John Trumbull’s “Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker’s Hill.” Major Andrew McClary of Epsom is depicted on the left, directly beneath the Flag of New England, raising his musket to protect the dying General Warren.
Andrew McClary was already plowing his field when first light hit on the morning of April 20th, 1775, as the alarm horn was sounded from Epsom town center. Without a second thought, he dropped his work, grabbed what belongings he could from his home, then rounded up fellow men from town and hit the road.
“Like the Roman Cincinnatus, he left the plow in the furrow, hastily armed himself, and dashed off to Deerfield accompanied by a few daring spirits.”
-Elliot Cogswell, History of Nottingham, Deerfield & Northwood NH
By 1 o’clock that afternoon, McClary stood at the front of just over 80 men gathered from the neighboring towns of Northwood & Deerfield, leading them south for Massachusetts with great haste. By nightfall, they arrived in Andover where they stopped for supper. Instead of staying in town until morning, they continued onward and marched all night.
By sunrise on the 21st - less than 48 hours after the British marched on Lexington & Concord - McClary reported to the Patriot headquarters in Cambridge, having led his men 70 miles in under 24 hours. No joke.
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Andrew McClary was a badass.
In 1730, he became the first of his family to be born in the New World, the son of immigrants from Ulster, Ireland. They settled in Epsom, NH, where Andrew would be raised, spending much of his youth climbing Fort Mountain & exploring the surrounding NH countryside. He became an avid outdoorsman, tracker & hunter, then, as a teenager, joined the local militia to serve as a scout. He was also the local champion in boxing & wrestling; he would go undefeated in both.
And one can see why: The man stood over 6 and a half feet tall, and was built like an ox. One local described him as “straight as an arrow, finely proportioned, symmetrical of form, every muscle well formed, rough and ready, jovial, generous, with a stentorial voice, blue eyes, florid complexion. Such a man would be picked out of a thousand as born to command.”
Andrew also excelled as a soldier in the militia. So much in fact that he was selected to join the famous “Roger’s Rangers,” fighting alongside the likes of John Stark & John Goffe throughout the French & Indian War (1754-1763), rising to the rank of Captain.
He was a favorite officer, nearly six and one-half feet in height, with a Herculean form, a voice like Stentor and strength of Ajax, never equaled in athletic exercises and unsubdued in single combat. Whole bodies of men had been overcome by him, and he seemed totally unconscious that he was not equally unconquerable at the cannon’s mouth.
-Warren Tripp, “The McClary’s of Epsom”
Following the war’s end in 1763, Andrew returned to Epsom, where he took charge of the family farm & tavern he had built with his father in his youth. Over the next several years, he would become a successful entrepreneur & leader within the community. His ventures grew to the point where he volunteered his tavern to become the town meeting place (since it was the largest building in town), and the adjacent land the local militia’s muster field (which he maintained himself).
Of he and his neighbors, it was said, “they were a people who would praise good whiskey and drink it; and damn bad whiskey, yet drink it with equal relish.” One tale from his past tells of a bar fight at a Portsmouth tavern, where Andrew overwhelmed six uniformed British officers who attempted to tackle him after a spirited debate over several drinks, throwing each -one after the other - through a window and out onto Court Street.
In December of 1774, he was again in Portsmouth - this time alongside future war heroes John Langdon & John Sullivan - leading the raid on Fort William & Mary to seize all of its arms & supplies (which would be used to combat the British at Boston a few months later).
Now, at the close of April 1775, he is gathered among more than a thousand spontaneously mustered NH citizens along the southern slope of Winter Hill, overlooking the besieged city of Boston. Their first order of business is to organize into something resembling a military regiment, and thus hold a vote to elect their officers. John Stark of Manchester - the well-known, outspoken hero of Roger’s Rangers fame - is chosen as their commander.
Second in command goes to Andrew McClary.
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June 17th, 1775 brings the Battle of Bunker Hill, and McClary’s finest - and final - action.
Less than a couple months into the Siege of Boston, the Patriots are looking to tighten their lines around the city by building fortifications at Bunker & Breed’s Hills just outside Charlestown during the night of June 16th. On the morning of June 17th, the British wake up to the sight of rebels digging these defensive positions directly across the river from Boston’s North End; too close for comfort. General Howe wastes no time, launching a full attack by land & sea to remove the Patriots from the Charlestown peninsula. The New Englander’s respond in kind, ordering reinforcements to Charlestown to support the badly outnumbered Patriots.
The New Hampshire Regiments are some of the first to arrive at the Charlestown Neck - a narrow land bridge connecting Charlestown peninsula to the mainland - but they aren’t the first: Massachusetts Regiments under Colonel Samuel Gerrish are halted in the road leading to Charlestown. Why? Because upon first seeing the thousands of British troops landing on the shores & several warships bombarding the Patriots from the Charles River, Gerrish & his officers are refusing to take the field. In response, Andrew McClary pushes his way to the front, demanding they move out of the way if they do not intend to fight.
“The fire of the gunboats and warships had turned the Neck into a terrifying war zone...it was hardly a surprise that a crowd of fearful soldiers was now blocking the approach to the Neck. In his deep and booming voice, Major McClary demanded that the officers and their men immediately step aside so Colonel Stark & his regiment could march to Bunker Hill.”
-Nathaniel Philbrick, “Bunker Hill: A City, A Siege, A Revolution”
Note: Colonel Gerrish was court-martialed by General Washington following the battle, charged with cowardice. He was found guilty & discharged from the Continental Army.
Once through the neck, they followed Colonel Stark & Major McClary through the cannonade to the base of Bunker Hill, assuming the critical flank position along the rail fence to the Mystic River on the Patriot’s left. It was here the British would endure their greatest losses during the first two assaults, with McClary proving himself a superior combat leader once again:
“During this tremendous fire of musketry and roar of cannon, McClary's gigantic voice was distinctly heard, animating and encouraging the men as though he would inspire every ball that sped with his own fire and energy.”
-Samuel Swett, “History of Bunker Hill Battle”
Map depicting unit positions during the Battle of Bunker Hill. Note how vastly different the terrain and ancillary waterways are by comparison to today, and thus how critical the Charlestown Neck was to the fight.
When British reinforcements arrived later in the afternoon, General Clinton redirected them away from the Patriot flanks & towards the defenses atop Breed’s Hill for their third, and only successful, assault. While the regiments from NH held the field to cover the retreat of their fellow New Englander’s from Connecticut & Massachusetts, it was McClary who was the last man to leave the field, covering the NH men’s retreat back to the Neck.
One of his childhood friends and fellow officers wrote of this moment, when they reached the Charlestown Neck immediately following the battle. Note: I include his full account because it’s told far better than I could ever reiterate:
“A heavy cannonade was kept up upon our line and redoubt, from the commencement to the close of the action, and during the retreat; but with very little effect, except that of killing the brave Major Andrew McClary of Col. Stark's regiment soon after we retired from Bunker Hill. He was among the first officers of the army - Possessing a sound judgment, of undaunted bravery, enterprising, ardent and zealous, both as a patriot and soldier. His loss was severely felt by his compatriots in arms, while his country was deprived of the services of one of her most promising and distinguished champions of liberty.
After leaving the field of battle I met him and drank some spirit and water with him. He was animated and sanguine in the result of the conflict for independence, from the glorious display of valor which had distinguished his countrymen on that memorable day.
He soon observed that the British troops on Bunker Hill appeared in motion, and said he would go and reconnoitre them, to see whether they were coming out over the neck...After he had satisfied himself that the enemy did not intend to leave their strong posts on the heights, he was returning towards me, and when within twelve or fifteen rods of where I stood, with my company, a random cannon shot, from one of the frigates lying near where the centre of Craigie's bridge now is, passed directly through his body and put to flight one of the most heroic souls that ever animated man.
I had him carried to Medford, where he was interred, with all the respect and honors we could exhibit to the manes of a great and good man. He was my bosom friend; we had grown up together on terms of the greatest intimacy, and I loved him as a brother.”
-Captain Henry Dearborn of Epping
He was buried somewhere in the Medford/Somerville area, alongside dozens of fellow men from NH who fell during the battle. While his burial site has been lost to history & no monuments have been erected to commemorate him, the memory & benefit of his heroic efforts remains.
“Thus fell Major McClary, the highest American officer killed at the battle, the handsomest man in the army and the favorite of New Hampshire troops. His dust still slumbers where it was laid by his sorrowing companions in Medford, unhonored by any adequate memorial to tell where lies one of the heroes who ushered in the Revolution with such auspicious omens. His death spreads a gloom not only over the hearts of his men, but all through the Suncook valley; his sun went down at noon on the day that ushered in our nation’s birth.”
-Daniel Webster, at the Dedication of the Bunker Hill Monument
NH Historical Marker in Epsom remembering the service of Major Andrew McClary.
With that, we raise our glasses in honor & remembrance of Major Andrew McClary and his pursuit of the glory, not the prey. Cheers.
''With all the bravery of Stark, he possessed greater mental endowment; with the natural ability of Sullivan, he combined the magic power to incite his men to noble deeds; with the popularity of General Poor, he was more cool and discreet. In fact, he combined more completely than any of his associates the elements that tend to make a popular and successful commander, and had his life been spared he would doubtless have ranked among the most able and noted officers of the Revolution."
-Henry Dearborn, decades later after serving as a US Army General, Congressman & US Secretary of War
