It’s no secret that the Nerds are captivated by research studies and historical reports exploring the American Revolution's civilian experience. One area of growing interest is retelling events from 1775 through the perspectives of child witnesses.
The Nerds are unaware of contemporary accounts from children who experienced the Battles of Lexington, Concord, or Bunker Hill. Most—if not all—of the narratives attributed to children appear to have emerged during the early to mid-19th century. Likewise, by the mid- to late 1800s, it became increasingly common for grandchildren and great-grandchildren of eyewitnesses to share the stories passed down by their elders.
Many historians rightfully argue that these 19th-century accounts may be tainted by either fading memories or a desire to exaggerate or sensationalize one’s role during the early months of the American Revolution. As 19th Century Massachusetts historian George E. Ellis noted, many veterans and witnesses who claimed to have participated in the Battle of Bunker Hill, "Their contents were most extraordinary; many of the testimonies extravagant, boastful, inconsistent, and utterly untrue; mixtures of old men's broken memories and fond imaginings with the love of the marvellous. Some of those who gave in affidavits about the battle could not have been in it, nor even in its neighborhood. They had got so used to telling the story for the wonderment of village listeners as grandfathers' tales, and as petted representatives of 'the spirit of '76’, that they did not distinguish between what they had seen and done, and what they had read, heard, or dreamed. The decision of the committee was that much of the contents of the volumes was wholly worthless for history, and some of it discreditable, as misleading and false."
So far, the Nerds have blogged about four child eyewitnesses—three who witnessed the Battles of Lexington and Concord, and a fourth who saw the Battle of Bunker Hill. Today, we’re excited to share two more accounts we recently uncovered connected to the Battle of Bunker Hill. Each comes from a boy under the age of ten. The first—and understandably more well-known—is future president John Quincy Adams. The second is David Currier of Amesbury, a lesser-known but equally intriguing witness.
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| "An original sketch of the Burning of Charlestown & Battle of Bunker Hill. Taken by an English Officer from Beacon Hill Boston" by Thomas Davies, c. 1775 (New York Public Library) |
John Quincy Adams, son of John and Abigail Adams, was only seven during the Battle of Bunker Hill. At the time of the battle, the Adams family had fled Boston and lived in a district of Braintree that is now part of Quincy, Massachusetts. As the British prepared for their first assault against the American position, John Quincy, his mother Abigail, and sister Nabby ascended Penn’s Hill to watch the battle.
Of course, the Adams were not the only ones to watch the battle from nearby hills. As the Royal Navy and Artillery pounded the American position on Breed’s Hill, many residents of nearby Massachusetts towns climbed to nearby hills and rooftops to watch the events unfold. In Boston, General Burgoyne observed, “behind us the church steeples and heights of our own camp covered with spectators of the rest of our army which was not engaged; the hills round the country covered with spectators.”
The trio’s view of the battle was not the best and appears to have been obscured by the burning of Charlestown. Decades later, in a letter to English Quaker Joseph Sturge, John Quincy described what he saw. “The year 1775 was the eighth year of my age. Among the first fruits of the War, was the expulsion of my father’s family from their peaceful abode in Boston, to take refuge in his and my native town of Braintree ... My father was separated from his family, on his way to attend the same continental Congress, and there my mother, with her children lived in unintermitted danger of being consumed with them all in a conflagration kindled by a torch in the same hands which on the 17th. of June lighted the fires in Charlestown. I saw with my own eyes those fires, and heard Britannia’s thunders in the Battle of Bunker’s hill and witnessed the tears of my mother and mingled with them my own, at the fall of Warren a dear friend of my father, and a beloved Physician to me. He had been our family physician and surgeon, and had saved my fore finger from amputation under a very bad fracture.”
More than fifty miles to the north, five-year-old David Currier was playing in the Pond Hill District of Amesbury, near what is now the Amesbury-Merrimac line, when the distant thunder of artillery shattered the calm—over a century of deforestation had left the land bare enough that the sounds of British cannon fire could carry into southern New Hampshire. David also did not know that his father, Captain John Currier, was inside the redoubt, leading a company of Amesbury men under Colonel James Frye’s Regiment.
On the eve of the American Civil War, the now ninety-year-old Currier relayed to Amesbury historian Joseph Merrill what transpired in the town as the battle raged on Charlestown Neck. Merrill would include Currier’s account in his book “History of Amesbury.”
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| Statue of Abigail and John Quincy Adams, Quincy, Massachusetts |
When the sound of artillery fire reached the town, many ascended Pond Hill hoping to catch a glimpse of the fight, while others panicked. “It was a warm day with south-west wind and the guns were distinctly heard, forcing all to the conclusion that a battle was going on. Never before had the big guns of an enemy been heard at Amesbury. All were wild with fear and excitement … The women gathered at some neighbors to sympathize, as well as express their deep anxiety as to the result. Would more than half be killed? Some thought not, others thought there would. But their fears could not be dispelled for some days, as there were no lightning trains or telegraphs then, and anxious hearts must retire to bed, but not to sleep. What will the British do? Will they kill us all? Such were the questions asked, which no one could answer.”
President John Quincy Adams died in 1848, a year after writing about his observations of the Battle of Bunker Hill.
David Currier’s father survived the Battle of Bunker Hill unscathed, but the town suffered three casualties: one was killed, and two were wounded. David died shortly after submitting to Merrill’s interview in 1860.
The Nerds are always on the hunt for primary accounts of the events of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill from the perspective of children. If you are aware of any, feel free to let us know!
