July 4, 1776 is the date we might easily rely on for thinking about the beginning of our War of Independence with Britain, but it was 1775 during the winter to spring months of the Siege of Boston – especially March 17, the Loyalist Evacuation of the city of Boston – that opened the prospect for the Declaration of Independence. It is hard to imagine the seemingly reversed image of the Siege at Boston, which included some of most memorable battle or skirmish names in the entire war, like Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill – but the siege itself was laid by American patriot militiamen against British troops garrisoned within the city of Boston at a handful of defendable spots. This was the beginning of the hot war not yet declared. Here, sides were beginning to be taken. Would your family stay loyal to King George III, ruler from a land across the Atlantic, or participate in a revolution and risk everything for the notion of freedom and relief from a perceived oppressive government rule? Henry Knox, a young Boston Bookseller,
had to make this exact decision in those early months of the War: his wife was from a strictly Loyalist family, but his own leanings pulled him away from his city store (stocked with military history and strategy books) to join the Cause,
and eventually become commissioned in a variety of leadership positions throughout the War by George Washington himself. He impressed Washington in such an immediate way in the winter of 1775 by commanding the logistical feat of what is now called the "Noble Train of Artillery," a 300-mile, 3-month, 60-ton oxen-pulled train march over ice and snow
from fallen Fort Ticonderoga NY to Boston. Washington had been waiting for a decisive moment in the stalemated Siege, but could not risk aggression against the British without the necessary threat of fire power upon their entrenched fortifications. The 60 tons of artillery where quietly stationed at the top of Dorchester Heights, a geographic high point in south Boston that overlooked the inner city and Harbor.
These cannons were menacing enough to British troop positions and supply lines that William Howe, the British Commander, realized that he must evacuate the city or suffer a likely devastating defeat. As favorable winds finally allowed March 17, an armada of some 70 British ships could be seen departing the harbor. Abigail Adams described the vision as something like a forest on water. This day is still celebrated as Evacuation Day inn Suffolk County. Knox, the bookseller, would go on to become, in essence, Washington's right hand military tactician throughout the coming years, establishing the first American artillery school, fortifying countless battle sites, establishing West Point and reinvigorating a broken American Navy in the 1780s as Secretary of War. The old bookseller went on to build one of the grandest mansions of the time at Montpelier and became a significant landholder in Maine and in the new frontier west. His wife, Lucy, was 'loyal' throughout Knox's long and brutal career as a military leader; of thirteen children, one survived into adulthood; at the still young age (by modern standards) of 56 Knox died of an infection caused by a chicken bone lodged in his throat.
There's no better way to bring history alive than to go visit it with a little research behind you. When we visit the east coast this summer, we hope to walk a few miles of the Knox Trail, finish up at Dorchester Heights, and take a look at the surrounding neighborhoods of Boston in a little different way.
No comments:
Post a Comment