Talk:Samuel Whittemore

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http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/senate/st01/st01839.htm

"...On April 17, 1775, while working in his fields, Whittemore became aware of the retreating British army which had fought the militia men at Lexington and Concord..." Leave it to the Massachusetts Senate to get the date wrong for the most important event in state history. (Added 31 Dec 05: The battle actually occured on April 19). Flying Jazz 15:52, 4 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

[Additional note: Details about Whittemore's life, dates of birth and death, and participation in the Battle of Lexington are presented on the Web with a variety of minor variations. It would be nice if a real researcher were to figure out the most likely truth.]

Good research about Whittemore including statements from the doctor who treated his wounds is found in David Hackett Fisher's Paul Revere's Ride, but I let a friend borrow my copy and I don't have the book in front of me. If someone's really interested in making this a well-researched little article, they should consult Fisher's book. There is little doubt that this event occurred generally as it's represented. There is uncertainty about individual actions in battles from 40 years ago, so grisly minor variations in the story like which weapons were fired in what order and the number of redcoats killed and wounded by this old man over 200 years ago will most likely remain unless someone digs up statements from the guy in newspapers of the time. The fact that he survived multiple wounds after inflicting considerable damage is not disputed. This seems miraculous, but the main objective in warfare is to prevent your opponent from harming you. It is possible that once the regulars discovered that their foe was a very old man, they wounded him multiple times to ensure that he was out of the fight, but none of the British had the heart to deliver a fatal blow. Flying Jazz 15:31, 4 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Although you make a decent point, what you say is just speculation.

On the Quotation...

Whether or not the date on the monument is correct or not, the monument does in fact state that Samuel Whittemore died at the age of 98, and so it should correctly reflect this.

Some photographic evidence:

http://www.uua.org/clf/quest/2003-10/whittemore.jpg http://www.alyssaboehm.com/hello/316151/640/samuel_whittemore-2005.06.16-18.29.48.jpg

Nice picture! The date on the monument is correct. The date on the Massachusetts Senate bill is wrong. I just added the comment in parentheses above to make that clear. Flying Jazz 05:47, 31 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]