Collections Online

Letter from Peter Brown to Sarah Brown, 25 June 1775

Letter from Peter Brown to Sarah Brown, 25 June 1775

page:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • To order an image, navigate to the full
    display and click "request this image"
    on the blue toolbar.


    This letter was written by Private Peter Brown in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to his mother, Sarah Brown, in Newport, Rhode Island. Private Brown, who came from Westford, Massachusetts, served under Colonel William Prescott in the redoubt at the Battle of Bunker Hill and describes himself as "hearty in the cause". His letter describes in detail the feelings and observations of a participant in the ranks, including his actions when the British marched to Concord on 19 April and his enlistment in the army at Cambridge. He describes the attack on the redoubt as the British troops are ferried over to Charlestown and shares his dawning realization of the danger the Americans are in as they build the fort and breastworks, with "all Boston fortified against us."