Joseph Warren

Joseph Warren - known as one of the most interesting people from the American Revolution, was a Boston physician who joined the Sons of Liberty in 1765. In 1775, he was elected President of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, the revolutionary government's highest office. Warren dispatched Paul Revere and William Dawes to Lexington to warn the revolutionary leaders about the British march. Warren was nearly killed during the Battle of Lexington and Concord, the Revolutionary War's first major engagement. He was commissioned as a major general on June 14, 1775. On June 17, 1775, he was a participant in the Battle of Bunker Hill. Despite being offered to serve as a commander, he requested the location of the most intense battle and fought as a private. He fought until he ran out of ammunition, then stayed until the British launched their third and last assault on the hill, giving the militia enough time to flee.

When the British commander learned of Joseph Warren's death at the Battle of Bunker Hill, he reportedly remarked Warren's death was equivalent to the deaths of 500 soldiers. Warren's bravery motivated others to join the Revolutionary War cause, and his death was considered martyrdom by many Americans. It was represented in John Trumbull's painting The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Warren is commemorated by four statues: three in Boston and one in Warren, Pennsylvania, which has a city, borough, and county named after him.

Lifespan: 1741 – 1775

Nationality: American