Editing Somerville, Massachusetts (section)

===Role in the Revolutionary War===
[[File:Powder House 2.jpg|thumb|right|upright|The Old Powder House in Nathan Tufts Park]]

Somerville was home to one of the first hostile acts of the [[American Revolutionary War]]. The removal of gunpowder by British soldiers from a powder magazine in 1774, and the [[Powder Alarm|massive popular reaction]] that ensued, are considered to be a turning point in the events leading up to war.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://millbury.dailyvoice.com/news/powder-alarm-sets-stage-revolution|title=The Powder Alarm sets the stage for revolution|last1=Balestrieri|first1=Steve|date=25 September 2011|website=millbury.dailyvoice.com|publisher=The Millbury Daily Voice|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131210140636/http://millbury.dailyvoice.com/news/powder-alarm-sets-stage-revolution|archive-date=10 December 2013|access-date=7 December 2013}}</ref>

First built by settlers for use as a windmill in the early 1700s, the [[Old Powder House]] was sold to the colonial government of Massachusetts for use as a [[gunpowder magazine]] in 1747. Located at the intersection of Broadway and College Avenue in present-day [[Powder House Square]], the Old Powder House held the largest supply of gunpowder in all of Massachusetts. General [[Thomas Gage]], who had become the military governor of Massachusetts in May 1774, was charged with enforcement of the highly unpopular [[Intolerable Acts]], which [[Parliament of Great Britain|British Parliament]] had passed in response to the [[Boston Tea Party]]. Seeking to prevent the outbreak of war, he believed that the best way to accomplish this was by secretly removing military stores from storehouses and arsenals in [[New England]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.somervillema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/NathanParksBrochure10-23.pdf |title= A Visitor's Guide to Nathan Tufts Park |last1= Parks & Open Space Department |website= somervillema.gov |publisher= City of Somerville Office of Strategic Planning & Community Development |access-date= December 7, 2013 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131213014658/http://www.somervillema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/NathanParksBrochure10-23.pdf |archive-date= December 13, 2013 }}</ref>

Just after dawn on September 1, 1774, a force of roughly 260 British [[Regular army|regulars]] from the [[King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster)|4th Regiment]], under the command of Lieutenant Colonel George Maddison, were rowed in secrecy up the [[Mystic River]] from [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]] to a landing point near Winter Hill. From there they marched about {{convert|1|mi|km|round=0.5|abbr=off|spell=in|sp=us}} to the Powder House, and after sunrise removed all of the gunpowder. Most of the regulars then returned to Boston the way they had come, but a small contingent marched on to [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], seizing two [[Field Artillery|field pieces]] from the [[Cambridge Common]].<ref name="Fischer44">[[#Fischer|Fischer]], pp. 44–45</ref> The field pieces and powder were then taken from Boston to the British stronghold on [[Castle Island (Massachusetts)|Castle Island]], then known as Castle William (renamed [[Fort Independence (Massachusetts)|Fort Independence]] in 1779).<ref>{{cite book|title=Powder Alarm 1774|first=Robert P|last=Richmond|publisher=Auerbach|year=1971|ref=Richmond|isbn=978-0-87769-073-3|location=Princeton, NJ|oclc=162197|url=https://archive.org/details/powderalarm177400rich}}</ref>

In response to the raid, amid rumors that blood had been shed, alarm spread through the countryside as far as [[Connecticut Colony|Connecticut]] and beyond, and [[Patriot (American Revolution)|American Patriots]] sprang into action, fearing that war was at hand. Thousands of militiamen began streaming toward [[Boston]] and [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], and mob action forced [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalists]] and some government officials to flee to the protection of the [[British Army]]. This action provided a "dress rehearsal" for the [[Battles of Lexington and Concord]] seven months later in the famous "shot heard 'round the world", and inflamed already heated feelings on both sides, spurring actions by both British and American forces to remove powder and cannon to secure locations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Somerville {{!}} City of Somerville |url=https://www.somervillema.gov/about |access-date=2024-03-29 |website=www.somervillema.gov |archive-date=April 6, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240406050321/https://www.somervillema.gov/about |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":2" />

After the raid on the Powder House, the colonists took action to conceal arms and munitions of war in [[Concord, Massachusetts|Concord]]. When General Gage found out, he was resolved to take the powder by force if necessary. The Americans learned that the British intended to start for Concord on April 18, 1775, and couriers [[Paul Revere]] and [[William Dawes]] set out on their famous ride to warn the farmers and militiamen in between Boston and Concord, including [[Sam Adams]] and [[John Hancock]]. That night, he set out from the [[North End, Boston|North End]] through [[Charlestown, Boston|Charlestown]] towards [[East Somerville]]. In Revere's own written account of his ride, he mentions a specific location in Somerville (then part of Charlestown).<ref name="focus on: Paul Revere's ride">[http://www.masshist.org/objects/cabinet/april2002/reveretranscription.htm Focus on: Paul Revere's ride] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913182807/http://www.masshist.org/objects/cabinet/april2002/reveretranscription.htm |date=September 13, 2018 }}, masshist.org. Accessed November 30, 2022.</ref> The location was the site where the executed body of a local enslaved man known as "[[Mark Codman|Mark]]", owned by John Codman, was publicly [[gibbet]]ed and displayed for several years after his execution.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/09/26/new_englands_hidden_history/?page=full|title=New England's hidden history|first=Francie|last=Latour|accessdate=August 4, 2022|newspaper=[[Boston.com]]|archive-date=August 4, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804032656/http://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/09/26/new_englands_hidden_history/?page=full|url-status=live}}</ref> The location is probably near the site of the present day Holiday Inn on Washington Street.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/travel/2012/04/14/paul-revere-midnight-ride-day-car-behind-wheel-for-paul-revere-ride/ZWxLdKEj0F4zdjD9MFhNoM/story.html|title=Paul Revere's midnight ride — by day, in a car|newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]]|access-date=June 22, 2017|archive-date=December 22, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161222045727/http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/travel/2012/04/14/paul-revere-midnight-ride-day-car-behind-wheel-for-paul-revere-ride/ZWxLdKEj0F4zdjD9MFhNoM/story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Revere wrote "nearly opposite where Mark was hung in chains, I saw two men on Horse back, under a Tree",<ref name="focus on: Paul Revere's ride"/> which he then realized were two British officers stationed on Washington Street. They immediately pursued him, and Revere galloped up Broadway towards Winter Hill and eventually eluded them. His warning gave the militia enough time to prepare for battle, and launch the American Revolution.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://somervillenews.typepad.com/the_somerville_news/2009/04/time-to-remember-paul-reveres-somerville-ties.html |title= Time to remember Paul Revere's Somerville ties |last1= Stafford |first1= Steven |date= April 19, 2009 |website= thesomervillenews.com |publisher= The Somerville News |access-date= December 7, 2013 |archive-date= December 11, 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131211121438/http://somervillenews.typepad.com/the_somerville_news/2009/04/time-to-remember-paul-reveres-somerville-ties.html |url-status= live }}</ref>

Shortly after Paul Revere set out on his ride, Lieutenant Colonel [[Francis Smith (British Army officer)|Francis Smith]] and 700 British Army regulars landed near [[Lechmere Square]]. As it was nearly high tide, [[East Cambridge]] was an island and the troops, skirting the marshes, were obliged to wade "thigh deep" to reach Somerville. They probably came through Prospect Street into Washington Street, and through Union Square.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/travel/2012/04/14/paul-revere-midnight-ride-day-car-behind-wheel-for-paul-revere-ride/ZWxLdKEj0F4zdjD9MFhNoM/story.html | title=Paul Revere's midnight ride—by day, in a car | publisher=The Boston Globe | newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]] | date=2012-04-15 | access-date=2013-08-08 | author=Klein, Christopher | archive-date=December 22, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161222045727/http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/travel/2012/04/14/paul-revere-midnight-ride-day-car-behind-wheel-for-paul-revere-ride/ZWxLdKEj0F4zdjD9MFhNoM/story.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Ross_Moffett-_A_Skirmish_Between_British_and_Colonists_near_Somerville_in_Revolutionary_Times_-1980.133.3_-_Smithsonian_American_Art_Museum.jpg|center|500px|thumb|[[Ross Moffett]]'s ''A Skirmish Between British and Colonists near Somerville in Revolutionary Times'', 1937]]
Defeated and in retreat, the British army passed again through Somerville en route back to Boston. Upon reaching Union Square, the British marched down Washington Street as far as the base of Prospect Hill, where a skirmish took place. The handful of rebellious locals, having heard of the storied battles at Lexington and Concord earlier that day, caught an exhausted retreating British contingent off guard. As the story goes, 65-year-old minuteman James Miller lost his life in the scuffle while standing his ground against the British. He was shot thirteen times after famously telling a retreating colleague, "I am too old to run."<ref name="Haskell">{{cite book|url=http://www.somervillema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/HaskellsHistoricalGuideBook.pdf | title=Haskell's Historical Guide-book of Somerville, Massachusetts | publisher=A. L. Haskell, Printer and Stationer | author=A. L. Haskell | year=1905 | location=Somerville, Mass. | oclc=10635110 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108092806/http://www.somervillema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/HaskellsHistoricalGuideBook.pdf | archive-date=2014-01-08 }}</ref>

Somerville occupied a conspicuous position during the entire [[Siege of Boston]], which lasted nine months, and Prospect Hill became the central position of the [[Continental Army|Continental Army's]] chain of emplacements north of Boston. Its height and commanding view of Boston and the harbor had tremendous strategic value and the fortress became known as the "Citadel". Originally occupied by just 400 men, Prospect Hill became a primary encampment for American forces after General [[Israel Putnam]]'s retreat from the [[Battle of Bunker Hill]]. It is believed that on January 1, 1776, the [[Continental Union Flag]] flew for the first time at the Citadel, the first official raising of an American flag.<ref>{{cite web|title=Research upholds traditional Prospect Hill flag story|date=December 30, 2013|url=https://patch.com/massachusetts/somerville/research-upholds-traditional-prospect-hill-flag-story|access-date=22 November 2019|archive-date=October 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003175731/https://patch.com/massachusetts/somerville/research-upholds-traditional-prospect-hill-flag-story|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=DeLear|first=Byron|date=2014|title=Revisiting the Flag at Prospect Hill: Grand Union or Just British?|url=http://nava.org/digital-library/raven/Raven_v21_2014_p019-070.pdf|journal=Raven: A Journal of Vexillology|volume=21|page=54|doi=10.5840/raven2014213}}</ref>