Captain Samuel Russell Trevett, Artillery Commander at Bunker Hill 1776

The Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775, up above Charlestown, just north of Boston, early in the war, is famous for several reasons. The battle, the Revolutionary War’s first major combat involving cannons, was a loss for the Americans, but the British suffered a high number of casualties. One of the American revolution’s charismatic young leaders, Dr. Joseph Warren, a doctor and a Son of Liberty of Boston, was also a significant loss, as he was mortally wounded there. But a little-known episode involves a Marblehead artillery commander, Captain Samuel Russel Trevett, who fought valiantly and was the only American to lead his cannon company into the thick of the fray, defying the orders of his superior officers. He also dragged a field-piece down off the hill as the American forces retreated. It was the only American cannon that was not captured by the enemy. Trevett, however, was falsely accused of his superior officer’s failures. Though he was exonerated soon after, he never rejoined the army, but served instead as a Captain aboard privateer vessels through the war’s end in 1782.

Donald Doliber was appointed as Marblehead’s Town Historian after 24 years as an award-winning history teacher, who was selected as the “Outstanding American History Teacher in the United States” by the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.), followed by 17 years as an assistant high school principal. His ancestors arrived in Marblehead in the 1630s and were fishermen, selectmen, and merchants in the early community, and later, a few served in the Revolutionary War.

This event is presented in collaboration with the Marblehead 250 Committee and Abbot Public Library. 

This program is funded in part by a grant from the Marblehead Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.