“These fellows say we won’t fight! By Heaven, I hope I shall die up to my knees in blood!”
Doctor Joseph Warren was 34 years old in 1775. He was a physician and surgeon in Boston. His wife died in 1773 leaving him with four children. He was a passionate patriot and a member of the Sons of Liberty. During the battle of Concord he helped direct the militia. Made a Major General of Massachusetts militia, he died fighting at Bunker Hill. The British bayoneted his body until it was mutilated beyond recognition. The next day a British Lieutenant spat in the face of his corpse and cut off its head.
His children were raised by his fiancee. His contemporaries never forgot him. His death is the subject of one of the iconic paintings of the American Revolution:
We owe our freedom and our nation to the blood of men like Warren. May we be worthy of their sacrifice.
There are still men like Warren. We just don’t know their names….yet
You are correct Dave.
God keep him.