The Dearborn–Putnam controversy erupted in 1818 when Henry Dearborn published a post-war account of General Israel Putnam's performance during the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. Both Putnam and the much younger Dearborn were present before and during the battle, with Dearborn at the front lines while Putnam was about the battle scene directing troops and overseeing the construction of fortifications before the fighting began. Accounts of Putnam's presence during the battle, however, have varied among veteran officers of the battle and some historians. During the battle, there was a fair amount of disorganization among the hastily assembled Continental Army and militia, making it difficult for any one participant to give an overall assessment of everyone's performance.
The actual controversy was sparked 43 years after the battle, when Dearborn published his account of the battle in a widely read political magazine accusing the deceased Putnam of failing to supply reinforcements, inaction, and cowardice. The sons of both Dearborn and Putnam defended their respective fathers' positions, while various Revolutionary War veterans also lent their support respectively. Along with Dearborn, both Republicans and Federalists, now bitter rivals, saw the controversy as an opportunity to advance their party and win the favor of the general public. Dearborn's efforts, however, were largely not well received and cost him his bid for the governorship of Massachusetts. His accusations resulted in a political and social controversy that was widely covered in the press and in several publications from officers present at the battle. Dearborn's accusations were also addressed by several notable public figures, including Daniel Webster. As such, the controversy remained prominent in the public eye for more than 30 years.
Putnam and Dearborn at the Battle of Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill occurred on June 17, 1775, in the early stages of the American Revolutionary War, when the American forces as a whole were not yet a fully organized army. After the Siege of Boston, the British needed to secure control of the Charlestown Peninsula overlooking Boston from the north across the Mystic River, giving them command of Boston Harbor and ultimately Boston itself.Lanning, 2008, p.89 The Committee of Safety learned a few days in advance that the British were going to try to occupy Dorchester Heights and Charlestown Peninsula. The Patriot forces decided to take the offensive, occupy the peninsula, fortify it, and deny the British the advantage of this important and strategic location.Moran, 1985,Valley Compatriot Newsletter Word of British intentions spread fast among the colonies.Bobrick, 1997, p. 140 General Thomas Gage mistakenly assumed that taking the peninsula from untrained colonial "rebels" would be an easy task.
Preparation
Dearborn, at age 23, organized and led a local militia troop of 60 men from New Hampshire upon hearing the news of the battles at Lexington and Concord, and joined up with Colonel John Stark's 1st New Hampshire Regiment. They eventually arrived at Charlestown shortly after the British had begun firing their cannon at the American positions.Swett, 1826, p. 28 General Putnam, second in command to Colonel William Prescott,Smith, 1976, p.511 and reportedly eager for battle, was already at Cambridge before the battle with 250 of his men from Connecticut.Ferling, 2015, pp. 127–129 During this time, Putnam received a private proposal from British Major-General William Howe that, if he would relinquish the rebel forces under his command, Putnam would be made a major general in the British Army and be compensated for his effort. Putnam kept the matter private, but pointedly rejected the offer.Humphreys & Swett, 1847, pp. 76–77
On June 16, Prescott assembled 1,200 men from various regiments and companies,Ferling, 2015, p. 127Commager, 1958, p.120 acting on orders from General Artemas Ward, and departed from Cambridge at 9:00 that evening.Smith, 1976, p.512 Putnam had procured the various entrenching tools and materials needed for building the fortifications, had them loaded into wagons, and proceeded to Charlestown with Prescott. There was some disorganization among the colonial troops, some of them with no commanding officers to lead them, along with disagreement among some of the officers as to how and where to prepare for battle.Frothingham, 1890, pp.2–3 After a two-hour meeting at Charlestown Neck, Putnam and Colonel Richard Gridley, an army engineer, had persuaded Prescott to fortify Breeds Hill rather than Bunker Hill as originally planned.
The American troops crossed Charlestown neck and proceeded up the gentle slopes of Bunker Hill. From there Prescott, for reasons that were never made completely clear,Lanning, 2008, p.85 went against orders, assembled a separate party of 1200 men and continued on two hundred yards further down the peninsula to Breed's Hill and under cover of darkness began construction of a redoubt and a rail fence that extended to Mystic River, with Gridley in command of construction, while the secondary fortifications were constructed on Bunker Hill.McCabe, 1871, p.249 This later proved to be a major tactical error.Axelrod, 2007, p. 130
With construction of fortifications nearly completed Colonel Prescott offered General Putnam command in the redoubt, but he declined. Instead, Putnam kept busy riding between Bunker and Breed's Hill and about the rail fence acting as a guide and directing troops.Drake, 1875, p. 18Middlekauff, 2005, p. 291 Just prior to the battle, General Putnam came back to the redoubt, and urged Prescott that the entrenching tools should be sent back and used to fortify Bunker Hill or they would be extremely difficult to secure or lost during the throes of battle. Prescott was concerned that if he sent men to carry them away they would not return. Putnam assured Prescott that they would all return. A large party was then sent off with the tools, after which Prescott's fears were confirmed—not one of the men returned, including Putnam.Coffin, 1831, p. 4
Battle
By daybreak the British became aware of the nearly completed redoubt and opened fire with cannon from ships and the floating batteries that almost surrounded Charlestown Peninsula, and from the battery on Copp's Hill, but with little effect.Morris, 1902, p. 91 When it was certain that the British would attack soon, Putnam took flight to Cambridge on horseback to request badly needed supplies and reinforcements from General Ward, but since Charleston Neck was under heavy fire from British ships, and fearing that General Gage might make his principal attack at Cambridge, at this time Ward, not wanting to weaken his troop strength, only released one-third of Stark's regimentFrothingham, 1890, p. 25 for deployment at Charlestown.Smith, 1976, p.527
At 12:00 on July 17 British troops began crossing the harbor on barges from Boston and landed at Morton's Point on the peninsula, southeast from Breed's Hill. By 2:00 o'clock they had landed between 3000 and 4000 men, under the command of General Howe. Putnam's regiments then began marching for the peninsula across Charlestown neck under heavy cannon fire from British ships, where they arrived, fatigued from marching. At this point Colonel Stark and Captain Dearborn arrived with their troops from New Hampshire and joined in with Prescott's troops, increasing American troop strength to about 1600. Stark's regiment was positioned at the rail fence with Dearborn in his right wing.Peckham, 2009, p. 5
The British Regulars made three attempts to take the fortified positions on Breed's Hill. The first two attempts proved to be a dismal failure with many British officers and infantry killed and wounded.Ferling, 2015, pp. 128–129 Orders were given not to fire upon the advancing British regulars until they were within fifty yards of the rebel fortifications. Some of the rebels made concerted efforts to spot and pick off British officers.Ferling, 2007, p. 57 Dearborn was positioned on the right at the rail fence, which he claims gave him a fair view of the entire battle.Dearborn, Putnam, 1818, pp.5–6 Historian Richard Frothingham and Colonel Samuel Swett claim that General Putnam was at the redoubt during the first attack, but after the failed assault rode to the rear to call for reinforcements.Frothingham & Swett, p. 53 Prescott, realizing ammunition was getting low and needed to be conserved, instructed his men to fire at the advancing British only when they could see the whites of their eyes. When ammunition began to run out fire from the colonials almost came to a stop, where the British regulars charged the fortifications, with fixed bayonets.Moran, 1985Ferling, 2015, p. 129 The Americans, very few of them outfitted with bayonets,Coffin, 1831, p. 7, 20, 21 began a hasty retreat, many of them unable to escape as the British regulars were on them too quickly, and a bloody hand-to-hand combat ensued. The British continued a merciless fire on the retreating colonials. This is when Joseph Warren, shot in the face at close range, was killed.Middlekauff, 2005, p.298 The British had won a tactical victory but had suffered many more casualties than did the American forces.Lanning, 2008, p. 87
Retreat During the retreat, Dearborn came upon Putnam behind the front lines at Bunker Hill where the latter was still tending to the entrenching tools, one in hand, having them sent from Breed's Hill before the battle had begun. Major Andrew McClary also saw Putnam on Bunker Hill during the retreat with a spade in his hand.Child, 1819, p. 43 Putnam was observed by several men in this capacity, including Major General William Heath, whose account of the battle he published in his memoirs in 1798.Fellows, p. 116 There are other historical accounts, however, that claim Putnam was covering the rebels retreating from Breed's Hill while he was at Bunker Hill, urging them to "make a stand here", and renew the fight at the unfinished breastworks.Frothingham, 1890, p. 63
Dearborn later contended that the battle could have been won if Putnam, who commanded a force approximately equal to that on the front lines, had advanced with his troops. He also maintained that the final advance by the British was with great difficulty and had the American forces at the front lines not run out of ammunition the British would have lost the greater part of their army, compelling them to lay down their arms.Dearborn, Putnam, 1818, pp. 6–7 After the battle, any chance of reconciliation with the British was now gone as the heavy losses they incurred only strengthened their resolve to crush the rebellion.Ellis, 2007, p. 28
Controversy
The controversy began in 1818, 43 years after the Battle of Bunker Hill,Peckham, 2009, pp. 4–5 when Henry Dearborn, who at the time was a Major General, published an account of his experience as a young captain at Bunker Hill in the April 1818 edition of The Port Folio, a Philadelphia-based publication and leading political journal.Bell, 2015Fellows, 2009, pp. 113–114 At the time Dearborn was running for governor of Massachusetts against the incumbent John Brooks. Being a Republican in a largely Federalist state, Dearborn badly needed favorable press on his side. When Charles Miner, the editor of The Port Folio, asked Dearborn to verify and edit a British soldier's map depicting the Battle of Bunker Hill, he jumped at the opportunity. However Dearborn went further than that and gave a 14-page account of the battle.Covart, 2013 In the process he accused the now deceased General Putnam, a popular patriot and Revolutionary War veteran, of incompetence, cowardly leadership and failing to provide support for the retreating American troops.Cray, 2001, p.23 Dearborn's accusations were completely unexpected and generally frowned upon, causing a political and a soon to be social controversy throughout New York and New England that lasted generations.