Fallen Founder

Surgeon Spymaster

For hours, Doctor Joseph Warren had been piecing together reports and rumors from sources close and not so close to Boston’s British occupiers. One of the last of the Committee of Safety left in the city, he served as organizer of spies and reporter of rumor, innuendo, and sometimes—intelligence. He glanced at the Almanack on his desk. It read April 18th,1775.

Joseph Warren remained in occupied Boston

The soft rap at the door stirred him from his writing.

“What brings ye here at this early hour?” he asked. The visitor was one of his better sources.

“A column is definitely leaving in the morning. Hoping to seize the rebel leaders, Hancock and Adams. They’ll be traveling over water.”

Warren scratched out the rest of his source’s information. “Thank ye, sir.”

Warren ran sources across Boston

When the informant left, he summoned two of his ablest men. For weeks, his dwindling network had sent him bits and pieces about British activity, but this was a strong warning, and he needed to act. When William Dawes and Paul Revere arrived, he gave them instructions, saying finally, “The good work of patriots have provided enough warning to steal a march on the British, but we must get the word we must take advantage of it. Go now, and Godspeed!”

Nightriders spreading the word

The spymaster, whose tireless intelligence work helped launch thousands of farmers and townsfolk against the cream of the British Army, was well-known to the authorities. A farmer, Harvard scholar, schoolmaster, surgeon, and family man, he was a political activist who pushed back against Crown policies.

Doctor Joseph Warren

From Surgeon to Patriot

Born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 1741, young Joseph Warren rose from being a yeoman farmer to becoming part of the colony's landed gentry. After attending Harvard, he studied medicine under Doctor James Lloyd. Warren became a prominent surgeon and was celebrated for adopting the new technique of immunization against smallpox during a devastating outbreak in the community. One of his patients, a lawyer named John Adams, recruited Warren into his circle of political confidants.

Pioneer in smallpox treatment

From Whig to Radical

The Stamp Act of 1765 transformed Warren from a moderate Whig into a leading radical in Boston politics, aligning him with Sam Adams, John Hancock, and James Otis. Political gatherings over coffee and raucous protests soon began to compete with his practice, farm, and family. However, the brilliant thinker, organizer, and man of action found time for everything. What truly set him apart was his leadership by example.

Equally fervent politico Sam Adams

 

Passionate Speaker

Warren had a talent for retail politics, writing broadsheets, organizing events, and delivering speeches that energized crowds. He opposed the flood of regulations from London and the Royal Governor. The Stamp Act, in particular, infuriated him. On the second anniversary of the Boston Massacre, Warren delivered a powerful and impassioned oration as he defiantly stared down the British in the audience.   

Defying the Stamp Act

From Radical to Rebel

His passionate speech brought him notoriety across Massachusetts and beyond. Warren gained celebrity throughout the colony for his scorching speech memorializing the second anniversary of the Boston Massacre. Two years later, he was an original member of Boston’s Committee of Correspondence. 

Committees of Correspondence drove 

the Revolutionary agenda

In 1773, Warren was among the leaders protesting forcefully against the Tea Act imposed by London, and he likely had a hand in planning the Sons of Liberty’s famous raid that December on the merchant ships—the Boston Tea Party.

Boston Tea Party Organizer?

Not content with being the spymaster behind the scenes, Warren saddled up the day after dispatching the night riders and rode out to the Concord battlefield, put on his surgeon’s hat, and began treating the wounded militiamen. For the next few months, he was a whirlwind of political leadership and military action. 

Riding to the battlefield - rare photo

Political Leader

As president of the Third Massachusetts Provincial Congress, he acted swiftly to spread the word and garner support across the colonies for transitioning from rebellion and insurgency to war. His account of the actions at Lexington and Concord reached readers in England a fortnight before General Thomas Gage’s official dispatch.

Warren's London dispatch scooped General Gage

Military Leader

While doing all this, he helped General Artemus Ward assemble and shape the militia regiments of the New England Army forming around Boston—soon locking the redcoats in a cauldron from which they would never escape. Warren’s talent and decisive actions gained him an appointment as a major general of the militia on 14 June 1775. Fate and his innate modesty would deny him the assumption of those duties.

 

First Commander - Artemus Ward

Besieging Boston

The rattling of drums meant the British were stirring, and spies reported plans to assault the Americans digging in on Breed’s Hill in Charleston—a town across the water north of Boston. Warren arrived with a musket, pistol, and saber but refused to pull rank and assume command from the commander in loco, French and Indian War veteran General Israel Putnam. Instead, Warren volunteered to fight in the line, serving under Colonel William Prescott.

Israel Putnam

Breed's Hill

On 17 June 1775, the regulars ferried to the neck, and rows of redcoats assembled at the base of the long sloping hill where the rebels waited. The New Englanders were ready in all respects: will, determination, and courage, plus the high ground, prepared breastwork with ample fields of fire. However, they lacked a crucial element of 18th-century warfare—gunpowder. The volunteer Warren fought bravely with his comrades and fellow patriots— who shot two determined British attacks to pieces in volleys that filled the air with lead and smoke. 

The Crimson Wave

Warren’s commander, Colonel Richard Prescott’s steely eyes, watched the wave of crimson rumble up the hill one last time—barely enough powder for a volley—not enough to stop them. At the last possible moment, he ordered them to fire. The woosh and boom of the volley attested to its weakness. The redcoats dropped, but not in the numbers previously. Now, they were coming with their own grim determination.

William Prescott scans the battlefield

Overwhelmed and Cut Down

The patriots’ lack of powder allowed the third British charge to breach the breastworks and push into the trenches. A ferocious melee erupted, leading to chaotic hand-to-hand combat. Warren aided in covering the retreat of his comrades but was quickly gunned down. Later, the redcoats, enraged by their heavy losses at Breed’s that day, pierced his body with bayonet thrusts. Days later, Warren’s body suffered further mutilation and decapitation at the hands of a naval officer, Lieutenant James Drew. Following these atrocities, the body of arguably one of the most prominent and promising men in America was discarded into an unmarked grave.

Desecration of a Hero

Fallen Founder

Joseph Warren’s ravaged remains lay in a shallow grave—discovered some ten months later when the British had, at last, evacuated Boston. His brother and Paul Revere identified the remains through dental forensics. Revere, the tinsmith, had fashioned teeth for the doctor. Doctor Joseph Warren was officially buried at Forrest Hills Cemetery in 1855. One of the first lamented martyrs of the Revolutionary War is commemorated by a statue in the Bunker Hill Monument.

Joseph Warren Statue  at Bunker Hill Monument

 

Had he not fallen, it is not clear to what heights Joseph Warren could have climbed in service to his country. Some opine that he might have led the Cause instead of George Washington. Because Virginia was critical to the Cause, it is not likely that Warren would have been chosen. Even less likely, he would have accepted the command. However, his political canny, organizational energy, and leadership might have made the Continental Congress much more effective, especially in terms of support for the beleaguered Continental Army. 

Old Put

Old Put

The topic for this blog is People—the subject is Israel Putnam. Full disclosure: I was born in Putnam County, New York, and my other nom de plume is Kent Putnam (since I was born in the Town of Kent). However, the reason I chose Old Put as this week's subject is that a Yankee Doodle Spies Facebook friend recommended it. Simple as that!  

Israel Putnam

Israel Putnam isn't a name that immediately comes to mind when asked about military leaders of the American Revolution. Besides His Excellency, Lieutenant General George Washington, people more readily think of Nathaniel Greene, Henry Knox, Horatio Gates, and even Benedict Arnold. This is somewhat understandable since Putnam's notable achievements came early in the war, and age and health issues slowed him down and eventually stopped him when a stroke left him paralyzed.

A French and Indian War Hero

Born in Massachusetts, Putnam moved to Connecticut as a young man, where he became a landholder. When the French and Indian War erupted, he joined the renowned Rogers' Rangers, where he rose to the rank of Major. Putnam fought fiercely and participated in combat on Lake Champlain, then ranged as far north as Montreal, as far south as Cuba (where he is said to have brought the first Cuban tobacco seeds to Connecticut, sparking an industry), and as far west as Detroit. 

Putnam Joined Roger's Rangers

In an era when a 100-mile trip could be life-threatening, this was no small feat. His exploits during the French and Indian War became legendary in colonial America. His capture and brutal torture by the Indians particularly struck a chord at a time when such an incident was every frontier American's worst nightmare. Ironically, a French officer saved him from the worst abuses and death. Later, he was released but soon joined the British attack on Cuba, where he helped seize the famous Spanish fortress, El Moro.

The Siege of Boston

By the time of the American Revolution, Putnam was a wealthy landowner and businessman. However, when the fighting intensified around Boston in 1775, he left his comfortable farm and hurried east to offer his services, becoming second in command of the rebel forces outside Boston. His most notable achievement was at Bunker (Breed's Hill), where he was largely credited with the brave efforts that caused the British Army to suffer greater losses than it could afford.

Bunker Hill:  Old Put is on the far left

The Battle of New York

The following year, he was in New York, where he worked tirelessly to strengthen the city's defenses. When George Washington arrived with the main army, Old Put was given command of a division and the daunting task of defending western Long Island (today's Brooklyn). Unfortunately, he contracted a virus just as the British commander, Lord Howe, sent over 20,000 men against his small force. This is where we see him in The Patriot Spy. In a brief scene, Old Put has recovered from his illness and is offering advice to my fictional character, Jeremiah Creed.

Command on Long Island

Fighting on despite Ill Health

After the New York campaign, age and illness slowed him down, preventing him from taking on another major field command. However, later in the war, Putnam played a leading role commanding Continental and militia forces "in observation" from the North (now Hudson) River to western Connecticut. A large British force under New York Royal Governor Tryon invaded Connecticut in February 1779. The Loyalist and British troops devastated eastern Connecticut in a blitzkrieg-style attack, burning farms and towns while trying to root out rebels.

Governor Tryon

The famed Horseneck Escape 

While trying to block the British advance near Greenwich, Connecticut, Put's small observation force was caught off guard by an enemy column with cavalry leading the way. While shaving that cold morning, Putnam saw the approaching British column before his scouts did. Dropping his straight razor and drawing his sword, he leaped onto his horse and rallied his men, narrowly avoiding capture. 

Old Put's Ride

British dragoons and the notorious Delancey Tories galloped after the general as his men eluded them. After a long and desperate chase, he made a dramatic escape by riding his horse over a precipice and down a very steep, icy ravine. The surprised enemy halted at the edge and fired their pistols in vain at Old Put. Putnam waved his sword back with taunting words to the frustrated British, whose balls whizzed past him. One of the bullets is said to have pierced his military cap.