John Pitcairn

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John Pitcairn (* 1722 in Dysart , Fife , Scotland ; † June 17, 1775 in Boston , Province of Massachusetts Bay , then a British colony , now the United States ) was a British marine infantry officer who was stationed in Boston when the American Revolutionary War broke out .

Life

Pitcairn was born in the small Scottish port town of Dysart in late 1722. His parents were Rev David Pitcairn and Katherine Pitcairn née Hamilton. He joined the Marines and was promoted to lieutenant in 1747. Pitcairn served during the French and Indian War (1754-1763) in Canada as a captain and in 1771 was promoted to major. In 1774 he arrived in Boston at the head of 600 Marines to support the crew.

Major Pitcairn was respected by the people of Boston as one of the more sensible officers of the occupation forces. Nonetheless, he was in command of the attackers when the Battle of Lexington and Concord began on April 19, 1775. Despite some demeaning attempts by Americans, his behavior that day was honorable and brave. His horse was shot from under him and he lost a pair of matching pistols when the train of the marching column was abandoned. American leader Israel Putnam wore them for the rest of the war.

The death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker Hill . Painting by John Trumbull .

In the Battle of Bunker Hill he commanded reserve forces of 300 Marines. They landed on the south end of the Charlestown Peninsula. When the first attack failed, he led them up the hill to the American position and was rifled. His son William was also in the Royal Navy and was there when his father was fatally wounded. John Pitcairn was brought back to Boston, where he died of his injuries after a few hours. He was first buried at the Old North Church in Boston, but then reburied in the Church of St. Bartholomew the Less in London , England .

John Trumbull's famous painting of the Battle of Bunker Hill depicts his death. However, it does contain some errors and anachronisms . No picture of Major Pitcairn has survived. One of his sons, Dr. David Pitcairn, modeled on Trumbull, and the uniform shown was that of the Marines of the 1780s. Pitcairn is shown lying in the bunker while the Americans took it, but he was wounded while climbing the hill. Pitcairn is also pictured in the scene of the Battle of Lexington in the US Capital City Rotunda.

The Pitcairn Islands are named after another son, Robert Pitcairn, who served as a midshipman in the British Navy. In 1767, while on watch, he was the first to discover the hitherto unknown island.

Web links

Commons : John Pitcairn  - collection of images, videos and audio files