Revolutionary War Cambridge History Hub

American Revolution in Cambridge

Introduction 

Cambridge has been part of America’s Revolutionary story from its beginnings, even before the outbreak of the war for independence. On Sept. 1, 1774, Cambridge residents responded to the news that Gen. Thomas Gage, royal governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, had ordered the removal of gunpowder from a magazine (a powder storage house) in what is now Somerville by the British troops stationed in Boston. The resentment area residents felt in the wake of the Coercive Acts – a controversial series of laws intended to punish the rebellious Bostonians for the Boston Tea Party of 1773 – caused them to channel their anger at Gage and his soldiers. Because these 1774 Coercive Acts effectively closed the Port of Boston and dissolved the colonial government, replacing it with a royally appointed governing body, Cambridge residents and their neighbors feared a loss of autonomy and what they considered their essential rights as subjects of the British Crown.

By the following morning (Sept. 2, 1774), approximately two and a half times the population of Cambridge – 4,000 people – had gathered on Cambridge Common. Patriot leaders used the power of the assembled crowd to protest their grievances. They soon marched down Brattle Street and surrounded Lt. Gov. Thomas Oliver’s house, demanding his resignation. He stepped down, saying: “My house in Cambridge being surrounded by about four thousand people, and in compliance with their commands, I sign my name.” In the months following the Powder Alarm, many of the Loyalists (or Tories) of Cambridge left, first moving to Boston, which was much less volatile because of a larger British military presence.

On the night of April 18-19, 1775, when the Charles River covered a larger area of East Cambridge, British officers chose to sail from Boston to East Cambridge because it was the shortest and least conspicuous route to their destination at what would come to be known as the Battle of Lexington and Concord. They marched from Boston Common, sailed from near Arlington Street and landed at Lechmere’s Point, named for the Tory Cambridge property owner Richard Lechmere. With residents looking on, the soldiers marched from sparsely settled East Cambridge to the present Gore Street, Somerville Avenue, Elm Street, Beech Street and Massachusetts Avenue in North Cambridge and finally on to Lexington, where they encountered armed militia that included men from Cambridge. East Cambridge widow Elizabeth Rand saw the soldiers near her house and told her neighbor, Samuel Tufts, who then mounted his horse to spread the alarm.

Following the Battle of Lexington and Concord, thousands of soldiers from all over New England marched to Cambridge to join the Revolutionary Cause. Among these men was General Israel Putnam and his Connecticut-based militia. Serving under Gen. Artemas Ward, Putnam was instrumental in planning and executing the June 17 Battle of Bunker Hill, one of the earliest battles of the Revolution. The British won the battle, taking control of Charlestown, but lost more than 1,000 men twice the casualties suffered by the Americans.

“Washington Taking Command of the American Army,” an 1876 print by Currier and Ives.
“Washington Taking Command of the American Army,” an 1876 print by Currier and Ives. (Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Soon after, in July of 1775, General George Washington arrived in Cambridge to take charge of the troops that had assembled on the Cambridge Common and were under the command of Putnam and Ward. The Americans, fearing attacks on Cambridge after the Bunker Hill engagement, had begun to build defensive fortifications on all of the hills of Cambridge and Somerville. Like the other Continental Forces in Cambridge, Putnam and his company aided in the large-scale earthworks project that sought to fortify the town against future British attacks. The works at Lechmere’s Point, including Fort Putnam, were completed in February 1776 and consisted of earthworks as thick as 17 feet to protect the trenches from the British bombardment. Fort Washington Park, in what is now the Cambridgeport neighborhood, was also built at this time and is the last remaining fortification from the Revolutionary War in Cambridge.

The Continental Army began to bombard British positions in Boston on March 2, 1776, with cannon and mortar fire from Lechmere’s Point and other positions around the city. This continued for several nights, and was soon joined by fire from Dorchester Heights, which overlooked the harbor and the British naval fleet more directly. But their efforts were short-lived – on March 10, British commander William Howe began preparations for his forces to evacuate the city and, on March 17, 1776 (still known in Boston as Evacuation Day), 120 ships and 11,000 people sailed out of the harbor headed for Nova Scotia. The rest of the Revolutionary War took place outside of Cambridge, but the city’s role in the Revolution’s early days, as well as the experiences of its soldiers and civilians throughout the war, are contained in this resource list.

History Cambridge articles and resources related to the Revolution and the Revolutionary period

Longfellow House–Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site

Additional Resources

Tags

Tags: | | | |