A Matter “of too small importance to be noticed”

Here’s another snapshot of the situation in Massachusetts in September 1774, from the records of the Worcester Convention.

The Whigs were trying to stop all court proceedings under the Massachusetts Government Act to communicate their belief that law violated the constitution. A court clerk in Worcester County, Samuel Paine (1753-1807), was continuing to issue summons for jury duty, and the convention demanded an explanation.

On 21 September, the convention read this message from Paine:

To the several gentlemen of the committees of correspondence for the county of Worcester, now convened in Worcester,

Gentlemen:—

I thought I gave you all the satisfaction, relative to my issuing the warrants, at your last meeting, which could reasonably be expected: still, you have demanded of me more. As I considered myself, in that matter, as acting merely officially, and, as such, had no right to judge of the propriety or impropriety of the act of parliament, and my issuing the warrants gave the people, who were the only judges, an opportunity to determine for themselves whether they should be complied with or not, upon this representation, I hope I shall stand fair in the eye of my countrymen.

Should not this be a sufficient excuse for me, you must know, gentlemen, that I was regularly appointed clerk of the peace for this county, by the justices, in September last, and, as the said justices of the court of general sessions of the peace, as well as the inferior court of common pleas for this county, whose servant I am, on the sixth day of September current, did give assurance to the body of the people of this county, then assembled at Worcester, that they would not endeavor to put said act in execution, so, gentlemen, I give you the same assurance.

Your devoted servant,
SAMUEL PAINE.

The convention voted that that letter was “not satisfactory” and turned it over to a committee composed of Joseph Henshaw (1727-1794) of Leicester, Timothy Bigelow (1739-1790) of Worcester, and Ephraim Doolittle (d. 1802 at an old age) of Petersham. After “some time,” those men came up with this recommendation:

The letter appears to have been written by a young man, who, by his connections, has lately started into the office of clerk of the sessions and inferior court, through the indulgence of the bench of justices. The letter is affrontive to the convention, and in no respect answers their reasonable requisitions.

Considering the person who wrote it, the committee are of opinion, it is of too small importance to be noticed any further by the convention, and therefore recommend, that said letter be dismissed, and the person treated with all neglect.

Oh, snap!

Hope and Pain on Bunker Hill

Yesterday I quoted the start of a 12 July 1775 letter from Richard Hope, surgeon for the British army’s 52nd Regiment in Boston. That was actually Dr. Hope’s second report on the Battle of Bunker Hill to relatives back in England. He had sent another letter (probably now lost) immediately after the battle, and he had some corrections to make.

I doubt not but my Sister Sukey has given you and the rest of my friends a particular account of the action, to whom I wrote immediately after; but I erred very largely in my list of the killed and wounded on our side, as I only made it from my own conjecture and observation and no other returns had then been given on to the Commander in Chief of the losses of the several Regiments; I mentioned our having lost in killed and wounded five hundred men, sorry am I to contradict that report, for on a minute examination I find our numbers are more than double.

General [William] Howe who commanded that day had about two thousand men and six pieces of cannon; the rebels had upwards of six thousand in their Redoubt and breastworks; all the houses of Charlestown were lined with men, and during the engagement they received three different reliefs of a thousand each time; yet did our small army charge with so much bravery, as to gain a compleat victory: and put the rebels to a total rout in spite of their superior numbers, and advantageous situation, who left their cannon behind them and part of their wounded.

As the men posted in the houses began to fire on our troops which galled them horribly as they advanced, General Howe was obliged to send orders to our ships and a battery of twenty four pounders at Boston to burn the town; this was soon effected, and the enemy found the place too hot for them, so they joined their party in the redoubt, who pelted our men with such a continued heavy fire, that it was more like the report of thunder than of muskets.

The 52nd. Regiment had three Captains killed in the field, the Major and two Subalterns are since dead of their wounds, and three Captains and two Subalterns remain very badly wounded, three of them in much danger; We had about thirty killed on the spot of our private men, and eighty wounded, a fourth part of whom will die, forty seven of the worst cases with the whole sick of the Regiment were for want of room in the general Hospital forced on me; this is quite unpresidented to oblige a regimental Surgeon to bear the charge in time of war of wounded soldiers, and this injustice will be above forty pounds out of my pocket, a noble recompence for nineteen years service; then the fatigue is so great that I have not had five hours rest any night since the action; so that thro’ weakness of body, uneasiness of mind, and being half starved, I am brought low enough.

This victory is of important consequence, otherwise the enemy would have soon burnt Boston and annoyed our fleet, but we had too many men fell to be able to pursue the fugitives, or to thin them in their retreat, and the only advantage we have gained by the conquest is a spot of ground to encamp on which we have stronly [sic] fortified, about two miles from it the rebels have an amazing redoubt on the top of a very high hill with every kind of work for defence, that it would take twenty thousand to enable the General to attack it.

In short our little army is so much reduced by the two battles, that if Britain does not arouse from her lethargy and send out three parts of her fleet and a reinforcement of at least twenty thousand men, she may bid adieu to her empire in the western world, and we that are already here engaged in her cause, must fall victims to it; and I would not give a hundred pound for an estate of a thousand a year on the life of any man in this army. It would pierce a heart of stone to hear the daily shrieks and lamentations of the poor widows and fatherless left desolate and friendless three thousand miles from home in a land of wretches worse than savages, for even savages exceed them in humanity.

Like the 22 June letter from Loyalist Samuel Paine, Dr. Hope’s account provides a very high estimate of the number of provincials involved in the battle. Instead of two British advances stopped late by musket fire followed by a third successful charge, Hope described “a continued heavy fire” from the rebel positions.

Paine wrote of expecting the king’s troops to “advance into the country, laying waste & devastation wherever they go.” In contrast, Dr. Hope felt that the provincials’ new fortifications on Winter Hill and Prospect Hill were much too formidable to attack. In fact, he warned that Britain might soon lose its “empire in the western world.”

That difference between the Paine and Hope letters might be due to the time elapsing between them as the new situation became clear to the royal authorities. However, after reading several of the army surgeon’s letters, I think that his temperament was involved. Whether in Québec or Boston or New York, Dr. Hope always found something to complain about. His letters home express a lot of pain and very little hope.

Samuel Paine: “all the Horrors of War, Death & Rebellion”

Here’s another eyewitness account of the Battle of Bunker Hill, from a different perspective. Samuel Paine was a Loyalist who moved from Worcester to Boston in June 1775 “after passing thro’ too many Insults and too Cruel Treatment.”

On 22 June, Paine wrote to his brother in London with an update on the war:

After the Concord Expedition Affairs took a turn. A Large Army was immediately raised, & every Passage to the Town of Boston invested, the Prov’l Congress, conducted Extremely well, put their Army on Pay, by issuing a Large Sum of Paper Currency, and they appeared very formidable, having Plenty of Artillery. In various Rencontres with the King’s Troops they got the Better, were flush’d with Victory & held a British Soldier in the highest Contempt, but the surrender of the Important Fortress of Ticonderoga to the American Arms, heightened their Enthusiasm.

In this situation of their Minds last Friday night, being very dark, Many Thousands took Possession of a High Hill in Charlestown (called Bunker’s) that commanded the whole of this Town, & before Morn’g they had compleated a Redoubt, & such Intrenchments as did Honor to the Engineer, & this Town lay Exposed to a fire which must have ruined it unless prevented. As soon as it was discovered from Cops Hill, near the ferry on which is a fine Battery, the Lively, Glasgow, & Battery began to play, and a most furious Cannonade began upon the Rebels, which they return’d seven Times upon the Town. Instead of Quitt’g their post large Reinforcements were sent from Cambridge Head Quarters of their Army. Matters here began to be Serious.

About 1 o’clock all the Grenadiers & light Infantry of the whole Army, reinforced to about 3,000 under the Conduct of the Gallant Lord Howe [actually his brother, Gen. William Howe], & [Col. James] Abercromby Embarked from the Long Wharf, with 12 Brass Pieces & landed at a Point of Land back of Charlestown, in full view of the Rebels, who still kept their Post. The Troops being annoy’d from some Houses in Charlestown, the ships threw Carcases into it, and in a few min. the whole Town was in flames, a most Awful, Grand & Melancholy Sight. In the Mean, the Troops marched on toward the Hill for the Intrenchments, under a most heavy fire of Artillery, on both sides.

Never did I see such a Day; I was on Beacon Hill in full Prospect. In about thirty Min’s the Troops were nigh the works exposed to an amazing Fire of small Arms, for by this Time, the Rebels amounted to 10,000. In a few min’s we heard the shouts of the British Army, whom we now saw Entering the Breast Works & soon they entered, and a most terrible slaughter began upon the Rebels, who now were every one shifting for himself. The Troops pursued them over the Neck, beyond [Robert] Temples House, & were Masters of the Field of Battle. The Troops have suffered Extremely, there being about 24 Officers killed & near 60 wounded and about 700 Rank & File killed & wounded.

The Rebels lost a vast many, among whom was Doct. [Joseph] Warren, a noted Rascal, & Willard Moore of Paxton a Lt. Col. We have about 30 Prisoners here, some of whom are to be Executed. After the firing ceased I went over, & Good God, what a Sight, all the Horrors of War, Death & Rebellion. The British Army is encamped upon the High Hills in Charlestown, in fine Spirits, [and] will advance into the Country as soon as possible, laying waste & desolation wherever they go.

In fact, the British military was so spent by the battle that they didn’t make another large attack for the rest of the siege. Nor did they execute any of the American prisoners, though many died of their wounds in the Boston jail. But Paine’s predictions reveal one aspect of the emotional response to the bloody battle.

Paine’s letter is also notable for how much strength it ascribes to the provincial forces: up to 10,000 men, capable of “a most heavy fire of Artillery.” American veterans tended to downplay their numbers, and the artillery support was small and sporadic. Paine also didn’t describe the three waves of the British advance as most American witnesses did.

The recipient of this letter, Dr. William Paine, served as a British army surgeon for most of the war. In the late 1780s, however, he returned to Worcester and eventually cofounded the American Antiquarian Society with Isaiah Thomas. The society published this letter in 1909.