Founding Martyr by Christian Di Spigna

Author:Christian Di Spigna
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Crown/Archetype
Published: 2018-08-13T16:00:00+00:00

On their return, in Lexington, Smith’s troops were fortunate to meet with Lord Hugh Percy’s reinforcements—he arrived from Boston with two field pieces. Percy let the beleaguered soldiers rest and used his fresh troops to engage the relentless patriot flanks. The continual firing of his moving cannons helped keep the swarming militia units at a careful distance.

Warren met with patriot Gen. William Heath at a meeting of the Committee of Safety at the Black Horse Tavern in Menotomy. He then followed Heath into battle. That afternoon, in addition to treating the wounded, Warren fought in the heated skirmishes against King George’s Royal Soldiers as they pushed their way toward Boston. In Menotomy the fighting had become particularly intense; there “from his ardor in pressing on them [Warren] was near being killed. A musket-ball came so close to him as to take off a lock of his hair which curled close to his head.” For Warren this incident may have inspired feelings similar to those of George Washington, who had escaped several close calls with death in battle: “I can with truth assure you, I heard bulletts [sic] whistle and believe me there is something charming in the sound.” Perhaps some part of Joseph Warren believed that he could not die on a battlefield.

The British troops had been marching for nearly twelve hours. They were outnumbered, their ammunition was running low, and their casualties were on the rise.

The disastrous expedition finally came to a close when British troops reached Bunker Hill in Charlestown around sunset. General Heath ordered the militia to pull back, since Gage’s troops now occupied the high ground of Bunker’s Hill where he had a good defensive position for his troops to prevent the militia units from coming over the neck. Moreover, the flash from the provincials firing their muskets exposed their positions to British cannonade. In describing the fighting of the patriots, one British soldier wrote, “They fought like bears, and I would as soon storm hell as fight them again.” The British forces had suffered close to three hundred casualties, almost triple the American casualties.

The following day Warren personally wrote Gage, telling him, “Your Excellency, I believe knows very well the part I have taken in public affairs: I ever scorned disguise.” Both men, he suggested, “rely upon the honor and integrity of each other” in allowing people to hasten to their respective sides. Perhaps trying to make a personal appeal to Gage’s decency, Warren expressed regret that he had never “broken through the formalities which I thought due to your rank and freely told you all I knew or thought of public affairs” because of the “vileness and treachery of many persons around you, who, I supposed, had gained your entire confidence.” Gage never recognized Warren’s authority.

The Committee of Safety met over the next few days, and Warren composed a letter to the Massachusetts towns imploring all New Englanders to assist in the formation of a patriot army. Although the language carried his familiar

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