Just Months After Bunker Hill, A Continental Army Soldier Involved In The Siege Of Boston Signs A Wage Document And Mentions That It Is For “The American Service”

(SIEGE OF BOSTON). The Siege of Boston lasted from April 1775 to March 1776, when the British withdrew from the city. General Henry Knox hauled captured cannons across Massachusetts in the middle of winter to fortify Dorchester Heights, and the British knew their position was unsustainable, so they retreated to Nova Scotia. DS. 1pg. 6” x 2 ½”. September 15, 1775. Winter Hill [Somerville, Massachusetts]. A document signed “Benja Tuck” concerning wages; this was written during the important Siege of Boston. Tuck communicated: “I Benj Tuck Do give this order to Capt. Moses Leavitt to Draw what wages is Due or Shall be allowd to me for Being in the American Service Benj Tuck”. The reference to “the American service” is relatively early, coming nine months before the Declaration of Independence and three months after Bunker Hill. This phrase means that the soldiers saw themselves as part of a different military than the British Army, and this was three months after the Continental Army was officially formed. Moses Leavitt (1745-1803) was a Continental Army officer from North Hampton, New Hampshire and later a general of their militia, as well as a state senator. Tuck was most likely a soldier from New Hampshire. Winter Hill is a part of Somerville, Massachusetts and important during the American Revolution. In 1775, British troops marched on Winter Hill to attack a powder house owned by the patriots. Just after Bunker Hill, wounded Continental Army soldiers were hospitalized there. The document is housed in a contemporary frame; there is the usual foxing and soiling and a vertical fold.