American Minute with Bill Federer
William Prescott - Revolutionary War Hero & the Battle of Bunker Hill
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William Prescott
was born FEBRUARY 20, 1726.
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At age 32, he married his wife
Abigail,
and they moved to
Pepperell, Massachusetts.
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William Prescott
fought
FOR
the British in
King George's War of 1745.
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He fought
FOR
the British in the
French and Indian War,
1755.
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But in 1774,
Colonel William Prescott
began to fight
AGAINST
the British.
Why?
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The
Declaration of Independence
recorded the reasons:
"The history of
the present King of Great Britain
is a history of
repeated injuries and usurpations,
all having in direct object the establishment of
an absolute Tyranny over these States.
To prove this,
let Facts be submitted
to a candid world ..."
The Declaration goes on to list 27 abuses, most involve
replacing the people's representative government
with tyrannical rule of King George III.
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The last five abuses are
King's acts of war:
"... declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death ... with ... cruelty ... scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages ...
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... He has constrained our fellow citizens
taken captive on the high seas
to bear arms against their country, to become the
executioners of their friends."
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The Declaration described how the King stirred up
agitators
to
commit terrorist acts
:
"He has
excited domestic insurrections amongst us,
and has endeavored to
bring on
the inhabitants of our frontiers the
merciless Indian savages,
whose known
rule of warfare
is an u
ndistinguished destruction
of
all ages, sexes, and conditions."
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Colonists
responded to the
King's acts.
In 1773, the
Boston Tea Party
occurred, with colonists throwing 342 chests of British East India tea overboard.
The British responded by by passing the
Boston Port Bill
to
blockade the harbor
and
starve citizens
into submission.
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On June 1, 1774. in the neighboring colony of Virginia observed
a Day of Fasting
for the citizens of
Boston.
Thomas Jefferson
had drafted the Resolution, with the support of
Robert Carter Nicholas, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee
and
George Mason.
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In August of 1774,
Colonel William Prescott
led the men of Pepperell, Massachusetts, in delivering
loads of rye
to
inhabitants of Boston,
telling them:
"We heartily sympathize with you, and are always ready to do all in our power for your support, comfort and relief; knowing that
Providence has placed you where you must stand the first shock.
We consider
we
are all embarked in (the same ship) and
must sink or swim together ..."
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Prescott
continued:
"If we submit to these regulations, all is gone.
Our forefathers passed the vast Atlantic, spent their blood and treasure, that they might enjoy their liberties, both civil and religious, and transmit them to their posterity ...
Now if we should give them up, can our children rise up and call us blessed?"
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These sentiments were echoed by
Franklin Roosevelt
on May 27, 1941:
"Nazis are as ruthless as the Communists in
the denial of God
... Will
our children,
too, wander off, goose-stepping in search of new gods? ...
The whole world is divided
between
human slavery and human freedom
- between
pagan brutality
and the
Christian ideal.
We choose human freedom
- which is
the
Christian ideal."
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Similarly,
Reagan
stated in 1961:
"We want
no further encroachment
on these
individual liberties and freedoms ...
Federal programs ... will invade every area of freedom ... until, one day ... you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling
our children and our children's children, what it once was like in America when men were free."
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In 1775, before
George Washington
was chosen as Commander-in-Chief,
General Israel Putnam
commanded the 2,400 men at the
Battle of Bunker Hill.
Colonel William Prescott
was in charge of the 1,200 men holding the critical center redoubt.
When a stray musket ball from a British gun killed an American soldier, men began to run away.
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To stop the confusion,
Colonel William Prescott
climbed on the wall of the fortification,
stood upright and walked back and forth, rallying his men.
When
British General Thomas Gage
saw
Prescott
through his telescope, he asked a local loyalist if
Prescott
had enough courage to fight.
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The loyalist Abijah Willard replied:
"Prescott
is an old soldier, he will fight as long as a drop of blood is in his veins ...
Prescott
will fight you to the gates of hell."
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Samuel Swett wrote in his
History of Bunker Hill,
that as the 3,000 British soldiers advanced:
"The American marksmen are with difficulty restrained from firing.
General Israel Putnam
rode through the line, and ordered that no one should fire till they arrived within eight rods ...
Powder was scarce and must not be wasted. They should 'not fire at the enemy till they saw the whites of their eyes ...' The same orders were reiterated by
Prescott
at the redoubt."
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Historian
George Bancroft
wrote that at the redoubt in the center of battle:
"No one appeared to have any command but
Colonel Prescott
... His bravery could never be enough acknowledged and applauded."
After repealing the British advance twice, the Americans ran out of ammunition.
As the British advanced,
Colonel Prescott
ordered a retreat from the redoubt, himself being one of the last ones to leave.
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While the Americans suffered 450 casualties,
British General William Howe
lost nearly
fifty percent
of his troops, with over
1,000 killed or wounded.
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Among the Americans killed was the courageous
Dr. Joseph Warren,
President of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, who, a few months earlier, sent
Paul Revere
and
William Dawes
on their
midnight ride
to warn
Lexington and Concord
that the
British were coming
to take their guns.
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The next year, 1776,
William Prescott
fought in the
Battle of Long Island.
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In 1777, Prescott fought in the
Battle of Saratoga,
being depicted in
John Trumbull's painting
of the
Surrender of General Burgoyne
which is in the
U.S. Capitol Rotunda.
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As stated earlier,
Col. William Prescott
admonished:
"Our forefathers
... spent their blood and treasure, that they might enjoy their liberties, both civil and religious, and
transmit them to their posterity ...
Now if we should give them up, can
our children rise up and call us blessed?"
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Speaking of
children,
William and Abigail Prescott
had
one child, William Prescott, Jr.,
who became a U.S. Senator.
Their grandson,
William H. Prescott,
became a world renown scholar of Spanish history, and was a key supporter of The Perkins School for the Blind.
He was held in such esteem that he dined in the White House with
Presidents John Quincy Adams, James K. Polk
and
Zachary Taylor.
The city of
Prescott, Arizona,
is named for him.
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Other descendants of
William Prescott
include poet
Robert Frost, Senator Prescott Bush, President George H.W. Bush, Governor Jeb Bush,
and
President George W. Bush.
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A contemporary of
William Prescott's
was
Baptist minister Isaac Backus,
a founder of
Brown University
and a delegate to the Massachusetts Convention which ratified the U.S. Constitution.
Isaac Backus
addressed the Massachusetts Assembly in 1775:
"Is not all America now appealing to Heaven against the injustice of being taxed ...
We are persuaded that an entire freedom from being taxed by civil rulers to religious worship is not mere favor from any men in the world but
a right and property granted us by God,
who commands us to STAND FAST in it."
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Rev. Jacob Duché
addressed the First Battalion of the City of Philadelphia, July 7, 1775, dedicating his sermon to General George Washington:
"'STAND FAST' by a strong faith and dependence upon Jesus Christ, the great Captain of your salvation. Enlist under the banner of His cross ...
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'STAND FAST' ... three millions of people ...
'STAND FAST' by an undaunted courage ... that will prove you to be good Christians, as well as soldiers, a firm invincible fortitude of soul, founded upon religion, and t he glorious hope of a better world;
a courage, that will enable you not only to withstand ... against the principalities and powers of darkness ...
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Surely 'the God of Jacob was their refuge' ... Be prepared ... for the worst ...
Let us ... 'STAND FAST' as the
guardians of liberty."
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President Andrew Jackson
stated in his Farewell Address, March 4, 1837:
"Providence has showered on this favored land blessings without number, and has chosen you as the
guardians of freedom,
to preserve it for the benefit of the human race."
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The
U.S House and Senate
passed Resolution 83, November 16, 2001:
"Congress shall assemble in the rotunda ... to humbly seek the blessings of Providence for forgiveness, reconciliation, unity, and charity for all people of the United States,
thereby assisting the Nation to realize its potential as ... the champion of hope ... the vindicator of the defenseless; and ... the
guardian of freedom."
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Congressman Tom DeLay
addressed Westminster College, April 3, 2002:
"Terrorists will always target America because
we are the leading guardian of freedom."
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Franklin Roosevelt
told Pan American Scientific Congress, May 10, 1940:
"Americans might have to become the
guardian of Western culture,
the
protector of Christian civilization."
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In 1920,
President Calvin Coolidge
stated of the Declaration:
"Rights of citizens ought to be protected
with every power and resource of the state ...
A government that does any less is false to the teachings of that great document - false to the name American."
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Col. William Prescott
stated:
"Let us all be of one heart, and
STAND FAST in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free;
and may he, of his infinite mercy grant us deliverance out of all our troubles."
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American Minute is a registered trademark of William J. Federer. Permission is granted to forward, reprint, or duplicate, with acknowledgment.
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Schedule Bill Federer for informative interviews & captivating PowerPoint presentations: 314-502-8924
wjfederer@gmail.com
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