PREFACE.
When
preparing, in 1849, an introduction to a narrative of the military
transactions
in 1775 and 1776, contained a volume entitled "History of
the Siege of Boston," etc.,
I found but meagre accounts of the
revolutionary movement in the town from 1767 to 1775.
The space
allotted to it in Dr. Snow's History is about thirty pages. It was not a
part
of the plan of William Tudor, in his "Life of James Otis," or of
Josiah Quincy, in his
"Memoir of the Life of Josiah Quincy, Jr.," to
describe it in these valuable works; nor
could the subject be treated
with the fulness it requires in a history of Massachusetts
or of the
United States.
I found, moreover, that Joseph Warren was identified
with the whole of this movement as
an official political leader. The
only accounts of his great service, however, were a
brief memoir by
Reverend Doctor John Eliot, in the "Boston Magazine" of 1784, which,
in
1809, was enlarged into the five pages of his "Biographical
Dictionary," an intersting
sketch of his life, in 1816, in
"Rees's Cyclopedia," supplied by Dr. John C. Warren; the
"Memoir of
Joseph Warren," of ten pages, by Samuel L. Knapp, in the "Boston
Monthly
Magazine" of April, 1826, which was enlarged from his
"Biographical Sketches," printed
in 1826, which was enlarged from his
"Biographical Sketches," printed in 1821; a little
volume, entitled,
"Stories of General
vi.
PREFACE.
Warren in relation to the Fifth-of-March Massacre
and the Battle of Bunker Hill, by a
Lady of Boston," printed in 1835;
and the "Life of Joseph Warren, by Alexander H. Ever-
ett," printed in
1845, incorporated into Sparks's "American Biography," the most of
which
will be found in an oration delivered in 1836. This "Life"
contains ninety pages, fifty-
five being devoted to a description of
the Battle of Bunker Hill. These publications
do not contain one
of Warren's letters.
In 1849, I began to frame a narrative of
Warren's career, and my collections soon became
large. In 1852, fresh
material was supplied in the valuable historical contribution of
"The
Hundred Boston Orators," by James S. Loring, who devotes to Warren
twenty-six pages.
In 1854, additional matter relative to him was
printed in Mr. Bancroft's fourth volume
of the "History of the United
States," in which Warren is assigned a just position in
our
Revolutionary story. That year, Dr. John C. Warren issued the
elegant volume of
the genealogy of the family, which contains several
of the letters of Warren, and Dr.
John Warren's Journal. In 1855,
Samuel G. Drake printed his elaborate "History of Boston,"
which, however, does
not come down later than 1770. In 1857, there appeared
a pamphlet
entitled "Biography of General Joseph Warren by a Bostonian," which
consists
of eighty-five pages, forty of them being taken up with three
orations.
None of these publications contain a description of the
proceedings of the patriots of Boston from 1767 to 1775. I have
attempted in this volume to supply a deficiency in American history, by
describing those scenes which had a direct bearing on momentous political
events. From the date of 1774, the material for biography is abundant; and
I have given Warren's letters in full, and have dwelt on his personal
action.
vii
PREFACE.
I am indebted to Jared Sparks for the free use of the
collection, in folio volumes, of
the "Letters and Papers" of Francis
Bernard; to George Bancroft for the use of a manu-
script life of
Samuel Adams by Samuel Adams Wells, the Journals of the Boston
Committee
of Correspondence, and the papers of Samuel Adams, in which
were preserved the letters
addressed by Warren to Samuel Adams, now
carefully bound in a separate volume, none of
which have been printed;
to the librarians of the Boston Anthenaeum, Harvard College,
the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Antiquarian Society
and the New-
York Historical Society, for every facility in making
researches; to the courteous City
Clerk of Boston, Mass., Samuel F.
McCleary, for access to the files of papers and re-
cords in his
office; to the successive Secretaries of State for facilities in
consulting
the Massachusetts archives; and to Dr. J. Mason Warren for
the use of the plate from
which is printed the portrait of the
General. I am indebted for favors to Dr. Nathaniel
B. Shurtleff.
I am under special obligations to Dr. John Appleton, Assistant
Librarian
of the Massachusetts Historical Society, for the drawing of
the facsimile of Warren's
last letter, and for critical service in
revising the proof-sheets.
In all cases where it was possible, I
have resorted to original authorities. I have
spent much time in
examing the letter-books and papers of Thomas Hutchinson, which
are
among the rich collection of Massachusetts archives at the State
House; and I have
copied much from them. This material and the papers
of Francis Bernard contain authen-
tic revalations of the principles
and objects of two confidential agents of the British
Administration,
who exerted an important influence in bring about the events that
were
the proximate cause of the Revolutionary War.
viii.
Preface.
THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD.
I will only add, that I
have aimed to be precise and accurate, not only in the con-
struction
of the narrative but in the statement of opinion. The history contained
in
this volume has a general bearing. There will be found in it much to
show the beginnings
of that Union which the Fathers of the Republic
recognized to be a manifestation of the
Providence of God; and much to
illustrate the way in which the thirteen English colonies
passed from
the sovereignty of Great Britain to become an American
nation.
Charlestown, Massachusetts, October 2, 1865.
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JOSEPH WARREN.
CHAPTER
I.
1741 to
1763.
Joseph Warren was one of the popular leaders of Boston during
the early stage of the
American Revolution. He grasped its basic idea
of civil freedom, and aimed to impress
on the public mind its dignity
and glory. By ten years of devotion to the patriot
cause, he rose
to be the head of public affairs in Massachusetts, and became one of
the
most prominent characters of New England.
Joseph Warren,
through life, was a man of action, whose words were deeds. To repel
the
aggressions of arbitrary power, and to maintain the principles of
liberty, he wrote in
the political journals, was zealous in the private
clubs and was a leader in the public
meetings.
footnote: Both in
civil and military affairs, the most prominent man in New England.
-
Life of Warren, by Alexander H. Everett, 107.
p.2
LIFE OF JOSEPH WARREN.
When his
townsmen desired an exponent of their sentiment, he became their orator;
when
the time arrived for American union, he was active in organizing
committees of corres-
pondence; and, when revolutionary action was
required, he appeared in the front of re-
sponsibility in destroying
the tea, and in resisting the acts altering the
Massachusetts
Charter.
HIS DEATH IN THE BATTLE OF BUNKER
HILL.
As the virtual executive of a free State, he acted with the
comprehensiveness of the
patriot, and the administrative ability of the
statesman. On the field of war, he im-
pressed his associates with his
coolness, judgment and resources. He volunteered to
share, with a band
of militia, the perils of an extreme post; and when he fell in
the
Bunker Hill battle, co-laborers in the cause, who felt the
magnetism of his influence,
and knew the value of his service, declared
that his memory would be endeared to the
worthy, in every part and
every age of the world, as long as virtue and valor should
be esteemed
among mankind.*
CROWNED AN IMMORTAL
The tributes paid to Warren,
when he was crowned an immortal, indicate a career of no
ordinary
character - and the future seemed burdened with his death. But so scanty
is the
material relative to him, of a strictly personal cast, that the
greater part of his civic
service has been overlooked. The Boston
records place him in the front rank of great
political action, but are
barren of details. Contemporary eulogy, however abundant, is
not
copious in facts; and his letters are but few in number, until the last
fifteen
months of his life. Then, utterances,
*footnotes. 1
Massachusetts Committee of Safety, July 25, 1775.
2 Bancroft, vii. 488.
3 The first public appearance of Dr. Warren, in connection
with the
political
affairs of the day, was on the occasion of the delivery of
the Anniversary Address of
1772 - Everett's Life of Warren, p.114.
p.3
THE EARLY DAYS.
elicited by his
public labors, often in a prophet's tone, and always aglow with
patriot-
ic fire, reveal the inner springs of a noble life, and justify
the judgment that Warren
lived an ornament to his country.*
His
words, interpreted in action, show his grasp of issues, his motive,
and his aim; but
to see him as a social power, it is necessary to
follow him through scenes when the public passion was roused, and high
resolve ruled the hour, and when he was a leader in
company with
kindred spirits. These scenes must ever be of interest from their
connect-
ion with the events that led to national independence. In
weaving descriptions of them
into a biography which demands traits of
personal character, there is a liability of en-
croaching on the
province of history on the one hand, and, on the other, of being
in-
complete; and, while a view will be given of the great popular
demonstration in which
he was an actor, only so much general history
will be related as may be necessary to show
the working of political
influences on the community among whom he passed his life.
The
career of many of the Revolutionary men extends over a long period than
that of
Warren; but few have connected their names more enduringly with
vital principles or
salient events, and seldom is there seen a life of
nobler devotion to country, and
hence better calculated, by its lesson,
to strengthen patriotic influences. The contem-
plation of such a
character as the self-devoted martyr of the Battle of Bunker Hill,
is
the nobles spectacle which the moral world
affords.2
footnotes: 1. As he lived an ornament to his country, his
death reflected a lustre upon
himself, and the cause he so warmly
espoused - Eliot's Biographical Dictionary.
2. Everett's Warren. p.
182.
ANOTHER
SOURCE.
Subject: Joseph Warren
Source: Heroes of Wars - Biographical
Sketches of the Most Distinquished
by Willard W.
Glazier.
p.43
JOSEPH
wARREN.
No brighter name illumines our country's Roll of Honor than
that of Joseph Warren,
the hero of Bunker Hill. When the heel of
British tyranny would have crushed to
earth the sacred liberties of the
American people, this young patriot, distinguished already in the councils
of State, sprang to the defence of his
country, and willingly laid down
his life for the principles he had so fearless-
ly
advocated.
The Tree of Liberty grew apace, watered by such
martyr-blood as that of Joseph
Warren, and a grateful people hold his
name in immortal memory.
When a man thus makes himself the exponent
of an idea, when life itself becomes
a secondary consideration to
justice and to right - the world, always a hero-
worshipper - is
anxious to learn every detail of that life, to penetrate, if
possible,
the hidden springs of its action, and discover, if it may, out of
what
soil the hero took his growth.
REVOLUTIONARY WAR HERO.
p.44
Joseph Warren was born in Roxbury,
Massachusetts, in 1740, but the accounts we
have of his childhood days
are too meagre to furnish any hint of the boy that was
"father to the
man." It is supposed that he attended the grammar school of
Master
Lovell, where our forefathers received the training which
prepared them for
Harvard College. When only fifteen years old he
entered college, and graduated
with honors in 1759.
During his
university days he was looked upon as a boy of talent, and also acquired
the reputation of great personal bravery. After leaving college,
young
Joseph Warren began the study of medicine, and soon became
distinguished in his
profession. He was especially active during
the year 1764, when the small-pox
spread throughout Boston. At this
time he is described as an accomplished gentle-
man, of fine presence
and engaging address, winning favor alike from the learned
and the
humble. But his energies were not confined to the limits of his
profess-
ion. He soon became known as a fine writer and an eloquent
speaker.
From the year of the Stamp Act to the final breaking out
of hostilities between
the colonies and Great Britain, he did not cease
to advocate by pen and voice,
the rights of the colonies - fearlessly
condemning taxation as tyranny, and opnely
advocating resistance to
it.
THE SONS OF
LIBERTY.
During these years, when the seeds of the Revolution were
being sown, a secret
society, called the "Sons of Liberty" flourished
in Boston, which wielded a
powerful influence in politics. From the
year 1768, Dr. Warren was among its
principal members, and there formed
an intimacy with Samuel Adams. "Many of the
p.45
JOSEPH WARREN.
members of this club filled
public offices, and few in the outside world knew
from whence the
public measures of resistance to British tyranny originated."
In
1772 their numbers were increased and they met in a house near the
"North
Battery," where over sixty persons were present at their first
meeting. Dr.
Warren drew up the society regulations, and it is recorded
that "no important
measures were taken without first consulting him and
his particular friends."
Here were matured those plans of defence,
which saw their first fulfilment at
Lexington and Bunker
Hill.
After the tea was destroyed in Boston Harbor, the meetings of
this society were
no longer secret, but their place of rendezvous was
changed in the spring of
1775, from the "North Battery" to the "Green
Dragon" No member of this organi-
zation was more zealous than
Dr. Joseph Warren, no one more active in patriotic
measures. After the
bloody scenes of the Boston Massacre, he was a prominent
leader in the
efforts made by the town to effect the removal of the troops, and
was
appointed by the town, one of a committee of three to prepare an account
of
the affair, "that a full and just representation may be made
thereof." The
account was published, and sent to England in a
vessel chartered especially for
that purpose.
Dr. Warren was
elected member of the State Legislature from Boston for the term
of
1770, and his name figures conspicuously in the controversies of the
times,
and on committees appointed to draft important state
papers. In 1773 he was re-
elected and served his term with
distinguished success. In March of the year
previous, he delivered the
anniversary oration on
p.46
the Boston Massacre
of 1770, to a large audience in the Old South Church, Boston.
It was
delivered on invitation of the town committee, and was said to be a
brill-
iant effort. In this address he fearlessly charged Great
Britian with an invasion
of colonial rights and called on his audience
to resist the torrent of oppression
which was being poured upon them.
In the course of his oration, he gave utterance
to the following
memrable words:
Joseph
Warren.
"The voice of your fathers' blood cries to you from the ground,
'My sons, scorn
to be slaves! In vain we met the frowns of tyrants - in
vain we crossed the
boisterous ocean, found a new world, and prepared
it for the happy residence of
LIBERTY - in vain we toiled - in vain we
fought - we bled in vain, if you, our
offspring, want valor to repel
the assaults of her invaders!"
This address was printed and widely
distributed and a duly appointed committee
returned the thanks of the
town to the speaker.
During the exciting years of 1772, 1773 and
1774, Joseph Warren seems to have
been foremost in every movement
looking towards the liberties of the colonies.
Then, as now, there was
a conservative party in politics, which was afraid to
offend the
British Lion, and which desired reconciliation at almost any
price.
But if the minions of royalty cried, "Peace, Peace!" Warren
told them there was
no peace. His voice rang out everywhere,
counselling opposition to unjust laws,
encouraging the weak, and
winning, by force of logic, the faltering.
In 1772 he was one of
the celebrated Committee of Correspondence which, November
20th, handed
in its famous report of grievances. This important
p.47
WARREN.
document was arranged under three heads: First, "A
Statement of the Rights of the
Colonists." Second, "A List of the
Infringements of those Rights." And Third,
"A Letter of Correspondence
with other Towns."
Dr. Warren was the author of the second paper
and Mr. Barry sums up the "formid-
able array of complaints" as
follows:
.The assumption of absolute legislative powers.
. The
imposition of taxes without consent of the people.
.The appointment of
officers unknown to the Charter - supported by income de-
rived from
such taxes.
.The investing these officers with unconstitutional powers
- especially the
Commissioners of his Majesty's Customs.
.The
annulment of laws enacted by the Court after the time limited for
their
rejection had expired.
.The introduction of fleets and armies
into the colonies.
.The support of the executive and judiciary,
independently of the people.
.The oppresive instructions sent to the
Governor.
.The extension of the powers of the Court of
Vice-Admiralty.
.The restriction of manufacturers.
.The act relating
to dock-yards and stores which deprived the people of the
right of
trial by peers in their own vicinage.
.The attempt to establish the
American episcopate.
.The alteration of the bounds of Colonies by
decisions before the King and his
Council."
The paper was a
masterly production and its statements were clear and forcible.
The
the march of events went forward until a crisis was precipitated on the
colonies by the arrival of the celebrated tea in Boston Harbor.
Immediately,
the country was filled with excitement. "The Committee of
Correspondence and
the Selectmen of the towns summoned meetings; and
every friend of his country
p.48
A HERO
OF THE WAR.
was urged to make a united and successful resistance to
this 'last, worst, and
most destructive measure of the
administration.'"
November 29, 1773, a meeting was held at Faneuil
Hall which, for want of room,
adjourned to the Old South Church,
Boston, where Joseph Warren and John Hancock
and others were the
leading spirits of the occasion.
THE BOSTON TEA PARTY.
Of this meeting was born
the Boston Tea Party - the first Congress - and, event-
ually, American
Independence!.
In 1774, Dr. Warren was chosen a Delegate from
Suffolk County to the General
Assembly of Massachusetts, and became
thenceforward the leading man of the
province. At this time John
Hancock was President of the Provincial Congress,
but when he went to
the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, Joseph Warren was
elected to
fill his place. Meantime, the fourth anniversary of the Boston
Mass-
acre was at hand, and some of the British officers had threatened
that "they would
take the life of any man who should dare to speak on
that occasion."
Warren, hearing of the threat, solicited the
privilege of delivering the anni-
versary address !
On the day
appointed, the Old South Church was filled with an expectant
throng.
Large numbers of British soldiers crowded the aisles, stairways
and even the
pulpit. An ominous silence reigned throughout the
vast multitude as the waited
the arrival of Joseph Warren.
At
last he came, entering the church through a window in back of the pulpit.
His
friends were on the qui vive of alarm - fearing his assination.
Though standing
ready to avenge such a cowardly act, would that atone
for the murder of their be-
loved Warren?
p.49
JOSEPH WARREN.
But the crisis passed as
Warren, commencing his speech in a firm voice, waxed
eloquent as he
went on. He pictured the wrongs of the colonies; he proclaimed
the
corner-stone of his faith - "Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God"
-
he painted the scenes of the Boston Massacre in such colors and with
such pathos
of appeal, that the soldiery who had come there to awe him
by their presence, shed
tears at the sad picture. To the relief of the
friends of Warren, no outbreak
occurred during the address, though it
was frequently interrupted by the groans
and hisses of the Tories, and
the applause of the Patriots.
This speech aroused the enthusiasm of
the Country to the highest pitch - and all
hearts beat with the common
sentiment which he had proclaimed -
"Resistance to tyrants is obedience
to God."
One of Warren's biographers, speaking of this time, says,
"Such another hour has
seldom appeared in the history of Man, and is
not surpassed in the records of
Nations."! The thunders of
Demosthenes at a distance from Philip and his host;
and Tully poured
the fiecest torrent of his invectives when Cataline was at a
distance,
and his dagger no longer to be feared; but Warren's speech was made
to
proud oppressors, resting on their arms, whose errand it was to
overawe, and
whose business it was to fight. If the deed of
Brutus deserves to be commemorated
should not this instance of
patriotism and bravery be held in lasting remembrance?"
Samuel
Adams was moderator of this meeting, and notwithstanding some
disturbance
at the close of the oration, succeeded in finishing the
business on hand and dis-
persing the audience
peaceably.
p.50
On the fifteenth of April the Provincial
Congress adjourned - warned probably of
the approach of General Gage
with an armed force. Hancock and Adams, who re-
mained at
Lexington, were, it seems, the special objects of British hatred, and
a
plot was concocted for their seizure. That their lives were saved at
this time is
no doubt due to the efforts of Dr. Joseph Warren.
Paul Revere says that "on the
evening of April 18, 1775, he was sent
for in great haste by Dr. Warren who begged
that he would immediately
set off for Lexington and aquaint Adams and Hancock of
their
danger." But when the impetuous Revere arrived at Warren's house, he
found
that an express had already preceded him. It is said that Dr.
Warren participated
in the battle of the next day - April 19th - when
the first blood was shed in be-
half of American Independe3nce, and
that a ball took off part of his ear-lock.
The Revolutionary War is
Inaugurated.
Warren was a member of the Committee of Safety and on
May 19th this Committee was
delegated full powers by the Provincial
Congress to manage the military force of
the province. Everywhere, men
were flocking around the standard of liberty, and
the war of the
Revolution was now fully inaugurated.
WARREN - FOUR DAYS BEFORE THE BATTLE OF BUNKER
HILL.
Dr. Joseph Warren was commissioned a Major-General four days
before the Battle
of Bunker Hill, but did not assume command on that
historic day, choosing rather
to fight as a volunteer.
The day
before the battle, in a conversation with Mr. Gerry at Cambridge, he
dis-
cussed "the determination of Congress to take possession of Bunker
Hill." He said,
that for himself he had been opposed to it, but that
the majority had determined
upon it, and he would hazard his life
to
p.51
BUNKER HILL.
carry that
determination into effect. Mr. Gerry expressed his disapprobation
of
the measure, as he considered it impossible to hold, adding, "but if
it must be
so, it is not worth while for you to be present; it will be
madness for you to
expose yourself where your destruction will be
almost inevitable."
"I know it," Joseph Warren replied, "but I
live within the sound of their cannon,
how could I hear their roaring
in so glorious a cause and not be there?"
Again, Jr. Gerry
remonstrated, and concluded with saying, "As sure as you go there
you
will be slain!"
General Warren replied enthusiastically, "It is
sweet to die for one's country."!
That night he was busily engaged
with public affairs at Watertown, and did not
reach Cambridge until
five o'clock the next morning. Throwing himslef on a bed,
he
slept until nearly noon, when he was aroused with the news of the
approaching
battle at Charlestown. Hastily rising, he mounted his
horse and rode to the
scene of action - reaching Breed's Hill a short
time before the opening of the
battle. Colonel William Prescott
rode forward to resign his command and report
for orders, but Joseph
Warren did not choose to take the position at that time,
saying that he
considered it honor enough to fight under so brave an Officer.
He
borrowed a musket and a cartridge-box, and rushing into the hottest of
the
fray, encouraged the men by his brave words and braver example.
Three times the
British charged the redoubt on the hill, and were twice
driven back. At the third
charge, when the ammunition of the
Provincials gave out, and when a terrible en-
filading fire swept the
inner line of the redoubt, they were obliged to fall
back.
p.52
DR. JOSEPH WARREN KILLED.
Warren
was killed after the retreat began - one of the last to leave the
redoubt.
The fatal bullet pierced his brain, producing almost instant
death. He was buried
on the spot where he fell.
"And thus Warren fell
- happy death, noble fall.
To perish for country at Liberty's call.
!"
His presentiment had been fulfilled. His life had been freely
given for the cause
he held dearer than life.
Transcribed byJanice Farnsworth
Source: Killed in Action at the Battle of
Bunker Hill.
by Richard Frothingham.
Boston: Little, Brown
& Company.
1865.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the
year 1865 by Richard Frothingham
In the Clerk's Office of the
District Court of the District of
Massachusetts.
|
Adams National Historical Park
When a person dies suddenly, tragically, especially in the
“prime of life”, we tend to frame his /her life in those final moments. We
can all name such people: John F. Kennedy, Amelia Earhart, the victims of
September 11th. These are our heroes. Such a man was Joseph
Warren.
Joseph Warren was, undoubtedly, the hero of Bunker Hill and
by dying on that hill that June day in 1775; he became the embodiment of
the young nation’s sacrifice. The question remains; how do we separate the
hero from the man? How did Joseph Warren, physician, find himself on that
fated hill just six days after his 34th birthday?
Joseph Warren was
born in Roxbury, MA on June 11, 1741, the eldest of four sons of Joseph
Warren, a farmer, who died after falling out of an apple tree. Joseph, Jr.
would attend Harvard, teach briefly at the Latin School and then study to
be a physician (as his mother’s father had been). He married Elizabeth
Hooten on 6 September, 1764. Elizabeth brought as her dowry a considerable
fortune she had inherited.
Dr. Warren began his participation in
the radical cause in 1767, with the passage of the Townsend Acts. Warren’s
response was a series of articles in the Boston Gazette under the
pseudonym “A True Patriot”. These articles so angered the royal governor
that he attempted to charge Warren and the publishers of the newspaper
with libel, but the grand jury refused to bring forth a true
bill.
After the publishing of the articles, Warren’s star began to
rise in the radical circles. His friendship with Samuel Adams as well as
family ties with James Otis (his brother-in-law) and Masonic connection
with Paul Revere and other rebel luminaries would put him in the thick of
the separatist movement. Warren would become chairman of the Committee of
Safety after the “Boston Massacre” of 1770 and would deliver two of the
famous orations on the anniversaries of that event.
While Samuel
Adams was away in Philadelphia in 1774, attending to the business of the
Continental Congress, Joseph Warren assumed Adam’s leadership role in
Boston and became involved with the raising of militias and procurement of
arms and powder. A few months later Adams and John Hancock would return to
Massachusetts to find the Crown had placed a price on their heads. It was
Joseph Warren, who would direct Paul Revere and William Dawes to warn the
two leaders that British soldiers were heading toward their sanctuary in
Lexington, MA to arrest them on 18 April, 1775.
The news of the
skirmishes at Lexington and Concord would cause Warren to leave his
patients in the care of his assistant, William Eustis and ride toward the
scene of battle. He would spend the next six weeks readying the militia
for the inevitable battles to come. For his efforts, he was elected second
general in command of the Massachusetts forces by the Provincial congress
on 14 June, 1775.
After meeting with the committee of safety at
General Artemas Ward’s headquarters on Cambridge common on the morning of
17 June, Warren learned that British forces had landed at Charlestown.
About noon, he rode over to the American fortifications on Breed’s Hill.
The rest is the stuff of legends: Warren refused to take command, instead
going into the line as a regular volunteer. On the third and final British
assault near the redoubt, while attempting to rally the militia, Warren
was instantly killed by a ball between the eyes. The men that Warren had
rallied in those last moments were a spectrum of Massachusetts society:
merchants, farmers, mechanics, laborers; red men, black men, white men,
both slave and free; all fighting for their freedom. How ironic that
the leader was a slave owner.
The British forces, upon taking the
field, placed Warren’s body in a common mass grave. His remains were later
identified by Paul Revere, who identified him by the set of false teeth he
had fashioned for him.
Joseph Warren became an instant hero. His
death was immortalized in John Trumbull’s painting; “The Death of General
Warren” King Solomon’s Lodge honored their Grand Master with the first
Bunker Hill Monument, which now resides in the base of the present
monument. In New England, every state has a town named in his honor. In
death he was a hero, his life cut tragically short, and his potential
unknown.
He left four small children orphaned (their mother had
died in April, 1773), whose welfare remained in dire straits until 1778,
when General Benedict Arnold (who had befriended Warren at Cambridge) gave
$500 for their education and petitioned Congress for the amount of a major
–general’s half pay for their welfare until the youngest reached
majority.
In the course of just a decade, Dr. Joseph Warren
married, fathered four children, furthered the revolutionary movement in
Boston and died a hero’s death. Perhaps, Edna St. Vincent Millay could
have been speaking of Joseph Warren when she wrote, “My candle burns at
both ends; It will not last the night; But ah, my foes and oh, my friends,
it gives a lovely light!”
http://www.nps.gov/bost/historyculture/warren.htm
Joseph
Warren
To the tune of "The British Grenadiers"
That
Seat of Science Athens, and Earth's great Mistress Rome,
Where now are
all their Glories, we scarce can find their Tomb;
Then guard your
Rights, Americans! nor stoop to lawless Sway,
Oppose, oppose, oppose,
oppose, -- my brave America.
Proud Albion bow'd to Caesar, and
num'rous Lords before,
To Picts, to Danes, to Normans, and many
Masters more;
But we can boast Americans! we never fell a Prey;
Huzza, huzza, huzza, huzza, for brave America.
We led fair
Freedom hither, when lo the Desart smil'd,
A paradise of pleasure, was
open'd in the Wild;
Your Harvest, bold Americans! no power shall
snatch away,
Huzza, huzza, huzza, huzza, for brave America.
Torn from a World of Tyrants, beneath this western Sky,
We
form'd a new Dominion, a Land of liberty;
The World shall own their
masters here, then hasten on the Day,
Huzza, huzza, huzza, huzza, for
brave America.
God bless this maiden Climate, and thro' her vast
Domain,
Let Hosts of Heroes cluster, who scorn to wear a Chain;
And blast the venal Sycophant, who dares our Rights betray.
Preserve, preserve, preserve, preserve my brave America.
Lift
up your Heads my Heroes! and swear with proud Disdain,
The Wretch that
would enslave you, Shall spread his Snares in vain;
Should Europe
empty all her force, wou'd meet them in Array,
And shout, and shout,
and shout, and shout, for brave America!
Some future Day shall
crown us, the Masters of the Main,
And giving Laws and Freedom, to
subject France and Spain;
When all the Isles o'er Ocean spread shall
tremble and obey,
Their Lords, their Lords, their Lords, their Lords
of brave America.
SOURCE: Freedom Songs
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Somewhat
impetuous in his nature, but brave to a fault, Bro. Warren craved the task
of doing what others dared not do-the same courage imbued in Paul Revere,
Samuel Adams, and other patriots. On the anniversary of the Boston
Massacre(March 3, 1770) Warren was the orator. While it was a duty which
won him distinction, it was also one of peril. English military officers
usually attended in order to heckle Warren and it required a brave man to
stand up in Old South Church, in the face of those officers, to boldly
proclaim their bloody deeds. It required cool head and steady nerves, and
Grand Master Joseph Warren had both.
The crowd at the church was
immense; the aisles, the pulpits stairs, and the pulpit itself were filled
with officers and soldiers of the garrison, always there to intimidate the
speaker. Warren was equal to the task but entered the church through a
pulpit windows in the rear, knowing he might have been barred from
entering through the front door. In the midst of his impassioned speech,
and English officer seated on the pulpit stairs and in full view of
Warren, held several pistol bullets in his open hand. The act was
significant; while the moment was one of peril and required the exercise
of both courage and prudence, to falter and allow a single nerve or muscle
to tremble would have meant failure-even ruin to Warren and
others.
Everybody knew the intent of the officer and a man of less
courage than Warren might have flinched, but the future hero, his eyes
having caught the act of the officer and without the least discomposure or
pause in his discourse, he simply approached the officer and dropped a
white handkerchief into the officer's hand! The act was so adroitly and
courteously performed that Breton[British Officer] was compelled to
acknowledge it by permitting the orator to continue in peace.
SOURCE:
Warren Tavern
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A
Harvard-educated medical doctor and skilled orator, Dr. Warren arrived at
Bunker Hill with fresh news of his commission as Major-General in the
militia. When Warren asked the militia commander where he might be of
service in combat, General Israel Putnam replied much the same as Elbridge
Gerry had implored the evening before. The new Major-General was too
valuable to be risked at the front lines and would be of great assistance
in fortifying Bunker Hill to the rear of the American line. As president
pro tempore of the Provincial Congress, Warren was indeed a valuable man
to risk in combat. But he would have none of it.
Where, he asked
General Putnam, would the most fierce fighting likely take place? Putnam
pointed to nearby Breed's Hill, where Colonel William Prescott and his men
were finishing construction of a redoubt at the top of the hill. The
Breed's Hill redoubt was much closer to the likely landing point for any
British attack, and the view offered by the hill would make it useful to
the British in taking Bunker Hill afterward. Putnam reluctantly allowed
Warren to go up to the redoubt, and soon Warren was among those inspiring
the rank and file to hold fast when the British attacked. As Warren
arrived on the scene at Breed's Hill, Colonel Prescott offered General
Warren command of the redoubt. But Warren deferred to Prescott who had the
greater military experience.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr.
Warren was among the last of the patriots cut down during the third and
final British charge up Breed's Hill; he had stayed behind with a few
other volunteers to give the main force time to withdraw.
SOURCE: THE
NEW AMERICAN
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In
1775 a Harvard College graduate named Joseph Warren, M.D. volunteered to
fight in the Revolution. He refused the position of physician-general to
the Massachusetts militia saying he wanted a more hazardous service. This
led to his appointment as a major general of the colony’s fighting
force.
Joseph Warren, M.D. was well known for his studies of
smallpox. He also served as president of the Council of Safety as well as
Grand Master of Freemasons for North
America.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr.
Warren at age 35, became the first high-ranking officer to fall in the
American Revolution. A decision was made to bury him at the spot where he
fell. The next year after the British had been driven out, Dr. Warren was
reinterred in King’s Chapel with military and Masonic rites. Later the
Masons of Charlestown Mass. erected a 35-foot monument at the spot where
he fell. It stood for 40 years before being replaced by the Bunker Hill
Monument. A scale model of the Warren maker was placed inside the tall
granite obelisk.
SOURCE: How Warren County Got Its Name
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Warren,
MG Joseph
Despite a lack of military experience, Warren, a
physician by profession, was chosen as a Major General by the
Massachusetts Provincial Congress. He lead men into combat on April 19th,
1775. In this battle he was not so much a military leader, but an
inspiration to those men he commanded.
Warren also served in the
Battle of Bunker Hill, even though he had not yet received his commission
by the day of the battle. He served at the redoubt as an ordinary
volunteer, where he was killed. Warren's death contributed as much as the
respectable performance of the American troops to strengthening the
radicals politically and making reconciliation impossible after Bunker
Hill.
SOURCE: Worcester PolytechnicInstitute
On the
eve of our struggle for independence a man who might have been one of the
greatest among the Founding Fathers, Dr. Joseph Warren, President of the
Massachusetts Congress, said to his fellow Americans, "Our country is in
danger, but not to be despaired of.... On you depend the fortunes of
America. You are to decide the important questions upon which rests the
happiness and the liberty of millions yet unborn. Act worthy of
yourselves."
Well, I believe we, the Americans of today, are ready
to act worthy of ourselves, ready to do what must be done to ensure
happiness and liberty for ourselves, our children and our children's
children.
SOURCE: Ronald Reagan
http://roswell.fortunecity.com/fate/389/warren.html
There
is a statue of Gen. Joseph Warren at 3 Park Street in Boston, MA,
on
land once owned by his son-in-law Gen. Arnold Welles.
The four
Warren brothers, sons of Joseph WARREN and Mary STEVENS
of
Roxbury:
1. Gen. Joseph WARREN, a doctor
2. Samuel "Sam"
WARREN, wanted to stay on the farm in Roxbury.
3. Ebenezer "Eben"
WARREN took a liking to law.
4. John "Jack" WARREN was devoted to his
oldest brother and followed in
his footsteps as a doctor. Jack was the
child who found their father in
the family apple orchard where he had
fallen from a tree and died.
All the Warren brothers were Patriots.
Joseph treated the wounded at
the Battle of Lexington and was killed
during the Battle of Bunker
Hill. Samuel fought at the Battle of
Lexington. John "Jack" enlisted
in Col. Pickering's Reg. of the Foot,
which marched from Salem to
Charleston but arrived too late.
1.
JOSEPH WARREN m Elizabeth HOOTON (age 18) on 6 Sep 1764 at
the
Congregational Church, Brattle Street, Boston, MA. She has
been
described as sweet, kind and beautiful, "the only daughter of the
late
Richard HOOTON, merchant, deceased." Elizabeth (Hooton) WARREN d
27 Apr
1773, age 26. Their children went to Roxbury to live with
Grandma Mary
WARREN after Elizabeth's untimely death. Then Joseph
became engaged to
Mercy SCOLLAY of Boston and he took his children to
live with her
family. (The Scollays were not allowed to leave during
the siege of
Boston.) Paul REVERE named one of his sons Joseph WARREN
REVERE.
Joseph was elected as 2nd Major General of the Continental
Army. He had
refused the Surgeon-in-Chief position because he wanted to
fight with
the soldiers. He died at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Benedict
ARNOLD
sent $500 to Mercy SCOLLAY to help care for the orphaned
children of
Joseph & Elizabeth WARREN. Through ARNOLD's efforts,
the orphans were
also awarded by Congress with a pension amounting to
half Joseph's army
pay until they came of age. The Green Dragon Tavern
at Union near
Hanover was often patronized by Joseph WARREN and Paul
REVERE before the
Revolution.
Children of Joseph WARREN and
Elizabeth HOOTON:
1. Elizabeth "Betsey" WARREN m Gen. Arnold WELLES and
d childless in
1804.
Named after her mother.
2. Joseph WARREN d
unmarried, in his early 20's.
Named after his father and paternal
grandather.
3. Mary "Polly" WARREN. Name after paternal grandmother
Mary
(Stevens)
WARREN.
m/1 - lost all her children
m/2 -
NEWCOMB. They had son:
1. Joseph WARREN NEWCOMB. He had two
children:
1. WARREN Putnam NEWCOMB (Capt.) was cadet at West Point
and
resided at Fort Sheridan, Illinois.
2. Daughter NEWCOMB
4.
Richard "Dick" WARREN, d unmarried in early 20's. Named
after
maternal
grandfather.
2. SAMUEL "SAM" WARREN, stayed on
the farm in Roxbury.
[No further info found in book.]
3.
EBENEZER "EBEN" WARREN took a liking to law. He had a son named
Ebenezer WARREN who wrote a pamphlet titled "The Letheon."
[No
further info found in book.]
4. JOHN "JACK" WARREN ( 27 Jul 1753 -
4 Apr 1815) (the youngest brother
of Gen. Joseph WARREN. John "Jack"
fell for Abigail COLLINS of Boston
soon after the Battle of Bunker
Hill. Abby, age 15, had been staying in
Cambridge in the care of Col.
(later Gen.) MIFLIN for safety. A Quaker,
Abby was the daughter of the
Governor of R.I. who had an estate near
Newport. John and Abby were
married on 4 Nov 1777 in Boston. In 1785,
they were living on School
Street in Boston with: five of their
children (two had died at birth),
Joseph & Elizabeth WARREN's four
orphans, servants, a cook,
chambermaid, a little girl, and Negroes:
Cuff, Mrs. Nickerson and
Black Abram. Slavery had ended in 1780 with
the passage of the MA state
constitution. At the time of John's death
in 1815, he was survived by 9
children and Abby. He was buried in the
WARREN family tomb at the foot
of the Common with his brother Gen.
Joseph WARREN; Quaco - a Negro
servant who had drowned at Mill Pond; and
10 children who had died
before him. Abby died 1832, age 72. Their
disavowed son John was in
China in 1832. Some of John and Abby's
children:
1. John C.
WARREN b 1 Aug 1778; d 4 May 1856 (Oliver Wendell HOLMES
gave the
euology); m/1 Susan Powell MASON, dau/of Jonathan MASON, on 17
Nov
1803. Susan died 3 June 1840. About 1842, John C. WARREN m/2
Anne
WINTHROP, dau/of Thomas L. WINTHROP & a descendant of the
first governor
of the Masschusetts Bay Colony. Ann d Dec 1851. John C.
was a doctor
and editor of The New England Journal of Medicine. John C.
WARREN &
Susan Powell MASON had 5 children:
1. John WARREN b
1804; d 10 May 1806.
2. Susan Powell WARREN b 28 Jul 1806; m Charles
LYMAN.
She d age 50.
3. John WARREN who was disavowed, sent to
McLean Asylum; d 4 Dec
1875.
*4. Jonathan "Mason" WARREN b 5 Feb
1811; d 19 Aug 1867.
Please see * section below; it's out of
sequence.
5. James "Sullivan" WARREN b 21 Nov 1812; d 6 Feb 1867; m
Elizabeth
Tilden LINZEE, a descendant of the British Naval Officer
whose ship
fired on Bunker Hill during the Revolution.
6. Mary
Collins WARREN b 19 Jan 1816; m ___ DWIGHT. She converted
to
Catholicism.
7. Emily WARREN b 10 May 1818.
2. Joseph WARREN d
Apr 1824 insolvent. He had a daughter by
Charlotte/Carlotta DOANE of
Milton, MA and was sent to Maine to look
after lands received by his
father. He married Charlotte/Carlotta in
1807 and their children
were:
1. Harriet WARREN b 1805
2. Joseph WARREN b 1807
3. John
WARREN
4. Edward WARREN
5. Mary Ann WARREN
6. Henry Augustus
WARREN
7. Abby WARREN
8. Frances Adelaide WARREN
3. Mary WARREN m
Dr. John GORHAM
4. Rebecca WARREN m Dr. J.B. BROWN
5. Harriett
WARREN m Henry PRICE/PRINCE, Esq.
6. William WARREN, d age 4.
7.
Charles WARREN went to Steubenville, Ohio.
8. Henry WARREN went to
Maine.
9. Daughter WARREN
10. Edward WARREN d 1878; the youngest
child and family biographer, m
Caroline Rebecca WARE, dau/of Henry
WARE, a professor at Harvard.
Edward won 3 Boylston Prizes and
practiced medicine in Boston and Newton
Lower Falls. Edward is
sometimes confused with another Edward WARREN
who was the son of
Ebenezer WARREN who wrote a pamphlet "The Letheon."
A Southern Dr.
Edward WARREN can be distinguished by the title "Bey"
which he received
in Turkey.
Out of sequence (see above child of John C. WARREN &
Susan Powell MASON:
* Jonathan "Mason" WARREN was born 5 Feb 1811;
d 19 Aug 1867; m 30 Apr
1839 to "Annie Caspar" CROWNINSHIELD who was
baptized Anstiss. She was
the middle child of eleven and d 19 Aug 1867.
Her sister Elizabeth was
married to Rev. William MOMFORD. Mason and
Annie had children:
1. Mary Crowninshield WARREN b 1841.
2. John
"Collins" WARREN b 1842; d 3 Nov 1927, age 85. Collins WARREN
served in
the Civil War as a volunteer: first, as acting medical cadet
at a
Philadelphia hospital; second, as acting assistant surgeon with
a
special group of volunteers atationed near Richmond, VA where
they
treated the wounded at the Battle of Cold Harbor. He m Amy SHAW 27
May
1872 at Emmanuel Church, Boston. Amy died 13 Sep 1923, age 72.
Their
children were:
1. John WARREN b 6 Sep 1874; d 17 Jul 1928
Boston. He was
commissioned a major in the Medical Corps on 11 Apr 1917
during WWI. He
trained medical officers at Camp Greenleaf,
Georgia.
2. Joseph WARREN b 1875; went into law; m 1905 Constance
Martha
WILLIAMS, whose father was a Prof. of Law at Harvard, and they
had:
1. Daughter
2. Richard WARREN b 1907; m 1935 Cora LYMAN/ dau/of
Dr. Henry LYMAN
& Elizabeth CABOT. Their children were:
1. Janet
WARREN
2. Constance WARREN
3. Richard Agassiz WARREN m MOORE.
4.
John Collins WARREN.
3. Daughter
4. Daughter
3. Jonathan Mason
WARREN b April 1843; d 1845.
4. Rosamond "Rossie" WARREN b 1846; m 1871
Charles Hammond GIBSON.
They lived at 137 Beacon St., Boston. They had
a son:
1. Charles H. GIBSON, Jr.
5. Eleanor "Nellie" WARREN m 1872
Thomas MOTLEY.
6. Anne "Annie" WARREN never married.
7. Julia Mason
WARREN
8. Isabelle WARREN b 185 __; d infant.
On 6 May 1853,
Mason, Annie, Collins and his cousin Ben MIFFLIN took
the train from
NYC to Boston. They sat in the second car which was
farther back than
usual. At Norwalk, CT, the engineer did not notice
that the bridge was
open and plunged the train into the water. Everyone
in the first car
was killed. Fortunataely, they survived.
***
Source: "The
Doctors Warren of Boston: First Family of Surgery" by
Rhoda
Truax
Published 1968 by Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. Copyright
©1968 by
Rhoda Truax.
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