Essential Facts
- Date: November 9, 1775
- Location: Lechmere Point, which is in present-day East Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Participants: United Colonies, Great Britain
- Key American Leaders: George Washington, William Thompson, Thomas Mifflin, Benjamin Woodbridge
- Key British Leaders: Thomas Gage
- Who Won: Great Britain
- Part of: Siege of Boston, American Revolutionary War
Notes
- Lechmere Point was where the British Expedition to Concord landed on the night of April 18, 1775.
- Lechmere Point was also referred to as Phipps’s Farm.
Key Events
- 1775, April 18 — The British Expedition led by Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith landed at Lechmere Point and prepared to march to Concord. This was a key event in the Battles of Lexington and Concord.
- 1775, November 9 — British forces raided Lechmere Point during the Siege of Boston. Soon after, American forces started building an artillery battery and defensive fortifications at Lechmere Point. General Israel Putnam directed the construction of the fortifications.
- 1775, December 12 — British ships fired on Putnam and his men but failed to stop construction.
- 1775, December 17 — The primary fortifications at Lechmere Point were completed and known as “Fort Putnam.”
- 1776, February 21 — Rumors spread that the British were preparing to attack Lechmere Point, so 60 American troops were sent to establish a picket and keep watch. They were supported by troops stationed at Inman’s Farm, led by Colonel Paul Dudley Sargent.
- 1776, February 25 — Heavy cannons were mounted on the fortifications at Lechmere Point.
- 1776, February 29 — British ships bombarded Lechmere Point.
- 1776, March 2 — American batteries at Lechmere Point, Cobble Hill, and other locations bombarded British positions. This was done in preparation for American forces to occupy Dorchester Heights.
- 1776, March 4 — American forces occupied Dorchester Heights, which eventually forced the British to evacuate Boston.
The Raid and Counterattack at Lechmere Point
The American Revolutionary War started on April 19, 1775, with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. By the end of the day, thousands of militiamen from Massachusetts surrounded Boston, trapping British forces inside the city and initiating the Siege of Boston. Over the next few weeks, thousands of militiamen from neighboring colonies joined the siege and were organized into the New England Army of Observation.
As the siege continued, General Thomas Gage, the commander-in-chief of the British forces, needed food and supplies for his troops. Although the British Royal Navy controlled Boston Harbor, the Patriots in the other colonies prevented British supply ships from sailing to Boston.
Gage responded by sending ships to carry out raids along the coast of New England, which led to hostilities, including conflicts in Narragansett Bay and the Battle of Machias (June 12, 1775). At the same time, Gage sent foraging expeditions to carry out raids on farms in the Boston area, including the mainland and Boston Harbor.
At Lechmere Point, in present-day East Cambridge, sheep and cattle grazed in fields less than a mile from the American lines at Prospect Hill. At high tide, the area was surrounded by water, making it accessible by small boats.
British Raiding Party
- On November 9, 1775, a British expedition landed at Lechmere Point during high tide.
- The landing party included nine companies of British light infantry and 100 grenadiers.
- The purpose of their mission was to seize the livestock at the point and take it back to the city, where it would be used to feed the troops.
American Counterattack
- Colonel William Thompson led Pennsylvania riflemen in a counterattack.
- Colonel Benjamin Woodbridge supported Thompson with troops from his Massachusetts regiment.
- Additional support came from troops who were part of the Massachusetts regiment commanded by Colonel John Paterson.
- At first, the Americans thought the operation was more than a foraging raid.
The Outcome of the Skirmish at Lechmere Point
- The causeway leading to Lechmere Point was covered by two feet of icy water, effectively isolating the area.
- Despite the conditions, American riflemen advanced but had to move around the causeway, which delayed their attack. Initial reports indicated the Americans waded through the water.
- The British seized ten cattle before the Americans started firing on them.
- General George Washington commended Thompson and the troops for their actions in his General Orders on November 10, 1775.
- Two Americans were wounded in the brief battle.
Construction of Fort Putnam at Lechmere Point
Following the raid, General Washington ordered the construction of defensive fortifications at Lechmere Point. Colonel Jeduthan Baldwin of Massachusetts kept track of the progress in his journal.
December 11 — finish the Fortification on Cobble Hill
December 12 — Begun the causey at Leachmor Neck
December 13 — Began the Coverd Way onto Leachmor hill. Col. Glovers Regt. & Capt. Fosters’ Compy of the Train Marched for Marble head. upon hearing of 3 men of War lying
at that place. bought a watch for 8 £
December 14 — wrkd on leachmor point went in the afternoon to Dotchester point to See the mashine to blow up Shipping — but as it was not finished, it was not put into the water.
December 15 — Came from Dtchester & went to Leachmor point to work. Recd. a letter from Jesse Cutter. Oliver’ Shirts & Geese from Brookfd.
December 16 — Stakt. out the Fort on Leachmor point.
December 17 — went to work on Leachmore point, it was Very Foggy in the fornoon, & when the Fog cleared away we had a Very havey fire from the Ships, & from Boston but thro’ Divine goodness we Recd by little damage. Abel Woods was wounded in the Crotch or thigh workt all night, got our men covered.
Bombardment of Fort Putnam
Timothy Newell, a Boston resident, witnessed the attack on Fort Putnam and described it in his diary:
Sabbath morning was discovered new works going on at [David] Phips’s farm very near — upon which a cannonade and bombardment ensued and continued the 18, 19, and 20 [of December], from the Battery’s of Charlestown and Boston Point. The man of war of 32 guns which lay opposite kept a constant fire. The first day a shot from Millers hill took her quarter and went thro’ and thro’ her —
a shot the next day passed my house and struck young Dr. Paddocks hat upon his head, as he was on Dr. [James] Lloyd’s hill, the ball fell into his yard. The man of war slipt away in the night.
AHC Note — These quotes from Newell’s diary are via Boston 1775.
Appendix
Report of the Battle of Lechmere Point
AHC Note — This text is from Diary of the American Revolution, published by Frank Moore in 1863. Minor text corrections and spacing have been added to improve readability.
From Rivington’s Gazette, November 10, 1775 — Yesterday, a party of regulars from Boston, amounting to four or five hundred men, embarked in a number of barges from Charlestown Point, about one o’clock p.m. when the tide was at high flood, and landed upon Lechmere’s Point, under cover of a man-of-war and a floating battery, where they seized a sentinel who was drunk and asleep upon his post. The other sentinels fired upon them, and then gave the alarm to the camp upon Prospect Hill.
Lechmere’s Point is a piece of high land surrounded by marsh, and when the tide is up is entirely an island. This circumstance the regulars knew, and intended to take advantage of it. Their purpose was to steal the sheep and cattle that were feeding there. They effected a landing without opposition (as indeed there were none at that time on the ground to oppose them), and began to drive the cattle to their boats.
His excellency [General Washington] ordered Colonel Thompson and his regiment of Pennsylvania riflemen to turn out immediately, and they obeyed with cheerfulness. Colonel Thompson and Colonel [Thomas] Mifflin headed them, and passed the morass [icy water] up to their breasts in water. When they were all over and formed under cover of a hill, they marched forward.
Colonel Thompson gave the Indian yell, which was re-echoed back from the whole regiment, who immediately rushed out from their ambuscade and poured in whole volleys upon the regulars, who returned the fire in great confusion and retreated with the greatest precipitation on board their boats, firing at random upon our men, who kept up a heavy fire upon them, notwithstanding the constant blaze from the man-of-war, floating battery, and boats, which latter mounted six patteraroes, or swivels, each.
The event of the skirmish is yet uncertain: doubtless, they must have lost a number of men, as our shots were well planted. We fired a few shots at them from Prospect Hill, and a field-piece, we had planted, for the purpose, in the valley below.
Some of our men are badly wounded, but we hear of none of them who were killed. When the enemy saw they were likely to be prevented from accomplishing their purpose, with a villainous malice, characteristic of the tools of despotism, they stabbed the poor dumb cattle. During the engagement, twenty-two large ships hove in sight, with troops from England and Ireland.
George Washington’s Report to the President of Congress
AHC Note — This text is the Writings of George Washington, Vol III, which was published in 1834. This is from a report Washington wrote to John Hancock, President of Congress. Washington used the incident to make his case that his men needed weapons and gunpowder.
November 11 — I have other distresses of a very alarming nature. The arms of our soldiery are so exceedingly bad, that I assure you. Sir, I cannot place a proper confidence in them. Our powder is wasting fast, notwithstanding the strictest care, economy, and attention are paid to it. The long series of wet weather, which we have had, renders the greater part of what has been served out to the men of no use.
Yesterday I had a proof of it, as a party of the enemy, about four or five hundred, taking the advantage of a high tide, landed at Lechmere’s Point; we were alarmed, and of course ordered every man to examine his cartouch-box, when the melancholy truth appeared [the gunpowder was bad]; and we were obliged to furnish the greater part of them with fresh ammunition.
The damage done at the Point was the taking of a man, who watched a few horses and cows; ten of the latter they carried off. Colonel Thompson marched down with his regiment of riflemen, and was joined by Colonel Woodbridge, with a part of his and a part of Patterson’s regiment, who gallantly waded through the water, and soon obliged the enemy to embark under cover of a man-of-war, a floating battery, and the fire of a battery on Charlestown Neck.
We have two of our men dangerously wounded by grape-shot from the man-of-war; and, by a flag sent out this day, we are informed the enemy lost two of their men.
AHC Note — Over the next few days, Washington learned more about the operation, and provided Colonel Joseph Reed with an updated account. He also mentions that American forces are building an artillery battery at Lechmere Point to defend it.
The alacrity of the riflemen and oflicers upon that occasion did them honor, to which Colonel Patterson’s regiment and some others were equally entitled, except in a few instances; but the tide, at that time, was so exceedingly high as to compel a large circuit before our men could get to the causeway, by which means the enemy, except a small covering party, distant from the dry land on this side near four hundred yards, had retreated, or were about to embark.
All the shot, therefore, that passed were at a great distance; however, the men went to and over the causeway spiritedly enough. This little maneuver of the enemy is nothing more than a prelude.
We have certain advice of a scoundrel from Marblehead, a man of property, having carried to General Howe a true state of the temper and disposition of the troops towards the new enlistment, and given him the strongest assurances of the practicability of making himself master of these lines in a very short time, from the disaffection of the soldiers to the service.
I am endeavoring to counteract him; how effectually, time alone can show. I began our bomb-battery at Lechmere’s Point last night; the working party came off in the morning without having met with any interruption.
The weather favored our operations, the earth being clear of frost. There is not an officer in the army, who does not look for an attack.
William Heath’s Account
AHC Note — This is from the Memoirs of Major General William Heath, written by Heath and published in 1901. Heath’s version of events is less detailed than the other reports.
9th — At the top of high water, the tide being very full, some British light infantry, in boats, came over from Boston, and landed on Lechmere’s Point. The sentinels on the point came off; the alarm was given; and several hundred Americans forded over the causeway, in the face of the British, the water at least two feet deep. The British, seeing the spirit of the Americans, although they were very advantageously posted, made a precipitate retreat to their boats. Three or four Americans were wounded, one mortally. The British ship and floating batteries kept up a brisk fire; but to little purpose.
Bibliography
- Baldwin, Jeduthan. The Revolutionary Journal of Col. Jeduthan Baldwin, 1775-1778. 1971.
- Bell, J.L. Cannonade and Bombardment from Phipps’s Farm, Boston 1775. 2025.
- Blanco, Richard. The American Revolution 1775–1783: An Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, 2021.
- Cambridge Historical Commission. Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge: East Cambridge. 1989.
- Heath, William. Memoirs of Major General William Heath, 1901.
- Fremont-Barnes, Gregory and Ryerson, Richard. The Encyclopedia of the American Revolutionary War. 2006.
- Moore, Frank. Diary of the American Revolution, from Newspapers and Original Documents, Vol. 2, 1863.
- Newell, Timothy. Timothy Newell’s Diary of the Siege of Boston. 1852.
- Philbrick, Nathaniel. Bunker Hill: A City, A Siege, A Revolution. 2013.
- Sparks, Jared. The Writings of George Washington, Volume III. 1834.
- Ward, Christopher. War of the Revolution. 2011.
