Person

Peter Brown

Handwritten letter on worn parchment. Letter is signed "Peter Brown."
Peter Brown wrote this letter to his mother, Sarah Brown, on June 25, 1775.

Massachusetts Historical Society

Quick Facts
Significance:
Served in the colonial militia at the Battle of Bunker Hill
Place of Birth:
Unknown
Date of Birth:
1753
Place of Death:
Lunenburg, Massachusetts
Date of Death:
July 15, 1829

When American Private Peter Brown became aware of the first causality at the Battle of Bunker Hill, a soldier named Asa Pollard decapitated by a cannonball, it doubtlessly prompted much soul searching from himself and the remaining soldiers on the battlefield that afternoon. Exposed to the potentially lethal result of standing his ground, he may well have wondered, which colonist might be next? Would they fight back when the British troops arrived? What were they really fighting for anyway?

Before the outbreak of hostilities between British troops and colonial militia, Brown, a 22-year-old farm laborer, lived in Westford, Massachusetts, a little more than 30 miles northwest of Boston. At the time, Brown had limited social and economic standing, owning no taxable personal property. This prohibited him from voting in town affairs. Nonetheless, the political turmoil that had affected Boston and the surrounding communities influenced Brown. He added his signature to the Westford Solemn League and Covenant in July 1774, which affirmed his support for the non-importation of British goods following Boston's military occupation.1

In the spring of 1775, Brown expected to spend the summer months working in Connecticut. However, events beyond his control altered those plans. On the morning of April 19, 1775, Brown answered the call for Westford's militia to muster and was among those who fired upon the British column during the Battles of Lexington and Concord.2

Without the right to vote, Brown supported his community through participating in the militia. No National Guard, state police, nor other first responders existed at this time. There was only the militia.3 The first Massachusetts militia units to be organized dated back to 1638. By the beginning of the American Revolution, the tradition of serving under arms for community and colony had been well established for more than a century.

Towns were expected to muster a militia company (approximately 60 men), led by a captain (troops elected their own officers). All free men, like Brown, between the ages of 16 and 60, were obligated to serve. Elected officials, clergymen, and schoolteachers could be exempted from service. People of color, including Black and Indigenous individuals, were usually prohibited from militia service, although exceptions did occur during war. In peacetime, this service amounted to three or four annual drills, perhaps a welcomed break from agricultural labor. However, drill was no simple social gathering. One's life might depend on what they learned during these drills. For many of the men older than 30 at the Battle of Bunker Hill, this was the second or third war in their lifetime.

After the British Army retreated from Concord into Boston, they soon faced 18,000 armed colonists, who outnumbered them three-to-one. The disparate militia factions began to coalesce into a single army. Brown, understanding his summer employment plans were now obsolete since "all business then being stagnant, and a great deal wholly broken up,"4 decided "I did not know what I could do better than to enlist."5 This eight-month enlistment (for him beginning April 19) could pay up to $7 a month. Money meant economic advancement, which also allowed for political advancement and potential enfranchisement. If the British Army remained in Boston, blockading the harbor, someone like Brown might never aspire to become a voter. Therefore, "hearty in the cause,"6 he determined to do his part to see the Redcoats expelled.

At 6 p.m. on June 16, Brown mustered in Cambridge with nearly 1,000 other troops under the overall command of Colonel William Prescott. They received orders to fortify the heights of Charlestown. At midnight, Brown arrived at the lower of two summits, also known as Breed's Hill (Brown referred to it as "Charleston Hill"7). Brown and others had no time for rest. Due to his background as a farm laborer, Brown was quickly employed to construct the walls of the redoubt.

At dawn's early light, artillery from Copp's Hill in Boston and from British warships in the Charles River bombarded the colonial defenses. The roar of artillery was so terrifying and the colonial position so precarious, Brown wondered if perhaps "there was treachery and that we were brought there to be all slain…"8 Whatever his doubts, Brown decided to stand his ground, even as other colonists fled.

Apart from the bombardment, those who remained in the redoubt had to contend with exhaustion and extreme thirst. "We began to be almost beat out, being fatigued by our Labour [sic],"9 Brown recalled "having no sleep the night before, very little to eat, no drink but rum…"10 By mid-afternoon the British ground troops, nearly 2,200 soldiers, crossed from Boston and landed on the tip of the Charlestown peninsula. To the largely inexperienced colonists, the sight must have been intimidating. Brown described how "they advanced towards us, in order to swallow us up, but they found a Choaky [sic] mouthful of us."11

Starting at 3:30 p.m., the British assaulted the colonial defenses three times. Brown was amazed that he survived the carnage, writing "When the Arrows of death flew thick around me, I was preserv'd [sic] while others were suffer'd [sic] to fall a prey to our cruel enemies."12 He could only credit his survival to divine intervention. As the British troops assailed the redoubt, Brown jumped over the parapet and ran half a mile back to Cambridge.

Safely behind friendly lines, Brown wrote to his mother in Rhode Island on June 25, assuring her of his survival. Aside from describing the battle and his piously felt deliverance from death, Brown promised that "If we should be call'd [sic] again to action I hope to have courage and strength to act my part valiantly in defence [sic] of our Liberties & Country…"13 A year before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Brown already understood the conflict as a struggle that would mold a new nation.

Fortunately for Brown, his vow was not put to the test as severely again. He completed his eight-month enlistment before the Siege of Boston concluded. Nonetheless, he benefited in the years to come from the liberties he risked his life to achieve at the Battle of Bunker Hill. He married in 1781 and fathered two children. No longer a subject of an empire, he became a citizen of a new republic with the ability to vote.

Brown died on July 15, 1829, at the age of 76 not far from Westford. The headstone he shared with his wife Olive stated simply "He was a soldier in the revolution."14

Footnotes

  1. "1774 Solemn League and Covenant," Westford Colonial Minuteman 1775, January 14, 2003, https://www.westford.org/westford1775/1774_Covenant.html.
  2. Much of the biographical information about Peter Brown is based on his letter to his mother, Sarah Brown. "Letter from Peter Brown to Sarah Brown, 25 June 1775," Massachusetts Historical Society, accessed March 2023, https://www.masshist.org/database/viewer.php?item_id=725&pid=2, page 1; "Peter Brown '…hearty in the cause…,' Westford Colonial Minuteman 1775, December 12, 2002, https://www.westford.org/westford1775/Peter_Brown.html.
  3. Please see Minute Man National Historical Park's website and the provided resources for more information about militias. "The Militia and Minute Men of 1775," Minute Man National Historical Park, November 6, 2021, https://www.nps.gov/mima/learn/historyculture/the-militia-and-minute-men-of-1775.htm. 
  4. "Letter from Peter Brown to Sarah Brown, 25 June 1775," page 1.
  5. "Letter from Peter Brown to Sarah Brown, 25 June 1775," 1.
  6. "Letter from Peter Brown to Sarah Brown, 25 June 1775," 1.
  7. "Letter from Peter Brown to Sarah Brown, 25 June 1775," 2.
  8. "Letter from Peter Brown to Sarah Brown, 25 June 1775," 2.
  9. "Letter from Peter Brown to Sarah Brown, 25 June 1775," 2.
  10. "Letter from Peter Brown to Sarah Brown, 25 June 1775," 2.
  11. "Letter from Peter Brown to Sarah Brown, 25 June 1775," 3.
  12. "Letter from Peter Brown to Sarah Brown, 25 June 1775," 3.
  13. "Letter from Peter Brown to Sarah Brown, 25 June 1775," 3.
  14. "Peter Brown," Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/60376053/peter-brown.

Sources

"1774 Solemn League and Covenant." Westford Colonial Minuteman 1775. January 14, 2003. https://www.westford.org/westford1775/1774_Covenant.html.

"Peter Brown '…hearty in the cause….' Westford Colonial Minuteman 1775. December 12, 2002. https://www.westford.org/westford1775/Peter_Brown.html.

"The Militia and Minute Men of 1775." Minute Man National Historical Park. November 6, 2021. https://www.nps.gov/mima/learn/historyculture/the-militia-and-minute-men-of-1775.htm.

"Peter Brown," Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/60376053/peter-brown.

Boston National Historical Park, Minute Man National Historical Park

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Last updated: April 3, 2023