Gloucester High students Monday were treated to four Revolutionary War reenactors highlighting the role played by America’s oldest seaport in the Battle of Bunker during a presentation in the school’s auditorium.
The reenactors did so with the 250th anniversary reenactment of the Battle of Bunker Hill scheduled to be in Stage Fort Park on June 21-22.
The students were treated to the presentations during their regular social studies class, and Superintendent Ben Lummis also stopped by for an engaging history lesson about 11 a.m.
In all, six presentations were made by four reenactors to the entire school throughout the day in the block of time when students would be in social studies classes.
The goal of Monday’s presentations were to reinforce themes taught in US History I about the battle, and Gloucester’s involvement in it, according to Social Studies Department Program Leader Shaun Goulart.
The department worked with Essex Heritage and the Revolution 250 committee to bring the reenactors to the school, Goulart said.
During the presentation, students heard from:
Doug Ozelius of Plymouth, who wore the red coat of a British infantryman. He demonstrated how to load a musket while talking about the way its bayonet was used to defeat American forces at the redoubt built on Breed’s Hill;
Tom Dietzel of Bridgewater, who portrayed Dr. Joseph Warren, a prominent Patriot and pivotal figure in the early phase of the Revolution who was cut down at age 34 at the battle;
Ed Hurley of Arlington, who taught high-school English for 38 years at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, who dressed as a citizen of Boston and Charlestown and spoke about the deprivations of life in Boston at the start of the Revolution due to the presence of British regulars; and
Jonathan Lane of Lincoln, Rhode Island, who portrayed a middle-class merchant. Lane had three ancestors at the Battle of Bunker Hill. He now serves as executive director of the nonprofit Revolution 250 working to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, including the larger-than-life reenactment of the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Ozelius invited the students to the event later this month over its two days.
“Please come, we invite you to come down and take a look, experience the interaction with the camps, the people in the camps, the soldiers, the civilians,” he said. “Understand that there is a lot going on there.”
Ozelius spoke about how the large-scale reenactment has become impossible at the site of the battle in Charlestown which has since become heavily built up.
While the battle was a victory for the British, they took many casualties, the highest percentage of casualties of their total force of any battle in the Revolution. But they did take the rebel fort on the hill, eventually, he noted.
“From a show of hands,” asked Dietzel portraying Dr. Joseph Warren, “who has heard of Dr. Joseph Warren?”
Two hands went up.
“Two hands, that’s pretty good, it’s two more than the last group,” he said. When asked, everyone’s hand shot up when asked if they had heard of Paul Revere.
“Guess what, you only know about Paul Revere because of Joseph Warren,” Dietzel said. Revere’s famous ride out to Lexington and Concord was because Warren gave the order for it.
“So why haven’t you heard of him?” Dietzel asked about Warren, “because he dies at the Battle of Bunker Hill serving as a private soldier, volunteering.”
Lane said part of the reason they are working with Gloucester to hold the reenactment here is because of the strong ties it has with the people of Essex County and Gloucester. The Siege of Boston included many from Essex County, North Middlesex County and New Hampshire who went on to fight on Bunker Hill.
Lane outlined stories of those from Cape Ann who fought at the battle, many of them the same age as the students sitting before him. A 16-year-old from Gloucester who served three months and five days at the Siege of Boston and at Bunker Hill. In July 1776, the young man signed on board to be a sailor for the Massachusetts State Navy sloop called the “Tyrannicide.”
“What is tyrannicide?” asked Lane, giving the hint of the word “patricide” as a clue.
Junior Gavin Bren, 17, correctly guessed “the murder of a tyrant.”
“Well done,” said Lane, giving Gavin a Revolution 250 challenge coin.
“And that’s one of the great truths of Gloucester soldiers during the Revolution, particularly at the Battle of Bunker Hill, they often go on to do maritime work, of course, right? You are a maritime community. You are going to serve in privateers and naval vessels and things,” Lane said.
Junior Annette Love, 17, asked why more women weren’t featured during Monday’s presentation.
“That’s an excellent point,” Lane said. “And we do have quite a few women who are going to be coming to this event and participating by talking about their role during the Siege of Boston. There is no question that the role of women in both support of the Revolution and in really in support of the whole movement is critical.”
“Just the fact that women weren’t mentioned in the entire presentation,” Love said about her question, “even though we know that there were women who were heavily involved not just in the Revolutionary War, but also on the home front during the whole period and setting up the government and influencing the way that the government was set up.”
You can learn more about the event at battleofbunkerhill250.com.
Ethan Forman may be contacted at 978-675-2714, or at eforman@northofboston.com.