, the present Town Clerk of Pomfret, has fur- 
 nished from the records a few items, which may illustrate 
 his standing and reputation in the town during this inter- 
 val. He was first chosen one of the Selectmen of the town 
 in 1763. He was chosen to the same office again in 1765, 
 and still again in 177 1. A Selectman in one of our old 
 New England towns was exactly what the word itself im- 
 plies. It was the most important office which the town in 
 its municipal capacity had to bestow. It was given to men 
 of wisdom and uprightness. A rash, headlong, injudicious 
 man was not likely to be proposed for this office. A New 
 England town * is in itself one of the most remarkable 
 
 * We once heard an impressive remark in this connection from the lips of 
 the late Professor Agassiz. He had been out the evening before (this was 
 more than twenty years ago) to give a lecture in one of our Massachusetts 
 towns, and he was on the morning train returning to the city. The remark 
 
^T. 46-57-] Eleven Years of Home Life. 8 1 
 
 products of our western civilization. Notliing like it is 
 known in Europe nor even in large portions of the United 
 States, We may hope that the present tendencies among 
 us will bring the town system into use in States that have 
 never had it. Indeed, we know that in one at least of the 
 so-called Southern States that question is now under con- 
 sideration. 
 
 We gather, from the fact that Putnam was three times 
 chosen on the Board of Selectmen in Pomfret, that his 
 neighbors and fellow-citizens regarded him as a safe and 
 judicious man, wise in council as well as bold in action. 
 In the year 1 769 he was Moderator in Town Meeting, and 
 this is another testimony not without significance. He 
 was on the committee to rebuild the bridge over the Quine- 
 baug River, near the present village of Danielsonville. 
 
 We adduce these little items, which may be deemed 
 unimportant, simply to show what some are disposed to 
 doubt, that along with his prodigious energy he had a well- 
 balanced judgment and large practical knowledge. It is 
 very easy by taking certain strong characteristics of Putnam 
 and exaggerating them, at the same time leaving out of view 
 his other qualities, to make him into a grotesque personality. 
 It requires but little imagination or ingenuity to do this. 
 But Putnam, while he impressed the men of his own times 
 as a very unique character, did not impress them as a gro- 
 tesque and ridiculous one. Would he have been " Warren's 
 guest and every one's favorite," as Bancroft tells us, had he 
 
 was in substance that he could never cease to wonder at what he saw in New 
 England. Said he, " I go in any direction among these towns in the valleys 
 and on the hills, and I always find an intelligent audience gathered, prepared 
 to listen attentively to the scientific subjects upon which I lecture. What an 
 idea it would be for me to go out in this way and lecture among the peasantry 
 of France ! At Paris, at Lyons, at Marseilles and such great centres, of 
 course I could find audiences of the highest intelligence. But to go out into 
 the open country of France to lecture in this way would be the height of folly." 
 
 6 
 
82 Life of Israel Putnam. [1764-75. 
 
 been an outlandish boor ? Doubtless he could not handle 
 his knife and fork at Warren's table with the same grace as 
 could the host, who nevertheless felt honored and gratified 
 by his presence. Formal and fashionable proprieties are 
 one thing ; and they are not by any means to be despised. 
 They contribute greatly, if not run to excess, to the pleas- 
 ures of life. But there are proprieties deeper than these. 
 An unselfish and accommodating spirit, a noble heart, a 
 mind free from all envy and hatred, a self-forgetfulness, a 
 desire to give others pleasure, — these, in our real estimates 
 of character, turn the scale very quickly when weighed 
 against merely conventional proprieties. And these noble 
 qualities Putnam had in large measure. The testimony in 
 this respect is so well-nigh universal that it is needless to 
 spread the proofs in detail. He had one of the kindest and 
 most compassionate hearts that ever beat in a human 
 bosom, and he made the men who were near him, whatever 
 might be their culture, love him ; always excepting those 
 who were moved with envy at his greater popularity and 
 success. 
 
 We have already stated that Putnam lost his first wife in 
 1765. Two years later, in 1767, he was again united in mar- 
 riage to Mrs. Deborah Gardiner of Gardiner's Island He 
 had no children by this marriage, and this wife died in 1777. 
 She was at the time with him at his headquarters in the 
 Highlands on the Hudson River. 
 
 We might introduce more details respecting this period 
 from 1764 to 1775, but have perhaps done enough to bring 
 the man into view, as he was known among his fellow-towns- 
 men and the people of Connecticut. We must pass on to 
 scenes immediately preceding and accompanying the rev- 
 olutionary outbreak. We can desire no more evidence than 
 we have now before us, that his mind and heart were most 
 deeply interested and occupied with what was passing at 
 
^T. 46-57.] Eleven Years of Home Life. 83 
 
 Boston. From those hills of Eastern Connecticut he 
 watched all the signs of the times with intensest curiosity, 
 and every important event reported itself to him as swiftly 
 as couriers could bring the news. 
 
 The battles of Lexington and Concord took place on 
 the 19th of April. Bancroft says (Vol. VII. p. 315), "On 
 the morning of the 20th, Israel Putnam of Pomfret, in 
 leathern frock and apron, was assisting hired men to build 
 a stone wall on his farm when he heard the cry from Lex- 
 ington. Leaving them to continue their task, he set off 
 instantly to rouse the militia officers of the nearest towns. 
 On his return he found hundreds who had mustered and 
 chosen him their leader. Giving orders for them to follow, 
 he himself pushed forward without changing the checked 
 shirt he had worn in the field, and reached Cambridge at 
 sunrise the next morning, having ridden the same horse a 
 hundred miles within eighteen hours. He brought to the 
 service of the country courage which during the war was 
 never questioned, and a heart than which none throbbed 
 more honestly or warmly for American freedom." 
 
 This is one form of the story, but the more common form 
 is that he was ploughing at the time the news reached him. 
 Daniel Putnam his son, who certainly ought to know, as he 
 was then in his sixteenth year, says, "When this time came 
 he loitered not, but left me, the driver of his team, to 
 unyoke it in the furrow, and not many days after to follow 
 him to camp." We have no doubt this is the truth. 
 
 But what he was doing at that time is of comparatively 
 small consequence. What he did do under the circum- 
 stances will be told through all the future ages of our his- 
 tory. A straight line drawn from Pomfret, Connecticut, to 
 Boston will measure not far from sixty miles. But no one 
 travels through New England on straight lines even now, 
 much less then. We know not precisely what route he 
 took, but probably he did not reach Cambridge in less than 
 
84 Life of Israel Pntnam. [1764-75. 
 
 sixty-five or seventy miles. But he had first been to the 
 neighboring towns. Bancroft puts his ride, after he heard 
 the news, at one hundred miles by sunrise next morning. 
 This may be a little in excess of truth. Paul Revere's ride 
 two nights before is made famous by its circumstances and 
 the dangers that encompassed him, and especially by the 
 pen of the poet who has glorified it. But here was a ride 
 not attended with any such present dangers, but involving 
 marvellous powers of endurance in a heavy man of fifty- 
 seven years of age. And the story is not all told yet. The 
 same day that he reached Cambridge he was also at Con- 
 cord, and probably returned to Cambridge the same night. 
 Governor Ingersoll of Connecticut, at the Concord Centen- 
 nial Celebration, April 19th, 1875, in the speech he made, 
 stated this fact, viz., that Putnam was at Concord on the 
 2 1st of April, 1775. The statement was doubted. Judge 
 Hoar thought it could not be so. Governor Ingersoll rested 
 for his authority upon Hollister's "History of Connecticut," 
 but would not insist upon it in the presence of those who 
 might be supposed to be better informed. He went home 
 and applied to that indefatigable antiquarian, J. Hammond 
 Trumbull, LL. D., of Hartford, and he found and produced 
 a copy of an old Norwich paper containing Putnam's letter 
 written at Concord on Friday, April 21st, and published in 
 Norwich Sunday, April 23d. This whole matter is so inter- 
 esting, as letting us directly into the life and stir of those 
 momentous days, that we give in a note the whole account 
 as prepared and published by Mr. Trumbull in the Hartford 
 Daily " Courant," July 24, 1875.* 
 
 It may not be possible to tell certainly what route was 
 taken by Putnam in this journey. The expresses that 
 went out from Boston to that part of Connecticut seem to 
 
 * General Putnam's Ride to Concord. — When news of the fight at 
 Lexington and Concord reached Pomfret, Israel Putnam, says his biographer, 
 Colonel Humphreys, "left his plough in the middle of the field, and without 
 
JEt. 46-57.] Eleven Years of Home Life. 35 
 
 have gone by Worcester, and we notice also that the Mas- 
 sachusetts Congress, May 13th, 1775, estabhshed the post- 
 road to Woodstock by Worcester. Woodstock joins Pom- 
 fret, and as Worcester was a local centre there was probably 
 a better road to Boston that way than by the more south- 
 ern tier of towns. The distance to-day, on the New York 
 and New England Railroad, from Boston to Pomfret is given 
 in its time-tables, as sixty-six miles. But that road makes 
 some departures from a straight line for local accommoda- 
 
 waiting to change his clothes set out for the theatre of action." He was in 
 Concord on the second day after the battle, and the same day (April 21st), 
 after a conference with the Massachusetts Committee of Safety, he wrote to 
 Connecticut to advise the Governor and Council what was to be the colony's 
 quota for the army to be raised in New England. These facts seem to have 
 escaped the notice of our historians, and at the late Centennial Celebration in 
 Concord Governor Ingersoll's allusion to Putnam's visit in 1775 did not pass 
 unquestioned. 
 
 A despatch from the Committee of Safety at Watertown, dated at 10 A. M. 
 on the 19th, was received in Pomfret about 8 A. M. on the 20th, bringing news 
 that the British had fired on the people at Lexington, "killed six men and 
 wounded four others, and are on their march into the country." About 
 3 p. M. a second despatch came to Colonel Ebenezer Williams of Pomfret, 
 one of the Connecticut Committee of Safety, with an account of the fight at 
 Concord. Colonel Williams forwarded the news by express to Canterbury 
 and Norwich; writing under date of 3 p. M. (misprinted "A. M." in Force's 
 "Am. Archives," IV. p. 363), " I am this moment informed by express," etc. 
 The following letter from Putnam, dated in Concord ox^ the 21st, shows that 
 he did not leave Connecticut until after the receipt of the second despatch, that 
 is, until after he had news "at Pomfret" of the battle at Concord. In the 
 interval, between the arrival of the first and second expresses, he was probably 
 in conference with the Windham County committees and military officers. 
 This letter was printed in Norwich, on Sunday the 23d, together v/ith other 
 reports of the battle, in an extra from the ofiice of the Norwich " Packet." 
 
 Norwich, April 23, Sunday, 4 p. m. 
 
 A gentleman arrived here this Day, and has favoured us with the follow- 
 ing particulars, which we think proper to communicate to the Public, who may 
 depend, that the most strenuous Exertion of Abilities, and unremitting Assid- 
 uity of the Publishers, shall never be wanting to give them satisfaction. 
 
 Concord, April 21. 
 
 To Colonel E. Williams. Sir — I have waited on the Committee of the 
 Provincial Congress, and it is their Determination to have a standing Army 
 of 22,000 men from the New-England Colonies, of which, it is supposed, the 
 
86 Life of Israel Putnam. [1764-75. 
 
 tion. The distance by Worcester is certainly not less than 
 that. 
 
 Then we notice that Mr. Bancroft brings Putnam to 
 Cambridge at sunrise June 21st, but HolHster takes him to 
 Concord at the same hour. We think he went to Cambridge 
 first. The letter was written from Concord ; but before he 
 wrote that he had seen the Committee of Safety. This 
 committee held some of their meetings in those days at 
 Menotomy, which was afterwards West Cambridge, but 
 now Arlington. The committee probably met there or at 
 Watertown on the 2 1 st. These places would be on the way 
 from Cambridge to Concord. 
 
 But put the matter as we will, this ride of General Put- 
 nam must ever stand as a most marvellous specimen of 
 activity and endurance in a man of his years. 
 
 Colony of Connecticut must raise 6,000, and begs they would be at Cambridge 
 as speedily as possible, with Conveniences ; together with Provisions, and a 
 Sufficiency of Ammunition for their own Use. 
 
 The Battle here is much as has been represented at Pomfret, except that 
 there is more killed and a Number more taken Prisoners. 
 
 The Accounts at present are so confused that it is impossible to ascertain 
 the number exact, but shall inform you of the Proceedings, from Time to Time, 
 as we have new Occurrences ; mean Time I am, 
 
 Sir, your humble servant, 
 
 Israel Putnam. 
 
 N. B. The Troops of Horse are not expected to come until further notice. 
 
 A true copy E. Williams. 
 
 [The broadside has this imprint : " Printed by Robertsons and Trum- 
 bull, who will, in a few Days have for Sale, The Crisis, number One and 
 Two — A Bloody Court ! a Bloody Ministry ! and a Bloody Parlia- 
 ment ! "] 
 
 At 9 o'clock in the evening of the 23d, a few hours after this sheet was 
 printed, another letter from Putnam, dated at Cambridge, April 22, was 
 received with despatches for the Committee of Correspondence. In this he 
 urged immediate supplies of troops and provisions. [See Miss Caulkins's 
 " History of Norwich," p. 381.] 
 
 The Windham County "troops of horse" — forty-five men, under com- 
 mand of Major Samuel McClellan (great-grandfather of Major-General George 
 B. McClellan) — had marched for Lexington before the receipt of Putnam's 
 letter of the 2ist. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE ARMY THAT GATHERED AT CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 False and pernicious Conceptions of this Army. — Was it " Four Armies " or 
 one " American Army " ? — Assortment of Troops. — Putnam a Brigadier- 
 General. — Exchange of Prisoners. — Battle of Chelsea. — March of the 
 Army around Charlestown and over Bunker Hill. — What is a Council of 
 War ? — Spirit of Massachusetts. — Generals and Colonels at Cambridge 
 and Vicinity. 
 
 THERE is one fatal misconception as to the state of things 
 between April 19th and June 17th, 1775, which has 
 spread its disastrous trail over large portions of modern 
 Bunker Hill literature. We cannot so well illustrate what 
 we mean in any way as by taking the following extract from 
 a letter of John Adams, written to George Brinley in 1 8 1 8 : 
 
 " The army at Cambridge was not a national army, for there 
 was no nation. It was not a United States army, for there were 
 no United Colonies ; and if it could be said in any sense that 
 the colonies were united, the centre of their union — the Con- 
 gress at 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 Legis- 
 ture, nor any common executive authority, even upon the princi- 
 ples 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 was its commander-in-chief ? It had none. Put- 
 nam, Poor and Greene were as independent of Ward as Ward 
 was of them." 
 
 87 
 
88 Life of Israel Putnam. [1775- 
 
 (i) We call attention to two or three important facts which 
 will serve to show that Mr. Adams was not fresh from his 
 revolutionary readings when he penned those sentences. 
 He was not over well informed about matters concerning 
 which he was writing. He introduces the name of Poor 
 with those of Greene and Putnam and Ward ; whereas Poor 
 was not connected with the army at Cambridge at all until 
 after the battle of Bunker Hill. Then he introduces him 
 as though he were a General. The other three were Gen- 
 erals, and he is evidently thinking of Poor as a General 
 representing New Hampshire, and standing in the same 
 relations to his State as did Putnam to Connecticut and 
 Greene to Rhode Island. Poor was a General and a very 
 able one in 1777 (appointed Brigadier-General February 
 21, 1777). But he was only a Colonel up to that date, and 
 if Mr. Adams had intended to introduce a Colonel into his 
 category he would have named Stark, who was altogether 
 the leading man from New Hampshire at that time, with 
 that title. But he did not intend to speak of a Colonel; he 
 had his thought fixed upon a General, and unfortunately 
 selected a Colonel, who was not even about Boston in the 
 early weeks at all. But Mr. Adams was still more unfor- 
 tunate in another respect. While Connecticut and Rhode 
 Island had not yet, by formal vote, helped to consolidate 
 this army. New Hampshire had taken official action and 
 had put her men upon the Massachusetts foundation. She 
 did this as early as May 20th. Mr. Frothingham quotes 
 the words on page 99, taken from the New Hampshire 
 record, that " the establishment of officers and soldiers 
 should be the same as in the Massachusetts Bay." Conse- 
 quently, if Poor had been a General and had been at Cam- 
 bridge before the battle (as he was not), he would have been 
 no more independent of Ward, than Thomas, or Heath, or any 
 other Massachusetts General. All this may serve to show 
 
■^T. 57.] The Army that Gathered at Cambridge. 89 
 
 us that even a great man (as John Adams assuredly was) 
 sometimes writes very much at random. 
 
 (2) Whatever truth there is in the quotation from Mr. 
 Adams, it is a rhetorical and not a historical truth. It 
 relates to the legal relations of the men from the different 
 States and not their relations as a matter of fact. Between 
 the 19th of April and the 17th of June, 1775, the men of 
 that period, looking upon that gathering of patriot soldiers 
 about Cambridge, did not speak of it as "four armies." 
 When Massachusetts in her Provincial Assembly was rais- 
 ing her own troops and providing for them, she called them, 
 as was entirely natural, the " Massachusetts army." Con- 
 necticut and New Hampshire and Rhode Island did the 
 same. But when those soldiers were brought together and 
 grouped around General Ward in the camps about Boston, 
 they were no longer spoken of as four bodies independent 
 of each other. It was true the contingency might arise 
 when they might be so, but they never were so. The sev- 
 eral States might recall them, or issue separate and inde- 
 pendent orders to them ; but the States did not issue such 
 orders. It was one army, not so well organized and com- 
 pacted as it might have been, and as it was destined to be, 
 but still one army. 
 
 The common method of speaking of it in those days, 
 was that which we find, for example, in Sparks' s " Life of 
 Washington," where he is describing the state of things 
 after the battle of Lexington before Washington took com- 
 mand. He says (p. 135), " The Massachusetts militia con- 
 vened at Cambridge. The plan of the nezv army was soon 
 arranged. General Ward was placed at its head, and recruit- 
 ing orders were sent out. The other three colonies agreed 
 to furnish their proportion of troops, who were raised and 
 sent forward with as much expedition as possible." With 
 Sparks it was " the new army," and not " four armies." 
 
90 Life of Israel Ptitnam. [1775. 
 
 We repeat that it was entirely foreign to all the habits of 
 the men of that day, when looking upon those military 
 camps, to be talking about the " army from New Hamp- 
 shire," or the " army from Connecticut." We do not find 
 this style of language in the writings of that period. And 
 yet almost all writers upon the battle of Bunker Hill have 
 naturally felt called upon to mention the fact that the four 
 New England States were not at that time legally consoli- 
 dated, and that in this circumstance lay a certain element 
 of weakness. Important movements might be interfered 
 with by counter orders from the several States. But as a 
 matter of fact, the States never did during this period throw 
 themselves back upon their reserved rights, but their sol- 
 diers grouped themselves into one army around General 
 Artemas Ward, as commander-in-chief. The talk about 
 four armies can only have reference to a possible contin- 
 gency and not to a historical fact. It is like the " power 
 of contrary choice " in the action of the human will. It 
 resides simply in the consciousness, but is not used. And 
 yet this condition of things has been spoken of so frequently 
 and continuously as to produce upon the public mind an 
 impression which is quite out of shape with the simple facts 
 of those days. 
 
 It is a matter of the utmost importance that we should 
 have right ideas upon this point, if we would understand 
 the battle of Bunker Hill that follows. And for this reason 
 we do not propose to leave the matter with this general 
 statement, but to look carefully into the common facts of 
 that day, that we may apprehend the real relations of State 
 to State, and of man to man. 
 
 And first of all, it is to be noticed, as an open and out- 
 standing fact, that the troops from the several New Eng- 
 land States, gathering about Boston after the fight at Lex- 
 ington, did not arrange themselves, and were not by any 
 
^T. 57.] The Army that Gathered at Cambridge. 91 
 
 one arranged, after the manner of " four armies " or 
 four State camps, but were mingled together and distrib- 
 uted as parts of one army. The first regiment from Con- 
 necticut, which was upon the ground by the ist of May, 
 under the command of General Joseph Spencer, made a 
 part of the right wing of the American army under Gen- 
 eral John Thomas, which was stationed at Roxbury and 
 Dorchester and places adjacent. The standard number for 
 a Connecticut regiment at that time was a thousand men, 
 and the three Connecticut regiments first raised were com- 
 manded by Generals and not by Colonels. The second 
 regiment from Connecticut was General Israel Putnam's, 
 which was stationed at Inman's Farm, now Cambridgeport, 
 making a part of the centre of the American army, under 
 General Ward the commander-in-chief. The troops from 
 New Hampshire made Medford their rallying point, where 
 Colonel Stark had his headquarters, and they composed a 
 part of the left wing of the army. The troops from Rhode 
 Island were at Jamaica Plain under General Nathaniel 
 Greene, making a part of General Thomas's right wing. 
 This very distribution of the troops signified but one grand 
 army, composed of the men from the four States. The 
 other theory should show us a Connecticut encampment 
 distinct and by itself, a New Hampshire encampment, and 
 so on. But nothing of the kind appears. 
 
 Then again it is to be remembered, that very many of 
 the officers commanding these troops, especially those above 
 the rank of Captain, had seen service as officers in the 
 French and Indian War, which closed only twelve years 
 before. Generals Ward, Putnam, Thomas, Spencer, and 
 Pomeroy had all served in that war. The only Generals, 
 so far as we remember, connected with the American army 
 before the fight at Bunker Hill who had not been in the 
 French War, were General Joseph Warren, General Wil- 
 
92 Life of Israel Putnam. [1775. 
 
 liam Heath, and General Nathaniel Greene. They were 
 younger men, General Greene being thirty-three years old 
 in 1775, General Warren thirty-four, and General Heath 
 thirty-eight. Strictly speaking, General Warren was not 
 connected with the army in any active way before the day 
 of the battle. In revolutionary matters his department had 
 been that of civil affairs rather than military. ?Ie was 
 made Major-General of Massachusetts troops three days 
 before the battle, and died at Bunker Hill as a volunteer 
 soldier. But with the exception of Warren and Greene 
 and Heath, all the rest of the general officers in the camp 
 about Boston were old soldiers, with their military ideas 
 and habits already acquired. 
 
 The same was true quite largely of the Colonels. Pres- 
 cott, Nixon, Brewer, Learned, Stark, Whitcomb, Reed, Frye, 
 Gridley and others, had received more or less military train- 
 ing in the war of 1755. These men, whether from Massa- 
 chusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire or Rhode Island, 
 gathered about Boston in 1775 to repel a common foe. 
 From the three last named States they came at the call 
 of Massachusetts, urgently imploring help in her great 
 exigency. Now, whatever may have been the relations of 
 the four States from which they came in a legaV point of 
 view, provided there were no positive orders to the con- 
 trary, these old soldiers and military leaders would gravitate 
 toward one organization as naturally as the rain falls from 
 heaven. Massachusetts had already taken the initiatory 
 steps for the organization of an army. A camp had been 
 formed at Cambridge with General Artemas Ward at its 
 head. On the 20th of May he was duly commissioned as 
 commander-in-chief of Massachusetts troops. When the 
 patriot soldiers came in, some in regiments, some in com- 
 panies, and some as individuals, they reported themselves 
 at headquarters and had their places assigned them, not in 
 
Mt. 57.] The Army that Gathered at Cambridge. 93 
 
 four separate armies, but as parts and parcels of 07ie Amer- 
 ican army. If a hundred men of the Anglo-Saxon race 
 cannot be thrown together in an unoccupied spot anywhere 
 upon the face of the earth without immediately creating a 
 government for themselves, by a still stronger instinct do 
 Anglo-Saxon soldiers gathering in this way gravitate toward 
 organization and subordination. It is the first law of mili- 
 tary life. And although time is required to make this 
 organization compact and strong, the earliest movements 
 will all be in the direction of order and unity. 
 
 Look at the case also in another point of view. Massa- 
 chusetts had asked, even with an earnest and imploring cry, 
 that these men from the other States should come to her 
 help. Would she not treat them as the equals of her own 
 men when they came .■* They had gathered from long 
 distances, had separated themselves farther from their 
 homes, had overcome greater obstacles in reaching the 
 scene of action, than had her own soldiers. Would she 
 seek to impress upon them, when they arrived, that they had 
 been called to share in the labors but not in the honors of 
 the common enterprise .'' We may be very sure that Mas- 
 sachusetts exhibited no such spirit in those days of danger 
 and distress, and there is no occasion now for any of her 
 sons to try and prove that she did ; or that she sought to 
 rank herself, by any action of hers, above her sister colonies. 
 The army that gathered within her borders in 1775 was the 
 American army, not legally consolidated, but actually one 
 by the drift and pressure of the times, and by all soldierly 
 instincts. The General from Connecticut was entitled, in 
 this common army, to the honors and distinctions that 
 belonged to the rank of a General. Colonel Stark from 
 New Hampshire, in this American army, was not one whit 
 below Colonel Prescott or Nixon or Brewer from Massa- 
 chusetts. The assumption by which Massachusetts, greatly 
 
94 Life of Israel Putnam. [1775. 
 
 to her injury, is made to appear aristocratic in this gather- 
 ing of soldiers upon her soil for a common cause, belongs 
 to a later day, and was not a fact of those times. It is the 
 privilege of writers, a hundred years after, to see how easy 
 and natural it was for Colonel Prescott of Massachusetts to 
 command Connecticut troops, but how improper and impos- 
 sible even for General Putnam to command Massachusetts 
 troops. ■ Such theories found no place in the American 
 army besieging Boston in 1775. 
 
 But far more convincing than any mere statements of this 
 kind, are actions and events occurring from day to day, 
 between the 19th of April and the 17th of June. 
 
 In the month of May an affair took place which clearly 
 illustrates the point now before us, and shows that there 
 were not " four armies " besieging Boston, but one army. 
 We will quote a few sentences from the " Circumstantial 
 Account of the Battle of Chelsea, Hog Island," etc., which 
 maybe found in Force's "Archives," Vol. II., 4th series, 
 p. 719. 
 
 "On Saturday, May 27th, 1775, a party of the American army 
 at Cambridge, to the number of between two and three hundred 
 men, had orders to drive off the live stock from Hog and Noddle 
 
 Islands, which lie near Chelsea About eleven o'clock 
 
 A. M., between twenty and thirty men went from Chelsea to Hog 
 Island, and from thence to Noddle Island, to drive off the stock 
 which was there, but were interrupted by a schooner and sloop, 
 despatched from the fleet in Boston Harbor, and forty marines, 
 who had been stationed on the island to protect the live stock. 
 .... Having cleared Hog Island, the provincials drew up on 
 Chelsea Neck and sent for a reinforcement of three hundred men 
 and two pieces* of cannon (four-pounders), which arrived about 
 nine o'clock in the evening ; soon after which General Putnam 
 went down and hailed the schooner, and told the people that if 
 they would submit they should have good quarters, which the 
 schooner returned with two cannon shot ; this was immediately 
 
Mt. 57.] T/ie Army that Gathered at Cambridge. 95 
 
 answered with two cannon from the provincials. Upon this a 
 very heavy fire ensued from both sides, which lasted until eleven 
 o'clock at night, when the fire from the schooner ceased ; the fire 
 from the shore being so hot that her people were obliged to leave 
 her and take to the boats, a great number of which had been sent 
 from the ships to their assistance. .... Thus ended this long 
 action without the loss of one provincial, and only four wounded. 
 .... The loss of the enemy amounted to twenty killed and fifty 
 wounded." 
 
 It is implied of course, in the above extract, that Putnam 
 was the commander in this expedition, and a letter of Gen- 
 eral Ward's settles it that Putnam was commander. In his 
 letter to John Adams the following October he expressly 
 states this fact. But who were the men whom he com- 
 manded "i The account tells us that they were a " party of 
 the American army at Cambridge " — not a party of the 
 Massachusetts army, or the Connecticut army, or the New 
 Hampshire army, but of the American army. The narra- 
 tor from whom we have thus far quoted, writing in the 
 spirit of 1775, does not even have a care to tell us whether 
 these troops came from Massachusetts or Connecticut or 
 New Hampshire. It is sufficient for him that they came 
 from the American army, or from the provincials, as he 
 sometimes calls them. But other histories and narratives 
 tell us that some of them were from Massachusetts and 
 some from New Hampshire, and apparently none from Con- 
 necticut. 
 
 And there is a sequel to this story which is told us by 
 Daniel Putnam, son of General Putnam, and which is quite 
 as important for us to notice, as what has gone before. 
 
 "When he [General Putnam] returned to his quarters, wet, 
 and covered to the waist with marsh mud, contracted by wading 
 over the flats to burn the vessel, he met there General Ward and 
 Doctor Warren. Without stopping to change his dress he related 
 
96 Life of Israel Piitnani. [i775- 
 
 to them the events of the day, and added, * I wish we could have 
 something of the kind to do every day ; it would teach our men 
 how little danger there is from cannon balls, for though they have 
 sent a great many at us, nobody has been hurt by them. I would 
 that Gage and his troops were within our reach, for we would be 
 like hornets about their ears ; as little birds follow and tease the 
 eagle in his flight, we would every day contrive to make them 
 uneasy,' Warren smiled and said nothing, but General Ward 
 replied, * As peace and reconciliation is what we seek for, would 
 it not be better to act only on the defensive and give no unneces- 
 sary provocation ? ' " * 
 
 The point to be especially noted in this last extract is, 
 that General Putnam reports himself to General Ward as 
 his commanding officer and says, " I wish we could have 
 something of this kind to do every day ;" which is the same 
 as though he had said, " If we are to have such work to do, 
 you must order it." If General Putnam and the indepen- 
 dent "army from Connecticut" had alone been responsible 
 for this action, there was slight need for any such remark. 
 They could, according to the theory, go and come at their 
 own pleasure. But it was an American army, and General 
 
 * In Sumner's " History of East Boston," there is a much fuller account of 
 this battle than the one here given. The following passage may be found on 
 
 PP- 374-5 : 
 
 " Putnam, inspired with the same dauntless courage with which he entered 
 the den of the wolf, heading his men, and wading up to his middle in mud and 
 water, poured so hot a fire upon the sloop that, very much crippled and with 
 many of her men killed, she was obliged to be towed off by the boats. It is 
 a striking illustration of the courage and impetuosity of Putnam, that he and 
 his brave followers attacked and crippled this sloop with small arms ; that 
 leaving their cannon they waded within musket distance, and there fought the 
 heavy armed vessel, heedless of the great disparity of weapons and of their 
 dangerous position. Putnam's spirit animated the provincials, and foremost 
 in the fight himself, he was nobly sustained by his brave followers. The 
 spirited words of the poet will almost literally apply to the dauntless bravery 
 of Putnam in this engagement, — 
 
 " ' There the old-fashioned Colonel galloped through the white infernal 
 Powder cloud : 
 And his broad sword was swinging, and his brazen throat was ringing 
 Tnunpet loud.' " 
 
^T. 57.] The Army that Gathered at Cambridge, 97 
 
 Ward was at its head, and Putnam was a subordinate offi- 
 cer and recognized his place. And it is a fact not denied, 
 that in this expedition he led Massachusetts and New 
 Hampshire troops. 
 
 Now, just at this point, to show how entirely this history 
 of 1775 has been turned aside from truth by certain 
 Massachusetts writers of the present day, we give a sen- 
 tence from the recent little book of Colonel Francis J. 
 Parker of Boston. He is giving his reasons for the belief 
 that Colonel Prescott was the chief commander in the bat- 
 tle of Bunker Hill, and his last reason is the following : 
 
 " Fourth. — That General Putnam, owing no obedience to 
 the commanding General and having no claim to rank in 
 the Massachusetts army, could not have commanded Mas- 
 sachusetts soldiers on Massachusetts soil." 
 
 We take this sentence for illustration, because it is such 
 a bold, open statement of a theory entirely unsupported by 
 facts, which in more disguised forms mingles largely in 
 much Bunker Hill literature from Massachusetts writers in 
 these latter days, and renders what they say of small his- 
 torical value. In the light of what has gone before and 
 what will follow after, it is not hard to perceive that this 
 sentence of Colonel Parker and all kindred ones, wherever 
 found, betray a great misconception of history in 1775. As 
 we have said before, these writers find no difficulty in hav- 
 ing Colonel Prescott command Connecticut troops, but 
 General Putnam cannot command Massachusetts troops. 
 There is a haughty Massachusetts assumption here, which, 
 when drawn from its concealment and openly brought to 
 view, has a very ungraceful look. 
 
 We have had a plain historical fact before us, and by its 
 light we have seen that General Putnam did owq " obedi- 
 ence to the commanding General," and did " command 
 Massachusetts soldiers on Massachusetts soil." 
 7 
 
98 Life of Israel Putnam. [1775- 
 
 But let us take still other incidents from the records of 
 those days, showing what Putnam's position was in this 
 combined American army. In the affair at Lexington, 
 April 19th, some prisoners had been taken from us, and we 
 had taken some from the British. It may be that here and 
 there a prisoner had been taken at other times. It matters 
 not, for our purpose, when or where these prisoners were 
 taken. The 6th of June, 1775, was fixed upon as a day for 
 the exchange of prisoners. The whole account of the pro- 
 ceedings of that day may be found in Force's " Archives," 
 Vol. II., 4th series, p. 920. In this transaction. Doctor 
 Joseph Warren was appointed to represent the civil author- 
 ities, and Brigadier-General Putnam acted for the army. 
 Doctor Warren, confessedly one of the most cultivated and 
 scholarly men of that day, seems to have had no aversion 
 to this companionship, any more than Washington had a 
 month later, and through the following years of the war. 
 The friendly relations of Warren and Putnam have been 
 previously noticed. General Putnam and Doctor Warren 
 rode in a carriage together from Cambridge to Charlestown, 
 escorted by Captain Chester's company from Connecticut, 
 and attended by the nine prisoners that were to be deliv- 
 ered to the British, There they met Major Moncrief with 
 the nine American prisoners that were to be restored, and 
 a very pleasant interview took place between the two par- 
 ties, for Moncrief and Putnam were old companions in arms 
 in the French War. " After which," as the account states, 
 " General Putnam with the prisoners that had been deliv- 
 ered to him, etc., returned to Cambridge, escorted in the 
 same manner as before." 
 
 Now, to gain the full significance of this transaction in a 
 military point of view, let it be borne in mind that these 
 prisoners whom General Putnam received from the British 
 authorities were all of them Massachusetts men, taken 
 
JEt. 57.] T/te Army that Gathered at Cambridge. 99 
 
 prisoners probably before ever General Putnam came upon 
 the ground. Four of them belonged in Boston, two in 
 Cambridge, one in Danvers, one in Roxbury, and one in 
 Dorchester. We have here a General from Connecticut, 
 escorted by a Connecticut company, transacting very im- 
 portant business, not for Massachusetts (though it chiefly 
 concerned that colony), but for the American army. And 
 it would seem as though a man from Connecticut high 
 enough in military rank and authority, as well as in social 
 standing, to be entrusted with such honorable and at the 
 same time delicate negotiations as these, might possibly 
 command even Massachusetts men in battle, without caus- 
 ing any great shock to the feelings. 
 
 Take still another transaction in the illustration of this 
 same point, Mr. Frothingham, in his " Siege of Boston," 
 (p. 107), has given us a specific account of it. He says, " On 
 the 13th [May], in the afternoon, all the troops at Cambridge, 
 except those oh guard, marched under General Putnahi into 
 Charlestown. They were twenty-two hundred in number, 
 and their line of march was made to extend a mile and a 
 half. They went over Bunker Hill and also over Breed's 
 Hill, came out by Captain Henley's still-house, and passed 
 into the main street by the fish-market, near the old ferry 
 where Charles River bridge is. They then returned to Cam- 
 bridge. It was done to inspire the army with confidence. 
 Though they went within reach of the guns of the eneniy, 
 both from Boston and the shipping, no attempt was made 
 to molest them." 
 
 Colonel Swett, in his " Sketch of Bunker Hill Battle," 
 makes a similar statement, but places the march in June. 
 He says, " General Putnam, to encourage discipline and 
 emulation and brave the enemy, marched in the face of 
 them with all the troops from Cambridge to Charlestown 
 about the loth day of June. And about the same time, 
 
100 Life of Israel Ptitnam. [i77S- 
 
 to support the policy of engaging the enemy in an affair, 
 he attentively reconnoitered the country with other offi- 
 cers." 
 
 Whether these two accounts refer to one and the same 
 transaction, differing only in their dates, it matters not 
 There is no doubt there was a movement of this kind either 
 in May or June, and if there were two, all the better. Both 
 writers make General Putnam the commanding officer, and 
 the troops he led must have been mainly Massachusetts 
 troops. They were not marching to battle, as it proved, 
 and yet they were marching where it could not well be told 
 beforehand what might happen. They were going within 
 reach of the enemy, and going there with something of a 
 defiant air and manner. And General Putnam led and 
 commanded them, because he and they alike belonged to 
 the one American army. Mr. Frothingham tells the story 
 without the slightest hint or apparent suspicion that Gen- 
 eral Putnam was not as fully entitled to lead these Massa- 
 chusetts troops on that occasion as General Thomas or 
 General Ward himself. 
 
 We dwell upon this point because, as we have already 
 suggested, it is a vital one in any just comprehension of the 
 battle of Bunker Hill. Few writers have ever dared to 
 state the opposing idea or theory in language so direct and 
 blunt as that which we have copied from Colonel Parker ; 
 but in a more* subtle and concealed form this opposing 
 theory thrusts itself in here and there in many writings, to 
 disturb the reason and turn aside the natural flow of histor- 
 ical events. It is the vitiating quality in many labored 
 essays and orations from the pens and lips of eminent men. 
 This opposing theory all the while puts a might be in place 
 of what was ; a possible contingency in the room of solid 
 fact. 
 
 We come now to other important items, all looking in the 
 
^T. 57.] The Army that Gathered at Cambridge. 10 1 
 
 same direction. In all the accounts of what took place in 
 those days just preceding the battle, frequent references 
 are made to the Provincial Congress, to the Committee of 
 Safety, and to the council of war. The Provincial Con- 
 gress of Massachusetts was, of course, composed wholly of 
 Massachusetts men. There were similar bodies in Connec- 
 ticut, New Hampshire and the other States generally. So 
 the Committee of Safety in Massachusetts was composed 
 wholly of Massachusetts men. There were similar com- 
 mittees in the other States. But what was a council of 
 war ? Was this a Massachusetts body also .<* or were there 
 four councils of war, corresponding to the four States whose 
 troops were gathered about Boston in June, 1775 ? Nay, 
 there was but one council of war, composed of the higher 
 officers of the American army. It mattered not from which 
 one of the four States these officers might come. Their 
 rank and not their locality entitled them to membership ; and 
 in this council one man's voice and vote were as good as 
 another's. It would have been the strangest assumption in 
 those days if any one had thought or dared to urge, that 
 General Nathaniel Greene because he came from Rhode 
 Island, or General Israel Putnam because he came from 
 Connecticut, could only speak and act in these councils 
 of war by Massachusetts sufferance. 
 
 In the council held on the i6th of June, when it was 
 decided to go forward immediately and take possession of 
 the Charlestown heights, no man certainly was more promi- 
 nent than Putnam. No writer of any repute denies his 
 presence in that body. All authors of every shade of opin- 
 ion recognize his activity there, and his great influence. 
 He was without much doubt the leading man there, in that 
 his plans and purposes prevailed over strong opposition. 
 Through all the dusky years of a century intervening, no 
 figure is so distinctly seen in that conference as that of Gen- 
 
I02 Life of Israel Putnam. [1775. 
 
 eral Putnam. We may have occasion to refer to this council 
 again, but we instance it now to show that no State lines shut 
 men out from it, for it was a body representing not the " army 
 of Massachusetts," or the " army of Connecticut," but the one 
 American army, whose lines were coiled about Boston to 
 hold the British* troops securely within their narrow con- 
 fines. Now, the greater includes the less. If General Put- 
 nam, by his rank, could act in a council of war, and help to 
 decide (and in a divided council, perhaps, by his vote actu- 
 ally decide) that Massachusetts soldiers and New Hamp- 
 shire soldiers and Connecticut soldiers should together go 
 into battle, how preposterous the idea that he could not 
 command those very men in battle ! It might be that in 
 this very crisis an order would come from the State of Con- 
 necticut forbidding him, and forbidding the Connecticut 
 troops from taking any part in the battle; but no such 
 orders ever came, and none were expected. And in the 
 absence of all such mandates the form and constitution of 
 the army, in all essential points, were practically just the 
 same as they were after the several States by their express 
 votes were consolidated. The contingent zveakness was taken 
 away by that later action, and the army was made legally 
 one. Soon it came to pass that the several States did so 
 act and vote, and the army was thereby secured against 
 those possible contingencies that might otherwise have 
 occurred. But it was not changed at all in its original con- 
 stitution. It was one American army before, crude, as all 
 armies hastily called together are in their beginnings, 
 greatly needing time and discipline for the development of 
 soldierly qualities, — but one army, grouped around General 
 Artemas Ward of Cambridge. 
 
 If any more proof is needed that General Putnam could 
 command " Massachusetts soldiers on Massachusetts soil," 
 it may be mentioned as one of the simple outstanding facts 
 
■^T. 57.] The Army that Gathered at Cambridge. 103 
 
 of those days before the battle, that it was a part of his 
 daily life to command Massachusetts soldiers and New 
 Hampshire soldiers. Colonel Daniel Putnam, his son, who 
 was with him daily in his life at Cambridge, makes the fol- 
 lowing statement (" Connecticut Historical Collections," Vol. 
 I. p. 232) : " It is true there was at that time no other Con- 
 necticut troops at Cambridge but Putnam's regiment and 
 two or three independent companies ; but Sargeant's reg- 
 iment (his men were from New Hampshire), posted at 
 Inman's house, and Patterson's, still farther advanced towards 
 Lechmere's Point (a Massachusetts regiment), were placed 
 under his immediate orders. I know this fact from having 
 often myself in the night season accompanied the officers 
 who performed the " grand rounds " for General Putnam's 
 command; and also that the selection of officers for this 
 duty was made alternately from those regiments and his 
 own." 
 
 This force, which General Putnam thus commanded day 
 by day, was the advanced guard of the American centre. 
 It held the post of honor and of danger. These troops 
 were at Cambridgeport and parts adjacent. They were 
 nearest the enemy, and there was good reason in General 
 Ward's mind why Putnam should be the man to have charge 
 of this advanced post, nor was there the slightest question 
 with him as to the right of General Putnam to command 
 Massachusetts troops. That is a difficulty encountered 
 only by men a century afterwards, who write history accord- 
 ing to their ideals, and not according to plain and open 
 facts. 
 
 We have been minute on this point, for it was needful to 
 be so. The moral of the whole is obvious. In this Ameri- 
 can army, nothing hinders a General or a Colonel from New 
 Hampshire, Rhode Island or Connecticut from doing pre- 
 cisely what a General or a Colonel from Massachusetts can 
 
104 Life of Israel Putnam, [i77S- 
 
 do. In the battle of Bunker Hill, which is soon to come, it 
 is not of the slightest consequence from what State the 
 chief commander comes. All that is wanted is the right 
 man in the right place. If from either of the four States, 
 he will still be subordinate to General Ward at Cambridge. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 LEADING OFFICERS OF THIS ARMY. 
 
 Artemas Ward. — John Thomas. — Joseph Spencer. — Seth Pomeroy. — Wil- 
 liam Heath. — Nathaniel Greene. — Joseph Warren. — Israel Putnam. — 
 The Colonels and their subsequent Promotions. — Who was the most 
 popular Officer .-• — Who would most naturally lead in any bold Military 
 Enterprise ? 
 
 IT will be an instructive record, and will throw light upon 
 certain historical problems, if we pass rapidly in review 
 the chief officers directly and indirectly connected with this 
 army about Boston in the spring and early summer of 1775, 
 or till July 3d, when Washington took command. 
 
 General Artemas Ward, its commander-in-chief, was a 
 native of Shrewsbury, born in 1727, and graduated at Har- 
 vard College in 1 748. He was a man of good culture, and 
 had already acted a creditable part as a member of the 
 Provincial Assembly of Massachusetts. He had served 
 under Abercrombie in the French War, but seems to have 
 been placed at the head of the army at Cambridge rather 
 as a civilian than as having any special military history. 
 Bancroft says of him (Vol. VH. p. 324), " Ward, the General 
 who was at Cambridge, had the virtues of a magistrate 
 rather than a soldier. Pie was old, unused to a separate 
 military command, and so infirm that he was not fit to 
 appear on horseback, and he never could introduce exact 
 discipline among free men, whom even the utmost vigor 
 and ability might have failed to control, and who owned no 
 superiority but that of merit, no obedience but that of will- 
 
io6 Life of Israel Ptitnam. [1775. 
 
 ing minds." Mr. Bancroft calls him old, but he was only 
 forty-eight, which certainly cannot be called old for a man 
 in his position. Several of the Generals about him were 
 older than he. He was commissioned as commander-in- 
 chief of the Massachusetts troops on the 20th of May, and 
 the officers from the other colonies, without dispute, 
 accepted as their commander-in-chief the man whom Mas- 
 sachusetts had appointed before their coming. 
 
 General John Thomas, commanding the right wing at 
 Roxbury, was a soldier of a very different stamp and char- 
 acter from General Ward. Born at Marshfield in 1725, he 
 was educated as a physician, and became an army surgeon 
 in 1746. Showing soldierly qualities, he was taken from 
 his place as a surgeon to become a military leader. He 
 was made a Colonel in the French War in 1759, and com- 
 manded a regiment at Crown Point. In February, 1775, 
 he was made Brigadier-General of Massachusetts troops. 
 He was a man with the true proportions of a soldier. He 
 was two years older than Ward. 
 
 General Joseph Spencer, born in East Haddam, Connec- 
 ticut, in 1 7 14, was thirteen years older than Ward. He 
 was a man of good culture and of good military abilities, 
 perhaps not a great General, but one much trusted and 
 honored. He, also, had been a Colonel in the French War, 
 and had seen much hard service. He was made second 
 Brigadier-General of Connecticut troops, April 26th, 1775, 
 and was stationed at Roxbury in command of a Connecti- 
 cut regiment of one thousand men, as an under officer of 
 General Thomas, 
 
 General Seth Pomeroy, from Noithampton, was a veteran 
 soldier of sixty years, a man of unquestionable courage and 
 force. He was a Captain in the colonial army as early 
 as 1744, a Major in 1745, and a Lieutenant-Colonel in the 
 French War in the campaign of 1755. Bancroft quotes him 
 
^T. 57.] Leading Officers of this Army. 107 
 
 as sending back a message to Massachusetts from the 
 depths of the northern wilderness, where he was employed 
 in that memorable summer of 1755, "Come to the help 
 of the Lord against the mighty ; you that value our holy 
 religion and our liberties will spare nothing, even to the 
 one-half of your estate." He was made a Brigadier-Gen- 
 eral of Massachusetts troops in February, 1775. 
 
 General William Heath was a younger officer, though 
 not so young as Greene or Warren. He was born in Rox- 
 bury in 1737, and displaying military talents and tendencies, 
 was in 1770 made commander of the Ancient and Honora- 
 ble Artillery Company. Early in 1775 he was chosen Brig- 
 adier-General of Massachusetts troops, and was stationed 
 at Roxbury under General Thomas. 
 
 General Joseph Warren has a story which is familiar to 
 almost every one. We shall not repeat it here in full, as he 
 will be noticed from time to time at a later stage. But the 
 outline of his history is briefly this : He was born at Roxbury 
 in 1741, was a graduate of Harvard, a skilful physician and 
 an accomplished scholar. He was exceedingly active and 
 courageous in the stirring scenes in Boston just before the 
 revolutionary outbreak. He was a man greatly beloved by 
 all classes of the people, high and low, rich and poor. His 
 sphere had been especially that of civil affairs and not mili- 
 tary. But so popular was he, that on the 14th of June 
 he was chosen by the Massachusetts Assembly Major-Gen- 
 eral of her troops. He had not been regularly commis- 
 sioned on the 1 7th, when the battle was fought, and for still 
 other reasons refused to take command. He died on Bun- 
 ker Hill simply as a volunteer. 
 
 General Nathaniel Greene of Rhode Island, under 
 Thomas on the right wing, was the youngest man bearing 
 the title of General in the army about Boston, He was 
 only thirty-three years old, but of great promise, and this 
 
lo8 Life of Israel Putnam. [1775- 
 
 promise was amply fulfilled during the years of the war. 
 He was the son of a Quaker preacher in Rhode Island, but 
 his early life had been one of labor and hardship. He had 
 an insatiable thirst for knowledge. The schools in Rhode 
 Island were poor, but he managed to find books and pick 
 up learning by instinct. The story is told in his " Life " 
 how, when a youth, he visited Newport with some articles 
 which he had manufactured for sale, and when he had sold 
 them and obtained the money, going out into the street he 
 met a man whose appearance attracted him, and he said to 
 him, " I want to buy a book." This man proved to be no 
 other than the Congregational minister of Newport, Rev. 
 afterwards Dr. Ezra Stiles, for eighteen years President of 
 Yale College. He took interest in the young man, went 
 with him and helped him to make the purchase, and the 
 book that was bought was no other than " Locke on the 
 Human Understanding." 
 
 When the alarm sounded from Lexington little Rhode 
 Island voted fifteen hundred men, to be organized in three 
 regiments, with Greene for Brigadier-General. The Rhode 
 Island troops as fast as they were enlisted were forwarded 
 to Jamaica Plain, and when Greene came to take command 
 he found turmoil and disorder. But after a time he brought 
 order out of confusion, and became subsequently one of the 
 most brilliant commanders in the war, and a great favorite 
 of Washington. 
 
 General Israel Putnam being the subject of this volume, 
 we need not enlarge here upon his previous history, which 
 has been already given. It is well, however, simply to 
 recall the fact that he went through the whole of the French 
 War, and came out from it with the title of Colonel. He 
 was made third Brigadier-General of Connecticut troops, 
 April 26th, 1775. 
 
 Colonel John Whitcomb was chosen Major-General of 
 
^T. 57.] Leading Officers of this Army. 109 
 
 Massachusetts troops June isth, four days before the bat- 
 tle, but, like Warren, had not been commissioned. 
 
 Having given this rapid outline sketch of the previous 
 history of these general officers, it rnay be well also to 
 cast a rapid glance over their future career. 
 
 General Artemas Ward was chosen first Major-General 
 of the Continental army by the Congress at Philadelphia 
 on the very day of the Bunker Hill battle. Being already 
 put forward by Massachusetts as commander-in-chief of the 
 patriot army about Boston, the Congress at Philadelphia 
 very naturally elected him to this highest place. But he 
 resigned in the following April, and returned to civil life. 
 What General Washington thought of him as a military 
 man after he came to be acquainted with him, is made 
 known very clearly by a letter* which he wrote to General 
 Charles Lee in May, 1776, in reference to this resignation. 
 There is a certain element in the letter not often found in 
 Washington's writings. 
 
 " General Ward, upon the evacuation of Boston, and find- 
 ing that there was a possibility of his removing from the 
 smoke of his own chimney, applied to me, and wrote to 
 Congress for leave to resign. A few days afterward some 
 of the officers, as he says, getting uneasy at the prospect of 
 his leaving them, he applied for his letter of resignation 
 which had been committed to my care ; but behold ! it had 
 been carefully forwarded to Congress, and, as I have since 
 learned, judged so reasonable {want of health being the 
 plea), that it was instantly complied with." f 
 
 He was a valuable man in civil life, and was at a later 
 
 * " Lee Papers," Vol. II. p. 13. 
 
 t "Continental Congress, Tuesday, April 23, 1776. — A letter of the 
 I2th, from Major-General Ward,\>€\x\^ received and read, repeating his desire 
 for leave to resign, 
 
 ^'■Resolved, That the resignation of Major-General fVard and oi Brigadier- 
 General Frye be accepted, and that the President inform them by letter." 
 
no Life of Israel Putnam. [i77S- 
 
 period for several years Member of Congress. But in the 
 management of armies he was utterly out of place. He 
 died in 1800. 
 
 General John Thomas was made Continental Brigadier- 
 General in June, 1775, and Major-General in March, 1776. 
 He was the chief military leader under Washington in tak- 
 ing possession of Dorchester Heights, and was soon after 
 sent upon a military expedition to Canada, and died there 
 of small-pox. May 30th, 1776. 
 
 General Joseph Spencer was made Continental Brigadier- 
 General in June, 1775, and Major-General in 1776. In cer- 
 tain matters of a general nature Spencer was much em- 
 ployed by Washington. We have seen the parole written 
 by his own hand, when Major-General Richard Prescot of 
 the British army was a prisoner entrusted to his care. It 
 is a well worded, handsomely written paper, which General 
 Prescot was to sign, promising to keep himself, until his 
 exchange, under the eye of Governor Trumbull of Connecti- 
 cut, and not to go beyond the bounds of the " First Parish 
 of Lebanon." He promised also, upon his honor as a man 
 and a soldier, to reveal nothing to the prejudice of the 
 patriot cause which might come to his knowledge during 
 his confinement. General Prescot's signature to this paper 
 is in striking contrast to Spencer's writing. It is extremely 
 shaggy and rough, though not uncultivated. 
 
 General Heath became Major-General of Massachusetts 
 troops June 21st, 1775, then Continental Brigadier-General, 
 and in 1776 Major-General. He was an able officer. 
 
 General Nathaniel Greene, before the close of the war, 
 rose to a high position in the esteem of Washington and 
 the country. 
 
 General Warren's untimely death will be noticed else- 
 where. 
 
 Though Israel Putnam was outranked in this army at the 
 
^T. 57.] Leading Officers of this Army. Ill 
 
 time of the battle by Thomas, Spencer, Pomeroy, Heath, 
 and Whitcomb, yet the Congress at Philadelphia had such 
 an opinion of him that, passing by all these Generals, they 
 raised him at once to the high position of Continental 
 Major-General, June 19th, 1775. On June 17th, Artemas 
 Ward and Charles Lee were chosen to this office, and on 
 June 19th, Philip Schuyler and Israel Putnam ; and of the 
 four, Putnam only was chosen unanimously. 
 
 It may be well to trace here, in few words, the subse- 
 quent military career of these four Major-Generals first 
 chosen. General Ward, as we have already shown, resigned 
 in the April following, and his resignation was cheerfully 
 accepted. 
 
 Charles Lee, the second Major-General, was a man of 
 genius, literary and military, but a strange character. He 
 was a Welshman, and a kind of knight-errant adventurer. 
 He had served in the European wars, and in the French 
 and Indian War. He had a very high opinion of himself, 
 and did not hesitate in his correspondence to criticise 
 severely the conduct of Washington. He undertook to 
 teach Major-General Heath to obey him, without much 
 regard to Washington's instructions; tells him, "For the 
 future I must and will be obeyed." So he went on for a 
 time, performing some excellent service, but being restless, 
 ungovernable, domineering. In 1778, he was "arrested for 
 disobedience of orders, for misbehavior before the enemy, 
 and for disrespect to the commander-in-chief." These 
 charges were sustained. He was found guilty and left the 
 service. 
 
 Dr. Belknap, in his journal, thus describes General Lee 
 as he appeared when connected with the army at Cam- 
 bridge : " General Lee is a perfect original, a good scholar 
 and an odd genius ; full of fire and passion, and but little 
 good manners, a great sloven, wretchedly profane, and a 
 great admirer of dogs." 
 
112 Life of Israel Pnt7tam. [1775. 
 
 James Warren, who succeeded Joseph Warren as Presi- 
 dent of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, writing to 
 Samuel Adams, July 9th, 1775, thus describes General 
 Lee : " I know not what to say of your friend Lee. I 
 believe he is a soldier, and a very industrious, active one ; 
 he came in just before dinner, drank some punch, said 
 he wanted no dinner, took no notice of the company, 
 mounted his horse, and went off again to the lines. I 
 admire the soldier, but think civility or even politeness not 
 incompatible with his character." (Wells's " Life of Samuel 
 Adams," Vol. II. p. 316.) Mrs. Warren, on the same page, 
 adds her opinion, and describes him as " plain in his person 
 to a degree of ugliness ; careless even to impoliteness ; his 
 garb ordinary ; his voice rough ; his manners rather morose ; 
 yet sensible, learned, judicious and penetrating." 
 
 Philip Schuyler, the third Major-General, for reasons 
 not so plain, — indeed some have thought him very unjustly 
 treated, — was superseded in 1777 by General Horatio 
 Gates. 
 
 Putnam, as we have seen, was chosen last and alone unani- 
 mously, and it happened that he received his commission 
 as Major-General before any of the others. Such objec- 
 tions were raised to the others when Washington reached 
 the camp, that there was a delay in giving them their com- 
 missions. We are not suiBciently versed in military mat- 
 ters to know precisely what the official ruling in this case 
 would be. Some writers speak of Putnam as second in 
 command from the very day when Washington reached 
 Cambridge, because he first received his commission ; and 
 certainly Washington treated him as his second self imme- 
 diately, and in the years following. He kept him at the 
 centre near his own person, placing Artemas Ward over the 
 right wing, and Charles Lee over the left. 
 
 But at any rate he was second to Washington after the 
 
V 
 
 JEt. S7.] Leading Officers of this Army. 113 
 
 year 1778, for the three elected before him were by that 
 time all laid aside. When Putnam was compelled to leave 
 the army in 1779, he did not lose his rank. Had he been 
 able to return, as he sometimes hoped, he would have gone 
 back to the same standing. 
 
 Before enumerating the Colonels connected with this 
 patriot army, it may be well to recall the fact that sisveral 
 of the regiments were commanded by Generals. General 
 Ward had a regiment of which Jonathan Ward was Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel. General Pomeroy had a regiment of which 
 Colonel John Fellows was next in command. General 
 Thomas had a regiment of which John Bailey was Lieuten- 
 ant-Colonel. General Heath also had a regiment. The 
 two regiments from Connecticut, of one thousand men 
 each, were commanded by Generals Spencer and Putnam. 
 
 But of Colonels, the list will include the following names : 
 John Stark, James Reed and Enoch Poor from New Hamp- 
 shire (Poor joined the army the day after the battle). The 
 Massachusetts Colonels were Asa Whitcomb,* James Frye, 
 Joseph Frye, Ebenezer Bridge, John Whitcomb, William 
 
 * We find the following incident of Colonel Asa Whitcomb in the New 
 England "Chronicle" for January nth, 1776, copied from the New London 
 " Gazette " : 
 
 " Deacon Whitcomb of Lancaster, who was a member of the Assembly of 
 Massachusetts Bay till the present war commenced, had served in former 
 wars, and been in different engagements, served as a Colonel in the Conti- 
 nental army ; but on account of his age was left out upon the new regulation. 
 His men highly resented it, and declared they would not list again after their 
 time was out. The Colonel told them he did not doubt there were sufficient 
 reasons for the regulation, and he was satisfied with it ; he then blamed them 
 for their conduct, and said he would enlist as a private. Colonel Brewer 
 heard of it, and offered to resign in favor of Colonel Whitcomb. The whole 
 coming to General Washington's ears he allowed of Colonel Brewer's resig- 
 nation in Colonel Whitcomb's favor, appointed the former Barrack-Master 
 till he could further promote him, and acquainted the army with the whole 
 affair in general orders. Let antiquity produce a more striking instance of 
 true greatness of soul." 
 
1 14 Life of Israel Putnam. [177S- 
 
 Prescott, John Glover, John Fellows, Ebenezer Learned, 
 James Read, John Nixon, Theophilus Cotton, Moses Little, 
 Ephraim Doolittle, Samuel Gerrish, Thomas Gardner, Rich- 
 ard Gridley, James Scammans, John Mansfield, Timothy 
 Walker, Timothy Danielson, John Patterson, Jonathan 
 Brewer, Benjamin R. Woodbridge, and David Brewer. 
 Besides these, Massachusetts had several Colonels which 
 were early employed more in a civil capacity, as members 
 of Committee of Safety, etc., but afterwards figured in mili- 
 tary affairs, such as Azor Orne, Joseph Palmer, and Benja- 
 min Lincoln. There were three Colonels from Rhode 
 Island, Thomas Church, Daniel Hitchcock and James 
 Mitchell Varnum. 
 
 Here were thirty-four men, with the title of Colonel, 
 connected directly or indirectly with the American army 
 before the arrival of Washington, and there may have been 
 one or two others with the same rank. It was altogether 
 natural that these officers, the heads of regiments earliest 
 in the field, showing a prompt devotion to the patriot cause, 
 should, if they displayed even a fair military ability, be 
 promoted as time passed on. For the war was to be long, 
 and there would be ample time for real merit to be re- 
 warded. If one were to ask certain men who have studi- 
 ously read some of the modern histories, and neglected 
 the old, what Colonel from all this list would be first singled 
 out for immediate promotion, they would answer unhesi- 
 tatingly that it would be Colonel William Prescott of course, 
 that his great and heroic services at the battle of Bunker 
 Hill entitled him to the first consideration of the military 
 authorities. But how very, very different this happens to 
 be from the historical facts. Let us study attentively this 
 remarkable record. 
 
 Of the Colonels contemporary with him in this patriot 
 army of 1775, John Nixon, Ebenezer Learned, John Fel- 
 
JEr. $7.] Leading Officers of this Army. 115 
 
 lows, John Glover, Joseph Palmer, John Patterson, John 
 Stark, James Reed, Benjamin Lincoln, James M. Varnum, 
 Enoch Poor, Azor Orne, John Whitcomb, Joseph Frye, 
 Richard Gridley and Daniel Hitchcock, sixteen of them, 
 became Brigadier-Generals or Major-Generals ; some of 
 them speedily, and some at later stages during the progress 
 of the war. 
 
 The last named, Daniel Hitchcock, was only an acting 
 Brigadier, but would doubtless soon have received a com- 
 mission except for his untimely death in i 'j'j'j. So eminent 
 were his services at the battle of Princeton, where he com- 
 manded a brigade, that Washington, with his large and 
 generous nature, led him before the army after the battle, 
 and taking him by the hand, publicly thanked him in that 
 presence.* 
 
 But the promotions out of this patriot army do not 
 stop here. Men from lower grades of military rank also 
 rose to these honorable places and distinctions. Lieuten- 
 ant-Colonel Brickett, of Frye's regiment, and one of 
 Prescott's under officers in that night expedition, June 
 1 6th, became Brigadier-General in the following year. 
 John Greaton, a militia officer in Roxbury before the 
 war, was afterwards made Brigadier-General. Rufus Put- 
 nam, Lieutenant-Colonel of David Brewer's regiment, rose 
 to the rank of Colonel very speedily, and was made Brig- 
 adier-General before the war ended. Eleazer Brooks, 
 only a Captain of militia before the war, also became Briga- 
 
 * In the life of General Nathaniel Greene, by George Washington Greene, 
 his grandson, there is a reference to this Colonel Hitchcock connected with the 
 event of his death in 1777. It may be found Vol. I. p. 312. The author says, 
 " I have already had occasion to mention more than once the name of Daniel 
 Hitchcock, who had accompanied Greene to Boston as Colonel of one of the 
 three regiments which formed the Rhode Island contingent. From that 
 time to this (Jan. 1777), he has continued with the army, performing during 
 the last few weeks the duties of a Brigadier, winning honor wherever honor 
 was to be won, much loved by his own men and respected by all." 
 
Ii6 Life of Israel Putnam. [i77S- 
 
 dier-General. Samuel B. Webb, simply a Lieutenant of a 
 company among those Connecticut men by the fence, was 
 made soon after one of Putnam's Aids, and subsequently 
 Washington's Aid, with the title of General. Captain 
 Knowlton, commanding those Connecticut men in the bat- 
 tle, was soon chosen Major, then Lieutenant-Colonel, and 
 was as clearly on the upward road to honors as any man in 
 the army, when his course was cut short in 1776, by his 
 death at Harlem Heights. Of him it was said, " He would 
 have been an honor to any country." Lieutenant Thomas 
 Grosvenor (another Lieutenant of a company by that fence) 
 afterwards became Colonel. Captains James Clark, John 
 Chester, George Reid and Henry Dearborn (the two last 
 named of Stark's regiment), all rose to the rank of Colonel. 
 Major John Brooks, another of Prescott's under officers in 
 that night march, was promoted to be Lieutenant-Colonel, 
 then Colonel, then Acting Adjutant-General at the battle 
 of Monmouth, and afterwards Governor of the Common- 
 wealth of Massachusetts. 
 
 It will be seen by this rapid review that some of the 
 most marked cases of promotion above enumerated were 
 for services rendered at the battle of Bunker Hill, showing 
 that our fathers in 1775 were not oblivious to merit, but on 
 the other hand that they sought to foster and encourage it. 
 
 And Colonel William Prescott was never promoted. He 
 remained in the army until 1777, while these men around 
 him — his contemporaries in the spring and summer of 
 1 775 — were rising up to take these higher places, but he 
 remained stationary, keeping the same military title which 
 he brought with him from Pepperell on that historic 19th 
 of April. What shall we say to these things } In the eye 
 of our revolutionary fathers, was he the same man that is now 
 paraded before us in Bunker Hill orations, in some of the 
 Boston newspapers, and in many modern books and pam- 
 phlets ? Did the men of 1775 think of him as a soldier of 
 
^T. 57-] Leading Officers of this Army. Wj 
 
 any special military ability ? Is it not apparent, that from 
 what they saw and knew of him at the battle of Bunker 
 Hill, where he was for the first time in his life tested in his 
 military capacity, they looked upon him as a man " weighed 
 in the balances and found wanting." * And we may have 
 some further glimpses of him, before the volume closes, 
 which will help us to the same conclusions. It is next to 
 a certainty, if he had acquitted himself well in that action, 
 he would have been speedily promoted. He was of good 
 family and of good estate, holding a most honorable posi- 
 tion in society, and it was as natural for him, other things 
 being equal, to take these steps upward as for any man in 
 that army. We cannot resist the conclusion that this 
 silence and neglect on the part of the military authorities, 
 in his case, was a verdict of military incapacity. 
 
 * We place here in a note an item of evidence, that may not impress others 
 as it does the writer, but it certainly seems to show that there was no very 
 great enthusiasm over Colonel Prescott in the days immediately following the 
 battle. We 'copy from "American Archives," 4th Series, Vol. II. pp. 
 1 1 19-20. 
 
 " Massachusetts Provincial Congress. — The petition of officers belong- 
 ing to Colonels Prescott, Frye and Bridges's Regiments, humbly sheweth, — 
 "That whereas in the late Battle of Charlestown on the 17th of this 
 instant, June, a number of things belonging to us fell into the enemy's 
 hands, whereby we are deprived of some necessary clothing, arms, etc.: As 
 the loss is considerable, we beg that (if it may be consistent with the honor 
 and dignity of the Congress, and the good of the country), they have an allow- 
 ance for the same as your Honors shall see fit j and your petitioners as in 
 duty bound, will ever pray. 
 " [Signed by William Prescott, who heads the list, and seventeen other officers 
 
 of the three regiments.] 
 "June 27th, 1775." 
 
 Upon this the following action was taken : 
 
 "Watertown, June 29th, 1775. 
 
 " The Committee appointed to consider the within Petition beg leave to 
 report that the petitioners have leave to withdraw their petition." 
 
 New Hampshire rewarded her men for their losses in this battle, though 
 poorly able to do so in comparison with Massachusetts. We cannot but think 
 if Colonel Prescott had just performed such great and heroic services as now 
 claimed, this petition, with his name heading it, would not have been so coolly 
 bowed out of the Massachusetts Assembly. 
 
Ii8 Life of Israel Putnam. [i77S- 
 
 But leaving now the subject of military promotions, let 
 us turn to a more general consideration. 
 
 Of all the military men gathered about Boston in that 
 early summer of 1775 (Generals and Colonels), who was 
 the man attracting chief attention, the most acknowledged 
 leader, the most popular man among both citizens and 
 soldiers ? We answer unhesitatingly. General Israel Put- 
 nam. By all the historical lights shed over those times, 
 there would seem to be room but for one answer to that 
 question. We have already seen how popular he was 
 about Boston in the year before, what a magic influence 
 stood connected with his name and his presence. Ban- 
 croft has told us that when he came to Boston in August, 
 1774, he "was Warren's guest and everyone's favorite." 
 And Mr. Frothingham, referring to this same visit, in his 
 "Life and Times of Joseph Warren" (p. 341), says, "War- 
 ren's guest. Colonel Putnam, remained in town several 
 days. 'The old hero, Putnam,' Dr. Young writes, ' arrived 
 in town on Monday, bringing with him one hundred and 
 thirty sheep from the little parish of Brooklyn. He cannot 
 get away, he is so much caressed both by the officers and 
 the citizens.' " 
 
 The same universal favor and admiration attended him 
 when he came in 1775 to join the army, and followed him 
 all through those exciting days. The facts already brought 
 to view in the previous narrative are conclusive enough in 
 this direction. He is the man sent to represent the army 
 when the Massachusetts prisoners are to be received back 
 from the British. He is the general officer to lead the 
 troops in Cambridge almost en masse around the peninsula 
 of Charlestown and over the heights of Bunker Hill. He 
 o-oes as commander of the force of Massachusetts and 
 New Hampshire men, to fight the battle of Chelsea, in 
 which they beat the British and burned their ship. He is 
 the man of all others whom General Ward chooses to set 
 
^T. 57-] Leadi7tg Officers of this Army. 119 
 
 in his own front, at the point nearest and most exposed to 
 the enemy. If General Putnam with his Connecticut regi- 
 ment is at Inman's farm, a mile in advance of his own 
 headquarters, he, in his extreme timidity, can rest more se- 
 curely than under any other disposition he can make. In 
 all those weeks, between April 19th and June 17th, the 
 figure of old General Putnam in that camp at Cambridge 
 is the one which confronts the student of history more 
 frequently, and in sharper, bolder outlines than any other. 
 Colonel Samuel Swett, a Massachusetts man, in his essay 
 written in 1850, says, " No military despot ever was obeyed 
 with more implicit subjection than Putnam was, .... by 
 every one, officers and men, from their enthusiastic love 
 and admiration of him, and boundless confidence in him as 
 a great, experienced and fortunate hero and patriot." 
 
 It is easy to multiply these evidences of Putnam's popu- 
 larity, as he figured in the army about Boston in the spring 
 and summer of 1775. Mr. Frothingham helps us to illus- 
 trations, for he is always faithful in gathering the primary 
 facts on which judgments may be formed. On page 165, 
 in a note, he gives us two brief extracts from the letter 
 which the Committee of Safety wrote to Putnam in 1776, 
 in which they tell him that his conduct, " while in Cam- 
 bridge, in every respect, and more especially as a General, 
 .... we hold in the highest veneration, and ever shall." 
 And again, in the same letter, they speak of " the extraordi- 
 nary services you have done to this town, which must 
 always be acknowledged with the highest gratitude, not 
 only by us, but by rising generations." 
 
 And he has preserved the letter which Captain Chester 
 wrote to Connecticut, two days after the battle, in which he 
 said, " Head-officers is what we stand greatly in need of ; 
 we have no acting head here but Putnam ; he acts nobly in 
 everything." 
 
120 Life of Israel Putnam. [i77S- 
 
 When the battle of Bunker Hill was fought, Silas Deane 
 of Connecticut was at Philadelphia, a member of the Conti- 
 nental Congress. His letters (" Connecticut Historical Col- 
 lections," Vol. H.) will show us what was passing in the 
 minds of men in that memorable summer of 1775. The 
 news of the battle reached Philadelphia on the morning of 
 June 2 2d. It took nearly five days at that period to con- 
 vey this exciting intelligence from Boston to Philadelphia. 
 On that day he writes to his wife, "We this moment 
 received advice of a battle at Bunker Hill, but the account 
 is very confused." On the 9th of July he writes again, 
 " New England, with all its foibles, must be the glory and 
 defence of America, and the cry here is, Connecticut for- 
 ever ! so high has the universally applauded conduct of our 
 Governor, and the brave intrepidity of old General Putnam 
 and his troops, raised our colony in the estimation of the 
 whole continent." 
 
 Then we have a letter written about this time to Mr. 
 Deane from Samuel B. Webb in the camp at Cambridge, in 
 which he says, " You'll find the Generals Washington and 
 Lee are vastly fonder and think higher of Putnam than any 
 
 man in the army ; and he truly is the hero of the day 
 
 Better for us to lose four Spencers than half a Putnam." 
 
 Very soon Mr. Deane writes again to his wife, and speaks 
 of " Putnam, on whom by every account the whole army 
 has depended ever since the battle of Lexington." And 
 again, July 20th, he says, " Putnam's merit rung through 
 this continent, his fame still increases, and every day justi- 
 fies the unanimous applause of the continent. Let it be 
 remembered he had every vote of the Congress, and his 
 health has been the second or third at almost all our tables 
 in this city. But it seems he does not wear a large wig nor 
 screw his countenance into a form that belies the senti- 
 ments of his generous soul." 
 
^T. 57.] Leading Officers of this Army. 121 
 
 Now, let it be remembered that this is not the language 
 of a great oration an hundred years afterward. It is contem- 
 porary language, describing the passing emotions of men in 
 regard to matters then transpiring. And it is very remarka- 
 ble language, such as men of Mr. Deane's standing and 
 character do not use except in connection with events very 
 important and exciting. 
 
 But if we want any more evidence of Putnam's fame and 
 popularity in 1775, take the following odd letter from Major- 
 General Lee, introducing to Putnam an Episcopal minister. 
 We find this letter in the diary of Dr. Belknap, as pub- 
 lished in one of the volumes of the Massachusetts Histori- 
 cal Society (1858-1860, p. Zfj. 
 
 "Hobgoblin Hall, Oct. 19th, 1775. 
 
 " Dear General : Mr. Page, the bearer of this, is a Mr. Page. 
 He has a laudable ambition of seeing the great General Put- 
 nam. I therefore desire that you would array yourself in all 
 your majesty and terrors for his reception. Your blue and gold 
 must be mounted, your pistols stuck in your girdle ; and it would 
 not be amiss if you should black one half of your face. 
 
 " I am, dear General, with fear and trembling, your humble 
 servant, Charles Lee." 
 
 At the very time when this patriot army was operating 
 about Boston in the summer of 1775, John Trumbull was 
 writing his somewhat famous poem, " McFingal," in Four 
 cantos. Drawing illustrations from passing events, and 
 showing how easy it is for men, in certain circumstances, 
 not to keep their promises, he says, — . 
 
 " So Gage, of late, agreed you know, 
 To let the Boston people go. 
 Yet when he saw, 'gainst troops that braved him, 
 They were the only guards that saved him, — 
 Kept off that Satan of a Putnam 
 
122 Life of Israel Putnam, [1775- 
 
 From breaking in to maul and mutt'n him ; 
 He'd too much wit such league to observe, 
 And shut them in again to starve." 
 
 One who signs himself "A Friend to Truth," writing from 
 Watertown August loth, 1775 (see "American Archives," 
 4th Series, Vol. III. p. 84), in pointing out men from Con- 
 necticut who did meritorious service in the battle of Bunker 
 Hill, says, " 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^ 
 
 Indeed, if we have rightly studied the history of those 
 days, it was out of this very popularity as before suggested 
 that the trouble has since arisen. Human nature was not 
 materially different then from what it is now. It was but 
 natural, taking mankind as they average, that among the 
 higher officers of that army there should be feelings of 
 jealousy that a General from another province should so 
 carry all before him, and rise in popularity to such a height 
 above them.* Envy and dislike were thus secretly scat- 
 tered abroad, which, like the seeds under the mud of the 
 Nile, were destined long afterwards to spring up and bear 
 their evil fruit. When General Dearborn took up his pen, 
 forty-three years after the battle, and more than twenty-five 
 years after Putnam was in his grave, to revile the old hero, 
 " whose courage," Bancroft says, " was never questioned 
 during the war," he let us, without thinking of it, at once 
 into the secret motives that animated him. It was Put- 
 nam's " remarkable popularity " and " unaccountable popu- 
 larity " that troubled him. He is also witness that this 
 
 * These envious feelings are easily traced in Heath's memoirs, published 
 in 1798, as also in General Ward's letter to John Adams, written Oct. 30th, 
 1775, in which he says, " Some have said hard things of the officers belonging 
 to this Colony and despised them." 
 
^T. 57.] Leading Officers of this Army. 123 
 
 popularity once existed as we have claimed ; but he proposes 
 in 1 818 to explain it all away, and show that there was no 
 ground for it, and that people were deluded. Like " the 
 atrocious crime of being a young man," so Putnam's " atro- 
 cious crime " was, that he did not let some man from Massa- 
 chusetts or New Hampshire have his " popularity." And 
 yet, as we have said in the opening part of this volume, 
 Putnam was not running round to look after his reputation. 
 He was not courting popularity. He was prodigiously 
 busy as a soldier and patriot, and he furnishes a noble illus- 
 tration of that great saying of the Master, " Whosoever 
 shall seek to save his life shall lose it, and whosoever shall 
 lose his life shall preserve it." General Dearborn calls this 
 popularity of General Putnam " ephemeral," but he might 
 with much more propriety have called his own influence 
 to destroy it ephemeral, for it has already come to pass, 
 that his natural successors in this work of disparagement 
 no longer dare to make much use of anything which he 
 ever said or wrote. 
 
 But to return to the fact itself. We may consider that 
 Putnam's friends and enemies agree in saying that he was 
 the most popidar military officer about Boston, from April 
 19th on to the arrival of Washington. No military move- 
 ment of any great importance could take place in those 
 weeks, which would be likely to leave him out. So far 
 from this, no such movement, if an offensive one, would 
 naturally occur in which he would not be found in close 
 connection with it, if not at the head of it. All witnesses 
 agree that General Ward had no genius or disposition for 
 any bold adventures. His only " strength was to sit still." 
 General Pomeroy had a spirit kindred to that of Putnam, 
 but he chose rather to be an aider than an originator of 
 offensive measures. Colonel Prescott was also restless 
 under the long delays, but he was too inexperienced a man to 
 
124 Life of Israel Putnam. [1775. 
 
 lead off in a daring military movement, though willing to 
 play a part in it. Besides, his military rank naturally pre- 
 cluded him from leadership in such enterprises. He was 
 simply Colonel of a regiment, waiting to receive orders from 
 his superiors. There is no doubt, we think, that General 
 Putnam and he had talked over this Bunker Hill plan, and 
 that Prescott was thoroughly sympathetic with him in it. 
 Nor do we doubt that Putnam had asked and obtained leave 
 of General Ward, that Prescott should be the man to go 
 with that night detachment to fortify Bunker Hill, and so 
 take the first steps which would be likely to bring on an 
 engagement. But there was a larger and stronger man 
 than Prescott behind that night movement. We shall here- 
 after have occasion to notice more at length the fact, that 
 Prescott's record as a military hero begins and ends here, 
 and that record is very largely a production of modern 
 times. It will be difficult to find his name in any promi- 
 nent connection with the French War, or with his remain- 
 ing years of service in the revolutionary army. 
 
 Take any general history covering this period, like Ban- 
 croft's, or Irving's " Life of Washington," and try this 
 experiment. Following (as both these writers have) Mr. 
 Frothingham as authority in relation to this battle, you will 
 find a few' pages relating to the 17th of June, 1775, that 
 bristle with Colonel Prescott's name and heroic acts. But 
 you have heard little of him before, and you will hear just 
 as little afterwards. 
 
 That we may not seem to be dealing in assertions, we 
 have culled from Bancroft's ten volumes every item we can 
 discover relating to Colonel Prescott, aside from this bat- 
 tle. The three first items speak of him before, and the 
 three last after, the battle. 
 
 Vol. VI, p. 447. — " With one voice they (the people of Pepper- 
 ell) named Captain William Prescott to be the chief of their 
 
iEx. 57-] Leading Officers of this Army. 125 
 
 Committee of Correspondence, and no braver heart beat in Mid- 
 dlesex than his." 
 
 Vol. VII, p. 99. — " In the coming storm they clustered round 
 William Prescott of Pepperell, who stood firm as Monadnock, that 
 rose in sight of his homestead." 
 
 Vol. VII, p. 307. — "That morning (April 19th) William Pres- 
 cott mustered his regiment, and though Pepperell was so remote 
 that he could not be in season for the pursuit, he hastened down 
 with five companies of guards." 
 
 These are good words and full of promise. The last 
 chapter of the seventh volume is devoted to Bunker Hill. 
 
 In the eighth volume nothing whatever is said of Prescott 
 except in the opening sentences, referring back to Bunker 
 Hill. 
 
 In the ninth volume there are three items. 
 
 Vol, IX, p. 82. — "Two regiments, one of which was Prescott's, 
 were all that could be spared to garrison Governor's Island," 
 
 Vol. IX, p, 109. — "The dilatoriness of his antagonist [Lord 
 Howe] left him [Washington] leisure to withdraw the garrison 
 from Governor's Island, where Prescott ran almost as great risk of 
 captivity as at Bunker Hill," 
 
 Vol, IX, p, 175, — " Washington, who had foreseen this attempt 
 to gain his rear, seasonably occupied the causeway and bridge 
 which led from Frog's Neck by Hand's riflemen, a New York 
 regmient, the regiment of Prescott of Pepperell, and an artillery 
 company," 
 
 The reader may think there was no particular reason for 
 mentioning him by name in either of these three cases, 
 except that the historian had a hero left on his hands, whom 
 he was bound to nurse upon the slightest opportunity. 
 
 It is not claimed, so far as we are aware, by any writer, 
 that Thomas, or Spencer, or Heath, or Greene, originated 
 this Bunker Hill movement. They were all able officers, 
 and were doing their duty faithfully over at Roxbury and 
 
126 Life of Israel Putnam. [i775. 
 
 Dorchester, By their position they were not drawn into 
 this action. Nor is it claimed that it originated with any of 
 the Colonels. Colonel Stark over at Medford was heroic 
 and daring enough to have conceived it, but no one claims 
 this honor for him, for he was not in such relations to Cam- 
 bridge as to have been father of the scheme, though he bore 
 a very important part in giving the movement the measure 
 of success it achieved. We know that neither Ward nor 
 Warren contrived the plan. It must naturally lie between 
 Pomeroy and Putnam. And as General Pomeroy did not 
 take command of the expedition, but insisted upon serving 
 as a volunteer, it is made sufficiently plain that he was not 
 the foremost man in the case, though he heartily approved 
 it, and gave it all the assistance in his power. If we had 
 no later historical evidences whatever, we should be driven 
 to the conclusion that the man who had most to do in 
 unlocking those Bunker Hill thunders was General Put- 
 nam. 
 
 Here were eight Generals connected with this army, of 
 whom Pomeroy, Thomas, Spencer and Putnam had all seen 
 long service in the former wars, most of them as Colonels. 
 They were men of age and experience, and knew how to set 
 an army in battle array. The idea that these men should 
 all be passed by, and that the general oversight and con- 
 trol of an enterprise so vastly important should be entrusted 
 to any one of the Colonels about Cambridge, would be to 
 the average soldier mind of that period a subject for deri- 
 sive laughter. If it had been only some slight affair, some 
 small military errand, not likely to involve any material 
 consequences, then a Colonel or a Major or a Captain, with 
 a detachment of men, might have been sent to attend to it, 
 and to finish it. But this was a movement of such exceed- 
 ing importance that General Ward would never give his 
 assent to it till he was pushed forward by the Committee of 
 
JEt. 57.] Leading Officers of this Army. 127 
 
 Safety, Even General Warren, young and heroic as he 
 was, and full of the patriotic fire, stood trembling in the 
 presence of such an enterprise, and never gave his public 
 approval. 
 
 And can we be made to believe that the chief directors 
 of affairs in 1775, passing by these Generals of large experi- 
 ence, gave the supreme oversight and command in that 
 momentous expedition into the hands of a Colonel who 
 never, so far as we can discover, had seen a field battle in 
 his life, who probably never saw ,a man killed in action till 
 that day ? Is this reasonable ? Is it according to the laws 
 of common prudence and common sense ? Does any one 
 know of any other important piece of military history which 
 reads after this fashion ? 
 
 The evidence, at the outset, is well nigh irresistible that 
 Colonel Prescott was a subordinate officer in this enterprise. 
 Instead of leaping to the conclusion that he was chief, the 
 historical student ought to be pushed by the strongest doc- 
 umentary evidence before he should ever accept a theory so 
 utterly improbable. 
 
 And in reference to this question of command, has there 
 not been a needless cloud of mystery thrown about a very 
 simple matter? Would it not be just as easy to raise 
 doubts about Colonel Prescott's command, as about that of 
 Putnam's.? Mr. Frothingham tells us (p. 122) that Prescott 
 " had orders in writing from General Ward, to proceed that 
 evening to Bunker Hill, and build fortifications to be 
 planned by Colonel Richard Gridley, the chief engineer, 
 and defend them until he should be relieved." No one 
 need have the slightest objection to that order. It is no 
 broader or stronger than it ought to be to cover the action 
 of any subordinate officer sent on such an errand. He is 
 to hold the command till " he should be relieved." That is 
 about the way such military orders usually run. It con- 
 
128 Life of Israel Putnam. [1775- 
 
 templates the possibility, at least, that he will be relieved of 
 that command, and even the probability. But does any man 
 of this living generation know certainly that those orders 
 were written ? Colonel Prescott, in his letter to John 
 Adams, says, "I received orders," but he does not say, 
 "written orders." It was a night expedition, and a very 
 secret one. It is hardly probable that they would wish to 
 strike a light after passing Charlestown Neck, to read those 
 orders, and if not, they might as well have been verbal as 
 written. As we understand it, the claim that they were 
 written is gratuitous.* 
 
 But it is an old adage that "actions speak louder than 
 words," and if we study the facts of the case, it is as plain 
 that Putnam was acting under Ward's orders as that Pres- 
 cott was. What does it mean that Putnam could not have 
 his own regiment to go with him .-^ Does not that imply 
 that Ward and Putnam were in conference on this subject, 
 and that Putnam was acting under Ward's direction } What 
 does it mean that he goes back to Ward's headquarters 
 early next morning, and again during the forenoon .'' By 
 these very circumstances and a great many others of like 
 character, it is just as apparent that Putnam is a man 
 clothed with authority from headquarters as that Prescott 
 
 * " General Ward was the general-in-chief of ' the army of Massachusetts,' 
 and the immediate commander of Colonel Prescott. His orderly book, there- 
 fore, would have contained the order which he issued to the latter, had he 
 really issued any ; but no such order appears there, and it is a fair inference, 
 therefore, that none was issued in writing." — Mr. Dawson, in "Historical 
 Magazine," June, iS68, p. 330. 
 
 " On the contrary, no such orders were really issued, nor any other, except 
 those reckless verbal directions to the Colonels of the fatigue parties." — Ibid, 
 
 P- 323- 
 
 In Sumner's " History of East Boston," p. 371, is a note in reference to the 
 battle of Chelsea, in which the following statement is made : 
 
 " There is no written order to this effect, which gives reason to believe that 
 at, and previous to, the battle of Bunker Hill, the ' orders ' were given ver- 
 bally and not in writing." 
 
Mr. 57.] Leading Officers of this Army. 129 
 
 is. No written authority from Ward can be produced in 
 either case. And when you add to all the little outstand- 
 ing circumstances, the broad and open fact that Putnam 
 was a Brigadier-General, and was pointed out in the sight 
 of all men as the most natural military leader in those camps, 
 a man toward whom all eyes turned to head such expeditions, 
 we should say that the claim of Colonel William Prescott 
 to the supreme command the next day, as set over against 
 Putnam's, is as shadowy as the stuff that dreams are made 
 of. We have not the slightest idea that Ward ever thought 
 of him for one moment as the man to take the supreme 
 command in that battle. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PREPARATIONS FOR THE BATTLE. 
 
 Action of Committee of Safety. — Council of War. — Relations of Putnam 
 and Prescott to the projected Movement. — Night Detachment. — Night 
 Council. — Forces detailed to take Part in the Battle the next Day. — From 
 Connecticut. — From New Hampshire. — From Massachusetts. 
 
 THE last two chapters, though not designed to follow the 
 history of affairs about Boston day by day, have so 
 brought the general condition of things to light, that it is 
 hardly necessary to go back and trace the succession of 
 events with more particularity, until we reach the few days 
 immediately preceding the battle. 
 
 It was on the 15th of June that the Massachusetts Com- 
 mittee of Safety, having become satisfied that the British 
 were planning a movement, either to take possession of 
 Charlestown or Dorchester Heights, recommended that 
 decisive action should be taken. 
 
 The step they advised was so important that we give the 
 record of their action, in full, as follows : 
 
 " Whereas, it appears of importance to the safety of this colony 
 that possession of the hill called Bwiker's Hill in Charlestown be 
 securely kept and defended, and also some one hill or hills on 
 Dorchester Neck be likewise secured : therefore 
 
 " Resolved, unanimously, that it be recommended to the coun- 
 cil of war, that the above mentioned Bunker Hill be maintained 
 by sufficient force being posted there ; and as the particular sit- 
 uation of Dorchester Neck is unknown to this Committee, they 
 desire that the council of war take and pursue such steps re- 
 
■^T. 57-] Preparations for the Battle. 131 
 
 specting the same as to them shall appear to be for the security 
 of this colony. 
 
 " Ordered, That Colonel Benjamin White and Colonel Joseph 
 Palmer be a committee to join with a committee from the coun- 
 cil of war, to proceed to Roxbury camp, there to consult with the 
 general officers on matters of importance, and to communicate 
 to them a resolve this day passed in this committee respecting 
 Bunker Hill, Charlestown and Dorchester Neck^ 
 
 What was this Committee of Safety? and who constituted 
 it ? It was first appointed in October, 1 774, by the Massachu- 
 setts Provincial Assembly, and was then to consist of nine 
 members, three from Boston (which seems to mean Boston 
 and immediate vicinity), and six from the country towns. 
 The nine first members were John Hancock, Joseph War- 
 ren and Benjamin Church, as representing Boston, Ben- 
 jamin White, Joseph Palmer, Morton Quincy, Richard Dev- 
 ens, Abraham Watson and Colonel Azor Orne, as repre- 
 senting the country towns. But before June 17th, 1775, 
 the committee had been at different times enlarged, and 
 the number was a variable one. At a meeting of the com- 
 mittee April 17th, 1775, there were present John Hancock, 
 J. Pigeon, Colonel Gardner, Colonel Heath, Colonel Joseph 
 Palmer, Benjamin White, Mr. Watson, Mr. Devens and 
 Colonel Orne — nine members ; but new names have come 
 in, and Warren and Church are not present, though still 
 members. At some of the meetings of the committee be- 
 fore the time of the battle, a still larger number, ten or 
 eleven, were present. 
 
 This action of the committee was a recommendation to 
 the council of war. The committee did not intend to over- 
 ride this council, but to urge this matter upon their prompt 
 attention. The council of war speedily met to consider 
 this subject. Perhaps some one knows all the persons who 
 took part in that council of war, June i6th. We do not 
 
132 Life of Israel Putnam. [1775. 
 
 claim such knowledge, but we conclude it was composed 
 only of general officers. Four persons are quite distinctly 
 seen to have been present, viz., Ward, Warren, Putnam and 
 Pomeroy. In this immediate connection Mr. Frothingham 
 uses the name of Prescott. He says, " General Putnam, 
 Colonel Prescott, and other veteran officers were strongly in 
 favor of it," /. e., the proposed movement to take possession 
 of Bunker Hill. Is there any evidence of Colonel Prescott's 
 presence in that council .'' A few weeks later we have 
 records of these councils of war, and they are composed 
 only of the general officers. 
 
 As we understand the matter, there is no fixed rule about 
 a council of war. If a General is sent on an expedition 
 away from the main body of the army, as the time draws 
 near for action, he will naturally call his Colonels, or even 
 officers of lower grade, into council. But in the main army 
 a council of war is not likely to embrace any but the gen- 
 eral officers. We can see with tolerable distinctness in that 
 council of June i6th, the four men above mentioned, — the 
 two former holding back, and the two latter urging matters 
 forward. There were probably other Generals there, from 
 the right wing of the army at Roxbury, — Thomas, or Spen- 
 cer, or Heath, and perhaps all three of them. If Colonel 
 Prescott was present, which we do not believe, he was there 
 doubtless by special invitation, as one upon whom Putnam 
 had already fixed his thoughts to bear an important part in 
 the expedition. It is very certain that the Colonels gen- 
 erally were not in that council, and the putting of Prescott 
 there we take it to be of the imagination, and not by any 
 historical authority. 
 
 In the Committee of Safety this general measure had 
 been urged imanimoiisly. In the fac simile transcript of 
 a portion of that document, which may be found in Mr. 
 Frothingham's "Siege of Boston" (facing p. 116), in Ben- 
 
^T. 57-] Preparations for the Battle. 133 
 
 jamin White's handwriting, the word "unanimously" is 
 above the hne, showing that the writer went back to put it 
 in, as a word that ought not to be omitted. But the coun- 
 cil of war was not unanimous, though the major vote was 
 for action, and preparations were promptly made to put the 
 decision of the council into execution. The meeting of the 
 Committee of Safety as before stated, was on Thursday, the 
 15 th, and by Friday night, the i6th, the council of war had 
 uttered its voice. 
 
 This council decided in favor of a plan, which in its gen- 
 eral features was undoubtedly Putnam's, a plan which he 
 had revolved in his mind, and talked about for days and 
 weeks before. His aggressive policy had at last prevailed 
 over Ward's do nothing policy.* 
 
 The way in which Prescott's name has been in these 
 modern times adroitly substituted for that of Putnam, may 
 be conceived to be the following : This was the first great 
 offensive movement of the war, and that night expedition 
 on the 1 6th of June, in which Prescott had an important 
 part, was in itself a romantic affair, and in after times 
 strongly touched the imaginations of the people. Prescott's 
 name therefore became linked indissolubly with that first 
 bold act of aggression, and in later times it was compara- 
 tively easy to shift his name along to the next day, and to 
 pass him forward from a subordinate to a chief. But in 
 reality, what Prescott did is no more than is likely to be 
 done, in some form or other, in every offensive movement 
 in any army. It usually happens that some leading steps 
 are taken, some preliminary work is done, and almost 
 invariably by a subordinate officer. Before the battle of 
 Waterloo, because Napoleon sends Marshal Ney with 
 
 * " If General Putnam is to be believed, he first proposed the taking pos- 
 session of Bunker Hill, and was detached for the purpose of fortifying it ; and 
 
 Colonel Prescott was placed under his orders It was for a second post 
 
 of danger that the gallant Prescott was iaspiring." — Hon. John Lowell, 1818. 
 
134 Life of Israel Piitiiain. [1775. 
 
 40,000 men to hold a pass, and if possible prevent the junc- 
 tion of Bluchers army with the allied forces, does any reader 
 ever become confused, and doubt who was commander-in- 
 chief on the French side in that battle ? If one were to go 
 over all the great battles of the world, he would find as a 
 common and almost universal fact, that the movement of 
 an army on the offensive, toward a battle, shows itself first 
 in local and subordinate movements of the under ofBcers. 
 And this was the movement of Colonel Prescott. Had the 
 battle of Bunker Hill been the last instead of the first of 
 the revolutionary period, what Prescott did would never 
 have been set in such a conspicuous light. But it was 
 something new and strange. That prayer on Cambridge 
 Common, that silent march beneath the stars, that mid- 
 night toil close to the ships of the enemy, when men spoke 
 one to another in hushed voices, — all this played upon the 
 thoughts and imaginations of men in a fresh and original 
 way. But Prescott was simply an under officer sent that 
 night to do a preliminary work. 
 
 That this was his place and no other, that he had no 
 special military reputation, either before that battle or after, 
 evidences already adduced, and subsequent events, suffi- 
 ciently show. 
 
 As we draw near this battle, it is proper to say that we 
 do not undertake to give a full history and description 
 of all its minute parts and belongings. That has been often 
 done, and it is not necessary that we should burden our- 
 selves specially with this duty. We are writing the Life of 
 General Putnam, and our purpose is to trace his footsteps 
 as carefully as we can through these exciting scenes ; and 
 in doing so the outlines of the contest itself will come into 
 view with sufficient clearness. In reference to what may 
 be called the primary facts of the battle, we give full honor 
 to Mr. Frothingham's celebrated work, the " Siege of Bos- 
 
^T. 57-] Preparations for the Battle, 135 
 
 ton." We still regard that as the most complete book we 
 have, as to the details of the battle, the forces employed on 
 both sides, and the various movements and fortunes of the 
 day. But we are obliged to differ very widely from him in 
 the interpretation of the facts, and in the conclusions drawn. 
 In reference to the number of men that went from Cam- 
 bridge on the night of June i6th, it will be noticed that 
 different writers are quite at variance. Colonel John Trum- 
 bull says 1,200 or 1,500, Stark says 1,500, Chester says 2,000, 
 and others still 800, while some rate the number as high 
 as 2,500. Prescott himself says r,ooo, and Daniel Putnam 
 says 1,000. The last named gives the following very natu- 
 ral reason why this was the number. He says, " It was 
 finally agreed that 2,000 men should be employed in the 
 
 undertaking The reason why the whole number 
 
 contemplated for the expedition was not all ordered at 
 once. General Putnam stated to be this. It was found that 
 intrenching tools could not be had for more than about 1,000 
 men, and he agreed to go on with that number over night, and 
 return in the morning for refreshments and a reinforcement 
 or relief for those who were expected to toil all the night." 
 In the unpublished writings of Colonel John Trumbull,* the 
 painter, now in the hands of Professor Benjamin Silliman of 
 New Haven (to which we shall have occasion to refer by- 
 and-by), we find the best statement of this night movement 
 that we have anywhere seen. This body of men, according 
 to him, was " commanded by General Putnam and Colonel 
 Prescott." That we conceive to be the just and exact 
 truth, putting the whole matter into its proper historical 
 and military shape. The relations of those two men are 
 precisely the same in a military point of view as though it 
 had been General Pomeroy, or General Thomas and Colonel 
 Prescott. In Chapter V. we have shown, we trust, with suf- 
 
 * Appendix D. 
 
136 Life of Israel Putnam. [1775. 
 
 ficient clearness, that State lines had nothing whatever to 
 do with such matters. It might be Heath, or Spencer, or 
 Thomas along with Prescott in that night movement, and 
 it would have been all just the same. 
 
 In each case one would have been a Brigadier-General 
 and one a Colonel, and the latter would of course have had 
 a subordinate command to the other. If Putnam was in 
 command that night or the next day, who gave him the 
 right to command ? is a question that has been many times 
 asked with an air of triumph, with a tone of assurance, as 
 if it were the end of all strife. There is a haughty assump- 
 tion in the very asking of the question. It is based upon that 
 pretentious claim which we have fully discussed in Chapter 
 V. We can with equal propriety ask. If Colonel Prescott 
 was in command even that night, to say nothing of next 
 day, who gave him the right to command .-' Is there one 
 particle of evidence bringing Prescott into direct personal 
 relations to General Ward touching this movement, which 
 does not exist still more clearly in the case of Putnam } If 
 we will once go back of modern asseveration and reitera- 
 tion and the talk about "written orders,"* when none can be 
 shown, nor substantial proof given that any ever existed, — if 
 we can once clear our ears of the perpetual ding-dong of 
 modern days, we shall find, on a calm survey, far more evi- 
 dence that Putnam came out of that place of majesty and 
 power, Artemas Ward's headquarters, to enter upon that 
 expedition, than that Prescott did.f 
 
 * Let it be understood, however, that we have no objection to " written 
 orders," if any can be produced, or if evidence can be shown that such orders 
 in writing ever existed. They would cover only a subordinate command. No 
 one will dare pretend that Prescott ever received " written orders" authorizing 
 him, a Colonel, to take supreme command the next day, against general 
 officers who might be upon ttiat field. 
 
 t We are not sure but the facts concerning Colonel Prescott, in connection 
 with this battle, might be summed up in the following proposition, viz., That 
 Prescott had no orders written or verbal, directly from Ward ; that this expe- 
 
^T. 57-] Preparations for the Battle. 137 
 
 If Warren had chosen to take the command next day, 
 when it was offered to him, would he have been asked who 
 gave him the right to command ? Yet he would not tech- 
 nically have been nearly so well entitled to that command 
 as Putnam, for he had not been commissioned. But would 
 he have been obliged to produce from his pocket a written 
 order to show Prescott or any body else that Ward had sent 
 him there, before he could have assumed command ? War- 
 ren, when he came to that field, did not probably come from 
 Ward's headquarters. General Ward did not even know of 
 his going, so far as appears. He had not expected to go. 
 And yet he might have commanded, and all parties would 
 have acquiesced. 
 
 If General Putnam had been asked that night or the next 
 day, by what right he commanded, and in whose name, 
 setting aside technics, he might have answered with less 
 impiety and with far more propriety than did a son of Con- 
 necticut, Ethan Allen, six weeks before, at Ticonderoga, 
 " In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental 
 Congress," for the Lord had evidently given him the spirit 
 and power to command, as he gave to Joshua of old ; and as 
 for the Continental Congress, though Putnam knew it not, 
 it was hastening to clothe him with ample authority, and 
 forty-eight hours later he was one of the four Major-Gen- 
 erals of the Continental army. 
 
 These two men, Putnam and Prescott, are to be seen on 
 that night of June i6th, under the sheltering darkness, 
 going on that momentous errand to Bunker Hill. 
 
 dition being known and publicly recognized as of Putnam's devising, Ward 
 gave into his hands the management of it on the field, and Prescott was the 
 Colonel that Putnam chose as his principal subordinate officer, whose move- 
 ments he directed. We do not recall any sure and well-established historical 
 fact that is inconsistent with this theory, and it is certainly far more defensi- 
 ble than the statement that Prescott's movements were directed by the written 
 orders of Ward. 
 
138 Life of Israel Putnam. [i77S- 
 
 Arrived at that hill, there was a long parley. General 
 Pomeroy was probably there, Colonel Gridley was there, 
 Colonel Bridge was there, and Putnam and Prescott were 
 there. These, at least, can be distinguished through the 
 shadows. We notice that Mr. Frothingham, in his " Siege 
 of Boston " (p. 123), says, " The order was explicit as to Bun- 
 ker Hill, and yet a position nearer Boston, now known as 
 Breed's Hill, seemed better adapted to the objects of the 
 expedition, and better suited the daring spirit of the offi- 
 cers." But Colonel Prescott, in his letter to John Adams, 
 says it was Breed's Hill to which he was sent. " On the 
 1 6th of June I received orders to march to Breed's Hill 
 in Charlestown." We have no disposition whatever to rely 
 unduly upon this authority, for we shall have occasion here- 
 after to comment freely upon this letter, but let it be borne 
 in mind that Prescott says " Breed's Hill." * Then as to 
 that " daring spirit of the officers." We think we discover 
 in these words an insinuation against General Putnam, as 
 if he were a rash man and would disobey orders. 
 
 There is no one thing about this battle concerning which 
 there has been more loose and rambling speculation than 
 this night council on the Charlestown heights. No man 
 can unveil the secrets of that conference. Who it was that 
 first proposed to build the redoubt on Breed's Hill cannot be 
 told. There was evidently a difference of opinion, causing 
 quite a long delay, when time was very precious. The ques- 
 tion was not decided so that the men could begin their work 
 
 ♦ We notice that Mr. Frothingham tries to help Colonel Prescott out, in 
 his saying " Breed's Hill," by the suggestion that there was no place in 
 Charlestown then called Breed's Hill, and that he inadvertently used the name 
 given after the battle. But this letter of Colonel Prescott's was not written 
 till the 25th of August following, and we should conclude by that time that 
 the supposed commander-in-chief would have learned the difference between 
 Breed's Hill and Bunker Hill, for there certainly was a place called Bunker 
 Hill long before that battle. We prefer that Colonel Prescott should be left 
 to tell his own story. 
 
•^T. 57-] Preparations for the Battle. 139 
 
 until nearly twelve o'clock. We have the impression that 
 military engineers in our own day, looking over the ground, 
 are generally agreed that Breed's Hill was the best place for 
 the main redoubt. Many writers have sagaciously shown 
 the utter folly of building such works anywhere upon that 
 peninsula, because the British could so easily bring their 
 ships of war up the Charles and Mystic rivers, and shell 
 them out or cut them off, without losing a man. That kind 
 of wisdom comes altogether too late for practical use. We 
 set the actual results over against these theories and possi- 
 bilities and probabilities, and can reasonably ask if some- 
 body else had not thought of all those things before. A 
 point so easy to be thought of by a modern man, had proba- 
 bly received the attention of the man who planned this 
 expedition. Putnam had fought alongside of Englishmen 
 for ten years, and he knew well enough that English pluck 
 would say, " Those rustics have thrown down the gauntlet, 
 and for us not to take it up promptly and boldly, but to 
 fight them only with our ships at a safe distance, would be 
 a kind of sneaking and cowardly way of doing the business. 
 We will teach them a lesson on the spot." 
 
 But as to the position of those earthworks, it seems as 
 rational a supposition as any that can be made, that Colonel 
 Gridley's judgment was followed. He was the engineer, 
 and deference would naturally be paid to his opinion. 
 Whether Putnam coincided with that opinion can never be 
 accurately told. In reference to this point, certain writers 
 are in the most curious antagonism with themselves. For 
 the purpose of showing Putnam a rash, headlong man, full 
 of bluster and noise, they make him in that night-work pre- 
 paratory to the battle override everybody else, and have 
 his own way, in spite of all opposition. He breaks through 
 orders from headquarters and majorities on the spot. But 
 the next day he has no proper command at all, and is only 
 
140 Life of Israel Putnam. [1775- 
 
 a kind of volunteer assistant of Colonel Prescott. It would 
 have been well for any such writer to have followed the 
 wise precaution of John Gilpin, and 
 
 " . . . . hung a bottle on each side 
 To make his balance true." 
 
 And there is still another thing which seems to have been 
 strangely overlooked or perverted. It may be that Putnam 
 thought it best, on the whole, that the chief earthworks 
 should be at Breed's Hill, though we do not know that he 
 thought so. But one thing we do know, that he wanted to 
 fortify Bunker Hill also. We know this of him, and we do 
 not know it of any other one who took part in that night 
 council. 
 
 If Mr. Frothingham is sure that the order said Bunker 
 Hill, we are equally sure that Putnam wanted to fortify 
 that hill, and so obey orders. The facts of the next day 
 seem to show conclusively that he could not rest until in- 
 trenchments were begun on Bunker Hill. Dr. George E. 
 EUis, in his "History of the Battle," etc., pubhshed in 1875, 
 confirms this view of Putnam's wishes and plans, in lan- 
 guage which will show at once that he is not a friend to 
 him. The passage may be found on p. 49. " So com- 
 pletely was he [Putnam] identified with the consuming zeal 
 for fortifying the higher hill in the rear [Bunker Hill], that 
 the traditionary rehearsals from the life of some survivors 
 represented him as on horseback, buried under and sur- 
 rounded by heaps of intrenching tools, enough for a cart 
 load." By the testimony of one of his most vigorous oppo- 
 sers, therefore, Putnam wanted to fortify Bunker Hill, and 
 Mr. Frothingham says that was the hill they were ordered 
 to fortify. 
 
 And if Putnam had had his own Connecticut regiment 
 on the ground that night or early in the morning, composed 
 
^T. 57.] Preparations for the Battle. 141 
 
 of men who would obey military orders without being con- 
 stantly watched, that second line of defense would have 
 been completely finished long before the British attack at 
 3 o'clock the next afternoon. And instead of seeing a rash 
 and headlong man in all this, we see only a man who, though 
 bold in action, was careful and judicious ; and if he had 
 had the cordial co-operation of General Ward and the 
 Massachusetts regiments, he would completely have saved 
 the day (supposing that the British should have pursued 
 the same essential mode of attack they did). From the 
 actual result secured, as the case was, we have no reason- 
 able doubt, if Putnam could have had the whole of his own 
 regiment, with Chester's company and the two regiments 
 from New Hampshire, and had them in the morning, he 
 would have carried that battle to a perfectly triumphant 
 conclusion. He would then have had almost exactly 2,000 
 men, and they would have been all he needed. 
 
 But to return to this night council. Mr. Frothingham 
 says (p. 123), that "The veteran Colonel Gridley and two 
 Generals, one of whom was General Putnam, took part in 
 it." Perhaps no one absolutely knows who that other Gen- 
 eral was, but there is no real doubt it was General Poraeroy. 
 
 After the parley was ended, and the men were at work^ 
 it being now near midnight, Mr. Frothingham says, " Gen- 
 eral Putnam .... returned to Cambridge." It is implied, 
 of course, in this sentence, that Putnam returned to Cam- 
 bridge at midnight, and he helps the reader to have the 
 passing thought that other men are awake and hard at 
 work, but he has gone to take his rest. Mr. Frothingham 
 gives no sufficient authority for this, and has he any } It 
 is in direct contradiction to Daniel Putnam's circumstantial 
 account of what was passing in those exciting hours. Anx- 
 ious about his father, Daniel Putnam tells us that early on 
 the morning of the 17th, he hastened to Putnam's regiment 
 
142 Life of Israel Putnam. [i77S- 
 
 and asked Major Durkee (the same man that escorted Mr. 
 Jared Ingersoll into Wethersfield) where his father was. 
 He pointed with his sword to Charlestown, and confirmed 
 the gesture with words. Then he ran to Putnam's head- 
 quarters and found the Adjutant of the regiment, and he 
 answered that his father " had been there but for a moment, 
 and had returned to Charlestown as soon as the firing 
 began." Then he went to what we now call Old Cam- 
 bridge to General Ward's headquarters. General Ward 
 was out, but he found his secretary, Joseph Ward. His 
 answer was, "Your father was here before dawn of day this 
 morning, but has gone back to Charlestown." By this 
 explicit and most circumstantial testimony we conclude 
 that Putnam remained at Charlestown till early dawn, near 
 the time that the British ships in the harbor made their 
 first discovery of the redoubt. Then he went back to 
 Cambridge for the reinforcements and the refreshments ; 
 but the firing from the ships hastened his return, and he 
 only left directions there for that to be done, which he was 
 intending personally to superintend and see done. 
 
 In the enumeration of the officers and soldiers of the 
 American army, who were detailed to take part in the 
 eventful struggle of the 17th of June, we will begin with 
 Connecticut, whose record in this respect is very plain and 
 simple. Putnam was sorely disappointed that he could not 
 move his own regiment to the scene of action. We are 
 not aware that any writer ever doubted that he wished 
 those men to be there, longed for their presence, as men 
 whom he knew would obey his orders. The simple fact that 
 this regiment was only represented by two companies, and 
 these obtained after earnest solicitation, is one of the most 
 vital and satisfactory proofs that Putnam was acting under 
 General Ward's orders that day, and that there was not 
 "an army of Connecticut" separate and distinct from "an 
 
JEt. 57.] Preparations for the Battle. 143 
 
 army of Massachusetts," but that both of them were only 
 parts of one " American army," in which General Ward was 
 acknowledged and treated as commander-in-chief. 
 
 Two hundred men from the Connecticut forces went on 
 to the ground with Prescott's detachment that night. We 
 need not suppose that two companies were taken entire, 
 though in the constitution of a Connecticut regiment, two 
 would make two hundred men. But the detachment for 
 that night's service was made up by drafts from four compa- 
 nies of Putnam's regiment, and the men were placed under 
 the subordinate command of the brave Captain Knowlton. 
 Besides Putnam's full regiment, there were two other com- 
 panies of Connecticut troops at Cambridge, which were 
 called independent. And yet they were not what we now 
 should understand by an " independent company," They 
 were simply detached and away from their own regiments. 
 Captain Chester's company of one hundred men belonged 
 to General Spencer's regiment over at Roxbury. Captain 
 Coit's company belonged to Colonel Parsons' regiment (the 
 sixth Connecticut), which (except this company) was at New 
 London, Connecticut. In making up this detachment, a 
 part of Chester's company was certainly taken. We have 
 not been able fully to satisfy ourselves whether a draft was 
 made from Coit's company for that night detachment, or 
 whether his company went on the next day, just before 
 the close of the battle. It is evident that Coit's company, 
 in whole or part, participated in the battle, and we believe, 
 from all we can discover, that a draft was made from it 
 for the original two hundred. There is a kind of by-play 
 between the numbers one hundred and twenty and two 
 hundred for the Connecticut troops often met with in dif- 
 ferent accounts of the battle. This fact is probably to be 
 explained as follows : Lieutenant (afterwards Colonel) 
 Thomas Grosvenor, in his letter to Daniel Putnam, in 1818, 
 
144 ^^f^ ^f I^'i'ci-^l PuUiam. [1775. 
 
 says, " A detachment of four Lieutenants (of which I was 
 one) and one hundred and twenty men, selected the previ- 
 ous day from General Putnam's regiment," etc. We know 
 these four Lieutenants, and can easily fix the four compa- 
 panies. Thirty men were probably taken from each com- 
 pany, for Mr. Grosvenor speaks of his own immediate com- 
 mand as consisting gf " thirty men and one subaltern." 
 From Putnam's regiment proper, therefore, one hundred 
 and twenty men were taken, and the drafts from Chester's 
 and Coit's companies probably made up the two hundred. 
 Colonel Prescott says two hundred, and Daniel Putnam 
 says two hundred, and we rest quite securely upon those 
 figures. 
 
 The next day, just as the battle was beginning. General 
 Putnam sent a hasty summons by his son. Captain Israel 
 Putnam, for the rest of Chester's company to come (and 
 some include Coit's company in this call) ; but whoever 
 went in answer to that call could only reach the field near 
 the close of the battle. Captain Chester tells us distinctly 
 that, making all haste, he was able to reach the front only 
 a few moments before the battle was ended. 
 
 This Chester's company, it will be remembered, was the 
 one that did escort duty when Putnam and Warren went to 
 exchange those prisoners. It was a company fit for even 
 British disciplinarians to see. Hollister in his history 
 (Vol. II. p. 180), after enumerating some of the notable per- 
 sons and military bodies from Connecticut, says, "Ches- 
 ter's company was by far the most accomplished body of 
 men in the whole American army." 
 
 Adding these to those who went the night before, we con- 
 clude that Connecticut may have had two hundred and sev- 
 enty-five or three hundred men in the battle ; only it must 
 be remembered, as already suggested, that whatever the 
 number of the reinforcement, the men connected with it 
 
•^T. 57.] Preparations for the Battle. 145 
 
 were in the battle but a few moments. Through the two 
 first repulses Connecticut had but two hundred men there. 
 
 Fortunately we have the means of tracing the New 
 Hampshire men almost as closely as the Connecticut. 
 We say, fortunately, for this point has been somewhat in 
 dispute. The recently published seventh volume of the 
 " New Hampshire Provincial Papers," gives us data whereby 
 the case can be narrowed down very closely to the actual 
 facts. We shall see in the sequel what many of the New 
 Hampshire men have for years claimed, that the battle of 
 Bunker Hill was very largely fought by her men. Let us 
 attend carefully to the records gathered from the volume 
 mentioned. 
 
 On the 14th of June, 1775, only three days before the 
 battle, we have an exact return of Colonel James Reed's 
 New Hampshire regiment. There were ten companies, 
 and the regiment was reported by Stephen Peabody, Adju- 
 tant, under two heads, " effective men for duty," and " sick, 
 absent, unfit and on command." Under the first head are 
 returned four hundred and ninety men. Under the second 
 head the number is one hundred and forty-nine, making the 
 whole regiment six hundred and thirty-seven. From returns 
 after the battle, we find that of these ten companies, Cap- 
 tain John Marcy's (which in the above enumeration has 
 forty-eight " effective men") was not in the battle, and was 
 probably left to guard the camp. Taking these out, we 
 conclude that Colonel Reed led four hundred and forty-two 
 men to Bunker Hill. We do not find any such exact enu- 
 meration of Colonel Stark's regiment ; but he too led nine 
 companies to battle, leaving one, probably, to guard the 
 camp, and as his regiment was the older, and his name was 
 immensely popular, it was doubtless not less in number than 
 Reed's. Even as early as May i8th. Stark had five hun- 
 dred and eighty-four under his command. We judge it 
 10 
 
146 Life of Israel Putnam. [1775. 
 
 safe to say that Stark and Reed brought nine hundred men 
 to Bunker Hill. 
 
 By Colonel Stark's letter, written after the battle (June 
 19th), it appears that he first sent forward two hundred 
 men under Lieutenant-Colonel Wyman. " About 2 o'clock 
 in the afternoon express orders came for the whole of my 
 regiment." So says Colonel Stark, and he obeyed that 
 order, only, as we suppose, he left one company to guard 
 the camp. He led nine companies into the battle. We 
 know this by the following documentary evidence. In this 
 seventh volume, beginning at page 586, and onward for sev- 
 eral pages, we have a list of the New Hampshire men in 
 this battle, who were afterwards reimbursed for their losses 
 on that day.* In this enumeration nine companies are 
 brought to light in each regiment, and it is not likely that 
 there should be just one company in each regiment that 
 lost nothing. We regard this important document as 
 settling the question, and showing conclusively enough that 
 Colonels Stark and Reed each led nine companies of their 
 respective regiments to the battle. In some of these com- 
 panies the losses of property for which the men were paid 
 were few. In one of Stark's only two men were remuner- 
 ated, in another only seven ; but generally the number was 
 much larger. The whole number remunerated in the two 
 regiments was four hundred and fifty-two ; and this would 
 
 * The day was very hot, and before these troops went into battle they seem 
 to have deposited some of their luggage on the ground back of them, the 
 northerly slope of Bunker Hill. If everybody on that field had done his duty 
 as well as they, this luggage would have been taken again, each man taking 
 his own, as they went off. But when that break came at the redoubt, it 
 came suddenly, and amid the dust and smoke that enveloped the scene, 
 these New Hampshire men that were farthest away did not know what had 
 happened till some few minutes afterwards, when they found that the British 
 had broken through the lines, and they were flanked. So they had to beat a 
 hasty retreat. Hence these losses. 
 
iET. 57.] Preparations for the Battle. 147 
 
 confirm, in a general way, the conclusion already reached, 
 that New Hampshire had as many as nine hundred men at 
 Bunker Hill under Stark and Reed. (These are the " party 
 of Hampshire," that Prescott casually mentions as a quite 
 unimportant matter in his letter to John Adams.) 
 
 But besides these, New Hampshire had other men in the 
 battle. Captain Dow's company in Prescott's own regi- 
 ment were from Hollis, New Hampshire, and twenty-eight 
 men of this company were also reimbursed for losses by the 
 New Hampshire generosity, notwithstanding they were en- 
 rolled and serving in a Massachusetts regiment. By the 
 best judgment we can form, we set Captain Dow's com- 
 pany in Prescott's regiment at fifty men. But Prescott had 
 New Hampshire men (scattering cases) in his other com- 
 panies. As he lived at Pepperell, on the borders of New 
 Hampshire, men from over the line came and joined the 
 companies enlisting for his regiment. We have tried faith- 
 fully to find the part which New Hampshire played in this 
 battle, and after sifting the evidence carefully, we are satis- 
 fied that she had not less than nine hundred and sixty men 
 on that field. Some would place the number higher. What 
 is of vastly greater importance, they were men who knew 
 how to find their way to the front, and did not run away. 
 They fought it out to the last moment. 
 
 In our further references to the New Hampshire men, 
 we shall not include Captain Dow's company, as that was 
 in a Massachusetts regiment, and will have its place and 
 its reckoning there. Only we will not forget the fact that 
 about sixty (it may be more) of Prescott's men were from 
 New Hampshire. But we call the others nine hundred, 
 which is probably a close approximation to the real truth, 
 and the balance may be one way or the other. 
 
 Besides these, that fragment of a regiment (Sargeant's, 
 with only four companies in the Massachusetts service, 
 
148 Life of Israel Putnam. [1775- 
 
 but recruited in New Hampshire, and which had been 
 under General Putnam's command at the Inman farm) 
 begged to be allowed to go into the battle, but General 
 Ward would not give his consent. The Committee of 
 Safety a few days before had advised the Massachusetts 
 Congress that this regiment was not likely to be full, and 
 that it be disbanded. That work had not yet been done.* 
 Herein may be found some source of confusion among 
 New Hampshire writers. Stark had thirteen companies 
 at Medf ord ; f and this may have occasioned the supposi- 
 tion, sometimes made, that these New Hampshire compa- 
 nies of Sargeant's had gone over to the Medford camp. 
 But they were still at Cambridgeport when the battle of 
 Bunker Hill was fought, making a part of General Ward's 
 front body guard. Patterson's Massachusetts regiment, 
 which had been also under General Putnam's command, 
 as a part of this front guard, though more to the north, 
 toward Lechmere Point, did not have any part in the battle. 
 We give therefore for Connecticut two hundred (with an 
 uncertain number in the reinforcement, but too late for 
 service), and for New Hampshire nine hundred. 
 
 And now we have to make a very miscellaneous reckon- 
 ing for Massachusetts. A standard Massachusetts regi- 
 ment, when full, was at that time five hundred and ninety- 
 eight men ; but none of her regiments were full. She had 
 
 * A few months later, this Colonel Paul Dudley Sargeant is found on the 
 muster-rolls at the head of a full regiment. 
 
 t This we learn from General Folsom's letter, in the " New Hampshire 
 Provincial Papers," Vol VII. p. 529, written June 23d, six days after the bat- 
 tle. There is a difficulty between Folsom and Stark, but that is of no con- 
 sequence now. General Folsom says, " I have since made enquiry and find 
 that he [Stark] would not be able to lead off many more than the super- 
 numerors [«V] of his regiment, it still consisting of thirteen companys." 
 But in the battle, Stark probably went with only his own proper regiment, 
 leaving one company, as before stated, to keep guard, and these three com- 
 panies were treated as the nucleus of another regiment. 
 
•^T, 57.] Preparations for the Battle. 149 
 
 many more regiments than any other colony, and a much 
 larger number of men. There were fifteen Massachusetts 
 regiments in Cambridge and vicinity, around the centre of 
 the American army, besides Gridley's regiment of artillery. 
 Mr. Frothingham estimates that these sixteen regiments 
 (including Gridley's) had at that time six thousand and 
 sixty-three men, besides the accessories in the shape of 
 drummers, etc., which would make one thousand five hun- 
 dred and eighty-one more, in all, seven thousand six hun- 
 dred and forty-four, and Mr. Frothingham is very exact and 
 careful in such computations. Massachusetts had also nine 
 regiments in the right wing under Thomas, about Roxbury 
 and Dorchester. But neither these nor General Spencer's 
 men, that were at Roxbury, nor General Greene's men, took 
 any part in the battle. 
 
 Of the Massachusetts men Prescott led eight hundred 
 of them on to the ground on the night of June i6th. 
 These were taken from his own regiment, from Colonel 
 Frye's and Colonel Bridge's. It is generally estimated that 
 he had three hundred from his own, which would leave five 
 hundred, or two hundred and fifty apiece, to come from the 
 other two. But the next day, just before the battle and in the 
 midst of the battle, there were sent forward as reinforce- 
 ments portions of ten other regiments. Little's, Gerrish's, 
 Doolittle's, Gardner's, Ward's, Nixon's, Whitcomb's, Mans- 
 field's, Woodbridge's, and Scammons's, besides Gridley's 
 artillery. In some cases the numbers were comparatively 
 few, perhaps one, two, or three companies. In other cases 
 the regiments went with a good degree of fulness. We are 
 very sure we shall not overstate the case if we say that one 
 hundred and forty men, on the average, went or started to go 
 from each of these ten regiments, which, added to the eight 
 hundred that marched with Prescott the night before, would 
 make two thousand and two hundred men that Massachusetts 
 
150 Life of Israel Putnam. [i775- 
 
 undertook in some sort to contribute to the active forces of 
 that day. But the manner of this contribution, as we shall 
 see, greatly impaired, yea, almost destroyed its value. The 
 facts which go to show this will come to light in the next 
 chapter. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE FORENOON OF JUNE SEVENTEENTH. 
 
 Putnam's Desire to fortify Bunker Hill. — Ward does not send the promised 
 Reinforcements. — Scene at the Redoubt, and its Moral. — Construction of 
 the Fence Line. — Arrival of two hundred New Hampshire Men. — Stark's 
 and Reed's Regiments. — Coming of Warren upon the Field. — Lateness 
 of the Massachusetts Reinforcements. 
 
 LET it be understood that we use the word forenoon in 
 this chapter, for that part of the day which passed be- 
 fore the action began. 
 
 It is plain, as already shown from a great variety of wit- 
 nesses, friendly and unfriendly to General Putnam, that he 
 was possessed with a strong desire to throw a line of 
 entrenchments across Bunker Hill, at some distance back 
 from the actual line where the battle was fought ; and with- 
 out doubt he intended to man them, before the battle begun, 
 with a sufficient force of men. It is not likely that the 
 fence arrangement was in his early morning thoughts at 
 all — that this was an after plan — a make-shift for some- 
 thing better. Mr.T)rake says that " The mistake of the day 
 appears to have been the omission to throw up some 
 defences on Bunker Hill. Putnam, who seems to have 
 appreciated the importance of a supporting line to raw 
 militia, exerted himself to little purpose for this end." 
 
 Dr. Ellis says (p. 24), " Probably if both summits could 
 have been simultaneously intrenched and defended by 
 troops well supplied with ammunition and artillery, the 
 provincials might have maintained their ground." 
 
 Whose " mistake " was it that Bunker Hill was not in- 
 
 151 
 
152 Life of Israel Putnam. [i77S- 
 
 trenched ? We wish to show under what conditions Gen- 
 eral Putnam wrought that forenoon to get this work done 
 He intended, doubtless, to have that second line of fortifi- 
 cations all completed in the early morning hours. If the 
 second detachment of one thousand men, agreed upon the 
 day before, could have been brought on to the ground in 
 the cool of that summer day, fresh from the rest of the 
 night, and animated by the sight of what their brethren 
 had done while they were permitted to sleep, it would not 
 have been a long task to throw that girdle of intrench- 
 ments across the peninsula, narrow as it there is and taper- 
 ing towards the neck. Was it an easy thing for such a 
 man as General Putnam, with his strong will and prodigious 
 powers of execution, to wait, and look, and wait, hour after 
 hour, when he knew how precious every moment was ? 
 Was it a remarkable fact that he should lose patience and 
 grow so nervous that he could hardly contain himself, and 
 that he should go dashing again across that neck, without 
 ever stopping to think whether the British had a dozen bat- 
 teries throwing chain-shot at him, or none at all ? 
 
 One writer says, " His furious ardor may or may not 
 have needed the control of a cool deliberating judgment, 
 and of that prime essential of the soldier which is called 
 ' conduct.' His courage was unquestionable. He is here 
 fairly presented by the writer, according *as a careful exami- 
 nation of authorities, and a review of widely different esti- 
 mates and judgments of him by others, assign to him his 
 share in inspiriting a patriotic enterprise." 
 
 And on the same page as the above, it is said, " Putnam 
 pleaded and cursed, a misuse of emphasis for which he 
 afterwards humbled himself before his Puritan church." 
 Some efforts have been made to discover whether, as a mat- 
 ter of fact, the Brooklyn church ever disciplined him for 
 swearing. We have not been able to find any evidence of 
 
JET.S7'] The Forenoon of June Seventeenth. 153 
 
 it, but rather evidence to the contrary. But if they did, it 
 shows us one or two things not unworthy of our notice. 
 It shows us a little New England country church sturdily 
 maintaining its rules of discipline without " respect of per- 
 sons." It was something for such a church to bring to its 
 bar of censure a Major-General of the Continental army. 
 On the other hand, it shows us a man of the very strongest 
 will, high in ofHce and popularity, bowing before that plain 
 and humble tribunal, and confessing his fault. We should 
 want no better evidence that General Putnam was a hum- 
 ble-hearted. Christian man. It is an example which a Chris- 
 tian minister ought naturally enough to respect.* 
 
 But to be true and exact about this, it must be said that 
 one to whom application was made for information, and 
 who has access to the sources of information, frankly an- 
 swered in substance that Putnam swore that day without 
 much doubt, but he did not find evidence that the church 
 ever disciplined him for it. They regarded it probably as 
 a case of extreme provocation, where Uncle Toby's record- 
 ing angel would be likely to wipe the record out if it were 
 written against his name, and so it was not entered. 
 
 * That church certdnly, according to the writer quoted, came off better 
 than another country church in Connecticut, of which the following story is 
 told : When General William Eaton, a native of Woodstock, Connecticut, 
 but living in Brimfield, Massachusetts, came back to his native country in 
 1805, after successfully fighting the Algerine pirates, he was making his way 
 as fast as he could to his home in Brimfield. He left Hartford, Connecticut, 
 on horseback, Sunday morning, wrapped in a cloak that concealed his uniform, 
 and was jogging on his way, when he reached Vernon, Connecticut, while the 
 people were standing about the meeting-house, at the noon intermission. 
 They, seeing a stranger journeying on the road, thought it their duty to stop 
 him. Some of the official men went out to the road, and inquired the occa- 
 sion of his travelling on the Sabbath. Up to that moment, the General 
 apparently had not stopped to inquire whether it was Sunday, or some other 
 day. It required a moment to enable him to take in the situation. Then he 
 threw open his cloak, and began to draw his sword from the scabbard, where- 
 upon they went back to the meeting-house, and he on his journey. 
 
154 Life of Israel Putnam. [i775- 
 
 We shall all have to confess probably that General Put- 
 nam had not a very quiet temperament during that summer 
 forenoon. His 
 
 " . . . . manners had not that repose 
 That marks the caste of Vere de Vere." 
 
 General Ward had what might be called " conduct " in 
 an eminent degree, and in a military view, very bad conduct. 
 His failure to carry out the plan and keep his own promises 
 was enough to disgust and infuriate any man who was com- 
 petent to be left in charge of so important an enterprise. 
 And yet these immense activities of his, on this wearisome 
 summer day, to save the expedition from utter failure, are 
 treated as though he were an amateur rider, racing here and 
 there to show his horsemanship, and work off his superflu- 
 ous physical energies. A man approaching threescore 
 years, who had known little sleep for thirty hours, and was 
 to know little for thirty hours to come, — left in this criti- 
 cal period by his military superior, who had become half 
 frightened to death out at Cambridge at the noise of the 
 cannon, and had utterly failed to keep his promises, — seems 
 deserving of sympathy rather than ridicule. 
 
 This prodigious activity with which some writers choose 
 to credit General Putnam, and at the same time turn it into 
 ridicule, or deny him all the honors belonging to it, reminds 
 one of an old and simple story that used to be told. A 
 farmer who had several sons went from home one day, and 
 left the boys to hoe a field of corn. When he came back 
 he found much bad hoeing, but the other boys laid it all to 
 John. Wherever the work was faulty, " John did it." " You 
 rogues," said the old man, " it seems that John did it all, 
 and I am going to give the rest of you a whipping ! " 
 
 One may read page after page in many recent books and 
 pamphlets, in which the confusions and disorders around 
 
^T. 57-] The Forenoon of June Seventeenth. 155 
 
 that hill are somehow allowed to rest on Putnam's shoul- 
 ders, even though these writers at the same time imply that 
 he was not the commander, and had no right to command. 
 This is the old story of Pharaoh over again, who would 
 have his " tale of brick," straw or no straw. 
 
 No careful reader of modern Bunker Hill literature can 
 have failed to notice this quiet and adroit way of shifting 
 General Ward's delinquencies, and all the disorders that 
 came in consequence, over on to General Putnam. This 
 is a far heavier load than that with which Doctor Ellis has 
 weighed him down, in his graphic picture of those intrench- 
 ing tools. Putnam, with his old white horse, could bear that 
 burden very comfortably. But to charge General Ward 
 and his doings to Putnam, is the height of cruelty. The 
 old hero would rather have gone through again the Indian 
 tortures he endured in the French War, than to bear that 
 imputation. We shall see, as we go on, how General Ward 
 kept his promises and furnished his reinforcements. 
 
 The hours passed away, while no reinforcements came. 
 And now comes a little episode of that forenoon which we 
 desire to open up to view until we see and understand it. 
 We copy a passage from the " Siege of Boston " (pp. 1 29- 
 30) which will bring the matters directly before us. " About 
 1 1 o'clock, the men had mostly ceased labor on the works ; 
 the intrenching tools had been piled in the rear, and all 
 were anxiously awaiting the arrival of refreshments and 
 reinforcements. No works, however, had been commenced 
 on Bunker Hill, regarded as of great importance in case of 
 a retreat. General Putnam, who was .on his way to the 
 heights when Major Brooks was going to Cambridge, rode 
 on horseback to the redoubt, ' and told Colonel Prescott,' as 
 General Heath first relates the circumstance, 'that the 
 intrenching tools must be sent off, Or they would be lost.' 
 The Colonel replied, ' that if he sent any of the men away 
 
156 Life of Israel Putnam. [1775 
 
 with the tools not one of them would return.' To this the 
 General answered, ' They shall every man return.' A large 
 party was then sent off with the tools, and not one of them 
 returned. In this instance the Colonel was the best judge 
 of human nature." 
 
 We have read this passage many times, and have often 
 thought we could draw some more useful and legitimate 
 inferences from it than the very tame one which General 
 Heath drew. 
 
 (i) It shows us that General Putnam on this field was 
 clearly the military superior of Colonel Prescott. He was 
 the man to command what should be done with those tools, 
 and Prescott was the man to obey. 
 
 (2) It shows us that Colonel Prescott had already been 
 losing his men, or he would not so speedily have jumped 
 to the conclusion that these soldiers would run away if 
 they were once allowed to go out of his sight. This con- 
 firms his own statement in general, in his letter to John 
 Adams. 
 
 (3) It shows us that Putnam, with his generous nature, 
 attributed to those soldiers the same faithfulness and spirit 
 of obedience that he would to his own. He knew that the 
 men of his regiment would not run away from their post 
 
 ■ of duty the moment his eye was off them. Those two 
 hundred men that came from his own command were not 
 eye-servants. They never left that field, not a man of 
 them, till the British broke through at the redoubt. Gen- 
 eral Putnam, full of heroic devotion to the cause that 
 brought them on to that field, though he was from another 
 colony, willing to endure labor and danger and heat for 
 the general good, really thought and believed that those 
 Massachusetts men on their own soil felt as he did and 
 would endure to, the end. 
 
 (4) It is rather evident from this incident that those 
 
■^T. 57-] The Forenoon of June Seventeenth. 157 
 
 two hundred Connecticut men were not at that time at the 
 redoubt. If they had been there, Putnam would have been 
 likely (especially after Prescott's expression of his want of 
 confidence in his own men) to have told them to convey the 
 tools to Bunker Hill, Indeed, had they been there, he 
 would probably have done so in any event. As the time 
 had not yet come for Prescott to send these Connecticut 
 men to support the artillery, as he says he afterwards did 
 (that event could not happen until the British landed), one 
 can discover some evidence here that they were busy in the 
 construction of that fence. Probably they had been already 
 detailed by Putnam for that duty. They had wrought all 
 night and through the morning hours as the others had 
 done. Now the others were resting, and the Connecticut 
 men were probably at work to construct that extemporized 
 line, which Putnam felt it was time to begin, in the absence 
 of the promised reinforcements. One need not be dog- 
 matic about this opinion, but it looks very much like the 
 truth. Still Putnam wanted those tools up at Bunker Hill, 
 for he kept hoping that General Ward would get over 
 his great apprehensions, and find time to send along some 
 of those men he had promised. 
 
 (5) If General Heath had repeated this story with its 
 momentous inference to General Putnam himself, we can 
 imagine that the old hero would have replied somewhat as 
 follows : " When I made that promise I thought those men 
 were soldiers, attached to Colonel Prescott, the commander 
 at the redoubt ; that out of their personal devotion to him 
 they would return and see him through this business. I 
 did not keep my eye on them very closely. I had a great 
 many cares on my mind, and lo ! ' while thy servant was 
 busy here and there, they were gone.' But pray do not be 
 so cruel as to attribute their shameful desertion to my want 
 of a knowledge of human nature." 
 
158 Life of Israel Putnam. [1775. 
 
 Perhaps that speech has been drawn too finely and at 
 too great length to suit the way and style of General Put- 
 nam, for there is an anecdote carefully preserved in the 
 "Prescott Memorial" (p. 58) which tells us exactly what he 
 did say. The passage reads in this way : " But the men 
 did not return, nor was a reinforcement sent. Colonel Pres- 
 cott met General Putnam after the action near Charlestown 
 Neck, and inquired the cause of his failing to fulfil his 
 engagement. General Putnam replied, ' I could not make 
 the dogs go' Colonel Prescott then stated, ' If you had 
 said to them come, you would have found men enough.' 
 'This statement,' writes Doctor O. Prescott, Jr., *I received 
 from Colonel Prescott himself, who never forgave Putnam 
 for this breach of promise.' " 
 
 Now, first of all, how any man could record or read that 
 anecdote without seeing in it that Prescott is made subordi- 
 nate to, and dependent upon, Putnam as his military supe- 
 rior, is a marvel. Certainly the General Putnam of this 
 story is not the man described by one of the modern writers 
 from whom we have quoted. He is not the man who had 
 no right " to command Massachusetts soldiers on Massa- 
 chusetts soil." Colonel Prescott held him responsible, even 
 to the extent of never forgiving him, we are told, for not 
 sending back those Massachusetts men to the redoubt, 
 whether they would or no. He held him responsible, too, 
 for not supplying him with reinforcements, when Putnam 
 could not possibly get them from General Ward, and when 
 Prescott was losing the men he already had. Those whom 
 Putnam took out for that temporary service were not the 
 first ones he had lost, according to his own story. 
 
 What was the underlying meaning of the last sentence 
 in this anecdote .-' Could it be possible Prescott meant to 
 imply that General Putnam had not courage enough to go 
 to that redoubt, which everybody supposed to be the safest 
 
^T. 57-] The Forenoon of June Seventeenth. 159 
 
 place on that whole field, and was the safest place so long 
 as it was held ? It would not seem that Prescott could 
 make such an insinuation as that to such a man. Or did 
 he mean that his men were more used to the moral suasion 
 system in military affairs, and if Putnam had only said, 
 " Come, now, let us reason together," they would have been 
 convinced, and would have returned directly to their duty ? 
 One or the other of these two inferences must apparently 
 be drawn from this anecdote, which is so carefully laid up. 
 
 It is obvious, from a great variety of testimonies and inci- 
 dental facts, that the reinforcements were expected to 
 march from Cambridge to the field of action, early on the 
 morning of June 17th. That was the arrangement of the 
 day before. That was Putnam's expectation and Prescott's 
 expectation. The men, weary with their night toil, were 
 looking early in the morning for the coming of their breth- 
 ren with provisions, and with strong arms to take up the 
 intrenching tools, and complete the unfinished fortifica- 
 tions. 
 
 At what time did those reinforcements come .-' When 
 that question is adequately answered, we shall have such a 
 vivid idea of General Ward's imbecility as a military com- 
 mander, that we shall no longer wonder at that letter of 
 Washington to General Lee, already quoted. 
 
 And it is suitable to remark at this point, that had the 
 reinforcements gone early in the day, they would have 
 found a perfectly open and safe path across Charlestown 
 Neck. It was not till well on in the forenoon that the Brit- 
 ish brought their floating batteries up the Charles River 
 and the Mystic River, to rake that neck and make all pass- 
 ing extremely dangerous. 
 
 Individual men went back and forth between Cambridge 
 and Charlestown all through those morning hours. There 
 has just been published, in an elegant pamphlet, the paper 
 
i6o Life of Israel Putnam. [1775. 
 
 which Mr. Frothingham read last summer before the Mas- 
 sachusetts Historical Society, and in the appendix some 
 extracts are given from the diary of Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Ephraim Storrs of Mansfield, Connecticut, belonging to 
 General Putnam's regiment. In these extracts the author 
 of the pamphlet is faithful to record the following item, 
 though in doing so he is like that good man spoken of in 
 the Scriptures, " that sweareth to his own hurt and chang- 
 eth not:" June 17th, " At sunrise this morning a fire began 
 from the ships; about 10, went down to General Putnam's 
 post, who has the command ; some shot whistled around 
 us." 
 
 One can catch sight, by one light and another, of quite a 
 number of individuals that went back and forth that fore- 
 noon, and doubtless there were many more of whom we 
 know nothing. But the first military body that moved on 
 to that hill in the way of a reinforcement, so far as appears, 
 was the detachment of two hundred from Stark's regi- 
 ment, under Lieutenant-Colonel Wyman. No signs are 
 discovered of any earlier arrival of men in a military body, 
 and from the best light afforded, it does not appear that 
 those men came until full 12 o'clock. A forenoon of June 
 17th, when the sun rises at 4 o'clock and 23 minutes, is a 
 very long one to weary and hungry soldiers. It was a 
 most severe trial of faith and patience for those men who 
 went there the night before, and many of the eight hundred 
 Massachusetts men under Colonel Prescott did not stand 
 this tremendous strain upon their sensibilities. They 
 deserted in large numbers. If we are to believe Colonel 
 Prescott's own statement in his letter to John Adams, they 
 deserted in very large numbers. He says that when the 
 action began, he was left " with perhaps one hundred and 
 fifty men." And this was at the very moment when the 
 British columns were moving up those slopes to give battle 
 
JET. 57-] T/ie Forenoon of June Seventeenth. i6i 
 
 He had sent out some small detachments under Robinson 
 and Woods, to flank the enemy, which means, probably, 
 that they were to post themselves around the village of 
 Charlestown and harass the British left wing. But we pre- 
 sume these companies did not number over one hundred. 
 
 Do we accept this statement of Colonel Prescott? Nay, 
 we do not accept it. We will not be so unjust to Massa- 
 chusetts as to give credence to such a statement ; besides, 
 there is satisfactory proof to the contrary. The " Siege of 
 Boston" helps us to prove these sentences from that letter 
 incorrect. Colonel Prescott certainly leaves the impression 
 on all readers that those men from Bridge's and Frye's 
 regiments left him early in the morning, and never came 
 back. But when the British broke into the redoubt, the 
 men from those two regiments were there to be " killed 
 and wounded," in about the same proportion to their origi- 
 nal numbers as the men in Prescott' s own regiment. The 
 killed and wounded in the latter were seventy, in Bridge's 
 forty-four, and in Frye's forty-six. Total, one hundred and 
 sixty. 
 
 It is to be noticed that the heaviest slaughter on our 
 side fell upon those three regiments, because they were di- 
 rectly in the path where the British broke through. Up 
 to that moment it is not likely that many men had been 
 killed or wounded in this fortress, for so long as it re- 
 mained unbroken, the men were sheltered as they were no- 
 where else along the lines. This slaughter took place in a 
 very few moments. The British were terribly exasperated 
 at the repulses they had received and the dreadful losses 
 that had come upon them ; and they used the bayonets 
 which they had (and which our own men had not) with the 
 greatest fury. Some of the British accounts of the battle 
 describe this fearful slaughter, when our men were huddled 
 together and could not escape. 
 
1 62 Life of Israel Putnam. [1775 
 
 Adjutant Waller, of the Royal Marines, says, "I was 
 with those two companies who drove their bayonets into 
 all that opposed them. Nothing could be more shocking 
 than the carnage that followed the storming this work. 
 We tumbled over the dead to get at the living, who were 
 crowding out of the gorge of the redoubt." 
 
 But our object just now is to show that the impression 
 which Prescott makes in his letter to John Adams, as to 
 the wholesale desertion of the men of Bridge's and Frye's 
 regiments, as also of the very small number of men he had 
 with him when the British came up to attack, is unreliable. 
 And the very fact that this slaughter fell in such nearly 
 equal proportions upon these three regiments, serves to 
 show that they were near together, involved in a common 
 fate, and without any reasonable doubt they were all within 
 those earthworks, and that there was no other regiment 
 with them. 
 
 We do not, then, by any means accept Colonel Prescott's 
 statement, that out of his original eight hundred Massachu- 
 setts troops, when the battle began he had but about one 
 hundred and fifty men in the fort. But we do accept it to 
 this extent, that he had had large desertions, that his men 
 had been dropping off one by one, or in little companies, 
 and that he had not been reinforced. Mr. Frothingham 
 says (p. 136), " They were joined just previous to the action 
 by portions of Massachusetts regiments, under Colonels 
 Brewer, Nixon, Woodbridge, Little, and Major Moore." 
 Long search has been made to find clear and reliable proof 
 that any Massachusetts regiment in the way of reinforce- 
 ments reached that battle line before the action began. If 
 we can credit Prescott's own statements, quoted above, he 
 had not been reinforced at that time, nor does it appear 
 that he was to any extent reinforced during the battle. 
 The moral of that anecdote which we have copied from 
 
^T. 57-] The Forenoon of June Seventeenth. 163 
 
 the "Prescott Memorial" would all fade out, if it could be 
 proved that he was reinforced even during the action to 
 any substantial degree. We have before us the diary of a 
 soldier in Colonel Little's regiment, from which we shall 
 make some fuller quotations by-and-by. But a few words 
 here will serve to show at what time Colonel Little's 
 regiment reached the field. He says, "We were alarmed 
 at Cambridge. [Notice that he was at Cambridge.] The 
 army set out. [He moved with the main body of the 
 Massachusetts reinforcements.] We found the town in 
 flames, and the regulars ascending the hill. [The second 
 attack of the British was now coming on.] " That serves to 
 mark the time of the arrival of Little's regiment. 
 
 As to those desertions during that long forenoon, it may 
 naturally be said that men left in that way were under 
 peculiar temptations. They had toiled all night, the sun 
 was beating heavily upon them in the morning, they were 
 hungry and thirsty, and refreshments did not come, the 
 promised reinforcements did not come, and it began to 
 seem to them, untried soldiers as many of them were, that 
 they had been brought on to that hill only to be left uncared 
 for and to be sacrificed.* All these thoughts and many 
 more went coursing through their excited minds, while the 
 cannon from the British ships kept up their thunder, and 
 sent their missiles against the earthworks, or whistling 
 through the air over their heads. It was enough, we admit, 
 to make raw soldiers nervous, and under sore temptations 
 to run away; and they did run away, very many of them. 
 If Prescott had said that when the attack began he had not 
 more than three hundred of his original eight hundred 
 Massachusetts men (allowing one hundred more for the 
 
 * " Nothing like discipline had entered our army at that time. General 
 Ward, then commander-in-chief, remained at his quarters in Cambridge, and 
 apparently took no interest or part in the transactions of the day." — General 
 Dearborn, in " Port Folio," March, 1818. 
 
164 Life of Israel Putnam. [i77S- 
 
 flanking party, so as to make in all four hundred), we should 
 feel inclined to believe him. But it must be remembered 
 that those two hundred men from Connecticut had also 
 toiled all night, and felt upon their heads the hot sun of the 
 morning. They were hungry and thirsty like the rest, and 
 there is no evidence that a single man of them ran away. 
 Colonel Prescott found it far easier, that long, hot, weary 
 forenoon, to command those men from another State than 
 his own, for they had been under a disciplinarian, and had 
 learned the principle of military obedience. 
 
 But we return now to the reinforcements. Those two 
 hundred New Hampshire men probably arrived about noon, 
 and it is seen by various accounts that they were received 
 by General Putnam as the commander on that field, and 
 were set to work under his directions. 
 
 We are inclined to the belief that the very next rein- 
 forcements did not come till more than two hours after- 
 wards, and that they, also, were New Hampshire men. We 
 have briefly referred before to Colonel Stark's statement, 
 but it is best here to quote it in full. This statement he 
 sent to New Hampshire immediately after the battle. Mr. 
 Frothingham says the order went to Colonel Stark about 
 1 1 o'clock, but this is what Stark himself says : " I was 
 required by the General to send a party consisting of two 
 hundred men with officers to their assistance, which order 
 I readily obeyed, and appointed and sent [Lieutenant-] 
 Colonel Wyman, commander of the same, and about 2 
 o'clock in the afternoon express orders came for the whole 
 of my regiment to proceed to Charlestown to oppose the 
 enemy who were landing on Charlestown Point. Accord- 
 ingly we proceeded, and the battle soon came on, in which 
 a number of officers belonging to my regiment were killed, 
 and many privates killed and wounded But we re- 
 main in good spirits as yet, being well satisfied that where 
 we have lost one, they have lost three." 
 
^T. 57.] The Forenoon of yune Seventeenth. 165 
 
 Just before the battle, Colonel Reed's regiment had been 
 moved from Medford to Charlestown Neck, as will clearly 
 appear by the following letter of the Colonel, contained in 
 "American Archives" (4th Series, Vol. II. p. 1006) : 
 
 " Then I was informed by Colonel Stark that Medford was so 
 full of soldiers that it was necessary for some to take other quar- 
 ters. Then I applied to General Ward and received orders in 
 these words : 
 " (General Orders.) Headquarters, June 12th, 1775. 
 
 ** That Colonel Reed quarter his regiment in the houses near 
 Charlestown Neck, and keep all necessary guards between his 
 barracks and the ferry, and on Bunker Hill.'" 
 
 The order going from Cambridge to the New Hampshire 
 regiments would naturally reach Colonel Reed twenty min- 
 utes or half an hour earlier than Colonel Stark, and there 
 would have been the same difference in the time required 
 by the two regiments to reach the field from their starting- 
 points. We conclude that Colonel Reed's regiment came 
 on first, and took station next to the Connecticut troops 
 behind the rail fence, and when Stark arrived three-fourths 
 of an hour later, he filled out the line down to the Mystic 
 River. But Stark could not possibly get there much before 
 3 o'clock. 
 
 We do not discover that any Massachusetts reinforce- 
 ments were there by the time when Reed would naturally 
 arrive. They were probably just beginning to come at the 
 time of Stark's arrival, but did not, like his regiment, march 
 straight to their post of duty. They lingered, as we shall 
 see, about the neck and on the back side of Bunker Hill. 
 
 With regard to the intrenchments, it is probable Put- 
 nam found that he could not properly complete them, and 
 it was doubtful whether he was to have any forces to man 
 them if he did, so that more and more he turned his thoughts 
 toward that line of fence. But it is to be noticed that 
 
l66 Life of Israel Putnam. [i77S- 
 
 whatever men from New Hampshire were set. to intrench- 
 ing, were set to it by Putnam's order. Mr. Frothingham, 
 in his "Siege of Boston" (p. 134), makes this company of 
 New Hampshire men come from Stark's regiment, and it 
 is implied that they were taken out of the regiment by 
 General Putnam, after Stark himself was upon the ground. 
 This may be so, but they could only labor a short time. 
 We must think the two hundred who came earlier did most 
 of the intrenching and fence building. But Mr. Frothing- 
 ham says, " General Putnam ordered part of these troops 
 to labor on the works begun on Bunker Hill." Little 
 glimpses which we catch all along through that weary fore- 
 noon show how strongly Putnam's mind was set upon these 
 intrenchments on Bunker Hill. The removal of the tools 
 thither, and the turning aside of men from all the parties 
 that came earliest upon the ground, distinctly indicate how 
 earnestly his mind was fixed upon this purpose, which after 
 all, by the long delays of Ward, he was obliged to abandon. 
 It was no slight work to prepare that fence line, fifteen . 
 hundred feet in length. It does not appear, moreover, that 
 Colonel Gridley, the engineer, had anything specially to 
 do in the tracing and construction of this peculiar system 
 of fortifications. This idea probably came from the active 
 and fertile brain of General Putnam himself,* when he found 
 
 * How remarkably fertile his mind was for such expedients is made 
 plain by the following item, which we copy from the " New England Chroni- 
 cle," August 31st, 1775, relating to the French and Indian War. In such 
 contrivances Putnam was always noted for his ingenuity. 
 
 "Anecdote of General Putnam. — During the late war, when General 
 Amherst was marching across the country of Canada, the army coming to one 
 of the lakes which they were obliged to pass, found the French had a vessel 
 of twelve guns upon it. He was in great distress. His guns were no match 
 for her, and she alone was capable of sinking his whole army in that situation. 
 While he was pondering what should be done, Putnam came up to him and 
 said, ' General, that ship must be taken.'' 'Aye,' said Amherst, * I would give 
 the world she was taken.' ' I'll take her,' says Putnam. Amherst smiled and 
 asked ' How ? ' ' Give me some wedges, a beetle, .... and a few men of 
 
^T. 57.] The Forenoon of June Seventeenth. 167 
 
 he must give up his line of intrenchments on Bunker Hill. 
 Or, if some one else first suggested it, it is plain that he 
 heartily adopted it as the best thing that could be done. 
 
 The actual time when this fence was begun is made 
 indefinite in most of the narratives of the battle. But the 
 impression generally left upon the reader is that it was has- 
 tily constructed just on the eve of the battle. There seems 
 to be reason for supposing that it was begun some three or 
 four hours before the battle. In its very nature it was not 
 the work of a few moments. Almost all accounts agree 
 that it was built, or at least begun, by the men of Connecti- 
 cut, and it has already been suggested that the apparent 
 absence from the fort of those Connecticut troops at 11 
 o'clock, is to be explained by this circumstance. 
 
 It doubtless went sorely against the feelings of General 
 Putnam to call upon men who had toiled all night. But he 
 was driven by a kind of necessity, and it would be alto- 
 gether like him to say within himself, I will take only 
 those men from my own regiment for this new work. It is 
 hard, but they will not complain. It will be noticed that 
 the Massachusetts men who were asked to go with those 
 tools were not to be set at work with them, much as he 
 wanted that work done. It was only to convey them to 
 Bunker Hill, and he hoped that fresh men would soon 
 appear, who might be set using them. Our theory, then, is 
 (it is not a pet theory nor an important one, only as explain- 
 ing the probable succession of events) that the fence line 
 was begun before 1 1 o'clock, and that the New Hampshire 
 
 my own choice.' Amherst could not perceive how an armed vessel was to be 
 taken by four or five men, a beetle and some wedges. However, he granted 
 Putnam's request. When night came, Putnam with his materials and men 
 went in a boat under the vessel's stern, and in an instant drove in the wedges 
 behind the rudder, in the little space between the rudder and ship, and left her. 
 In the morning the sails were seen fluttering about ; she was adrift in the 
 middle of the lake ; and being presently blown ashore, was easily taken." 
 
1 68 Life of Israel Ptitnam. [i77S- 
 
 men that came with Lieutenant Wyman helped to build it; 
 and when Stark and Reed came with their regiments, it 
 was essentially complete, though they probably made some 
 slight additions near the Mystic River. 
 
 And now we come to another most interesting scene that 
 happened just before the battle; this was the unexpected 
 coming of General Joseph Warren upon that field. In 
 order to understand the full meaning of this event, it is 
 necessary to go back a few days, and know some things that 
 had taken place at Cambridge. We cannot better set forth 
 the scene than in the simple and touching words of Daniel 
 Putnam. 
 
 " He [General Putnam] had soon afterwards a spirited con- 
 versation with General Ward, Dr. Warren, and Colonel Joseph 
 Palmer,* a member of the Committee of Safety, who incUned to 
 favor the measure, but Ward and Warren both opposed it, alleg- 
 ing that as we had no powder to spare, and no battering cannon, 
 it would be idle to make approaches on the town. He told them 
 they had entirely mistaken his views, that it was not for the pur- 
 pose of battering the town, but to draw the enemy from it, where 
 we might meet them on equal terms, and that Charlestown and 
 Dorchester were the only points where this could be done ; that 
 the army wished to be employed, and the country was growing 
 dissatisfied with the inactivity of it. 
 
 " It was objected again that it might bring on a general battle, 
 and that, in our situation, it was neither poUtic or safe to risk 
 one. He replied, * Two thousand men will be enough to risk, and 
 with that number, we will go on and defend ourselves as long as 
 we can, and then give the ground.' 'But suppose your retreat 
 should be intercepted ? ' ' We will guard against that and run 
 when we can no longer contend with advantage ; we can outrun 
 
 * Colonel Daniel Putnam, in his article in the "Connecticut Historical 
 Collections" (Vol. I. p. 243), says that General Joseph Palmer in later 
 years purchased a large tract of land in Pomfret, Connecticut, "and in 1782, 
 while on a visit here, he called on General Putnam, and recurring to the time, 
 recapitulated to him with great minuteness the details of that conversation." 
 
-^T. 57] The Forenooft of June Seventeenth. 169 
 
 them, and behind every wall rally and. oppose their progress till 
 we join our friends again. But suppose the worst, suppose us 
 hemmed in, and no retreat ; we know what we are contending 
 for, we will set our country an example of which it shall not be 
 ashamed, and show men who seek to oppress us what men can 
 do who are determined to live free or not live at all.' 
 
 *' Warren, he said, rose and walked several times across the 
 room, leaned a few moments over the back of a chair in a 
 thoughtful attitude and said, '■Almost thou persuadest me, General 
 Putnam, but I must still think the project a rash one. Never- 
 theless, if it should ever be adopted, and the strife becomes hard, 
 you must not be surprised to find me with you in the midst of it.' 
 ' I hope not, sir,' said Putnam, 'you are yet but a young man, and 
 our country has much to hope from you, both in council and in 
 war. It is only a little brush we have been contemplating ; let 
 some of us who are older and can well enough be spared begin 
 the fray ; there will be time enough for you hereafter, for it will 
 not soon be ended.' " 
 
 The import of this conversation will be better understood 
 by the general reader if we recall somewhat more fully who 
 General Warren was and what he was. Born at Roxbury 
 in 1 741, he was at this time only thirty-four years old, in the 
 very promise of a glorious life. Highly educated and accom- 
 plished, with refined tastes and habits, moving in the most 
 cultured circles of society, he had nevertheless gone down 
 among the workingmen, identified himself with their socie- 
 ties and associations, not for any low, selfish, personal ends, 
 but to help form their minds and hearts, and shape their 
 thoughts to this great struggle that was coming upon the 
 land. He was universally beloved and admired. It has 
 already been shown in this volume, and is pointed out by 
 many signs, that Putnam and Warren, unlike as they were 
 to each other in culture and outward manners, were bound 
 to each other by peculiar ties of affection and brotherhood. 
 To show how high this man stood in the love and confi- 
 
I/O Life of Israel Putnam. [1775. 
 
 dence of his fellow-men, it is simply needful to recall that 
 he was Chairman of the Massachusetts Committee of 
 Safety, President of the Massachusetts Provincial Con- 
 gress, and three days before, though he had had but little 
 military experience, had been made a Major-General of the 
 Massachusetts troops. 
 
 He had not intended to go to that battle-field. He had 
 not given his personal consent that the battle should be 
 fought. He had an invitation to dine that day with some 
 family in Cambridge. He dressed for this dinner-party, 
 wearing the full and elaborate suit such as the most refined 
 gentlemen of that generation wore on these occasions of 
 politeness and ceremony. It was a far more elaborate and 
 showy dress than any now known among us on similiar 
 occasions. He set out to go to the house where he was to 
 dine. On his way he heard the guns from Boston as he 
 had heard them at intervals all that morning. A tide of 
 patriotic feeling apparently came over him, and he said 
 within himself. Here am I, after having talked as much 
 patriotic talk as any other man, going to-day on an errand 
 of pleasure, to dine with a select party of friends ; and yon- 
 der, under this burning sky, are my brethren, perilling their 
 lives in the high places of the field. I will not go on this 
 errand of pleasure. Come life or come death, I will go to 
 those heights of Charlestown, and share the fortunes of 
 those men that are fighting for their homes and their 
 native soil. And without returning to change his dress 
 he went to the battle-field. (A description of the dress he 
 had on w^hen he was killed will be found in a later chapter, 
 as given by one of the British officers.) 
 
 Now, in some of the modern accounts of the battle no 
 one would ever know that Warren met Putnam as he went 
 on to that field.* Putnam's name is conveniently slipped 
 
 * Mr. Devens, in his oration last June at Bunker Hill, entirely forgot this 
 
/Et. 57.] The Forenoon of June Seventeenth. 171 
 
 out and laid aside. But Mr. Frothingham is guilty of no 
 such rudeness and historical untruth. On page 170 he 
 thus describes the interview which took place between 
 these two men that day on the battle-field : 
 
 " A short time before the action commenced, he [Warren] was 
 seen in conversation 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 di- 
 rected him to the redoubt, remarking there he would be covered. 
 ' 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." 
 
 A very natural question certainly to ask just here after 
 this quotation is, Did Colonel Prescott tender to General 
 Warren precisely the same command that Putnam had just 
 before tendered ? If so, there must have been a curious 
 state of things on that field. Warren talked first with Put- 
 nam, and Putnam, without any consultation, offered to lay 
 down his command. What was the nature of that offer } 
 Was it simply that Warren might take direction of those 
 two hundred Connecticut troops ? Did any one ever so 
 understand the record.? Prescott was the commander at 
 the redoubt. What was the command which he proposed 
 to put into Warren's hands .<• 
 
 But leaving this point, we return to the interview itself. 
 Daniel Putnam has given a more lifelike picture of it. He 
 
 circumstance, which Mr. Frothingham faithfully records. Perhaps he did not 
 wish to trouble his hearers with perplexing questions. If he had told this story 
 about Warren and Putnam, they might have asked inwardly, Was not Putnam 
 a General, and if he offered to Warren the command, would he not have to 
 offer him a General's command .'' 
 
172 Life of Israel PutJtam. [1775. 
 
 had often heard the story from his father. It was just as 
 the battle was about to open that Warren met him, and as 
 he had come on horseback to the neck, he had passed the 
 Massachusetts regiments on their march from Cambridge. 
 
 " Alluding to a former conversation he [Putnam] said, * I am 
 sorry to see you here, General Warren ; I wish you had taken 
 my advice and left this day to us, for from appearances we shall 
 have a sharp time of it, and since you are here I am ready to 
 submit to your orders.' Warren replied, * I came only as a vol- 
 unteer; I know nothing of your dispositions, nor will I interfere 
 with them. Tell me where I can be most useful.' Putnam 
 pointed to the redoubt, and intent on his safety said, ' You will 
 be covered there.' ' Don't think,' said Warren, ' I came here to 
 seek a place of safety, but tell me where the onset will be most 
 furious.' Putnam pointed again to the redoubt. * That,^ said he, 
 'is the enemy's object; Prescott is there and will do his duty, 
 and if it can be defended the day will be ours.' Warren left 
 him and walked quickly toward the redoubt. The rest, alas, is 
 too well known." 
 
 Let us now return again to the subject of the Massachu- 
 setts reinforcements. It is generally agreed that Warren 
 reached that field only just before the battle opened, and 
 that he passed the men who were on their way as reinforce- 
 ments. This and many other little items of evidence make 
 it sufficiently plain that very few, if any, Massachusetts 
 reinforcements had reached that hill when the action 
 began.* 
 
 Now let it be understood that while we are trying to dis- 
 cover the actual condition of things around that battle- 
 
 * Some brief editorial remarks (very likely by Colonel Scammans himself) 
 in the " New England Chronicle " for February 21st, 1776, based upon the court- 
 martial to try Colonel Scammans,are very instructive in this connection. As this 
 paper was published at Cambridge, it may be believed that the writer knew 
 whereof he affirmed. He says, "It is observable that the Adjutant would 
 insinuate that the regiment (Colonel Scammans's) arrived at Bunker Hill time 
 enough to reinforce the breastwork before it was forced by the enemy, but if 
 
/Et. 57-] The Forenoon of June Seventeenth. 173 
 
 ground at that late hour of the day, we are not endeavor- 
 ing to prove that the men of Massachusetts were not just 
 as courageous, just as patriotic, just as good material for sol- 
 diers, as the men from the other colonies. Nothing of the 
 kind. But what we are seeking to show is, that up to that 
 time her regiments had not been brought up to that stand- 
 ard of drill and military discipline which had been reached 
 by the men of New Hampshire and Connecticut. The 
 trouble was primarily in General Artemas Ward himself. 
 
 It will be well for us, at this point, to take a look at Cam- 
 bridge around General Ward's headquarters, and try to dis- 
 cover what was passing in his mind. 
 
 Mr. Bancroft has before told us, as will be remembered, 
 that General Ward " never could introduce exact discipline 
 among free men," and it was but natural that the Massa- 
 chusetts Colonels should not rise in their methods and 
 plans above the standard set them by their commander- 
 in-chief. The confusion, timidity, hesitation, desertion, 
 among those Massachusetts regiments on the day of the 
 battle, was only a more general manifestation of the con- 
 fusion, timidity, hesitation and desertion (wq include this 
 last word deliberately) of General Ward himself. 
 
 For notice, by way of recapitulation, the plan of action 
 was fixed upon the day before. Putnam was to have two 
 thousand troops for the expedition. Some accounts lead us 
 to believe that those two thousa:nd men were all selected 
 
 the public will only consider that those regiments which were stationed only 
 two miles distance [at Cambridge] did not arrive seasonable enough," etc. 
 
 What the Adjutant [Marsden] had said was, "I went half way up Bunker 
 Hill with Colonel Scammans, where I left him and went to the breastwork, 
 where I got before the enemy forced it. The confusion was so great when we 
 got to Bunker Hill we could not form the regiment." 
 
 The following item from the testimony also helps to fix times and seasons : 
 "Lieutenant James Donnell deposed, about noon wc marched to Lech- 
 mere's Point, where we remained one quarter of an hour. Going from the 
 point, Charlestown was set on fire." 
 
1/4 Life of Israel Putnam. [i77S- 
 
 and set apart for this purpose in the afternoon of the i6th, 
 and that they were actually together on Cambridge Com- 
 mon that evening, to have God's blessing invoked upon 
 them, and his fatherly care and protection sought, in that 
 prayer of President Langdon. 
 
 As already explained, it was thought best that only one 
 thousand should go that night, as there were not intrenching 
 tools enough, so that more than that number could work to 
 advantage. The remainder were to stay in Cambridge and 
 have the refreshment of sleep, and be ready to march early 
 in the morning. Many signs show that this was the im- 
 pression of the men who had toiled all night at the fort. 
 Prescott and the men with him expected that early rein- 
 forcement. Putnam went to Cambridge at the dawn of 
 the morning to bring on refreshments and these reserves, 
 so that the men on the hill should be kept in good courage 
 and cheer. But the firing brought him back personally, 
 with instructions left for the refreshments and the other 
 forces to follow. If Ward had been a general commander 
 of any military force, he would certainly have seen that 
 the other thousand men should have been provided with 
 everything needful for an early morning start. But when 
 the morning came, nothing had apparently been done, and 
 what was far worse, the work of the day before had been 
 apparently undone. The one thousand men selected for 
 the reinforcement seem to have been resolved back into 
 their original elements. Ward's vacillating mind as soon 
 as he heard those cannon, was whispering inwardly. It 
 will never do to let these men go, nor these, nor these, till I 
 understand better what is going to happen. The British 
 will certainly burst out on some side track and attack Cam- 
 bridge. So when the sun rose that morning, the arrange- 
 ments of the afternoon before had vanished, and it was a 
 totally unsettled question who should go and who not. 
 
-^T. 57.] The Forenoon of yune Seventeenth. 175 
 
 Hours passed on, and the question was still unsettled. 
 Putnam and Prescott, who had both been up all night, were 
 looking anxiously through the morning hours for those re- 
 inforcements to come. Putnam had been to Cambridge 
 once, and now he went again straight across that neck 
 where the British had brought their batteries to play. 
 Prescott also sent Major Brooks on the same errand. Late 
 in the forenoon Ward had that very happy thought, that 
 though he ought not to spare any of the six or seven thou- 
 sand men round about Cambridge, there was that " party 
 of Hampshire" out at Medford and vicinity, that might go. 
 That was the best thought he had all that trembling fore- 
 noon. But the New Hampshire men had not expected 
 this order, and they were not ready, and had to get ready 
 with all haste. Their muskets were not of the same bore, 
 and into many of them their bullets would not go ; so they 
 had to pound them down and elongate them. These were 
 probably those " poisoned and chewed bullets " which some 
 of the British officers complained were fired at them. 
 
 Through all those long, hot, weary hours, Putnam could 
 not help thinking and saying to himself. There is my own 
 regiment at Inman's farm, well provided with powder and 
 ball, ready to obey my word even to the death. I could 
 have them on the ground in an hour. O, if I only had 
 them here I could do everything I wish ! And yet so true 
 a soldier was he, so accustomed to pay obedience on the one 
 hand, and to demand obedience on the other, that he would 
 not stir to break through General Ward's official command. 
 No matter if even John Adams did say that in that early 
 summer of 1775, Putnam was as independent of Ward as 
 Ward was of him. They were among the most poorly con- 
 sidered words he ever uttered. It was not so. 
 
 There has never been, so far as we are aware, any charges 
 that the New Hampshire and Connecticut troops in this 
 
176 Life of Israel Putnam. [1775. 
 
 battle did not do their duty faithfully and entirely. Mr. 
 Frothingham says of the New Hampshire men, "They 
 fought with great bravery ; " and of the others, " The con- 
 duct of the Connecticut troops is mentioned in terms of 
 high commendation in the private letters and journals of 
 the time." The deficiencies and disorders of that day, and 
 the courts-martial that followed, were confined wholly to the 
 Massachusetts regiments. 
 
 We will now proceed to give some illustrations from eye 
 witnesses, showing what these disorders were. The large 
 desertions from the fort we have already referred to. But 
 on the other point we will first give the following graphic 
 extract from a letter of Captain Chester. He was the very 
 last sent for to come to the battle, and he managed to over- 
 come all obstacles and break through all the hindrances of 
 the crowds he encountered, and reach the front line before 
 the battle was over. And this is what he saw on his way : 
 
 " I waited not, but ran and got my arms and ammunition, and 
 hasted to my company (who were in the church for barracks), and 
 found them nearly ready to march. We soon marched, with our 
 frocks and trousers on over our other clothes (for our company is 
 in uniform wholly blue turned up with red), for we were loath to 
 expose ourselves by our dress, and down we marched. I imag- 
 ined we arrived at the hill near the close of the battle. When 
 we arrived there was not a company with us in any kind of 
 order, although when we first set out perhaps three regiments 
 were by our side and near us ; but here they were scattered, some 
 behind rocks and hay-cocks, and thirty men perhaps behind an 
 apple tree, and frequently twenty men round a wounded man, 
 retreating, when not more than three or four could touch him to 
 advantage ; others were retreating seemingly without any excuse, 
 and some said they had left the fort with leave of the officers 
 because they had been all night and day on fatigue duty, without 
 sleep, victuals or drink, and some said they had no officers to 
 head them, which indeed, seemed to be the case. 
 
^T. 57-] The Forenooit of j^une Seventeenth. 177 
 
 " At last I met a considerable company who were going off 
 rank and file. I called to the officer that led them, and asked 
 why he retreated. He made me no answer. I halted my men, 
 and told him if he went on it should be at his peril. He still 
 seemed regardless of me. I then ordered my men to make 
 ready. They immediately cocked, and declared if I ordered 
 they would fire. Upon that they stopped short, tried to excuse 
 themselves, but I could not tarry to hear him, but ordered him 
 forward, and he complied. 
 
 " We were then very soon in the heat of action. Before we 
 reached the summit of Bunker Hill, and while we were going over 
 the neck, we were in imminent danger from the cannon shot 
 which buzzed around us like hail. The musketry began before 
 we passed the neck [/. e. they heard it in the distance] ; and 
 when we were on the top of the hill, and during our descent to 
 the foot of it on the south, the small as well as cannon shot were 
 incessantly whistling by us. We joined our army on the right of 
 the centre [/. e. behind the fence line nearest to the fort], just by 
 a poor stone fence two or three feet high, and very thin, so that 
 the-bullets came through. Here we lost our regularity, as every 
 company had done before us, and fought as they did, every man 
 loading and firing as fast as he could. As near as I could guess 
 we fought standing about six minutes." 
 
 And then the crash came, the British had mounted the 
 parapet, the fortress was carried, and the centre and left 
 wings had to retreat. 
 
 This is one vivid picture of what was going on that day, 
 on the back of Bunker Hill, around the neck, and along 
 the road to Cambridge. Massachusetts writers have, very 
 naturally, not cared to tell their readers that these disorders 
 were confined to the Massachusetts regiments, nor should 
 we wish to dwell upon this subject now, in this centennial 
 year of joy and good feeling, except for the ends of justice 
 and historical truth. 
 
 Take another picture given us by General Dearborn, at 
 12 
 
178 Life of Israel Putnam. [1775. 
 
 that time a Captain of a company in Stark's regiment. It 
 relates to the march of the regiment from Medford to Bun- 
 ker Hill. He says, — 
 
 " When it reached Charlestown Neck we found two regiments 
 halted, in consequence of a heavy enfilading fire thrown across 
 it of round, bar, and chain shot from the Lively frigate, and the 
 floating batteries anchored in Charles River, and a floating bat- 
 tery laying in the Mystic. Major McClary went forward and 
 observed to the commanders, that if they did not intend to move 
 on he wished them to open and let our regiment pass ; the latter 
 was immediately done. My company being in front, I marched 
 by the side of Colonel Stark, who moving with a very deliberate 
 pace, I suggested the propriety of quickening the march of the 
 regiment that it might sooner be relieved from this galling cross- 
 fire of the enemy. With a look peculiar to himself he fixed his 
 eyes upon me, and observed with great composure, ' Dearborn, 
 one fresh man in action is worth ten fatigued ones,' and con- 
 tinued to advance in the same cool and collected manner. When 
 we reached the top of Bunker Hill, where General Putnam had 
 taken his station, the regiment halted for a few moments for the 
 rear to come up." 
 
 The reader will take notice that the narrator here saw 
 General Putnam, and he was on the top of Bunker Hill. 
 That was ground where he could overlook the redoubt, and 
 the whole field of operations, and see whether troops were 
 coming from Cambridge. But the battle had not yet begun. 
 In a subsequent chapter of this volume the reader will find 
 that General Dearborn tried to make Putnam a coward, 
 because, as he thinks, he did not come forward into the 
 fighting lines. In this he was mistaken. But if General 
 Putnam had kept that position on the top of Bunker Hill, 
 after the British lines came up and began their firing, his 
 chances of being killed would have been at least ten times 
 greater than though he had been in the redoubt. It is a 
 
JEt. S7.] The Forenoon of yune Seventeenth. 179 
 
 notorious fact in this battle, that the British fired over the 
 heads of our men who were in the front of the fight. Cap- 
 tain Chester has just told us how the cannon and musket 
 shot whistled past him, from the moment he reached the 
 top of Bunker Hill and began to descend. It was a very- 
 poor place for a coward to take refuge. The men who 
 really kept out of danger were over on the back side of the 
 hill, and around the neck. General Dearborn, therefore, 
 when he brought his calumnious charges against General 
 Putnam for cowardice, fixed upon an exceedingly undesira- 
 ble place for a coward to tarry in order to keep out of dan- 
 ger. Colonel Swett, in his history of the battle, speaks of 
 the top of Bunker Hill in these words : " The battle indeed 
 appeared here in all its horrors. The British musketry 
 fired high and took effect on this elevated hill, and it was 
 completely exposed to the combined fire from their ships, 
 batteries and field pieces." 
 
 In the distribution of the forces from these three States, 
 it fell to the lot of the New Hampshire men to guard the 
 fence line at the northern extremity, near the Mystic River. 
 It fell to the Connecticut men to guard the same line 
 nearer to the redoubt, and by them this fence line had been 
 mainly constructed. The operations of the Massachusetts 
 men circled chiefly about the redoubt, inside or out, where 
 Prescott was stationed. Some of them were along the fence 
 line, but not a great number. Some were in the half-open 
 space between the southerly end of the fence line and the 
 redoubt. Some were behind the earthwork which extended 
 out from the redoubt northward, and which was, if not a 
 part of the redoubt, an appendage of it. A few were down 
 by the road running through the village of Charlestown. 
 
 Let it be further borne in mind that this redoubt, on 
 the morning of the 1 7th of June, was regarded, both by the 
 Americans and the British, as the stronghold on those 
 
i8o Life of Israel Putnam. [i77S- 
 
 Charlestown Heights. Later in the day, when that fence 
 line had been hastily constructed out of the frail and chance 
 materials that came to hand, it was looked upon both by 
 the Americans and. the British as a very fragile affair com- 
 pared with the fortress on the top of Breed's Hill. The 
 Massachusetts men were not asked in any considerable 
 numbers to guard that weak line of the fence. They were 
 allowed to make Prescott in the redoubt the central figure 
 around whom they should rally, and the Connecticut and 
 New Hampshire men would take what every one on both 
 sides would say was the place of chief danger. The Brit- 
 ish certainly thought the fence line the easiest place for 
 them to break through ; and when Putnam, sorry to see 
 Warren on that field, advised him to go to the redoubt, un- 
 questionably he was seeking for him the place of greatest 
 security. Warren at least surmised this was in Putnam's 
 mind, and answered that he did not come there to find a 
 place of safety. Putnam was too noble and generous- 
 hearted to tell Warren, under these conditions, that the re- 
 doubt was the safest place, so he told him that was the ob- 
 ject at which the enemy aimed, and still advised him to go 
 there, as he did. It is clear, by a great volume of con- 
 current testimony from both sides, that the redoubt was 
 regarded as the stronghold to which one might fly and be 
 comparatively safe. 
 
 These two thousand men of Massachusetts were allowed, 
 if they would come to the front, to be stationed mainly in 
 and immediately around that redoubt, but the great body of 
 them managed, or were so managed, as never to get there.* 
 
 * " There may have been a very few volunteers from various regiments 
 of the Massachusetts army scattered over the entire field, but theirs was the 
 spirit of enthusiasm which needed no orders, and would have paid little atten- 
 tion to them had any been issued. There is little doubt, however, that the 
 number of these zealous ones is greatly exaggerated, and that the mention of 
 single members of a company or of single companies of a regiment is too often 
 
■^T. 57-] The Forenoon of June Seventeenth. i8i 
 
 In concluding this chapter, there is one general sugges- 
 tion which we do not remember to have seen distinctly 
 made, and which will probably explain, in some measure, 
 the backwardness of Massachusetts soldiers that day. They 
 knew that General Ward did not approve of the battle. 
 They knew that Warren did not approve of it. The Com- 
 mittee of Safety had urged the movement, and the council 
 of war by a major vote had ordered it. But the Massa- 
 chusetts troops were doubtless well aware that Ward, to 
 whom they looked up as head commander, did not want it. 
 If one could report to us to-day what was heard among 
 those regiments, in conversations between man and man, 
 he would probably bring us many expressions of dislike, 
 that a General from another colony should prevail to make 
 them do what their own commander did not wish them to 
 do. This vitiating influence, without much doubt, spread 
 itself more or less through those troops, and took away 
 all their force as soldiers. They saw how slow General 
 Ward had been to send them at all; and they thought 
 they might hang back and be just as slow as he. Raw 
 troops have motives enough for a kind of cowardly conduct 
 in themselves, without having this tendency so directly min- 
 istered to as it was in this case by General Ward himself. 
 
 We have referred to the confusion and want of organiza- 
 tion and co-operation among the Massachusetts regiments. 
 Some may think we are writing in a partisan spirit, and col- 
 oring the facts too highly. We will take a passage then from 
 Doctor Ellis (p. 41), and let him tell us some of the facts. 
 
 " Now it was that our troops and our cause suffered from the 
 
 received as evidence of the presence in the battle of the entire bodies to which 
 they respectively belonged ; indeed, it is said by a respectable writer, who has 
 investigated the subject, that in addition to the New Hampshire not more 
 than a hundred and fifty men reached the peninsula and actually participated 
 in the action during the whole of this notable Saturday." — Mr. Dawson, in 
 " Historical Magazine," June, 1868. 
 
1 82 Life of Israel Putnam. [1775. 
 
 want of discipline, and from the confusion apparent in the whole 
 management of the action, originating in the extemporized and 
 imperfect preparation, and in the bafifiing secrecy of the purposes 
 of the enemy. The neck of land, ploughed by the incessant 
 volle3''s from the ships, and clouded by the dust thus raised, was 
 an almost insuperable barrier to the bringing on of reinforce- 
 ments. Major Gridley, wholly lacking in spirit and skill, had 
 been put in command of a battalion of infantry, in compliment 
 to his father. He lost, and could not recover, his self-possession 
 and courage. Though ordered to the hill, he advanced towards 
 Charlestown slowly and timidly ; and though urged by Colonel 
 Frye to hasten, he was satisfied with the scant service of firing 
 three-pounders from Cobble Hill upon .the * Glasgow ' frigate. 
 His Captain, Trevett, refused obedience to such weakness, and 
 ordered his men to follow him to the works. Colonel Gerrish, 
 with his artillery on Bunker's Hill, could neither be urged nor 
 intimidated by Putnam to bring his pieces to the rail fence. He 
 was unwieldy by corpulence, and overcome with heat and fatigue. 
 His men had been scattered from the summit of Bunker's Hill, 
 where the enemy's shot had taken tremendous effect, as it was 
 supposed to be strongly fortified." 
 
 (Notice in this last sentence vv^hat Doctor Ellis thinks of 
 the safety of remaining on the top of Bunker Hill, where 
 General Dearborn says Putnam stayed in order to be out 
 of danger.) 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE BATTLE. 
 
 Description of Bunker Hill and its Surroundings. — Landing of the British, 
 and Plan of Attack. — First Assault and its Consequences. — Burning of 
 Charlestown. — Second Assault. — Interval. — Change of Plan. — Reinforce- 
 ments. — The Redoubt Carried. — The Retreat. — Killed and Wounded. 
 
 BUNKER HILL is on a peninsula nearly a mile long 
 in its longest part, and about half a mile wide in its 
 widest part. This peninsula is now almost entirely covered 
 with buildings. But in 1775 it was mostly open country. 
 Here were pastures and mowing-grounds, and lands de- 
 voted to various forms of farm culture. The village of 
 Charlestown stood near its south-eastern extremity, looking 
 directly across the wide mouth of the Charles River over 
 upon Boston, or what would now be called the North End 
 of Boston, which embraces mainly what was called the 
 town of Boston in 1775. 
 
 For the sake of readers unfamiliar with the ground, it is 
 desirable to give as clear and minute a description as possi- 
 ble of this peninsula as it appeared one hundred years ago. 
 Its neck where it connected with the main land was a nar- 
 row passage-way, over which all travellers coming in from 
 Cambridge, Lexington, Concord, and the country gener- 
 ally west and north-west, must pass if they wished to go 
 to Charlestown, or to Boston by the way of Charlestown. 
 The present causeways and bridges connecting Cambridge 
 with Boston had then no existence. As one came in from 
 the open country and was passing this neck toward Charles- 
 
 183 
 
184 Life of Israel Ptittiam. [i77S- 
 
 town, he was moving almost directly south-east. The water 
 on the left or northerly side of him was the Mystic River, 
 so called, which here near its mouth is an arm of the sea 
 of considerable width and depth. The water on his right 
 hand was the Charles River, also an arm of the sea, the 
 tide-water setting inland for some seven miles. As soon 
 as the traveller passed the neck, he began to ascend. 
 Bearing slightly to the left, and going on about one-third of 
 a mile, he would find himself on the very top of the real 
 Bunker Hill, about one hundred and ten feet above the sea 
 level, the highest land on the peninsula. On his left he 
 would then look down on the waters of Mystic River or Bay, 
 the land falling off in that direction in a somewhat steep 
 declivity. The peninsula is not so wide here as farther on, 
 perhaps not more than a quarter of a mile. But the trav- 
 eller would be much nearer here to the Mystic River than 
 to the Charles. Standing on Bunker Hill and looking 
 nearly east, to the very end of the peninsula where it meets 
 the waters of Boston Bay, he would see the land falling off 
 rapidly immediately before him, till it came down to a spot 
 low and marshy, and then it would begin to rise moderately. 
 At the very end of this land view, his eye would rest upon a 
 small elevation called Morton's Point. Turning now more to 
 the right, or south-east, he would look down a slope to this 
 same marshy land before spoken of, but higher above the sea 
 level here than that lying more towards the Mystic River ; 
 and when this was passed he would see the land again as- 
 cending until it reached the top of Breed's Hill, some sixty 
 or seventy feet above the tide-water, where the redoubt was 
 built, and where the monument now stands. From the top 
 of Bunker Hill to the top of Breed's Hill, the distance 
 was about a third of a mile. Turning now still more to 
 the right and going on a little distance farther, still de- 
 scending, the traveller would find himself in the village of 
 
Plan of the Battle of Blnker Hill, June 17TH, 1775. 
 
^T. 57-] The Battle. 185 
 
 Charlestown among the houses and shops and stores nestled 
 close along the shore. Some of these houses and barns on 
 the upper slope came near the top of Breed's Hill. It is 
 not nearly so far to the water's edge in a line drawn straight 
 from Bunker Hill, across the top of Breed's Hill, as when 
 a line is drawn from Bunker Hill to Morton's Point. In 
 other words, the land pushes out farther into the water at 
 Morton's Point, than anywhere else on the south-easterly 
 end of the peninsula. 
 
 The British began to take their men over from Boston to 
 Morton's Point in boats about 12 o'clock, and they com- 
 pleted this business of transportation about 2 o'clock. The 
 reinforcements afterwards brought over were landed at a 
 place lying midway between Morton's Point and the village 
 of Charlestown. 
 
 On the top of Breed's Hill, lying near the village of 
 Charlestown, a redoubt about eight rods square had been 
 constructed during the night of June i6th, facing easterly; 
 and in the morning a line of embankment had been carried 
 north from the front corner about twenty rods. So silently 
 had this work been done, beneath the waning moon, that 
 the British sentries pacing along the shore of Charles River, 
 and the night guards on the ships anchored near by in the 
 bay, knew nothing of it till the morning dawned. The 
 dawn, however, comes early in the middle of June. 
 
 Going now to the northern end of this twenty-rod em- 
 bankment, and passing around the corner, then turning to 
 the north-west (with a little open space left between), the 
 fence line, so called, began. It first ran about six hundred 
 feet in the direction just named (to the north-west) till 
 it struck the lower slopes of Bunker Hill; then turning 
 at an obtuse angle, it went in a straight line along these 
 lower slopes, dropping down gradually till it reached the 
 Mystic River. This last section of fence was about nine 
 
i86 Life of Israel Putnam. [1775- 
 
 hundred feet in length, making that of the whole fence line 
 fifteen hundred feet. 
 
 When the British officers took a survey of these lines of 
 defence from Morton's Point, they saw at the extreme left, 
 as they were facing this redoubt, which, with the embank- 
 ment running out from it, presented to them a front line 
 of earthworks measuring a little more than four hundred 
 and fifty feet in length. Then from near the corner of 
 these earthworks, they saw the fence line running in a 
 diagonal, six hundred feet. Then turning, it ran nine hun- 
 dred feet, in a way to meet their eye almost as a front fac- 
 ing line. This last line thrown back, as it was some four 
 hundred or four hundred and fifty feet beyond the face line 
 of the redoubt, was not exactly parallel with it, and yet it 
 approached a parallel. As the British officers looked upon 
 this extended arrangement, the redoubt at the left, on the 
 high land, probably gained from them a degree of serious 
 respect. But as to that low, fragile fence line, it was with- 
 out much doubt treated by them with a kind of contemptu- 
 ous laughter. They naturally enough thought that British 
 soldiers would walk over that impediment as easily as 
 sheep in search of water or fresh grass would go over a 
 tumble-down stone wall. And they laid their plan of bat- 
 tle accordingly. That plan we will not now explain, as it 
 comes up naturally later in the chapter. But this was the 
 aspect of things which met their eyes just before the bat- 
 tle, as they looked upon what the Americans had been 
 about during the night and forenoon. And in reference to 
 ihtforcfwou let it be understood, as already suggested, that 
 we call the part of the day by this name which passed 
 before the beginning of the battle. 
 
 Seldom does it happen that a battle-ground is so set that 
 the action can be watched from so many directions, and by 
 so many people, as in this case. All Boston could flock to 
 
/Et. 57.] TAe Battle. i ^y 
 
 the steeples and house-tops, and without any help from 
 field-glasses, could see the main part of what was occur- 
 ring. From many of the high lands about the town 
 south-westerly, northerly, easterly, spectators could have a 
 more distant view of the scene. What was passing close 
 down by the Mystic River could not be seen very well 
 except from the north and north-east. But the redoubt 
 stood in open sight from many points of observation. 
 
 Cambridge could not see the battle ; she could only hear 
 its noise. Bunker Hill cut off her view. But from the high 
 lands of Brookline and Roxbury the distant view would be 
 excellent. The look-out places about the town were many, 
 and numerous eyes watched the progress of the fight, British 
 and American alike. 
 
 When the action began, a little after 3 o'clock, such 
 troops as Massachusetts had in the fighting lines, as before 
 stated, were mainly in and about the redoubt, though some 
 few were behind the fence. The Connecticut men came 
 next along the fence line, and the New Hampshire men 
 filled out that line down to the river. 
 
 As the British moved up to the attack, they came in 
 three columns. It would be easy to tell the assortment of 
 the British forces, showing what regiments were in this 
 column, and what in that. This has been often told, and it 
 would be easy to repeat the enumeration. But it matters 
 little to us now what the names and modes of designation 
 were for these troops, or how they were sorted and arranged. 
 It is rather confusing than otherwise to the average reader. 
 Suffice it to say, they were among the best troops which 
 England had to send. It is computed that she then had in 
 and about Boston ten thousand men. She anticipated seri- 
 ous business, and had sent here her most renowned battalions. 
 
 Mr. Frothingham computes the American forces at that 
 time as follows (p. 10 1) : "Massachusetts furnished eleven 
 
1 88 Life of Israel Putnam. [1775. 
 
 thousand five hundred; Connecticut two thousand three 
 hundred ; New Hampshire one thousand two hundred ; 
 and Rhode Island one thousand." 
 
 After the British ranks were arranged, and the columns 
 were ready to move forward, Howe sent over to Boston for 
 reinforcements. He told the soldiers to halt and eat their 
 dinners, while he dispatched messengers for additional 
 troops. When these were added, and they moved up to 
 battle, they were doubtless between two and three thousand 
 strong. We have said that they moved in three columns, 
 and yet the two northerly columns nearest the Mystic were 
 parts of one whole, and these two constituted together the 
 right wing of the army, under the special command of 
 Howe, who was also chief commander on the field. The 
 other column constituted the left wing, under General 
 Bigot's special command.* 
 
 A word more as to these two columns composing the 
 right wing. Some of the finest companies in the whole 
 British army had been selected to make a column which 
 should move close along the Mystic River, and while the 
 other column of the right wing should move up and engage 
 the fortress and that part of the fence line nearest to the 
 fortress, this column by the Mystic (when the attention of 
 the American lines would naturally be called away, to some 
 extent, by the firing which would begin near the redoubt) 
 should make a bold push and go over that fence at a point 
 near the river, rush up the sides of Bunker Hill, and flank 
 the redoubt on Breed's Hill. 
 
 * " Opposing these (the British troops) were the raw, undisciplined bodies 
 of insurgents posted behind the rail fence and the unfinished breastwork, 
 and in the earthen redoubt on Breed's Hill, numbering together not more 
 than fifteen hundred men, while those who were skulking on the slopes of 
 Bunker Hill, afraid either to "fight or to run over ' the neck,' and numbering 
 in the aggregate nearly the same number, were neither useful nor ornamental 
 for the purposes of the expedition." — Mr. Dawson in " Historical Magazine," 
 June, 1868. 
 
JET.S7-] The Battle. 189 
 
 Captain Dearborn, who was with Stark by the Mystic, 
 tells us that the attack first began by the firing of Howe's 
 column upon the redoubt, which was answered. He says, 
 " At the moment our regiment was formed in the rear of 
 the rail fence, with one other small regiment from New 
 Hampshire [this remark of his about the other regiment as 
 small, implies that Stark's was larger, and shows that we 
 have not probably overestimated the number from New 
 Hampshire] under the command of Colonel Reed, the fire 
 commenced between the left wing of the British army, 
 commanded by General Howe, and the troops in the re- 
 doubt under Colonel Prescott, while a column of the enemy 
 was advancing on our left on the shore of Mystic River, 
 with an evident intention of turning our left wing." 
 
 This firing upon the redoubt then was only a feint. 
 They regarded this as the stronghold, and they meant to 
 take it by flanking it, and not by storming it. The animus 
 of that first attack was in that column of picked compa- 
 nies, making a force of several hundred men, that was 
 creeping stealthily along by the banks of the Mystic. 
 Howe had sagaciously, as he thought, acted upon the idea 
 that raw troops fresh from the farm would be so excited, 
 and have their attention so drawn to the point where the 
 firing began, that this column would break through almost 
 without hindrance. But in this he had made a great mis- 
 take. The New Hampshire troops, withholding their fire 
 till the column was near, poured such a deadly volley upon 
 it, directed with the aim of hunters, that its front lines 
 went down as grass before the mower's scythe. Dearborn 
 says, " In the course of ten or fifteen minutes the enemy 
 gave way at all points, and retreated in great disorder, leav- 
 ing a large number of dead and wounded on the field." 
 (We shall elsewhere show how terribly destructive that fire 
 of the New Hampshire men was upon the front ranks of 
 
190 Life of Israel Putnam. [1775. 
 
 this column.) Without materially changing his plan of 
 attack, Howe tried this experiment the second time, only 
 now a new element of excitement was mingled with the 
 scene. Charlestown was on fire. In the first attack, Pigot 
 found that his left wing, which swung round near to the 
 village of Charlestown, was played upon seriously by sharp- 
 shooters, who made the houses and barns of that village 
 nests and hiding-places for their operations. As a war 
 measure, the British troops were doubtless right in burning 
 the village. If they were justified in making the attack at 
 all, they were justified in this expedient to give it success. 
 As the British lines closed in the second time, the smoke 
 and flames were rolling fiercely up from the burning vil- 
 lage. Bigot's left wing was seemingly thrown more exclu- 
 sively against the redoubt than even the left-hand column 
 of Howe. The latter began the firing in the first attack 
 upon the redoubt, but the column, as we understand the 
 order of the movement, was centrally thrown more upon 
 the upper lines of the fence than upon the redoubt. The 
 second attack, based upon the same general idea as the first, 
 was alike unsuccessful. The New Hampshire and Con- 
 necticut men, with such Massachusetts forces as were with 
 them, rolled back both those columns of I;Iowe with heavy 
 slaughter. 
 
 Now, let it be borne in mind that up to this time there 
 had been no really earnest and hearty attack upon the re- 
 doubt. The firing upon it had been very considerable, both 
 with cannon and with musketry, at long range, for the Brit- 
 ish were plying their cannon as well as their small arms. 
 But they had not in either case really tried to take it. 
 That was not the order of their plan. They wanted to 
 seem to be trying to take it, both for engaging the men in 
 and about it, and also drawing off the attention of the other 
 American troops. But the real brunt of the two first onsets 
 
^T. 57.] The Battle. 191 
 
 was against the fence line, and reaching all along that line 
 from one end to the other, though sharpest near the river. 
 Mr. Dawson's account of this battle, contained in the " His- 
 torical Magazine " for June, 1868, is fuller and better in some 
 respects than any we know, and we quote the following 
 graphic passages from him. He calls the repulses at the 
 fence three instead of two. 
 
 " The rail fence, on the high bank against which the grena- 
 diers and their flank company were moving in a parallel column, 
 was manned with the remainder of the New Hampshire troops 
 commanded by Colonel Stark ; by those from the same colony 
 commanded by Colonel Reed ; and by the four incomplete com- 
 panies of Connecticut men, commanded by Captain Knowlton. 
 .... Colonel Stark in person commanded on the extreme left 
 of this rail fence, directly above the temporary wall on the beach, 
 .... and he is said to have ordered his men at the fence to re- 
 serve their fire until the half-gaiters of the approaching grena- 
 diers should become distinctly visible. The Connecticut men, 
 who occupied the rail fence on the right of the New Hampshire 
 men, are said to have been instructed in like manner by their 
 officers, to withhold their fire also until they could see the whites 
 of the grenadiers' eyes. When the grenadiers and light infantry 
 reached the points which had been thus designated as the ' dead- 
 lines ' of their respective lines of march, the insurgents opened 
 upon them a well-directed and rapid fire ; and entire ranks were 
 mowed down in an instant with terrible accuracy. Both the 
 grenadiers on the bank, and the light infantry on the beach, of 
 course, were instantly thrown into the utmost disorder, and fell 
 back discomfited, beyond the range of the insurgents' fire \ 
 and there, under cover of an unevenness in the ground, the former 
 were rallied, and soon after returned to the attack, the light 
 infantry also re-forming and co-operating with them on the bank 
 as far as they were able to do so. The grenadiers and the light 
 infantry, thus re-formed, with singular bravery moved against the 
 fence and wall a second time ; but the insurgents concentrated 
 their defence, and with the same steadiness and accuracy as be- 
 
192 Life of Israel Putnam. [i775- 
 
 fore, poured upon the shortened line of their assailants another 
 fire which was as murderous as the first. Again the royal 
 troops were repulsed, and a second time they fell back, scathed, 
 but not dishonored. But the end of this terrible slaughter was 
 not yet. The pride of the officers and the obstinacy of the 
 troops could not quietly submit to even this renewed disaster, 
 and again the shattered companies of grenadiers and light in- 
 fantry were re-formed, and with a still more shortened line than 
 they had previously presented, and with depressed spirits, they 
 approached the fence a third time. They were repulsed the 
 
 third time 
 
 " During the continuance of this stubborn contest on the left 
 of the insurgents' position, which occupied upwards of an hour, 
 there seems to have been no serious attempt by the left wing of 
 the royal troops to carry either the redoubt or the breastwork, 
 although a vigorous fire had been kept up in order to employ the 
 insurgents who were posted behind those earthworks, but the 
 third repulse of the grenadiers and light infantry probably con- 
 vinced General Howe of the hopelessness of his original under- 
 taking, and led him to make an entirely new disposition of his 
 command. He accordingly allowed the shattered fragments of 
 the eleven companies of light troops — those which had escaped 
 from the terrible ordeal to which they had been exposed in front 
 of the rail fence and stone wall on the extreme right of his line 
 of attack — to amuse and hold in check those whom they had 
 recently assaulted, while he should direct his attention to the 
 right of the insurgents' position, the redoubt and the breast- 
 work, in which were only the handfyl of Massachusetts men 
 commanded by Colonel Prescott, and the very few stragglers 
 who had ventured to assist them." * 
 
 * If any one doubts whether this was the real plan or order of the battle at 
 its opening, we commend to his perusal the long and able note in fine type on 
 page 347 of the " Historical Magazine," from which we have quoted. In this 
 note Mr. Dawson cites his authorities and arranges his evidences in a very 
 admirable manner. He quotes, from English and American officers, little pas- 
 sages just to the point. He takes a sentence from Gage's dispatch to his 
 Government, which of itself is sufificient authority on a matter like this. He 
 
JET. 57-] T/ze Battle. 193 
 
 After the second repulse (we reckon as two what Mr. D. 
 calls three), there was a pause of considerable length. The 
 British troops found they had very heavy and serious work 
 on their hands. More reinforcements came over from Bos- 
 ton. General Clinton also came. These things necessa- 
 rily required time. There was a breathing spell. If those 
 Massachusetts regiments which Ward had despatched at 
 the last moment, and who might reasonably urge that they 
 did not have time to get there before the battle began, had 
 wished to bear a hand in this action, here was a fine oppor- 
 tunity for them to come forward and fill that redoubt with 
 fresh men and fresh ammunition to its utmost limit of 
 accommodation. There were Massachusetts soldiers enough 
 about that hill, doing nothing, to have crowded this fortress 
 beyond its proper capacity. The very fact of these two 
 repulses would seem to have been enough to put courage 
 into men that had not had it before, and there was powder 
 enough on that field, if it could only be got to the front 
 where it was wanted. It would certainly have been the 
 height of folly for General Ward to send soldiers to that 
 field without powder, and there were in that immediate 
 vicinity doubtless a thousand Massachusetts soldiers who 
 had hardly fired a gun. 
 
 We will copy now a brief passage from the " Siege of 
 Boston " (p. 147), descriptive of the state of things at this 
 point of time. " While such was the confusion at Bunker 
 Hill, good order prevailed at the redoubt. Colonel Prescott 
 
 says, " The light infantry was directed to force the left point of the breast- 
 work [Gage calls the whole fence line a breastwork] to take the rebel line in 
 flank ; the grenadiers to attack in front, supported by the fifth and fifty- 
 second battalions." He refers also to General Wilkinson as saying, on the 
 authority of Stark, that at first "the fire on the redoubt was feeble and at 
 long range, ' apparently with a design to d/'aw the attention of Colonel Pres- 
 cott^ " and also in the last attack that Stark's men were " unassatled and unoc- 
 ctipied." 
 
 13 
 
194 Life of Israel Putnam. [1775- 
 
 remained at his post, determined in his purpose, undaunted 
 in his bearing, inspiring his command with hope and confi- 
 dence, and yet chagrined that in this hour of peril and 
 glory adequate support had not reached him." 
 
 But at page 136 of the " Siege of Boston," the reader 
 will find that the redoubt had been reinforced "just pre- 
 vious to the action, by portions of Massachusetts regiments 
 under Colonels Brewer, Nixon, Woodbridge, Little and 
 Major Moore, and one company of artillery." That would 
 seem to be " adequate support." With any such numbers 
 as this mention of five regiments naturally suggests, there 
 would then have been in the redoubt (including those who 
 were there before) not less than eight or nine hundred men, 
 about as many as could have been efficiently employed on 
 that front line. But were those reinforcements on hand 
 " just previous to the action " ">. Or did they ever get there .-• 
 It does not seem fair nor symmetrical, that the Massachu- 
 setts regiments, on the one hand, should have the credit of 
 reinforcing Prescott, and that Prescott, on the other, should 
 be chagrined and indignant that he was not reinforced. 
 
 We have already alluded to a species of ridicule cast upon 
 General Putnam, because he was riding around so furiously 
 on the back side of Bunker Hill urging forward these rein- 
 forcements. In some of these passages, the fact is made to 
 hold, and to discharge upon the mind of the reader, the 
 insinuation that he preferred to be over there about such 
 business, out of harm's way, rather than to mingle in the 
 fury of the fray, where the bullets were flying. But in his 
 immense activities that day we have never been able to see 
 either the cowardly or the ridiculous. We see only an 
 elderly man, putting in exercise every power of his mind 
 and body to make up for other men's deficiences, and to 
 save from ignominious failure an enterprise of vast impor- 
 tance to the common cause. We are all ready to admit 
 
^T. 57.] The Battle. 195 
 
 now that the moral consequences of this first great battle 
 of the Revolution were very weighty, and that is why men 
 want the honors of the enterprise who are not entitled to 
 them. General Putnam had from the first some clear fore- 
 shadowings of what the result would be, if a reasonable 
 amount of success could be secured that day ; and no man 
 ever went through more prodigious toil than he to make 
 the enterprise a success. And while upon this point, we 
 may call attention to a direct antagonism among those 
 writers who would take the honors of that day from him. 
 General Dearborn would have it that Putnam kept essen- 
 tially in one place on the top of Bunker Hill, out of the 
 way of danger, by the side of Colonel Gerrish. It helped 
 to lend a nice sting to the charge, to put him in concert 
 with, and by the side of, Colonel Gerrish, whose regiment 
 that day only managed to get three men killed and two 
 wounded. This association would seem at once to give 
 him the companionship of cowards. But another writer, 
 not friendly to General Putnam, keeps him in a kind of per- 
 petual motion, for idle or ignoble ends. With him. General 
 Putnam that day was " well-nigh ubiquitous." This last 
 testimony is undoubtedly correct, but Putnam would have 
 been far more quiet and near one place, if General Ward 
 and the Massachusetts regiments had only done their duty. 
 As one studies his movements during those battle hours, 
 this appears to be the law that governed them. When the 
 British were making their desperate onsets to break our 
 line (call them two, three, ar four, as you please, for writers 
 differ, not substantially but technically), Putnam was al- 
 ways near the front in the very thickest of the fray. But 
 the moment there was a respite, and he could be spared, he 
 rushed up Bunker Hill and over the back side of it to see 
 if he could not put some courage into those halting Massa- 
 chusetts regiments, and move them forward to reinforce 
 
196 Life of Israel Puttiam. [i775- 
 
 Colonel Prescott. But those hasty journeys seem to have 
 been of no great use. He ran against a mass of inertia 
 that he could not overcome. He could tarry often but a 
 few moments, for he must hasten and be back in his place. 
 We accept the words " well-nigh ubiquitous " as exactly 
 meeting the case, for he was trying to do his own work 
 and that which belonged to others, but which by them was 
 left undone. 
 
 We can, with the most perfect confidence, challenge any 
 man to bring real proof, such as will stand close examina- 
 tion, showing that Putnam was ever away for five minutes 
 from the fighting line while the sharp fighting was going 
 on. Mr. Frothingham is authority for his being there when 
 the action began. " General Putnam was here [by the 
 fence line] when the action commenced." Major Small 
 (as we shall hereafter show) is authority that he was on 
 hand at a later point, where the fight was hottest. Mr. 
 Frothingham and Dr. Ellis are both witnesses that he was 
 close at hand when the redoubt was finally carried. He 
 was "well-nigh ubiquitous," but it was not to his dishonor, 
 nor for Massachusetts' glory, that he had to be so. 
 
 We turned aside in the pause. of the battle. Let us now 
 come back and look at its closing act. That redoubt was 
 not filled with fresh troops and fresh ammunition in the in- 
 terval of delay, at least not to any great extent. There 
 were men enough, but the Committee of Safety, General 
 Putnam, and many others, say that there were never over 
 fifteen hundred men in that fighting line, and knowing 
 what we do of the New Hampshire and Connecticut men, 
 it is easy to complete the enumeration. No notice we have 
 ever seen, no light we can gain, make it appear that the 
 forces at the redoubt were materially increased during this 
 pause in the battle. The British were bringing over, even 
 from Boston, fresh troops, but those regiments on the 
 
^T. 57.] The Battle. 197 
 
 American side which had kept clear of danger up to this 
 time, still managed by one excuse and another to hold 
 themselves in a great measure aloof. It would not do to 
 reinforce the redoubt from the fence line. Hitherto that 
 . had been the chief object of attack, and what the next move 
 of the British would be could not then be told. 
 
 Let us try at this point to fathom the thoughts of the 
 British officers, especially Howe, causing him materially to 
 change his plan of attack. Did he not say within himself, 
 We began this battle under the strong impression that the 
 redoubt itself would be very hard to carry, but the fence 
 line would be easily broken. We have made two advances 
 along the whole line under this impression, and it has been 
 a very costly operation. I never could persuade my men to 
 try that experiment over again. Besides, we have felt the 
 fire of the enemy twice along the whole battle line, and to 
 our surprise have found that the parts of their line.which 
 we supposed to be the weakest are the strongest, and those 
 which we supposed to be the strongest are the weakest. 
 We will leave the fence and push now for the redoubt. It 
 must, we think, be apparent to all, that something like this 
 train of thought went through his mind. The battle began 
 with the intention of flanking the redoubt by breaking the 
 fence line. It ended by flanking the fence line by carrying 
 the redoubt. The New Hampshire and Connecticut men, 
 with such Massachusetts men as were with them, were not 
 beaten that day ; they were simply flanked. The weakness, 
 inefficiency and disorders of that day were in connection 
 with the Massachusetts troops. Yet we will never accuse 
 Colonel Prescott of a want of personal courage and per- 
 sonal faithfulness according to the measure of his military 
 ability. Nor have we any but words of high honor and 
 praise for those Massachusetts men of the original detach- 
 ment, who stayed by, and did their duty faithfully to the 
 
198 Life of Israel Putnam. [1775- 
 
 end.* The test they passed through was extremely trying, 
 for they had seen at least half of their original number 
 (Prescott makes it more) drop off by desertions, and they 
 knew that there were multitudes of their Massachusetts 
 brethren near at hand, who could, but would not, come to 
 their relief. The men of Prescott's, Frye's and Bridge's 
 regiments who stayed to the last, deserve to be crowned as 
 heroes ; but it was shameful that they were so left by their 
 companions, and equally shameful that they were not rein- 
 forced. 
 
 General Ward is more to be blamed for this than Colonel 
 Prescott ; and if the one local commander, who did not 
 hold his line, were not pushed upon the modern public as 
 the great military hero and leader of that day, we should 
 feel inclined to sympathize with him, to pity and excuse 
 him. But we cannot hide the historical fact that the 
 weaknesses and disorders of that action circled around that 
 portion of the battle line where he was the central iigure. 
 Heroic as he personally was, and faithful to the last, he 
 showed himself lacking in some of the prime qualities of a 
 military commander. It is too much to ask that he, in 
 spite of these things, should be exalted into the chief man 
 of all, to gratify any one's private wishes. Brought down 
 to the basis of hard and stubborn facts, the case stands 
 thus : Eleven hundred men from New Hampshire and 
 Connecticut, with a few Massachusetts men added, had 
 successfully kept a slight and hastily-built line of defences 
 of fifteen hundred feet in length, against two desperate at- 
 tacks of the British army, and had rolled that army back 
 with great slaughter. Then came a crisis when Massachu- 
 
 * " Previous to that [the arrival of Stark's regiment] there were many who 
 left the ground at the fort, particularly at the landing of the British troops ; 
 but after the commencement of the battle with small arms, I know of no man 
 leaving his post until the order to retreat was given by Colonel Prescott." — 
 Letter of Abel Parker, in Prescott's regiment. 
 
JEt. 57.] T/ie Battle, 199 
 
 setts, with two thousand men, more or less, was called upon 
 to defend in like manner a strongly-built line of about four 
 hundred and fifty feet in length. If she could defend that 
 for fifteen minutes, the day would be ours. She failed, and 
 the British broke through. Colonel Prescott and the men 
 of his original command did all they could under the circum- 
 stances. We see no real evidence that he was reinforced, 
 except by individuals. It would appear that he had with 
 him in that final resistance about four hundred men, of 
 whom one hundred and sixty were killed or wounded. We 
 have searched in vain to find satisfactory evidence that any 
 Massachusetts regiment marched into that redoubt to his 
 help. If the anecdote already given is authentic, as to 
 what took place at Charlestown Neck after the battle, be- 
 tween Prescott and Putnam, it would seem quite conclusive, 
 as showing that Prescott was not reinforced. Putnam tried 
 hard enough to reinforce him, but as he told Prescott, " I 
 could not make the dogs go," The " Prescott Memorial " 
 says expressly, " Nor was any reinforcement sent." 
 
 Looking upon the killed and wounded on the American 
 side, one might naturally enough think, as before suggested, 
 that the Massachusetts men did the hardest part of the 
 fighting ; but the law which underlies that list of casualties 
 has already been noticed. The British broke through where 
 the Massachusetts men guarded the line ; and when that 
 wrathful current was once in motion, it was terrific in its 
 sweep. It dealt out destruction without mercy. Massa- 
 chusetts lost in the battle one hundred and five killed, and 
 one hundred and seventy-five wounded ; New Hampshire, 
 twenty killed, and sixty-six wounded ; Connecticut, fifteen 
 killed, and thirty wounded. But of the Massachusetts 
 losses, a large proportion occurred within the space of ten 
 or fifteen minutes at the very close of the battle, and 
 then because the redoubt was not held. 
 
200 Life of Israel Putnam. [i77S- 
 
 Gage admitted a loss of one thousand and fifty-four on 
 his side, while he claimed that the men in the battle on the 
 British side made "a body of something above two thou- 
 sand men;" in other words, taking his report according to 
 the apparent sense of the language, the killed and wounded 
 made about half the whole force employed. Lieutenant 
 Clarke, a British officer, speaks of the marvellous losses 
 of the British that day. He says, " From calculations of 
 most pitched battles, the proportion of the number of 
 killed and wounded is only every eighth man." In all 
 her long wars, reaching over hundreds of years, England 
 hardly ever fought a battle in which she lost so large a 
 portion of the men engaged.* But we do not accept 
 General Gage's estimate, either of the men employed or 
 the losses. The British probably had not less than from 
 three to four thousand men on the ground, and the Ameri- 
 cans estimated the British loss at one thousand five hun- 
 dred. Their men were far away from home, and it was 
 easy to put in false estimates ; but there could be no such 
 deceptions on our side. The men who were killed and 
 wounded all had their homes not far away, and doubtless 
 every man of them was noted and enumerated. If the 
 British could only have been repulsed on the third attack, 
 our loss would have been a comparatively trifling one, 
 
 * Thaddeus Burr to General Wooster. — " General Howe says you may talk 
 of your Mindcns and Fontenoys, but he never saw or heard of such carnage 
 in so short a time." 
 
 General Greene to yacob Green. — " The Welsh fusileers, the finest regi- 
 ment in the English establishment, is ruined. There are but one Captain and 
 eleven privates left in the regiment." 
 
 General Greene put that case too strongly, but the destruction in this regi- 
 ment was frightful, by many accounts. 
 
 " Such a slaughter was perhaps never before made upon British troops in 
 the space of about an hour, during which the heat of the engagement lasted, 
 by about fifteen hundred men, which were the most that were at any time 
 engaged on the American side." — Account of Committee of Safety. 
 
JET. 57.] Tke Battle. 201 
 
 while theirs would have been greater than it was. They 
 would not have been likely to make a fourth attempt. 
 
 There were some incidents of special interest in the 
 course of the battle, little episodes of a strange and half- 
 romantic character, that might be related, of which we take 
 a single one. Lieutenant Clarke, from the British point of 
 view, tells the following story : 
 
 " Before the intrenchments were forced, a man whom the 
 Americans called a marksman, or rifleman, was seen standing 
 upon something, near three feet higher than the rest of the 
 troops, as their hats were not visible. This man had no sooner 
 discharged one musket than another was handed to him, and 
 continued firing in that manner for ten or twelve minutes. And 
 in that small space of time, by their handing to him fresh-loaded 
 muskets, it is supposed that he could not kill or wound less than 
 twenty officers, for it was at them particularly that he directed 
 his aim, as was afterwards confirmed by the prisoners. But he 
 soon paid his tribute, for upon being noticed he was killed by 
 the grenadiers of the Royal Welsh fusileers." 
 
 But we cannot close this account of the battle without 
 describing more fully what took place at the very last. 
 And we purposely take Mr. Frothingham for our authority. 
 We might bring other witnesses, but we are entirely satis- 
 fied with his statement. He says (" Siege of Boston," p. 
 152), "The whole body of Americans were now in full 
 retreat, the greater part over the top of Bunker Hill. The 
 brow of Bunker Hill was a place of great slaughter. Gen- 
 eral Putnam here rode to the rear of the retreating troops, 
 and regardless of the balls flying about him, with his sword 
 drawn, and still undaunted in his bearing, urged them to 
 renew the fight in the unfinished works. ' Make a stand 
 here,' he exclaimed; 'we can stop them yet! In God's 
 name, form, and give them one shot more ! ' It was here 
 
202 Life of Israel Putnam. [1775- 
 
 that he stood by an artillery piece until the enemy's bayo- 
 nets were almost upon him." 
 
 Now let us remember that these troops which Putnam 
 was thus addressing were largely, if not entirely, that routed 
 mass in and about the redoubt, Massachusetts troops, to 
 whom, just before, Prescott (feeling that the redoubt was 
 lost) had given the order to retreat. As soon as possible 
 after that rush began, Putnam hastens to put himself behind 
 this flying column, — between it and the British troops, — 
 and assuming the command from that post of greatest dan- 
 ger, calls upon the fugitives to stop. He reverses, on the 
 spot, the order which Prescott had just given. He takes 
 possession in a military way of the very men whom Pres- 
 cott had just had under his subordinate command. 
 
 And what Putnam did here, he might just as naturally have 
 done anywhere along that whole line. If the break had 
 occurred among the New Hampshire men, and Stark or 
 Reed had sounded a retreat, Putnam, as commander over 
 the whole field, would have seen it, just as he saw this giv- 
 ing way at the redoubt. In that case he would doubtless 
 have rushed to that point, and have attempted to do the same 
 things he was doing here. He was exercising, in other 
 words, the functions of a common commander, and how any 
 one can pen such a passage as we have just quoted, and 
 many others of the same general import, and not see in 
 General Putnam something more than a mere assistant of 
 Colonel Prescott, passes our comprehension. Besides, what 
 folly once to think of Colonel Prescott as the commander 
 on that broad field, while he has been shut up in the re- 
 doubt and does not even know what has been happening 
 away from that fortress! Mr, Frothingham says (p. 166), 
 " Colonel Prescott 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." To that statement no 
 
JET.S7-] The Battle. 203 
 
 objection need be made, but the chief commander does not 
 make his appearance in it.* Mr. Frothingham goes on to 
 say, " He remained at the redoubt, and there fought the 
 battle with such coolness, bravery and discretion as to win 
 the unbounded applause of his contemporaries." The stu- 
 dent of history will probably search the records of 1775 in 
 vain to find evidence such as will fairly and naturally sus- 
 tain that last assertion. We have turned over within the 
 past year a great many books and records bearing upon this 
 period and upon this battle, and we do not find this " un- 
 bounded applause of his contemporaries." The facts given 
 in Chapter VI. have a different complexion. Nay, the only 
 way in which any true glory can be saved for Prescott out 
 of this battle, is by regarding him simply as a commander of 
 the redoubt, who was faithful and heroic to his trust, who 
 stayed to the last and did all he could with his military ex- 
 perience and ability. We are as willing as any one to 
 make him a hero, if the case can be put reasonably ; but 
 the moment he is exalted as the commanding head over 
 that field, his deficiencies of action are so glaring, his ig- 
 norance of details is so amazing, that he is only covered 
 with disgrace in being made to occupy such a position. 
 
 Of the killed and wounded on our side we have taken our 
 summary from Mr. Frothingham's account. We have no 
 
 * In the April number of the " North American Review " for 1826 (p. 
 466), we find a notice of Colonel Swett's writings. He had brought forward 
 a witness who testified to Putnam's presence in the redoubt ; upon which the 
 editor remarks, — 
 
 " This was a little before the battle ; during the battle the distinguished 
 hero and patriot, Colonel Prescott, had the entire and uncontrolled command 
 in the redoubt." 
 
 That is a perfectly rational and safe position to take. Prescott was placed 
 there to do just that, and no claim is made that Putnam gave orders within 
 the redoubt during the action. But he overlooked it, and watched its fortunes 
 with intense interest till the break came, and then he speedily appeared on 
 the scene. 
 
204 Lif^ ^f Israel Putnam. [1775- 
 
 doubt that he sifted all the evidence carefully, and has given 
 the list as accurately as it can be made. But it may interest 
 the reader to see other computations, not differing largely 
 from his, but showing slight variations. We give first Mr. 
 Frothingham's figures, as distributed among the different 
 military bodies. 
 
 The following list of killed and wounded is taken from 
 the " Siege of Boston," p. 193 : 
 
 Killed. Wounded. 
 
 Prescott's regiment 42 28 
 
 Bridge's regiment 15 29 
 
 Frye's regiment 15 31 
 
 Brewer's regiment 7 11 
 
 Little's regiment 7 23 
 
 Gardner's regiment 6 7 
 
 Nixon's regiment 3 10 
 
 Woodbridge's regiment i 5 
 
 Doolittle's regiment o 9 
 
 Gridley's regiment o 4 
 
 Ward's regiment i 6 
 
 Scammons's regiment o 2 
 
 Gerrish's regiment 3 2 
 
 Whitcomb's regiment 5 8 
 
 Stark's regiment 15 45 
 
 Reed's regiment 5 21 
 
 Putnam's and Coit's regiment 11 26 
 
 Chester's company 4 4 
 
 Killed, 140; wounded, 271 ; captured, 30; making a total of 
 441. 
 
 From Force's " American Archives " (4th Series, Vol. II. p. 
 1628), we take this statement. No date is given with the docu- 
 ment, but surrounding ones would place it July 9th or loth, 1775. 
 
 Killed and Missing. Wounded. 
 
 Colonel Frye's regiment 14 38 
 
 Colonel Little's regiment 7 23 
 
 Colonel Brewer's regiment 12 22 
 
^T. 57.] The Battle. 205 
 
 Killed and Missing, Wounded. 
 
 Colonel Gridley's regiment o 4 
 
 Colonel Stark's regiment 15 45 
 
 Colonel Woodbridge's regiment . . . . o 5 
 
 Colonel Scammons's regiment o 2 
 
 Colonel Bridge's regiment 17 25 
 
 Colonel Whitcomb's regiment 7 8 
 
 General Ward's regiment i 6 
 
 Colonel Gerrish's regiment 3 5 
 
 Colonel Reed's (Reid's) regiment ... 4 29 
 
 Colonel Prescott's regiment 43 46 
 
 Colonel Doolittle's regiment 6 9 
 
 Colonel Gardner's regiment o 7 
 
 Colonel Patterson's regiment o i 
 
 Colonel Nixon's regiment 3 o 
 
 Connecticut 13 26 
 
 Total, killed and missing, 145 ; wounded, 301 ; making a 
 
 total of 446. 
 
 The record says 304 wounded, but simple addition gives 301. 
 Ward's orderly book, as quoted by Mr. Frothingham, makes, 
 
 killed, 115 j wounded, 305 ; captured, 30 3 total, 450. 
 
 The diary of Mr. Haskell, from which some quotations 
 will be made in the next chapter, gives, killed, 138 ; wounded, 
 292 ; total, 430. 
 
 The six killed in Gardner's regiment, as reported in Mr. 
 Frothingham's list, stand connected with Doolittle's regi- 
 ment in the " Archives." In Reed's New Hampshire regi- 
 ment, Mr, Frothingham gives five killed, the "Archives" 
 four. By Mr. Frothingham, Connecticut had fifteen killed, 
 and thirty wounded. By the "Archives," thirteen killed, 
 and twenty-six wounded, and there are other slight varia- 
 tions. In Ward's orderly book the wounded are more numer- 
 ous and the killed less in number than in the other accounts. 
 Doubtless quite a number entered by him as " wounded " 
 soon died of their wounds, and their names were carried 
 
2o6 Life of Israel Putnam. [i775- 
 
 over to the list of the killed. But the four statements 
 above given do not differ greatly in the total results. 
 
 One general fact already mentioned about the killed and 
 wounded should not be forgotten. Probably no regiment 
 that went over to Bunker Hill in that early afternoon and 
 back again, escaped without having some of their men killed 
 and wounded. Stark's Major, the heroic McClary, was 
 killed here. The fact that a regiment reported a considera- 
 ble number of casualties, was no sure sign in itself that it 
 had actually taken any part whatever in the battle proper, 
 though we do not doubt that several of the Massachusetts 
 regiments like Little's, Gardner's, Brewer's, Nixon's, Whit- 
 comb's, etc., did go over the top of Bunker Hill and down to- 
 ward the redoubt, and so brought themselves into that storm 
 of missiles already described. But that any one of these regi- 
 ments, in a body, went fully to the front, where their own 
 guns could materially harm the British, we doubt. Indi- 
 viduals went, and some companies apparently, but those 
 who halted and retreated even out of these regiments, were 
 vastly more numerous than those who went forward to 
 fight. There were several other regiments that kept them- 
 selves in a remarkably safe condition, regarded as men sup- 
 posed to have fought at Bunker Hill. There were five 
 Massachusetts regiments, the total of whose accidents are 
 summed up in two killed and twenty-six wounded. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 WHO LED THE ARMY FROM THE FIELD ? 
 
 Condition of a defeated Army. — What became of the American Army after 
 the Battle. — Prescott goes to Cambridge. — Fortifications on Prospect 
 Hill. — Daniel Putnam and Mrs. Inman. — Diary of Mr. Haskell. 
 
 AN army is not annihilated when it is defeated. It is to 
 be carefully guarded and kept for future use. And 
 yet there is no time when the powers and capacities of a 
 military leader are more thoroughly tested than immediately 
 after a defeat. The first question that arises is, how to 
 conduct these soldiers securely out from the dangers that 
 press immediately upon them. And when that is accom- 
 plished, other cares arise. Here is a body of men, weary 
 with watching, toil and conflict, chagrined and disappointed 
 in their hopes, smarting under wounds that are not severe 
 enough to consign them to the hospital, mourning for com- 
 rades that have fallen by their side, the familiar faces of 
 the drill, the tent, the mess-room : how shall these men be 
 lifted over these hours of despondency ? A military com- 
 mander often reveals his greatest and noblest qualities in 
 such times as these. 
 
 There is one clear and well-attested historical fact which 
 has never apparently been brought to bear much upon the 
 questions now before us ; but which, when set in its true 
 relations, would of itself, standing alone, show with suffi- 
 cient clearness who was the chief field officer of the forces 
 who fought the battle of Bunker Hill. No one can know 
 all the details respecting the movement of those troops 
 
 207 
 
2o8 Life of Israel Putnam. [i775- 
 
 that Saturday evening. Most of the Massachusetts regi- 
 ments, it is Hkely, were led off in sections by their regi- 
 mental officers, and taken back to their respective encamp- 
 ments. Some of them had not been near enough to the 
 real battle to receive any damage from it, and such casual- 
 ties as had happened were received in the tumults of the 
 crowd, or by missiles thrown from the British batteries 
 across the neck. Others of them had been nearer and 
 had borne losses. Such of those three regiments first de- 
 tailed as had remained, and fought the battle through, were 
 badly cut up. 
 
 But who identified himself with this defeated army, and 
 took care of it and kept with it ? Prescott certainly did not. 
 He at once separated himself from it and went back to 
 Cambridge, apparently not even in connection with the re- 
 mains of his own regiment, though he may have marched 
 in their company. But such descriptions as we have, make 
 it appear that he went as an individual and not in command 
 of, or in connection with, any military body or bodies what- 
 ever.* Colonel Swett, in his " History of the Battle of 
 Bunker Hill " (p. 49), gives the following graphic descrip- 
 tion of Prescott' s movements that night. He says, " Pres- 
 cott repaired to Cambridge, furious as a lion driven from 
 his lair, foaming with indignation at the want of support 
 
 * In the " Prescott Memorial " the story is told how, as Prescott was re- 
 turning to Cambridge that night, he went into an inn, where some soldiers 
 had just had a bowl of punch mixed. Seeing him they naturally passed the 
 bowl to him to take the first drink. Just as the cup reached his hands, a can- 
 non ball came ploughing its way through the house, whereat the men were so 
 frightened that they ran away with all haste. Prescott remained, cool and 
 collected, and as there was no one else to drink with him, he had the punch 
 to himself. This cool personal courage Prescott exhibited in a high degree, 
 through the whole expedition. He never ran from that redoubt, though 
 many of his men did. There had been a tremendous strain upon his nerves 
 from the moment the British ships began their cannonading in the morning. 
 But personally he never flinched. 
 
^T. 57.] Who Led the Army from the Field ? 209 
 
 when victory was in his grasp, — a victory dearly purchased 
 with the precious blood of his soldiers, family and friends." 
 We do not care how fierce the rhetoric was with which he 
 plied General Ward. He deserved it all. But in these very 
 complaints we have the evidence of what we have all along 
 claimed, that Ward was shamefully remiss in duty, and that 
 he (Prescott) was not reinforced. 
 
 Mr. Frothingham, in the " Siege of Boston " (p. 153), gives 
 us a still clearer and more detailed picture. He says, 
 " Colonel Prescott, indignant at the absence of support 
 when victory was within his grasp, repaired to headquarters, 
 reported the issue of the battle, already too well known, 
 and received the thanks of the commander-in-chief.* He 
 found General Ward under great apprehensions lest the 
 enemy, encouraged by success, should advance on Cam- 
 bridge, where he had neither disciplined troops nor an ade- 
 quate supply of ammunition to receive him. Colonel Pres- 
 cott, however, assured him that the confidence of the Brit- 
 ish would not be increased by the result of the battle." 
 
 This was all right and proper so long as we regard Pres- 
 cott as the local and subordinate commander of that re- 
 doubt. He was nominated and appointed for that particu- 
 lar duty. He had done all he could personally, and here 
 was the result. His task was ended, and he might go back 
 to Cambridge alone, or in company with the troops march- 
 ing to their quarters, and no fault is to be found with him. 
 
 But if he had been chief commander on that field, and 
 left the army in this way, his conduct would have been 
 strange and inexcusable. General Putnam certainly did 
 not go to Cambridge that night. He kept with the men 
 
 * " The thanks of the commander-in-chief ! " that is one of those neat and 
 decorous arrangements of words which helps to dress a paragraph, but the 
 historical facts which support it are of the minus quantity. The very next 
 sentence will show General Ward in too great a state of perturbation to be 
 paying formal thanks to anybody. 
 
 14 
 
210 Life of Israel Putnam. [1775. 
 
 who had done the chief portion of the fighting. He led 
 them across the neck to what is now Somerville, and at 
 once began intrenchments on Winter and Prospect Hills. 
 Mr, Frothingham, on the same page with the last quota- 
 tion, gives us these facts plainly. He says, " The Ameri- 
 cans at Winter and Prospect Hills lay on their arms while 
 the British, reinforced by additional troops from Boston, 
 threw up during the night a line of breastwork on the 
 northern side of Bunker Hill." 
 
 The Americans, in this passage, represent that portion 
 of the American army that had fought the battle. How 
 many Massachusetts men were with them that night we do 
 not know, but it is quite certain the New Hampshire and 
 Connecticut men were there, and the commander in the 
 battle was there with them. No one seems to have any 
 question about these acts of General Putnam. Even those 
 who have made him a kind of mysterious and half-mythical 
 personage during the battle of Saturday, hardly knowing 
 where he was or what he was about, some keeping him very 
 still and quiet in one place, and others making him the 
 very embodiment of perpetual motion, these differing writ- 
 ers appear to have no difficulty in locating him with the 
 American army on Saturday night, over at Prospect and 
 Winter Hills. What a strange and curious man he must 
 have been to have rushed in at the very last moment to 
 snatch that defeated army out of the hands of its rightful 
 commander ! What a desirable moment that was to come 
 into such a possession ! How eagerly most men covet the 
 glories of leadership under such conditions ! 
 
 There can be no doubt (for we have many witnesses) 
 that he spent that night with this discomfited army, and 
 that Prescott did not. We have his own express statement 
 on this point, made to the Committee of Safety not long 
 after, at a time when he had the burden of some grievances 
 
^T. 57-] Who Led the Army from the 'Field? 211 
 
 on his mind. He says, " Pray, did not I take possession of 
 Prospect Hill the very night after the fight on Bunker Hill 
 without having any orders from any person ? And was not 
 I the only general officer that tarried there ? " There was 
 no time to consult or wait for orders. He had to take the 
 responsibility and do the best he could. And the very lan- 
 guage he uses implies that what he did was generally ac- 
 knowledged to have been wisely and well done, — an impor- 
 tant step taken. 
 
 Daniel Putnam found him at Prospect Hill the next 
 morning, about 10 o'clock. But before allowing him to tell 
 what his father was doing and how he looked, there is a 
 little story about this Daniel Putnam himself, which will 
 help to bring freshly before us the scenes and events con- 
 nected with this famous action. 
 
 He wanted to go to the battle ; begged hard to be per- 
 mitted to go. His older brother was going, and he himself 
 would be sixteen years old the next November. But his 
 father would not hear to it, told him he must go and stay 
 with Mrs. Inman and make himself useful. This Mrs. In- 
 man and her nieces lived in the house * which gave the 
 
 * It happened by a somewhat curious coincidence, that on the very day 
 while we were writing these words, a local celebration was going on in Cam- 
 bridge on the occasion of the dedication of Inman Square. We knew noth- 
 ing of it until we saw the report in the next morning's paper. From the his- 
 torical address delivered by Mr. C. M. Hovey, as reported in the Boston 
 " Daily Advertiser " of February 4th, 1876, we cut the following passage, which 
 will very clearly explain the circumstances of this house and farm, and give us 
 a glimpse of their surroundings in 1775 : 
 
 "In 1775 the principal family in Carabridgeport was the Inman family. 
 There belonged to this estate about one hundred and eighty acres of land, 
 which was described as arable pasture and woodland. It comprised nearly 
 one-half of what is now the Port. The house, near the corner of Main and 
 Inman Streets, was approached from Milk Row, now in Somerville, by a pleas- 
 ant lane, part of which was identical with the present Inman Street. Ralph 
 Inman died in 178S, and by his direction the land was sold in 1802 for the 
 benefit of his heirs. It brought ten dollars an acre. Until 1793, when West 
 
212 Life of Israel Ptitnain. [1775- 
 
 name to General Putnam's headquarters, in what is now 
 Cambridgeport, and one of the present streets of Cam- 
 bridgeport near this locaUty bears this name. Mr. Inman 
 was a Tory, and feeling quite uncomfortable where so many 
 American soldiers were about him, had himself gone into 
 Boston to share the protection of the King's troops. Mrs. 
 Inman and her nieces, who lived with her, had applied to 
 General Putnam for protection, and he had set a guard to 
 keep her premises from harm. General Putnam told Daniel 
 he must go and stay at Mrs. Inman's house during this 
 Bunker Hill business, and make himself as helpful to 
 her as possible. He felt a little as David did when his 
 elder brothers had gone to fight the Philistines, and he 
 was left with the sheep ; but he obeyed, for some one has 
 well said of him that he dared do anything but disobey 
 his father. 
 
 On Saturday night, when the news reached Cambridge 
 that the Americans had been compelled to retreat, Mrs. 
 Inman, like others, fearing that the British would follow, 
 and she should find herself in the very path of the flying 
 and pursuing troops, determined to leave her house, with 
 such valuables as she could carry, and take refuge with 
 some friends at a place called Brush Hill. Putnam assist- 
 ed in this hasty removal. They did not reach their des- 
 tination till nearly midnight, but on the way young 
 Putnam's mind was greatly relieved from its load of press- 
 ing anxiety by hearing that his father was safe. The 
 next morning was Sunday. As soon as he could gain 
 
 Boston bridge was built, there was no way of reaching the estate except 
 through Charlestown. In 1809 Craigie's bridge was also built. In 1818 the 
 land lying between the college grounds on the west, Broadway on the south, 
 Prospect Street on the east, Cambridge and Hampshire Streets on the north, 
 was laid out as a racing park and used for that purpose for some years. When 
 it was given up, the land returned to bushes and trees again, till about 1840, 
 when population began to approach it." 
 
iET. 57-1 Who Led the Army from the Field f 213 
 
 permission he went in search of his father. He tells the 
 story thus : 
 
 " I was not long in retracing my steps of the last night back to 
 Cambridge. General Putnam was not at his quarters ; he had 
 been there it was said for a few minutes only, and with fresh men 
 was then fortifying Prospect Hill. There I found him about 
 10 o'clock on the morning of June i8th, dashing about among 
 the workmen, throwing up intrenchments, and often placing a sod 
 with his own hands. He wore the same clothes he had on when 
 I left him thirty-eight hours before, and affirmed he had never 
 put them off or washed himself since ; and we might well believe 
 him, for the aspect of all bore evidence that he spoke the truth." 
 
 General Putnam not only went to Prospect Hill that 
 night, but he stayed there. It was a vital point to occupy. 
 It controlled the path along which the British would have 
 to move, if they attempted to march by the Charlestown 
 road to Cambridge. They never attempted to march along 
 that road. They had their fortifications on Bunker Hill, 
 but they did not venture across the neck. Additional 
 troops were detailed to be under Putnam's special com- 
 mand, and to help build his fortifications. But he went 
 there directly from Bunker Hill and led the army there, as 
 one entrusted with its destinies. In all this he is seen to 
 have been their commander-in-chief, and Prescott is seen 
 not to have been their commander-in-chief. We hold that 
 the evidence to be derived from these circumstances imme- 
 diately following the battle, is as vital as any that can be 
 adduced from any quarter. The facts, too, seem to be 
 admitted by all parties, though some have not stopped long 
 enough to see the effect of the admission. 
 
 Through the kindness of Mr. A. W. Haskell of Boston, 
 we have before us a neat and well kept diary, the work of 
 his father, Caleb Haskell, who was a soldier at the battle of 
 Bunker Hill in Colonel Little's regiment. A brief refer- 
 
214 Life of Israel Putnam. [i77S- 
 
 ence has already been made to this diary. Mr. Haskell 
 was from Newburyport. This record will show us, in a 
 natural and life-like manner, how those days in June, 1775, 
 were passing. 
 
 " jfune 77, Saturday. — This day begins with the noise of can- 
 non from the ships firing at our men intrenching on Bunker 
 Hill. The firing continues all the forenoon of the day, but one 
 man killed. We were alarmed at Cambridge, heard that the 
 enemy were landing in Charlestown. The army set out, we 
 found the town in flames, and the regulars ascending the hill, 
 the balls flying almost as thick as hailstones, from the ships and 
 floating batteries and Copp's Hill and Beacon Hill in Boston, 
 and the ground covered with the wounded and dead. Our peo- 
 ple stood the fire some time, until the enemy had almost sur- 
 rounded us and cut off our retreat. We were obliged to quit the 
 ground and retreat as fast as possible. In this engagement we 
 lost the ground and the heroic General Warren. We had one 
 hundred and thirty-eight killed and two hundred and ninety-two 
 wounded. The loss on the enemy's side was ninety-two com- 
 missioners ; one hundred and two sergeants ; one hundred cor- 
 porals, and seven hundred privates. Total loss, nine hundred 
 and ninety-four. [This was probably an early report of British 
 losses.] 
 
 " June 18, Sunday. — Early this morning were employed in 
 making cartridges and getting in readiness for another battle. 
 A large reinforcement came in from the country. At noon were 
 alarmed again, marched to Prospect Hill, which we were fortify- 
 ing, were ordered to halt and wait for orders from the General,* 
 marched back again, had orders to hold ourselves in readiness 
 to march at the first notice. The enemy keep a continual firing 
 upon us at Prospect Hill, which we are fortifying. At 9 o'clock 
 in the evening received orders to go down to the hill, march to 
 headquarters, received new orders to go back to our quarters and 
 hold ourselves in readiness. 
 
 " yune jg, Monday. — The day comes on with noise of can- 
 
 * The General thus referred to was doubtless Putnam. 
 
-<Et. 57-] Who Led the Army from the Field? 215 
 
 non from Bunker Hill, and floating batteries discharged at us on 
 Prospect Hill, which continues all day. The enemy set the 
 upper end of Charlestown on fire. We mounted picket guard. 
 
 " yune 20, Tuesday. — On guard this morning, we passed 
 muster in the afternoon, in the evening were relieved from 
 guard 
 
 " yune2j, Friday. — This day were ordered to Prospect Hill, 
 where we are stationed, went down, pitched our tents, went to 
 intrenching 
 
 " yuly 2, Sunday. — This day the Honorable George Wash- 
 ington, Esq., commander-in-chief of the united forces in America, 
 arrived at Cambridge. This afternoon had rain." 
 
 In all these entries after the first, this soldier represent- 
 ing Colonel Little's regiment is circling about Putnam at 
 Prospect Hill. The owner of the diary recollects an anec- 
 dote w^hich his father loved to tell of General Putnam. 
 Coming around one day to see how the works were getting 
 on, he found some men that evidently had not bestowed 
 much labor upon their section since he was last there. 
 
 " To what regiment do you belong .? " said the General. 
 
 " To Colonel Doolittle's," was the reply. 
 
 " Doo-little .? do nothing at all ! " was the prompt re- 
 joinder. 
 
 The anecdote shows that both Colonel Little's and Col- 
 onel Doolittle's regiments were there, and there were, as 
 the records show, several other Massachusetts regiments 
 intrenching under Putnam's orders. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 TESTIMONY OF BUNKER HILL LITERATURE AND ART. 
 
 
 
 Art. — Three Pictures. — Mr. Dawson. — Early Notices of the Battle, American 
 and English. — General Dearborn and the Controversy of 1818. — What 
 was its Import ? — " Siege of Boston." — Frothingham. — Bancroft. — Irving. 
 — The Question of To-day a new and modern one. — Mr. Frothingham's 
 later Pupils. 
 
 IN this chapter, which will necessarily be long, we propose 
 to bring together and set in order a mass of evidence 
 which will certainly help to determine who was the com- 
 mander at Bunker Hill, 
 
 We will begin with Art. 
 
 The first picture, so far as we know (and without much 
 doubt it was the very first), designed to represent to the 
 eye the battle of Bunker Hill was a rude sketch published 
 in Philadelphia in the summer of 1775. This picture was 
 variously used in the newspapers at the time of the late 
 Bunker Hill Centennial. It may be found in the " Boston 
 Herald" for June 17th, 1875, in connection with the able 
 article prepared for that paper, from the pen of W. W. 
 Wheildon, Esq., of Concord, and the brief history of the 
 picture itself is there given in these words : " The larger 
 map (or picture) was printed in the ' Pennsylvania Maga- 
 zine ' in July, 1775, and the original, as may be imagined, 
 was crude in form, conception and execution. So the fac 
 simile is not put forward as the copy of the work of an 
 artist." 
 
 It may be found also in the " Bunker Hill Times," and 
 in several other papers. But the most curious and un- 
 216 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art. 217 
 
 looked-for place where it may be found is in the small vol- 
 ume prepared by Mr. Frothingham for circulation during 
 the centennial year of the battle, which volume is a valu- 
 able compendium, chiefly made from his larger work. By 
 what fortune this picture found its way into that little book, 
 we have never inquired, but have always been curious to 
 know ; for the picture is in the most positive and direct an- 
 tagonism with the theory of the book itself. 
 
 If the questions be asked. Why should a place so far off as 
 Philadelphia be the first to issue a picture .■' and what clear 
 information could the people there have at that time .-' the 
 answer is ready and obvious. The Continental Congress 
 was sitting at Philadelphia, and every item of information 
 of any importance to the common cause was carried there 
 as soon as the express riders could convey it. Ten days 
 after the battle, as sure and accurate information might 
 be gained in Philadelphia, as to the various details of the 
 action, as almost anywhere else in all the thirteen colonies. 
 Boston was in no condition then to indulge in pictorial 
 art. The town was occupied with British troops. In that 
 American camp about the town there was one man, at 
 least, who was equal to the task of producing such a pic- 
 ture, and a much better one ; but he, with all the rest of 
 those officers and men, was occupied with very different 
 cares. Philadelphia was as natural a place as any in the 
 land for such a picture to appear, and there it was published 
 in July, 1775. This picture is peculiarly strong in its tes- 
 timony. It is accompanied by a key, pointing out the fea- 
 tures which are most important to be noticed. There are 
 nine points in the picture to which the eye is directed. 
 They are these : " (i) Boston ; (2) Charlestown ; (3) Breed's 
 Hill ; (4) Provincial Breastwork ; (5) Retreating Regulars ; 
 (6) Frigate ; (7) Somerset ; (8) Broken officer ; (9) General 
 Putnam." And there the sturdy old General is, on his 
 
2i8 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 white horse, with his sword drawn, his steed on a half-leap, 
 as in the act of cantering, the only person mentioned by 
 name, and the commander-in-chief as clearly and distinctly 
 as the pictorial art, with words accompanying, can make 
 him so. Prescott is nowhere named or indicated. Is it 
 likely they were all wrong about that matter in Philadel- 
 phia, in the summer of 1775, under the very droppings of 
 the Continental Congress .<* 
 
 The next picture which we notice was published in Lon- 
 don in September, 1775. To understand why this picture 
 should be published there, let it be remembered that there 
 were many officers in the British army, some of them on 
 this side the water at that time, and some on the other, 
 who were intimately acquainted with Putnam, by long inter- 
 course during the French War, and who loved him like a 
 brother. No amount of writing can destroy the fact that 
 Putnam was a man to be loved. He won the hearts of 
 those about him to a most remarkable degree. Let it be 
 still further borne in mind that there were great multitudes 
 of men in England at that time, as we shall hereafter see, 
 who were intensely indignant at the course the British gov- 
 ernment was pursuing, whose sympathies were with us in 
 all those trials, and who saw in that battle of Bunker Hill 
 an outburst of provincial patriotism and courage that elic- 
 ited their warmest approbation. There was, therefore, a 
 natural demand, even in England, for a picture of the hero 
 of Bunker Hill.* We know not how many copies of this 
 picture are to be found in this country, but probably a 
 goodly number. We know that Samuel Adams Drake, 
 Esq., of Boston, has a copy. It was placed in the window 
 of a book store in Bromfield Street, last summer, during the 
 week of the centennial celebration, and was attentively 
 studied by many a passer-by. We know that a copy of it 
 
 * Appendix C. 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art. 219 
 
 may be seen in Danvers, in the house already described, 
 where General Putnam was born. We know that there is 
 a copy of it hanging in the rooms of the Historical Society 
 in Hartford, Connecticut. The picture bears the name of 
 the artist, J. Wilkinson, and the name of the publisher, 
 C. Shepherd (for the painting served as the basis for an 
 engraving). This picture carries the following verbal in- 
 scription : " Israel Putnam, Esq., Major-General of the Con- 
 necticut forces, and commander-in-chief at the engagement 
 on Bunker Hill near Boston, 17th June, 1775." This 
 inscription is not technically correct, but on the point now 
 before us its testimony is unequivocal. 
 
 In these two pictures we have the American testimony 
 on the one hand, and the British testimony on the other, 
 both exactly concurring, uttered in the plainest manner, in 
 the summer of 1775. And is there one particle of histori- 
 cal evidence, that in those years nearest to the battle, when 
 living men in great numbers knew the facts, any writer 
 ever objected to those two pictures as bearing false wit- 
 ness ,-' 
 
 But we come now to a far more celebrated picture than 
 either of these, copies of which have been multiplied till 
 almost everybody is familiar with it. There was in that 
 American army about Boston, in the spring and summer 
 of 1775, a youth of only nineteen years, a graduate of 
 Harvard College, at first an Adjutant in General Spencer's 
 regiment at Roxbury, but when Washington arrived he 
 was taken into his family as one of his Aids. This was 
 Colonel John Trumbull, youngest son of Governor Jonathan 
 Trumbull of Connecticut. He was of frail constitution, 
 but of exquisite tastes and sensibilities, and notable for a 
 nice sense of honor. No man in the American army could 
 have any better opportunity than he for knowing exactly 
 what went on in those months of May, June and July, 
 
220 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 1775, For in the first place, his father (the only Gover- 
 nor in the thirteen colonies on the side of the people 
 against the crown) had in his hands the entire organiza- 
 tion of the Connecticut troops, and every important fact 
 with regard to the conduct of the officers and soldiers was 
 brought to his immediate notice ; and any event so impor- 
 tant as the battle of Bunker Hill would in after months 
 and years be familiarly talked over by that fireside at Leba- 
 non, Connecticut, But more than this. Though not in 
 the battle, because Spencer's regiment did not partici- 
 pate in it, yet from the hills of Roxbury he watched it in 
 the distance, and was not whglly out of danger in so doing. 
 The British that day sent their cannon shot over Roxbury 
 Heights as well as over those of Charlestown. They 
 wished of course to keep up the impression that Roxbury 
 might be one point at which they were aiming, so that the 
 American troops would not dare to move from the right 
 wing to help their brethren at the centre. Trumbull saw 
 one man killed that day by a cannon shot in Roxbury. It 
 could not, of course, be otherwise than that he should hear 
 the facts of Bunker Hill all minutely talked over in those 
 days at General Spencer's headquarters. Then, early in 
 July, he passed over to Cambridge and was domiciled in 
 General Washington's family. At Washington's table, 
 Putnam by invitation dined once a week, and Washington 
 went once a week to dine at Putnam's headquarters. Col- 
 onel Trumbull therefore, without question, heard all the 
 details of the 17th of June freely talked over between 
 those two men. Can we doubt after all this that he knew, 
 if anybody knew, what took place on those Charlestown 
 Pleights during the day of the battle } The next year 
 Trumbull was appointed Adjutant-General. But his tastes 
 were not for war or military oflfice. He was passionately 
 devoted to art, and after a time he resigned his commission 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art. 221 
 
 and went over to England, where in 1 780 he became a 
 pupil of the celebrated painter Benjamin West, who, it will 
 be remembered, was also an American, a native of Pennsyl- 
 vania, though passing the larger portion of his life in Eng- 
 land. Under his tuition Trumbull studied the art of paint- 
 ing, and after he had acquired skill and independence, pro- 
 jected and executed a series of paintings illustrating some 
 of the battle scenes of the American Revolution. Of ail 
 these pictures perhaps the favorite one alike with the artist 
 and the public, has been the " Death of Warren " at Bun- 
 ker Hill. All the other parts are made accessory to this 
 central incident of Warren's death. But when an artist 
 undertakes thus to give a battle scene, he will naturally 
 group the chief figures to be represented according to his 
 own fancy. He works upon a very small piece of canvas, 
 and he cannot scatter the personages over a large territory, 
 though as a matter of fact they might have been at some 
 distance from each other at the time contemplated. No one, 
 of course, supposes that the men shown in that picture stood 
 in that exact attitude and relation at the moment of War- 
 ren's death. That is the work of the artist's own imagina- 
 tion. But back of these minor details, the law of historical 
 truth will prevail, if the man who was commander-in-chief 
 in the battle is so represented ; and the law of historical 
 untruth will prevail, if the artist makes a man commander- 
 in-chief who was not so. No matter, as we just said, whether 
 that commander were exactly on that spot at that moment, 
 or not. He might even have been in some distant part of 
 the field. The artist is not trying to follow such details. 
 
 Trumbull, in painting that picture, made General Israel 
 Putnam the American commander. He did it, not because 
 ,he had any pet theory to maintain. There was no discus- 
 sion on the subject. He did it naturally, as a thing of 
 course, as a simple matter of fact, just as those who pro- 
 
222 Life of Israel Piitnam. 
 
 duced the other two pictures, already named, had done. 
 Any person, we care not who he may be, who would accuse 
 such a man as Colonel John Trumbull of attempting to per- 
 petrate a historical falsehood in painting that picture does 
 not know the character of the man against whom he brings 
 that charge. His opportunities for exact knowledge were 
 certainly rare and peculiar. And perhaps the chief reason 
 why this picture surpasses in interest some of his other 
 historical paintings, was just because of his intimate ac- 
 quaintance with the persons and the facts. He wrought 
 with his heart as well as with his pencil.* 
 
 But the men in these modern days who will have it that 
 Colonel William Prescott was chief commander in the bat- 
 tle desire very much to destroy the testimony of this pic- 
 ture. Why they do not have an equal antipathy to the two 
 others already named it is hard to see, except that this one 
 is more widely known. Referring to Trumbull's painting. 
 Dr. Ellis, in his " History," etc., says (p. 6"]), " The writer 
 was also assured by Judge Prescott — indeed he has it in 
 writing from his own pen — that Colonel John Trumbull, 
 the painter, in i y^6, of the fancy piece of the ' Battle of Bun- 
 
 * " Colonel John Trumbull attempted to depict the events of the Revolu- 
 tion in a series of large historical tableaux, which are now chiefly valued for 
 the faithful portraits they contain of the soldiers and statesmen of that time. 
 His sketches and studies for these works show a vigor and grasp which are 
 wanting in the larger canvases. His ' Death of Montgomery,' the ' Signing 
 of the Declaration of Independence,' and the ' Battle of Bunker Hill,' and 
 others of his important works, exhibit considerable skill in grouping and com- 
 position, but it would have been better for his fame had nothing remained 
 but the original sketches and portraits. His talent is displayed to greater 
 advantage in the ' Trumbull Gallery ' at New Haven than in the National 
 Capitol. An Aid-de-Camp to General Washington, in the early part of the 
 Revolution, Colonel Trumbull enjo3'ed peculiar facilities for studying his 
 character and features under the most varied circumstances, and his portrait 
 of him, now in the gallery at New Haven, is full of soldierly spirit. By con- 
 temporaries, to whom it recalled the leader of the American armies, it was pre- 
 ferred to Stuart's." — S. S. Conant in "Harper's Monthly" for April, 1876, 
 p. 701. 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art. 223 
 
 ker Hill,' in which Putnam appears as the commander of 
 the redoubt, at Judge Prescott's dinner table, expressed 
 his sincere regret at the error he had committed, and his 
 desire and purpose to rectify it ! " 
 
 There is one little item here that needs a passing remark 
 before we come to that which is of main interest. We do 
 not understand that Trumbull makes Putnam the "com- 
 mander of the redoubt." The scene is at the redoubt, 
 because the death of Warren, which is the central idea 
 of the picture, was there. But Trumbull would have ad- 
 mitted what everybody, so far as we know, admits, that 
 Prescott was the commander of the redoubt in the same 
 sense that Stark was commander down by the shore of the 
 Mystic, or as Knowlton was commander of the Connecticut 
 men behind the rail fence, nearer to the fort 
 
 But letting this pass for the present, we have long heard 
 of this rumor, viz., that Trumbull expressed to Judge Pres- 
 cott his regret at the error he had committed, and his pur- 
 pose to amend it. We have always believed that the story, 
 if traced, would be found springing from a very small germ. 
 Colonel Trumbull was a strictly polite man, and under the 
 circumstances might very naturally have expressed a re- 
 gret if he had not duly honored Colonel Prescott in that 
 picture. Whether a topic so intensely personal to both 
 was a happy one to be introduced at Judge Prescott's table, 
 when Trumbull was a guest there, would be open to con- 
 sideration. 
 
 But the artist lived on to the advanced age of eighty- 
 seven, dying in 1843. He was buried from the house of 
 Professor Silliman of New Haven, where for many years 
 he had lived. (Professor Benjamin Silliman, the elder, 
 married Colonel Trumbull's niece.) It must have been 
 many years before his death that Colonel Trumbull made 
 the promise (if he ever did make it) that he would rectify 
 
224 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 his mistake. He probably was not expected to paint his 
 picture over again, but to come out with some public state- 
 ment or acknowledgement. Those who have known Colonel 
 Trumbull would say that he was a man exceedingly apt to 
 keep his word. His sense of personal honor was unusually 
 high. And yet he seems at last to have died and made no 
 sign, though he had had so many years in which to make 
 it. This circumstance alone seems to render it doubtful 
 if the rumor, in the form in which it has circulated, had 
 any good foundation. We do not doubt there was a germ 
 and starting-point for this story, but probably it has grown 
 out of its true shape by transmission. The most natural 
 place to go for exact information seemed to be to the family 
 of Professor Silliman. The elder Professor Silliman has 
 been dead for a number of years, but his son, the Professor 
 Benjamin Silliman of the present, inherits the reminiscen- 
 ces, the traditions, the writings, and many of the pictures 
 of Colonel Trumbull. To him we looked for information. 
 What he has furnished will be found more fully in the Ap- 
 pendix.* But for our present purpose, it is sufficient to 
 quote the following sentences : 
 
 " For more than ten years I was almost daily in intimate com- 
 munication with Colonel Trumbull, and hold in memory many 
 vivid statements respecting the early events of our national his- 
 tory. If he had ever said anything supporting the theory of a 
 change of view on his part as to the parts borne by Putnam and 
 Prescott at the battle of Bunker Hill, I should certainly remember 
 it. He never said anything of the kind in my hearing, though 
 he often dwelt in detail, and always with enthusiasm, upon the 
 composition of his picture of the ' Death of Warren,' which he 
 justly esteemed as on the whole the most remarkable of all his 
 battle pieces. He was always strenuous on the authenticity of 
 his records and the fidelity of his reputation, and explained the 
 
 * Appendix D. 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art. 225 
 
 unwearied pains he took to secure, in every possible case, authen- 
 tic portraits. The only Americans in the Bunker Hill picture, 
 of whom the portraits are marked by him as likenesses, are the 
 heads of Warren and Putnam. The last he drew from the life, 
 and I now own his original pencil sketch, from which the head 
 in the picture was taken." * 
 
 Colonel Trumbull, then, did not intend to make Putnam 
 the "commander of the redoubt," and did not paint /n- 
 inarily to make him anything, but in his grouping, as inci- 
 dental to his main design, he made Putnam what he had to 
 make him, in order to be true to history, viz., commander- 
 in-chief on the general field. 
 
 The painter introduces two incidents f in his verbal 
 description of the battle, and one of them is also intro- 
 duced into the painting itself. This is the attempt of 
 Major Small to parry the thrust of the soldier who is about 
 to plunge his bayonet into the dying hero, Warren. Upon 
 this incident we will not dwell. In the other, it is stated 
 that when the British forces came up the second time, and 
 their front lines were terribly cut down by the American 
 musketry, Putnam saw some muskets aimed directly at his 
 old friend, Major Small. Springing forward, he exclaimed, 
 "Don't kill that man, I love him like a brother," and so 
 stopped the discharge of those particular muskets. Mr. 
 Frothingham says, " These incidents wear too much the 
 air of romance to be implicitly relied upon." But Colonel 
 Trumbull claims that they are authentic, and that he had 
 
 * " It is not with an array of names, with loose, incoherent, hearsay testi- 
 mony, nor evidence of a nature purely negative, that an intelligent public can 
 or will be satisfied on a point not affecting the character of one man only, but 
 of many men and of the nation. The correctness of historical facts is felt to 
 be important. If Mr. Trumbull's picture of this battle is erroneous and false, 
 we ought to know it and to banish it from our parlors." — Hon. John Lowell, 
 1818. 
 
 t Appendix B. 
 
 IS 
 
226 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 them from Major Small himself. Concerning this last, which 
 we have given more fully, it makes some difference whether 
 it be implicitly relied upon or not. If it is true, then Put- 
 nam at that moment was not far from the redoubt, and at 
 any rate at the very forefront of the battle, when it would 
 be just as convenient to have him over on the back side of 
 the hill, out of the way of danger, and doing nothing but 
 vainly urging forward the reinforcements. 
 
 Turning over the voluminous pages of Force's " Ar- 
 chives," the eye fell upon a letter which a certain John 
 Stuart (probably belonging to the English army and sta- 
 tioned at St. Augustine) wrote to Major Small. The open- 
 ing of the letter is as follows : 
 
 "St. Augustine, October 2, 1775. 
 
 " Dear Sir : I was extremely glad to learn by our old friend, 
 Captain Barker oi the i6th [regiment], who arrived here yester- 
 day, that you was well when he left Boston. I congratulate you 
 upon a very narrow escape where so many fell."* 
 
 The words " where so many fell " prove that the sen- 
 tence had reference to the battle. The words " a very 
 narrow escape " would not have been naturally chosen if 
 the writer was thinking of one who had simply come out 
 alive and unharmed from the battle, as some two thousand 
 other men had done. The language would certainly seem 
 to point to something particular, some special deliverance. 
 It is altogether natural to suppose that Captain Barker had 
 just been telling Mr. Stuart how Major Small had been 
 saved by Putnam's interposition, and so had " a very narrow 
 escape." While no one can absolutely assert that this is 
 the interpretation to be given, it is at least very highly 
 probable. Mr. Frothingham ("Siege of Boston," p. 172) 
 says, "That Major Small felt grateful for an interference 
 at some time in his behalf is undoubtedly true. It might 
 might have been the incident given on page 79." 
 
 *" American Archives," 4th Series, Vol. IV. p. 317. 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art. 227 
 
 Now, the incident related on page 79 is the following : 
 
 " The late Dr. Prince of Salem used to relate, that as he was 
 standing with a party of armed men at Charlestown Neck, a 
 person enveloped in a cloak rode up on horseback, inquired the 
 news and passed on, but he immediately put spur to his horse, 
 and the animal started forward so suddenly as to cause the rider 
 to raise his arms, throw up the cloak and thus reveal a uniform. 
 The men instantly levelled their guns to fire, when Dr. Prince 
 struck them up, exclaiming, ' Don't fire at him ! he is my friend 
 Small, a fine fellow.' It was Major Small, an express from the 
 army, who got safe into Boston." 
 
 The reader will see at a glance that this anecdote does 
 not meet the conditions of the letter we have quoted from 
 Mr. Stuart. That language evidently belongs to the battle 
 of Bunker Hill, and cannot apply to anything else. It looks 
 as though Colonel Trumbull's testimony as to this incident 
 would stand secure against all attempts to discredit it, and 
 that General Putnam was near the redoubt, in the very 
 midst of the conflict, when the British made their second 
 assault. Added to all these proofs and suggestions is a 
 circumstance mentioned by Daniel Putnam in his reply to 
 General Dearborn, which to most readers will be convinc- 
 ing and weighty. He says, " I shall make no comment on 
 the first anecdote by Colonel Small, except that the circum- 
 stances were related by General Putnam without any essen- 
 tial alteration soon after the battle, and that there was an 
 interview of the parties, on the lines between Prospect and 
 Bunker Hills, at the request of Colonel Small, not long 
 afterwards." 
 
 We have, then, three pictures, prepared very soon after 
 the battle, all pointing to General Putnam as the chief com- 
 mander at Bunker Hill. Are there any ancient paintings 
 or engravings that bear a like testimony in favor of Colonel 
 Prescott "i 
 
228 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 We turn now to the Literature of Bunker Hill, and strike 
 a far more extended field. But it will not be wise to go 
 over again the thousand and one testimonies and affidavits 
 which constitute a part of this literature. All we can do 
 is to make a rapid analysis of what has been accumulating 
 for a hundred years. In the course of it we shall intro- 
 duce at least one witness who, so far as we are aware, has 
 never before spoken. 
 
 In the review we are now about to make, it might seem 
 to some an intended slight, and to others a sign of timidity, 
 were we to take no notice of the remarkable theory respect- 
 ing General Putnam advanced by Mr. Dawson in his fa- 
 mous number of the "Historical Magazine" for June, 1868. 
 We have no wish to neglect a writer who has performed 
 such large and valuable services in gathering together the 
 authorities on this topic, and whose study of the battle 
 itself is usually so correct, and we certainly have no fear 
 that should keep us from reporting the worst things he has 
 written. The public shall have the full knowledge of his 
 theory, so far as this volume is concerned. Mr. Dawson 
 thinks Putnam was acting the part of a traitor in this 
 battle, and trying to sell himself for British gold ; but the 
 price he named was too high, and the bargain was not com- 
 pleted. He speaks (p. 335) of a kind of double record 
 which has come down to us through English and American 
 channels, which "confirms the terrible suspicion of some- 
 body's ' treachery,' * and fastens upon the same General 
 Putnam a secret desire, about that time, to return to the 
 peace of his sovereign, as well as an offer of terms for that 
 purpose to the royal general-in-chief, and their qualified 
 rejection." 
 
 * Peter Brown's letter to his mother, June 25, 1775, quoted in " Historical 
 Magazine," June, 1868, p. 396, as follows : 
 
 " The danger we were in made us think there was Treachery, and that we 
 were brot here to be all slain ; and I must and will venture to say, there was 
 Treachery, Oversight or Presumption in the conduct of our officers." 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art. 229 
 
 Again, in a note, after quoting a passage showing what 
 hardships Putnam went through in the French War, and 
 what wounds he received, he sympathizingly remarks (p. 
 355), "After having lost his scalp, and endured the pain 
 resulting from fifteen wounds, it seems to us that this offi- 
 cer would have been as useless to the King as he was to 
 the Congress; and General Gage may therefore be enti- 
 tled to more credit than he has received, for refusing to 
 purchase him at the price demanded." 
 
 Again, " General Putnam, after safely resting at Cam- 
 bridge until the next morning, returned to the peninsula a 
 little before noon, and blustered as was his habit, without 
 rendering any service to the fatigue parties, until his eyes 
 fell on the tools which the weary workers, still unrefreshed, 
 had recently laid down near the works." 
 
 Still again, " It is also evident that the greater number 
 were skulkers, who sneaked back to the eastern [western .?] 
 side of Bunker Hill, and there assisted. General Putnam in 
 waiting for the result of the action, and in joining in the 
 retreat." 
 
 We might quote other passages, but these will be enough 
 to show the nature of Mr. Dawson's theory, the quality of 
 his opinions on this particular point, and the style of his 
 expression. One tries to imagine in what condition of 
 mind and body the writer penned such sentences. There 
 is a bitterness, a vindictiveness in them, especially as writ- 
 ten against a man who had been sleeping in his grave 
 almost a century, that seems to call for special explana- 
 tion. 
 
 But certainly this is a remarkable discovery about Gen- 
 eral Putnam. A distinguished man, yet living among us, but 
 not noted for early rising, got up one morning in uncom- 
 mon season. A friend, surprised at seeing him stirring at 
 that time of the day, asked him how he managed to wake 
 
230 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 up, and wished to know if any one called him. " No, sir," 
 was the sardonic reply, " I woke up by my own ingenuity 
 and vivacity." Mr. Dawson, in like manner, appears to 
 have roused himself to the construction of this theory 
 purely by his own " ingenuity and vivacity," without any 
 one to wake him or help him in any manner. His English 
 forefathers, men who fought alongside of Putnam through 
 the French War, and against him in the war of the Revo- 
 lution, never understood his character and designs. Put- 
 nam's own countrymen did not understand them. Even 
 Washington did not understand them. Mr. Dawson found 
 out exactly what they were, only a very few years ago. It 
 is truly remarkable. Mr. Dawson is well known for his 
 historical learning. His pages are richly freighted with 
 notes and references, such as are usually quite valuable. 
 But the word reference and the word itiference are very 
 much alike in mechanical structure. They have the same 
 number of letters, only one has four e's and the other three 
 e's and an i. It is curious to notice that the foot notes 
 supporting this theory in Mr. Dawson's pages contain no 
 ^/r^*:/ evidence or testimony in its favor; his references all 
 turn into inferences. 
 
 Some of the men on that hill during that long forenoon 
 suspected " treachery," and of course it was General Put- 
 nam who was the traitor. It could not possibly have been 
 General Ward out at Cambridge, who promised to send 
 reinforcements and refreshments early in the morning, and 
 never sent the latter apparently at all, and the former not 
 till afternoon. It could not have been his course of con- 
 duct which occasioned the feeling that some one was play- 
 ing false with them. No ; it was General Putnam ; there is 
 no doubt of it. If those men suspected treachery some- 
 where, General Putnam was the traitor. It is a remarka- 
 bly brilliant discovery, and Mr. Dawson shall have all the 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art. 231 
 
 honors belonging to it and springing from it. But it is 
 very natural to remark, that a man who could play the 
 traitor that day to any purpose must have been one who 
 stood at the head of the action on the field. A subordi- 
 nate officer or a volunteer could not easily have guided 
 that battle into the British hands, if he wished to. The 
 whole theory is so preposterous that we are sure many of 
 our readers will be utterly surprised to know that any man 
 ever thought of such a thing. 
 
 Leaving this aside as a mere episode, we turn now to 
 the work which we propose in connection with the litera- 
 ture of Bunker Hill. 
 
 At the outset, it is to be borne in mind that immediately 
 after the battle, the official authorities were careful in all 
 their publications not to mention the names of the leaders. 
 In the account which the Massachusetts Provincial Con- 
 gress prepared (June 28th) to be sent to the Committee of 
 Safety at Albany, they speak only of a " body of men," and 
 mention not a name connected with the battle. In the 
 statement prepared by the Massachusetts Committee of 
 Safety (July 25th) to be sent for publication to England, 
 they mention only the names of the dead, already removed 
 out of the way of British vengeance, such as General War- 
 ren, Colonel Gardner, Colonel Parker, Major Moore and 
 Major McClary. It was the opening of a great and uncer- 
 tain contest, and the authorities would not needlessly ex- 
 pose men who had taken their lives in their hands for the 
 common good. But after a little time this habit of silence 
 began slowly to disappear. The strife had assumed national 
 proportions. The Continental Congress had acted. Wash- 
 ington was commander-in-chief of the American army, and 
 his higher officers were grouped around him. The thing 
 could no longer " be done in a corner." 
 
 It is also to be borne in mind that the news of the death 
 
232 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 of Warren — a man greatly beloved — was instantly carried 
 in all directions, and the first natural conclusion of men was 
 that he was the commander. 
 
 Rev. Andrew Eliot of Boston writes two days after the 
 battle (June 19th) to his brother in London, " Dr. War- 
 ren is among the slain. It is said he had the chief direc- 
 tion of the defence ; if this is true, it seems to me he was 
 out of his line." 
 
 With the British officers and soldiers there was of course 
 no principle of secresy as to the facts on our side. They 
 were at liberty to tell all they knew or suspected. An offi- 
 cer of the British army, writing home, June 25th (" Ameri- 
 can Archives," 4th series, Vol. II. p. 1092), has the fol- 
 lowing sentences in his letter : " After the skirmish of the 
 17th we even commended the troops of Putnam, who fought 
 so gallantly /r<? aris et focis." And again in the same 
 letter, " So very secretly was the late action conducted, 
 that Generals Clinton and Burgoyne knew not of it till the 
 morning, though the town did in general, and Putnam in 
 particular." 
 
 Another of these British officers that give accounts of 
 the battle is John Clarke, Lieutenant of the marines. His 
 narrative may be found in Mr. Drake's book, entitled, 
 " Bunker Hill : the story told in letters from the battle- 
 field, by British officers engaged." The sentences we quote 
 are on p. 50. The writer is speaking of General Warren. 
 " 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 distance, and formed an ambuscade with about 
 three thousand men." 
 
 We know of course that he was all wrong in this last 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art, 233 
 
 supposition, but this sentence is an intensely interesting 
 and instructive one for this reason : It throws a distinct 
 ray of light over some of the obscure things of that day. 
 The British officers knew, probably, that Putnam was sta- 
 tioned at Inman's farm, and that he had there a regiment of 
 one thousand men, and they may have known that he had 
 also two other regiments under his command, which might 
 be just as large. Now, this Lieutenant Clarke's theory of 
 the battle is seen to be that Putnam was lying back at 
 Cambridgeport, expecting the British would break through 
 the lines on Bunker Hill and pursue the flying troops 
 towards Cambridge; and he, the old, wily French and 
 Indian ranger, would suddenly spring up with his three 
 thousand men, and confront them, and possibly cut them all 
 to pieces. They were not to be caught in that trap. But 
 we know that trap was never set, though it was fortunate 
 for us, perhaps, that some of the British officers thought it 
 was. 
 
 To show that this was not Lieutenant Clarke's theory 
 alone, but was to some extent current on the British side, 
 we give a few lines from the poem of George Cookings, 
 printed in London, and happily included in Mr. Drake's 
 book, p. 62. In this poem General Warren is represented 
 as commander, and the poet says, — 
 
 *' With sage precaution Howe the chase declined, 
 With circumspection mov'd, and wou'd not dare 
 To hazard a defeat in Putnam's snare." 
 
 And again the poet says, — 
 
 " Each eminence was fortified around, 
 And ambuscades possessed the lower ground ; 
 Here Putnam, Pribble, Ward, and Thomas stayed 
 To check pursuit, and pour in friendly aid." 
 
 With what we know of the battle, it is easily seen that 
 
234 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 everything is at " sixes and sevens " in these minds. But 
 be it noted, that the reason why Lieutenant Clarke sup- 
 posed Warren was commander was because Putman was 
 three miles off with an ambuscade. It seems not to have 
 occurred to him that a Colonel was chief commander. 
 
 That fact about the ambuscade failing him, he would 
 doubtless return to the other opinion, and say Putnam was 
 commander. It is a somewhat impressive fact that in all 
 these British accounts of the battle published in Mr. Drake's 
 book, we do not discover that Colonel Prescott is mentioned 
 in any connection whatever. He is mentioned once in the 
 poem, but not in any association with the redoubt or with 
 any command that day. It stands simply in a list of nine- 
 teen names, when, by the poet's fancy. General Warren 
 is represented as telling over the elements of American 
 strength. The first name in this list is Putnam, and the 
 seventeenth is Prescott. With this exception we discover 
 no reference to Prescott in these British accounts embraced 
 in Mr. Drake's book. These English officers, thoroughly 
 acquainted with the constitution of an army, if they thought 
 of Prescott at all, thought of him only as a subordinate offi- 
 cer, as they would of any other Colonel or Major. 
 
 But we will turn now from the early English literature 
 of the battle to the American. When that battle was 
 fought, Dr. Ezra Stiles (two years later made President of 
 Yale College) was the Congregational minister of Newport, 
 Rhode Island. He was a native of Connecticut, and was 
 then forty-eight years old. He was most intensely patri- 
 otic, and burning with desire to hear the news from Boston. 
 He kept a diary, which is now in manuscript in the library 
 of Yale College. Mr. Dawson obtained leave to have that 
 diary transcribed and published, so far as it relates to the 
 matter before us. This portion was first brought out by 
 him, and we are very much obliged to him for this service. 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art. 235 
 
 One of the most curious and interesting features of that 
 diary is, that it shows us exactly how news would reach a 
 man seventy miles away, after travelling over the hills and 
 passing through the mouths of men intensely excited. 
 June 1 8th, he hears that a battle has been fought, and 
 among the items that reach him, this is one : " That Colo- 
 nel Putnam is encamped at Charlestown on Bunker Hill, 
 and has lost one of his best Captains, but is determined to 
 stand his ground, having men enough." 
 
 Being a little one side, he has not kept up with passing 
 events. He calls him " Colonel Putnam," the title he wore 
 when he came home from the French War, and the com- 
 mon title by which he was known to the people before 1775. 
 He has not heard, apparently, or forgets for the moment, 
 that the Connecticut Assembly has made him a Brigadier- 
 General. 
 
 By June 19th he hears some more news. He says, " We 
 have various accounts, some that General Putnam is sur- 
 prised and taken by the King's troops, some that he re- 
 pulsed them, and had, by assistance of others coming up, 
 placed the regulars between two fires. At 10 o'clock at 
 night the news was that General Putnam was forced from 
 his trenches on Bunker Hill, and obliged to retreat." 
 
 This time it is General, and not Colonel, Putnam. 
 
 On the 20th he hears more news. " General Greene 
 says General Putnam, with three hundred men, took posses- 
 sion and intrenched on Bunker Hill, on Friday night, i6th 
 inst." Then on June 23d, some visitors, who had been to 
 Boston, returned and reported that " They spent one hour 
 with General Putnam in his tent on Prospect Hill, about 
 half-way between Cambridge and Charlestown. The Gen- 
 eral gave them an account of the battle last Saturday." 
 
 But we cannot linger on these details. At first, with 
 Dr. Stiles, it is all the while Colonel Putnam or General 
 
236 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 Putnam, By and by Prescott's name begins to come in, 
 and the diarist is evidently in a kind of confusion as to 
 the relations of the two. He is trying hard to find out how 
 many of the British were killed and wounded, and he takes 
 evident pleasure in recording large numbers under this head. 
 For some days he inclines to the idea that about one thou- 
 sand of the regulars were actually killed. 
 
 Mr, Frothingham quotes this same diary on the Prescott 
 side. We do not think this can fairly be done, especially 
 when we notice that some of Dr. Stiles's early information 
 came directly from General Greene himself, who we know 
 was in Rhode Island at that time, and who doubtless 
 understood what he was talking about. One good clear 
 word from General Greene in those exciting hours was 
 worth any number of mixed and wandering rumors. 
 
 If any one wishes to know the men who were upper- 
 most in Dr. Stiles's mind eight years afterwards, in 1783, 
 when the war was just over, he may find some of their 
 names in the Election Sermon which he preached that year 
 before Governor Trumbull and the General Assembly of 
 Connecticut. There is one passage where he brings out our 
 indebtedness to France. After a high rhapsody over the 
 beloved name of Washington, he goes on as follows : 
 " None but Americans can write the American War, They 
 will celebrate the names of a Washington and a Rocham- 
 beau ; a Greene and a Lafayette ; a Lincoln and Chastel- 
 lux ; a Gates and a Viomenil ; a Putnam and a Duke de Lau- 
 zun ; a Morgan, and other heroes who rushed to arms and 
 offered themselves voluntarily for the defence of liberty." 
 
 Then he adds the names of the illustrious dead, " War- 
 ren, Mercer, Montgomery, De Kalb, Wooster, Thomas, 
 Pulaski." The name of Prescott does not stand on this 
 honored roll, but the name of Benjamin Lincoln, a Massa- 
 chusetts man, is found there. He was a Colonel, like Pres- 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art. 237 
 
 cott, in 1775. He was a Major-General of militia in 1776, 
 a Continental Major-General in 1777, chief commander of 
 the southern department in 1778, received the submis- 
 sion of Cornwallis's troops in 1781, and in the same year 
 was made Secretary of War. That was a record which 
 entitled him to have his name on that roll. 
 
 There is one document which we must not pass by, and 
 which belongs to the very early days. We refer to the let- 
 ter which Colonel Prescott wrote to John Adams on the 
 25th of August, 1775. It is a very remarkable letter, and 
 we quote it in full. We have already several times taken 
 short sentences from it, but its very extraordinary character 
 makes it deserving of careful consideration. This was 
 written more than two months after the battle, and the 
 secresy as to names was no longer needful. We do not 
 discover that much use was made of this letter by the 
 newspapers and orators on the centennial 17th of June. 
 "Camp at Cambridge, August 25th, 1775. 
 
 *' Sir : I have received a line from my brother, which informs 
 me of your desire of a particular account of the action at Charles- 
 town. It is not in my power, at present, to give so minute an 
 account as I should choose, being ordered to decamp and march 
 to another station. 
 
 "On the 1 6th of June, in the evening, I received orders to 
 march to Breed's Hill in Charlestown, with a party of about one 
 thousand men, consisting of three hundred of my own regi- 
 ment, Colonel Bridge and Lieutenant Brickett with a detach- 
 ment of theirs, and two hundred Connecticut forces, commanded 
 by Captain Knowlton. We arrived at the spot, the lines were 
 drawn by the engineer, and we began the intrenchment about 
 twelve o'clock ; and plying the work with all possible expedition 
 till just before sunrising, when the enemy began a very heavy 
 cannonading and bombardment. In the interim, the engineer 
 forsook me. Having thrown up a small redoubt, found it neces- 
 sary to draw a line about twenty rods in length from the fort 
 
238 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 northerly, under a very warm fire from the enemy's artillery. 
 About this time the above field officers, being indisposed, could 
 render but little service, and the most of the men under their 
 command deserted the party. The enemy continuing an inces- 
 sant fire with their artillery, about 2 o'clock in the afternoon 
 on the 17th, they began to land a north-easterly point from 
 the fort, and I ordered the train with two field pieces to 
 go and oppose them, and the Connecticut forces to support 
 them ; but the train marched a different course, and I be- 
 lieve those sent to their support followed, I suppose to Bun- 
 ker Hill. Another party of the enemy landed and fired the 
 town. There was a party of Hampshire, in conjunction with 
 some other forces, lined a fence at the distance of threescore 
 rods back of the fort, partly to the north. About an hour after 
 the enemy landed, they began to mqrch to the attack in three 
 columns. I commanded my Lieutenant-Colonel Robinson and 
 Major Woods, each with a detachment, to flank the enemy, who, 
 I have reason to think, behaved with prudence and courage. I 
 was now left with perhaps one hundred and fifty men in the fort. 
 The enemy advanced and fired very hotly on the fort, and meet- 
 ing with a warm reception, there was a very smart firing on both 
 sides. After a considerable time, finding our ammunition was 
 almost spent, I commanded a cessation till the enemy advanced 
 within thirty yards, when we gave them such a hot fire that they 
 were obliged to retire nearly one hundred and fifty yards before 
 they could rally and come again to the attack. Our ammunition 
 being nearly exhausted, could keep up only a scattering fire. 
 The enemy being numerous, surrounded our little fort, began to 
 mount our lines, and enter the fort with their bayonets. We was 
 obliged to retreat through them, while they kept up as hot a fire 
 as it was possible for them to make. We having very few bayon- 
 ets, could make no resistance. We kept the fort about one hour 
 and twenty minutes after the attack with small arms. This is 
 nearly the state of facts, though imperfect and too general, which, 
 if any ways satisfactory to you, will afford pleasure to your most 
 obedient humble servant, William Prescott." 
 
 "To the Hon. John Adams, Esq." 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art. 2,y^ 
 
 Now, we pronounce this to be, under the circumstances, 
 and in whatever way it be looked at, a most extraordinary- 
 production. Knowing what we now do of the battle, what 
 everybody knows who has made any study of it, what the 
 special friends of Prescott most fully admit and publish in all 
 their writings, it is almost inconceivable that Prescott should 
 have sent such a letter to John Adams as giving any ade- 
 quate account of the action. Even as a local commander 
 at the redoubt, if he told substantially all he knew, the 
 fact must stand as a marvel. But if he were general com- 
 mander on that field, and could give no fuller and better 
 account of what transpired there, the military and civil 
 authorities of that day certainly had very good reasons for 
 never promoting him. 
 
 Let us look at this matter in detail. Any reader, who 
 knew nothing of the battle otherwise, would say that Pres- 
 cott here conveys the impression that the battle was fought 
 mainly by those one hundred and fifty men that he had 
 with him in the fort, and the two detachments which he 
 sent out. 
 
 But this letter is remarkable in many other respects. 
 There is not one generous word here for anybody but him- 
 self, except a modified compliment for his own Lieutenant- 
 Colonel and Major, and a compliment to them was in some 
 sense a compliment to himself.* General Putnam f is not 
 even named or remotely hinted at, and no one would know 
 from this letter that there was such a man in existence. 
 
 * In one of the sarcastic accounts from an English pen, which will be 
 found in the Appendix, there is this sentence respecting Gage : " With all the 
 vanity of a military man, he praises the conduct of his officers." 
 
 t " It is a noticeable fact that this remarkable paper (the Prescott Manu. 
 script) .... (nor yet Colonel Prescott's letter to John Adams, soon after 
 the battle, each of them giving an account of the engagement) does not con- 
 tain the name of Colonel [General] Putnam, an omission hardly to be expected 
 ia these papers, or in any respectable account of the battle." — W. W. Wheil- 
 don, Esq., in " New History of the Battle of Bunker Hill," p. i6. 
 
240 Life of Israel Ptitnam. 
 
 "The engineer forsook me." This was the brave, noble, 
 skilful Colonel Gridley, afterwards one of the Major-Gen- 
 erals of the Continental army. Prescott does not conde- 
 scend to tell us that Colonel Gridley, a man already sixty- 
 four years old, who had been up all night, was in the thick- 
 est of that fight simply as a volunteer, was carried off the 
 field severely wounded, and came near being shot through 
 and through after he had received his wound, by a concen- 
 tric fire from the British muskets. All that he had to say 
 of him was, " The engineer forsook me." Next, " Colonel 
 Bridge and Lieutenant Brickett* .... could render me 
 but little service, and the most of the men under their 
 command deserted the party." Did Colonel Prescott think 
 that just in proportion as the men he was set to command 
 ran away, so much the more would his own military hero- 
 ism shine out .■* Then he sent the artillery to oppose the 
 enemy, and the Connecticut men to support the artillery ; 
 but the artillery cleared out, and he implies that the Con- 
 necticut men did too, or at least that they went where they 
 were of very little use. We know how those Connecticut 
 men built and manned that fence line and defended it, never 
 stirring from their post of duty till the redoubt was carried, 
 after the British had beaten ineffectually against the fence, 
 and could not carry it. We know all this ; but Colonel 
 Prescott knew nothing of it, as would appear by this letter. 
 " There was a party of Hampshire ! " What a diminutive 
 idea this expression conveys of the part New Hampshire 
 played in this battle ! They might be a company of forty 
 or fifty men ; the reader would hardly suppose from this let- 
 ter that there were more than some such number. And 
 
 *One would naturally infer from the letter that Colonel Bridge and Lieu- 
 tenant Brickett, who " could render me but little service," went off, — " deserted 
 the party," when their men did. But Colonel Bridge and Lieutenant Brickett 
 were both, like Colonel Gridley, wounded in the battle, though not so severely. 
 And what is equally important, this Lieutenant-Colonel Brickett, as already 
 stated, was the next year promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General. 
 
Bunker Hill Litcrahtre and Art. 241 
 
 yet that "party of Hampshire" contained six times the 
 number of men that he says he had with him in the fort. 
 He knows something about their being behind a fence " in 
 conjunction with some others," but he is inchned to think 
 he "beheves" that the Connecticut forces went off to Bun- 
 ker Hill. Now, to show what kind of service this "party 
 of Hampshire " rendered, we quote a brief passage from the 
 British officer. Lieutenant John Clarke, to whose narrative 
 we have already referred. He says (see Mr. Drake's vol- 
 ume, p. 49), "Another remarkable circumstance of the 
 heat of this action is, that all the grenadiers of the 4th, or 
 King's own, regiment were killed or wounded except four ; 
 and of the grenadiers also of the 23d, or Royal Welsh 
 fusileers, only three remained who were not either killed 
 or wounded." Now, those two companies of grenadiers, in 
 the first attack, were the front companies in the British 
 column moving close by the shores of the Mystic, that was 
 expected to break through the fence and flank the redoubt. 
 This movement brought the column directly in the face of 
 this " party of Hampshire," and the result is told above. 
 In the " Life and Letters of John Stark," it is stated that 
 the regiment of Welsh fusileers of seven hundred men 
 could muster only eighty-three the next morning. 
 
 But we must not linger on these details. We pass to 
 note another item in this letter. The friends of Prescott 
 are very fond of making him the man who before the ac- 
 tion told his men, and sternly commanded them, and sent 
 the order all along the line, not to fire a musket until the 
 enemy were close at hand ; and in some accounts he is rep- 
 resented as moving along the lines, and threatening with 
 death any man that should discharge his musket before the 
 order to fire was given.* Now, Prescott tells no such story, 
 
 * " The advancing columns, however, having got within gunshot, a few of 
 the Americans could not resist the temptation to return their fire without 
 16 
 
242 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 but a very different one. He says there was "a very 
 smart firing on both sides," and then adds, " After a con- 
 siderable time, finding our ammunition was almost spent, I 
 commanded a cessation till the enemy advanced within 
 thirty yards." We are satisfied that this order to withhold 
 the fire was passed along the fence line and was there acted 
 upon from the first, but if we are to believe Colonel Pres- 
 cott, the ammunition was mostly spent at the redoubt be- 
 fore that order was given ; and we may add that it was 
 fired away at long range, for the British did not seriously 
 attack the redoubt in the two first assaults. 
 
 We think it perfectly fair and legitimate at this point to 
 raise the query whether a man that had no more generous 
 emotions than are shown in this letter, no fund of magna- 
 nimity out of which to give others their due meed of praise, 
 could by any possibility ever become a great military leader. 
 Personal courage he might have in a high degree, and we 
 do not doubt that Prescott possessed this courage, but mag- 
 netic power over other men with this spirit he did not have 
 and could not have. Contrast this conduct with that 
 ascribed to Putnam, even by such a man as General Heath, 
 who was not a friend over fond of Putnam.. General Heath 
 wrote to John Adams, October 23d, 1775 (the passage may 
 be found in the " Siege of Boston," p. 396), and told him of 
 an account which had been published in a Connecticut 
 paper of the battle of Bunker Hill, in which Prescott and 
 other prominent Massachusetts names had been wholly 
 omitted. But said General Heath, " this account was de- 
 tested by the brave Putnam and others of that colony." In 
 that brief sentence, one can see the movings of a great soul 
 that scorns to take from another man his due ; and the 
 
 waiting for orders. Prescott indignantly remonstrated at this disobedience, 
 and appealed to their often expressed confidence in him as their leader ; while 
 his officers seconded his exertions, and some ran along the parapet and kicked 
 up the guns." — " Siege of Boston," p. 141. 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art. 243 
 
 secret of that power which Putnam had over other men was 
 largely in this noble quality of his character. He asked no 
 man to go where he was afraid to go himself, and in the 
 honors of any action he often distributed to others even 
 more than their rightful portion. ■ A man may be person- 
 ally as bold as a lion, but if he will have everything to him- 
 self, and leave others to cold neglect, he cannot bind men 
 in any heroic devotion to his leadership. 
 
 And just here, as it appears, was the weakness of Pres- 
 cott, even as local commander of the redoubt. He ought 
 not to have lost so large a portion of those eight hundred 
 Massachusetts men. He ought to have infused them with 
 the patriotic fire which would have enabled them to bear a 
 little hunger and thirst and weariness, and almost criminal 
 delay in Ward, the commander-in-chief. The men of Con- 
 necticut endured all these things, and stayed faithfully on 
 the field to the last. Moreover, there ought to have been 
 such magnetism in Prescott as to have drawn naturally to 
 his help his own Massachusetts brethren, who were scat- 
 tered to the number of many hundreds around those hill- 
 sides and about the neck, doing little or nothing, yea, 
 worse than that, a mere hindrance and source of bad con- 
 tagion to others. From the very best lights we can gain, 
 out of all the records of this first great action of the Revo- 
 lution, we say unhesitatingly that Prescott was then for 
 the first time thoroughly tried in his military capacity, and 
 did not equal the hopes entertained of him, and conse- 
 quently he was never promoted. If he had held in his 
 grasp that first number, eight hundred, as Stark and Reed 
 held their men, to the battle line, and as Captain Knowlton 
 held his, the day, glorious as it was, would have had a still 
 more illustrious issue. With those eight hundred doing 
 such service as the " party of Hampshire " did, the rest of 
 the Massachusetts regiments might have stayed in their 
 
244 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 camps at Cambridge, and the victory would have been 
 ours. 
 
 There are a good many bits of literature lying about, 
 which, like that juSt noticed, when brought out and fairly 
 confronted, do not impress one as great intellectually, while 
 at the same time they are sadly wanting in magnanimity. 
 We may notice one more of these at this point. General 
 Ward also wrote a letter to John Adams in the October 
 following the battle, in which he said, " Some have said 
 hard things of the officers of this colony and despised 
 them ; but I think, as mean as they have represented them 
 to be, there has been no one action with the enemy which 
 has not been conducted by an officer of this colony, except 
 that at Chelsea, which was conducted by General Putnam." 
 (A part of this sentence has been quoted before in another 
 connection. We give it here in full.) This sentence has 
 been allowed to lie quietly in the background (not much 
 used, but never forgotten), to impress the reader that Gen- 
 eral Ward meant in this way to say that Prescott was the 
 chief commander at Bunker Hill. But as the sentence was 
 written in 1775, and we have shown, and shall still further 
 show, how the people of 1775, British and American alike, 
 spoke of the leadership in that battle, we find no evidence 
 whatever that General Ward once thought of Colonel Pres- 
 cott while he was penning those words. We look at these 
 sentences, on the other hand, chiefly as an attempt on the 
 part of General Ward at self-justification ; for his conduct, 
 in a military point of view, had been sorely criticised, as it 
 was right and proper it should be. We have evidence 
 enough of that in the first words of the sentence. He 
 meant to say, so far as Bunker Hill was concerned, 
 that he was the general director of that affair, as he 
 was. If it had been Napoleon Bonaparte out at Cambridge 
 doing the same class of things (though they would have 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art. 245 
 
 been done in a very different style), no one would have hesi- 
 tated to call him the commander-in-chief. General Ward 
 was here trying to tell John Adams something like what 
 the centurion in the Gospels said — Was not I a man under 
 authority, having soldiers under me, and did I not say to 
 this man, Go ; and to another man, Come ; and to my ser- 
 vant, Do this ? Undoubtedly he did, and he did it in such 
 a way that it was best for him to retire from military life 
 upon those laurels, in the following spring. He went back 
 to civil life, where, as we have already said, he was a good 
 man and true, — honorable alike in character and conduct. 
 But he was wholly out of his place as a military officer, and 
 especially as chief commander of the American army. 
 
 They who can find in those words of his to John Adams 
 any theory as to Prescott's being chief commander in the bat- 
 tle, must read them with minds fixed only upon one favorite 
 idea. As to this matter of chief command, there was pre- 
 cisely the same problem on the British side as on ours. 
 Howe was the chief commander on the field, but General 
 Gage was the real commander-in-chief, and was held strictly 
 accountable as such by the British people. Ward opposed 
 the movement itself beforehand, so that the American 
 people never held him so blameworthy for his conduct as 
 they otherwise would; but strictly he occupied the same 
 relations to the battle on his side, that General Gage did 
 on his, and that is what he quietly claims in his letter to 
 John Adams. By the time he wrote that letter, the great 
 advantages secured to us by the battle were acknowledged 
 on both sides the water. 
 
 In sharp and striking contrast to the spirit of these two 
 letters, and their utter silence about General Putnam, we 
 propose now to introduce a witness that is doubtless impar- 
 tial, and whose utterances cannot but have weight with any 
 unprejudiced mind. There was belonging to Boston, in 
 
246 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 1775, a newspaper called " The New England Chronicle, or 
 Essex Gazette." A year or two later it was named " The 
 Independent Chronicle." For short, when we have occa- 
 sion to mention it by name, we will call it the " Chronicle." 
 It could not of course be published in Boston in 1775, but 
 it was "printed by Samuel and Ebenezer Hall at their 
 office in Stoughton Hall," Cambridge. It was therefore 
 close to the headquarters of the American army, and had 
 every advantage for obtaining military news. But for two 
 or three months it acted upon that policy of silence as to 
 the leaders which we have elsewhere noticed. Some of 
 the very first items which we find, indicating who was the 
 chief commander in the battle on the American side, are 
 in little paragraphs of English news, or clippings from 
 English papers, — in other words, we see at first, through 
 English eyes, who was at the head of this Bunker Hill army. 
 
 In the issue of October 19th, 1775, is the following, 
 which, though not true in point of historical fact, is just as 
 good for our purpose as though it were true : 
 
 ^^ London, yuly 22d. — It is reported that a letter from Bos- 
 ton brings an accqunt that General Putnam had sent a mes- 
 sage to General Gage, wherein he informed him that if he 
 did not quit that place and embark with his troops, he would 
 lay siege to it with thirty thousand men, when neither he 
 nor his troops were to expect any quarter." 
 
 If this passage needs any commentary, the explanation 
 is simple. The battle of Bunker Hill had passed, in which 
 Gage had met with great losses. The writer of the above 
 embodies the American fighting interest in Putnam as the 
 head man, and considers Gage's condition very critical. It 
 will be seen in reading these items that we had, as already 
 suggested, warm friends in England. 
 
 October 26th, the "Chronicle" has the following: 
 
 "London, August <^th. Yesterday the right honorable 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art. 247 
 
 the Lord Mayor invited the freeholders of Middlesex to 
 dine with him at the George at Cheswick, when upwards 
 of three hundred honored him with their company. Seve- 
 ral toasts were drank, among which were the following: i. 
 General Putnam and all those American heroes who like 
 men nobly prefer death to slavery and chains." 
 
 At Dublin there was a Society of Free Citizens. At 
 one of their meetings we have this record of a toast drank, 
 as reported in the " Chronicle," November 2 : 
 
 "Dublin, yuly i<^th. — General Putnam and his brave 
 provincials — Governor Trumbull. May the military ever be 
 subservient to the civil power." 
 
 The friends of America over in England were doing the 
 same thing that the Philadelphians were doing, according 
 to Silas Deane's account, quoted in a previous chapter. It 
 was the day for drinking toasts, and men expressed the senti- 
 ments which were uppermost in their hearts in this way ; 
 and so Putnam was the " second or third toast at almost all 
 the tables " in Philadelphia. 
 
 All those items from Mr. Deane's letters, written in 1775, 
 which are placed in Chapter VI. of this volume, to show 
 Putnam's popularity, might just as appropriately stand here 
 as evidences of his leadership in the battle. 
 
 Here is another item from the " Chronicle : " 
 
 " Cambridge, December 14th. — A letter from London 
 dated September i st, mentions that the day before a gentle- 
 man of that city, a sincere friend to America, had his new- 
 born son baptized by the name of Putnam." 
 
 Why all this excitement in England over Putnam "i 
 
 Another item in the same paper : 
 
 " Cambridge, December 14th. — The fort on Cobble Hill 
 was completed the latter end of last week, without the least 
 interruption from the enemy. It is allowed to be the most 
 perfect piece of fortification that the American army has 
 
248 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 constructed during the present campaign, and on the day of 
 its completion was named Putnam s intpreg7iable fortress y 
 
 This last item proves nothing except the fame and repu- 
 tation of Putnam at that time in the American army. 
 
 In the record of the court-martial to try Colonel Scam- 
 mans, as published in the "Chronicle" for February 19th, 
 1776, occur little sentences in the testimony of witnesses, 
 of which the following may be taken as examples : 
 
 " After which General Putnam came up and ordered the 
 regiment to advance, within hearing of Colonel Scam- 
 mans." 
 
 " I was sent by Colonel Scammans to General Putnam 
 to know if his regiment was wanted," 
 
 For some items that follow, a little explanation is needed. 
 On the 13th of June, Colonel John Whitcomb was chosen 
 first Major-Gen eral of Massachusetts troops, by the Mas- 
 sachusetts Provincial Congress. He was reluctant about 
 accepting. On the i6th, the Congress appointed a com- 
 mittee to vyrite what it calls a "complaisant letter" to him 
 on the subject. That letter seems to have prevailed, for on 
 Friday, June 23d, a committee was sent to him to " desire 
 him to attend this Congress and receive his commission," 
 
 On the day of the battle, therefore, he had not received 
 his commission. He was in this respect in the same con- 
 dition as Warren, who was chosen second Major-General, 
 June 14th. Whitcomb, however, did not, like Warren and 
 Pomeroy, go to the battle-field. Still he was in the vicini- 
 ty, and was partially recognized as a general officer. His 
 name often occurs in this trial of Colonel Scammans, and 
 he himself is one of the witnesses called to give testimony. 
 To show how his name is used, we give the following pas- 
 sage from the "Chronicle" of February 21st, 1776: 
 
 " Captain Jeremiah Hill deposed and said, that down by the 
 bridge near Lechmere's Point we met General Whitcomb, who 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art. 249 
 
 told Colonel Scammans that he had better go round to the little 
 hill and wait their motions there ; we accordingly went and 
 stayed there half an hour. Colonel John Whitcomb, who is styled 
 by the foregoing deponents General^ deposed and said : I met 
 Colonel Scammans with his regiment about fifty rods from Lech- 
 mere's Point ; I asked him what brought him there ; he replied 
 by asking me where he should go ; I told him where he could 
 do the most service ; I am positive I never ordered him to the 
 little hill, if my memory serves me, because men could be of no 
 service in such a place except in the night." 
 
 Upon this testimony the editor, who, as already suggested, 
 was probably Colonel Scaraman^ himself, bases some re- 
 marks of his own, which are inserted into the midst of the 
 narrative in this wise : " [N. B. Colonel Whitcomb then 
 acted as a general officer, and as there was no general offi- 
 cer that commanded at Bunker Hill, was it not his duty to 
 have been there T\ " We copy only this single sentence. 
 The editor, whoever he may be, calls him Colonel, because 
 he had not been commissioned. But in what he said and 
 did that day he acted as a General, on the ground that he 
 had been chosen Major-General by the Congress. And 
 acting so, at and near Lechmere's Point, the editor's opin- 
 ion is, that he ought to have gone on to Bunker Hill, where 
 there was " then no general officer that commanded." Now, 
 the hasty reader might conclude that this was testimony by 
 this writer against General Putnam, and those words are 
 quoted and allowed to carry this meaning by some writers. 
 But if he will study the passage carefully, and cgnsider its 
 connections, he will see the meaning to be this : At that 
 point of time, while the battle was in progress, General 
 Putnam was fully occupied at the front, a third of a mile 
 away from this scene of confusion. Bunker Hill was 
 the path over which all the regiments were compelled to go, 
 if they would reach that front line where the battle was 
 
2$0 Life of Israel Piitnam. 
 
 then raging. This hill was crowded with these regiments 
 that were sent on at the last moment, and here was that 
 scene of utter disorder described in a previous chapter. 
 What the editor meant to say, therefore, was, that if Colonel 
 Whitcomb acted as a General at all, he ought to have gone 
 over to Bunker Hill and exercised his authority in trying 
 to heal those gross disorders, to disentangle that snarl, and 
 send the halting regiments forward to their post of duty. 
 The very testimony into which these remarks are projected 
 shows at various points (as in the passages we have selected) 
 that Putnam was the recognized commander in the battle ; 
 and it is the editorial opinion that Whitcomb ought to have 
 gone to his help, and urged forward, by his authority, the 
 reinforcements. 
 
 And now there is one general remark to be made, which 
 in its way is quite significant. We have looked over with 
 a considerable degree of care the pages of the "Chroni- 
 cle," for the years 1775-79, ^^^ we have not found the 
 name of Colonel William Prescott mentioned in any con- 
 nection whatever. Several times we thought we had run 
 against it, but upon examination it always proved to be 
 Colonel Richard Prescot, afterwards General Richard Pres- 
 cot of the British army. We will not say the name is not 
 there, for in that fine and faded type the eye might over- 
 look it ; but we have honestly tried to find it in those 
 pages, and could not. They are seemingly just as silent in 
 that respect as was Colonel Prescott in his letter to John 
 Adams about General Putnam, 
 
 We turn now from the " Chronicle " to similar bits of con- 
 temporary literature gathered from various quarters. 
 
 A letter written by a gentleman in Providence to his friend 
 in New York (June 20, 1775), and which may be found in 
 "American Archives" (4th series, Vol. II. p. 1036), opens 
 as follows : "On the evening of the i6th, Colonel Putnam 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art. 251 
 
 took possession of Bunker Hill with about two thousand 
 men, and began an intrenchment." 
 
 The " Pennsylvania Packet " of June 26th says, " General 
 Putnam, who commanded the continental troops, is a vete- 
 ran soldier of great experience. He served during the 
 
 whole of the last war against the French Such a 
 
 man is every way qualified to command a set of virtuous 
 provincials. General Gage, with a mercenary handful of 
 troops, will stand an excellent chance against such a man 
 as Putnam, who abounds in bravery, good sense and honor." 
 
 Here it is directly stated that " Putnam commanded the 
 continental troops," but in many of the items given this 
 statement is not made in form, but in substance. When a 
 man is talking with his fellow-men about deeply exciting 
 and passing events of wide-spread interest, their common 
 knowledge and emotion make it unnecessary that certain 
 words should be used, which would otherwise be natural 
 and requisite. 
 
 A week after the great fire which consumed so large a 
 part of Boston, two citizens of Massachusetts, talking 
 together upon the subject, would not be apt to remind each 
 other that this fire was in Boston. In like manner, when 
 the men of England and the men of Philadelphia, and 
 doubtless of many other places, in the summer of 1775, 
 were drinking toasts in honor of " General Putnam " or 
 " General Putnam and his brave provincials," it was not 
 necessary for the living hearers or readers of 1775, that one 
 should stop to add with each repetition of his name, " who 
 commanded at Bunker Hill." That was the underlying 
 basis of common knowledge on which the toast itself was 
 built, for it is preposterous to suppose that they were so 
 largely engaged in drinking Putnam's health for what he 
 did in the French War, or simply because he was generally 
 known to be a brave and able military man. 
 
252 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 The following items are taken from a report made to the 
 Massachusetts Provincial Congress, Friday, June 23, 1775 : 
 
 " The committee who were appointed on the 20th instant, to in- 
 quire into the misconduct in the late engagement, reported as fol- 
 lows, viz., .... Your committee proceeded to Cambridge, waited 
 upon the General [Ward] and made him acquainted with their busi- 
 ness. He informed your committee that General Putnam had 
 
 made complaint of an officer in the train, etc We applied 
 
 to General Putnam and other officers who were in the heat of the 
 engagement for further intelligence. General Putnafn informed 
 us that in the late action, as he was riding up Bunker Hill, he 
 met an officer of the train drawing his cannon down in great 
 haste ; he ordered the officer to stop and go back ; he replied 
 that he had no cartridges. The General dismounted and ex- 
 amined his boxes, and found a considerable number of cartridges, 
 upon which he ordered him back. He refused, until the Gen- 
 eral threatened him with immediate death The relation of 
 
 this matter from General Putnam was confirmed by several other 
 officers of distinction," * 
 
 There is, of course, no absolute proof from this passage 
 that Putnam was in chief command; but its suggestions 
 point strongly in that direction, and one can hardly read it 
 without receiving that impression. 
 
 We find some very strong evidence in the same direc- 
 tion in a letter written from Philadelphia, September 26, 
 1775, by Samuel Adams to Elbridge Gerry. (" Wells's Life," 
 etc., Vol. II. p. 323.) He says, — 
 
 " Some of our military gentlemen have, I fear, disgraced us 
 [Massachusetts officers he means] ; it is, then, important that every 
 anecdote that concerns a man of real merit among them, and 
 such I know there are, be improved as far as decency will per- 
 mit of it to their advantage, and the honor of a colony, which 
 for its zeal in the great cause, as well as its sufferings, deserves 
 *" American Archives," 4th Series, Vol. II. p. 1438. 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art. 253 
 
 so much of America, Until I visited headquarters at Cambridge, 
 I never heard of the valor of Prescott at Bunker Hill, nor the 
 ingenuit)'' of Knox and Waters in planning the celebrated works 
 at Roxbury." 
 
 This passage may need a word of explanation. During 
 the summer of 1775, Mr. Adams had been at Philadelphia, 
 a member of the Continental Congress. He reached his 
 home in Massachusetts August 11, and now, September 
 26, he has just reached Philadelphia on his return. He 
 wants Mr. Gerry and others to be particular in forwarding 
 promptly to that city all important news. But it is natural 
 to remark, that if he had not, between June 17th and 
 August nth, "heard of the valor of Prescott at Bunker 
 Hill," it had not probably been much noised abroad, and 
 certainly it is not likely that he had heard of him during 
 that time, as the chief commander in the battle. Turn 
 this sentence over again, for here is testimony in point 
 from one of the foremost men of the revolutionary period. 
 Mr. Adams did not of course mean to say that he had not 
 heard of the battle of Bunker Hill. In a letter written to 
 James Warren, July 2, 1775, and found in the same volume 
 (p. 317), he says, "We know nothing of the disposition of 
 the army, not even who commanded in the late important 
 engagement." But this was July 2d, and Mr. Adams had 
 even then doubtless heard what other people in Philadel- 
 phia had heard. We have seen that Silas Deane, another 
 member of Congress, had considerable information b}^ that 
 time. We have seen that the editor of the " Pennsylvania 
 Packet," as early as June 26, was able to talk quite intelli- 
 gently upon the subject. But Mr. Adams means to say, 
 probably, that he had received no reliable official intelli- 
 gence showing who commanded, whether it was Warren or 
 Putnam, for both names, as we have seen, were floating on 
 the air. But of " Prescott's valor " he did nor hear until 
 
254 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 he reached his home in Massachusetts on the nth of 
 August. 
 
 The evidence presented in the last few pages is of a kind 
 hard to be resisted. These items, gathered out of the 
 newspapers and letters and records of 1775, tell their own 
 story, and one item confirms another. There can be no 
 possible collusion among the men who pen these para- 
 graphs. The three hundred guests of the Lord Mayor who 
 are drinking General Putnam's health at the George at 
 Cheswick, in England, had no knowledge of what Silas 
 Deane had written in his letters to his wife that same sum- 
 mer. Samuel Adams, even though reliable news from Bos- 
 ton was scarce, did not get his information from the Society 
 of Free Citizens at Dublin. 
 
 Such items as these might be greatly extended, no doubt, 
 by a wider and longer search among the writings of 1775. 
 But enough of them has been given probably to satisfy the 
 candid reader, and we do not wish to overload this branch 
 of the testimony, because other very important evidence 
 yet remains to be unfolded. 
 
 In this analysis of Bunker Hill literature we now make 
 a leap forward to the year 18 18. After a little time the 
 siege of Boston was ended. The British took their depart- 
 ure, satisfied that they were not to enter the interior parts 
 of the country through the Boston gateway. The clouds 
 which had so long hung over the chief town of New Eng- 
 land rolled away, and drifted toward New York, Philadel- 
 phia and the more southern portions of the country. In 
 that incoming tide of exciting events, the memories of 
 Bunker Hill in some measure slumbered, though the record 
 of that brilliant day could not be forgotten. 
 
 The long war at last closed, and the nation turned to its 
 great work of reconstruction and the making of constitu- 
 tions. General Putnam died in 1790, and slept "with his 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art. 255 
 
 fathers " in an honored grave, — his services acknowledged 
 almost universally by his countrymen, as among the most 
 important of the revolutionary period. Years passed on. 
 The distressing and unpopular war of 1812 came to disturb 
 the country for three years. Captain Dearborn, a man to 
 whom we have already been introduced as having charge 
 of a company in Stark's regiment, had risen to the rank 
 of Major-General in this war of 18 12. He was a man 
 of no mean abilities, and had served with honor in both 
 civil and military affairs. He it was who first gave vent to 
 the old pent-up envies and jealousies which had been en- 
 gendered among certain military men in that army about 
 Boston, in 1775. His own Colonel Stark had doubtless 
 ministered in an evil way to a mind not kindly disposed 
 in itself toward General Putnam. 
 
 In March, 18 18, in the "Port Folio," he opened his hostile 
 batteries, and uttered many hard and cruel words against 
 this old revolutionary hero, which we do not propose at 
 any great length to repeat. Our purpose is simply to call 
 attention to the characteristic feature of this Dearborn 
 literature, — its main drift or design, — which has often been 
 strangely overlooked. General Dearborn was not trying 
 to prove that Colonel Prescott was the general commander 
 at Bunker Hill. His chief point is, that General Putnam 
 was, or ought to have been, chief commander, but skulked 
 away and did not do his duty. He expressly says that 
 " No general officer except Putnam appeared in sight ; 
 nor did any officer assume any command, undertake to form 
 the troops or give any orders in the course of the action 
 that I heard, except Colonel Stark." Now, be it noticed 
 that there were two general officers on that field besides 
 Putnam, viz., Pomeroy and Warren. If Putnam was there, 
 as some contend, just as they were there, as a volunteer, 
 trying individually to help all he could, why should Dear- 
 
256 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 born launch his thunderbolts at him any more than at 
 them ? No ; his underlying philosophy all the while is that 
 Putnam was in nominal command at least, but was ineffi- 
 cient, and did not do his duty. General Dearborn's strong 
 assertion that he heard no one give orders except Colonel 
 Stark, and therefore General Putnam did not really command, 
 reminds one of the Irishman, who was confronted in a court 
 of justice by two witnesses, who swore that they saw the 
 prisoner commit an act of theft. " May it please your 
 honor," said the Irishman, " I can bring fifty witnesses that 
 will swear they did not see me do it." When one con- 
 siders that Stark's troops came upon the field just as the 
 action was beginning, that they were down by the Mystic 
 River, at the farthest possible remove from the centre of 
 operations, and that every man had his thoughts most in- 
 tently pre-occupied by what was passing before him, how 
 little could they know of General Putman's movements 
 during the battle ! 
 
 We will take one single passage from Dearborn, in which 
 will be comprehended, as in a nutshell, the military phil- 
 osophy which underlies his charges. He says, — 
 
 " I heard the gallant Colonel Prescott (who commanded at 
 the redoubt) observe after the war, at the table of his Excellency 
 James Bowdoin, then Governor of this Commonwealth, * that he 
 sent three messages during the battle to General Putnam, re- 
 questing him to come forward and take the command, there 
 being no general officer present, and the relative rank of the 
 Colonel not having been settled ; but that he received no answer ; 
 and his whole conduct was such, during the action and the re- 
 treat, that he ought to have been shot.' " * 
 
 * It has been very seriously doubted whether Prescott ever made those 
 remarks ascribed to him at Governor Bowdoin's table. We are willing to 
 have the same doubt, and we quote them here only to show the nature of 
 General Dearborn's attack on Putnam, and what he was aiming at. 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art. 257 
 
 How very differently Colonel Prescott appears in this 
 passage from the man of the same name that figures be- 
 fore us in some of the modern books ! So far from wish- 
 ing or claiming to be commander-in-chief, he is a very hum- 
 ble individual, who does not quite know what his relative 
 rank is even among the Colonels, and three times sends to 
 General Putnam to come forward and take command at the 
 redoubt. He would have him leave the general oversight, 
 leave the eleven hundred men who were doing such excel- 
 lent service along the fence line, and come and take special 
 command of those "perhaps one hundred and fifty men" in 
 the redoubt, over whom he was appointed local commander. 
 But why did he not send this imploring cry to General 
 Pomeroy and then abuse him for not coming } Why did 
 he send for a man who "could not command Massachu- 
 setts soldiers on Massachusetts soil " "i Why did he not call 
 on General Warren, who was right by his side, if he had 
 any serious doubt about his own rank and title .'' For the 
 very obvious reason that Pomeroy and Warren were both 
 vohmteers, while Putnam was general commander. And 
 while Prescott, on the one hand, thought Putnam ought to 
 come and take special command of the fort, and Dearborn, 
 on the other hand, wondered and complained because he 
 was not at the other extreme of the line, giving orders down 
 by the Mystic River, Putnam, as commander of the whole 
 field, kept a central position where he could overlook all 
 parts of the contest. General Dearborn says, " He [Put- 
 nam] remained at or near the top of Bunker Hill until the 
 retreat." If he did so, as we have before suggested, he 
 occupied a very dangerous position, for we will take from 
 this same article of his a passage descriptive of the British 
 style of firing. He says, "The fire of the enemy was so 
 badly directed, I should presume that forty-nine balls out 
 of fifty passed from one to six feet over our heads, for I 
 17 
 
258 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 noticed an apple tree, some paces in the rear, which had 
 scarcely a ball in it from the ground as high as a man's 
 head, while the trunk and branches above were literally cut 
 to pieces." Now, though the balls going in that manner, 
 at the point where Dearborn was, would not have reached 
 the top of Bunker Hill, but would have lodged in its sides, 
 yet farther to the left, toward the redoubt, where the 
 .ground was much higher, such firing as that from those 
 British muskets would have rendered a man extremely lia- 
 ble to accidents, " at or near the top of Bunker Hill." But 
 General Dearborn knew nothing of Putnam's movements. 
 He did not stay in any one place. He was here and there 
 and everywhere, as he thought his presence was needed. 
 
 But we will not enlarge. The one point which we wish 
 to show is, that this Dearborn literature is not at all con- 
 cerned to prove that Colonel Prescott was general com- 
 mander that day. It is positive on the other side of that 
 question. And so far as General Putnam is concerned, its 
 import is, that he was understood to be commander, but 
 that he failed in his duty. 
 
 But General Dearborn totally overshot his mark. The 
 American people in 18 18 were in no mood to hear old 
 General Putnam, whose heroic bravery was of the most 
 unquestionable type, called a poltroon and coward, by a 
 man who confessed he asked Colonel Stark just to quicken 
 his pace a little, as they marched across that neck. The 
 publication of that article in the " Port Folio " roused a 
 storm of indignation which Dearborn little anticipated. 
 Men of the highest rank and character came forward to vin- 
 dicate the memory of a hero who had been thus shamefully 
 abused. We shall place in the Appendix of this volume, 
 two of the seven articles of the Honorable John Lowell of 
 Boston, which this attack of Dearborn called out. They 
 will be good reading for this generation, and in these cen- 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art. 259 
 
 tennial days; and he that reads them will see that Mr. 
 Lowell, looking at Dearborn's work as above described, is 
 not discussing at all the modern question, as to whether 
 Prescott or Putnam was chief commander. 
 
 Before proceeding farther, it may be well to recall 
 to the readers of this generation who Honorable John 
 Lowell was, and what were his qualifications for this kind 
 of writing. He was born in Newburyport in 1769, six 
 years before the battle of Bunker Hill. He had lived near 
 the historic ground, and had brought with him from his 
 early years the memories and associations clustering around 
 that famous battle-field. He knew from all the conversa- 
 tions of men about him in his childhood whom they re- 
 garded as commander of the American forces on those 
 heights of Charlestown. He was about fifty years old 
 when he replied to General Dearborn's accusations. He 
 was at that time one of the most able and active lawyers of 
 Boston, inheriting in a good degree the legal abilities of 
 his father, Judge John Lowell. He was therefore a man 
 most eminently fitted to hear and weigh general evidence. 
 
 It was forty-three years after the battle when he took up 
 his pen, and these Prescott claims had not yet come up in 
 any such way as to attract attention from him. The ques- 
 tion which he discussed was this : Did General Putnam 
 act well his part as commander at Bunker Hill, or did he 
 fail in his duty ? The very first sentence of his first or 
 preliminary article opens the field which his arguments are 
 to cover. He says, " It is honorable to the moral feelings 
 of the American people, that a general burst of indigna- 
 tion at the unwarrantable attack on the reputation of one 
 of their earliest and ablest officers has compelled the ac- 
 cuser to put himself on trial." That style of language from 
 one of the ablest men in Boston in 18 18, comprehending 
 in his own memory the things whereof he is writing, sounds 
 
26o Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 strangely unlike some of the modern utterances. Judge 
 Lowell says, at the opening of his last article, " It is a little 
 extraordinary that at this late period of time we should 
 find men disputing about the most essential facts relating 
 to such a battle as that of Bunker Hill ; that even the im- 
 portant one, whether there was ajiy commander-in-chief or 
 not, is still the subject of controversy. For ourselves we 
 think the evidence recently before the public settles that 
 question satisfactorily ; and that General Putnam was un- 
 doubtedly commander in that action," 
 
 So important is the evidence contained in these articles 
 of Mr. Lowell, that the writer had the seven copied in full 
 to be placed in the Appendix ; but want of room compels 
 him to give only a portion of them there, and it is desirable 
 at this point to furnish a brief summary of a part of one of 
 his articles, as showing his method of treatment, and what 
 the subject was that he was discussing. In his fifth article 
 he proposes to introduce what he calls "presumptions 
 .... to support the character of a hero whose name will 
 be as immortal as the history of that battle, or of the Revo- 
 lution, of which it was the first and most glorious fruits," 
 
 " (i) The first presumption we introduce is, General Putnam's 
 high character for valor acquired in Lord Chatham's glorious 
 war for the conquest of the French Colonies in America 
 
 " (2) The second presumptive proof we shall adduce is the 
 silence of all contemporaneous and subsequent historians, as to 
 such an infamous charge ; and the positive testimony of all such 
 witnesses to his valor, 
 
 "(3) The third is, that when the delinquents in that battle 
 were brought to trial, to wit, four Colonels, three Captains, and 
 five Lieutenants, many of whom were convicted and cashiered, 
 there should not have been a color of evidence, a surmise, a 
 whisper, against the conduct of General Putnam 
 
 " (4) The fourth presumption in favor of the utter falsehood 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art. 261 
 
 of these charges against General Putnam is his appointment, im- 
 mediately after this battle, by the Congress of the United States, 
 
 to the second military office in the Revolutionary armies 
 
 " (5) Fifthly, the next and highest presumption in his favor 
 arises from the confidence which Washington reposed in him, 
 immediately after the battle and during the whole war, until, by 
 the act of God, he was compelled to leave the service. Wash- 
 ington was the most impartial man, both in his character and 
 from his situation, that could be found in the nation. Yet Wash- 
 ington was the man who recommended Putnam to this appoint- 
 ment. Washington was the man who instituted the inquiries 
 into the conduct of the battle of Bunker Hill. Washington was 
 the man who entrusted Putnam with the forlorn hope, who were 
 to land on Boston Common [on March 5th, 1776, if the British 
 had attacked Dorchester Heights, as they did not] and carry the 
 war into the very headquarters of the enemy. Washington was 
 the man who selected Putnam, nearly a year after the battle of 
 Bunker Hill, to defend New York against the whole forces of the 
 enemy that he believed had gone there." 
 
 These are the five prestimptions that Mr. Lowell intro- 
 duces in one section of his long and diversified argument, 
 and which, in its whole length and breadth, is designed to 
 be exhaustive, and in our judgment is so. No man has 
 ever answered it, nor can any man answer it, in any ade- 
 quate way. 
 
 It would be well if some of our modern writers would 
 give heed to the weighty words which Mr. Lowell intro- 
 duces under one of the heads above given. He says, 
 "Every honest and honorable man, indeed the whole 
 nation, have a deep interest in the character of Putnam, 
 His reputation constituted a part of the national property ; 
 it formed a large portion of its fame." 
 
 We cannot dwell longer upon these articles of Mr. 
 Lowell. We have given enough so that every reader can 
 see what one of Boston's most distinguished citizens, born 
 
262 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 before the battle, and having, of his own personal knowl- 
 edge, such materials for its history as no man can now 
 have, thought and said on this subject in the year 1818. 
 We repeat, the question he was discussing, and the only 
 great question then up for discussion was, whether Gen- 
 eral Putnam, as commander at Bunker Hill, did his duty 
 ably and faithfully, or did not. The modern question had 
 not then so arisen above the horizon as to attract atten- 
 tion from leading minds. The point to be decided ^^as not 
 between Putnam and Prescott, but between Putnam doing 
 his duty or not doing it ; between Putnam as commander 
 in the battle, or no proper commander at all, — "a headless 
 mob," as Colonel Swett calls it. 
 
 In the course of this fifth article, from which we have 
 made the above quotations, Mr. Lowell introduces the let- 
 ter which John Adams wrote to Daniel Putnam, after read- 
 ing his (Putnam's) reply to the slanders of General Dear- 
 born, as also another letter from the same pen to President 
 Monroe.* Mr. Adams says, — 
 
 " Neither myself nor my family have been able to read either 
 
 * The following are the closing sentences of Mr. Lowell's last article : 
 " We now take our leave of this subject, happy in the conviction that 
 every generous mind, every man who knows the inestimable value of reputa- 
 tion, every fatherless son who cherishes the memory of one whom he laments, 
 will be convinced of the unguardedness of those charges against General 
 Putnam as well as of their untruth. In performing this pleasing duty of de- 
 fending the virtuous and brave, we have as much as possible abstained from 
 all recrimination, inviting and open and easy of access as it was. We have 
 abstained partly because any comparison of the services of the accuser and ac- 
 cused would seem to presuppose some equality in desert, which would have been 
 an indignity to the memory of Putnam ; and partly because it would seem as 
 if there were some fault imputable to Putnam, which we wished to offset 
 against the defects of his calumniator. It is indeed extraordinary that a man 
 who has reason to fear that his actions may yet become the subject of bio- 
 graphical criticism should have become the accuser of one who was in pos- 
 session of a nation's respect, and whose merit was so well able, as wfe have 
 seen, to endure the closest scrutiny. Is it that we are blind to our own fail- 
 ings, or is it policy, to bring the character of others into question to prevent a 
 too curious examination of our own ? A Friend to injured Merit." 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art. 263 
 
 with dry eyes. They are letters that would do honor to the pen 
 of Pliny. You ask whether any dissatisfaction existed in the 
 public mind against General Putnam, in consequence of his con- 
 duct on the 17th of June. I was in Philadelphia from the 5th 
 of May through the summer of 1775, and can testify to nothing 
 which passed at Charlestown on the 17th of June. But this I do 
 say without reserve, that I never heard the least insinuation of 
 dissatisfaction with the conduct of General Putnam through his 
 whole life." 
 
 In the midst of this controversy of 18 18, an article ap- 
 peared in the " North American Review " (in the July num- 
 ber of that year) which has been generally understood to 
 have come from the pen of Daniel Webster. Perhaps some 
 things said in that article may have afforded a slight foun- 
 dation for the modern theories and speculations. It is 
 important, therefore, that we should distinctly understand 
 the end and aim of the article. It is a strong and bold de- 
 fence of General Putnam against his slanderers. It is writ- 
 ten with the same essential spirit and design as the articles 
 of Mr. Lowell. Near the beginning it is said, " Every 
 descendant and connection of General Putnam is bound to 
 protect and preserve his character and fame from unmerited 
 reproach. He has a right, it is his duty, to call upon the 
 prosecutor to produce evidence in support of the charges, 
 or to retract them." That sentence will be sufficient to 
 reveal the current idea of the whole article. But in the 
 course of it he says, " Properly and strictly speaking there 
 was no commander-in-chief in the battle." It may be ob- 
 served, in passing, that this remark does not enure to Col- 
 onel Prescott's benefit, whatever honor it may take from 
 General Putnam. We do not credit Mr. Webster with his 
 usual large-orbed wisdom in making such an assertion. We 
 have no doubt whatever that the battle of Bunker Hill had 
 a plan and a guiding head. Mr. Lowell, as we have just 
 
264 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 seen, was decided on that point. Mr. Webster may have 
 just been reading John Adams's letter about "four armies," 
 or some similar piece of writing, and had not taken time 
 to straighten the tangle ; but certainly he was not trying to 
 prove that Colonel William Prescott was the commander-in- 
 chief, though his distinguished name is sometimes slipped 
 in as authority in that direction. At a later stage he 
 might perhaps be more fairly quoted on that side, but in 
 1818 it had not revealed itself to him that Prescott was 
 chief. Forty-three years ought to suffice to give that 
 revelation to him, if it was ever to be made. 
 
 This may be a place as appropriate as any other for in- 
 troducing an item of evidence that has never before been 
 presented to the public. Last summer the writer received 
 a pressing invitation from Hon. Daniel Putnam Tyler of 
 Brooklyn, Connecticut, to visit him at his home, as he was 
 seriously ill, and had some things which he wished to com- 
 municate. Mr. Tyler was formerly Secretary of State in 
 Connecticut, and will be well remembered by many in Massa- 
 chusetts as an effective public speaker in political campaigns. 
 He was much employed in this way, years ago, in various 
 parts of New England. He was a great-grandson of Gen- 
 eral Putnam, and his home has long been near General Put- 
 nam's old residence. As a public speaker, he carried into 
 his audience something of the energy and force and sym- 
 pathetic contagion which his ancestor employed in matters 
 of war. He had also a strong personal resemblance to 
 General Putnam, so much so, that old men who had known 
 the revolutionary leader were always reminding him of this 
 resemblance. The story is told of his speaking once to a 
 large audience in New Haven, and as the assembly was 
 breaking up and scattering, an old man threaded his way 
 through the crowd and took him by the hand most cor- 
 dially, saying, " I need no introduction to you, sir ; you are 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art. 265 
 
 the perfect embodiment of my old friend, General Putnam. 
 My name is Noah Webster." 
 
 The visit above referred to was paid, and Mr. Tyler had 
 more things to say than he had strength to say, for he was 
 suffering greatly from heart disease, of which he has since 
 died.* But he felt most acutely the wrong which had been 
 done to his noble-hearted and generous ancestor, by cer- 
 tain modern writers. For long years he had borne in his 
 memory an incident that greatly impressed and delighted 
 him, and which he had often related to others. He felt 
 now that his end was approaching ; and he had taken pains 
 to write out this bit of history, and go before a justice of 
 the peace and make oath to its truth. 
 
 A word of explanation, before his statement is given. 
 In some of the narratives of what transpired on the 17th of 
 June, it may be remembered that when Warren was going 
 upon the ground, just before the battle, he met William 
 Eustis, then a medical student in his own office. Young 
 Eustis was acting there that day as surgeon. He was after- 
 wards Governor of Massachusetts, Member of Congress, 
 and Secretary of War at Washington. The statement of 
 Mr. Tyler runs as follows : 
 
 I, Daniel P. Tyler, of Brooklyn, Windham County, Connecti- 
 cut, depose and say that sometime during the year 1822 or 1823, 
 Dr. William Eustis, then a Member of Congress from Massachu- 
 setts, travelled with his family in his private carriage from Wash- 
 ington to Boston, and on the night next preceding the interview 
 
 * " Daniel P. Tyler of Brooklyn, who died on Saturday, November 6th, 
 1875, at the age of seventy-seven, was one of the leading men of the State a 
 generation ago. He was a great stump speaker, and did particularly vigorous 
 work in the 'Tippecanoe and Tyler too' campaign. When a young man he 
 was Lieutenant in the United States army for several years, and after settling 
 down at Brooklyn as a lawyer, held the offices of Clerk of Courts for Wmdham 
 County for fifteen years. County Judge, and Secretary of State. He was a 
 great-grandson of Israel Putnam." — "Tolland Comity Press." 
 
266 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 of which I shall speak, he lodged at Canterbury, six miles south 
 of Brooklyn, and the weather being very warm, an early ride to 
 Brooklyn, to breakfast there, was determined on. While at the 
 breakfast-table he learned to his surprise that he was quite near 
 the house of General Putnam and the place where he died, — sur- 
 prised, because he had always understood that Putnam lived and 
 died in Pomfret. Now, what was Pomfret became Brooklyn in 
 1786. On learning this. Dr. Eustis inquired whether any of the 
 descendants of Putnam lived near by, so that he could see them. 
 A messenger was thereupon sent for me, with a request from the 
 Doctor that I would come at once to the hotel. Being away 
 from home when the messenger came, it was some time before 
 I went to the hotel, and then I found the Doctor's carriage 
 already standing before the door, and the family ready to leave. 
 The Doctor introduced himself to me, and expressed regret that 
 I had not come sooner, for he had much that he was anxious to 
 communicate about the battle of Bunker Hill and General Put- 
 nam, but said that the heat was so great that he could not delay 
 his journey till later in the day, and consequently could not re- 
 main to make the statement he wished. The difficulty, however, 
 was overcome by sending in advance the carriage with the family, 
 while Dr. Eustis and I followed leisurely in my own humble 
 equipage. Our immediate destination was Thompson, distant 
 seventeen miles. 
 
 " The Doctor began the conversation by speaking of a pamph- 
 let published by General Dearborn, purporting to give an ac- 
 count of the battle of Bunker Hill, which he said was inaccurate 
 in many respects, but more particularly in regard to what was 
 said of General Putnam, and what he (the Doctor) himself knew 
 to be incorrect. He said he was a student in Dr. Warren's 
 office, that early in the morning of the battle Pjatnam was there, 
 and with almost superhuman energy, acting as commander, and 
 so far as he knew was alone recognized as such. It was not till 
 many years after the battle that he heard it suggested that any other 
 than Putnam had the chief command on that occasion. He said 
 he knew that Colonel Prescott was intrusted with the defence of 
 the redoubt, that he was an intrepid and gallant soldier, and 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art. 267 
 
 defended that with great military skill and Spartan valor. The 
 Doctor also said that he was absent from the country when Gen- 
 eral Dearborn prepared his pamphlet ; and that as General Dear- 
 born knew of his acquaintance with the scenes enacted on Bun- 
 ker Hill, and of his subsequent connection with the military 
 affairs of the country, having himself succeeded General Dear- 
 born as Secretary of War, he might, he thought, have presumed 
 without arrogance that General Dearborn would have submitted 
 to his examination the manuscript ; and that had he done so, he 
 (the Doctor) would have strongly advised against its publication. 
 
 " The above is only a synopsis of the conversation, so inter- 
 esting to me, which was held during our ride. The Doctor in- 
 formed me that toward the close of the revolutionary war he 
 was surgeon in the army at West Point when General Putnam 
 commanded at that post. The foregoing is memoriter, but per- 
 fectly fresh in my recollection. The only written memorandum I 
 made is on a blank leaf of Humphrey's " Life of Putnam," and 
 is as follows : ' 1822.' Went to Thompson with Dr. Eustis at his re- 
 quest, so that he could tell me about Bunker Hill and General 
 Putnam, — said he was at the battle, surgeon, — that General 
 Dearborn's account of the battle was not correct, that General 
 Putnam was the commander, and he didn't know of any other 
 nor see any other acting as such. He said he was there all 
 through the battle.' Daniel Putnam Tyler. 
 
 " Dated Brooklyn, July 9th, 1875." 
 
 " Windham County, ss. 
 Then personally appeared Daniel Putnam Tyler, signer of the 
 foregoing deposition, and made oath to the truth of the same, 
 before me. Elias H. Main, Justice of the Peace." 
 
 The value of this testimony, is enhanced by the fact, not 
 only that it came from such a man as Governor William 
 Eustis, but that it came from him as one burdened with a 
 desire to deliver it, for the ends of personal justice and his- 
 torical truth. It will be remembered by those who partici- 
 pated in the scenes of the Bunker Hill Centennial at Bos- 
 ton, that a unique and well preserved, but old-fashioned 
 
268 Life of Israel PatJiam. 
 
 carriage of Governor Eustis passed in the procession. Mr. 
 Tyler had read of this in the papers, and at the time of the 
 writer's visit to Brooklyn, he was curious to know whether 
 this might not be the identical carriage which he saw at 
 Brooklyn in 1822. As Governor Eustis died in 1825, it is 
 altogether likely that it was the same, though on this point 
 we could give him no reliable information. 
 
 We have shown, we trust, to the satisfaction of the 
 reader, that the questions so earnestly discussed in 18 18 
 were totally different from those forced upon us to-day. 
 The claim that Colonel William Prescott had the chief 
 command in the battle was not urged upon the public at- 
 tention at all. That is a later assumption, having its origin 
 somewhere between forty-three and one hundred years after 
 the battle. This fact, of itself, we hold to be utterly fatal 
 to the doctrine. If there were nothing else to be said about 
 it except this one thing, it would be enough. A theory on 
 such a subject that has to wait more than forty-three years 
 for its birth — wait till most of the actors in the battle are 
 dead, before it dares to be born — is destined, sooner or 
 later, to die and be forgotten. It has no chance for any 
 immortal place in human history. Some historical ques- 
 tions are in their very nature secret and subtle, and hard to 
 be resolved ; but the man who led the American army that 
 long, bright summer day, on the heights of Charlestown, 
 was not shut up in a cell, and did not wear a mask. He 
 was moving boldly and openly in sight of heaven and earth, 
 and the living men of that generation did not require forty- 
 three years to find out who he was. 
 
 And now we take another wide step and come down to 
 the year 1849, "when Richard Frothingham, Esq., published 
 his celebrated book, the " Siege of Boston." Thousands 
 will remember the pleasant impression which that book 
 made upon the public mind. It was a delightful book. It 
 
Btmker Hill Literature and Art. 269 
 
 charmed the reader. It gathered up the minute facts, the 
 old legends, the romantic incidents, which had lurked away 
 in obscure volumes and narratives, or in unpublished manu- 
 scripts drawn from dusty pigeon holes. Mr. Frothingham 
 arranged and set in order all this diversified material, in a 
 manner quiet and scholarly, and when the book was issued, 
 many a reader was ready to say, " There ! that is the first 
 book that ever gave us a complete history of Bunker Hill." 
 He became at once an authority. Irving was writing his 
 " Life of Washington," and Bancroft was going on with his 
 " History of the United States," and it would seem, in both 
 cases, tha,t these able authors said to themselves, "Mr. 
 Frothingham has saved us the labor of an independent 
 investigation, as to this critical and important period of our 
 national history, and we will give him full credit, and take 
 the substance of what he has written for our own volumes." 
 Be it noticed, moreover, that Mr. Frothingham never in 
 a single instance propounds this theory of Prescott's com- 
 mand in any bold and defiant manner. It creeps in quietly 
 in many passages, as though it were almost a matter of in- 
 difference to him whether Prescott or Putnam shall be re- 
 garded as chief commander. His style of argument is, 
 that we have no express information that Putnam was ap- 
 pointed to the command, and being from Connecticut, there 
 would be serious difficulties (owing to the relations of the 
 several States) in his taking command without an express 
 order from General Ward; and it seems therefore most 
 likely that Colonel William Prescott must be looked upon 
 as chief commander. This, in general, is the way in which 
 this scheme takes shape in Mr. Frothingham's delightful 
 book, — very different from that rampant and audacious 
 style of assertion in which we confront it in the pages of 
 many later writers, who may be called Mr. Frothingham's 
 pupils and followers. 
 
2/0 Life of Israel Putnam, 
 
 Moreover, in the " Siege of Boston " General Putnam is 
 nowhere abused and slandered. He is constantly recog- 
 nized as a good and true man. There is not a single touch 
 of the General Dearborn spirit and tone. His eminent 
 services, his immense activities, his unquestionable bravery, 
 are all acknowledged and dwelt upon. So predominant 
 throughout the whole volume is this style of treatment, 
 that Colonel Swett, in his second production (which will 
 be soon noticed), was moved to say of Mr, Frothingham's 
 method, " He has treated General Putnam's character with 
 the utmost candor and kindness, as animals destined for 
 the altar are pampered, to be sacrificed at the last." 
 
 We do not wish to deny that between the years 1818 
 and 1849, there had been, here and there, certain intima- 
 tions and forerunners of this new theory of the command 
 at Bunker Hill. There had been these droppings and sug- 
 gestions along the way by one writer and another, on vari- 
 ous occasions and at various times. It would unduly pro- 
 long this narrative if we were to stop and pick up these 
 scattered instances. But there is some general law about 
 them. They do not as a common fact come from men who 
 are disposed to slander or undervalue General Putnam's 
 services in the battle. They spring out of that confusion 
 and entanglement of thought, to which even such men as 
 the illustrious John Adams had ministered, in his talk about 
 " four armies," and about Putnam's being as independent 
 of Ward as Ward was of him. The orations and addresses 
 in the great Bunker Hill gatherings in 1825 and in 1843 
 (at the completion of the monument), on the whole, min- 
 istered to the same idea. 
 
 It was not until 1849, when the "Siege of Boston" 
 appeared, seventy-four years after the battle, that we had 
 any fully constructed theory showing Colonel Prescott as 
 chief commander in the battle ; and even then the theory 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art. 271 
 
 came forth in such a gentle and winning way, with so large 
 and generous an appreciation of General Putnam's immense 
 services, that" the men who did not believe the theory at 
 all could not be as cross and indignant as they wanted to be. 
 
 But with Colonel Samuel Swett of Boston, then a man 
 of over sixty years, the case was different. He had put 
 himself forth in authorship thirty years before, and his judg- 
 ment as a man, and as a military officer, was impugned by 
 the speculations of Mr. Frothingham. His memory reached 
 back almost to the revolutionary days. He had been hon- 
 orably connected with the army in the war of 18 12, and he 
 broke forth upon this new theory in a storm of indignation, 
 and published his pamphlet to refute it ; which led to a re- 
 joinder on the part of Mr. Frothingham. We do not pro- 
 pose to dwell upon the merits or demerits of this contro- 
 versy. 
 
 We are concerned at this point, simply to show that al- 
 most three-quarters of a century had passed away, — the 
 men who fought the battle were in their graves, — the men 
 who acted in the civil affairs of the nation had gone to their 
 rest before this theory, in full form and shape, was launched 
 upon the world. As already said, this circumstance alone 
 is fatal to the idea. The living men of 1775 must have 
 known the truth in the case, and in the earlier portions of 
 this chapter we have recorded their verdict. That verdict 
 will stand against all the waves and storms that may beat 
 upon it. The history of this first great act of the revolu- 
 tionary drama may abide for a time in this perverted form, 
 incorporated as it is on the pages of some of our leading 
 histories ; but other historians will arise, as the years pass 
 on, who will return to the " old paths," and walk in the 
 ways in which the fathers taught them to walk. 
 
 In theological seminaries, where the dogmatic professor 
 has any new and peculiar doctrines, theories or ideas to 
 
2/2 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 broach, his most dangerous enemies are his eager and ad- 
 miring pupils. They will sound abroad his new discoveries 
 without any of the checks, the qualifications, the safe- 
 guards, which the professor himself would throw around 
 them. And something like this has been true in the pres- 
 ent case. In the " Siege of Boston " the new discovery 
 creeps forth very modestly. It is only the roaring of the 
 " nightingale " and the " sucking-dove." It is not the 
 bringing of the real lion upon the stage at all. General 
 Putnam is still a most heroic, generous, admirable man. 
 His services on that day of the battle are forever to be held 
 in grateful remembrance. But there is a difficulty in see- 
 ing how he could be exactly commander-in-chief. He 
 would have made a good one, no doubt, if he could have 
 been one, but then we have no written paper showing that 
 Ward appointed him to that place. He never produced be- 
 fore Colonel Prescott, or any other man, such a paper 
 which would have entitled him to hold the chief command. 
 There lies the difficulty. But let us never forget that Gen- 
 eral Putnam was a brave old hero. He was not the pol- 
 troon and coward that Dearborn said he was. Not by any 
 means. He was ready to face the thickest dangers, and 
 go where any other man dared to go, and to some places 
 where hardly any other man did dare to go. We must all of 
 us learn to love and admire brave old General Putnam. 
 
 That is the general spirit and temper of Mr. Frothing- 
 ham, and it is also the spirit of some who have followed his 
 lead. When Irving wrote his " Life of Washington," he 
 acknowledged his great indebtedness to Mr. Frothingham, 
 and he followed quite faithfully, altogether too faithfully, 
 his version of this most important action of the revolution- 
 ary struggle. But Irving could not close that chapter 
 without giving vent to his pent-up emotions, and he finds 
 relief in a magnificent tribute to Putnam, which we quote. 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art. 273 
 
 " Putnam also was a leading spirit throughout the affair ; one 
 of the first to prompt and of the last to maintain it. He ap- 
 pears to have been active and efficient at every point, — some- 
 times fortifying, sometimes hurrying the reinforcements, inspirit- 
 ing the men by his presence while they were able to maintain 
 their ground, and fighting gallantly at the outpost to cover their 
 retreat. The brave old man, riding about in the heat of the ac- 
 tion, on this sultry day, ' with a hanger belted across his brawny 
 shoulders, over a waistcoat without sleeves,' has been sneered 
 at by a- contemporary as 'much fitter to lead a band of sickle 
 men or ditchers than musketeers.' But this very description 
 illustrates his character and identifies him with the times and the 
 service. A yeoman warrior, fresh from the plough, in the garb 
 of rural labor, a patriot, brave and generous, but rough and 
 ready, who thought not of himself in time of danger, but ever 
 ready to serve in any way, and to sacrifice official rank and self- 
 glorification to the good of the cause. He was eminently a sol- 
 dier for the occasion. His name has long been a favorite one 
 with young and old, one of the talismanic names of the Revolu- 
 tion, the very mention of which is like the sound of a trumpet. 
 Such names are the precious jewels of our history, to be gar- 
 nered up among the treasures of the nation and kept immaculate 
 from the tarnishing breath of the cynic and the doubter." 
 
 Bancroft, too, though he allowed himself to be led too 
 obediently by another through this portion of his great 
 work, does not go beyond his guide in any use of hard 
 language. 
 
 But there are multitudes of lesser pupils who have not 
 had this discretion of silence. By them Putnam begins to be 
 jostled about as if he were a mere intruder on that hard-fought 
 field — rather in the way than otherwise — interfering all 
 the while with arrangements that would have been better 
 without him ; while on the other hand, out of the mists of 
 one hundred years, begins at last to loom up the stately 
 form of a great military hero, Colonel William Prescott, — 
 
274 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 the man that always stayed a Colonel, while some fifteen 
 or twenty of his associates were advanced to higher mili- 
 tary positions. When an object is thus seen through the 
 mist, it often grows upon us as the mist thickens, until the 
 proportions become perfectly gigantic. The man that 
 figured before us last year, in the writings of some men 
 about Boston, in certain of the newspapers, and in orations 
 and speeches, was of this prodigious character. General 
 Israel Putnam, second in military command to Washington, 
 was nothing to him, — a mere child in military knowledge 
 and force. What this man might grow to before another 
 centennial, if no check were put upon his enlargement, it is 
 painful to think of. What he has already grown to may be 
 seen in the following : 
 
 " He [Prescott] was the hero of that blood-dyed summit, the 
 midnight leader and guard, the morning sentinel, the orator of 
 the opening strife, the cool and deliberate overseer of the whole 
 struggle, the well-skilled marksman of the exact distance and the 
 point of aim at which a shot was certain death ; he was the 
 trusted chief, in whose bright eye and steady nerve men read 
 their duty ; and when conduct, skill and courage could do no 
 more, he was the merciful deliverer of the remnant. Prescott 
 was the hero of the day, and wherever its tale is told, let him be 
 its chieftain. Whose statue other than his should grace the 
 monumental summit, beside, not beneath, that of Warren, the 
 ' volunteer ' ? " 
 
 But it has been pleasant to observe, amidst all this noise 
 and excitement, that there were men enough, Massachu- 
 setts men, who still read the old history correctly, and were 
 not to be stirred from their moorings by the waves that 
 were beating about them. Samuel A. Drake, Esq., besides 
 the contribution to centennial literature already noticed 
 (the testimony of the British officers), prepared a pamphlet on 
 the battle itself, in which General Putnam still held his old 
 
Blinker Hill Literature and Art. 275 
 
 and true position as commander. W. W. Wheildon, Esq., 
 of Concord, wrote a " New History of the Battle of Bunker 
 Hill," which is clear and excellent. He takes no extreme 
 ground, but sums up his conclusion on the point now before 
 us in the following words : 
 
 "After what has been said, perhaps it is unnecessary to 
 express opinions on the specific question of commander. It is 
 assumed that this question has been finally settled, and it is now 
 very boldly asserted — the statement resting on a basis of asser- 
 tions and opinions — that ' it is certain and now beyond all ques- 
 tion that he [Prescott] had the command of the day and the action,^ 
 This statement ignores all the fact and argument on the other 
 side, which have never been satisfactorily answered, and we 
 think is distinctly untrue." 
 
 The italics used in this quotation are Mr. Wheildon's, 
 and the passage may be found on p. 50. 
 
 In closing this extended review, covering in a rapid way 
 the century which has passed since the battle, we can- 
 not resist the general impression that the literary process, 
 so far as regards Colonel Prescott, began with his near 
 friends, and the first effort was to relieve him from the 
 charge of not having played his part well in that action. 
 Manifestly he did not show military capacity like the other 
 local and subordinate commanders, Stark, Reed and Knowl- 
 ton. The current conversation of men in the times immedi- 
 ately following, both in the army and out of the army, we 
 have no doubt whatever, if it could be faithfully reported to 
 us, would run largely in this wise : Prescott was brave and did 
 all he could, but he was not equal to the occasion. He did 
 not know how to command men, and nerve them up to 
 their duty. If he had done as well that day as the other 
 commanders, the result would have been different. It is in 
 this way that we explain the ominous silence about him in 
 the contemporary literature, for that " unbounded applause 
 
276 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 of his contemporaries," of which Mr. Frothingham speaks, 
 is just the one tiling which we do not find, and the histori- 
 cal student may be challenged to find it. He was not 
 rudely treated by the men of his generation, for they saw 
 in him a man of personal dignity and worth, who had 
 shown a large measure of individual courage, had remained 
 steadfastly at his post of duty, and had done the best he 
 could. But what they said one to another in private, is 
 made manifest largely in a negative way, by that oppres- 
 sive silence which broods over the general literature of 
 those times, and by the fact that he was not promoted. 
 
 Let it be understood, that when we speak of contempora- 
 ries, we do not mean Prescott's kindred and personal 
 friends. We do not accept the literature that is stored up 
 in the " Prescott Memorial " and such like compilations. 
 Nor are the affidavits that were called out in 18 18, from 
 soldiers that were in the battle, of much consequence. 
 Such as they were, they carry vastly more testimony for 
 Putnam than for Prescott. But they were extremely con- 
 tradictory and unsatisfactory. They show us clearly how 
 little confidence can be placed, after a long lapse of years, 
 in the recollections and impressions of men as excited and 
 absorbed as were those soldiers at Bunker Hill. We could 
 find hundreds of men to-day, who have lived their " three- 
 score years and ten," who would be ready to go before a 
 magistrate and make oath that the ordinary snow storms 
 of sixty years ago were twice or three times greater than 
 the ordinary snow storms of these passing years. 
 
 When we talk of "contemporaries" and of contempo- 
 rary literature, it is meant that one shall go out upon the 
 broad field of the world, far away from circles of admiring 
 kindred and local glory, and examine books, public records, 
 newspapers, letters passing from man to man, in the large 
 intercourse of society, all forms and varieties of testimony, 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art. 277 
 
 which the living men of that generation have left behind 
 for our instruction. And when we bring Colonel Prescott 
 to this broad and comprehensive test, the "unbounded 
 applause " is not found. In the case of General Putnam it 
 is most easily found. We have furnished evidence in this 
 volume to show this clearly, and far more testimony could 
 be brought were it needed. But we challenge any man to 
 hunt up a similar record, or one in any degree correspond- 
 ing, for Colonel Prescott. So far from this, the silence 
 respecting him in those years that cluster immediately 
 about the battle is much more marked and significant 
 than was anticipated when we began this investigation. 
 Let us recur once more, by way of illustration, to the tes- 
 timony of Samuel Adams. He actually had to come to the 
 camp at Cambridge, about the middle of August, before he 
 heard of " the valor of Prescott." * It is freely admitted 
 that Prescott exhibited valor at Bunker Hill. That fact 
 has been recognized again and again in this volume. But 
 it was in such connections and associations that it had 
 not reported itself to Mr. Adams at Philadelphia, in the 
 nearly two months intervening — to Sam. Adams, who 
 studied every fact of those days, who scrutinized every 
 movement and event, with a diligence almost unparalleled. 
 John Adams says of his illustrious cousin, " Samuel Adams, 
 
 * And here we have another instance of that significant silence of which 
 we have spoken. In the three large volumes of Mr. Wells's " Life of Samuel 
 Adams," containing the letters and many papers from the pen of him who is 
 sometimes called " the Father of the Revolution," the only reference to Col- 
 onel Prescott seems to be in the passage above quoted. When we consider 
 that Adams and Prescott were from the same colony, and that Mr. Adams 
 had laid it down as a rule, that every instance of merit belonging to a Massa- 
 chusetts officer should " be improved as far as decency will admit of it," it is 
 remarkable that he should never again mention him in his letters and other 
 writings. If he were really the chief commander at Bunker Hill, and the 
 great man shown to us in the modern books and pamphlets, he would have 
 been " improved." Mr. Adams lived on to the year 1803, and was in public 
 life until 1797. 
 
2/8 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 to my certain knowledge, from 1758 to 1775, that is, for 
 seventeen years, made it his constant rule to watch the rise 
 of every brilliant genius," etc. But he had not heard of 
 Prescott's valor until he reached Cambridge, about two 
 months after the battle. 
 
 In contrast with this, notice how Putnam moved across 
 those years. On the 19th of June, 1775, at Philadelphia, 
 when they knew nothing as yet of the battle of Bunker Hill, 
 in the choice of the first four Major-Generals, he was tman- 
 imously taken by the Continental Congress, and lifted at 
 once over David Wooster, Joseph Spencer, John Thomas, 
 Seth Pomeroy, William Heath, John Whitcomb, Joseph 
 Warren, Joseph Frye, all of whom were higher in military 
 rank than he, i. e., either higher in the nature of their office, 
 or earlier in receiving their commissions for the same office. 
 The Continental Congress indeed did not know of the three 
 last-named as having been raised to the offices they held, 
 for that choice by the Massachusetts Congress had just 
 been made. Nor did it know of Warren's death. But of 
 the five others the Congress knew all the facts, and some 
 of these men were very able officers ; and yet Putnam was 
 taken from a lower grade and placed above them all. 
 
 After the battle, we have seen how the men of England 
 and the men of Philadelphia were drinking his health, how 
 full the air was with his name and his deeds, how large 
 were the trusts placed in his hands, and how nobly he met 
 them. To talk of the " unbounded applause of his contem- 
 poraries " in his case brings words into some reasonable 
 connection with facts. But in the case of Prescott it is 
 like having a band of music to marshal a laborer to his 
 daily toil. 
 
 We repeat, that the first efforts in a literary way, with 
 regard to Colonel Prescott, seem to have been to excuse 
 him, to apologize for him, to show how other men were 
 
Bunker Hill Literature and Art. 279 
 
 more to blame than he ; and from this earliest form of apol- 
 ogetics, little by little, one man taking up the pen where 
 another laid it down, the process has gone on, until at 
 length with a certain class of writers he is the great man of 
 that day, overtowering Putnam, Stark, Reed, Knowlton and 
 everybody else. But this is the " unbounded applause " of 
 1875, and not of 1775. If any student of history, working 
 upon the broad field, can certify to this " applause " in the 
 literature of the last century, or find any evidence, outside 
 of a small circle of men, that Prescott ever received the 
 high plaudits of his contemporaries as a military leader, he 
 will confer a special favor if he will report his evidence as 
 soon as may be. 
 
 We have made frequent references in our previous nar- 
 rative to Daniel Putnam and his testimony, as contained in 
 the " Connecticut Historical Collections " (Vol. I. pp. 229- 
 250). In concluding this chapter, we will copy from that 
 article the sentences which relate to the interviews between 
 Putnam and Prescott, previous to the battle, and their con- 
 versations on the projected enterprise. 
 
 " One afternoon, as Putnam had been marking out a new line 
 on which his men had just commenced work, Colonel Prescott 
 and Colonel Gardiner came up. ' I wish, General,' said Pres- 
 cott, ' your men were digging nearer Boston.' Putnam replied 
 that he wished so too, and hoped ere long we should all be of 
 one mind 
 
 " Next day [after the exchange of the prisoners], there was 
 quite a levee of officers at Putnam's quarters to talk about the 
 exchange, etc. He related to them all the particulars, and turn- 
 ing to Colonel Prescott said, ' Colonel, I saw ground yesterday 
 that may suit your purpose. I suppose you have not forgotten 
 your remark of the other day about digging; but more of this 
 another time.' .... 
 
 " It was further stated by Putnam that there had been an un- 
 derstanding between him and Colonel Prescott that the latter 
 
28o Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 should have a part in the expedition, if it should ever be under- 
 taken. General Ward was apprised of this, and Prescott and 
 
 all his regiment was ordered on that service [Three 
 
 hundred went that night, and the rest were expected to come the 
 next morning with the reinforcements.] 
 
 " The day before the battle of Bunker Hill, I noticed an un- 
 usual stir among the troops at Cambridge. Putnam's regiment 
 was under arms, and I was informed by the Adjutant that a de- 
 tachment had been made from it for ' secret service ; ' but what 
 at the time impressed my mind most strongly, was the prepara- 
 tion my father himself was making. With his own hands he pre- 
 pared cartridges for his pistols, took out the old flints, and put in 
 new. While he was doing this, Colonel Prescott came in, and ob- 
 serving what he was about, said, in a low tone, ' I see, General, 
 you are making preparation, and we shall be ready at the time.' " 
 
 Now, this is a perfectly straightforward and circumstantial 
 story, from one who had the best opportunities of knowing 
 whereof he affirmed, and who approved himself in after life 
 an upright and honorable man. Has that story ever been 
 historically disproved .-* Is there a single well established 
 fact to show its falsity t We know of none. The story is 
 in entire harmony with all we really hiow of the events of 
 those days. We are satisfied that it will stand the test of 
 the closest examination. And the closer the examination 
 the better. There is nothing to fear in this matter, except 
 from loose, rambling statements. The only danger is, that 
 'men will continue to talk and write out of their imagina- 
 tions, out of their preconceived impressions, without going 
 to the records. 
 
 And by this story, what we have claimed is made plain. 
 It is not likely that Prescott would have had any prominent 
 part at all in the battle of Bunker Hill, except by favor of 
 General Putnam ; and if Putnam had had the same business 
 to do over again a fortnight after, he would not probably 
 have chosen Prescott as his assistant. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 FOUR YEARS MORE OF ARMY LIFE. 
 
 Putnam chosen to be near Washington. — Honored and Trusted by Him.— 
 Operations during the Summer and Autumn of 1775, and following Win- 
 ter. — Occupation of Dorchester Heights. — March 5th. — Evacuation of 
 Boston, March 17th. — Putnam in full Command at New York. — Letters. 
 — Battle of Long Island. — Sent to Philadelphia. — Headquarters on the 
 Hudson. — Ride down the Stone Steps. — Struck with Paralysis, 1779. — 
 Compelled to leave the Army. 
 
 IT is, of course, a very unusual circumstance in writing a 
 man's biography, to spend so large a portion of the vol- 
 ume in unfolding the facts and events of some two months 
 of a long life. But we ask no apology for doing this in the 
 present instance. The work was made necessary for the 
 ends of justice and truth. 
 
 It may seem a sudden transition to turn from this theatre 
 of controversy and argument into the more quiet strain of 
 simple narrative. But we shall soon find enough to inter- 
 est us. The great war of independence has only just 
 opened. Exciting events are to follow in quick succession 
 for years to come. The siege of Boston has not yet ended. 
 For months the American army is to be chiefly concen- 
 trated here. 
 
 On the 2d day of July, Washington reached the head- 
 quarters of the American camp at Cambridge. There was 
 great rejoicing at his arrival. He brought with him the 
 commissions for the four Major-Generals appointed by the 
 Continental Congress (June 17th and 19th), viz., Artemas 
 Ward, Charles Lee, Philip Schuyler and Israel Putnam. 
 
 281 
 
282 Life of Israel Putnam. [i775-79- 
 
 There was lodged in his hands by Congress a certain dis- 
 cretionary power, as to the delivery of these commissions 
 on his arrival. If he encountered rumors unfavorable to 
 any of his appointees, he might delay or withhold the com- 
 missions. Almost immediately upon his reaching the camp, 
 he gave to General Putnam his commission. He had no 
 doubt or misgiving in his case. It is true, in his letter af- 
 terwards sent to Congress, explaining his action, it is im- 
 plied that when he delivered the commission to Putnam, 
 he expected to deliver them all ; but he soon found such 
 complaints as to the others, that for a time he withheld the 
 commissions. There is, however, in this letter to Congress 
 no expression of regret that he had given his commission to 
 Putnam. Plis case appears to have been perfectly clear to 
 his own mind. 
 
 The following extract from General Washington's letter 
 to the Continental Congress, dated " Camp at Cambridge, 
 July 19th, 1775," will explain these complications among 
 the officers, in consequence of the appointments made at 
 Philadelphia. This letter in full is in Force's " Archives," 
 (4th series, Vol. II. pp. 1624-27). 
 
 "The great dissatisfaction expressed on this subject, and the 
 apparent danger of throwing the army into the utmost disorder, 
 together with the strong representations of the Provincial Con- 
 gress, have induced me to retain the commissions in my hands, 
 until the pleasure of Congress should be further known, except 
 General Putnam's, which was given the day I came into camp, 
 and before I was apprised of these uneasinesses. In such a step, 
 I must beg the Congress will do me the justice to believe that I 
 have been actuated solely by a regard to the public good. I 
 have not, and could not have, any private attachments ; every 
 gentleman in appointment w^as an entire stranger to me, but from 
 character ; I must therefore rely upon the candor of the Congress 
 for their favorable construction of my conduct in this particular. 
 
JEr. s7-6i.] Fozcr Years more of Army Life. 283 
 
 General Spencer was so much disgusted at the preference given 
 to General Putnam, that he left the army without visiting me, or 
 making known his intentions in any respect. General Pomeroy 
 had also retired before my arrival, occasioned, as is said, by some 
 disappointment from the Provincial Congress. General Thomas 
 is much esteemed and earnestly desired to continue in the ser- 
 vice, and as far as my opportunities have enabled me to judge, 
 I must join in the general opinion that he is an able, good officer, 
 and his resignation would be a public loss. The postponing him 
 to Pomeroy and Heath, whom he has commanded, would make his 
 continuance very difficult, and probably operate in his mind as 
 the like circumstance has done on that of Spencer." * 
 
 There is a large volume of testimony in this letter, if 
 we will only search it out. Washington heard, in that 
 American camp, no such insinuations against General Put- 
 nam, as certain men in modern times are fond of slipping 
 into their narratives. On the contrary, he did hear, very 
 speedily, such things said of General Artemas Ward that 
 
 * In "American Archives " (4th series, Vol. II. p. 11 14) we have the order 
 and rank of those higher officers of the army, appointed in June by the Con- 
 tinental Congress, out of which appointments such hard feelings were raised 
 among some of the officers. The list stands thus : 
 
 " George Washington, Esq., General and commander-in-chief of all the 
 forces raised or to be raised for the defence of American liberty. 
 
 ^^ Artemas Ward, Esq., First Major-General. 
 
 " Charles Lee, Esq., Second Major-General. 
 
 ^^ Philip Schuyler, Esq., Third Major-General. 
 
 " Is7'ael Putnam, Esq., Fourth Major-General. 
 
 " Seth Pomeroy, Esq., First Brigadier-General. 
 
 " Richard Montgomery, Esq., Second Brigadier-General. 
 
 '^ David Wooster, Esq., Third Brigadier-General. 
 
 " William Heath, Esq., Fourth Brigadier-General. 
 
 ^^ Joseph Spencer, Esq., Fifth Brigadier-General. 
 
 " John Thomas, Esq., Sixth Brigadier-General. 
 
 " John Sullivan, Esq., Seventh Brigadier-General. 
 
 ^^ Nathaniel Greene, Esq., Eighth Brigadier-General. 
 
 " Horatio Gates, Esq., Adjutant-General, and with the rank of Brigadier- 
 General." 
 
284 Life of Israel Putnam. [i775-79- 
 
 he hesitated. His commission was at length dehvered, and 
 he was removed to Roxbury to take charge of the right 
 wing of the army, while General Lee was placed in charge 
 of the left wing, and Putnam was put in command of the 
 reserves at the centre, near the person of the commander- 
 in-chief. During the centennial scenes in Boston last year, 
 there was one writer at least, who ventured to insinuate that 
 Putnam was placed over these reserves near General Wash- 
 ington, to keep him out of mischief; and that the other 
 Major-Generals had more honorable and responsible posi- 
 tions assigned them than he. But he was evidently a man 
 who knew how to read military history to suit his own pur- 
 poses. The general understanding is that Putnam, in this 
 American camp, held the highest post of honor and trust 
 under Washington. 
 
 Daniel Putnam, who still remained with his father, and 
 was with him in the scenes of his daily life, tells us on what 
 terms Washington and Putnam stood to each other during 
 that summer of 1775, and the winter of 1775-76. 
 
 " From the arrival of Washington at Cambridge till the enemy 
 left Boston, his and Putnam's families [General Putnam's second 
 wife was now with him] were not only on the most friendly terms, 
 but their intercourse was very frequent. Not a week passed but 
 they dined together at the quarters of one or the other. One day 
 in the month of September, General Washington at his table gave 
 for a toast, ' A speedy and honorable peace,' and all appeared to 
 join with good will in the sentiment. Not many days after, at 
 Putnam's quarters, addressing himself to Washington he said, 
 * Your Excellency, the other day, gave us " a speedy and honora- 
 ble peace," and I, as in duty bound, drank it ; and now I hope, 
 sir, you will not think it an act of insubordination, if I ask you 
 to drink one of rather a different character ; I will give you, sir, 
 A long and moderate war.' It has been truly said of Washing- 
 ton, that he seldom smiled and almost never laughed ; but the 
 sober and sententious manner in which Putnam delivered his 
 
^T. 57-61.] Four Years more of Army Life. 285 
 
 sentiment, and its seeming contradiction to all his practice, came 
 so unexpectedly upon Washington that he did laugh, more 
 heartily than ever I remember to have seen him before or after ; 
 but presently he said, * You are the last man, General Putnam, 
 from whom I should have expected such a toast ; you, who are all 
 the time urging vigorous measures, to plead now for a lo7ig and, 
 what is still more extraordinary, a moderate war, seems strange 
 indeed.' Putnam replied that ' The measures he advised were 
 calculated to prevent, not to hasten, a peace, which would only 
 be a rotten thing, and last no longer than it divided us, I expect 
 nothing but a long war, and I would have it a moderate one that 
 we may hold out till the mother country becomes willing to cast 
 us off forever.' Washington did not soon forget this toast ; for 
 years after, and more than once, he reminded Putnam of it." 
 
 There was another occasion in the autumn of that year 
 when Washington laughed. The story is pleasantly told 
 in the recent " Life of General Nathaniel Greene " (Vol. I. 
 p. 120). Dr. Benjamin Church, who in April, May and 
 June had been specially put forward as a true and earnest 
 patriot, who had been a member of the Massachusetts Pro- 
 vincial Assembly and a member of the Committee of Safety, 
 was found at length to be consorting with the enemy. At 
 first it was only known that some one in the garb of a friend 
 must be doing this, — that an evil influence was abroad, 
 and the authorities were trying to trace it to its source. 
 There was a woman in the case, but it was not known ex- 
 actly who she was. A woman had been known to deliver 
 a letter written in cipher, which letter had been detected 
 and stopped, and was in the hands of the authorities ; but 
 who the man was that wrote it, or who the woman was that 
 carried it was not known, though they had some signs and 
 marks by which to trace her. Great had been the efforts 
 to find the woman. Finally Putnam was commissioned to 
 undertake the business. One day, as Washington was 
 looking from the chamber windows of the Cragie House, 
 
286 Life of Israel Putnam. [i77S-79. 
 
 Putnam came in sight on horseback, riding somewhat furi- 
 ously, with a woman behind him. The sight was so comi- 
 cal that Washington burst into laughter. Putnam dis- 
 mounted, and with strong arm brought the woman into the 
 house, and they both so vigorously threatened her that she 
 revealed the secret on the spot, and the man was no other 
 than Dr. Benjamin Church. Here was an element of dan- 
 ger, new and unexpected. Church was arrested, tried be- 
 fore the Massachusetts Congress, and afterwards imprisoned 
 in Connecticut. 
 
 No very active military movements on either side were at- 
 tempted during that summer and fall. The British were shut 
 up in Boston, or at least inside of Charlestown Neck, and they 
 were in no mood to try the experiment of coming out from 
 that retreat. On the other side Washington was introduc- 
 ing military discipline into the American camp, and pre- 
 paring the men to act as true soldiers. The cares that 
 were rolled upon him when first coming into his respon- 
 sible office were many and various, and some of them very 
 burdensome, and it was best to get ready before any great 
 offensive movement should be attempted. 
 
 But while no battles were fought, and no great enterprises 
 attempted on either side during those months of summer 
 and autumn, hardly a day passed in which little collisions 
 of one sort and another did not occur along the skirmish 
 lines, and the drums often beat to arms, that the men might 
 be ready for such emergencies as might arise. 
 
 Mr. Frothingham, from Chapter IX. of his " Siege of 
 Boston," onward for some chapters, has traced with minute 
 care this course of daily events. It is inconsistent with 
 the purpose of this volume that we should linger long upon 
 this period ; but it may enliven our work, if we pick out a 
 few entries here and there from the diary before mentioned 
 and quoted. It is not without interest for us to know what 
 
JET. 57-61.] Four Years more of Army Life. 287 
 
 kind of sermons were listened to by those American sol- 
 diers gathered about Boston. Mr. Haskell has indicated 
 many of these texts, and we shall, in a few instances, place 
 in brackets the words of Scripture corresponding to his 
 figures. It is commonly understood that the text will 
 point to the subject of the sermon, though this is not an 
 invariable rule in our day. 
 
 " July 4th, Tuesday. — This morning our people took four 
 horses from the British. In the afternoon a party were ordered 
 to Lechmere's Point to intrenching 
 
 " July 6ih, Thursday. — This day Rev. Mr, Cleaveland, our 
 chaplain, came into the camp. Attended prayers at our bar- 
 racks. In the evening a man deserted from our army to the 
 enemy 
 
 " y^tily 8th, Saturday. — This morning at 3 o'clock our people 
 at Roxbury went down upon the neck, and rushed upon the 
 guard. They retreated. Our men set fire to the guard-house. 
 They made a heavy fire upon our party, which was returned. A 
 smart engagement ensued upon both sides. Our lines manned 
 for two hours. 
 
 " yuly gth, Sunday. — This morning our chaplain came and 
 preached in our regiment, from 2 Chronicles, vi. 34. [" If thy 
 people go out to war against their enemies, by the way that thou 
 shalt send them, and they pray unto thee' toward this city which 
 thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name ; 
 then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and their supplication 
 and maintain their cause."] In the afternoon from Deuteronomy 
 xxiii. 9. ["When the host goeth forth against thine enemies, 
 then keep thee from every wicked thing."] A flag came from the 
 enemy with a packet by General Lee. A man in a neighboring 
 regiment was whipped twenty stripes for striking an officer 
 
 " July 12th, Wednesday. — This morning our troops at Rox- 
 bury went down to Long Island, took eighteen men that were 
 tending cattle on the island, and brought off nineteen head of 
 horned cattle and one hundred sheep. In the afternoon had a 
 
288 Life of Israel Putnam. [i775-79- 
 
 smart shower of rain with hea\^ thunder, were something wet in 
 
 our tents 
 
 " jfuly i6th, Sunday. — This morning heard a sermon from 
 Ephesians, V. i6 ["Redeeming the time, because the days are 
 evil "] ; in the afternoon from Judges, v. 23 [" Curse ye Meroz, 
 said the angel of the Lord, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants 
 thereof, because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the 
 help of the Lord against the mighty."] " 
 
 July 1 8th was something of a high day on Prospect Hill. 
 The statement which the Continental Congress had pre- 
 pared and issued, justifying themselves and the Colonies 
 for the steps taken, was first read in the hearing of the sol- 
 diers. Then a new flag was unfurled, with appropriate 
 exercises. Mr. Haskell thus describes the scene : 
 
 " yuly i8th, Tuesday. — This morning at 6 o'clock the grand 
 manifest from the Continental Congress was read to the forces in 
 and about Prospect Hill (which were assembled on said hill) 
 by the Rev. Mr. Leonard, chaplain to General Putnam's force. 
 On the hill our standard was presented with this motto : * Appeal 
 to Heaven with the American arms.' After it was read Mr. 
 Leonard made a short prayer, then we were dismissed with three 
 cheers, the firing of a cannon, and a war-whoop by the Indi- 
 ans.* .... 
 
 ^^ytily 20th, Thursday. — This day is a fast appointed by the 
 Continental Congress. [It was appointed by the suggestion of 
 Governor Trumbull of Connecticut, in a letter to Washington, 
 who recommended it to Congress.] .... Heard a sermon in 
 the morning from Psalms, 1. 15 [ "And call upon me in the day 
 of trouble : I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me "] ; in 
 the afternoon from Ecclesiastes, vii. 14, [" In the day of pros- 
 perity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider : God also 
 
 * " Apart, in a thick wood, near where the Charles enters the bay, stood the 
 wigwams of about fifty domiciliated Indians of the Stockbridge tribe. They 
 were armed with bows and arrows as well as guns, and were accompanied by 
 their squaws and little ones." — Bancroft, Vol. VIII. p. 43. 
 
^T. s7-6i.] Four Years more of Army Life. 289 
 
 hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man 
 should find nothing after him.] " . . . . 
 
 " July 24th, Monday. — To-day all the troops under command 
 of Brigadier-General Putnam, except Colonel Little's regiment, 
 were ordered to march from Prospect Hill to be stationed else- 
 where. Their vacancies are to be supplied with troops from 
 Cambridge, Winter Hill, etc., under the command of Brigadier- 
 General Greene." 
 
 The entry just copied marks the beginning of the new 
 arrangement of the troops, under General Washington's 
 order. It caused great changes in the location of the vari- 
 ous military bodies. It brought General Nathaniel Greene 
 over from Roxbury to be put in command of this impor- 
 tant post of duty at Prospect Hill. 
 
 The diary runs on for a year, but perhaps we have quoted 
 sufficiently from it to give the reader a taste of military life 
 in 1775. It is strictly a diary, for hardly a day passes with- 
 out its record, longer or shorter. 
 
 We have now reached a time when General Putnam has 
 been taken out of all the entanglements of Bunker Hill 
 jealousies, and has reached a fair and open field for the 
 illustration of his character and military abilities. We 
 shall have an opportunity to study him, not only in the light 
 of the weighty enterprises which his fellow-men living in his 
 daily companionship saw fit to entrust to him, but (what is 
 also important in making up our estimates) we shall have 
 the privilege of reading and criticising the letters which he 
 wrote touching the enterprises which he had on his hands. 
 If he is a noisy, coarse, boastful, blustering man, we shall 
 find some evidence of it in his letters. If, on the other 
 hand, he is a man of strong and sound understanding, 
 clearly comprehending the matters he has in charge, and 
 treating them with solid dignity and uniform propriety, we 
 shall have opportunities for the discovery of these qualities. 
 
 19 
 
290 Life of Israel Putnam. [i77S-79' 
 
 We cannot undertake to go minutely through the whole of 
 his remaining military life. It would make our work too 
 voluminous. But now that he is setting off upon an im- 
 portant career, the chosen companion of Washington, we 
 will, at least in the earlier periods, furnish facts and mate- 
 rials enough whereby he may be fairly and fully judged. 
 
 We have freely conceded that he was not a man of lite- 
 rary culture ; and for the honor of the country which he 
 served, he would not be guilty of bad penmanship and bad 
 spelling in his public communications. He employed an 
 amanuensis to write for him the letters which he dictated. 
 But the real life in any piece of writing is to be found in 
 its thoughts and ideas. Some of the identical letters which 
 he sent from the military camp may still be seen in the 
 twenty manuscript volumes of the " Trumbull Papers," * 
 which repose in great dignity and security in the library 
 of the Massachusetts Historical Society. That he did not 
 furnish the ideas for those letters, we are not aware that 
 any one has ever charged. When we read them, we shall 
 find it hard to convince ourselves that they did not ema- 
 nate from a modest, clear-headed man, who perfectly under- 
 
 * The " Trumbull Papers," so called, are a part of the State papers of Con- 
 necticut, belonging to the period of Governor Jonathan Trumbull's administra- 
 tion, 1769-83, covering and more than covering the whole revolutionary era. 
 Near the close of the last century, a Mr. David Trumbull, acting as adminis- 
 trator of an estate, found these documents on his hands, and gave them to the 
 Massachusetts Historical Society, without duly considering the question 
 whether he had a right to send out of the State such papers as these, or 
 whether any society out of the State had a right to receive them. If they 
 were only printed and published as they ought to be, because of their great 
 importance, then historical students might have access to them, and it would 
 not matter so much who owned the manuscripts. But they are still kept in 
 their original form ; and any one going to consult them is met by such con- 
 ditions, that he is likely to turn back at the very portals. The Massachu- 
 setts Historical Society has so hedged itself about with rules, that practically 
 it holds these State papers of Connecticut for its almost exclusive use and 
 interpretation. 
 
^T. 57-61.] Four Years more of Army Life. 291 
 
 stood what he was writing about, and knew how to express 
 himself in few words, but in a style everywhere marked by 
 courtesy and dignity. But first of all, to show that General 
 Putnam still kept up some of his old activities about Boston, 
 we have the following extract from a letter written about 
 him from Cambridge, December i8th, 1775, and published 
 in Force's "Archives " (4th Series, Vol. IV. p. 313) : 
 
 "Yesterday being dark and cloudy, General Putnam broke 
 ground with four hundred men on Lechmere's Point, at 10 o'clock 
 in the morning. The mist was so great as to prevent the enemy 
 from discovering what he was about until 12, when it cleared up, 
 and opened to their view our whole party at the point, and an- 
 other at the causeway throwing a new bridge over the creek that 
 forms the island at high water. The Scarborough ship-of-war, which 
 lay off the point, immediately poured in upon our men a broad- 
 side. The enemy from Boston threw in many shells, and obliged 
 us to decamp from the point, with two men badly wounded. The 
 bridge, however, was raised by the brave old General, and was 
 completed last night. The garrison at Cobble Hill were ordered 
 to return the ship's fire, which they did, and soon obliged her to 
 heave tight upon her springs and to cease firing." 
 
 The first letter* which we find of his, illustrating this 
 particular period, was one written a little before the time 
 of the above-named expedition, and is as follows : 
 
 "Camp in Cambridge, Dec. ist, 1775. 
 "Sir: I shall esteem it a particular favor if your Excellency 
 will be so obliging as to recommend my worthy friend. Colonel 
 Henry Babcock, to the Honorable Continental Congress, to be 
 appointed to the rank of Brigadier-General in the Continental 
 army. I have been upon service with him several campaigns in 
 the last war, and have seen him in action behave with great spirit 
 and fortitude when he had command of a regiment. He has 
 this day been very serviceable in assisting me in quelling a 
 mutiny, and bringing back a number of deserters. 
 
 * "American Archives," 4th Series, Vol. III. p. 182. 
 
292 Life of Israel PiUnam. [i775-79. 
 
 " Your Excellency well knows I am in great want of a Briga- 
 dier-General in my division, and such a one as I can put confi- 
 dence in and rely upon. I know of no man who will fill the 
 vacancy with more honor than the gentleman above named. 
 
 " I have the honor to be, with great truth and regard, your 
 Excellency's most obedient, most humble servant, 
 
 "Israel Putnam, M. G. 
 
 " His Excellency General Washington." 
 
 To show how the British found themselves situated in 
 Boston during this same month of December, take the fol- 
 lowing " Advices " received in England from America to 
 December 14th, 1775 : 
 
 "General ffowehzs barely six thousand effective men at Bos- 
 ton. The fortifications begun to be erected from water to water, 
 within the N'eck of Boston, he has been obliged to abandon for 
 want of men sufficient to perform the work. 
 
 "General Clinton preserves his post at Bunker Hill. The 
 provincials have abandoned Ploughed Hill, but the regulars 
 have not taken possession of it. The situation of the troops at 
 Bunker Hill is truly deplorable ; much snow, north-east winds, 
 etc., no fire, poor clothing, salt provisions, etc., etc. 
 
 " The distress of the troops and people at Boston exceed the 
 possibility of description. There are advices in town of Decem- 
 ber 14th; not a coal ship was then arrived. The inhabitants and 
 troops literally starving with cold. They had taken the pews out 
 of all the houses of worship for fuel ; had pulled down empty 
 houses, etc., and were then digging up the timber at the wharves 
 for firing ; very poor clothing, and so scarce of provisions they 
 have been eating horse flesh for some time."* 
 
 That winter of 1775-76, like this its centennial sister of 
 1875-76, set in with great severity of cold, but in its later 
 stages was rather an open and mild one. There was grad- 
 ually maturing in the mind of Washington a scheme for 
 driving the British out of the town. He had some ear- 
 
 * " American Archives," 4th Series, Vol. III. p. 266. 
 
^T. 57-61.] Four Years more of Army Life. 293 
 
 lier schemes which the winter probably did not enable 
 him to carry out. It was so cold in November and Decem- 
 ber, that he began to lay some plans, founded upon the idea 
 that the inland waters would be covered with solid ice, in 
 which he was probably disappointed. The following letter* 
 to General Artemas Ward will explain what was passing in 
 his mind in November : 
 
 " Cambridge, November 17th, 1775. 
 " Sir : As the season is fast approaching when the bay be- 
 tween us and Boston will, in all probability, be close shut up, 
 thereby rendering any movement upon the ice as easy as though 
 no water was there ; and as it is more than probable that General 
 Howe^ when he gets the expected reinforcements, will endeavor 
 to relieve himself from the disgraceful confinement in which the 
 ministerial troops have been all the summer, common prudence 
 dictates the necessity of guarding our camps wherever they are 
 most assailable. For this purpose I wish you. General Thomas^ 
 General Spencer and Colonel Putnam, to meet me at your quar- 
 ters to-morrow at 10 o'clock, that we may examine the ground 
 between your work at the mill and SewaWs Point, and direct 
 such batteries as may appear necessary, for the security of your 
 camp on that side, to be thrown up without loss of time. I have 
 long had it upon my mind that a successful attempt might be 
 made, by way of surprise, on Castle William. From every ac- 
 count there are not more than three hundred men in that place. 
 The whale-boats, therefore, which you have, and such as could be 
 sent to you, would easily transport eight hundred or one thou- 
 sand, which with a very moderate share of conduct and resolu- 
 tion might, I should think, bring off the garrison, if not the stores. 
 I wish you to discuss this matter, under the rose, with officers on 
 whose judgment and spirit you can rely. Something of this sort 
 may show how far the men are to be depended upon. I am with 
 respect, sir, your very humble servant, 
 
 " George Washington." 
 "To Major-General Artemas Ward." 
 
 * " American Archives," 4th Series, Vol. III. p. 1593. 
 
294 ^^f^ ^f Israel Ptttnam. [1775-79. 
 
 It will be noticed in this letter that Washington men- 
 tions Colonel Putnam, as a man whom he would like to 
 have invited to this interview. This was the Rufus Put- 
 nam before mentioned, a cousin of Israel, and a Lieutenant- 
 Colonel when the battle of Bunker Hill was fought. He 
 has already been promoted, and has become one whose 
 practical judgment is greatly relied upon in the laying out 
 of fortifications and the like. On the nth of February 
 following, this Colonel Putnam submitted, at General Wash- 
 ington's request, plans for the operations which were soon 
 to be set in motion. 
 
 In Force's "Archives" (4th Series, Vol. HI. p. 1194) we 
 have the record of a council of war, held at headquarters in 
 Cambridge. The heading reads as follows : 
 
 "At a Council of General Officers held at headquarters in 
 Cambridge, February i6th, 1776, Present, his Excellency George 
 Washington; Major-Generals Ward, Putnam ; Brigadier-Generals 
 Thomas, Heath, Spencer, Sullivan, Gates J'' 
 
 We have here a clear illustration of what was regarded 
 as a council of war after General Washington came to Cam- 
 bridge. None but Generals were present at such a meet- 
 ing. We have spoken in a previous chapter of the council 
 of war held at Cambridge, June i6th, 1775. From the 
 example here before us, is it likely that any but general 
 officers were present at that earlier council .■* 
 
 This council of February i6th reached the following 
 result : 
 
 '■'■ Resolved : That a cannonade and bombardment will be ex- 
 pedient and advisable, as soon as there shall be a proper supply 
 of powder, and not before ; and in the mean time, preparations 
 should be made to take possession of Dorchester Hill, with a 
 view of drawing out the enemy ; and of Noddle's Island, if the 
 situation of the water and other circumstances will permit." 
 
Mt. s7-6i.] Four Years mo7'e of Army Life. 295 
 
 The nights of March, 2d, 3d, and 4th, were memorable 
 in the history of the siege of Boston, for on those nights 
 a process was begun which, when finished, summarily ended 
 the occupation of the town by British troops. Before 
 March 2d, the "proper supply of powder," spoken of in 
 the above resolution of February i6th, had been secured, 
 and on that night the Americans opened a bombardment 
 upon the British camps. It was renewed upon the night 
 of the 2)^, and with still greater earnestness on the night of 
 the 4th. This bombardment, however, was purely second- 
 ary to another very important movement. It was probably 
 kept up for two nights before the intended movement, in 
 order to make the British think it was only a bombardment. 
 But it was really meant simply to divert attention, and by 
 its noise to drown other noises that might be raised. In 
 the night between March 4th and 5th, military possession 
 was taken of the heights of Dorchester, easily commanding 
 the town. The British woke on the morning of March 
 5th, to find those heights in the possession of the Ameri- 
 cans. They were quite as much surprised as when they 
 found Breed's Hill fortified on the morning of June 17th, 
 in the previous summer. This enterprise at Dorchester 
 was attended with greater labors and difficulties than that 
 at Charlestown. The ground was frozen to quite a depth, 
 and the men could not use their spades for intrenchments. 
 The materials for the fortifications had to be brought from 
 a distance. Three hundred teams went back and forth in 
 the light of a moon, just past the full, their operations being 
 upon the back side of the hills, and the noise of the rum- 
 bling carts being drowned by the almost incessant thunders 
 of the cannon, throwing balls and shells from various points 
 upon the town. • Colonel Rufus Putnam was the engineer 
 of these night works, and early in the morning the British 
 found themselves overlooked and commanded. General 
 
296 Life of Israel Putnam. [i 775-79- 
 
 John Thomas was the military chief of this expedition, and 
 acted his part nobly. 
 
 It was naturally expected that the British would made 
 an attack and attempt to carry these works, as they had 
 carried Bunker Hill. They must do this or leave the place. 
 It was rather confidently expected that they would make 
 an assault, and it was hoped they would, for the plans had 
 been so laid that heavy damage and loss would most likely 
 have been inflicted upon them. 
 
 There were two main parts to the American plan. In 
 the first place, these works at Dorchester had been so built 
 and arranged, that it would have required a strong and reso- 
 lute force to carry them, even though this force had noth- 
 ing to disturb or interrupt it. The other part of the plan 
 we give as shown in Washington's letter to the Continental 
 Congress. 
 
 " When the enemy first discovered our works in the morning 
 they seemed to be in great confusion, and from their movements 
 to have intended an attack. It is much to be wished that it had 
 been made. The event I think must have been fortunate and 
 nothing less than success and victory on our side 
 
 " In case the ministerial troops had made an attempt to dis- 
 lodge our men from Dorchester Hill, and the number detailed 
 upon the occasion had been so great as to have afforded a proba- 
 bility of a successful attack being made upon Boston, on a signal 
 given from Roxbury for that purpose, agreeably to a settled and 
 concerted plan, four thousand chosen men, who were held in readi- 
 ness, were to have embarked at the mouth of Cambridge River 
 in two divisions ; the first under the command of Brigadier-Gen- 
 eral Sullivan, the second under Brigadier-General Greene, the 
 whole to have been commanded by Major-General Putnam^ * 
 
 The British planned and intended an assault, but a violent 
 storm with wind coming on, they were obliged to desist, and 
 * " American Archives," 4th Series, Vol. V. p. 106. 
 
^T. 57-61.] Foicr Years more of Army Life. 297 
 
 the second sober thought, with some additional information 
 probably gained,, convinced them that any such assault 
 would be only to their own damage, and that their best 
 course was to leave the town. As this expedition under 
 General Putnam did not take place, it is impossible to say 
 how it might have terminated ; but that he was entrusted 
 with the care of a movement so very imporant as this, 
 shows us at least what Washington thought of him, after a 
 few months' acquaintance. Though Washington and Put- 
 nam had both been in the French War, yet their fields of 
 operation lay wide apart, and they had never met, till they 
 met in Cambridge in July, 1775. 
 
 And now all things betokened bustle and preparation in 
 the British camps. Just at this point we will give two 
 views, one an outside, and one an inside view of matters, 
 such as concerned the British. Stephen Moylan, Aid to 
 General Washington, writes the first letter, and a British 
 officer the second. Moylan was an Irishman, gallant, brave, 
 and well educated ; and Washington made him one of his 
 Aids. The letter, as will be seen, was written by Washing- 
 ton's direction to Lord Stirling, so called, at the head of two 
 or three thousand Americans at New York. 
 
 "Cambridge, March 9th, 1776. 
 
 " Sir : I have it in command from his Excellency General 
 Washington to inform you that, in consequence of his determi- 
 nation to possess himself of the Heights at Dorchester, a can- 
 nonade and bombardment was begun on Saturday night last, on 
 the town of Boston, continued on Sunday night and Monday 
 ni2:ht. A vast number of shot and shell were thrown into that 
 town, under cover of which the intended purpose was effected. 
 On the enemy's perceiving next morning that we had taken post, 
 they were all hurry and bustle, embarking their troops, as was 
 expected, and wished to attack us ; but the violent storm which 
 came on that day prevented them, and disappointed us, who 
 were prepared to give them a warm reception. 
 
298 Life of Israel Putnam. [i775-79- 
 
 . ..." If they do not move off he (Washington) is deter- 
 mined to force them to a battle, by making that town so hot that 
 they will have little rest therein. 
 
 " His Excellency has good reasons to imagine that New York 
 will be the place of their destination. He therefore desires that 
 you will exert yourself to the utmost in preparing for their re- 
 ception If they steer west, you may expect a large rein- 
 forcement from this camp, and in all probability the main body 
 will soon follow." * 
 
 And now comes the second letter, which gives the inside 
 view. The following is from a letter written by an offi- 
 cer of distinction in the British army, to a person in Lon- 
 don, dated Boston, March 3-17, 1776: 
 
 " For these last six weeks, or near two months, we have been 
 better amused than could possibly be expected in our situation. 
 We had a theatre, we had balls, and there is actually a subscrip- 
 tion on foot for a masquerade. England seems to have forgot 
 us, and we endeavored to forget ourselves. But we were roused 
 to a sense of our situation last night, in a manner unpleasant 
 enough. The rebels have been for some time erecting a bomb- 
 battery, and last night began to play upon us 
 
 " March 4th. — Bad news from New York this morning. A 
 man who calls himself Lord Stirling .... put himself at the 
 head of three thousand men, in conjunction with that arch-rebel, 
 Lee, and has driven all the well-affected people [/. e. the Tories] 
 from the town of New York 
 
 " March ^th. — This is, I believe, likely to prove as impor- 
 tant a day to the British empire as any in our annals. We un- 
 derwent last night a very severe cannonade, which damaged a 
 number of houses, and killed some men. This morning at day- 
 break we discovered two redoubts on the hills Dorchester Point, 
 and two smaller works on their flanks. They were all raised 
 during the night, with an expedition equal to that of the genii 
 belonging to Aladdin's wonderful lamp. From these hills they 
 
 * " American Archives," 4th Series, Vol. V. p. 166. 
 
^T. s7-6i.] Four Years more of Army Life. 299 
 
 command the whole town, so that we must drive them from their 
 post, or desert the place. The former is determined upon, and 
 five regiments are already embarked Adieu balls, mas- 
 querades, etc. ; for this may be looked upon as the opening of 
 the campaign. 
 
 " It is worth while to remark with what judgment the leaders 
 of the rebels take advantage of the prejudices and work upon 
 the passions of the mob. The 5th of March is what they call 
 the bloody massacre, when in (I think) 1769 [in 1770], the King's 
 troops fired on the people in the streets of Boston. If ever they 
 dare stand us, it will be to-day, but I hope by to-morrow to be 
 able to give you an account of their defeat. 
 
 '■'■March 6th. — A wind more violent than anything I ever 
 heard, prevented our last night's purposed expedition, and so 
 saved the lives of thousands. To-day they have made them- 
 selves too strong to make a dislodgement possible We are 
 
 now evacuating the town with the utmost expedition, and leaving 
 behind half our worldly goods. Adieu 1 I hope to embark in a 
 few hours 
 
 " Nantasket Road, March lyth. — According to my promise I 
 proceed to give a brief account of our retreat, which was made 
 
 this morning between the hours of 2 and 8 We kept a 
 
 constant fire upon them from a battery of four twenty-four pound- 
 ers. They did not return a single shot. It was lucky for the 
 inhabitants now left in Boston that they did not, for I ani in- 
 formed everything was prepared to set the town on a blaze, had 
 they fired one cannon." * 
 
 This man addressed as Lord Stirling w^as William Alex- 
 ander, a native of the city of New York, honorably de- 
 scended, and regarded by many as the rightful heir to an 
 earldom in Scotland. He could never, however, get pos- 
 session of his estate. Out of this belief in his rightful heir- 
 ship he was commonly called Lord Stirling. He was a 
 man of fine military ability, and became a Major-General. 
 
 * " American Archives," 4th Series, Vol. V. pp. 425-26. 
 
30O Life of Israel Putnam. [i775-79' 
 
 We find the following account, showing how Putnam 
 stood at that time in Washington's estimation, in the " New 
 England Chronicle," March 21st, 1776 : 
 
 " The command of the whole being then given to General Put- 
 nam, he proceeded to take command of all the important posts, 
 and thereby became possessed, in the name of the thirteen United 
 Colonies of North America, of all the fortresses in that large and 
 once populous and flourishing metropolis which the flower of the 
 British army, headed by an experienced General, and supported 
 by a formidable fleet of men-of-war, had but an hour before evacu- 
 ated in the most precipitate and cowardly manner." * 
 
 Bancroft, in his " History," etc. (Vol.VIII. p. 302), has given 
 us a description of the hurry of the British in their depart- 
 ure, and a catalogue of the spoils left behind. 
 
 " Everywhere appeared marks of hurry in the flight of the 
 British. Among other stores they left behind them two hundred 
 and fifty pieces of cannon, of which one-half were serviceable ; 
 twenty-five hundred chaldrons of sea coal ; twenty-five thousand 
 bushels of wheat ; three thousand bushels of barley and oats ; 
 one hundred and fifty horses ; bedding and clothing for soldiers. 
 Nor was this all. Several British store-ships consigned to Bos- 
 ton, and ignorant of the retreat, successively entered the harbor 
 without suspicion, and fell into the hands of the Americans ; 
 among them the ship Hope, which, in addition to carbines, bayo- 
 nets, gun-carriages and all sorts of tools necessary for artillery, 
 had on board more than seven times as much powder as Washing- 
 ton's whole stock when his last movement was begun." 
 
 Now, the man whom General Washington selects out of 
 all the military men immediately about him, or from those 
 
 * " Last Sabbath, a few hours after the enemy retreated from Boston, the 
 Rev. Mr. Leonard (Putnam's chaplain) preached an excellent sermon in the 
 audience of his Excellency the General, and others of distinction, .... from 
 Exodus, iv. 25 : ' And took off their chariot wheels, that they drove them heavily ; 
 so that the Egyptian said, let its flee from the face of Israel, for the Lordfighteth 
 for them against the Egyptians.^ " 
 
^T. 57-61.] Four Years more of Army Life. 301 
 
 more distant, to proceed at once to New York and have 
 the supreme control of the mihtary operations there to be 
 opened, — to be the commander-in-chief on that important 
 field until his own arrival, — must be one of good sense 
 and large capacity, else we impugn the good sense and ca- 
 pacity of Washington himself. Whom did he select for 
 this most responsible and delicate post .'' No other than 
 General Putnam. He actually made choice of that very 
 man whose " furious ardor may or may not have needed 
 the control of a cool, deliberating judgment." Here are 
 some words from the instructions given to General Putnam 
 in a written order, dated March 29th, 1776 : 
 
 " You will, no doubt, make the best despatch in getting to New 
 York, Upon your arrival there you will assume the command, 
 and immediately proceed to execute \hQplan proposed by Major- 
 General Lee for fortifying that city, and securing the passes of 
 the East and North Rivers. If, upon consultation with the Briga- 
 diers-General and Engineers, any alteration in that plan is thought 
 necessary, you are at liberty to make it ; cautiously avoiding to 
 break in too much upon his main design, unless when it may be 
 apparently necessary so to do, and that by the general voice and 
 opinion of the gentlemen above mentioned 
 
 "Devoutly praying that the Power which has hitherto sus- 
 tained the American arms may continue to bless them with the 
 divine protection, I bid you Farewell. 
 
 " Given at headquarters, in Cambridge, this 29th of March, 
 1776. G. Washington." 
 
 Immediately upon Putnam's arrival in New York he 
 wrote a letter * to Congress, of which the following is the 
 
 copy, with the answer received : 
 
 "New York, April 4th, 1776. 
 " Sir : Since my arrival at this place I have had abundant 
 reason to be convinced that the army here is in the highest need 
 of an immediate supply of cash. I therefore now send Major 
 
 * " American Archives," 4th Series, Vol. V. p. 787. 
 
302 Life of Israel Ptitnam. [I775-79- 
 
 Sherburne to Philadelphia, and I hope the Congress will dispatch 
 him as soon as possible, with at least three hundred thousand 
 dollars for that purpose. 
 
 " I am, with great regard and esteem, your most humble ser- 
 vant, Israel Putnam." 
 
 "To the Honorable John Hancock, Esq." 
 
 " Philadelphia, April loth, 1776. 
 
 " Sir : In consequence of your letter, I laid the application 
 before the Congress, who were pleased, in addition to the one 
 hundred thousand dollars sent by Captain Faulkner, on Monday 
 last, to order two hundred thousand more, which I have the pleas- 
 ure of forwarding by Major Sherburne. 
 
 " Should the paymaster be at JVezc/ York, please to order it to 
 his care for the use of the troops ; if not, you will order the money 
 to be improved for the same purpose, and send a receipt for it. 
 
 " I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient and very 
 humble servant, John Hancock, President" 
 
 " To Major-General Putnam, at New York." * 
 
 He also sent the following letter to the New York Com- 
 mittee of Safety : 
 
 "New York, April 5th, 1776. 
 
 " Gentlemen : The Continental Congress, imagining the new 
 levies in this Province to be in a great state of forwardness, and 
 finding, on inquiry, that none of the four regiments to be raised 
 in it are properly regimented and completed, I must request of 
 you, as the service absolutely requires it, that you exert your- 
 selves to the utmost to accomplish this necessary service ; and 
 that the troops already raised be ordered to the city without 
 delay. 
 
 *' I am, gentlemen, with respect, your humble servant, 
 
 "Israel Putnam. 
 
 " To the Chairman of the Connimittee of Safety of the Province of New 
 York." 
 
 A few days after his arrival at New York, he published 
 an order regulating the conduct of the inhabitants, which 
 we quote entire. 
 
 * " American Archives," 4th Series, Vol. V. p. 843. 
 
^T. 57-61.] Four Years more of Army Life. 303 
 
 " Headquarters, New York, April 8th, 1776. 
 
 " The General informs the inhabitants, that it is become abso- 
 lately necessary that all communication between the ministerial 
 fleet and the shore should be immediately stopped ; for that pur- 
 pose he has given positive orders, the ships should no longer be 
 furnished with provisions. Any inhabitants or others, who shall 
 be taken, that have been on board after the publishing this order, 
 or near any of the ships, or going on board, will be considered 
 as enemies, and treated accordingly. 
 
 "All boats are to sail from Beekman Slip. Captain James 
 Alner is appointed inspector, and will give permits to oystermen. 
 It is ordered and expected that none attempt going without a 
 pass. Israel Putnam, 
 
 " Major-General in the Continental army, 
 
 and commander-in-chief of the forces in New York," 
 
 So implicitly was he trusted, that while Washington was 
 called away to Philadelphia from the 21st of May to the 6th 
 of June, General Humphreys, in his " Life of Putnam," 
 tells us (p. 107) that " General Putnam, who commanded 
 in that interval, had it in charge to open all letters directed 
 to General Washington on public service, and if important, 
 after regulating his conduct by their contents, to forward 
 them by express." 
 
 In the month of July he had occasion to write a letter of 
 a peculiar character, and which we present as a rare speci- 
 men of noble manliness and instinctive delicacy. Few men 
 could have composed a more admirable letter under the cir- 
 cumstances. The Miss Moncrieffe to whom the letter is 
 addressed was, as we understand, the daughter of an engineer 
 in the British army. She is anxious to get access to her 
 father, but finds herself sadly hindered by the military lines. 
 A letter has been sent to General Putnam before by her 
 father on this business, and she has heard that her father 
 did not address him by his proper title, and is afraid that 
 is the reason General Putnam has not answered the letter. 
 
304 Life of Israel Putnam. [i 77 5-79- 
 
 But he sets that suggestion aside as a man far above all 
 small ideas. Take it all in all, the letter is one which 
 shows General Putnam to the very best advantage. He 
 little knew what was to happen by taking her into his 
 family. This is that Margaret Moncrieffe that was thus 
 brought across the path of the notorious Aaron Burr, then 
 one of General Putnam's Aids. Of this General Putnam 
 did not dream when he wrote the letter, and the subse- 
 quent fact can have no influence in changing our opinion 
 of the letter itself, which is as follows : * 
 
 " New York, July 26th, 1776. 
 
 " I should have answered your letter sooner, but had it not in 
 my power to write you anything satisfactory. 
 
 "The omission of my title in Major Moncrieffe' s letter is a 
 matter I regard not in the least, nor does it in any way influence 
 my conduct in this affair, as you seem to imagine. Any politi- 
 cal difference alters him not to me in a private capacity. As an 
 officer he is my enemy, and obliged to act as such, be his private 
 sentiments what they will. As a man, I owe him no enmity, but 
 far from it, will with pleasure do any kind office in my power for 
 him or any of his connections. 
 
 " I have, agreeably to your desire, waited on his Excellency, 
 to endeavor to obtain permission for you to go to Staten Island. 
 He informs me that Lieutenant-Colonel Patterson, who came with 
 the last flag, said he was empowered to offer the exchange of 
 
 for Governor Skene. As the Congress have reserved to 
 
 themselves the right of exchanging prisoners, the General has 
 sent to know their pleasure, and doubt not they will give their 
 consent. I am desired to inform you if this exchange is made 
 you will have the liberty to pass out with Governor Skene, but 
 that no flag will be sent solely for that purpose. 
 
 "Major William Livingsto7i was lately here, and informed me 
 that you had an inclination to live in the city, and that all the 
 ladies of your acquaintance having left town, and Mrs. Putnam 
 and two daughters being here, proposed your staying with them. 
 
 * " American Archives," 5th Series, Vol. I. p. 471. 
 
JET. 57-61.] Four Years more, of Army Life. 305 
 
 If agreeable to you, be assured, Miss, you shall be sincerely wel- 
 come. You will here, I think, be in a more probable way of ac- 
 complishing the end you wish, that of seeing your father ; and 
 may depend upon every civility from. Miss, your obedient ser- 
 vant, Israel Putnam." 
 
 The kindness of Putnam's heart toward any woman in dis- 
 tress is most beautifully exemplified in a story told by General 
 Humphreys, relating to the French War. A Mrs. Howe, a 
 woman of uncommon graces and personal beauty, a widow 
 now for the second time, had been carried captive with her 
 seven children by the Indians, after her husband had been 
 killed before her eyes. She had been separated from her 
 children, and had suffered manifold mental tortures, not the 
 least of which was the importunity of a young French 
 officer, who persecuted her with his attentions, and who 
 was extremely uncivil in doing so. She at length sought 
 the protection of Colonel Schuyler, who took her under his 
 care, and rescued for her her five youngest children, while 
 the two eldest, daughters, the Indians had permitted to 
 go into a convent. Colonel Schuyler had to leave the 
 army and turn the widow and her children over to Major 
 Putnam, and the rest of the story may be told by General 
 Humphreys. 
 
 " She had just recovered from the measles when the party was 
 preparing to return to New England. By this time the young 
 French officer had returned, with his passion rather increased 
 than abated by absence. He pursued her wheresoever she went, 
 and although he could make no advances in her affection, he 
 seemed resolved, by perseverance, to carry his point. Mrs. 
 Howe, terrified by his treatment, was obliged to keep constantly 
 near Major Putnam, who informed the young officer that he 
 should protect that lady at the risk of his life. 
 
 " In the long march from captivity, through an unhospitable 
 wilderness, encumbered with five small children, she suffered in- 
 
3o6 Life of Israel Putnam. [1775-79- 
 
 credible hardships. Though endowed Avith mascuhne fortitude, 
 she was truly feminine in strength, and must have fainted by the 
 way had it not been for the assistance of Major Putnam. There 
 were a thousand good offices which the helplessness of her condi- 
 tion demanded, and which the gentleness of his nature delighted to 
 perform. He assisted in leading her little ones and in carrying 
 them over the swampy grounds and runs of water, with which 
 their course was frequently intercepted. He mingled his own 
 mess with that of the widow and fatherless, and assisted them in 
 obtaining and preparing their provisions. Upon arriving within 
 the settlements they experienced a reciprocal regret at separa- 
 tion, and were only consoled by the expectation of soon mingling 
 in the embraces of their former acquaintances and dearest con- 
 nections." 
 
 Putnam knew how, with his strong hand, to take a woman, 
 corrupt and traitorous, before the commander-in-chief, and 
 to overawe her by the majesty of his wrath, so she dare no 
 longer conceal the part she was acting ; but he knew how, 
 on the other hand, to treat a true woman, who was in trouble, 
 with all the kindness and delicacy imaginable. And there 
 was that in his strong, robust, manly nature and honest 
 heart which was exactly fitted to draw the confidence, the 
 admiration, and the love of a woman. 
 
 We pass on now to the month of August, and to the some- 
 what unfortunate battle of Long Island, in which General 
 Putnam is represented by Bancroft as showing military "in- 
 capacity," and in which certainly he did not secure his ordi- 
 nary measure of success. But the circumstances under which 
 this action took place deserve to be considered. The battle 
 was fought on the 27th of August. The American army on 
 Long Island was under the command of General Nathaniel 
 Greene. On the i6th of August he was reported to be ill 
 of a fever. He himself sent word to Washington to this 
 effect, and also that the Hessians were landing in consider- 
 able numbers on Staten Island. On the i8th, General 
 
^T. 57-61.] Four Years more of Army Life. 307 
 
 Greene was reported better, and he hoped in a few days to 
 be about. But the sickness continued, and he was worse 
 again. August 23d, General Sullivan was appointed to 
 take his place in the command ; and it was becoming more 
 and more apparent that the British meditated an attack. 
 August 24th, General Putnam went to take charge of these 
 operations. He had not made the previous dispositions, 
 and was not in a condition of knowledge to do as well as 
 he might otherwise have done. The British forces also 
 greatly outnumbered our own. They had accumulated 
 their troops in that vicinity to the number of some twenty- 
 four thousand, while the active forces on our side were 
 far less. The British losses in killed and wounded were 
 equal to our own, but they captured more than a thousand 
 prisoners, and the victory was clearly with them. 
 
 Sparks, in his " Life and Writings of Washington" (Vol. 
 I. p. 193), puts the case thus : 
 
 " It was unfortunate that the illness of General Greene de- 
 prived the commander on the spot of his counsel, he being 
 thoroughly acquainted with the grounds and the roads ; whereas, 
 General Putnam took the command only four days before the 
 action, and of course had not been able from personal inspection 
 to gain the requisite knowledge." 
 
 When Bancroft charges Putnam with " incapacity," it is 
 one of those general assertions about as far from the exact 
 balances of truth, as when in Volume VII. he makes Wil- 
 liam Prescott the chief commander and hero of Bunker 
 Hill. 
 
 Lord Howe reported a loss of sixty-one killed, two hun- 
 dred and fifty-seven wounded and twenty-nine missing, but 
 at the same time reported one thousand and ninety-seven 
 American prisoners taken. The result of the battle was 
 that we had immediately to evacuate Long Island, and not. 
 long after the city of New York itself. 
 
308 Life of Israel Putnam. [i77S-79- 
 
 By the middle of September Washington had left New 
 York and established himself with the army on Harlem 
 Heights. The retreat of the American army from Long 
 Island, and soon after from New York, was successful 
 under the conditions of the case beyond all that could have 
 been hoped. New York was a small affair then in com- 
 parison with its present dimensions. It was built on the 
 lower end of Manhattan Island, and that large domain 
 above, stretching on for miles, now covered by the great 
 metropolis, was open country, and much of it half wild and 
 unbroken country, with here and there some gentlemanly 
 mansion, making a bright and cultivated spot amid the gen- 
 eral waste. In 1776, the traveller passing up Broadway 
 from the Battery, by the time he reached the vicinity of the 
 City Hall Park and the Astor House, would find himself 
 passing out into this country region. In the military occu- 
 pation of the city by the American army in that spring 
 and summer of 1776, Putnam's division was at the extreme 
 southerly end of the island. His headquarters were at 
 No. I Broadway, close by Castle Garden, and in a house 
 which is said to be still standing. A description of it is 
 given in " Scribner's Monthly" for February, 1876; also 
 a picture showing it. 
 
 When the British troops came over from Long Island, 
 and the American army was obliged to leave the place, 
 there was imminent danger that Putnam's division would 
 be cut off and fall into the hands of the enemy. The story 
 of his escape is so admirably told in the number of " Scrib- 
 ner's Monthly" just referred to, that we cannot forbear 
 quoting it. The passage is in an illustrated article, entitled 
 " New York in the Revolution," from the pen of John F. 
 Mines. 
 
 "Drawn from the field of battle by one of his Aids, he 
 (Washington) at once sent word to Putnam to retreat to Harlem, 
 
iET. 57-6i.] Four Years more of Army Life. 309 
 
 and take measures to concentrate his entire forces on Harlem 
 Heights. General Putnam was forced to abandon his heavy- 
 cannon and many of his stores, and even thus his flight was im- 
 peded by a throng of fugitives, men, women and children, with 
 their baggage. Guided by Aaron Burr, he made a rapid march 
 along the Hudson, happily escaping discovery until he had 
 reached the Bloomingdale Road, and finally reaching camp with a 
 comparatively insignificant loss. The day was hot, the fugitives 
 were fairly panting with thirst and fatigue, but Putnam on his 
 foaming charger flew from one end of the line to the other, en- 
 treating, urging, and dealing in stout objurgations until his charge 
 had passed, at night-fall, the American pickets on the heights of 
 Harlem. 
 
 " Neither soldier nor fugitive knew how narrow had been the 
 escape of Putnam's army that day. When Sir William Howe, 
 accompanied by Clinton and Tryon, had landed at Kip's Bay 
 with the main body of the British army, they struck across to the 
 Middle Road, intending to make their camp on the heights of In- 
 clenburg, midway between New York and Harlem. They reached 
 the road at a point just opposite to where Putnam was stealing 
 along, under cover of the woods that skirted the Hudson to re- 
 join Washington. There was a house near by, from whose upper 
 windows they might easily have discovered the dust created by 
 the rapid march of the 'rebels,' and from its cupola the gleam 
 of bayonets would have been plainly visible. The Americans 
 were not distant, indeed, but there was another and more insidious 
 foe near at hand. Close to the Middle Road, at a point now des- 
 ignated by the corporation as Fifth Avenue and Thirty-seventh 
 Street, stood the unpretentious but exceedingly comfortable man- 
 sion of Robert Murray, a Quaker merchant of approved loyalty 
 to the crown, as well as of large wealth. Fortunately the shrewd 
 merchant could not control the feelings of his household, and 
 his wife and daughters were ardent patriots. When Lord Howe 
 and his staff reached the end of the Quaker's gardens, they were 
 enraptured to find Mrs. Murray and her beautiful daughters ready 
 to greet them with a warm welcome. The parties had once met 
 in more peaceful days. 
 
310 Life of Israel Putnam. [i77S-79' 
 
 "'William,' said the fair Quaker matron, 'will thee alight and 
 refresh thyself at our house ? ' 
 
 " ' I thank you, Mrs. Murray,' said the pleasure-loving comman- 
 der, * but I must first catch that rascally Yankee, Putnam.' 
 
 "The Yankee General was not to be caught this time, if 
 woman's wit could save him, even if the truth must be tortured 
 into a shape that should deceive, in order to save life. Very de- 
 murely the lady rejoined, in that plain language of her sect 
 which always carries with it such an emphasis of truth, — 
 
 " ' Didst thou not hear that Putnam had gone ? It is late to 
 try to catch him. Thee had better come in and dine.' 
 
 " The invitation was seconded by the brightest smiles of the 
 daughters, and Howe wavered. Promising to pursue the hated 
 Yankees after he had dined, the British commander alighted and 
 entered the house, where the fascinations of the charming host- 
 ess made him forget for hours the object of his expedition. Put- 
 nam meanwhile was flying up the Bloomingdale Road, never dar- 
 ing to draw breath until he caught sight of Washington's tents. 
 Thacher, in his * Military Journal,' writes that it became a com- 
 mon saying among the American officers that Mrs. Murray had 
 saved Putnam's division." 
 
 When we bear in mind that the American army wzs, 
 making this retreat in the immediate neighborhood of some 
 twenty thousand British troops, it was indeed fortunate 
 that they escaped the entanglements of such a situation 
 with only a very trifling loss. Hardly had they taken pos- 
 session of the heights of Harlem, when a British force of 
 three battalions, with cannon, came upon their skirmish 
 lines with a bold audacity, as though acting against fright- 
 ened fugitives. This body was very severely punished for 
 its temerity. It had to withdraw, after a loss of seventy 
 killed and two hundred and ten wounded, and this sudden 
 success on our side, following immediately upon disaster, put 
 new life and courage into the American troops. The vic- 
 tory, however, cost us the precious life of Lieutenant-Colo- 
 
^T. 57-6i.] Four Years more of Army Life. 311 
 
 nel Knowlton, an officer greatly admired and beloved. 
 Another young and heroic life was sacrificed on the altar 
 of war only a few days later. Nathan Hale, a young man 
 of twenty-one, a native of Coventry, Connecticut, a gradu- 
 ate of Yale College, volunteered to go within the British 
 lines as a spy ; was detected and executed, dying with those 
 memorable words upon his lips, " I only regret that I have 
 but one life to lose for my country." 
 
 The American army, having now been brought into a 
 position where it was hazardous to attack it, and General 
 Howe, being in possession of Long Island and New York 
 city, with a large army on his hands, determined to try his 
 fortunes in making movements with a portion of his forces 
 into New Jersey (or the Jerseys, as they were then called) 
 and on toward Philadelphia. This necessitated a correspond- 
 ing movement on the part of Washington; but this fall 
 campaign of 1776, in New Jersey and vicinity, was attended 
 with various fortunes upon which we will not dwell. After 
 these operations had been mainly brought to an end. Gen- 
 eral Putnam was despatched from New York to Philadel- 
 phia, as he had before been from Boston to New York, to 
 act as commander-in-chief about this central city, where 
 the Continental Congress was sitting, — to superintend the 
 fortifications in process of erection, and provide for the 
 security of the inhabitants. General Humphreys has pre- 
 served for us in his "Life," etc. (p. 129), one of the mili- 
 tary orders which Putnam issued after his arrival at Phila- 
 delphia. 
 
 "Headquarters, Philadelphia, Dec. 14th, 1776. 
 
 " Colonel Griffin is appointed Adjutant-General to the troops 
 in and about this city. All orders from the General, through him, 
 either written or verbal, are to be strictly attended to and punctu- 
 ally obeyed. 
 
 " In case of an alarm of fire, the city guards and patrols are to 
 suffer the inhabitants to pass unmolested at any hour of the night; 
 
312 Life of Israel Putnam. [i775-79- 
 
 and the good people of Philadelphia are earnestly requested and 
 desired to give every assistance in their power, with engines and 
 buckets, to extinguish the fire. And as the Congress have ordered 
 the city to be defended to the last extremity, the General hopes 
 that no person will refuse to give every assistance possible to 
 complete the fortifications that are to be erected in and about the 
 city. Israel Putnam." 
 
 After General Putnam had fulfilled his mission at Phila- 
 delphia, he was stationed during the winter at Princeton, 
 and by the various little expeditions which he set on foot, 
 and which were superintended by himself or his agents, it 
 was estimated, according to the statement of his biographer, 
 that he captured in the whole season not far from one thou- 
 sand prisoners. 
 
 In the early part of this chapter, it was stated that for a 
 time such letters and military orders as were sent forth by 
 Putnam would be given in so full measure that we might 
 have before us the means of judging of his character and 
 capacity. These have been given in sufficient numbers for 
 such an estimate. We have taken them just as we found 
 them, have suppressed nothing which would be of assist- 
 ance for this purpose. And have we found anything in 
 these products of his mind which seem to make him in any 
 degree unworthy of that high confidence which Washing- 
 ton all along is seen to have reposed in him ? From the 
 day when Washington handed him his commission at 
 Cambridge in July, 1775, to the close of 1779, when he was 
 obliged by failing health to leave the army, he was always 
 near to Washington, in the management of military affairs, 
 and we know not the slightest evidence that Washington 
 ever wished him to be displaced from that high position, 
 and have another substituted in his stead. On the other 
 hand, the chief commander early gave him his heart and his 
 confidence to a very remarkable degree ; and a letter written 
 
^T. 5 7-6 1.] Four Years more of Army Life. 313 
 
 to Putnam by Washington, after the war was over, and 
 which will be given in another chapter, will testify to the 
 strength of this regard. These things being so, can it ever 
 be edifying to the people who know them to be so, to read 
 articles in newspapers, or listen to long and elaborate ora- 
 tions, or study carefully prepared pamphlets and volumes, 
 in which Colonel William Prescott is made proudly to over- 
 top this man, even to such a degree that the Major-General 
 sinks into comparative insignificance ? We have been sub- 
 jected to these trifles and follies long enough. Let the little 
 fictitious eddies of local narrative cease their play, and let 
 the stream of veritable history flow on. 
 
 In the concluding portions of this chapter we will give 
 the most rapid outline of General Putnam's closing years in 
 the army. Some disasters had overtaken the northern army, 
 and he was moved up the Hudson, to make his headquarters 
 at Peekskill. This was in May, 1777. 
 
 In the month of August a Tory spy was caught in Put- 
 nam's camp, and put under arrest. The British officers 
 at once sent a flag of truce with a message demanding his 
 release. Only a few months before they had summarily 
 hanged Nathan Hale, when he was caught in the British 
 camp, and now they sent a message, haughtily demanding 
 that this Edmund Palmer (the name of the spy) should be 
 restored. Putnam promptly sent back the following reply : 
 
 Headquarters, 7th August, 1777. 
 " Sir : Edmund Palmer, an officer in the enemy's service, 
 was taken as a spy lurking within our lines. He has been tried 
 as a spy, condemned as a spy, and shall be executed as a spy ; 
 and the flag is ordered to depart immediately. 
 
 " Israel Putnam. 
 " P. S. — He has been accordingly hanged." 
 
 The account given in General Humphreys' " Life," etc., 
 is somewhat different, but substantially the same.* 
 
 *" General Putnam, whose exploits on the Upper Hudson have made 
 
314 Life of Isi'ael Putnam. [i77S-79- 
 
 That is certainly using the King's English and the 
 King's subjects to some purpose. 
 
 Hostile armies facing each other often find the means of 
 diversion in their interchanges during the pauses of the 
 fight. Rivington, in New York, the newspaper publisher, 
 was a conspicuous Tory, and all news in his paper had a 
 high Tory coloring. Putnam had known the British Major- 
 General Robertson (now in his vicinity) in the French 
 War, and one day he sent to him some American news- 
 papers with the following note: "Major-General Putnam 
 presents his compliments to Major-General Robertson, and 
 sends him some American newspapers for his perusal. 
 When General Robertson shall have done with them, it is 
 requested they be given to Rivington, in order that he may 
 print some truth." * 
 
 It was while thus occupied on the Hudson that General 
 Putnam, being requested by General Washington to can- 
 vass the localities along the river, and fix upon the best 
 place for the building of fortifications to command the 
 
 that region famous in history and tradition, was in command there. A young 
 man, a scion of a good family in Westchester County, was arrested on sus- 
 picion of being a spy, and was brought before Putnam. On his person were 
 found enlisting papers signed by Tryon, and other evidences of his guilt. 
 Sir Henry Clinton sent a note to Putnam with a flag, claiming the culprit as 
 a British officer, and making insolent threats of wrathful retaliation in case 
 the young man should be harmed. Putnam replied in writing [as above]. 
 No spy was ever found in Putnam's camp after that." — Benson J. Lossing in 
 " Harper's Monthly " for April, 1876, p. 647. 
 
 * Putnam was fond of these little diversions. The following, which we 
 find in the "New England Chronicle " for September 28th, 1775, will give 
 another instance in point : 
 
 " An officer in Boston writes thus to his father in London : ' Why should I 
 complain of hard fate. General Gage and all his family have for this month past 
 lived upon salt provisions. Last Saturday, General Putnam, in the true spirit 
 of military complaisance, which abolishes all personal resentment and smooths 
 the horrors of war when discipline will permit, sent a present to the General's 
 lady of a fine fresh quarter of veal, which was very acceptable, and received 
 the return of a very polite card of thanks.' " 
 
■i^^' 
 
 PaTNAM's ESCAFE AT HoRSENEClC. 
 
iET. 57-6I-] Four Years more of Army Life. 315 
 
 river, made choice of West Point for this purpose. It is 
 claimed by General Humphreys that this spot, which has 
 such a famous connection with our military history as a 
 people, was first pointed out and chosen for military pur- 
 poses by General Putnam, and we find this statement cor- 
 roborated by other writers. 
 
 During the winter of 1 777-S>, for the better overlooking 
 of all the interests entrusted to him, the headquarters of 
 Putnam were removed to Reading, Connecticut, one of 
 the western towns of the State, bordering New York, 
 where he still kept himself in connection with the same 
 general field of observation as when at Peekskill, though 
 that field was now enlarged. It was not long after estab- 
 lishing himself at Reading that his famous ride down the 
 stone steps occurred. General Sherman, in his Bunker 
 Hill speech at the Centennial, was a little uncertain where 
 this adventure occurred. But the writer has several times 
 stood on the brow of that hill and looked down this famous 
 declivity. 
 
 It was in the centre of the town of Greenwich, Connec- 
 ticut. The traveller, passing from New Haven to New York, 
 on the railroad, goes by this Connecticut town on his route, 
 just before reaching the New York line, but the centre of 
 the place lies on the high land about a half or three-fourths 
 of a mile north of the railroad line. Here Mr. Tweed had 
 his palatial residence in the days of his evil prosperity. 
 Reaching the main village on the hill, the wide central 
 street, running easterly and westerly, encounters at the 
 eastern extremity of the village a steep declivity. Many 
 years ago, the upper part of this hill was cut through to 
 quite a depth, and the materials taken down to build up a 
 high causeway on the lower slopes, and across the meadows, 
 so that now the main road from Greenwich to Stamford 
 passes directly over this declivity. In the revolution- 
 
3i6 Life of Israel Putiiam. U775-79- 
 
 ary days, there was no such thing as a carriage or horse 
 road there, and if it had been suggested that there ever 
 would be, the idea would probably have been regarded as 
 preposterous. But to save foot-passengers coming from 
 the direction of Stamford a long roundabout journey, the 
 steep descent had been furnished with steps, up which the 
 esstern dwellers climbed to meeting on Sundays, and for 
 the common transactions of life on week days. The de- 
 clivity reaches on some distance to the north, and the car- 
 riage or horseback road to Stamford from Greenwich in the 
 old times had to make this northerly circuit. 
 
 General Putnam had gone out from Reading, with a recon- 
 noitering party and some pieces of cannon. He was try- 
 ing to find out what was going on among the British in the 
 direction of New York ; when in the centre of Greenwich, 
 he was met by a force far exceeding his own, under the 
 command of Governor Tryon. He tried to make a stand, 
 and did succeed in giving a few discharges from his artil- 
 lery. But the opposing force was numerous, and there was 
 no escape if he offered longer resistance. Bidding the men 
 on foot seek shelter in the swamp below, he turned his 
 horse's head down these steps, receiving a bullet through 
 his military cap in the descent, but reached the bottom of 
 the hill in safety, when he turned and waved his sword to 
 the British dragoons, who stood wonder-struck at the top. 
 Governor Tryon, in admiration of his adventurous daring, 
 pleasantly sent him a new cap for the one which the bul- 
 let had spoiled. The story is told in Greenwich, how one 
 of the citizens took an Englishman to show him this place, 
 and to tell him the tradition connected with it, when the 
 visitor complacently remarked that it was nothing very sur- 
 prising. " Our English hunters," said he, " often ride down 
 worse places than that." "But," said the citizen, "your 
 English dragoons did not follow General Putnam down that 
 hill." 
 
iET. 57-6I-] Four Years more of Army Life, 317 
 
 In 1779, General Putnam's headquarters were removed 
 to Buttermilk Falls, about two miles below West Point. 
 When the summer campaign was over, and the troops 
 were going into winter quarters, Putnam with his family 
 (which means his son, Major Daniel Putnam, and his Aids) 
 went home to spend a few weeks in Connecticut. We will 
 allow General Humphreys to give the account of what 
 happened during this visit, thus : 
 
 " Upon the road between Pomfret and Hartford [he had been 
 to his home and was now on his return], he felt an unusual 
 torpor pervading his right hand and foot. This heaviness crept 
 gradually on, until it had deprived him of the use of his limbs on 
 that side in a considerable degree, before he reached the house 
 of his friend, Colonel Wadsworth. Still he was unwilling to think 
 the disorder of the paralytic kind, and endeavored to shake it off 
 by exertion. Having found that impossible, a temporary dejec- 
 tion, disguised under a veil of assumed cheerfulness, succeeded. 
 But reason, philosophy and religion soon reconciled him to his 
 fate." 
 
 This was the end of his army life. He was forced to 
 leave a service which he loved, and in which he had gained 
 such high distinctions. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 CLOSING YEARS. 
 
 Returns to Pomfret, Connecticut. — Sore Disappointment, — His cheerful 
 Resignation. — His manner of Life. — Letter from Washington. — Some 
 estimates of his Character, and the results of his warlike Activity. — Sud- 
 den Death in 1790. — His Funeral. — His Tomb. 
 
 A STRONG will often bows before the inevitable with a 
 docility that a feeble will never exhibits. A person of 
 weak and vacillating mind will fret and beat against those 
 walls which he can neither break down or overleap ; while 
 the man of strong and resolute force will often bow before 
 the power that is higher than he with the meekness of a 
 little child. When the full conviction came upon the mind 
 of General Putnam, at the end of that journey to Hartford, 
 as he was on his way again to headquarters, in the winter 
 of 1779-80, that his activities must cease, there was doubt- 
 less a great struggle of soul. How could he stop short, in 
 his work of helping to deliver the land from the oppressor, 
 and establish the fair heritage of freedom ? But when he 
 saw that this must be, he accepted the situation like a Chris- 
 tian man, and retired to his quiet home at Pomfret to linger 
 out the remainder of his years. 
 
 Happily this paralytic stroke had not invaded his mind, 
 which remained still wakeful and active. From his lonely 
 watch-tower of observation, he followed with the deepest 
 interest the chances and changes of the revolutionary 
 struggle, during its remaining years, till at length, in 1783, 
 the end was reached, and the land was delivered. The Dec- 
 
 318 
 
JEt. 61-72.] Closing Years. 319 
 
 laration of i ']']6 was made good, and the United States con- 
 stituted a new and independent nation among the peoples 
 of the earth. 
 
 In this year 1783, but before the war had fully closed, 
 Putnam received, in answer to a letter which he had written, 
 a communication from the honored and beloved Washing- 
 ton, which must have deeply moved him, in the depths of 
 his retirement. The opening and closing passages of this 
 
 letter we will give, as follows : 
 
 " Headquarters, 2nd June, 1783. 
 
 "Dear Sir: Your favor of the 20th of May I received with 
 much pleasure. For I can assure you that among the many 
 worthy and meritorious officers with whom I have had the happi- 
 ness to be connected in service through the course of this war, and 
 from whose cheerful assistance and advice have received much 
 support and confidence in the various and trying vicissitudes of 
 a complicated contest, the name of a Putnam is not forgotten ; 
 nor will it be but with that stroke of time which shall obliterate 
 from my mind the remembrance of all those toils and fatigues 
 through which we have struggled for the preservation and estab- 
 lishment of the Rights., Liberties, and Independence of our coun- 
 try. Your congratulations on the happy prospects of peace and 
 independent security, with their attendant blessings to the United 
 States, I receive with great satisfaction ; and beg that you will 
 accept a return of my gratulations to you on this auspicious event, 
 — an event, in which, great as it is in itself, and glorious as it 
 will probably be in its consequences, you have a right to partici- 
 pate largely from the distinguished part you have contributed 
 towards its attainment 
 
 " I anticipate with pleasure the day, and that I trust not far 
 off, when I shall quit the busy scenes of a military employment, 
 and retire to the more tranquil walks of domestic life. In that, 
 or in whatever other situation Providence may dispose of my 
 future days, the remembrance of the many friendships and con- 
 nections I have had the happiness to contract with the gentlemen 
 of the army, will be one of my most grateful reflections. Under 
 
320 Life of Israel Putnam. [1779-90. 
 
 this contemplation, and impressed with the sentiments of benevo- 
 lence and regard, I commend you, my dear sir, my other friends, 
 and with them the interests and happiness of our dear country, to 
 the keeping and protection of Ahnighty God. 
 
 " I have the honor to be, etc., George Washington." 
 
 "To the Honorable Major-General Putnam." 
 
 Rev. L. Grosvenor, his great-grandson, from whom we 
 have several times quoted in the earlier parts of this vol- 
 ume, thus describes General Putnam's personal appearance, 
 as also his manner of life after his return from the war : 
 
 " Putnam, in personal appearance, was of medium height, of a 
 strong, athletic figure, and in the time of the revohitionary war, 
 rather fleshy, weighing about two hundred pounds. His hair 
 was dark, his eyes light blue, his complexion a florid Saxon, and 
 his broad, good-humored face marked with deep scars, received 
 in his encounters with French and Indians. A portrait of him, 
 taken in his younger days, when he was a provincial Major, gives 
 him rather a slim but muscular figure, dressed in scarlet coat 
 and -breeches, and a light vest, with buff gloves and black cra- 
 vat. He is described by those now living, who frequently saw 
 him in his old age, as being very large around the chest, show- 
 ing what we should expect from his habits, a great amount of 
 the sanguine vital temperament. Even after his final return from 
 the wars, when one side of him was so paralyzed that his right arm 
 clung close and useless to his side, and he had to be assisted to 
 mount his horse, he rode almost every day on horseback, sitting 
 up as straight as a boy. 
 
 " Many anecdotes are related of his energy and perseverance 
 in the days of his bodily feebleness. Those who are old now, 
 but boys then, remember, and tell wiih delight, about the Gen- 
 eral's spirited bay mare, and the perfect mastery which he main- 
 tained over her, bringing her at any time to a dead halt by shaking 
 the head of his ivory-headed cane. He was frequently seen at the 
 houses of his sons and daughters in Brooklyn and Pomfret, and at 
 
Mr. 61-72.] Clositig Years. 321 
 
 the raisings and other gatherings and merry-makings in the neigh- 
 borhood. There, seated in some arm-chair, promptly brought for- 
 ward by the young men for his comfort, he, leaning like another 
 old patriarch on the top of his staff, surrounded by a crowd of 
 children and grand-children, and friends and neighbors, related 
 abundant anecdotes of the olden time, while his happy audience 
 greeted with loud laughter the outpourings of his ready wit and 
 his kindly and genial humor." 
 
 Putnam was sixty-one years old when this stroke o£ pa- 
 ralysis fell upon him. He was not therefore a very old 
 man. But the immense physical strain that for so many 
 years taxed his system doubtless caused this calamity to 
 fall earlier than it otherwise would. When we consider 
 the scenes which he passed through in the French War, 
 the exposures of those northern winters, the terrible marches 
 through the wilderness, the fierce encounters which came 
 in his way as a ranger, when every faculty of mind and 
 body were taxed to their utmost ; or when we reflect upon 
 such a continuous ride over rough roads as he took when 
 he left Pomf ret on the morning of the 20th of April, visiting 
 first the neighboring towns, then coming to Cambridge, 
 thence to Concord, and probably bringing up again at Cam- 
 bridge on the night of April 21st ; or what he passed through 
 between Friday morning, June i6th, and Sunday evening, 
 June i8th, 1775, no wonder that a system, though naturally 
 built and compacted like iron, began to give way under such 
 almost superhuman labors. From his early years the horse 
 was his companion, till by long use he almost realized the 
 old fable of the Centaurs. The horse and the man became 
 but parts of one whole. The horse loves a bold and gen- 
 erous ruler, and in Putnam's hands the animal became obe- 
 dient to the rider's every impulse. Even paralysis could 
 not shake him from his horse. It is related that only a 
 short time before his death he went back to the home of 
 
322 Life of Israel Putnam. [1779-90. 
 
 his ancestors in Dan vers, making the whole journey both 
 ways on horseback, though by easy stages. 
 
 Perhaps the most graphic description ever given in few 
 words of General Putnam — his personal appearance and 
 character — comes to us from the pen of one of his grand- 
 sons, a man eminent in his generation. Judge Judah Dana, 
 formerly United States Senator from Maine. 
 
 " In his person, for height about the middle size, very erect, 
 thickset, muscular and firm in everj^ part. His countenance was 
 open, strong and animated ; the features of his face large, well- 
 proportioned to each other and to his whole frame ; his teeth 
 fair and sound till death. His organs and senses were all ex- 
 actly fitted for a warrior ; he heard quickly, saw to an immense 
 distance, and though he sometimes stammered in conversation, his 
 voice was remarkably heavy, strong and commanding. Though 
 facetious and dispassionate in private, when animated in the heat 
 of battle his countenance was fierce and terrible and his voice 
 like thunder. His whole manner was admirably adapted to in- 
 spire his soldiers with courage and confidence, and his enemies 
 with terror. The faculties of his mind were not inferior to those 
 of his body ; his penetration was acute ; his decision rapid, yet 
 remarkably correct ; and the more desperate the situation the 
 more collected and undaunted. With the courage of a lion he 
 had a heart that melted at the sight of distress ; he could never 
 witness suffering in any human being without becoming a sufferer 
 himself. Even the operation of a blood-letting has caused him 
 to faint. In viewing a field of battle his distress was exquisite, 
 until he had afforded friend and foe all the relief in his power. 
 Once after a battle, on examining a bullet wound through the 
 head of a favorite officer. Captain Whiting, who died upon the 
 field, he fainted and was taken up for dead. Martial music roused 
 him to the highest pitch, while solemn, sacred music sent him 
 into tears. In his disposition he was open and generous almost 
 to a fault ; he never disguised, and in his social relations he 
 was never excelled." 
 
/Et. 61-72.] Closing Years. 323 
 
 In reading such a description we cannot but think of 
 Martin Luther. Among all the characters of history we 
 can hardly remember any one with whom Putnam, by his 
 natural gifts and qualities, had more in common. There 
 was the same large, robust, animal nature, with its immense 
 treasuries of strength and courage. Placed in Luther's po- 
 sition, it would have been just like Putnam to say, " I will 
 go to Worms, though there are as many devils as tiles on 
 the roofs of the houses." There was the same whole- 
 souled generosity by which he touched and swayed the 
 common people as with the wand of the enchanter. There 
 was the same deep-seated mirth and jollity ; as for example, 
 when the British officer challenged Putnam to fight, and he 
 having the choice of weapons, chose that they should sit 
 together over a keg of powder, to which a slow match was 
 applied. The officer sat till the match drew near the hole, 
 when he ran for his life, Putnam calling after him that it 
 was only a keg of onions, with a few grains of powder 
 sprinkled upon it. When Luther could not carry his audi- 
 ence in any other way, he could do it by a joke or the most 
 comical anecdote. Both were men who touched our com- 
 mon humanity at many points, and both were men who did 
 not indulge in mirth for its own sake merely, but they had 
 a great moral purpose in their lives, which lifted them in- 
 infinitely above all triflers. 
 
 Another striking characteristic of Putnam, and this he 
 inherited largely from his ancestors, was his love of the soil. 
 He took delight in the ownership of land, and not in the mere 
 ownership, but in the subjugation of it to man's uses and 
 wants. Like the first father of the race, he felt himself sent 
 into the garden " to dress it and to keep it." There was wealth 
 in that soil, the wealth that God gives to the " sweat of the 
 brow." He would look with immeasurable contempt upon 
 that unhealthy and ignoble crowd which throngs our great 
 
324 Life of Israel PutJtam. [1779-90. 
 
 cities to-day, hoping by cunning and fortunate ventures to 
 abstract wealth from other men's pockets, without any pro- 
 ductive industry whatever on its own part. He would per- 
 haps sit over a real keg of powder with a man of this stamp 
 till he was blown up and the earth rid of him. His idea of 
 accumulation was only as the fruit of honest service and 
 hard toil. And he had his reward. Through these last 
 years of his life, his farming operations still went on under 
 his eye as of old. He kept adding to his lands, year by 
 year, through his whole life. Mr. Grosvenor tells us, that 
 when he died, "he left by will about a thousand acres of 
 land in Pomfret, Brooklyn and Canterbury, divided be- 
 tween his sons Israel, Daniel and Peter Schuyler; and 
 £,1,200 in money, divided equally among his four daugh- 
 ters. He bequeathed also to his grandson Elisha Avery 
 ;^i5o; also to his son Peter Schuyler all his live stock, 
 farming tools and provisions." * His wealth, such as he 
 
 *The following, which we cut from the Boston "Journal," though the 
 record is not brought down to the present time, will convey general impres- 
 sions that are correct : 
 
 "General Putnam's Boys and Girls. — A correspondent in the Rut- 
 land ' Daily Globe ' takes exceptions to a statement in a recent item in the 
 'Journal.' In describing the 76th birthday party of Mr. Lewis Putnam Glea- 
 son of Bedford, it referred to him as being ' a grandson of the only daughter 
 of General Israel Putnam,' whom, we know, ranked next to General Wash- 
 ington. It should have read thus : ' A grandson of one of the daughters,' etc. 
 The descendants of ' Old Put ' in Vermont felt a little agitated to have the 
 printer shut them out of so distinguished a family circle with the little word 
 'only,'' and during the centennial year too ! 
 
 " The descendants of Putnam are numerous, for seven of his children lived 
 to be married, and to increase and multiply after the fashion of their worthy 
 ancestor. He had as many daughters as sons, that is, five of each. We give 
 the names of his boys and girls : Israel, Jr., born Jan. 28th, 1740 ; David, born 
 March loth, 1742, died young; Hannah, born Aug. 25th, 1744; Elizabeth, 
 born March 20th, 1747, died young; Mehitable, born Oct. 21st, 1749 ; Molly, 
 born May loth, 1753 ; Eunice, born Jan. loth, 1756; Daniel, born Nov. i8th, 
 1759 ; David, born Oct. 14th, 1761, died young; Peter Schuyler, born Dec. 
 31st, 1764. 
 
 " Israel, Jr., removed with his family to Ohio, and his descendants are found 
 
^T. 61-72.] Closing Years. 325 
 
 had, was real and solid ; not of that spongy stuff, of which 
 a man can say that he is worth $200,000 to-day, and noth- 
 ing at all to-morrow. It was wealth that based itself on 
 God's enduring foundations. 
 
 In Rev. Mr. Grosvenor's delineations of Putnam's life 
 and character, he introduces a brief letter from Dr. Jared 
 Sparks, written in January, 1844. President Sparks, who 
 did so much with his pen to illustrate American history, 
 was a native of Willington, Connecticut, and was born in 
 1789, the year before Putnam died. Willington is only a 
 little way from Pomfret, so that Sparks, working upon the 
 soil, in his childhood and youth, was not far removed from 
 the traditions and associations circling around the name of 
 the old revolutionary hero. The air of Connecticut was 
 full of the stories which Putnam's career had set in motion. 
 In this letter to Mr. Grosvenor, he says, — 
 
 " That he [Putnam] never made mistakes I would not say, for 
 it cannot be said of a single officer of the Revolution ; but I am 
 sure it may be safely affirmed, that there was not among all the 
 patriots of the Revolution a braver man, or one more true to the 
 interests of his country, or of more generous and noble spirit." 
 
 To measure the real extent of Putnam's services in the 
 revolutionary struggle, a few simple things are to be borne 
 in mind. There was, first of all, that perfect abandon with 
 which he threw himself into the breach, as a leader. It 
 was a fearful undertaking. A feeling widely prevailed 
 among the people, which found expression in such words 
 
 all over the Buckeye State. Peter removed to Williamstown, Mass. Molly 
 married a Waldo, and Hannah a Dana, and their descendants number many 
 of the best families of New England. Eight of Putnam's grandchildren were 
 known to be alive about fifteen years ago, viz., Captain David Putnam, Mari- 
 etta, Ohio, son of Israel, Jr. ; General Wm. P. Tyler, Brooklyn, Ct, son of Me- 
 hitable ; Colonel L. P. Grosvenor, Pomfret, Ct., son of Eunice ; Mrs. Har- 
 riet Grosvenor, Hartford, Ct, and Mrs. Emily Brown, Brooklyn, daughters of 
 Daniel Putnam, and three sons of Peter in New York and Ohio." 
 
326 Life of Israel Putnam. [1779-90. 
 
 of Scripture as these : " We have no might against this 
 great company that cometh against us ; neitlier know we 
 what to do ; but our eyes are upon thee." To see a man 
 like Putnam, at his age and with his military experience, 
 without the least precaution or disguise, with no effort what- 
 ever at concealment whether in the presence of British offi- 
 cers, or among his fellow-citizens, throwing himself with his 
 whole soul, with all his powers of mind and body, into the 
 thick of the strife, from the very outset, this was worth 
 more to the popular cause than can possibly be estimated.* 
 Such a man, so acting, becomes a source and fountain-head 
 of courage to a whole nation. We have seen that Sparks, 
 and Washington himself, by the language quoted from their 
 letters, have this in their minds, and they freely assign to 
 Putnam a very large share in the securing of American 
 independence. 
 
 Is there any other man (Washington only excepted) 
 whose agency and service in this direction will rank along- 
 side of those of General Putnam } We can think of no 
 one. France sent us a most graceful, brave and chivalric 
 helper in the person of Lafayette. His example was most 
 inspiriting, and his services highly valuable ; but Lafay- 
 ette did not come till the first difficulties had been sur- 
 mounted, and the nation fully organized for resistance. 
 When Putnam plunged without reserve into this strife, it 
 was all uncertain how the remoter colonies would act. The 
 land was full of Tories. If the Middle and Southern States 
 held back and failed New England, a traitor's doom was 
 almost certain to await him at the end. The common sol- 
 
 * " Some of those persons who signed the Declaration of Independence in 
 1776, described themselves as doing it ' as with halters about their necks.' If 
 there were grounds for this remark in 1776, when the cause had become so 
 much more general, how much greater was the hazard when the battle of Bun- 
 ker Hill was fought ! " — Daniel Webster, in " North American Review," July, 
 1S18, p. 227. 
 
^T. 6i-72.] Closing Years, 327 
 
 dier and the under officers might be spared, but a man mov- 
 ing in so high a sphere, and exerting such an immense in- 
 fluence, would be a sure mark for vengeance. Yet he halted 
 not at the first, and never wavered to the end. Twice at 
 least the British approached him, in the early days of the 
 struggle, with the promise of great honors and rewards, if 
 he would leave the patriot service and come over to their 
 side; which offers he scornfully rejected. Then the fight- 
 ing of the battle of Bunker Hill broke, at the outset, the 
 spell of British invincibility. The conflicts at Lexington 
 and Concord had done something, but this was only gue- 
 rilla warfare, and not a pitched battle. When the British 
 army, on Saturday night, June 17th, found one-third of the 
 men taken into that action lying dead or wounded on those 
 Charlestown slopes, the day of their idle boasting was over, 
 and the awful dread of the " regulars " was removed, in a 
 large measure, from the minds of the American people. The 
 consequences of that battle were immense ; and it becomes 
 all lovers of their country to see to it that the glory of that 
 action shall not be taken away from the man to whom it 
 belongs. It was only by immense force, activity and per- 
 suasion, that General Putnam succeeded in getting the bat- 
 tle fought at all; and when it was fought, it was with 
 such hindrance of his plans, such impediments thrown in 
 his way, such a hang-back spirit on the part of many of the 
 Massachusetts regiments, that he deserves a double glory 
 for bringing it to so successful a completion. We shall 
 ever contend, in the clear light of contemporaneous and 
 subsequent history, that the plan of that battle was his, and 
 the conduct of the battle was his. 
 
 But the time drew near when the hero of many conflicts, 
 and the conqueror on many a field, was himself to die. 
 Through all those eleven years after his separation from 
 the army, he had been continued in the use of all his men- 
 
328 Life of Israel Putnam. [1779-90. 
 
 tal faculties, though his body could no longer render the 
 service of the earlier days. He was of an eminently happy 
 temperament, and the enjoyments of his life were such as 
 we have seen. 
 
 His death, at last, did not come in a repetition of the 
 paralytic shock, as might naturally enough have been ex- 
 pected. On the 17th of May, 1790, he was attacked with 
 an inflammatory disorder which did not yield to medicine, 
 and which was rapid in its march. He died two days after. 
 May 19th, 1790, having entered in the previous January 
 upon his 73d year. 
 
 His death stirred the entire population in the coun- 
 try towns of his neighborhood. They knew that a brave 
 and noble-hearted patriot had fallen, and they desired to do 
 honor to his memory. General Humphreys says in this 
 connection (pp. 165-66), — 
 
 " Much of his life had been spent in arms, and the military of 
 the neighborhood were desirous that the rites of sepulture should 
 be accompanied with martial honors. They felt that this last trib- 
 ute of respect was due to a soldier, who from a patriotic love of 
 country had devoted the best part of his life to the defence of her 
 rights and the establishment of her independence, and who, 
 through long and trying services, was never once reproached for 
 misconduct as an officer ; but when disease compelled him to re- 
 tire from service, left it, beloved and respected by the army and 
 his chief, and with high claims to the grateful remembrance of the 
 countiy. 
 
 "Under these impressions, the grenadiers of the nth regiment 
 (of Connecticut troops), the independent corps of artillerists, and 
 the militia companies in the neighborhood, assembled each at 
 their appointed rendezvous early on the morning of the 21st, 
 and having repaired to the late dwelling-house of the deceased, 
 a suitable escort was formed, attended by a procession of the 
 Masonic brethren present, and a large -concourse of respectable 
 
^T. 61-72.] Closing Years. 329 
 
 citizens, which moved to the Congregational meeting-house in 
 Brooklyn ; and after divine service by the Rev, Dr. Whitney, all 
 that was earthly of a patriot and hero was laid in the silent tomb, 
 under the discharge of volleys from the infantry and minute guns 
 from the artillery." 
 
 The following is a brief extract from the sermon of Dr. 
 Whitney, in which he delineated the marked traits of Gen- 
 eral Putnam's character : 
 
 " He was of a kind, benevolent disposition, pitiful to the dis- 
 tressed, charitable to the needy, and ready to assist all who 
 wanted his help. In his family he was the tender and affec- 
 tionate husband, the provident father, an example of industry 
 and close application to business. He was a constant attendant 
 upon the public worship of God from his youth up. He brought 
 his family with him when he came to worship the Lord, He was 
 not ashamed of family religion. His house was a house of 
 prayer. For many years he was a professor of religion. There 
 is one, at least, to whom he freely disclosed the workings of his 
 mind — his convictions of sin — his grief for it — his dependence 
 on God through the Redeemer for pardon, and his hope of a 
 future happy existence whenever his strength and heart should 
 fail him." 
 
 At the grave a brief address was made by Dr. A. Waldo, 
 a physician, from which we copy these few words : 
 
 " Born a hero, whom nature taught and cherished in the lap of 
 innumerable toils and dangers, he was terrible in battle. But 
 from the amiableness of his heart, when carnage ceased, his hu- 
 manity spread over the field like the refreshing breezes of a sum- 
 mer evening. The prisoner, the wounded, the sick, the forlorn, 
 experienced the delicate sympathy of this soldier's pillar. The 
 poor and the needy of every description, received the charitable 
 bounties of this Christian soldier." 
 
 The monument that covers his tomb is now a struc- 
 ture of brick work, built up two or three feet from the 
 
330 Life of Israel Putnam. [1779-90. 
 
 ground, on which a stone slab was laid, bearing this inscrip- 
 tion, prepared for the purpose by Dr. Timothy Dwight, 
 President of Yale College : 
 
 SACRED BE THIS MONUMENT 
 
 to the memory 
 
 of 
 
 ISRAEL PUTNAM, ESQUIRE, 
 
 Senior Major-General in the armies 
 
 of 
 
 the United States of America, 
 
 who 
 
 was born at Salem, 
 
 in the Province of Massachusetts, 
 
 on the 7th day of January, 
 
 A. D. 1718, 
 
 and died 
 
 on the 19th of May, 
 
 A. D. 1790. 
 
 PASSENGER, 
 
 if thou art a soldier, 
 
 drop a tear over the dust of a Hero, 
 
 who 
 
 ever attentive 
 
 to the lives and happiness of his men, 
 
 dared to lead 
 
 where any dared to follow; 
 
 if a Patriot, 
 
 remember the distinguished and gallant services 
 
 rendered thy country 
 
 by the Patriot who sleeps beneath this marble ; 
 
 if thou art honest, generous and worthy, 
 
 render a cheerful tribute of respect 
 
 to a man 
 
 whose generosity was singular, 
 
 whose honesty was proverbial ; 
 
 who 
 
 raised himself to universal esteem, 
 
 and ofifices of eminent distinction, 
 
 by personal worth 
 
 and a 
 
 useful life. 
 
^T. 6 1-72.] Closing Years. 331 
 
 Within a few years, a more befitting monument has been 
 erected, which the State of Connecticut bore a part in 
 building. 
 
 Mr. George Canning Hill, who a few years since pub- 
 lished a life of General Putnam, designed more especially 
 for youth, but fitted to readers of any age, in his closing 
 paragraph, gives the following picture of the old tomb-stone 
 and its surroundings : 
 
 " The brave old man, who never knew the meaning of fear, 
 sleeps quietly in this humble grave. A devious path has been 
 worn among the hillocks of the little yard, by the feet of those 
 who have come, year by year, to look upon his last resting-place. 
 On the still summer afternoons the crickets chirp mournfully in 
 the long grass, and the southerly breeze wails in the belt of pines 
 that neighbor upon the spot. The associations are all of a 
 thoughtful sadness. But it is good for one to visit the graves of 
 the heroes who have departed, where he may kindle anew the 
 sentiment of patriotism, without which he can becojpae neither an 
 estimable citizen nor a noble man." 
 
 Putnam's Tomb. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE BUNKER HILL CENTENNIAL* 
 
 Spirit of the Day. — Commendable Action on the Part of Massachusetts and 
 Boston. — Efforts of Individuals to make it a Day for Prescott's Glory. — 
 Outward Beauty of the Day. — The Military Review in the Morning. — 
 The Procession. — Incidents. 
 
 IT has been made sufficiently apparent, perhaps, by the 
 course of the preceding narrative, that if there had been 
 no battle of Bunker Hill, June i/th, 1775, except what 
 Colonel Prescott and the Massachusetts regiments fought, 
 there would have been nothing which we should have cared 
 particularly to celebrate June 17th, 1875. The centen- 
 nial day therefore was not a Boston day or a Massachusetts 
 day. It was a New England day in especial, and an 
 American day in general ; and we are happy to say, so far 
 as the organic action of the State of Massachusetts is con- 
 cerned, or the corporate action of the city of Boston, every 
 thing was conceived and carried out on the largest and 
 most catholic scale. There was no attempt on their part, 
 so far as can be discovered, to fly in the face of history 
 and attempt to make this day exclusively their own. So 
 far from this, they did not even seek by their arrangements 
 to make it a New England day, though it was alone by 
 
 * Hither came that way-worn " Pilgrim," in the " New Pilgrim's Progress," 
 published at Hartford, Connecticut. Setting out at Plymouth in 1620, by de- 
 vious and sometimes forced marches, but with rapid progress, he brought up 
 in these parts on the 17th of June, 1875. The last record we have of him and 
 his travels, is the following : " Goes to Bunker Hill to pay his respects to the 
 illustrious men who commanded General Putnam." 
 
The Bunker Hill Centennial. 333 
 
 the sons of New England that the battle was fought. 
 Their thoughts were not circumscribed within these narrow 
 boundaries. They made the occasion one of a broad na- 
 tional character, as was fit and becoming. They invited 
 their guests from the east and the west, the north and the 
 south, as having, all of them, a common interest in that first 
 great battle which marked the nation's struggle and move- 
 ment towards liberty and independence. The largeness of 
 view and of plan with which the State and city took action, 
 to make this centennial day a grand and noble occasion, 
 has been most widely and justly commended. 
 
 But as the time drew on, and the bustle of preparation 
 began to be heard, it became apparent that certain individ- 
 uals, here and there, either acting separately or by concert, 
 were disposed to seize this occasion to consummate a 
 special and peculiar object, and put the great crown of 
 leadership upon the head of Colonel William Prescott. 
 Some of the Boston newspapers had almost daily drop- 
 pings, " here a little and there a little," in the service of this 
 particular idea. Larger periodicals wrought in the same 
 direction. Books began to appear, to educate the public 
 mind up to the required standard. One of Boston's favo- 
 rite and bright-minded poets, to aid the general jubilee, 
 chimed in with the following historical line in a graceful 
 and effective poem : 
 
 " It was Prescott, one since told me, he commanded on the hill." 
 
 The " one " that " told " him was probably the same man 
 that has been largely employed in furnishing the modern 
 evidence. But to any one who had studied the real history 
 of this battle, all this wore a very peculiar aspect, though 
 it was amusing to watch by how many processes and agen- 
 cies the name of Prescott was made to fill the air in the 
 early days of June, 1875. 
 
334 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 It was of course something of a shock to the finer feel- 
 ings, a kind of rude invasion of all the proprieties of the 
 time, when the famous New Yorlc Seventh Regiment came 
 into Boston, singing their regimental song composed for the 
 occasion, every one of whose nine stanzas ends with the 
 following chorus : 
 
 " We won the victory at that fight, 
 We knew we should, for we were right ; 
 Old Putnam led the men that night, 
 At Bunker Hill, at Bunker Hill." 
 
 It was evident that those young men had not received a 
 good Boston education. It jarred a little, too, upon the sensi- 
 bilities to have General Sherman, after the oration under the 
 great tent on Bunker Hill, get up and say of General Putnam, 
 " He was a glorious old soldier, and his services and exam- 
 ples are worth a dozen monuments like this on Bunker Hill, 
 even if made of pure gold." But then some latitude of 
 speech must be allowed to so distinguished a guest as Gen- 
 eral Sherman. And because he had said before, " Prescott 
 was the actual commander on this spot" {i. e., where the 
 tent stood, and where the monument stands), one of the 
 Boston papers immediately seized upon that remark, and 
 quoted Sherman as having sanctioned the notion that Pres- 
 cott was commander-in-chief. In that remark he said only 
 what all writers say, what has been freely and constantly 
 said throughout this volume. Of course, Prescott was the 
 local commander at the redoubt on Breed's Hill. Who 
 ever denied it } 
 
 But notwithstanding all this care and precaution on the 
 part of individuals, to give a Prescott turn and a Prescott 
 flavor to everything, the city itself went on its way with 
 dignity. There was a practical common sense in its action, 
 showing that it did not propose to go against the old estab- 
 
The Bunker Hill Centennial. 335 
 
 lished history. There were coarse paintings executed to be 
 put upon the front of the City Hall in School Street, at 
 each corner of the front entrance to the building, well up 
 on the walls, where they would be visible to every passer 
 by. General Joseph Warren, the volunteer and martyr, was 
 chosen as the subject of one of these pictures, and General 
 Israel Putnam, the chief commander in the battle, was 
 chosen for the other. The corporate body that ordered 
 this work done was evidently im.pervious to the new ideas. 
 Its action was in the spirit of the fathers. These were not 
 very good pictures, it is true. They were not prepared as 
 works of art. They were made for a temporary use, and 
 were designed to speak, not to the aesthetic eye, but to the 
 imagination and the heart. The picture of General Put- 
 nam was taken from the painting by Wilkinson in London, 
 in 1775, which we have described in our chapter on the 
 Literature and Art of Bunker Hill. 
 
 A communication, however, soon appeared in a Boston 
 paper, the opening part of which was devoted to this topic of 
 the pictures placed upon the City Hall, and read as follows : 
 
 " You have already expressed emphatically your sense of the 
 wrong done in the omission of any recognition of the claims of 
 Colonel Prescott to any share of the honors of Bunker Hill in 
 the display on the front of the City Hall. If we try to put a chari- 
 table construction upon that seeming slight upon the commander 
 of the provincial forces, we might infer that when those who 
 provided for that display had taken note of the skill of the artist 
 in the figures labelled Warren and Putnam, they kindly concluded 
 to spare Prescott, as he had already suffered enough in the cari- 
 cature of him by Trumbull. Happily, however, that omission 
 and slight, which might have had some significance as indicating 
 the judgment of a committee in the distribution of the awards of 
 fame, are more than compensated by the decided and well-sus- 
 tained utterance of the orator of the day, giving to Prescott the 
 honor which belongs to him." 
 
336 Life of Israel Putnam, 
 
 Soon after, the Bunker Hill Association met, and took 
 action toward erecting another monument on Breed's Hill 
 (now commonly called Bunker Hill), to the honor of Colo- 
 nel William Prescott This association in their action at 
 this meeting did not name Colonel Prescott as commander- 
 in-chief. So far as their vote is concerned, that point is 
 left indefinite, and the enterprise may base itself, if it will, 
 upon Colonel Prescott's personal merits and services, with- 
 out regard to his exact military standing. 
 
 But leaving these things aside, we turn to the day and 
 the occasion itself. It was a morning of summer splendors 
 without oppressive summer heat, — very different in this 
 respect from the day when the battle was fought. On this 
 centennial morning the sun shone in full glory, but a gentle 
 breeze was stealing in from the ocean, which tempered the 
 heat to the point of comfort. As the military host, gathered 
 from every part of Massachusetts, and from many other 
 States, — their dress clean and their weapons bright, — 
 passed in their morning review before General Sherman 
 and many other distinguished men, civil and military, stand- 
 ing upon an extended platform erected for the purpose in 
 front of the State House yard, the scene was extremely 
 brilliant. It took the military bodies an hour and three- 
 quarters to pass before that stand (and there were no long 
 delays in the marching). As the regiments came up on 
 the bend of Beacon Street and neared the stand, their own 
 marching bands ceased playing, and the music for the re- 
 view was supplied by two of the best bands that could be 
 selected, who were kept stationary near the stand, and 
 played by turns. All this morning review passed before 
 the procession for the day was formed, and never was there 
 a summer morning better fitted to give eclat to such a mili- 
 tary march. General Sherman, in his speech on Bunker 
 Hill, meant of course to include what happened later in the 
 
The Btmker Hill Centennial. ^^'/ 
 
 day with this scene of the morning, when he pronounced 
 the whole " one of the most gorgeous pageants that has 
 ever occurred on this continent." The mihtary display 
 was finest in the morning review. The men were fresh, 
 the sun was sparkling, and the enthusiasm of the soldiers 
 had not become jaded by weariness. As they passed be- 
 fore that stand, where so many searching and distinguished 
 eyes were looking at them, and the band was playing its 
 high festal music, they moved like men with wings to their 
 feet. There was a springiness, an elasticity in their step, 
 of which they were half unconscious. But they were lifted 
 out of themselves and were blended with the great forces 
 of feeling and emotion around them. Any one who looked 
 upon that morning march from the vicinity of the State 
 House steps will never forget it. 
 
 The procession was not ready to move till about 2 o'clock, 
 and it had a route of six miles to travel. It may give one 
 some impression of the length of the procession itself, if 
 we say that the head of that military column leading the 
 procession had completed its march of six miles, just as 
 the last half of the procession began to untangle itself to 
 set out on its journey; in other words, the procession was 
 twice as long as, the route was. Before this procession 
 moved, the easterly breeze which was quiet in the morning, 
 had increased its force, bringing in a half-haze from the 
 ocean, making the air very invigorating for those who were 
 on the march, and quite as cool as those sitting or standing 
 as spectators wished it to be. But for the military, and all 
 the pedestrian bodies and associations, that long march was 
 performed under circumstances as favorable as a day in 
 June could ever be expected to give. To those who rode 
 in carriages, or who looked on from streets and open win- 
 dows, before the day ended extra shawls and wrappers were 
 not uncomfortable. Through the night that followed, this 
 22 
 
338 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 sea-breeze increased and brought on a chilly rain, and the 
 next morning was as dismal as the morning of the 17th 
 was brilliant.* 
 
 Of the crowds that witnessed this spectacle, all attempts 
 at enumeration would be comparatively idle. There was 
 no place along the line where the crowd was not. But 
 probably the most exciting point in the route, was in the 
 wide open spaces of Columbus Avenue. The soldiers who 
 marched in the procession, all seem to declare that the 
 effect here was most exciting and half-bewildering. Es- 
 pecially toward the farther end of the avenue, where the 
 procession turned toward Washington Street, and where the 
 children were massed in great numbers on upraised seats, 
 tier above tier, waving flags, and filling the air with cheers, 
 the effect was almost overpowering, and some of the offi- 
 cers and soldiers on that march, could hardly tell " whether 
 they were in the body or out of the body." 
 
 The day was eminently successful. Many a man and 
 woman went home that night, never expecting to see such 
 a spectacle on earth again. 
 
 But happiest of all was the blending of hearts long es- 
 tranged, bringing men together from the ends of the land, 
 and making them feel like brothers, sharers in one common 
 country and heritage. 
 
 As we lay down our pen, at the close of this volume, we 
 are moved to say that if we have ever written under a pro- 
 found conviction of the truth of what we were writing, it 
 has been in the preparation of this book. Nothing but the 
 clear belief that history has here been turned aside from 
 its true purpose would ever have moved us to this task. 
 
 * One of the mottoes on the wagons of the " Great Atlantic and Pacific 
 Tea Company," loaded with chests of tea and bags of coffee (the motto ap- 
 plying especially to the latter), caught the spirit of the occasion on the Gen- 
 eral Putnam side. " We are all Colonels here, and one Colonel is as good as 
 another." 
 
The Bunker Hill Centennial. 339 
 
 The writer has no family relationships or friendships on 
 either side, nor was he moved to this labor by any one hav- 
 ing such relationships. No descendant of General Putnam 
 ever knew of the enterprise until long after it was on its 
 way. The appeal was made by the facts of the case to the 
 sense of general justice and historical truth. 
 
 More and more clearly is it seen that the man who con- 
 trived and executed that Bunker Hill battle struck a blow 
 of immense consequence for his country and for posterity. 
 That the honor of this achievement should be taken from 
 its rightful owner, and especially from one so noble, gener- 
 ous and self-denying as General Putnam, that he should be 
 robbed of this hard-earned glory, and that it should be given 
 over to those who are, to some extent, the natural success- 
 ors of the very men that failed him in the time of his sorest 
 need, that Massachusetts and her sons should claim the 
 peculiar honors of a victory, which, under bad leadership, 
 she helped rather to prevent, — this is using history for an 
 unworthy purpose. And it is because we believe this that 
 we have written this book. If at any point we have spoken 
 unjustly or too warmly, we ask pardon of the reader; and 
 if we never live to see this error taken out of American his- 
 tory, we have the full conviction that the time will come, 
 when the whole nation will give the honors of the battle of 
 Bunker Hill largely to the common soldiers of New Hamp- 
 shire who, more than any other men, fought it; and to 
 brave old General Putnam, who conceived the plan, and was 
 chief commander on the field. The two hundred men from 
 Connecticut performed extraordinary services, but they 
 were few in number. Their heroic faithfulness has always 
 been spoken of in terms of highest praise. The men at the 
 redoubt who patiently endured and suffered to the end, are 
 worthy of all honor. But the battle was fought chiefly by 
 the soldiers of New Hampshire, whose muskets killed and 
 
340 Life of Israel PutJiam. 
 
 wounded probably two out of three in that list of ten hun- 
 dred and sixty-four, which General Gage reported to the 
 home government. 
 
 If a monument is to be erected upon that battle-ground 
 to any Colonel, it should be to Colonel Stark of New Hamp- 
 shire, whose services in the strife were more important 
 than those of any other man bearing that title. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 A. 
 
 ADDRESS OF HON. HENRY C. DEMING, 1859. 
 
 The battle sword of Major-General Israel Putnam was pre- 
 sented, last night, to the Connecticut Historical Society, in the 
 presence of a vast assemblage, in Dr. Bushnell's Church. The 
 Hon. Henry C. Deming delivered the address, a portion of which 
 is copied below. No outline could do anything like justice 
 to the speaker's masterly analysis of the evidence by which Put- 
 nam's title to the honor of having commanded, as general-in- 
 chief, throughout the fight on Bunker Hill, was settled as we be- 
 lieve for ever. Connecticut owes a debt of gratitude to Mr. Dem- 
 ing for this laborious but successful refutation of the attacks 
 which Bostonians have made upon General Putnam's fame. 
 Henry Barnard, LL. D., President of the Connecticut Histori- 
 cal Society, being in the chair, Mr. Deming took his position at 
 a table in front of the pulpit, and said, — 
 
 " Mr. Lemuel Putnam Grosvenor, late of Pomfret, having in- 
 herited from his grandfather. General Israel Putnam, the sword 
 which he wielded in the battles of the Revolution, and bequeathed 
 it to the Connecticut Historical Society, I have been deputed to 
 deliver it into your hands, and not informally, but with all the 
 honors, not briefly, but with suitable prelude, to introduce this 
 relic and emblem of Connecticut's noblest soldier to an imperial 
 seat in this assemblage of Connecticut's worthiest historic num- 
 bers. In discharging this duty, on the one hundred and forty- 
 first anniversary of his birth, after the battles in which he fought 
 
 343 
 
344 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 have all been finally passed upon by history, and the foes who 
 dared assail him in the grave have proved that he could van- 
 quish still, it hath seemed proper to me to place in your archives, 
 in company with the sword he wore in war, a careful and delib- 
 erate estimate of his military career and servicesi" 
 [Here follows the passage quoted in Chapter IV.] 
 " Let it not be supposed, however, because Israel Putnam was 
 shaped thus by the times in which he lived, and the circumstances 
 in which he was placed, because he was not made and trained to 
 lead great armies and conduct great campaigns, that he was un- 
 equal to the grander emergencies which sometimes try the gen- 
 uineness of heroism. There was enough in him of the unal- 
 loyed, heroic metal to have stamped his name conspicuously on 
 any epoch, and have contended successfully on any field of ad- 
 venture. If it had been the mission of his generation to have 
 purged Connecticut of Nemean lions and boars and other devour- 
 ing monsters, before it could have become a suitable dwelling-place 
 for man, he might have been our Hercules, for he would have 
 faced a hydra as soon as a wolf ; if posted at the gates of em- 
 pire in its last extremity, there was enough in him for another 
 Leonidas ; with lance in poise, and battle-axe in hand, against 
 overwhelming infidel hosts, a Coeur de Lion might have been 
 reproduced in our history ; or hurled against the Austrian centre 
 by some remorseless Napoleon, he would have moved steadily 
 forward, another Macdonald between an enfilading fire of artil- 
 lery, strewing his path with dismantled guns and slaughtered 
 battalions, straight to his mark, with the inflexibility of a thun- 
 derbolt, and the weight of flying hills slung by Jove's right 
 
 hand 
 
 "Putnam entered the military service of the colony at the 
 commencement of the seven years' war with France, and if a de- 
 cisive war is one in which a contrary issue would have essentially 
 varied the drama of history in all its subsequent scenes, then 
 this war deserves to be classed among the decisive wars of the 
 world. If France had succeeded in her schemes of American 
 conquest, the whole course of civilization on this continent would 
 have run in a different channel and have assumed another char- 
 
Appendix. 345 
 
 acter. At its commencement the English colonists held the sea- 
 coast from Nova Scotia to Florida, and the French held the in- 
 terior, and had drawn around us on the north and west, from 
 Cape Breton to New Orleans, a cordon of settlements which 
 could rapidly be converted into garrisons, for every lay French- 
 man in America owed military service. At its close the French 
 had surrendered all these possessions except the island of Orleans^ 
 and the Anglo-Saxon race could roam undisturbed, from the Gulf 
 of Mexico to where the frozen barriers of the north arrest the 
 march of civilized man. The question determined in the nar- 
 row span of time between 1756 and 1763 was whether French 
 colonization should transfer to this hemisphere the effete mon- 
 archy of Versailles, the dilapidated feudal edifice of Europe, with 
 its successive layers of privileged classes built upon crushed and 
 suffering labor, with its castes, fatal to the manliness and growth 
 of the unprivileged majority, its hierarchy, intolerant of a free 
 conscience and hostile even to intellectual enfranchisement, its 
 servile tenures baffling by antiquated fines and encumbrances 
 the easy transfer of leaseholds and lands, its reactionary spirit 
 indifferent to enterprise or social progress, and its despotic ten- 
 dencies unchecked by local parliaments, or courts of law, or the 
 outspoken remonstrances of indignant freemen ; or whether Eng- 
 lish colonization, leaving behind the crown, the mitre and the 
 peerage, should plant on this virgin soil constitutional rights, 
 freeholds, common law, personal independence, schools, free 
 churches, printing presses, colonial legislatures, town organiza- 
 tions and municipal self-direction. 
 
 " In this connection, too, we should never forget a secondary 
 effect of the seven years' war, in many respects more important 
 and manifest even than the primary one to which I have briefly 
 adverted. More than twenty-five years ago, Mr. Everett, I be- 
 lieve, was the first to observe the manner in which the colonial 
 wars were interwoven with the Revolution, and that no ' thought 
 of independence could suggest itself, and no plan of throwing 
 off the colonial yoke could prosper, while a hostile power of 
 French and Canadian savages, exasperated by the injuries in- 
 flicted and retaliated for a hundred years, was encamped along 
 
34^ Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 the frontier. On the contrary, the habit so long kept up of act- 
 ing in concert with the mother country against their French and 
 savage neighbors, was one of the strongest ties of interest 
 which bound the colonies to the crown.' It is this systematic 
 connection of events in which the links of the great chain are 
 visible, and the providential meaning of war rendered intelligi- 
 ble to finite comprehension, that imparts such a grandeur of in- 
 terest to our historic evolution. We can almost see the mighty 
 arm which marshals the movement, and as the ordered eras un- 
 fold their meaning, discern at least the shadow of God in our 
 history. Each billow as it rolls is not self-impelled or indepen- 
 dent, but is moved by the one which precedes, and moves the one 
 which follows, and all with consenting voices proclaim that so- 
 ciety here shall be free, free from barbarism, free from the Euro- 
 pean colonial system, free from kings and caste, free from re- 
 strictions on its commerce, industry and thought, free to drop its 
 worn-out feudal carcass, and be transfigured into a more erect 
 and shining presence, and tread with firm footsteps a loftier 
 plane, and cherish nobler theories, and speak with a bolder 
 tongue, and carry its head nearer the stars. 
 
 " By the light of the present we are able to translate the myste- 
 ries of the past, and to detect that philosophic relation of events 
 which defied contemporaneous scrutiny, and to see that Pepperell 
 at Louisburg, Wolfe at Quebec, Amherst at Montreal, as well as 
 Putnam at Bunker Hill, and Gates at Saratoga, and Washington 
 at Yorktown, were all striking blows for the independence of the 
 States. When the last French forts surrendered, and the last 
 French regiment embarked, the lion and the unicorn began to 
 fade from our national escutcheon, and to the prophetic eye the 
 eagle of liberty was seen grasping the spears and unfolding the 
 scroll. 
 
 "To the decisive struggle which threw the western continent 
 into the arms of English colonization, and prepared the way for 
 the American Revolution and for the American Union, with all 
 its self-directing vitality and progressive system of incorporation, 
 no provincial, not even Washington, no regular, not excepting 
 Wolfe, contributed more steadily and efficiently, or exhibited 
 
Appendix. 347 
 
 more resolution and gallantry, than Israel Putnam of Mortlake. 
 He fought it through, from the first tocsin sound till the treaty 
 of Paris terminated the most glorious war England ever fought 
 by the most honorable treaty she ever signed. He plunged with 
 Williams into the bloody defile where that dauntless philanthro- 
 pist fell ; he struggled with Lyman for his dearly bought victory 
 over Dieskau ; he received the dying Lord Howe in his arms be- 
 fore the fatal breastwork of Ticonderoga ; he marched with Am- 
 herst to Montreal, and with Bradstreet to Presque Isle, and when 
 Spain became a party to the strife, he served under Abercrombie 
 in the West Indies. He waded with frost-bitten feet through 
 Canadian snows ; he was bound to a stake, and the fire kindled 
 around him in the wilderness of the Horicon ; he was wrecked in 
 midsummer under the burning sun of the tropics, and escaped 
 from a watery grave only to encounter, before one of the most 
 formidable fortresses in America, as frightful a mortality as ever 
 battened on human life, and while the hardiest frames were drop- 
 ping by his side in the agonies of thirst, or gasping their last in 
 the gripe of the pestilence, this iron provincial, under that scorch- 
 ing sky, scratched from the crevices of the rock the earth on 
 which the siege artillery was planted, and finally joined the for- 
 lorn hope who carried Moro Castle by storm. In the forest fast- 
 nesses of Michigan, he confronts Pontiac, whose war whoop could 
 arm against our settlements every copper-colored warrior of the 
 northwest. Putnam was one of the ten thousand victims sent by 
 ministerial fatuity from Crown Point to Montreal by the round- 
 about way of the New York wilderness and Lake Ontario and 
 the River St. Lawrence, — an approach, one would suppose, more 
 circumambient than any circumlocution office could devise. Toil- 
 ing through the forests and Serbonian bogs that then separated 
 Albany from Oswego from the opening of June to the close of 
 August, and crossing the lake in open galleys, he at length 
 reaches the egress of the St. Lawrence, where the adventurous 
 parts of the monotonous march commenced. Sailing down the 
 river in bateaux, Putnam leads the boarding party that, with 
 nothing but side arms, and a beetle and wedge to pin the rudder, 
 carries two French vessels of war that were disputing the pas- 
 
34^ Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 sage, and contrives an ingenious engine of bullet-proof boats with 
 upright planks twenty feet long in their prows to fall as a bridge 
 for the scaling party upon the overhanging stockade of an inac- 
 cessible island fortress. The spirit of Putnam exults in such new 
 dilemmas, in the impracticabilities and impossibilities of war, and 
 if an adventure is once pronounced foolhardy by the martinets he 
 feels challenged to execute it. View him paralyzing the blood- 
 thirsty Hurons on his track by his audacious escape adown the 
 roaring rapids of the Hudson. See him, against the protest of his 
 commander, dashing the water on the flames of Fort Edward, 
 when the fire was licking the combustible sides of the cracked 
 powder magazine ; leading a detachment to Noddle's Island in 
 the face of his enemies, up to his waist in mud and water ; pre- 
 cipitating himself down the declivity at Horseneck, ' impractica- 
 ble ' to the British troopers in pursuit. Recall these and forty 
 other similar exploits of hairbrained knight-errantry, if you would 
 learn his contempt for impossibilities and how parsimoniously 
 prudence was employed in moulding him. It was quite uniform- 
 ly the case, as upon the St. Lawrence, in emergencies that were 
 entirely novel, in difficulties unprecedented, in front of obstacles 
 which engineering had provided no rules for storming, when mili- 
 tary science halted in despair, and all the resources of experience 
 were exhausted, for the officers of his Majesty graciously to sur- 
 render operations to the untaught leader, who held a commission 
 from the hand of nature, and drew only upon original genius for 
 his plans and expedients. And even in our revolutionary war 
 his Continental superiors in similar straits were not slow in imi- 
 tating the judicious deference of the British regulars to his inge- 
 nuity. When a thing was to be done by a mad temerity alone, 
 or with grossly inadequate means, and at the grievous risk of life 
 and reputation, Putnam, as a special favor, was always permitted 
 to do it, both in the French War and in the Revolution, and it is 
 but fair to say that so far from requiring great urging to under- 
 take such an adventure, he always leaped into it as into the arms 
 of blooming joy. 
 
 " The part of this large field, thus hastily sketched in outline, 
 which Putnam most bountifully filled in with his peculiar and 
 
Appendix. 349 
 
 characteristic audacity, was that region of unsurpassed natural 
 beauty where, on the side of France, Ticonderoga and Crown 
 Point, and on that of England, Forts William Henry and Ed- 
 ward, stand as sentinels at the gateway of the Canadas and Lake 
 George, and the head waters of the Hudson lie in the embrace of 
 mountains. To say that for five campaigns in summer and win- 
 ter, these crimsoned acres were his dwelling-place and home, 
 that he rushed into battles and skirmishes which were the daily 
 exercise of this bloody ring, as if he had forty lives to spare, 
 would be but a meagre epitome of this chapter in his biography. 
 Every ravine of this broken region was his ambush, every brake 
 or outlook upon these frowning mountains his bivouac ; scarcely a 
 rod of its soil was unimpressed by the foot, or a reach of its water 
 uncut by the oar, of one who was not only the soldier but the en- 
 gineer, laborer, scout and spy of a great natural amphitheatre 
 where the two rival nations of Europe were in hand-to-hand 
 fight for the mastery of America. A warfare in which the out- 
 posts of the two armies were within hailing distance, and hostile 
 picket guards and scouting parties were constantly crossing and 
 intersecting each other, and the woods were alive with scalp- 
 hunting Indians, was precisely the kind. of warfare for Putnam's 
 cool judgment, desperate courage, and fertility of resource. A 
 Turenne, or Marlborough, or Wellington, with their marches and 
 counter marches and grand movements and learned strategy, 
 would have been useless as carpet knights in the rough and tum- 
 ble attacks and defence that were hourly improvised here. 
 Science and tactics availed nothing, but a foot that never wea- 
 ried, an arm that never failed, an eye that could decipher the 
 hieroglyphics of the trail, an ear that could distinguish the ordi- 
 nary voices of nature from the concerted signals of wily foe, a 
 cunning that could circumvent infernal ingenuity in mischief, a 
 courage that could not only brave death but roasting by a slow 
 fire. It was his romantic exploits on this conspicuous field in 
 reconnoitering the enemy's lines, gaining intelligence, cutting off 
 straggling parties, beating up the quarters and capturing advance 
 guards, scouring the woods, outlying on Indian war-paths, leading 
 forlorn hopes, succeeding in retreats and escapades that were 
 
350 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 scarcely less than miraculous, in danger the most desperate yet 
 never yielding to despair, in perils the most terrific without losing 
 self-command, in ambuscades yet facing the foe, hopeless but 
 not helpless, cast down but not destroyed, defeated but not van- 
 quished, often entrapped and but once caught, falling into clay 
 pits with fourteen bullet holes in his blankets, diving into chasms 
 and down rapids amidst a shower of balls, standing bound to a 
 tree without the power of dodging, between two sharp-shooting 
 war parties, and with his head the target at which expert Indians 
 practised with the tomahawk in the brief intervals of the fray, — 
 it was such adventures, with his prowess in single combat and re- 
 markable good fortune, that won for Putnam the almost super- 
 stitious confidence of his associates ; for there were many whose 
 skins were not red that held that he was invincible by mortal foe, 
 and that no bullet was ever run which could touch him in a mor- 
 tal part." .... 
 
 From this point Colonel Deminggoes on at considerable length, 
 in a minute examination of the proofs which go to establish the 
 fact of Putnam's command at Bunker Hill. 
 
 B. 
 
 LETTER OF COL. JOHN TRUMBULL TO COL. DANIEL 
 PUTNAM, AND COL. PUTNAM'S REPLY. 
 
 This letter of Colonel Putnam has probably never before been 
 
 published : 
 
 "New York, March 30th, 1818. 
 
 " Dear Sir : Mr. Hall has just shown me ' The Port Folio ' of 
 last month, containing an account of the battle of Bunker Hill, 
 which appears ta have been written for the mere purpose of in- 
 troducing a most unjustifiable attack upon the memory of your 
 excellent father. 
 
 "It is strange that men cannot be contented with their own 
 honest share of fame, without attempting to detract from that of 
 
Appendix. 351 
 
 others ; but after the attempts which have been made to dimin- 
 ish the immortal reputation of Washington, who shall be sur- 
 prised or who repine at this unenviable attendant on human 
 greatness ? 
 
 " In all cases like this, perhaps, the most unquestionable testi- 
 mony is that which is given by an enemy. 
 
 "In the summer of 1786, I became acquainted in London with 
 Colonel John Small of the British army, who had served in America 
 many years, and had known General Putnam intimately during 
 the war of Canada, from 1756 to 1763. From him I had the two 
 following anecdotes respecting the battle of Bunker Hill. I 
 shall nearly repeat his words. Looking at the picture which I 
 had then almost completed, he said, ' I don't like the situation 
 in which you have placed my old friend Putnam ; you have not 
 done him justice. I wish you would alter that part of your pic- 
 ture, and introduce a circumstance which actually happened, and 
 which I can never forget. When the British troops advanced 
 the second time to the attack of the redoubt, I, with the other 
 officers, was in front of the line to encourage the men. We had 
 advanced very near the works, undisturbed, when an irregular 
 fire, like a feu-de-joie, was poured in upon us. It was cruelly fa- 
 tal. The troops fell back, and when I looked to the right and 
 left, I saw not one officer standing ; I glanced my eye to the 
 enemy, and saw several young men levelling their pieces at me. 
 I knew their excellence as marksmen, and I considered myself 
 gone. At that moment my old friend Putnam rushed forward, 
 and striking up the muzzles of their pieces with his sword, cried 
 out, " For God's sake, my lads, don't fire at that man ; I love him 
 as I do my brother." We were so near each other that I heard 
 his words distinctly. He was obeyed ; I bowed, thanked him, 
 and walked away unmolested.' 
 
 " The other anecdote relates to the death of General Warren. 
 
 "'At the moment when the troops succeeded in carrying the 
 redoubt, and the Americans were in full retreat. General Howe 
 (who had been hurt by a spent ball, which bruised his ancle) was 
 leaning on my arm. He called suddenly to me, " Do you see 
 that elegant young man who has just fallen? Do you know 
 
352 Life of Israel Ptitnam. 
 
 him ? " I looked to the spot towards which he pointed, " Good 
 God, sir, I believe it is my friend Warren." "Leave me, then, in- 
 stantly ; run, keep off the troops, save him if possible." I flew 
 to the spot. " My dear friend," I said to him, " I hope you are 
 not badly hurt ; " he looked up, seemed to recollect me, smiled 
 and died ! A musket-ball had passed through the upper part of 
 his head.' Colonel Small had the character of an honorable, 
 upright man, and could have no conceivable motive for deviating 
 from truth in relating these circumstances to me ; I therefore be- 
 lieve them to be true. 
 
 " You remember, my dear sir, the viper biting the file. The 
 character of your father for courage, humanity, generosity and 
 integrity is too firmly established by the testimony of those who 
 did know him, to be tarnished by the breath of one who confesses 
 that he did jiot. 
 
 "Accept, my dear sir, this feeble tribute to your father's mem- 
 cry, from one who knew him, respected him, loved him, — and who 
 wishes health and prosperity to you and all the good man's pos- 
 terity. John Trumbull. 
 
 "Daniel Putnam, Esq." 
 
 "Brooklyn, 5th May, 1818. 
 
 " My Dear Sir : It was not until the 29th of April that I saw 
 General Dearborn's ' account of the battle of Bunker Hill,' and 
 it was the same day that ]\Ir. Hall gave me your friendly and 
 obliging letter of the 30th of March. 
 
 " I need not tell you how grateful it was to me, after reading 
 such a tissue of falsehood and malignity, to find that my father's 
 friends partook somewhat of my feelings on the occasion. 
 
 " Mr. Hall told me I was at liberty to make what use of your 
 letter should be necessary ; and I have used it to support truth 
 and detect falsehood. I hope you will not be displeased that it 
 occupies a prominent place in the defence of General Putnam's 
 slandered character, which I have written very hastily, and now 
 forward to you ; with a request that it may be published in the 
 * Port Folio,' whose pages have been stained with the malicious 
 representations of General Dearborn. 
 
 " The editor, if he possess a particle of that impartiality which 
 
Appendix. 353 
 
 ought always to characterize the conductor of a public journal, 
 cannot, I think, refuse this act of justice to the memory of the 
 insulted dead. 
 
 " With much respect, I am, dear sir, your obliged and grateful 
 friend, D, Putnam." 
 
 "Colonel Trumbull." 
 
 BRITISH ACCOUNTS OF THE BATTLE. 
 
 At what precise time the news of the battle of Bunker Hill first 
 reached England it may be difficult to determine. From certain 
 items which we have given in Chapter XI., it would seem that 
 the reports had reached that country as early as July 19th. 
 Gage's official report was not dated until June 25th, eight days 
 after the battle, and that report was published in England near 
 the last of July. But it was charged in England that " the min- 
 istry received this account several days before it was announced." 
 It will be seen by one of the following papers that Gage's ac- 
 count was published before the end of July, notwithstanding the 
 delay on this side before sending, and the delay on the other side 
 before publishing. At that season of the year, vessels were pass- 
 ing and repassing quite frequently, and the news, if started from 
 our shores immediately after the battle, would have reached Eng- 
 land by a little after the middle of July. 
 
 It would be easy to copy English articles on this subject upon 
 the government side, showing great bitterness of spirit, and treat- 
 ing the people of this country with contempt ; but in such selec- 
 tions as we here make we wish rather to illustrate what has been 
 several times stated in this volume, viz., that we had many warm 
 friends among the English people of that day who were not 
 afraid to utter their thoughts freely against the course of the 
 British government. 
 23 
 
354 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 GENERAL GAGE'S FULL ACCOUNT. 
 
 Annexed is a copy of a letter written by General Gage to the 
 Earl of Dartmouth, describing the event. It is taken from an 
 English magazine, published in July, 1775, at London, 
 
 " Boston, June 25th, 1775. 
 " My Lord : I am to acquaint your Lordship of an action that 
 happened on the 17th inst., between his Majesty's troops and a 
 large body of the rebel forces. An alarm was given at break of 
 day on the 17th inst., by a firing from the Lively ship-of-war ; 
 and advice was soon after received that the rebels had broke 
 ground and were raising a battery on the heights of the peninsula 
 of Charlestown, against the town of Boston. They were plainly 
 seen at work, and in a few hours a battery of six guns played 
 upon their v/orks. Preparations were instantly made for landing 
 a body of men to drive them off, and ten companies of the grena- 
 diers, ten of light infantrj^ with the 5th, 38th, 43d and 52d bat- 
 talions, with a proportion of field-artillery, under the command 
 of Major-General Howe and Brigadier-General Pigot, were em- 
 barked with great expedition and landed on the peninsula with- 
 out opposition, under the protection of some ships-of-war, armed 
 vessels and boats, by whose fire the rebels were kept within their 
 works. The troops formed as soon as landed (the light infantry 
 posted on the right, and the grenadiers upon the left ; the 5th 
 and 38th battalions drew up in the rear of those corps, and the 
 43d and 52d battalions made a third line). The rebels upon 
 the heights were perceived to be in great force and strongly 
 posted. A redoubt thrown up on the i6th at night, with other 
 w^orks full of men, defended with cannon, and a large body posted 
 in the houses in Charlestown, covered their right flank ; and their 
 centre and left were covered by a breastwork, part of it cannon- 
 proof, which reached from the left of the redoubt to the Mystic 
 or Medford River. This appearance of the rebels' strength, and 
 the large columns seen pouring in to their assistance, occasioned 
 an application for the troops to be reinforced with some com- 
 panies of light infantry and grenadiers, the 47th battalion and 
 the I St battalion of marines; the whole, when in conjunction, 
 
Appendix. 355 
 
 making a body of something above two thousand men. These 
 troops advanced, formed in two lines, and the attack began by a 
 sharp cannonade from our field-pieces and howitzers, the lines 
 advancing slowly, and frequently halting to give time for the 
 artillery to fire. The light infantry was directed to force the left 
 point of the breastwork, to take the rebel line in flank, and the 
 grenadiers to attack in front, supported by the 5th and 52d bat- 
 talions. These orders were executed with perseverance, under a 
 heavy fire from the vast number of the rebels, and notwithstand- 
 ing various impediments before the troops could reach the works, 
 and though the left under Brigadier-General Pigot was engaged 
 also with the rebels at Charlestown, which at a critical moment 
 was set on fire, the Brigadier pursued his point, and carried the 
 redoubt. The rebels were then forced from their strongholds 
 and pursued till they were drove clear off the peninsula, leaving 
 five pieces of cannon behind them. The loss -the rebels sus- 
 tained must have been considerable, from the great numbers they 
 carried off during the time of action, and buried in holes, since 
 discovered, exclusive of what they suffered by the shipping and 
 boats ; near one hundred were buried the day after, and thirty 
 found wounded in the field, three of whom are since dead. I 
 enclose your Lordship a return of the killed and wounded of his 
 Majesty's troops. This action has shown the superiority of the 
 King's troops who, under every disadvantage, attacked and de- 
 feated above three times their own number, strongly posted and 
 covered by breastworks. The conduct of Major-General Howe 
 was conspicuous on this occasion, and his example spirited the 
 troops, in which Major-General Clinton assisted, who followed 
 the reinforcement. And the success of the day must in great 
 measure be attributed to his firmness and gallantry. Lieutenant- 
 Colonels Nesbit, Abercrombie and Clarke ; Majors Butler, Wil- 
 liams, Bruce, Spendlove, Smelt, Mitchell, Pitcairne and Short 
 exerted themselves remarkably ; and the valor of the British offi- 
 cers and soldiers was at no time more conspicuous than in this 
 action. 
 
 " I have the honor to be, etc., Tho. Gage." 
 
356 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM THE "BRITISH ANNUAL REGISTER" FOR 1775. 
 
 " The attack was begun by a most severe fire of cannon and 
 howitzers, under which the troops advanced very slowly toward 
 the enemy, and halted several times to afford an opportunity to 
 the artillery to ruin the works, and to throw the provincials into 
 confusion. Whatever it proceeded from, whether from the num- 
 ber, situation, or countenance of the enemy, or from all together, 
 the King's forces seem to have been utiusually staggered in this 
 
 attack The provincials stood this severe and continued 
 
 fire of small arms and artillery with a resolution and perseve- 
 rance which would not have done discredit to old troops. They 
 did not return a shot until the King's forces had approached al- 
 most to the works, when a most dreadful fire took place, by which 
 a number of our bravest men and officers fell. Some gentlemen 
 who had served in the most distinguished actions of the late war 
 declared that, for the time it lasted, it was the hottest engage- 
 ment they ever knew. It is, then, no wonder if, under so heavy 
 and destructive a fire, our troops were thrown into some disorder. 
 It is said that General Howe was, for a few seconds, left nearly 
 alone ; and it is certain that most of the officers near his person 
 (who were picked out by the sharpshooters) were either killed or 
 wounded 
 
 "Thus ended the hot and bloody affair of Bunker Hill, in 
 which we had more men and officers killed and wounded, in 
 proportion to the number engaged, than in any other action 
 which we can recollect. The whole loss in killed and wounded 
 amounted to one thousand and fifty-four, of whopi two hundred 
 and twenty-six were killed ; of these nineteen were commissioned 
 officers, two Majors and seven Captains. Seventy other officers 
 
 were wounded The event sufficiently showed the bravery 
 
 of the King's troops The battle of Quebec, in the late 
 
 war, with all its glory, and the vastness of the consequences of 
 which it was productive, was not so destructive to our officers as 
 
 this affair of an intrenchment cast up in a few hours The 
 
 Americans said that though they had lost a host, they had almost 
 all the effects of a most complete victory, as they entirely put a 
 
Appendix. 357 
 
 stop to the offensive operations of a large army sent to subdue 
 them, and which they continued to blockade in a narrow town. 
 They now exulted that their actions had thoroughly refuted those 
 aspersions which had been thrown upon them in England, of a 
 deficiency in spirit and resolution." 
 
 OBSERVATIONS ON THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNT OF THE LATE 
 ACTION NEAR CHARLESTOWN. 
 
 "London, Aug. ist, 1775. 
 
 " There are two sorts of persons who always persevere uni- 
 formly, and without shame, in one unvaried line of conduct, re- 
 gardless of the contempt and detestation of mankind. The 
 sorts I mean are the thorough virtuous and the thorough scoun- 
 drel. To one of these classes most evidently belong the minis- 
 ters, who settled the account they have given us in last Tuesday's 
 'Gazette.' 
 
 "The action near Boston happened on the 17th of June, yet 
 General Gage's letter is dated eight days after, on the 25th of 
 June. By this letter it appears that it cost one thousand and 
 sixty-four of the troops, killed and wounded, to destroy a re- 
 doubt thrown up only the overnight, i. e., on the i6th of June. 
 The loss of the provincials, the letter says, must have been con- 
 siderable, yet eight days after the action, the General, though 
 completely victorious, can tell us only of one hundred buried 
 and thirty wounded. But ' they had carried off great numbers 
 during the time of action.' Did they so ? That is no great sign 
 of flight, confusion and retreat. But ' they buried them in holes.' 
 Really ! Why, are our soldiers buried in the air ? But ' the 
 King's troops were under every disadvantage.' So truly it seems, 
 for we are told in the same letter that they had a proportion of 
 field-artillery, and landed on the peninsula without opposition, 
 and formed as soon as landed, under the protection of some ships- 
 of-war, armed vessels and boats, by whose fire the rebels were 
 kept within the works. 
 
 "But 'this action has shown the superiority of the King's 
 troops.' Has it, indeed ? How ? Why, they, with a proportion 
 of field-artillery and with the assistance of ships, armed vessels 
 
358 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 and boats, and with the encouragement of certain and speedy 
 reinforcements if necessary, attacked and defeated above three 
 times their own number. What ! three times their own numbers ? 
 Of whom, pray ? Of French or Spanish regulars ? No ! of the 
 Aiuericans. Of the Americans ? What ! of those dastardly, hypo- 
 critical cowards, who (Lord Sandwich knows) do not feel bold 
 enough to look a soldier in the face ? Of those undisciplined 
 and spiritless Yankees, who were to be driven from one end of the 
 continent to the other with a single regiment ? What ! of those 
 skulking assassins, who can only fire at a distance from behind 
 stone-walls and hedges ? Good God f Was it necessary, to de- 
 feat these fellows, that the troops should be spirited by the exam- 
 ple of General Howe, assisted by General Clinton ? And can it 
 be that Lieutenant-Colonels Nesbit, Abercrombie and Clarke ; Ma- 
 jors Butler, Williams, Bruce, Spendlove, Sm£lt, Afitchell, Pitcairne 
 and Short should be forced to exert themselves against such pol- 
 troons ? Is it possible that this could be an affair in which ' the 
 valor of the British officers and soldiers in general was as con- 
 spicuous as at any time whatever ' ? and notwithstanding all this, 
 that the success in a great measure should be attributed to the 
 firmness and gallantry of General Pigot ? 
 
 "Good God I is it come to this at last? Can the regulars, 
 with all these exertions, only defeat three times their own number 
 of undisciplined cowards, and that too at the expense of one 
 thousand and sixty-four (/. e., more than one-half) killed and 
 wounded out of ' something above two thousand ' ? Is every re- 
 doubt which the Americans can throw up in a short summer 
 night to be demolished at this expense ? How many such victo- 
 ries can we bear ? Alas ! when I read in the General's letter 
 the regular and formidable preparations for attack, ' ten compa- 
 nies of grenadiers, ten of light infantry, with the 5th, 38th, 
 43d, and 5 2d battalions, with a proportion of field-artillery, un- 
 der the command of Major-General Howe and Brigadier-General 
 Bigot, -^ and these 'landed on the peninsula under the protec- 
 tion of ships-of-war, armed vessels and boats,' and their dread- 
 ful fire ; when I read this, I concluded that the next lines would 
 tell me of the immediate and precipitate retreat of the Ya?ikees. 
 
Appendix. 359 
 
 Judge then of my surprise when I read that (instead of being 
 at all dismayed with the Sandwich panic) ' large columns ' of 
 these cowards ' were seen pouring in to their assistance.' 
 
 " Well, but then comes ' an application for the troops to be 
 reinforced with some companies of light infantry and grenadiers, 
 the 47th battalion and the ist battalion of marines.' They will 
 certainly, thought I, scamper away now. Alas, no ! They stay 
 and fight. And to complete my astonishment, I cannot find in 
 General Gage's letter where our troops were when he wrote, nor 
 what became of them after the action ; whether they have re- 
 turned to Boston, or have ventured to encamp without the town ; 
 what prisoners they have taken ; what advantages (besides five 
 pieces of cannon) result from this bloody action; whether the 
 war is now at an end, or what the troops propose to do next, 
 
 " To be serious, I am, for my Qwn part, convinced that the 
 event of this execrable dragooning is decided, and that before 
 winter there will not be a single soldier of Lord Bute's and Lord 
 Mansfield's mercenary troops left upon the continent of America. 
 
 *' With what consolation those noble lords will wipe away the 
 tears of the widow and orphans (as well English as American,) 
 which these bloody Stuart measures have occasioned, I cannot 
 tell ; but I know that my eyes will gush out with joy when they 
 see the authors of our domestic miseries receive (what I believe 
 they will soon receive) their just reward." 
 
 FURTHER OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 " I have the highest idea of General Howe's military character, 
 yet cannot help wondering how he came to suffer the provincials 
 to escape, and even carry off their dead, when drove from their 
 strong lines ; for I conceive it very easy to have destroyed the 
 whole body, after dislodging them so suddenly from their in- 
 trenchments, if Mr. Gage is suffered to tell the story right ; I 
 can't help observing also, that I never before heard of so many 
 men, in proportion to the number, being killed and wounded 
 from redoubts made in four hours, and from six pieces of cannon 
 only in the redoubts, to oppose one hundred pieces. I therefore 
 suspect that the disagreeable scene is not unfolded. 
 
360 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 "One or both of the following conclusions must be drawn from 
 this narration : The Americans are either the cleverest fellows in 
 the world at making strong lines in three or four hours, or the 
 most desperate enemy in defending them ; for by Mr. Gage's ac- 
 count, they killed and wounded near half his army, in marching 
 up about three hundred yards under a complete train of artillery, 
 and all the fire of the navy to cover them ; which, by this account, 
 is a new instance of successful defence from one night's labor. 
 Hah! Gad! By this rule the Americans will put our whole 
 army into the grave or hospitals in three or four nights' work 
 and an hour's fire in each morning. I do not remember pre- 
 cisely, but am apt to believe that there were not so many officers 
 killed and wounded at the battle of Alinden, though the English 
 regiments sustained the force of the whole French army for a con- 
 siderable time. A six-gun battery, the production of a night's 
 digging, had there been ten thousand men to protect it, could 
 never have made such havoc against a vast train of artillery, 
 and the irresistible fire of our ships, which would sweep on before 
 them from every acre of the peninsula. But the true story is not 
 told. A Methodist secretary and a Scotch printer can do more 
 than our people. They pay off the sins of omission and commis- 
 sion of the day by a long prayer at night, and thus settle the ac- 
 count between God and the people by an hour's devotion." 
 
 "London, Aug. 8th, 1775. 
 " The account of the late action between the Atnericans and 
 the troops of General Gage is one of the most evasive and 
 unsatisfactory that ever yet obtruded on the public, even through 
 the channel of a ministerial paper, and yet it is every way worthy 
 of the victory which it affects to describe. The General sent 
 out ' something above two thousand men,' of whom something 
 above half (/. <?., one thousand and fifty-three) are either killed or 
 wounded. The General, however, takes care not to mention 
 how many hours were employed in this hopeful business, but 
 nevertheless pretends to tell us that great numbers of the enemy 
 were destroyed, and seems to have employed his soldiers in dig- 
 ging up such as were buried in holes, that he might have power 
 to tell the value of his conquest. 
 
Appendix, 361 
 
 " With all the vanity of a military man, he praises the conduct 
 of the officers under his command ; but prudently omits to say 
 whether any such advantage has been gained, as may make up for 
 the loss of one Lieutenant-Colonel, two Majors, seven Captains, 
 nine Lieutenants, fifteen Sergeants, one drummer, one hundred 
 and ninety-one rank and file, killed ; and three Majors, twenty- 
 seven Captains, thirty-two Lieutenants, eight Ensigns, forty Ser- 
 geants, twelve drummers, and seven hundred and six rank and 
 file, wounded, and unfit for service. In short, if every time the 
 General sends out his brace of thousands, the one-half of them 
 should either drop or be rendered useless, we shall soon see an 
 end to the war in America, but it cannot be expected to termi- 
 sate in our favor. 
 
 "The ministry received this account several days before it was 
 announced, but were either unwilling or unable to cook it up for 
 the public till after their despatches had been sent away. The 
 printer may rely on this assurance from one whose private let- 
 ters will always reach him unexamined and uncastrated by the 
 spies of government. General Gage is but too well convinced 
 that such another victory would oblige him to re-embark his 
 troops and sail immediately for England, without attempting any 
 further reduction of the Americans. 
 
 " The Captain who brought these despatches from Boston, was 
 commanded to declare he had great news of the defeat of the 
 Americans, though he had assured many people in the towns 
 through which he passed on his way to London that he was 
 afraid the accounts he brought would throw the whole nation 
 into disorder, and direct its vengeance on the advisers of hostile 
 measures in America^ 
 
362 Life of Israel Ptitiiam. 
 
 D. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM COMMUNICATIONS FURNISHED BY 
 PROF. BENJAMIN SILLIMAN OF NEW HAVEN. 
 
 "I see no reason whatever for the statement that Colonel 
 John Trumbull, in his memorable picture of the ''Death of Gen- 
 eral Warren at Bunker Hill,' misrepresents the action of General 
 Putnam. This officer is represented by Trumbull as at the close 
 of the action and in the background valorously leading the re- 
 treat which had then become inevitable. The true motive of this 
 picture seems to have been lost sight of in the pending contro- 
 versy as to who commanded the forces in that action. The 
 artist's design was to commemorate the noble patriotism of our 
 ancestors, and to convey to posterity a feeling testimony of the 
 price they paid for our liberties. This price was paid in the life- 
 blood of our noblest and best, and General Warren's death, 
 which is the ' eye ' of the picture, is made to stand forth in token 
 of these sacrifices. It was not with the artist a question of co?n- 
 mand, but of sacrifice and valor. That Trumbull could not have 
 been ignorant of any imjDortant matter touching the events of 
 June 17th, 1775, is evident from his personal 'Reminiscences,' 
 Chapter II. He was Adjutant of Spencer's Connecticut Regi- 
 ment, then stationed at Roxbury, and witnessed the battle from 
 his position. He soon after made for General Washington a 
 sketch map of ' Boston and the surrounding Country and Posts 
 of the American Troops,' which is reproduced in his ' Reminis- 
 cences,' etc., about the time that he became a member of the 
 military family of the commander-in-chief as his second Aid-de- 
 Camp. 
 
 " I have before me a narrative statement by Colonel Trumbull 
 (in his own handwriting), the substance of which has been printed 
 but not published in his ' Description of the four Pictures from 
 Subjects of the Revolution,' etc. I copy a paragraph or two 
 which pertains to the question in hand 
 
Appendix. 363 
 
 " * Little was or could be done during the sixty days which 
 elapsed between the 19th of April and the 17 th of June to reduce 
 this assemblage to order or discipline. Yet such was the zeal of 
 the moment, that the determination was taken to advance from 
 Cambridge and to establish a post on Breed's Hill, the nearest 
 point of approach to Boston, distant little more than half a mile 
 from the north part of the town; and on the evening of the t6th 
 of June a detachment of twelve or fifteen hundred men, com- 
 manded by General Putnam and Colonel Prescott, marched for 
 this purpose, arrived at the spot selected at 10 o'clock (at night), 
 and commenced throwing up a small redoubt, traces of which 
 were visible a few years since 
 
 " ' The British had no knowledge of this movement, until day- 
 light exposed to their view the progress which had been made. 
 From the moment of this discovery they opened a heavy fire from 
 ships and batteries, which was continued incessantly through the 
 day, until the attack was made in form by the troops under com- 
 mand of General Howe in the afternoon of June 17th, Thus, 
 from 10 o'clock in the evening until 4 o'clock in the morning, 
 six hours, was all the time which this gallant detachment had to 
 prosecute their work without interruption. They were not relieved 
 in the morning, but remained all day under the fire of the enemy, 
 laboring to complete their work, which they valiantly defended, 
 under the immediate orders of the gallant veteran Prescott, with 
 the most unflinching bravery ; and quitted their post only when 
 their ammunition was entirely expended. 
 
 " ' In the course of the day other troops were ordered down 
 from Cambridge to support this first detachment, some of whom 
 were deterred from attempting to cross Charlestown Neck by the 
 fire of the hostile floating batteries, while others fearlessly dashed 
 on and took up positions on the left of the redoubt ; thus formmg 
 a line which extended from the redoubt on the right to Mystic 
 River on the left, securing their front, at least in appearance, 
 by throwing together fences, new mown hay, and whatever else 
 was moveable, and could afford some show of shelter. 
 
 " ' Joseph Warren, an eminent physician of Boston, had tor 
 some time been distinguished as an ardent and eloquent sup- 
 
364 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 porter of the rights of his country ; at this time he was a very 
 influential member of the Provincial Congress, assembled at 
 Watertown, near Cambridge, and a few days preceding the bat- 
 tle (June 14th) had been elected a Major-General, but as yet had 
 assumed no command. He was dressed, and going out to dine, 
 when the increasing din of the action impelled him to gallop to 
 the scene, where he arrived almost at the moment of defeat, and 
 was killed by a ball through the head. 
 
 " ' This is the moment chosen for the painting, which of course 
 is limited to that part of the scene which was near the redoubt, 
 and where the death of General Warren, and the obstinate re- 
 sistance of men almost unarmed to well armed and disciplined 
 troops, is meant to be shown. 
 
 " ' In a scene of such extent and confusion as the entire battle, 
 half-hidden of course by smoke, it was impossible to represent 
 the equal gallantry of these brave troops who formed the line of 
 defence between the redoubt and Mystic River, where Major 
 Knowlton and many others distinguished themselves by the cool- 
 est bravery and the soundest judgment The artist was on 
 
 that day Adjutant of the ist regiment of Connecticut troops, sta- 
 tioned at Roxbury, and saw the action from that point.' 
 
 " These extracts plainly show that Trumbull's object in compos- 
 ing this picture was as has been already stated. He took the 
 liberty of a painter to choose the critical moment of an action 
 by bringing Major-General Warren to the front to meet his death, 
 while both Prescott and Putnam are thrown into subordinate po- 
 sitions in the melee. If this artistic license is what is meant by 
 a misrepresentation of the part borne by Putnam on this occa- 
 sion, I can only say I think an expression less open to criticism 
 might have been used. 
 
 " If anybody has stated, or can state, the date or authority 
 for the conversation attributed to Trumbull, as taking place at 
 the dinner table of Judge Prescott, or who the guests were at 
 that dinner, I shall be glad to know it. 
 
 " But until we have the positive testimony of a competent au- 
 thority who was present at the dinner, when Trumbull is reported 
 to have said at Judge Prescott's table that he regretted he had 
 
Appendix. 365 
 
 made the position of Putnam as it is in his picture (or words to 
 that effect), I shall hold the whole story as an unfounded and 
 mischievous rumor, born of the party spirit which animated Gen- 
 eral Dearborn's attack on Putnam in 18 18, 
 
 " I can say, with the knowledge of an original witness, that I 
 know from Trumbull's repeated discourses to me on this picture, 
 that the one prominent event he intended to signalize was the 
 glorious ^eath and sacrifice of Warren, the noble friendship of 
 Major Small of the English force, who parried the bayonet thrust 
 , of an English grenadier, crying out at the same time, ' Spare the 
 fallen brave, he is my friend.' This Small told to Trumbull 
 himself, as the latter delighted to relate. As I said before, this 
 action is the ' eye of the picture ' (Trumbull's own phrase in de- 
 scribing it). Next he intended to record the valor and heroism, 
 the unquenched enthusiasm of the Americans, by several subordi- 
 nate and yet prominent actions. This is especially seen in the 
 heroic stand of Colonel Grosvenor in the foreground, who, though 
 wounded in the shoulder and in the sword hand, turns again on 
 the enemy as he retreats, supported by his black servant, as if 
 he would have ' one more shot : ' an action full of fire and daunt- 
 less bravery, which Rogers has again reproduced in one of his 
 charming models of the late war, under the same title, * One more 
 Shot.' Sculpture and painting were never more in harmony than 
 in the expression of this sentiment in those two distinct actions. 
 Then the same sentiment of determination and valor is seen in 
 the clubbed muskets, the empty guns held at half pose, and more 
 than all in the fiery determination of Putnam, who, on foot, rallied 
 the forces for a retreat in the last moments of the action. But 
 all these skilfully blended actions are held in complete subordi- 
 nation to the main action of the whole scene, — ' The Death of 
 Warren.' One can hardly restrain a feeling of surprise, border- 
 ing on a less respectful sentiment, when the whole soul and pathos 
 of such a picture as that of Trumbull's * Death of Warren ' is lost 
 sight of, and is viewed through the false colors and distorted 
 medium of a provincial prejudice 
 
 " If any man lived at the time who, from his position, his mili- 
 tary knowledge, and his perfect impartiality of character, was 
 
366 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 able to judge Putnam aright, it was George Washington He 
 was on the ground within three weeks after the action. He at 
 once initiated the Courts-Martial which investigated and dealt 
 with the cases of alleged unworthy conduct growing out of that 
 battle. He brought from the Continental Congress the commis- 
 sions for four men destined for promotion to the rank of Major- 
 Generals, and of these commissions the only one he awarded 
 was to Putnam ! toward whom. he ever after extended his unqual- 
 ified confidence, and again and again entrusted with the most im- 
 portant commands. Could these things have been, if there had 
 existed any, even the least probable, grounds for impugning either 
 the valor or the patriotism of Putnam ? To suppose the reverse 
 is to assail the judgment and fair-mindedness of the commander- 
 in-chief, by whose act General Putnam was made his second in 
 command in the Continental armies. Trumbull, in the manu- 
 script from which I quoted in my former letter, speaks of the 
 'valor of the veteran Prescott.' But Prescott continued in ser- 
 vice only two years after, and was never, if I am correctly in- 
 formed, advanced beyond the rank of Colonel. While this fact 
 may not be in the least to his discredit, certainly no one will be rash 
 enough to say that the rapid promotion of Putnam, and the undi- 
 minished, nay, constantly increasing confidence with which he 
 was regarded by Washington, is any ground, at this late day, for 
 an attempt to degrade him from his lofty position, as the bravest 
 man of his time, in favor of any other man, however deserving 
 he may be. As President John Adams eloquently remarked as 
 to the slander on the character of James Otis, * It is mortifying, 
 it is astonishing, it is humiliating, to reflect how long a slander 
 will be continued and repeated, and how difficult it is to refute 
 it ' (Mr. Lowell's ' Review '). Truly, ' Slander runs a mile while 
 truth pulls on its boots.' It is a curious characteristic of a cer- 
 tain class in this world, that nothing gives them more pleasure 
 than to assist in the iconoclastic raid which topples over the peo- 
 ple's idols. Every hero since the time of Agamemnon has passed 
 this ordeal, and I have no fear that ' Old Put ' will be brought to 
 grief by the raids of this day any more than have some of his 
 worthy associates, not excepting Washington himself. 
 
Appendix. 367 
 
 " Note. It may be worth while to note the fact that General 
 Warren, in Trumbull's picture, is represented in full dress and with 
 a ruffled shirt, conforming in this respect to Trumbull's statement 
 that Warren was dressed for and on his way to a dinner, when 
 the 'increasing din' led him into the fight, and the fact of his 
 late arrival on the field, ' almost in the moment of defeat,' is tes- 
 tified to by many others. Putnam is spoken of by several wit- 
 nesses who were in the battle, as mounted, and as urging his 
 horse impetuously over the field. Trumbull represents him 
 (misrepresents, shall we say ?) as on foot. It is not necessary to 
 reconcile these unimportant discrepancies, but it is quite proba- 
 ble that by the middle of the afternoon he had worn out his 
 horse, and possibly the unities of action required of Trumbull to 
 unhorse Putnam, not to give him too much prominence, and so 
 detract from the prominence given to Warren's central figure." 
 
 E. 
 
 ARTICLES BY HONORABLE JOHN LOWELL, PUBLISHED IN 
 "COLUMBIAN CENTINEL," BOSTON, JULY 4TH-15TH, 1818. 
 
 The author, as stated in the body of the book, had copied the 
 whole of the seven articles by Mr. Lowell, with the design of 
 placing them in this Appendix. They would, however, occupy 
 so much space that only two are given, the first and third, with 
 two brief extracts from others. These will show what a Boston 
 man, of the first quality for character, intelligence and ability, 
 thought of General Putnam in the year 18 18. They will show, 
 also, what questions were then discussed, and that the modern 
 question as between Putnam and Prescott was not then up for 
 discussion. 
 
 ARTICLE I. — OF THE AUTHORITY EXERCISED BY GENERAL PUTNAM 
 IN THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 
 
 " As to the first point, it is a little, and indeed very, curious, and 
 shows the utter want of judgment in General Dearborn and his 
 
368 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 friends, that they have endeavored to make it out that Putnam 
 had no legitimate cominand on that great and memorable day. If 
 this fact, which they have endeavored to prove in the loose and 
 unsatisfactory way in which they have conducted the whole of 
 this defence against the charge of calumny be true, then General 
 Putnam ought not to have been on the ground to take away the 
 command from Colonel Prescott. It will be observed that we 
 do not admit the fact to be so ; but it goes to the credit of the 
 defence ; and shows of what weak and discordant materials it is 
 composed. Let us now hear the witness to this point. 
 
 " First, Major Stark, in his letter to Wilkinson, states that he 
 never could learn that there was any officer appointed to the 
 general command. He further remarks that there ought to have 
 been a simultaneous occupation of Bunker Hill as well as of 
 Breed's Hill, in order to protect the retreat of our troops. If 
 Major Stark is a judicious military man, and this opinion is sound, 
 why undertake to censure Putnam for retaining his forces on 
 Bunker Hill ? We deny the fact that he did, but to those who 
 censure him for it, it is surely a sufficient answer to say that his 
 very accusers assert that it was a very suitable measure, and 
 might have prevented what Major Stark says would have been 
 the ruin of the detachment, the occupation of Bunker Hill, in 
 the rear of our troops. Judge Parker, a New Hampshire Judge 
 of Probate, a very flippant witness, says there was never any 
 proof to his mind, that Putnam was ordered to take the command, 
 and that he was only a volunteer, and, of course, in his ideas of 
 military law, not subject to a trial. In this way he accounts for 
 no notice having been taken of the subject during the last cen- 
 tury, and until the present is very considerably advanced. The 
 very respectable gentlemen of the clergy of Groton and Pep- 
 perell also confirm, from the testimony of their parishioners who 
 were in the action, that General Putnam was not present, either 
 the night before or during the action. 
 
 " Now, though this is directly opposed to the fact, sufficiently and 
 perfectly proved (not, however affecting their veracity, as their 
 testimony is derived from channels which may be incorrect), yet, 
 if true, and General Dearborn adduces it as such, it proves that 
 
Appendix. 369 
 
 Putnam could not, without a dereliction of duty and violating 
 the rights of others, have advanced from his position on Bunker 
 Hill. 
 
 *' We have shown the gross inconsistency of the General's evi- 
 dence with his charge against the venerable Putnam. In his ' Ac- 
 count of the Battle,' he considers Putnam as having shamefully 
 deserted his duty, and as deserving to be shot, or, rather, he repre- 
 sents Colonel Prescott as having said so ; and, in his defe7ice, he 
 proves by two witnesses, that Putnam had no command on that 
 day, and of course could be liable to no censure for not under- 
 taking to command Prescott and Stark, of the Massachusetts and 
 the New Hampshire lines. It is certainly true, as suggested by 
 President Adams and Judge-Advocate Tudor, that there could 
 not, in the nature of the case, have been any authorized com- 
 mander. The troops were volunteers from three different States, 
 under probably royal commissions, perhaps no commissions at 
 all. The latter was certainly the case with Stark, who was 
 chosen by his troops after their arrival at Medford. But, 
 ■ although Putnam could have no legal right to command, Ave shall 
 show, in the sequel, that he was, in fact, the commander of that 
 detachment, and by his orders were the works executed ; that 
 they were obeyed as if he were the rightful commander ; and 
 that Dearborn's own regiment (that of Colonel Stark) acted and 
 fought under his immediate command, and in his presence, that 
 day. In short, before the evidence is half through, it will be 
 seen that there is at present more proof of General Putnam's ac- 
 tive, bold, courageous exertions in the hottest of that battle, in 
 the very front of danger, than there is that Dearborn, or even 
 Colonel Stark, were in it. 
 
 " It would not be in the power of Washington's friends to prove 
 that he was at the battle of Monmouth, by stronger or more com- 
 plete evidence than General Putnam's friends can produce, to 
 establish his audacious gallantry and coolness on Breed's Hill. 
 But this evidence I shall reserve till I take up the third point of 
 Putnam's pe7-sonal conduct.^^ 
 24 
 
370 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 ARTICLE III. — ON GENERAL PUTNAM'S PERSONAL CONDUCT AT 
 THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 
 
 " Already we have arrayed the formidable mass of testimony 
 in the depositions and statements of Judge Grosvenor, Abner 
 Allen, Josiah Hill, and our venerable friend, — whose account is 
 not anonymous because he is well known, and its authenticit)' 
 may be settled by reference as above proposed. We shall pass 
 by, for the present, the unanswerable evidence of Colonel Trum- 
 bull as to Colonel Small's declarations, because, although we 
 feel, as President Adams does, a sort of instinctive feeling of the 
 truth of that anecdote ; although it bears on the face of it, evi- 
 dence which thrills in the heart of every honorable man ; yet there 
 is a weakness too much cultivated in our country, which leads 
 them to value less the testimony of an enemy, although no as- 
 signable motive could be invented for such a tale on the part of 
 Colonel Small, 
 
 " But let it pass, in order to introduce some of General Dear- 
 born's own comrades, in his own regiment, fighting by his side, 
 whose eyes were not so blinded but that they could see Putnam 
 in the hottest of the fight, even ordering Dearborn's troops. Per- 
 haps Putnam came there at the unlucky moment when Captain 
 Dearborn, quitting his soldiers, had retreated for the strange pur- 
 pose of gathering up the scattered fragments of powder to recruit 
 their animunition, — a prudent and overflowing caution, which 
 savors at least as much of discretion as of zeal. We take only 
 his own account of it, that in the "face of the enemy, and while 
 actually pushed by them, he sauntered into the rear, inquired 
 into the fate of Warren, and attempted to collect powder, leaving 
 his troops without the example of his own determined and des- 
 perate courage. 
 
 " Reuben Kemp, now of Brooklyn, in Connecticut, but former- 
 ly of Goffstown, State of New Hampshire, deposeth on oath, — 
 
 "'That, in 1775, he was a soldier in Captain Samuel Richard's 
 company and Colonel Stark's [Dearborn's] regiment ; that, being 
 quartered at Mystic, on the 17th of June, an alarm was given, 
 
Appendix. 371 
 
 and the regiment ordered to parade at the Colonel's quarters, 
 when ammunition was distributed, namely, ten bullets and a 
 gill-cup of powder. We sorted our bullets as well as we could; 
 and marched to Charlestown Neck. After we arrived at the 
 high ground, over the neck, we were ordered to parade our packs 
 and guns, and put sentries over them. Here we were furnished 
 with intrenching tools and began to throw up a breastwork; 
 but we had not been more than ten or fifteen minutes at work 
 before the drums beat, and we were marched immediately. An 
 officer whom I had never seen \he was in the condition of Dearborn 
 and all Stark's troops, who never had seen Putnam\ and whom 
 they called General Putnam, seemed to have the ordering of 
 things. He charged the men not to fire till the enemy came 
 close to the works ; and then to take good aim, and make every 
 shot kill a man. But there were a few pieces discharged before 
 the order was given to fire. General Putnam appeared very 
 angry, and passed along the lines quickly, with his sword drawn, 
 and threatened to stab any man that fired without order. The 
 enemy kept firing as they advanced, and when they had got 
 pretty near the works we were ordered to take good aim and fire. 
 At this time General Putnam was constantly passing backward and 
 forward, from right to left, telling us the day was our own if we 
 would stick to it ; and it was not many minutes before the enemy 
 began to retreat. 
 
 " ' Upon being questioned whether he had afterwards known 
 Putnam, and recognized him to be the same ofiicer who so gal- 
 lantly distinguished himself, he said, " I saw him often after, for 
 he commanded on Prospect Hill ; and I knew him to be the 
 same that was in the fight." Reuben Kemp.' 
 
 " ' Sworn to before me, John Parish, Justice of the Peace.' 
 
 "Pray, where was Captain Dearborn, that he could neither 
 see this gallant officer nor hear his orders to Dearborn's own 
 regiment ? 
 
 " To the host of unanswerable witnesses, already adduced, we 
 add the following : 
 
 " ' Isaac Bassett of Killingly, in the county of Windham, 
 
372 Life of Isi'ael Piitnain. 
 
 and State of Connecticut, deposeth, that he was a private sol- 
 dier in General Putnam's regiment, in 1775. The day previous 
 to the battle of Bunker Hill a detachment had been made from 
 that regiment, and, under the command of Captain Knowlton, 
 composed part of the force that first occupied Breed's Hill. On 
 the morning of the 17th of June, another detachment from the 
 same regiment, under the command of Ensign Sprague, marched 
 from Cambridge, either to relieve or reinforce the party which 
 went on the hill over night. To this last detachment the depo- 
 nent belonged, and arrived on the hill at the redoubt and breast- 
 work, just as the action commenced. Here he saw General Put- 
 nam with his sword drawn, encouraging and animating the troops. 
 One of the company, Benjamin Grosvenor by name, was wounded 
 in the shoulder ; and the deponent's father, who was also a soldier 
 in the same regiment, was leading him from the field of action. 
 General Putnam stopped him, and, pricking him with his sword, 
 told him the wounded man could walk off himself, and not a sol- 
 dier should leave the ground. This happened at the breastwork 
 leading from the redoubt, where our party took post. I saw Gen- 
 eral Putnam in the hottest of the fight, calling on the men to 
 stand their ground ; and I am sure he was at this post when the 
 enemy scaled the walls of the redoubt. I did not myself hear 
 the order given, but it was often said by the soldiers of our regi- 
 ment, that General Putnam ordered them " not to fire on the en- 
 emy till they should see the color of their eyes, and then for 
 every man to make sure of his mark." Isaac Bassett.' 
 
 " ' Sworn to before me, James Danielson, Justice of the Peace.' 
 
 " These orders were precisely in the character of the file-de- 
 vouring Putnam, of whose desperate valor and almost more than 
 human courage so many anecdotes have been for half a century 
 told. Here also is another positive eye-witness, who knew Put- 
 nam and could not be mistaken. 
 
 " We have also a deposition of another of Dearborn's com- 
 rades in Stark's regiment, who volunteered his testimony. Eben- 
 ezer Bean of Conway, New Hampshire, says, — 
 
 *' ' The following are the most prominent facts which came un- 
 
Appendix. 373 
 
 der my observation, at the battle of Bunker Hill, relative to the 
 
 conduct of General Putnam in that action. I was a private in 
 
 Captain Kinsman's company, in Colonel Stark's regiment. A 
 
 detachment under Captain Kinsman was ordered on to the hill, 
 
 in the fore part of the day. We arrived at the redoubt about 
 
 12 o'clock, and continued there through the action. The rest 
 
 of Colonel Stark's regiment arrived on the hill just before the 
 
 action commenced. When we arrived at the redoubt, General 
 
 Putnam was there, and very active ; he was urging the men on, 
 
 giving orders, riding from one end of the line to the other, as 
 
 far as I could observe, and continued active through the action, 
 
 and in my opinion fought with great bravery. 
 
 " * Ebenezer Bean. 
 " ' Conway, N. H., May 29th, 1818.' 
 
 " Here is another contradiction of General Dearborn, by his 
 own soldiers. This disproves two assertions : ' that Putnam re- 
 mained inactive during the battle,' and. that 'no officer was 
 mounted on that day.' 
 
 " Amos Barnes, of the same town, swears that he was in Cap- 
 tain Abbott's company, in Stark's regiment * When we arrived 
 at Charlestown Neck, we passed Gerrish's regiment. Colonel 
 Stark marched in front, over the neck, and I was the third man 
 from him. Captain Abbott marched next to Colonel Stark, and 
 no other officer. \This, though unimportant, contradicts General 
 Dearborn, who says he inarched in front with Stark. One of the 
 witnesses must be mistaken. We may, hereafter, learn which, but 
 it serves to show the confusion of the accounts of such battles I] When 
 we got on to the top of the hill, I saw one or two field-pieces which 
 had ceased firing. Putnam was on his horse near them, and 
 when we passed him he urged Colonel Stark to urge on his men 
 as fast as possible. [Dearborn says they were moving at a very 
 moderate pace, which did not suit the impatient temper of Put- 
 nam. These pieces were on Breed's Hill, as will appear by 
 future evidence, particularly that of the Hon. James Winthrop.] 
 We marched down the hill, by the redoubt, and after firing fif- 
 teen or twenty minutes, as nearly as I can recollect, at this dis- 
 
374 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 tance of time, Major M'Cleary ordered us to retreat, I con- 
 tinued in service till 1777 ; and in 1778 entered again and con- 
 tinued till 1780, and never in my life heard a word said against 
 the military character of General Putnam, till I saw General 
 Dearborn's statement. Amos Barnes. 
 
 " ' Conway, N. H.' 
 
 " Thus it seems that Colonel Stark's or Dearborn's own sol- 
 diers do not make so much of their exertions as their officers ; 
 and that this jealousy of Putnam's fame did not pervade the 
 ranks so freely as in other places, in the New Hampshire line. 
 But private soldiers are not so apt to feel humiliations and dis- 
 appointments. They expect only to bleed and suffer for their 
 country. 
 
 " We have another piece of direct testimony from an eye-wit- 
 ness, Benjamin Putnam, Esq., of Dixmont, Maine, and post- 
 master in that place, going to show the great energy of Putnam 
 on the day of Bunker Hill ; but as he only saw him ' pushing on 
 the men with great activity ' (to use his own words), ' and then 
 galloping on towards Breed's Hill, the scene of action, from Bun- 
 ker Hill,' we shall not insert it at large, though it is ready for 
 the inspection of the curious." 
 
 BRIEF EXTRACTS FROM OTHER ARTICLES OF MR. LOWELL. 
 
 " It is said by President Adams that there could be no com- 
 mander, because there was no general or national authority. 
 But is this conclusive ? or was it the fact ? Were not the troops 
 of Connecticut and New Hampshire acting as allies of Massa- 
 chusetts, which was then engaged in a war de facto 1 And when 
 allied armies are assembled, is there not generally a commander- 
 in-chief ? And if detachments are va^idi^ partly from each, do not 
 the officers retain their ranks, and command inferior officers of 
 allied troops ? Did not General Ward assume the command of all 
 the troops at Cambridge ? Dearborn states this fact ; and it 
 was by the orders of a Massachusetts General, that Colonel 
 Stark of New Hampshire appeared on Bunker Hill. If Putnam, 
 then, was in the battle at all, except as a volunteer, he must have 
 had the command. That he had so is proved by his own history 
 
Appendix. 375 
 
 of the battle, as detailed by his son. General Putnam is cer- 
 tainly as good and credible a witness, at the least, as any one 
 who has been cited. He is not to be viewed as an accused per- 
 son defending himself ; for it is admitted, even by his mortal 
 enemy (and a man cannot have a more bitter one) General Dear- 
 born, that he never was accused, and he thinks it unaccountable 
 that he escaped. So far from being accused, he was instantly 
 promoted for his conduct in that battle 
 
 " We have already stated that all the historians of our war 
 have done ample justice to the valor and enterprise of this vet- 
 eran ; nor have our poets forgotten him. What General Dear- 
 born could mean by his 'ephemeral popularity having faded 
 away,' we are ignorant. He retained that popularity to the hour 
 of this atrocious calumny ; and he will retain it long after the 
 name of Dearborn and all his services and various fortunes shall 
 have been forgotten. 
 
 " We have heard two officers of high rank irl the army, who en- 
 joyed the confidence of Washington, near his person or under 
 his eye, declare since this charge, that they never heard a word 
 nor an insinuation against the reputation of Putnam, till General 
 Dearborn's ' account of the battle.' " 
 
 F. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM ARTICLE IN THE "NORTH AMERICAN 
 REVIEW," JULY, 1818. 
 
 Reference has already been made to this article on pp. 263- 
 264. But for the purpose of showing more clearly its spirit and 
 aim, we here give several extracts from it. We do this, not only 
 for the marked ability displayed, but because one would not be 
 likely to know the real purpose of the article from references 
 often made to it at the present day. We have in Chapter XI. 
 quoted the sentence in which the writer says, " Properly and 
 strictly speaking, there was no commander-in-chief in the battle." 
 
3/6 Life of IsTad Putnam. 
 
 As has been fully explained in Chapter V., that may be a legal 
 truth, a rhetorical truth, but is not a historical truth. It stisform 
 dhovefact. But letting this pass, it will be seen that the article 
 is a stout defence of Putnam against his slanderers. The very 
 title plainly indicates the intent of the writer. It is the "Bat- 
 tle of Bunker Hill, — General Putnam." The writer, though not 
 named in the " Review," was undoubtedly Daniel Webster. He 
 was at that time thirty-six years old, and two years before had 
 removed from Portsmouth to Boston. As a laAvyer, it was but 
 natural enough that he should look at the legal aspects of this 
 "question of command." But it is quite apparent that the men 
 of 1775 who fought the battle took a practical and, common- 
 sense view of the matter, and left legal technicalities to take care 
 of themselves. 
 
 " Were it not for the extremely unpleasant nature of the dis- 
 cussion to which the first of the pamphlets [General Dearborn's] 
 has given rise, we should not regret the occasion of recurring to 
 that distinguished and ever memorable opening of the revolu- 
 tionary contest. No national drama was ever developed in a 
 more interesting and splendid first scene. The incidents and 
 the result of the battle itself were most important, and indeed 
 most wonderful. As a mere battle, few surpass it in whatever 
 interests and engages the attention. It was fought on a conspicu- 
 ous eminence, in the immediate neighborhood of a populous 
 city, and consequently in the view of thousands of spectators. 
 The attacking army moved over a sheet of water to the assault. 
 The operations and movements were of course all visible and all 
 distinct. Those who looked on from the houses and heights of 
 Boston had a fuller view of every important operation and event 
 than can ordinarily be had of any battle, or than can possibly be 
 had of such as are fought on a more extended ground, or by de- 
 tachments of troops, acting in different places and at different 
 times, and in some measure independently of each other. When 
 the British columns were advancing to attack, the flames of 
 Charlestown (fired as is generally supposed by a shell) began to 
 ascend. The spectators, far outnumbering both armies, thronged 
 
Appendix. ^yy 
 
 and crowded on every height and every point v,rhich afforded a 
 view of the scene, themselves constituted a very important part 
 of it. The troops of the two armies seemed like so many com- 
 batants in an amphitheatre. The manner in which they should 
 acquit themselves was to be judged of, not as in other cases of 
 military engagements, by reports and future history, but by a 
 vast and anxious assembly already on the spot, and waiting with 
 unspeakable concern and emotion the progress of the day. In 
 other battles the recollection of wives and children has been used 
 as an excitement to animate the warrior's breast and nerve his 
 arm. Here was not a mere recollection, but an actual presence of 
 them, and other dear connections, hanging on the skirts of the 
 battle, anxious and agitated, feeling almost as if wounded them- 
 selves by every blow of the enemy, and putting forth, as it were, 
 their own strength and all the energy of their own throbbing bo- 
 soms, into every gallant effort of their warring friends. 
 
 " But there was a more comprehensive and vastly more impor- 
 tant view of that day's contest than has been mentioned, a view 
 indeed which ordinary eyes, bent intently on what was immedi- 
 ately before them, did not embrace, but which was perceived in 
 its full extent and expansion by minds of a higher order. Those 
 men who were at the head of the colonial councils, who had been 
 engaged for years in the previous stages of the quarrel with Eng- 
 land, and who had been accustomed to look forward to the future, 
 were well apprised of the magnitude of the events likely to hang 
 on the business of that day. They saw in it, not only a battle, 
 but the beginning of a civil war, of unmeasured extent, and of un- 
 cfertain issue. All America and all England were likely to be 
 deeply concerned in the consequences. The individuals them- 
 selves who knew full well what agency they had had in bringing 
 affairs to this crisis, had need of all their courage, — not that dis- 
 regard of personal safety in which the vulgar suppose true 
 courage to consist, but that high and fixed moral sentiment, that 
 steady and decided purpose, which enables men to pursue a dis- 
 tant end, with a full view of the difficulties and dangers before 
 them, and with a conviction that before they arrive at the pro- 
 posed end, should they ever reach it, they must pass through evil 
 
378 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 report as well as good report, and be liable to obloquy, as well 
 
 as defeat 
 
 *' Nearly half a century has elapsed from the commencement 
 of the Revolution, and in this flight of years, a great majority of 
 those who acted prominent parts in it have been carried to the 
 tomb. A small number survive, yet enjoying the fruit of their 
 services, and rejoicing in the prosperity of their country. We 
 cannot conceive what motives should induce any one of those 
 who are still living to venture rashly in an attack on the fame of 
 the dead. How long can he who is the youngest of the survi- 
 vors expect to live to vindicate his own claims to his country's 
 gratitude ? And which of them can expect that those who come 
 after him, and are of another generation, shall pay a more ten- 
 der and sacred regard to his fame than he may have been 
 found to manifest to the fame of one of his own associates and 
 companions in arms ? The last man who should bring forward, 
 at this day, an accusation against one who has long been dead, 
 and who died in the full possession of his country's regard and 
 gratitude for his services in our Revolution, is he who has him- 
 self claims on that regard and gratitude for similar services. 
 Even the common feelings of self-interest would seem sufficient 
 to repress such an undertaking by such a hand. What is the 
 value of revolutionary merit, if, forty years after the actions on 
 which it rests were performed, and twenty years after he who 
 performed them has gone to his grave, this merit may be denied 
 in terms of bold and unqualified assertion, and the country in- 
 formed that imbecility, cowardice, want of patriotism and neglect 
 of duty, were the true characteristics of those to whom it has 
 uniformly ascribed a generous devotion to the public interest, 
 inflexible virtue and dauntless courage ? And especially what is 
 to be the value of this merit, if such attacks are to be made upon 
 it, not by the temerity of the striplings of the rising generation, 
 but by one who was an associate and fellow-laborer ? There are 
 occasions, it is true, in which great sacrifices must be made to 
 the truth of history, and to a desire of disabusing mankind of 
 their prejudices and false opinions. But such necessity, we have 
 flattered ourselves, has not existed in relation to the public men 
 
Appendix. 379 
 
 of the United States. We cannot persuade ourselves that it ex- 
 isted in the case of General Putnam, and we cannot, therefore, 
 but feel the deepest regret for the occasion that has produced 
 these remarks 
 
 " A very ordinary degree of candor would induce the belief, 
 that if there had been grounds of complaint against any officer, 
 at that time, not of a shadowy and unsubstantial nature, they 
 would have been attended to and investigated. That was cer- 
 tainly a jealous period. Every officer was watched, because it 
 was the beginning of a civil war, and dangers were to be appre- 
 hended not only from cowardice but from defection. If those 
 who knew General Putnam's behavior at that time found no 
 fault with it, the presumption is that no fault could be found 
 with it. And those whose lips were silent then, when well- 
 founded complaints would have been a duty, must, long after- 
 wards and after the death of the party, be heard not without 
 much abatement and allowance 
 
 "Taking the evidence together, we apprehend the following 
 to be a true general account of General Putnam's conduct on 
 this occasion : He came over from Cambridge with a party of 
 the Connecticut troops, the night before the battle, and directed 
 and assisted in throwing up the redoubt. He was on the field 
 of battle at or about the time the action commenced at the rail 
 fence. At some period, during the battle, he probably went back 
 to bring up the residue of his own regiment. [The writer is evi- 
 dently mistaken in this suggestion. There appears no evidence 
 that General Putnam ever tried to move his regiment into that 
 battle, except the one hundred and twenty men detailed the night 
 before. Pie sent his son, Captain Israel Putnam, just before the 
 battle, for the rest of Chester's company, and perhaps Coit's, but 
 it is sufficient proof that this call did not apply to the eight hun- 
 dred men or more that still remained of his regiment, at Inman's 
 farm, chat we have no account of their movement that day. Put- 
 nam in this paid respect to Ward's orders.] He may possibly 
 have gone back more than once for this purpose. He was en- 
 couraging the troops, giving command, passing along the lines, 
 and partaking of all the danger of the occasion, in the heat of 
 
380 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 the engagement at the rail fence. When the British made the 
 last attack, which was confined principally to the redoubt, he 
 might have been gone back to bring up the other troops. If so, 
 this would explain a fact, which has been asserted, that Colonel 
 Prescott on his retreat met General Putnam. He was not in the 
 redoubt at any time during the battle. That post was Prescott's. 
 His command and operations were confined to the troops which 
 lined the rail fence, and perhaps the breastwork. It should be 
 understood that the redoubt and breastwork were on a line. But 
 the rail fence was not on a line with these, but considerably in 
 the rear, and much nearer Bunker Hill. If General Putnam had 
 been at the rail fence itself when Colonel Prescott retreated, the 
 latter might be said to have met with, or, in more correct terms, 
 to have passed, the former. The contiguity of the rail fence to 
 Bunker Hill may explain the passing, even perhaps more than 
 once, of General Putnam from the one to the other. It has lit- 
 tle tendency to prove the absence of General Putnam from the 
 field at the time of the battle, that troops passed him as they 
 went to Breed's Hill or as they returned from it. They went be- 
 fore the battle and returned afterwards ; and an officer on horse- 
 back certainly is able to move with more velocity than a corps 
 of infantry. It was an open field, not a strait and narrow path, 
 that led to the redoubt, the breastwork and the rail fence. Offi- 
 cers no doubt traversed the field, sometimes meeting troops, 
 sometimes passing them in various directions, as their duty re- 
 quired. No part of the fight was hotter or more fatal than at 
 
 that part of the line occupied by Knowlton's company 
 
 In order to understand the operations of the day, it should be 
 borne in mind that the object of the British was to dislodge the 
 troops from the redoubt The first operation of the Brit- 
 ish infantry was a movement on the flank ; and it was to prevent 
 the success of this movement that the rail fence was thrown up. 
 Being repulsed in this attempt the British, on the arrival of the 
 reinforcement, changed their mode of operation and proceeded to 
 
 a direct assault of the fort itself, in which they succeeded 
 
 *' The fact is, that the troops at the rail fence, a part of which 
 belonged to Putnam's regiment and were more immediately un- 
 
Appendix. 381 
 
 der his command, never were repulsed and did not retreat, till the 
 fort itself, the whole original object of the battle, was abandoned. 
 The deficiency of force was in the redoubt, and if Putnam had been 
 able to have reinforced Prescott there, it would have been in the high- 
 est degree advantageous. [We desire to call special attention to 
 the sentence just copied. The writer of the article, though he has 
 before said that " strictly speaking there was no commander-in- 
 chief," yet in this very sentence treats Putnam as chief comman- 
 der. What had Putnam to do with reinforcing Prescott, except 
 as having the general oversight and command ? Why should not 
 Prescott, through his subordinate officers, reinforce himself.] . . . 
 "General Putnam was an uneducated man. In the science 
 of his profession he could not, of course, be greatly accomplished. 
 He made his way by the force and enterprise of his character, 
 and his devotion to the public interest. He was suited to the 
 times, and the times were suited to him. Habituated from early 
 life to an acquaintance with the militia, trained in the school of 
 Indian and colonial warfare, of integrity above suspicion, and 
 of courage not to be doubted, much esteemed by the people of 
 Connecticut, and a warm friend to the Revolution, it could hardly 
 be otherwise than that he should possess that weight and con- 
 sideration which is called an unaccountable popularity." 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 In closing, we desire to emphasize a distinction which has 
 been several times made in this volume, between the civil and 
 the military capacity of General Artemas Ward. In the sum 
 total of his character, he is not by any means to be spoken of 
 contemptuously or even lightly. He was in public affairs a man 
 of high standing and large serv^ice. S. A. Drake, Esq., in his 
 " Historic Fields and Mansions of Middlesex," speaks in terms of 
 high praise of his firmness and courage, as a Judge in Worces- 
 ter, in the time of Shay's rebellion. As head of the American 
 
382 Life of Israel Putnam. 
 
 army at Cambridge, he was suffering under a painful disease, 
 which prevented his riding a horse, and doubtless took away 
 from his natural courage and force. We have only desired to 
 show, whatever may have been the excuses for his slowness and 
 timidity, that he was a very poor head commander in that sum- 
 mer of 1775. 
 
 Mr. Drake, in the work above referred to, on p. 260, gives the 
 following anecdote of what happened years afterwards : 
 
 " It is well known that Washington spoke of the resignation 
 of General Ward, after the evacuation of Boston, in a manner 
 approaching contempt. His observations, then confidentially 
 made, about some of the other Generals, were not calculated to 
 flatter their amour propre or that of their descendants. It is said 
 that General Ward, learning long afterwards the remark that had 
 been applied to him, accompanied by a friend, waited on his old 
 chief at New York, and asked him if it was true that he had 
 used such language. The President replied that he did not 
 know, but that he kept copies of all his letters, and would take 
 an opportunity of examining them. Accordingly at the next ses- 
 sion of Congress (of which General Ward was a member) he 
 again called with his friend, and was informed by the President 
 that he had really written as alleged. Ward then said, ''Sir, you 
 are no gentleman^ and turning on his heel, quitted the room." 
 
INDEX.' 
 
 Brewer, Jonathan, 114. 
 
 Brickett, James, 115, 237, 240. 
 
 Bridge, Ebenezer, 113, 149, 237, 240. 
 
 Brinley, George, 87. 
 
 Brooklyn, Ct., 39. 
 
 Brooks, Eleazer, 115. 
 
 Brooks, John, 116, 155, 175. 
 
 Brown, Benjamin, 40. 
 
 Brown, Peter, 228. 
 
 Bruce, Major, 355. 
 
 Bunker Hill Art, three pictures, 216- 
 
 227. 
 Bunker Hill Association, action of, 
 
 336- 
 Burr, Aaron, 304, 309. 
 Burr, Thaddeus, 200. 
 Bushnell, Dr., 343. 
 Butler, Major, 355. 
 
 Abercrombie, Gen., 56, 57, 62, 355. 
 Adams, John, 87, 88, 89, 95, 138, 175, 
 
 242, 245, 264, 270. 
 Adams, Samuel, 112, 252, 253, 254. 
 Agassiz, Prof., 80. 
 Allen, Ethan, 137. 
 AIner, James, 303. 
 Amherst, Gen., 166, 346. 
 Andrew, Daniel, 24. 
 Andros, Edmund, 36, 70. 
 Army at Cambridge, constitution of, 
 
 87-104. 
 Avery, Ephraim, 47. 
 
 B. 
 
 Babcock, Henry, 291. 
 
 Bailey, John, 1 13. 
 
 Bancroft, George, 4, 50, 51, 52, 77, 78, 
 
 8r, 86, 122, 124, 125, 173, 269, 273, 
 
 306, 307. 
 Barker, Captain, 226. 
 Barnard, Henry, 343. 
 Beard, Edwin S., 4. 
 Belcher, Jonathan, 37, 46. 
 Belknap, Jeremy, iii, 121. 
 Bircham, Edward, 15. 
 Blackwell, John, 35, 36, 37, 39, 46. 
 Braddock, Gen., 51, 56. 
 Brewer, David, 92, 114, 162, 194, 206. 
 
 * This is mainly an index of names ; but, from the very character of the work, cer- 
 tain names recur so frequently, that we have not been careful to repeat them in every instance. 
 The index will be more useful for finding a large number of names not of so frequent recur- 
 rence. 
 
 Chandler, John, 42. 
 
 Charles H., 36. 
 
 Chastellux, 236. 
 
 Chester, John, 116, 119, 135, 143, 144, 
 
 176, 179. 
 Cheever, Ezekiel, 24. 
 Church, Benjamin, 131,285, 286. 
 Church, Thomas, 1 14. 
 Clarke, John, 200, 201, 232, 233, 234, 
 
 241, 355- 
 
384 
 
 Life of Israel Putnam, 
 
 Clark, James, ii6. 
 Cleaveland, Rev., 287. 
 Cleaveland, Aaron, 78, 79. 
 Clinton, Henry, 193, 292, 309, 314, 
 
 355- 
 Cockings, George, 233. 
 Cochran, John, 67. 
 Coit, Captain, 143, 144. 
 Colonels in army of 1775, ^i^t o^> ^H> 
 
 US- 
 Committee of Safety, 131. 
 Conant, S. S., 222. 
 Cotton, Theophilus, 114. 
 Council of War, loi. 
 Craft, Ebenezer, 42. 
 Cromwell, 35. 
 
 D. 
 
 Daland, Katherine, 26. 
 
 Danielson, Timothy, 114. 
 
 Dana, Joseph, 42. 
 
 Dana, Judah, 322. 
 
 Dawson, Henry B., 4, 128, l8l» 188, 
 
 191, 192, 228, 229, 230, 234. 
 Deane, Silas, 120, 247, 254. 
 Dean, John Ward, 4. 
 Dearborn, Henry, 4, 116, 122, 177, 
 
 178, 179, 182, 189, 195, 227, 255, 
 
 256, 257, 270, 352. 
 De Kalb, 236. 
 
 Deming, Henry C, 75, 77, 343, 350. 
 Devens, Richard, 131. 
 Devens, Charles, 170, 171. 
 Devotion, Ebenezer, 42. 
 Dieskau, Baron, 54, 55, 347. 
 Donnell, James, 173. 
 Doolittle, Col., 149, 215. 
 Dow, Reuben, 147. 
 Drake, Samuel A., 151, 218, 233, 241, 
 
 274. 
 Duke de Lauzun, 236. 
 Durkee, Major, 71, 142. 
 Dwight, Timothy, 330. 
 
 E. 
 
 Eaton, William, anecdote of, 153. 
 Ellis, George E., 4, 151, 181, 182, 196, 
 
 222. 
 Elliott, Andrew, 232. 
 Eustis, William, 265, 266, 267. 
 Everett, Edward, 345. 
 
 F. 
 
 Fellows, John, 113, 114. 
 
 Fitch, Major, 35, 36. 
 
 Fitch, Gov., of Conn., 70. 
 
 Folsom, Nathaniel, 148. 
 
 Forces sent to the battle, 141-150. 
 
 Fort Edward, 54. 
 
 Franklin, Benjamin, 71. 
 
 Frothingham, Richard, 3, 88, 100, 
 118, 119, 127, 132, 134, 138, 140, 
 141, 149, 166, 171, 176, 187, 196, 
 201, 202, 203, 204, 209, 210, 217, 
 225 ; publishes the " Siege of Eos- 
 ton," 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 286. 
 
 Frye, Joseph, 113. 
 
 Frye, James, 92, 113, 149. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gage, Thomas, 192, 200, 229, 246, 
 314, 340, 353-355- 
 
 Gardner, Mrs. Deborah, 82. 
 
 Gardner, Thomas, 114, 131, 149, 206, 
 231. 
 
 Gates, Horatio, 236, 283, 294, 346. 
 
 Gerrish, Samuel, 1 14, 149, 195. 
 
 Gerry, Elbridge, 252. 
 
 George II., 37. 
 
 Generals at Cambridge, list of, 91, 
 92 ; sketches of, 105-109. 
 
 Generals, Major, first chosen by Con- 
 tinental Congress, sketch of, iii- 
 
 "3- 
 
 Gilpin, John, 140. 
 Glover, John, 114, 115. 
 
Index. 
 
 38s 
 
 Greene, Nathaniel, 87, 88, 91, 92, loi, 
 
 107, no. III, 125, 200, 236, 283, 
 
 285, 289, 306, 307. 
 Greaton, John, 115. 
 Green, Jacob, 200. 
 Green, Rev., 26. 
 Gridley, Richard, 92, 114, 115, 127, 
 
 138, 139, 149, 182, 240. 
 Griffin, Col, 311. 
 Grosvenor, L., 4, 28, 31, 40, 52, 59, 
 
 68, 320, 325. 
 Grosvenor, Thomas, 116, 143, 144. 
 Grosvenor, L. P., 343. 
 
 H. 
 
 Hale, Nathan, 311, 313. 
 
 Hall, Samuel and Ebenezer, 246. 
 
 Hancock, John, 131, 302. 
 
 Haskell, Caleb, diary of, 163, 205, 
 
 213, 214, 287, 288, 289. 
 Haskell, A. W., 213. 
 Hayward, E. P., 4, 80. 
 Hazen, Henry A., 4. 
 Heath, William, 88, 92, 107, no, 
 
 113, 125, 131, 155, 157, 244, 283, 
 
 294. 
 Hendrick, Chief of Mohawks, 53, 55. 
 Herrick, Joseph, 25. 
 Hide, Ephraim, 42, 
 Higginson, Francis, 17. 
 Higginson, John, 18. 
 Hill, Jeremiah, 248. 
 Hill, George Canning, 331. 
 Hitchcock, Daniel, 114, 115. 
 Hollister, his History of Conn., 57, 
 
 58, 62, 69, 80, 144. 
 Holyoke, Edward, 17. 
 Holyoke, Ann, 21. 
 Howe, Richard, 307, 309, 311. 
 Howe, William, 188, 189, 190, 197, 
 
 292, 309, 354, 355- 
 Howe, Mrs., 305. 
 Hubbard, John, 48. 
 
 25 
 
 Huldeman, 68. 
 
 Humphreys, David, 4, 29, 53, 60, 6r, 
 
 73,84,303, 305,311,317,328. 
 Huntington, Enoch, 42. 
 Hunt, Daniel, 49. 
 
 I. 
 
 Ingersoll, Deacon, 27. 
 
 Ingersoll, Jared, 71, 72, 142. 
 Ingersoll, Charles R., 84, 85. 
 Inman House, 211, 212. 
 Irving, Washington, 124, 269, 272. 
 
 J. 
 
 James II., 36, 70. 
 
 Johnson, Sir William, 53, 54. 
 
 K. 
 
 Killed and wounded on American 
 
 side, 204-206. 
 Kingswood, 37. 
 Knowlton, Thomas, 116, 191, 237, 
 
 243,3"- 
 
 Lafayette, 236, 326. 
 
 Langdon, Samuel, 174. 
 
 Lamed, Ellen, 4, 33, 43-46. 
 
 Layton, Thomas, 15. 
 
 Learned, Ebenezer, 92, 1 14, 
 
 Leonard, Rev., 288, 300. 
 
 Leonidas, 344. 
 
 Lee, Charles, 109, in, 112, 120, 121, 
 281, 284. 
 
 List of officers appointed by Conti- 
 nental Congress, June, 1775, 283. 
 
 Little, Moses, 115, 149, 162; time of 
 the arrival of his regiment at Bun- 
 ker Hill, 163, 194, 206, 215, 289. 
 
 Lincoln, Benjamin, 114, 115, 236. 
 
 Livingstone, William, 304. 
 
 Lord Mayor, 247. 
 
 Loudoun, Earl of, 56, 62. 
 
 Lossing, Benson J., 314. 
 
386 
 
 Life of Israel Puttiam. 
 
 Lowell, John. 133, 225, 258, 259, 260, 
 
 261, 262, 263, 367. 
 Luther, Martin, 323. 
 Lyman, Phinehas, 53, 64, 68. 
 
 M. 
 
 Macdonald, 344. 
 Main, Elias H., 267. 
 Marcy, John, 145. 
 Marsden, Adjutant, 173. 
 McClary, Andrew, 178, 206, 231. 
 McFingal, 121. 
 Mercer, Hugh, 236. 
 Mines, John F., 308. 
 Mitchell, Major, 355. 
 Moncrief, Major, 98. 
 Moncrieffe, Miss, 303. 
 Montgomery, Richard, 236, 283. 
 Monroe, Pres., 263. 
 Montcalm, Gen., 57. 
 Moore, Major, 162, 194, 231. 
 Morgan, Daniel, 236. 
 Mortlake, in Surrey, Eng., 36. 
 Mortlake Manor, 36, 39, 40, 80. 
 Mortlake Parish, 40, 46, 47, 48. 
 Moylan, Stephen, 297. 
 Murray, Robert, Mrs., 309, 310. 
 
 N. 
 Napoleon, 133, 344. 
 Nesbit, Lieut.-Col., 355. 
 New Pilgrim's Progress, 332. 
 Ney, Marshal, 133. 
 Nixon, John, 92, 93, 114, 162, 194, 
 
 206. 
 Norris, Edward, 32. 
 
 o. 
 
 Orders given to Prescott, 136-138. 
 Orne, Azor, 114, 115, 131. 
 
 Paine, Joshua, 42. 
 
 Palmer, Joseph, 114, 115, 131, 168. 
 
 Palmer, Edmund, 313. 
 
 Parker, Francis J., 4, 97, loO. 
 
 Parker, Moses, 231. 
 
 Parris, Rev., 19. 
 
 Parsons, Samuel H., 143. 
 
 Patterson, Lieut.-Col., 304. 
 
 Patterson, John, 103, 114, 115, 148. 
 
 Peabody, Stephen, 145. 
 
 Pepperell, William, 346. 
 
 Percy, Lord, 73. 
 
 Peters, Hugh, 18. 
 
 Pigeon, J., 131. 
 
 Pigot, Gen., 188, 190, 354, 355. 
 
 Pitt, William, 62. 
 
 Pitcairne, Major, 355. 
 
 Pomeroy, Seth, 106, in, 113, 123, 
 126, 135, 248, 255, 283. 
 
 Pomfret, town of, 32, 39, 40, 41, 42. 
 
 Poor, Enoch, 87, 88, 113. 
 
 Pope, Joseph, 30, 38. 
 
 Pope, Hannah, 30, 66. 
 
 Population of New England, 1754, 
 57. 
 
 Porter, Israel, 19. 
 
 Porter, Elizabeth, 19. 
 
 Prescot, Richard, 1 10, 250. 
 
 Prescott, Judge, 222, 223. 
 
 Prescott, Oliver, 158. 
 
 Prescott, William, 92, 93, 94, 97, 114, 
 116, 117, 123, 127, 128, 129, 132, 
 133. 134. 13s. 136, 137. 147. 148, 
 149, 15s. 156, 157. 160, 174, 175, 
 180, 189, 193, 197, 198, 199, 202, 
 208, 210, 222, 234; his letter to 
 John Adams, 237-243, 250, 255, 
 
 272,307. 313. 332,333- 
 Prince, Dr., 227. 
 Pulaski, 236. 
 
 Putnam, Edward, 17, 18, 19. 
 Putnam, David, 31. 
 Putnam, Daniel, 4, 20, 49, 83, 103, 
 
 141, 168, 171, 211, 263, 279, 284, 
 
 350, 352. 353- 
 Putnam, Joseph, 17, 19, 20, 25. 
 
Index. 
 
 387 
 
 Putnam, Israel, 3, 11, 12, 19, 20, 28; 
 his marriage, 30, 34 ; removes to 
 Pomfret, Ct., 34, 38 ; and the wolf, 
 43, 46 ; his children, 48, 49 ; French 
 War, 50-63 ; Captain, 53 ; first bat- 
 tle, 55 ; a ranger, 58 ; escape down 
 the rapids, 60 ; chosen Major, 62 ; 
 prisoner, 63 ; Lieut.-Col., 64 ; re- 
 turns home, 66 ; death of his wife, 
 66 ; joins the church, 66 ; son of 
 liberty, 71 ; alarm from Boston, 78; 
 selectman, 80 ; moderator in town- 
 meeting, 81 ; ride to Cambridge, 
 83, 84 ; Brig. -Gen., 91 ; commander 
 at battle of Chelsea, 94-97 ; ex- 
 change of prisoners, 98, 99 ; mem- 
 ber of council of war, loi, 102; Con- 
 tinental Major-Gen., iii; leading 
 man in the army at Cambridge, 118- 
 122, 123 ; council of war, June i6th, 
 132, 133, 134, 136 ; question of com- 
 mand, 136-138 ; night council, 138- 
 140 ; his desire to fortify Bunker 
 Hill, 1 51-159; anecdote of, 166; 
 goes to Cambridge on the morning 
 of June 17th, 174 ; his immense ac- 
 tivities, 194 ; takes command of the 
 retreating forces, 201 ; leads the 
 army off the field and fortifies Pros- 
 pect Hill, 207-215; notices of him 
 as commander, 228-280 ; promoted 
 over eight Generals of higher rank, 
 278 ; receives his commission as 
 Major-Gen., 282, 283 ; takes pos- 
 session of Lechmere's Point, 291 ; 
 council of war, 294; in command 
 of four thousand men to attack the 
 British camps, 296; takes posses- 
 sion of Boston, 300 ; placed in com- 
 mand at New York, 301 ; letter to 
 Continental Congress, 302 ; letter 
 to Miss Moncrieffe, 304 ; story of 
 Mrs. Howe, 305 ; rescue of Put- 
 nam's division at New York, 308- 
 
 310 ; in command at Philadelphia, 
 311 ; headquarters at Peekskill, 313; 
 headquarters at Reading, 315; ride 
 down the stone steps, 315, 316; 
 stricken with paralysis, 317; re- 
 turns to Pomfret, 318 ; receives let- 
 ter from Washington, 320; descrip- 
 tion of, 320, 322; his home life, 
 323 ; his descendants, 324, 325 ; his 
 death, burial, and tomb, 327-331. 
 
 Q. 
 
 Quincy, Morton, 131. 
 
 R. 
 Rangers, band of, 58. 
 Reed, James, N. H., 79, 113, 115, 
 
 145, 146, 147, 165, 189, 243. 
 Reed, James, Mass., 92, 114, 115. 
 Reid, George, 116. 
 Rice, Charles B., 3, 18, 25, 26, 30. 
 Rivington, 314. 
 Robertson, Gen., 314, 
 Robinson, Col., 238. 
 Rochambeau, 236. 
 Rogers, Major, 58. 
 
 Salem Village, now Danvers, 3, 16, 
 24, 25, 27, 30, 39, 42, 48, 66. 
 
 Sabin, Abishai, 42. 
 
 Scammans, James, 149, 172, 249. 
 
 Schuyler, Peter, 49, 63, 305. 
 
 Schuyler, Philip, iii, 281, 283. 
 
 Sergeant Paul Dudley, 103, 148. 
 
 Shepherd, C, 219. 
 
 Sherburne, Major, 302. 
 
 Sheriff, Col., 73. 
 
 Sherman, Gen., 315, 334, 336. 
 
 Short, Major, 355. 
 
 " Siege of Boston," 3. 
 
 Silliman, Benjamin, 4, 135, 223, 224, 
 362. 
 
 Skelton, Samuel, 17, 18. 
 
388 
 
 Life of Israel Pitt nam. 
 
 Skene, Gov., 304. 
 
 Small, Major, 68, 73, 77, 225, 226, 
 
 227, 351. 
 Smelt, Major, 355. 
 Sophia, Princess, 37. 
 Sparks, Jared, 89, 307, 326. 
 Spencer, Joseph, 91, 106, no, in, 
 
 113, 125, 132, 136, 219, 283, 293, 
 
 294. 
 Spendlove, Major, 355. 
 Stark, John, 88, 91, 92, 93, 113, 115, 
 
 126, 145, 146, 147, 160, 164, 178, 
 
 189, 241, 243, 255, 340. 
 Sterling, Lord, 297, 298, 299. 
 Stiles, David, 19. 
 Stiles, Ezra, 108, 234, 235, 236. 
 Storrs, Ephraim, 160. 
 Stuart, John, 226. 
 Sumner, Joseph, 42. 
 Sullivan, John, 283, 294. 
 Swett, Samuel, 4, 99, 119, 179, 208, 
 
 263. 
 
 T. 
 
 Thomas, John, 88, 91, 106, 107, no, 
 
 125, 132, 236, 283, 293. 
 Treat, Major, 62. 
 Trevitt, Captain, 182. 
 Trumbull, Gov. Jonathan, no, 219, 
 
 247, 288. 
 Trumbull, John, 121. 
 Trumbull, Col. John, 135, 219, 220, 
 
 221, 222, 223, 350, 352, 353. 
 Trumbull, David, 290. 
 Trumbull, J. Hammond, 4, 84. 
 Trumbull Papers, 290. 
 Tryon, William, 309, 314, 316. 
 Tyler, Daniel P., 4, 264, 265, 267, 268. 
 Tyler, Daniel, 48. 
 Tweed, Mr., 315. 
 
 u. 
 
 Upham, Charles W., 3, 13, 15, 18, 
 20, 24, 30, 32. 
 
 V. 
 Vamum, James M , 114. 115. 
 Veren, Nathaniel, 17, 21. 
 Veren, Widow, 19. 
 Viomenil, 236. 
 
 w. 
 
 Wadsworth, Col., 317. 
 
 Waller, Adjutant, 162. 
 
 Waldo, Dr. A., 329. 
 
 Ward, Artemas, 87, 89, 91, 92, 95, 
 96, 102, 104, 105, 109, III, 113, 
 118, 126, 127, 128, 129, 136, 137, 
 142, 149, 154, 166, 173, 174, 175, 
 180, 181, 193, 209, 244, 245, 255, 
 281, 283, 293, 294. 
 
 Ward, Joseph, 142. 
 
 Ward, Jonathan, 113. 
 
 Warren, Joseph, 81, 82, 91, 92, 95, 
 96, 98, 107, 131, 137 ; offered the 
 command at Bunker Hill, 170-172, 
 182, 223, 225, 233, 248, 335, 351. 
 
 Warren, James, 112. 
 
 Washington, George, 56, 112, 120, 
 215, 220, 281, 282, 283, 286, 293, 
 294.312, 351. 
 
 Watson, Abraham, 131. 
 
 Webb, Samuel B., 116, 120. 
 
 Webster, Daniel, 263, 264, 326, 376. 
 
 Weld, Ezra, 42. 
 
 Wells, William V., 112. 
 
 West, Benjamin, 221. 
 
 Whitney, Josiah, 48, (>■], 329. 
 
 Whitcomb, Asa, 92, 113, 206. 
 
 Whitcomb, John, 108, 113, 115, 248, 
 249. 
 
 White, Benjamin, 131, 135. 
 
 Whiting, Captain, 322. 
 
 Wheildon, W. W., 4, 216, 275. 
 
 Wilkinson, James, 193. 
 
 Wilkinson, J., 219, 335. 
 
 Windham County, history of, 4, 33, 35. 
 
 Winslow, John, 57. 
 
 Winsor, Justin, 4. 
 
Index. 
 
 389 
 
 Williams, Ephraim, 54, 55; founder 
 of Williams College, 55, 56. 
 
 Williams, Roger, 18. 
 
 Williams, Major, 355. 
 
 Wilkins, Bray, 19. 
 
 Wiltshire, 37. 
 
 Wolfe, Gen., 64, 346. 
 
 Woodbridge, Benjamin R., 114, 149, 
 162, 194. 
 
 Woods, Major, 161, 238. 
 Woodstock, town of, 32, 35. 
 Wooster, David, 200, 236, 283. 
 Wyman, Isaac, 146, 160, 164. 
 
 Y. 
 
 Young, Dr., 118. 
 
 Franklin Press: Rand, Avery, &> Co., Boston. 
 
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