Notes from my Knapsack 6-5-2025
Jeff Gill
A few words about Joseph Warren, 250 years later
Jeff Gill
A few words about Joseph Warren, 250 years later
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As I hope you're aware, there are many plans being made around Ohio and the nation at large for 2026's 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The America 250-Ohio organization has been active around Licking County already, and we'll hear more from their cooperating groups in coming months.
Back in 2023 I had the pleasure of noting an early 250th anniversary, of Rev. David Jones passing through Licking County on February 10-11 in 1773 and leaving the first detailed historical reference to our area. And 1776 brings us to 250 years next summer.
But we just marked 250 years since the Battles of Lexington and Concord, generally acknowledged as the formal beginning of the Revolutionary War (the Boston Massacre in 1770 & the Boston Tea Party in 1773 early eruptions of what was to come). April 19, 1775 was "the shot heard 'round the world" at Concord Bridge, an overt hostilities between the local militia, the Minutemen for how quickly they trained to be ready to meet British regulars, and the armed forces of the Crown.
I had started to tell you all about our West Courtroom's art, and will return to the subject; Todd Kleismit, the America 250-Ohio executive director came on May 1 to help us mark the restoration of that glorious space. But I wanted to pause that narrative to mark an event I've long found inspiring.
June 17, 1775 is having a 250th commemoration, and it's the date of the Battle of Bunker Hill, just across the Charles River from Boston. The British forces moved to push Colonial troops out of fortifications overlooking the harbor, thinking as one of their generals said that "this untrained rabble" would not take much pushing.
They pushed back. One general commanding the valiant defense, Israel Putnam, was cousin to Ohio's renowned Rufus Putnam; another who leapt to front line defense while holding a general's commission was Dr. Joseph Warren. Thanks to Esther Forbes's 1944 novel "Johnny Tremain," I've long had a soft spot for the humane doctor behind the patriotic legend, and history supports much of how Forbes portrayed him, and how Disney depicted him in 1957's movie version.
The actual Joseph Warren has Warren County in Ohio named for him, among fourteen states with one, along with a dozen cities and a few dozen townships across the United States. He took command of a redoubt, a strong point at the hinge of the thin American lines, where that "untrained rabble" held off three charges by well-trained British troops until their ammunition ran out, and faced with long rifles and fixed bayonets, their lines broke.
Not Warren, though. In 2011 his skull was exhumed and forensically examined. The shot that killed him left a clean circle on his left cheekbone, unmistakably indicating the calibre of round which was that of an officer's handgun, and the damage in the back of the skull marked the angle the shot was fired from. It was almost certainly an officer, on horseback, who recognized the Patriot leader, and in fury at the casualties his forces took in gaining the ground, shot a standing, unflinching Joseph Warren in cold blood.
He was brave, he was steadfast, he stood his ground, and his death inspired the Revolution that was to come, and outlived him. I honor his memory this June 17th, and you might want to, as well.
Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; this isn't the last America 250 piece you'll read by him! Tell him what inspires you in history at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack77 on Threads or Bluesky.
As I hope you're aware, there are many plans being made around Ohio and the nation at large for 2026's 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The America 250-Ohio organization has been active around Licking County already, and we'll hear more from their cooperating groups in coming months.
Back in 2023 I had the pleasure of noting an early 250th anniversary, of Rev. David Jones passing through Licking County on February 10-11 in 1773 and leaving the first detailed historical reference to our area. And 1776 brings us to 250 years next summer.
But we just marked 250 years since the Battles of Lexington and Concord, generally acknowledged as the formal beginning of the Revolutionary War (the Boston Massacre in 1770 & the Boston Tea Party in 1773 early eruptions of what was to come). April 19, 1775 was "the shot heard 'round the world" at Concord Bridge, an overt hostilities between the local militia, the Minutemen for how quickly they trained to be ready to meet British regulars, and the armed forces of the Crown.
I had started to tell you all about our West Courtroom's art, and will return to the subject; Todd Kleismit, the America 250-Ohio executive director came on May 1 to help us mark the restoration of that glorious space. But I wanted to pause that narrative to mark an event I've long found inspiring.
June 17, 1775 is having a 250th commemoration, and it's the date of the Battle of Bunker Hill, just across the Charles River from Boston. The British forces moved to push Colonial troops out of fortifications overlooking the harbor, thinking as one of their generals said that "this untrained rabble" would not take much pushing.
They pushed back. One general commanding the valiant defense, Israel Putnam, was cousin to Ohio's renowned Rufus Putnam; another who leapt to front line defense while holding a general's commission was Dr. Joseph Warren. Thanks to Esther Forbes's 1944 novel "Johnny Tremain," I've long had a soft spot for the humane doctor behind the patriotic legend, and history supports much of how Forbes portrayed him, and how Disney depicted him in 1957's movie version.
The actual Joseph Warren has Warren County in Ohio named for him, among fourteen states with one, along with a dozen cities and a few dozen townships across the United States. He took command of a redoubt, a strong point at the hinge of the thin American lines, where that "untrained rabble" held off three charges by well-trained British troops until their ammunition ran out, and faced with long rifles and fixed bayonets, their lines broke.
Not Warren, though. In 2011 his skull was exhumed and forensically examined. The shot that killed him left a clean circle on his left cheekbone, unmistakably indicating the calibre of round which was that of an officer's handgun, and the damage in the back of the skull marked the angle the shot was fired from. It was almost certainly an officer, on horseback, who recognized the Patriot leader, and in fury at the casualties his forces took in gaining the ground, shot a standing, unflinching Joseph Warren in cold blood.
He was brave, he was steadfast, he stood his ground, and his death inspired the Revolution that was to come, and outlived him. I honor his memory this June 17th, and you might want to, as well.
Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; this isn't the last America 250 piece you'll read by him! Tell him what inspires you in history at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack77 on Threads or Bluesky.
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