The Continental Congress issued eight Thanksgiving Proclamations between 1777 and 1784.

The First National Proclamation of Thanksgiving: Continental Congress, 1777

"FOR AS MUCH as it is the indispensable Duty of all Men to adore the superintending Providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with Gratitude their Obligation to him for Benefits received, and to implore such farther Blessings as they stand in Need of: And it having pleased him in his abundant Mercy, not only to continue to us the innumerable Bounties of his common Providence; but also to smile upon us in the Prosecution of a just and necessary War, for the Defense and Establishment of our unalienable Rights and Liberties; particularly in that he hath been pleased, in so great a Measure, to prosper the Means used for the Support of our Troops, and to crown our Arms with most signal success.

"It is therefore recommended to the legislative or executive Powers of these UNITED STATES to set apart THURSDAY, the eighteenth Day of December next, for SOLEMN THANKSGIVING and PRAISE: That at one Time and with one Voice, the good People may express the grateful Feelings of their Hearts, and consecrate themselves to the Service of their Divine Benefactor; and that, together with their sincere Acknowledgments and Offerings, they may join the penitent Confession of their manifold Sins, whereby they had forfeited every Favor; and their humble and earnest Supplication that it may please GOD through the Merits of JESUS CHRIST, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of Remembrance; That it may please him graciously to afford his Blessing on the Governments of these States respectively, and prosper the public Council of the whole: To inspire our Commanders, both by Land and Sea, and all under them, with that Wisdom and Fortitude which may render them fit Instruments, under the Providence of Almighty GOD, to secure for these United States, the greatest of all human Blessings, INDEPENDENCE and PEACE: That it may please him, to prosper the Trade and Manufactures of the People, and the Labor of the Husbandman, that our Land may yield its Increase: To take Schools and Seminaries of Education, so necessary for cultivating the Principles of true Liberty, Virtue and Piety, under his nurturing Hand; and to prosper the Means of Religion, for the promotion and enlargement of that Kingdom, which consisteth 'in Righteousness, Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost:'

"And it is further recommended, That servile Labor, and such Recreation, as, though at other Times innocent, may be unbecoming the Purpose of this Appointment, be omitted on so solemn an Occasion."

Read all eight congressional proclamations>>

George Washington's Proclamation

George Washington delivered the first presidential proclamation on October 3, 1789, at the city of New York.

You can view a video interpretation by Jonah Goldberg of the "National Review" by clicking the arrow button. The full text follows below.

Note: after the video plays, you will see links to other videos on YouTube, which can be really good or really offensive--just like everything else on the Internet. So just be judicious in your clicking.

"Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor, and Whereas both Houses of Congress have by their Joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanks-giving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.

"Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks, for his kind care and protection of the People of this country previous to their becoming a Nation, for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his providence, which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war, for the greatest degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed, for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

"And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions, to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually, to render our national government a blessing to all the People, by constantly being a government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executived and obeyed, to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord. To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and Us, and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best."

The History of Sons of Liberty

By Compatriot Lowell Downer

The Sons of Liberty was a secret organization of American patriots which originated in the pre-independence British North American colonies. 1765 in response to the widely hated Stamp Act. Great Britain's national debt had doubled in the decade after 1754, partly because of the expenses of supporting troops in colonies in the wake of the French and Indian War . Believing that the colonists should pay more for their protection instead of further burdening the British tax payer, Britain's Parliament placed a tax on legal documents, customs papers, newspapers, almanacs, college diplomas, and playing cards. The American colonists viewed the Stamp Act as a serious danger to liberty. To them, property was the source of strength for every individual because it provided the freedom to think and act. independently. the Stamp Act threatened to destroy liberty because it deprived a person of property. It also insulted the colonists by implying that they were second-class citizens who were not entitled to consent to their own taxation.

The Sons of Liberty, centered in the colonial seaports, protested against the Stamp Act legislation and sought to nullify the tax though terrorism. They took their name from Isaac Barre's speech opposing the act in the British House of Commons. Barre had closed with a reference to the American colonists as "these sons of liberty." The resisters consisted mostly of traders, lawyers, and prosperous artisans. These men violated the Stamp Act by refusing to purchase stamps. In every colonial city, mobs instigated by the Sons of Liberty burned stamp collectors in effigy, insulted them on the streets,demolished their offices, and attacked their homes. All stamp agents in the American colonies, with the exception of ones in sparsely settled Georgia, had resigned before the Stamp Act officially became law on November 1, 1765.It was repealed in 1766. British authorities and their supporters, known as Loyalists, considered the Sons of Liberty as seditious rebels, referring to them as "Sons of Violence" and "Sons of Iniquity." Patriots attacked the apparatus and symbols of British authority and power such as property of the gentry, customs officers, East India Company tea, and as the war approached, vocal supporters of the Crown. In the popular imagination, the Sons of Liberty was a formal underground organization with recognized members and leaders. More likely, the name was an underground term for any men resisting new Crown taxes and laws. Newspaper articles, handbills, referred to "True Born Sons of Liberty," "Sons of Freedom," "Loyal Nine","Liberty Boys", and "Daughters of Liberty." The label let organizers issue anonymous summons to a Liberty Tree, "Liberty Pole", or other public meeting-places, let Patriot groups in one town communicate with those elsewhere, and let any man or boy imagine himself a Son of Liberty. Their motto became known as, "no taxation without representation." While the officers and leaders of the Sons of Liberty "were drawn almost entirely from the middle and upper ranks of colonial society, they recognized the need to expand their power base to include "the whole of political They organized the lower classes such as sailors, dockworkers, poor artisans, apprentices,, and servants. society, involving all of its social or economic subdivisions." Prominent leaders included Charles Thomson, tutor/secretary, Philadelphia Haym Solomon, financial broker, New York Thomas Young, doctor, Boston Paul Revere, silversmith, 1 Boston Joseph Warren, doctor / soldier, Boston Benjamin Edes, journalist/publisher Boston Gazette, Boston Alexander McDougall, captain of privateers, New York City Patrick Henry, lawyer, Virginia John Hancock, merchant/smuggler/fire warden, Boston Isaac Sears,captain of privateers, New York City John Lamb, trader, New York City James Otis, lawyer, Massachusetts Marinus Willett, cabinetmaker/soldier, New York John Adams, lawyer, Massachusetts and his second cousin, Samuel Adams, tax collector/fire warden, Boston who was a leader of the New England resistance. Willam mackay, merchant,Boston Benedict Arnold- businessman, Military, Norwich Conn. Silas Downer, A prominent lawyer from Providence Rhode Island and pamphleteers spoke as a Sons of Liberty member at one of the famed Liberty Trees in 1768.

Liberty Trees were sites in the original colonies where individuals would meet to discuss or to plot independence from Great Britain. The original Providence Liberty Tree was dedicated by the Son of Liberty on July 25, 1768. It was located on Olney Street in front of a public house owned by Joseph Olney.

The tradition of dedication a tree of liberty probably goes back to the ancient practice of Saxon clans' assembling to hold their tungemoot (town meeting)under some large tree. Under Norman rule since the eleventh century, the Saxons would dedicate a tree of liberty to symbolize their former liberty. In any case, the practice was common in the American colonies well before the struggle for independence.

Let's go back in time to before the American revolution for independence. There were small community, hamlets, villages --in short, there was a sense of community so lacking in today's urban sprawl.

At or near the center of town, oft-times at the fork in the road, was often a large tree, typically an Elm, which served the purpose of bulletin board, public notice board, newspaper, and legal notice section of the contemporary urban newspaper. If there was to be a barn-raising, a citizen would post a written notice upon the tree. When an official decree or warrant,was wished to be know by all, a copy would be posted upon that tree. When a citizen had a complaint or petition, or perhaps, just news from a letter from England, the information was posted to that tree. It was the first information system of the colonies beyond word of mouth.

The Mother Country's passage of the Sugar Act in 1764 levying a duty on sugar and molasses imports so essential to Providence distilleries and to the "triangular trade" in rum and slaves, set motion a wave of local protest which crested in 1776 As the colonies edged toward the brink of separation with England because of subsequent measures such as the Stamp Act, the Townshend Duties, the Tea Act, and Coercive Acts, the town of Providence became a leader of the resistance movement. In the 1760's Providence pamphleteers Stephen Hopkins and Silas Downer expounded a federal theory of the British Empire which would divide sovereignty between the colony and the crown, thus preserving local autonomy including the power to tax. I know not," wrote John Adams in his later years, Why we should blush to confess that molasses was an essential ingredient in American independence." Recent investigations of the role of the merchants in the successive agitations which culminated in the Revolution have abundantly documented Adams's belief.

It was pertinent especially to the first organized movement of protest in 1763 and 1764, before the threat of the Stamp Act served to broaden--and complicate--the issues.

Some of the local reactions to the revised commercial policy of the British government, and to trace their relation to that first significant, though abortive, intercolonial movement of protest. In Rhode Island notably, commerce and politics were so inextricably mingled that rum and liberty were but different liquors from the same still.

After graduating from Harvard, Downer settled in Providence, Rhode Island where he united minor political appointments with small business ventures to launch a career that eventually won him considerable repute as a lawyer.

Politics seems to have been too attractive, however, to permit any great success in accumulating wealth. He was a rebel in the cause of resistance that steadily developed into a demand for independence, involving himself from their first appearance in the activities of the Providence Committee of Correspondence and several other local organizations devoted to information and arousal of the Rhode Island citizenry. The passionate plea for liberty printed here was delivered to a Providence audience eight years before the fateful Declaration of Independence.

"But of late a new system of politics has been adopted in Great Britain, and the common people there claim a sovereignty over us although they be only fellow subjects. It is now an established principle in Great Britain that we are subject to the people of that country, in the same manner as they are subject to the Crown. The language of every paltry scribbler, even of those who pretend friendship for us in some things is after this lordly style--our colonies, western dominions, our plantations, our islands, our subjects in America, our authority, our government, with many more like imperious expressions. Strange doctrine that we should be thus subjects of subjects, and liable to be controlled at their will. It is enough to break every measure of patience that fellow subjects should thus assume such power over us. If the King was an absolute monarch and ruled us according to his absolute will and pleasure, as some Kings in Europe do their subjects, it would not be any degree so humiliating and debasing, as to be governed by one part of the King's subjects who are but equals.

"A standing army in time of profound peace is cantoned and quartered about the country to awe and intimidate the people. Men-of-war and cutters are in every port, to the great distress of trade. Unless we exert ourselves ... sentry boxes will be set up in all streets and passages, and none of us will be able to pass without being brought to by a soldier with his fixed bayonet, and giving him a satisfactory account of ourselves and business. Perhaps it will be ordered that we shall put out fire and candle at eight of the clock at night, for fear of conspiracy. For such fearful calamities may the God of our fathers defend us. Wherefore, dearly beloved, let us with unconquerable resolutions maintain and defend that liberty wherewith God hath made us free. Let nothing discourage us from this duty to ourselves and our posterity. Our fathers fought and found freedom in the wilderness; they crop themselves with the skins of wild beasts, and lodged under trees and among bushes; but in that state they were happy because they were free. Should these, our noble ancestors, arise from the dead, and find their posterity truckling away that liberty which they purchased for so dear a rate, for the mean trifles and frivolous merchandise of Great Britain, they would return to the grave with a holy indignation against us. Let us, therefore, in justice to ourselves and our children break off a trade so pernicious to our interest, and which is likely to swallow up both our estates and our liberties. We cannot, we will not, betray the trust reposed in us by our ancestors; we will be free men or we will die."

Members were drawn from across class distinctions, although these borders were less well-defined in colonial America. In order to do this, the Sons of Liberty relied on large public demonstrations to expand their base. They learned early on that controlling such crowds was problematic, although they strived to control "the possible violence of extra-legal gatherings." While the organization professed its loyalty to both local and British established government, possible military action as a defensive measure was always part of their considerations. Throughout the Stamp Act Crisis, the Sons of Liberty professed continued loyalty to the King because they maintained a "fundamental confidence" in the expectation that Parliament would do the right thing and repeal the tax.

The Sons of Liberty died down after the the Stamp Act's repeal, although some leaders such as Silas Downer of Rhode Island tried to keep the organization alive. Downer wanted the Sons of Liberty to stay mobilized for immediate action against any future threats to colonial liberties by British government. He began a Committee of Correspondence to alert other Sons of Liberty chapters about British misgovernment.

The writer desires to acknowledge of Frederick Bernays Wiener , "The Rhode Island Merchants and the Sugar Act;" "Sons of Liberty Summary," BookRags.com; "Silas Downer: Forgotten Patriot--His Life and Writings," Providence: Rhode Island Bicentennial Foundation 1974, by David A. Copeland; "Silas Downer, Forgotten Patriot" by Carl Bridenbaugh, 1974; Rhode Island Bicentennial Foundation, "The Reformed Christian Legacy of Dominion," Vision Forum Ministries, Carroll's Rhode Island: "Three Centuries of Democracy."

It's that time! We need to collect membership dues by December 15. This year, it's easier than ever because we can accept dues via PayPal right on our Web site. Of course, you can always mail them as well. The chapter dues of $15 will go toward making sure we are active in as many of the important SAR initiatives as possible:

• Americanism Elementary School Poster Contest
• The Joseph S. Rumbaugh Historical Oration Contest
• The George S. & Stella M. Knight Essay Contest
• ROTC/JROTC Recognition Program
• Massing of the Colors
• Arthur M. & Berdena King Eagle Scout Scholarship
• Tom & Betty Lawrence American History Teacher Award

CASSAR and NSSAR dues go to funding the many worthwhile projects of our Society. Have you read the NSSAR's Long-range Plan?

There are many project and activities you can become involved in. You just need to volunteer! Let's make this Chapter a leader in inspiring the community with the principles on which our nation was founded, maintaining and extending the institutions of American freedom, providing recognition for public service, supporting veterans and distributing an unbiased history curriculum.

Renew your membership>>

To further the study of the American revolution, your webmaster is reviewing out-of-print texts to bring quality scholarship to you. Over the next months, I will publish a commentary on each battle of the Revolution in order of occurrence.

The author of each is Colonel Henry B. Carrington, MA, LLD, who wrote "Battles of the American Revolution 1775-1781." Published by AS Barnes & Company in 1876. The work is in the public domain, and not subject to copyright. He was professor of natural science and Greek at the Irving Institute in Tarrytown, New York, from 1846 to 1847. Under the influence of the school's founder, Washington Irving, he wrote "Battles of the American Revolution." Carrington subsequently became adjutant general for Ohio, mustering ten regiments of militia at the outbreak of the American Civil War and organizing the first twenty-six Ohio regiments. Learn more>>

It was nearly three o'clock of the afternoon of the seventeenth of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy five, that the solid mass of silent veterans which had landed upon Moulton's Point, and had prepared themselves with due deliberation to execute the order of the day, moved forward to attack the American army, then entrenched on the summit of Breed's Hill.

To General Howe himself was entrusted the responsibility of breaking up the American left wing, to envelope it, take the redoubt in the rear, and cut off retreat to Bunker Hill and the mainland. The light infantry, therefore, moved closely along the Mystic river, threatening the extreme left, while the grenadiers directed their advance upon the stone fence, with their left wing demonstrating toward the unprotected gap which was clearly exposed between the fence and the short breastwork next the redoubt. General Pigot, who commanded the left wing, advanced directly against the redoubt itself.

The movements were heralded by a profitless artillery fire from Morton's Hill, but this soon ceased, for all the solid shot ready for use was designed for twelve-pounder guns, and those in position had the caliber of sixes. The prompt order to use only grape, was followed by an advance of the pieces to the edge of an old brick-kiln, the spongy ground and heavy grass not permitting their ready handling at the foot of the hill slope, or even just to its right. The guns, thus advanced, thereby secured a more effective range of fire upon the skeleton defenses of the American centre, and an eligible position from which subsequently to effect a more direct fire upon the exposed portion of the American front, and upon the breastwork and redoubt themselves.

The advance of the British army was like a solemn pageant in its steady headway, and like a parade for inspection in its completeness of furnishment. This army, bearing their knapsacks and the full equipment for campaign service, moved forward as if by the very force of its closely knit columns it must sweep away all obstructions, and overturn every barrier in its way. But right in the way was a calm, intense, and energizing love of liberty.

It was represented by plain men of the same blood, and of equal daring. Contrast marked those opposing Englishmen very distinctly that summer afternoon. The plain men handled plain firelocks. Ox-horns held their powder, and their pockets held the bullets. Coatless, under the broiling sun, unencumbered, unadorned by plumage or service medals, looking like vagabonds after their night of labor, and their day of hunger, thirst and waiting, this live obstruction was truly in the way of that advancing splendor. Elated, conscious, assured of victory, with firm step, already quickened as the space of separation lessens, there is left but a few rods of interval, a few steps only, and the work is done.

A few hasty shots impulsively fired, but quickly restrained, drew an innocent fire from their front rank. The pale men behind the mock defense, obedient at last to one will, answered nothing to that reply, and nothing to the audible commands of those steady columns, waiting still.

It needs no painter to make the scene seem clearer than it appears from the recital of sober deposition and the record of surviving participants on either side. History has no contradictions to confuse or explain away the realities of that fearful tragedy.

The left wing is near the redoubt. It is nothing to surmount, a bank of fresh earth but six feet high, and its sands and clods can almost be counted,  is so near, so easy, sure!

Short, crisp, and earnest, low toned, but felt as an electric pulse from redoubt to river, are the words of a single man Prescott! Warren by his side repeats it! That word runs quickly along the impatient lines. The eager fingers give back from the waiting trigger. "Steady men!" "Wait until you see the white of the eye!" "Not a shot sooner!" "Aim at the handsome coats!" "Aim at the waist-bands." " Pick off the commanders!" "Wait for the word, every man, steady!''

Those plain men, so patient, can already count the buttons, can read the emblem on the belt-plate, can recognize the officers and men whom they have seen on parade at Boston Common.  Features grow more and more distinct. The silence is awful. These men seem breathless, dead! It comes, that word, the word, waited for "Fire!" On the right, the light infantry gain an equal advance, almost at the same instant that the left wing was treading so near the humble redoubt. Moving over more level ground, they quickly make the greater distance, and have passed the line of those who marched directly up the hill. The grenadiers also move upon the centre with the same serene confidence, and the interval has lessened to the gauge of space which the spirit of the impending word defines. That word, waits behind the centre and the left wing, as it lingers behind the breastwork and redoubt. Sharp, clear, and deadly in tone and essence it rings forth "Fire! "

From redoubt to river, along the whole sweep of devouring flame, the forms of brave men wither as in a furnace heat. The whole front goes down! For an instant the chirp of the cricket and the grasshopper in the freshly cut grass, might almost be heard, then the groans of the suffering, then the shouts of impatient yeomen who leap over obstacles to pursue, until recalled to silence and to duty.

Staggering, but reviving, grand in the glory of their manhood and the sublimity of their discipline, heroic in the fortitude which restores them to self-possession; with a steady step in the face of fire, and over the bodies of the dead, the remnant dare to renew the battle. Again, the deadly volley, and the shattered columns, in spite of entreaty or command, move back to the place of starting, and the first shock of battle is over.

A lifetime when it is past, is but as a moment! A moment sometimes, is as a lifetime! Onset, and repulse! Three hundred lifetimes ended in twenty minutes.

Putnam hastened to Bunker Hill to gather scattering parties in the rear, and to facilitate the passage of reinforcements across the isthmus, where the fire from the British shipping was maintained with destructive energy. But the battle at last had to depend mainly upon the men who had toiled all night, and who had gained confidence and firmness by the experience of those eventful hours. Nothing could bring the reinforcements in time.

The British troops rapidly re-formed their columns. Never, on other battle fields, did officers more gloriously evince the perfection of discipline, and the perfection of self-devotion. The artillery was pushed to the front, and much nearer to the angle made by the breastwork next the redoubt, and the retiring line through the open gap to its left. The American officers animated their men, and added fresh caution not to waste a single shot. The guns of Gridley and Callender were temporarily employed at the unprotected interval near the breastwork, and then withdrawn to the rear. The company of the latter officer became scattered and never returned to the fight. The remainder of the line kept up to duty, and resumed the silent waiting which had been so impressive before the attack began.

The British columns again advanced, and deployed as before across the entire extent of the American lines. The ships of war redoubled their effort to clear the isthmus of advancing reinforcements. Shot and shell cut up the turf, and dispersed the detachments which had reached the summit of Bunker Hill, and the companies which had been posted at Charlestown to annoy the British left, were driven to the shelter of the redoubt.

Charlestown had already been fired by the carcasses which fell through its roofs, and more than four hundred wooden houses kindling into one vast wave of smoke and flame, added impressiveness and terror to the scene, while a favoring breeze swept its quivering volume away from the battle field, leaving to the American forces a distinct and suggestive view of the returning tide of battle.

Nearer than before, the British troops press on! No scattering shots anticipate their approach this second time. It is only when a space of hardly five rods is left, and a swift plunge could almost forerun the rifle's flash, that the word of execution impels the bullet, and the front rank, entire, from redoubt to river, is swept away. Again, again, the attempt is made to inspire the paralyzed troops, and rally them from retreat; but the living tide flows back flows back even to the river.

Another twenty minutes, hardly twenty-five, and the death angel has gathered his battle harvest, five hundred sheaves of human hopes, as when the Royal George went down beneath the waters with its priceless values of human life.

At the first repulse, the 38th regiment had halted under the shelter of a stone wall by the road which passes around the base of Breed's Hill, between the slope and Morton's Hill. At the second repulse, the same regiment supported on its left by the 5th, held a portion of its command in check, just under the advanced crest of the hill, and gradually gathered in the scattering remnants for a third assault.

The condition of the British army is one of grave responsibilities and grave issues. That which had the color of a simple dispersion, and punishment of half-organized and half-armed rebels, begins to assume the characteristics of a "forlorn hope” in a most desperate struggle.

"A moment of the day was critical," said Burgoyne.

"A continuous blaze of musketry incessant and destructive," says Stedman.

The British officers pronounced it, " downright butchery to lead the men afresh against those lines," says Gordon.

"Of one company not more than five, and of another not more than fourteen escaped," says Ramsay.

"Whole platoons were laid upon the earth like grass by the mower's scythe," says Lossing.

"The British line totally broken, fell back with precipitation to the landing place," says Marshall.

"Most of our grenadiers and light infantry, the moment they presented themselves, lost three-fourths, and many nine-tenths of their men. Some had only eight and nine men a company left, some only three, four, and five," is the statement of a British letter, dated July 5th, 1775, and cited by Frothingham.

"A shower of bullets. The field of battle was covered with the slain," says Botta.

"A continuous sheet of fire," says Bancroft.

“The dead lay as thick as sheep in a fold," said Stark.

It was just at this protracted interval, yet less than a single hour, that each army evinced the great qualities of their common blood.

Clinton and Burgoyne had watched the progress of events from Copp's Hill, and with true gallantry and courage, the latter threw himself into a boat with reinforcements, and volunteered to share the issue of a third advance. Four hundred marines additional to the 1st battalion which had remained at the landing place, hurried across the narrow river, and these united with the 47th regiment under General Clinton, were ordered to flank the redoubt, and scale its face to the extreme left, while General Howe with the principal part of the grenadiers and light infantry, supported by the artillery, undertook the storming of the breastworks bending back from the mouth of the redoubt, and so commanding the entrance.

The remnants of the 5th, 38th, 43d, and 52d regiments under General Pigot, were ordered to connect the two wings, and make an attack upon the redoubt in front.

A demonstration was also made against the American left, more to occupy its attention than to force the defenses. The artillery was to advance a few rods, and then swing about to the left, to sweep the breastwork for Howe's advance.

The preparations were nearly complete. It only remained to bring the men to their duty. Knapsacks were unslung, every needless encumbrance was laid aside, and the troops moved forward stripped for fight.

The power of discipline, the energy of wise commanders, and the force of every possible incentive which could animate British veterans of proud antecedents, and established loyalty, combined to make the movement as memorable as it was momentous.

Within the American lines the preparation involved equal responsibility, but under fearful discouragement. Few of the troops had three rounds of ammunition left. During the second attack a part of the men loaded while others fired, and the expenditure of powder was commensurate with the results. The remaining cannon cartridges were economically distributed, and there was no longer any hope that substantial aid would come to their relief. There were less than fifty bayonets to the entire command, and gloomy apprehensions began to be entertained, but not at the expense of a firm purpose to fight to the last.

During the afternoon General Ward sent forward his own regiment and those of Patterson and Gardner. The last named officer led three hundred of his men safely across the isthmus, reached Bunker Hill, and commenced to throw up earthworks under the direction of General Putnam, but was soon ordered to the lines, and was mortally wounded while executing the order. Few of his men actually participated in the fight, the majority, after his fall, returning to Bunker Hill. Adjutant Febiger, a Danish officer, gathered a portion of Colonel Gerrish's regiment, reached the redoubt as the last action commenced, and did good service, but the other regiments were too late.

Putnam, impressed with the critical nature of another attack, devoted himself wholly to an attempt to establish another position on Bunker Hill for accumulation of reinforcements, and a point of resistance, in case the advanced positions should be abandoned, but he could accomplish nothing in the face of the activity of the shipping, now delivering its fire at short range.

Within the redoubt itself, and along the slender line, all was resolution and attention to duty. Colonel Prescott appreciated thoroughly the purpose of the enemy as soon as the sudden wheel of the British artillery to the left, indicated their power to concentrate its fire upon his lines of retreat, and the reduction of the redoubt. The order was given to reserve every shot until the enemy should come within twenty yards. One single volley was delivered as the attack was made at the same moment upon three sides of the ill-fated work. For an instant the columns were checked, but in another they dashed forward with bayonets fixed.

Those who first surmounted the parapet fell. Major Pitcairn was mortally wounded as he entered the works. Lieutenant-colonel Abercrombie, Majors Williams, and Speedlove shared his fate. A single artillery cartridge was distributed for a last effort, and then, intermingled with the assailants, fighting with clubbed guns and stones, the garrison yielded the contest, and each for himself, under Prescott's order, made a quick retreat. Prescott and Warren were the last to leave, and the latter, just without the redoubt, shot through the head, gave life to the cause he had so valiantly defended.

But with the capture of the redoubt, the struggle was not ended. Major Jackson rallied Gardner's men on Bunker Hill, and with three companies of Ward's regiment and Febiger's party, an effort was made to cover the retreat, and a vigorous fire was for a short time maintained upon the advancing enemy. It saved more than half of the garrison.

At the rail fence and clear to the river, Starks', Colt's, Reed's, and Chester's companies twice repulsed an attack, and by a resistance, prolonged as long as their powder held out, they afforded opportunity for the fugitives from the redoubt to make good their retreat. Then they also fell back, in no precipitate flight, but with a fair front, and a steadiness worthy of their brave resistance.

Putnam made one more effort to halt the men at Bunker Hill, but without bayonets or ammunition, worn out in physical strength, and hopeless of a successful resistance, the retreat became general, and the day closed with their occupation of the field works of Prospect Hill, and other defenses nearest of approach.

The British army occupied Bunker Hill, but did not pursue beyond the isthmus. General Clinton advised an immediate attack upon Cambridge, but General Howe declined the attempt. Both armies were too worn out to renew battle, and Colonel Prescott's gallant offer to retake the position if he could have three fresh regiments, found no response from the committee of safety and council of war. Both armies lay on their arms all night, equally apprehensive of attack.

The losses are given as officially stated, and as adopted by Stedman, and Bancroft.

British casualties: Nineteen officers killed, and seventy wounded; of rank and file, two hundred and seven killed, and seven hundred and fifty-eight wounded. Total British casualties, 1054.

American casualties: One hundred and forty five killed and missing, and three hundred and four wounded. Total American casualties, 449.

Thus each army lost nearly one-third of the forces brought into real action.

Review the Roll of Fallen Patriots>>

Thus brief is the record of a battle, which, in less than two hours destroyed a town, laid fifteen hundred men upon the battle field, equalized the relations of veterans and militia, aroused three millions of people to a definite struggle for National Independence, and fairly inaugurated the war for its accomplishment.

The prompt occupation of Prospect Hill, referred to in the text, was in keeping with General Putnam's purpose to resist at every point; and the ultimate value of this position which he occupied, as he stated to the Committee of Safety," without having any orders from any person," was very determining in its relations to the siege. Its advanced flanking posts of Lechmere Point, Cobble Hill and Ploughed Hill, afterwards developed by General Washington, combined their cross fire, and thus sealed Charlestown Neck. A protracted halt on Bunker Hill, as appears from notes on the battle, would have been fatal to the whole detachment: but his occupation of Prospect Hill was eminently judicious.

The Chapter needs your input!  In viewing other SAR Chapter sites, I came across something that’s a great idea: publishing the biographies of the Chapter member’s Patriot Ancestors.  This is not only of interest to the other Chapter members, it serves as an important resource to our cousins out there who are searching for their ancestors.  What better way to honor the memory of those who sacrificed for our nation’s founding that to tell their story.

The reason I chose the illustration of a faceless patriot used for our web site is that most of us don’t know what our ancestors looked like.  Their features are lost to us.  However, with a little work, we can all find out where they were and what their life was like at the time of the Revolution, based on contemporary accounts of the people around them.  This brings them to life and makes the Revolution more real to all of us.

So, I invite all Chapter members to submit a biography for each of their Patriot Ancestors.  Each can be as long or as short as you like (that’s another advantage of the Web).  You can use illustrations as well, but keep in mind the must be your own photos, or images in the public domain.

We already have some posted on our Web site, so take a look and get started on yours today!

View the biographies>>