"By His Excellency's Command:" General Gage and the British Army in Salem
A drummer from the 59th Regiment, one of the regiments brought to Salem by General Gage in the summer of 1774 Courtesy of Don Troiani In June of 1774, General Thomas Gage, the newly-appointed Governor of Massachusetts, arrived in Boston with some controversial orders in his pocket: move the Capitol of Massachusetts to Salem, where calmer heads would hopefully prevail after several years of upheaval in Boston. He was wrong. During that summer, the Massachusetts legislature defied him, sent representatives to the first Continental Congress, and rejected his authority as Governor, setting in motion the events that culminated in the Battle of Lexington and Concord. To commemorate that event, Salem Maritime, the National Park in Salem, and the Center for 18th Century Life at Minute Man NHP are once again hosting a British Encampment at Salem Maritime on July 20-21, 2013. The National Park Service has invited some of the best re-enactors in Massachusetts to portray General Gage, his staff, his troops, and the legislators and civilians that he met in Massachusetts. More resources The British Soldier and the units attending the 2013 encampment Salem in 1774 |
-
Revolution in Massachusetts!
This event is one of a series held by National Parks throughout eastern Massachusetts in the summer and fall of 2013. For more information, follow the link below! Read More
-
Download Adobe Reader for pdf files for free
This link will take you to the Adobe web site Read More
Did You Know?
In 1799, Salem native Nathaniel Bowditch revised John H. Moore's New Practical Navigator, the standard navigation manual of the 18th century. Bowditch discovered and corrected over 8,000 errors in Moore's manual! In 1802, Bowditch published the New American Practical Navigator.