Sam Forman's Blog, page 14
July 15, 2014
Solemnly Engage That They Will Not Take Up Arms Against the King’s Troops
Date: April 22, 1775 “Joseph Warren to the Select Men and Inhabitants of the Town of Boston Gentlemen— The Committee of Congress being informed that General Gage has proposed a Treaty with the Inhabitants of the Town of Boston, wherein he stipulates that the Women and Children with all their Effects shall have safe Conduct [...]
July 8, 2014
Is James Swan Featured in Trumbull’s ‘Bunker’s Hill’ – Probably Not
Commentary: Previously we published Frederick C. “Rick” Detwiller’s assertion, accompanied by compelling circumstantial evidence, that controversial Patriot James Swan (1751-1830) is depicted as the heroic protector of the mortally wounded Dr. Joseph Warren in the central vignette of John Trumbull’s iconic historical painting Bunker’s Hill. The painting begs understanding on several levels, as it was, [...]
July 1, 2014
The Peripatetic Life of James Swan
Commentary: In the previous entry, I expounded on Mr. Frederic C “Rick” Detwiller’s assertion that controversial patriot James Swan appears as a key, and heretofore unidentified, figure in John Trumbull’s iconic painting Bunker’s Hill. The shirtless and shoe-less blonde young man in the painting bravely wards off an aggressive bayonet thrust by a menacing British [...]
June 24, 2014
Is James Swan Featured in Trumbull’s Bunker’s Hill?
Commentary: Recently Frederic C. “Rick” Detwiller called to my attention to his belief that James Swan (1754-1830) may well be a key, and heretofore unrecognized figure depicted in John Trumbull’s iconic painting of the Battle of Bunker Hill. In the central vignette of Trumbull’s painting a supine Joseph Warren stares upward at the moment of [...]
June 17, 2014
Remarks for Bunker Hill Day
Date: June 17, 2014 Bunker Hill Monument, Charlestown, MA Samuel A. Forman In many of our annual commemorations, dating back at least to 1857, representatives of the United Kingdom have joined us as here at the Bunker Hill Monument as honored guests. I have heard wits remark on this presence as the British indulging, with [...]
June 10, 2014
Inlist from their Respective Towns and Districts with Good and Sufficient Blankets
Massachusetts Provincial Congress Resolution In Provincial Congress, at Watertown, April 23, 1775. RESOLVED, That the following Establishmet of Forces now immediately to be raised for the Recovery and Preservation of our undoubted Rights and Liberties, be as follows, viz per Month. To each Colonel of a Regiment of 598 Men £.15 0 0 To 1 [...]
June 3, 2014
An Imprudent Degree of Warmth in Some Instances
“In Committee of Safety, Cambridge, April 26, 1775. Doctor Nathaniel Bond, of Marblehead, having been charged before this Committee with having acted an unfriendly part to this Colony, the said Committee appointed Joseph Warren, Esq., Colonel Thos. Gardner, and Lieut. Colonel Joseph Palmer, as a Court of Inquiry, to examine witnesses in the case, [...]
May 27, 2014
First News of the Capture of Ticonderoga
“Extract of a Letter from Joseph Warren to John Scholly Esq:r Dated Watertown May 17:th 1775 Colonel Castor [Arnold?] is now giving his Account in the Congress of the Reduction of the Fort Ticonderoga by a Body of Troops from Connecticut and the Western parts of this Province, Commanded by himself and Colonel Allen. The [...]
May 20, 2014
Not Fifty People In The Whole Colony Ever Expected Any Blood Would Be Shed
“Committee of Donations Cambridge, May 15, 1775. Dear Sir, – I received your very kind letter, enclosing a bill of exchange of four hundred and twenty dollars, in favor of the distressed poor of Boston, upon Mr. Rotch, which I shall take the first opportunity of sending to him, not doubting but it will be [...]
May 13, 2014
Appealing to Heaven for the Justice of Our Cause, We Determine to Die or Be Free
“In Provincial Congress, Watertown, April 26, 1775. To the Inhabitants of Great Britain: Friends and fellow-subjects: Hostilities are at length commenced in this Colony by the Troops under command of General Gage; and it being of the greatest importance that an early, true, and authentick account of this inhuman proceeding should be known to [...]
