The Battles for Boston Light at 250 (episode 332)

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Jake of the Present:
[0:04] Welcome to Hub History, where we go far beyond the freedom trail to share our favorite stories from the history of Boston, the Hub of the Universe.

Introduction to Boston Light

Jake of the Present:
[0:13] This is episode 332, The Battles for Boston Light at 250. Hi, I’m Jake. This week, I’m continuing our On-Agin-Off-Agin series that chronicles the 250th anniversary of Revolutionary War battles and events in the Boston area. In July 1775, the siege of Boston was approaching its peak, with the New England militias that had been surrounding Boston itself since April coalescing into the brand new Continental Army, and the British dug in deep within the city to protect the vital harbor. 250 years ago this week, Continental officers planned a daring raid on Boston Harbor, essentially taking them deep into hostile territory, since the mighty Royal Navy ruled the waters. The objective of this raid, or rather, raids, because there were two of them, was Boston Light. Marking the entrance to Boston Harbor since 1716, this humble lighthouse became an important strategic target during a phase of the war where Britain’s presence in Boston was only possible because of a boat lift connecting their supply lines from Long Wharf to Newcastle in Plymouth in Old England.

Jake of the Present:
[1:28] We’ll also see how the tide of battle could turn quickly on the back of the simple New England whale boat, which proved itself to be the 18th century equivalent of a stealth fighter in these engagements. Parts of this episode originally aired in 2021 as episode 227. But before we talk about the Battles for Boston Light, I just want to pause and say a big thank Thank you to the sponsors who make this show possible. A small fraction of our loyal listener base makes a commitment to support the show for $2, $5, or even $20 or more each month on Patreon, while a few more use PayPal to provide occasional support. When I look back at the earliest episodes of Hub History, or even the parts of this episode that aired a mere four years ago, I can clearly see, and especially hear, how much it’s improved over time. Since our first episode aired, I’ve gotten better at researching and writing, my ability to capture a clean recording has improved, and I’ve simply gotten better at talking into the microphone and, of course, editing the result to something you want to hear.

Jake of the Present:
[2:38] The support of our sponsors has allowed me to continue making Hub History for almost nine years now, and it’s given me enough runway to make these improvements. To everyone who’s already supporting the show, thank you. And if you’re not yet supporting the show and you’d like to start, it’s easy. Just go to patreon.com slash hubhistory, or visit hubhistory.com and click on the Support Us link. And thanks again to all our new and returning sponsors.

Jake of the Present:
[3:10] While I’m discussing ways to support the show, I also want to mention the bookshop link at hubhistory.com. I haven’t mentioned the link in a long time, but I recently went through and added a bunch of titles to the shop for the first time in quite a while. If you click on our bookshop link, you’ll be taken to bookshop.org, which bills itself as a more ethical alternative to Amazon. A cut of each sale helps to support independent bookstores, and authors take home more of the sale price. I have one list that’s just books that have been featured on the show when I was interviewing the author, and another list that’s called the Boston Book Club. I started adding books to that list when we had a featured book and event at the start of each episode, but more recently I’ve been adding titles that have been particularly useful for my research, where it seems like fans of the show would really like them. Since I get a fractional cut of each sale from one of my lists, this is also a great way to support the show, authors, and independent bookstores, especially if you’re going to end up buying one of these books anyway. And now, let’s get on with this week’s story.

Jake of the Present:
[4:21] In a way, it’s a shame that Boston Light’s all the way out in the Outer Harbor on Little Brewster Island, where it can’t really be seen for most of the city. By all rights, it should be one of the most iconic symbols of our city, but you can barely see it, even from the waterfront. To get a good view, you have to go to the top of Mission Hill or the observation deck at the Prue, so Boston Light kind of gets forgotten.

Jake of the Present:
[4:47] If you’ve ever approached Boston by boat, which was the primary way to get here for the first 250 years or so of the city’s history, you know just how warm and welcoming this lighthouse can be. Coming into the harbor, you line up the most perfect New England lighthouse you can possibly imagine over your right shoulder, passing it to starboard as ships have for over 300 years now. I got to have that experience after a summertime visit to Provincetown with co-host AmeriCorps and Nicky a few years ago. We got into an accident and had to have the car very, very expensively towed all the way back to Boston. To try to get to work on time, we ended up booking tickets on the 6am Fast Ferry back to Boston on Monday morning. That morning was a real low point, believing that I had totaled my car, having to shell out last-minute prices for a downtown Provincetown hotel in the busy season, walking to the ferry through the early morning rain, and just generally dreading going back to work. It’s hard to describe the sudden, warm burst of joy that I felt when I saw the whitewashed tower of Boston Light take shape on the horizon, slowly getting taller as the Keeper’s House, Oil Bunker, and Small Boathouse took shape. As we passed it, I had a warm feeling deep down that I was home, I was safe, and everything was going to be all right.

Jake of the Present:
[6:17] If you’ve never had that experience of approaching Boston through the harbor, I highly recommend it as a way to connect with our forebears. Part of the reason the Shawmut Peninsula was so attractive, first to William Blackston, and then to John Winthrop and the Arbella fleet, was its well-protected harbor. The sheltering arms of the Nahant Peninsula reach down from the north and then task it up from the south to embrace it. In between those sheltering arms, there are dozens of islands, large and small, that help to dull the fury of ocean waves and storms. Unfortunately, the same islands that protect us from the sea also form a dangerous maze of shoals and underwater rocks that are undetectable from the surface. The makers of early maps, charts, and atlases, like the one called the Atlantic Neptune, would often include elevation drawings of the shoreline and islands to show mariners what they should see from the safe channels leading to shore.

Jake of the Present:
[7:18] Those early mapmakers would definitely include depth soundings and compass bearings, showing navigators exactly how to trace the best routes to shore. Though more channels have been dredged into the inner harbor in the intervening centuries, the safest original passage was King’s Road. Since the Revolution, it’s been known as President’s Roads, And it was this channel that Boston Light was initially constructed to guide mariners into.

Jake of the Present:
[7:49] Sailing outbound from Long Wharf, today you pass the Logan Airport Hyatt on the port side and Castle Island to starboard. Back in 1775, Castle Island was an actual island, and Governor’s Island had not yet been erased to make room for the airport. After squeezing between the two fortified islands, the outer harbor would open up before you. You’d make a turn to port, keeping Spectacle Island and Long Island on your right shoulder as you sailed almost to the tip of Deer Island, and then turned back to starboard to enter the treacherous Narrows. You’d make your turn around the shoals that are known as Nyx’s Maid, an island that would have been barely above water at high tide in 1775, And it’s invisible today, except for a strikingly striped granite monument that marks the danger. Then you shoot through the narrow channel between Gallops and George’s Islands on your right and Lovells on your left, both seeming nearly close enough to reach out and touch.

Jake of the Present:
[8:51] Today, Fort Warren is well-preserved on George’s Island, and Fort Standish has fallen to ruins on Lovells. But in the early 1700s, they were both used for farming and firewood. Past the Narrows, you’d come to port again and have a straight shot to the open ocean, keeping a safe distance from Outer Brewster, Middle Brewster, Great Brewster, and Little Brewster Island, where the lighthouse was off the port side. An inbound ship would follow the same path, but like Ginger Rogers, backwards and in high heels. The trick was to find the mouth of the Narrows and not to be deceived by the many similar-looking islands in the Outer Harbor. The sheer number of ships that have wrecked and sunk in Boston Harbor over the past 400 years is testament to how difficult it can be to navigate. It was easy for an early 18th century sailor to get confused when pulling into a strange port, and even a local captain could be led astray in foul weather. But for an unfamiliar crew in a storm, forget about it. Shag Rock, Nix’s mate, or the ominously named Graves would have their sacrifice.

Jake of the Present:
[10:09] Thus, in 1715, the Provincial Legislature passed an act for building and maintaining a lighthouse upon the Great Brewster at the entrance of the harbor of Boston. The next year, the light was lit for the first time, and Boston Light is now the oldest light station in the United States. It’s been guiding sailors into the harbor for over 300 years, with one notable exception that started 250 years ago this week.

Jake of the Past:
[10:39] When the Provincials burned Boston Light in July 1775, it wasn’t the first time the lighthouse had been damaged, and it wasn’t the first time it burned. If you recall back in episode 213, we talked about the early history of Boston Light, from its construction in 1716 to the deaths of the first lighthouse keeper and much of his family and household two years later. After an interim keeper also drowned just two weeks after that, the second official keeper, Captain John Hayes, took over the lighthouse in 1719 and almost immediately requested some minor upgrades to the tower. In written testimony to the legislature, Hayes also described a fire at the lighthouse in 1720, saying, that it being the memorialist’s manner to go to bed early in the evening and rise about nine o’clock at night, about eight o’clock he was waked out of his sleep by his wife, who told him she suspected the lighthouse was a fire, that he immediately ran up with two pails of water, but the fire was too violent to be subdued. That, however, he saved many things belonging to the lighthouse, that he supposes the fire was occasioned by the lamps dropping on the wooden benches and a snuff falling off and setting fire. And that the said fire was not occasioned by the least neglect of the memorialists.

Jake of the Past:
[11:57] The fire may have been the root cause of cracks in the tower’s masonry walls, which may have been exacerbated by a 1723 storm that drove a 16-foot storm surge, one of the largest ever recorded on Boston Harbor.

Jake of the Past:
[12:11] Some repairs were made in 1726, but a larger restoration project was undertaken in 1734, under the third keeper, Richard Ball, who had taken over the previous year. These latest renovations were described in a 1911 history of Boston Light. In June 1734, a committee was appointed by the General Court to ascertain if the lighthouse was capable of being repaired, and if not, whether a more convenient place and a better foundation for erecting the lighthouse on than the place where the present house stands could be found, and whether it was proper to build it of timber or of stone. Thursday, July 4th, the committee reported, advising that the seams and cracks be well filled with mortar or putty, and that the whole outside cased with good oak plank of two inches and a half thick up and down, with twelve iron hoops, the hoops to be three inches and a half wide, five-eighths of an inch thick, well drove over the plank, and to be suitable distances about four feet apart and boarded between the hoops and shingled on the outside. This method, said the committee, we apprehend will secure the said lighthouse and make it as strong as at first, if not the better.

Jake of the Past:
[13:24] This work was completed by 1737, leaving Little Brewster with a newly rebuilt 50-foot tower, a cozy keeper’s house, and a solid new wharf.

Jake of the Past:
[13:35] However, the wooden casing that now reinforced the tower left it even more susceptible to damage by fire. When the next fire occurred in 1751, the tower had to be extensively rebuilt, and the lantern was moved to a 40-foot-tall spar or mast next to the ruined lighthouse until it could be rebuilt. This time, greater efforts were made to fireproof the tower’s lantern. Instead of rebuilding everything of wood, the lantern area was rebuilt of iron plates with a copper roof. The door to the lantern was set in brick and covered with iron, and the walk outside the lantern was protected with stone. The changes to the tower made it much more resistant to fire but it lacked protection from other dangers. A 1789 issue of Massachusetts Magazine points out that the lighthouse was several times struck with lightning, and attempts were made to erect conductors, but this measure was opposed by several of the godly men of those days, who thought it vanity and irreligion for the arm of flesh to presume to avert the stroke of heaven. But it having received considerable damage in the course of two or three successive summers, necessity prevailed over the consciences of our faithful fathers, and the invention of Franklin was employed, since which it has received no injury from that cause.

Jake of the Past:
[14:57] After each lightning strike, any damage to the lighthouse was repaired, so it was approaching its 60th anniversary when the Boston Port Act passed in 1774. Meant to punish the residents of Boston for the affront of the Tea Party, the Port Act officially shut down the port of Boston, strangling the local economy. As it went into effect in June of 1774, the British regular station in Boston officially relieved lighthouse keeper Robert Ball of duty, and the lighthouse would pass from the control of the province of Massachusetts Bay to the British military. When war broke out with the battles at Lexington and Concord in April 1775, the harbor, and thus the lighthouse, would become a critically important strategic asset.

The Strategic Importance of Boston Light

Jake of the Past:
[15:43] From the moment the British column retreated back to Boston, the patriot militias who quickly surrounded the city controlled the land. There would be no trade or commerce to supply cattle and pigs for meat, No milk, butter, or other dairy. No hay for the horses. When it started to get cold, there would be no straw for bedding and insulation, and no firewood to keep the redcoats warm. However, while the Patriots controlled the land, the power of the British Navy meant that they fully controlled the sea.

Jake of the Past:
[16:15] Boston, as we may have mentioned before, was a peninsular city.

Jake of the Past:
[16:20] Militia units from around New England streamed into Cambridge and Roxbury to keep the British regulars trapped in the peninsular town of Boston. Boston transformed itself from a tiny town on a peninsula to a sprawling city. It was a small, densely populated city on a tiny, mitten-shaped peninsula. The tiny Chalmett Peninsula that comprised Boston. Before Boston was expanded by filling the salt marshes that surrounded the Chalmett Peninsula. John Winthrop and his Puritan followers settled on the tiny peninsula they called Boston. Back when Boston was a tiny village on the Chalmett Peninsula. The only road leading off the peninsula of Boston. New England militias rushed to surround Boston and trapped the British regulars within the peninsular town. The Shawmut Peninsula was surrounded by Boston Harbor and its many islands. For the British to withstand the provincial siege, they’d have to bring in supplies from the sea. First, though, they conducted a series of raids on farms and pastures on the harbor islands closest to Boston. But after the regulars took hay and cattle from Grape Island in May, the provincials took action to remove any useful supplies from the rest of the harbor islands. Listen to episode 186 about the Battle of Chelsea Creek to learn more about that effort. In the meantime, supplies would have to be transported from Great Britain at great cost to keep the army fed, armed, and clothed, and the lighthouse on Little Brewster Island was the key to navigating Boston Harbor without foundering on its hidden rocks and shoals.

Jake of the Past:
[17:45] Members of the legislature recognized the strategic importance of lighthouses like Boston Light in helping provision the enemy, and quickly worked to neutralize this advantage. About two weeks after the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress appointed a Committee on Removing Lamps from Lighthouses, which reported… A Committee on Removing Lamps from Lighthouses, which reported… It is recommended to the Committee of Correspondence, or Selectmen, of the Town of Chelsea to remove and secure, if practicable, the lamps and oil from the lighthouse at the entrance of Boston Harbor, with all the appurtenances thereunto belonging. Also, it’s recommended to the Committee of Safety of the Town of Gloucester that the same measures be taken with respect to the lighthouses on Thatcher’s Island, and that the keeper of said lights, with the several boats, cattle, etc., be also removed from thence. Furthermore, it’s recommended to the Committee of Correspondence for the town

The Committee on Removing Lamps

Jake of the Past:
[18:40] of Plymouth to remove and secure the lamps, oil, etc. From the lighthouse at the Gurnet, with all the appurtenances thereunto belonging, and that the keepers of the several lighthouses as above specified be discharged from the service of this colony till the further order of this or some future Congress or House of Representatives.

Jake of the Past:
[19:01] Up in Gloucester, a militia captain named Samuel Rogers took a detachment of local troops and a few whale boats and rowed out to Thatcher Island, where the Twin Lights were attended by a loyalist named James Kirkwood. After landing, Rogers later wrote, they broke the lighthouse glasses and lamps all to pieces, brought away the oil together with Captain Kirkwood’s family and all that he had on the island, and put them on the main to shift for themselves. Down in Plymouth, the keeper of Garnet Light was John Thomas, a reliable patriot who ended up marching with the Plymouth Regiment. That left Boston, where the lighthouse was already under military control. Securing the lamps and oil from Boston Light wouldn’t be so easy. Certainly it was beyond the ability of the selectmen of Chelsea to sail out among Rear Admiral Samuel Graves’ powerful British fleet, land on Little Brewster Island in the outermost harbor, somehow incapacitate the redcoats guarding the lighthouse, and then bring the important bits back to shore.

Jake of the Past:
[20:06] It’s actually surprisingly hard to tell who ordered the raid that would end with the Continentals burning Boston light for the first time. George Washington took command of the Continental headquarters in Cambridge on July 3rd. He held a council of war with his top generals and colonels on July 9th to get a feel for how the two armies were situated. And on July 13th, he ordered the removal of livestock from vulnerable coastal areas like East Boston and Winthrop, where the British might take them. However, Washington’s later letters indicate that he was taken by surprise, both by the raid and its success.

Jake of the Past:
[20:43] More likely is Brigadier General William Heath of Roxbury Certainly he would take credit for the raid in letters to General Washington after the fact And he likely ordered the attack by an officer under his command, It’s possible, however, that that officer, Major Joseph Foes of Milton who would later command a battalion at the American victory at Yorktown, simply had a good idea and ran with it. We know that Vose ordered about 400 men and whale boats to row to the Nantasket Peninsula late in the evening of July 18, 1775. Daylight found them removing grain, hay, and other useful supplies from the farms at Nantasket, but they weren’t done yet. Their work at Nantasket would continue into a third day, July 20, which Caleb Haskell, a militia private from Newburyport, had recently arrived in Cambridge, described in his diary. This day is a fast, appointed by the Continental Congress.

The Raid Begins

Jake of the Past:
[21:43] On the morning of the 20th, the journal of the British warship HMS Lively recorded, Moored in Nantasket Road. At 8 a.m., discovered a number of whale boats crossing from Nantasket to the lighthouse.

Jake of the Past:
[21:59] Having surprised the British with this landing, Vose’s detachment got right to work on Little Brewster Island, as a letter to John Adams from his cousin Richard Cranch on July 24th reveals. On Thursday morning, a company commanded by Major Vose of Milton went over to the lighthouse, took down and brought off the lamps, brought off a barrel of gunpowder, several tierces of oil, a quantity of old cordage, several boats, and then burnt the lighthouse, but not the dwelling house. An officer stationed in the main continental encampment at Cambridge witnessed Vose’s success from 12 miles away. At the time, Brighton wasn’t yet independent, was referred to as Little Cambridge, with the officer writing, I was at Little Cambridge when the guns wakened me. I ascended in the imminence at a distance and saw the flames of the lighthouse ascending up to heaven like a grateful incense, and the ships wasting their powder. As soon as a party of Royal Marines could be organized from the ships in the outer harbor, they launched to intercept Voes’ detachment, as recorded in the Journal of the British Warship HMS Lively. Came on board the Admiral’s longboat and Somerset’s launch. At half-past 3 p.m., the boats put off from the ship with Lieutenant Gibbons. At 7, the boats returned.

Jake of the Past:
[23:21] Cousin Richard Cranch’s letter to John Adams continues, describing the chase as Vose’s party rode for safety under British fire. Returning to Nantasket, they found that the burning of the lighthouse had alarmed the men of war, and that their barges and cutters were sent down to attack our people, which they accordingly did, seven of their barges being lashed together for that purpose. A hot fire ensued for near an hour, but none of our men were killed and only two wounded.

Jake of the Past:
[23:52] When they reached dry land, the tired oarsmen faked a hasty retreat to try and draw the marines onto shore, where the patriots would have an overwhelming advantage, as Abigail Adams described in her own letter to John. Our men all reached the shore and not one life lost, two only slightly wounded in their legs. They marched up a hill and drew into order in hopes that the marines would land, but they chose rather to return without a land engagement, though tis thought they will burn the town down as soon as our forces leave it. These little skirmishes seem trifling, but they serve to inure our men and harden them to danger.

Jake of the Past:
[24:32] Whether or not he actually issued the order that sent Major Vose to Boston Light, General Heath was delighted to report the raid’s success to General Washington the next day. Sir, I have the pleasure to inform Your Excellency that Major Vose of my own regiment, Besides securing the barley on Nantasket, yesterday morning landed on the lighthouse island with six or seven boats. The lighthouse was set on fire and the woodwork burnt. The party brought off three casks of oil, all the furniture of the lighthouse, about 50 pounds of gunpowder, a quantity of cordage, etc., and an inventory of which will be forwarded to Your Excellency.

Aftermath of the First Raid

Jake of the Past:
[25:11] Some of the brave men who affected this, with their lives in their hands, have just now applied to me to know whether it was to be considered as plunder or otherwise. I was not able to determine this matter, but told them that I would lay the matter before your excellency. I would beg leave to add that these brave men were, some of them, at Grape Island, Deer Island, and at Long Island. Each of those islands were stripped of their stock, etc.

Jake of the Past:
[25:39] On the other side of the lines, a notice was issued on behalf of Admiral Graves the day after the raid. This is to give notice that the lighthouse on Thatcher’s Island, commonly called Cape Ann Lights, and the lighthouse at the entrance of Boston Harbor are burned and destroyed by the rebels. And further notice is given that all seafaring people be careful that they are not deceived by false lights, which the rebels threaten to hang out in order to decoy vessels to their destruction.

Jake of the Past:
[26:09] We’ll come back to the idea of decoys to draw British ships to their destruction, but first, let’s return to Admiral Graves. As we just heard, the Continental Whaleboats were able to handily out-row and out-maneuver the barges, schooner, and cutters that were sent to pursue them. The same whaleboats had been used in the raids on Long, Deer, and Noddles Islands in the preceding weeks, and they seemed nearly untouchable to the British Admiral. The traditional New England whaleboat is a wooden vessel that’s nearly canoe-shaped, but much larger. A whaleboat usually had a single mast and could be sailed, but the masts were usually stowed and the boats were usually rowed, with two, three, or as many as five oarsmen pulling on each side, plus another manning the steering oar in the stern. After a whaling ship spotted its quarry, a flotilla of these smaller boats would be lowered into the water to pursue and harpoon it. They were fairly symmetrical end to end, so they could be rowed in either direction in a pinch. They had a small keel and a shallow draft, so they could get very near shore when needed. Recognizing their value early in the conflict, the New England militias had commandeered as many whale boats as they could find, from New Bedford to Salem, hiding them in the tidal creeks around Boston Harbor.

Jake of the Past:
[27:32] To Admiral Graves, these glorified rowboats seemed as elusive as a modern stealth fighter. On July 24th, a few days after the raid on the lighthouse, he sat down and wrote his own analysis of these traditional New England craft. On the 20th, some rebels and whaleboats went from Nantasket and Nacalm and set fire to Boston Lighthouse, which is at present rendered useless. The rebels have collected near 300 whaleboats in the different creeks around this harbor and begin to make little expeditions to the islands. From their lightness and drawing little water, they can not only outrow our boats, but by getting into shoal water and in calms, they must constantly escape. It is not possible to guard every island in this harbor from such piratical attempts without more armed vessels and men than can be had. Various are the conjectures about the design of the rebels in bringing so great a number of whale boats here. Robbing the islands and burning the houses and hay thereon most certainly distresses the garrison by depriving them of fresh meat, vegetables, milk, fruit, and many other advantages. But it’s generally believed that they were principally intended to land a body of men in the night at the most defenseless parts of the town, when a general attack should be made on the lines, hoping, with the assistance of disaffected people in the town, to occasion great confusion and terror, and finally defeat His Majesty’s troops.

Jake of the Past:
[29:01] Graves wasn’t going to wait around to see what the Continentals had planned. In the days after the lighthouse raid, the Admiral put two of his own plans into action. First, he issued orders to rebuild the lighthouse as quickly as possible.

British Response to the Lighthouse Raid

Jake of the Past:
[29:14] And then he planned an attack to deal with the threat posed by whale boats. The journal kept on board the HMS Lively reveals that one of these plans was put into action the day after the raid. With the entry for July 21st reading, more to Nantasket Road, came on board one of the Admiral’s boats with carpenters to repair the lighthouse. The next day, Admiral Graves’ notes indicate that he was providing security for the civilian carpenters who were working on the lighthouse.

Jake of the Past:
[29:47] Upon the admiral’s consulting with General Gage on the best method to secure the people who were to be employed in repairing the lighthouse, it was agreed that a party of marines should go from the fleet to protect the artificers, which party should be relieved in three days by a detachment from the army. The admiral accordingly ordered an officer of marines and 30 men from the Preston and Boyne upon this service. With this party, the engineers were of the opinion that the lighthouse might well be defended until Succors arrived, against a thousand men, and the Admiral expected to have the building soon repaired and a light shown as before. That same day, the Admiral wrote to the Captain of HMS Lively, instructing him how to support the work party that was rebuilding the burn pits of Boston Light. I have sent an officer with a party of marines to the lighthouse with three days’ provisions. The Preston’s longboat is to remain with them. You will give them all the assistance in your power and direct what signal they should make in case of an attack or other danger, in order that you may send them the speediest help. If your tender could cruise in the lighthouse channel tonight and tomorrow, she would more readily discover the rebel’s approach than by any other means.

Jake of the Past:
[31:05] Having received those orders, the Journal of HMS Preston for July 23rd records, sent the longboat with an officer, a sergeant, a corporal, and 14 private marines to the lighthouse.

The Second Raid on Boston Light

Jake of the Past:
[31:20] Just ten days after the lighthouse was burned, the carpenters and their guards had it ready to light again. As James Warren wrote to John Adams on July 31st, they had for some time been very industrious in rebuilding the lighthouse. And had it in such forwardness as actually to show a light Saturday night, July 29th. The Continentals who watched the harbor from the surrounding hills weren’t happy to see a light shining on Little Brewster Island, and they began planning a new raid almost immediately. Before they could put that plan into action, Admiral Graves followed up on the whale boat threat that he had noted days before. On July 31st, he summarized the previous day’s British raid. The expedition of Captain John Robinson was formed in consequence of intelligence given that the rebels had between two and three hundred whale boats in a wood on the banks of Germantown River. Germantown River in this case likely meaning today’s Weymouth Fore River. Robinson was put in command of all the available Royal Marines, who were loaded onto ten boats.

Jake of the Past:
[32:30] Ships in the inner harbor and batteries in Boston kept up a heavy fire on the Patriot lines at Roxbury as a diversion, while this party of Marines rode for shore and the mouth of the river in Weymouth. The channel of the river was intricate, but the boats had two pilots among them, and the firing from Boston and Roxbury increased with the darkness. The pilots, however, whether from being brothers in Americans, or from ruminating on their fate should they be taken, or from any other cause, were observed to be much alarmed, and upon approaching shore could give no clear directions. And although it would have required little time to burn the hole, Yet it was thought unadvisable to risk so many men and boats in a river totally unknown to all, as a discovery must have been fatal. Therefore, just at daybreak, Captain Robinson, finding nothing could be done, determined to return. However, this determination was scarcely taken when he was alarmed with a firing at the lighthouse, and he instantly rode towards it with his whole force, being then within a mile or two.

Jake of the Past:
[33:40] The Continentals had launched their second raid on the lighthouse at the same moment that the Royal Marines were trying unsuccessfully to find and destroy the whale boats that had been causing so much difficulty. On board the HMS Lively, the Days Journal recorded contact with the Continental boats starting before dawn. At 4 a.m., saw the rebels land at the lighthouse, made the signal for assistance, manned and armed our boats, came down the boats from the men of war in an armed sloop.

Jake of the Past:
[34:11] Royal Navy Midshipman Christopher Hale was stationed on Little Brewster as part of the detachment providing security for the Carpenters. He’d been up all night standing guard, and in the pre-dawn gray he was surprised to hear a call to arms, writing later, On the 30th of July, Lieutenant Coldhurst and myself, having remained up until daylight, and the Marines the whole time under arms and sentinels placed at different parts of the island, thought we might with safety rest a few hours. But to our great surprise, about half past gunfiring in the morning was by the sergeant alarmed, saying, the whaleboats are coming. Lieutenant Colthurst and myself, having laid down in our clothes, repaired with the greatest expedition to the guardroom, and ordered the marines immediately to the place where we imagined the rebels intended to land, who we found within pistol shot of the rocks to the number of 33 boats, each boat containing about 13 men. As Hale got the defenses organized on land, the sailors on board HMS Scorpion, anchored nearby, supported the British defenders on the island. The ship’s journal entry notes that they were moored with springs on the cables, meaning that additional ropes ran from the deck to the anchor cables, allowing the crew to swing the ship side to side at anchor and bring the guns to bear in any direction.

Jake of the Past:
[35:33] Seeing the landing at the lighthouse, the crew of the Scorpion began firing, At nine, fired four shots at the rebels on shore at the lighthouse Sent a boat, manned and armed, to watch their motions People under arms all night Moored off the lighthouse.

Jake of the Past:
[35:53] Meanwhile, midshipman Hale was having trouble managing the defenses on Little Brewster, because too many of his marines had been in their cups the previous evening, as he complained on July 30th. The marines were drawn up, though not without great confusion, perceiving many of them in liquor and totally unfit for service. Notwithstanding, I will venture to affirm every precaution was used to prevent it, by frequently examining them and cautioning the carpenters against bringing liquor. On pain of their being sent prisoners to Boston. Though I’m of the opinion it could be conveyed to them by no other means. Several of the Marines were perceived to be in liquor in the night, and two sentinels were leaveed and confined for that fault.

Jake of the Past:
[36:39] As the day heated up, Hale found himself with a party of about 35 Marines, a significant number of whom were too drunk or hungover to be effective in battle. With them were about a dozen civilian carpenters, some of whom were loyalists from Marshfield. With this meager force, he was supposed to defend a tiny seven-acre island with no trees and no cover except the lighthouse itself and the Keeper’s residence. The only saving grace was that the rocky shores meant that there were only a couple of approaches, where seven-years war veteran Major Benjamin Tupper and his roughly 300 Continentals could affect a landing. Hale was faced with a difficult decision. Should he try to organize his drunken marines into lines of battle and meet the Continentals as they landed, despite being outnumbered by about ten to one? Should he barricade the Keeper’s House as an Alamo position and try to hold out until reinforcements could arrive? Or should they all just make a run for it? Midshipman Hale described how he and a fellow officer quickly debated the options as the whale boats bore down on them. The Marines, without orders, fired a number of muskets at the boats, then laying on their oars.

Jake of the Past:
[37:55] Lieutenant Colthurst then advised with me what was the most proper to be done, observing there was a much greater force than was possible for us to defeat. I replied as the whale boats were laying on their oars and appearing to consult how they should act, by continuing the fire they might probably retreat, which words I had scarcely uttered when the rebels cheered, divided, and proceeded to land on different parts of the island.

Jake of the Past:
[38:21] Lieutenant Colthurst was then of the opinion that by retreating to the house, we might defend ourselves till assistance came from the ships, but recalled his proposals, giving for reason that as the house was defended within only, the rebels would set it on fire, which, if I may presume to give my opinion, was highly probable, as the rebels, after getting within a few yards of it, would have received no hurt from our fire, it being impossible to bring any muskets to bear on them, and there being many openings in the lower part of the house which they might with great ease have set fire to. He therefore judged it expedient for us all to retreat on board a schooner, then laying in the mole afloat, which, finding him resolved on doing, and many of the rebels being landed, With his approbation, I told him I would repair to the longboat, which lay at a small distance from the mole, and use my endeavors to cover the marines in the embarking, which he consented to.

Jake of the Past:
[39:18] I proceeded to the wharf, jumped overboard, and waded to a canoe, by which means gained the longboat, got underway, and used my endeavors to cover their retreat. The schooner in Easting grounded, which, being observed by the rebels, who, having set the houses on fire immediately boarded and took them all prisoner. As I could be of no further assistance, I judged it necessary for the safety of the men and boat, the whaleboats then pursuing me, to retreat towards the lively, which I could not affect without difficulty being obliged to turn against the tide. I cannot pretend to say what number of men were killed or wounded, nor did I see any fall, except Mr. Coldhurst on the wharf getting his men on board the schooner.

Jake of the Past:
[40:04] Lieutenant Colthurst was among the casualties described by Major Tupper in his after-action report to General Horatio Gates. Sir, I’m now able to give a more particular account of the expedition to the lighthouse than when I saw you before. I find by examination that we killed six persons on the spot, one of which was a lieutenant, that we have five marines and one Tory in the hospital, that one died of his wounds before he arrived at Roxbury, that one woman and a lad is still at Dorchester, so that adding the 15 above mentioned to the 38 which General Ward sent over to Cambridge makes 53 killed and taken. The raid had gone better than anybody expected. Tupper’s Continentals had burned the lighthouse again, and they’d taken prisoners. Now they just had to make it back to shore in friendly lines. Captain Robinson’s Royal Marines, while unable to get into Weymouth to burn the stockpile of whale boats, was now close enough to make life difficult for Major Tupper and his whale boats, which were now loaded down with dozens of prisoners. The Journal of HMS Lively hints at just how close a call it was. The boats from the men of war in an armed sloop drove the rebels on shore and took two of their whale boats, sailed the sloop and boats for Boston, came down and anchored off the lighthouse.

Jake of the Past:
[41:32] In Major Tupper’s report to General Gates, he also emphasizes the close call, but he makes sure to describe how one-sided the battle was. Major Crane, with his field piece, meaning a small cannon, which was planted on Nantasket beach to cover our retreat, sunk one of their boats, and probably killed sundry of their crew as the enemy approached within 200 yards. On our side, we lost one man only. Had two just grazed with balls. We stove one of our boats and was obliged to leave it. We lost seven small arms, part of which were lost in landing. As the rocks were very steep, some of the parties slipped and let go of their guns to save themselves. And we have 25 small arms and accoutrements brought off with us, and conceived there were more taken, but have been secreted by some of the party.

British Retaliation and the Lighthouse

Jake of the Past:
[42:26] For their part, the Brits were sure that the other shoe was about to drop. With the whale boat seemingly untouchable, rumors swirled that the Continentals were going to land in Boston that night, or raid another island, or return to the lighthouse. Having seen the Americans board and take over the schooner that was evacuating Marines from Little Brewster earlier that day, Royal Navy Lieutenant John Tolomach thought that his ship might be the next target. Writing the next night, HMS Scorpion, off Boston Lighthouse, July 31st, 1775.

Jake of the Past:
[43:03] Sir, conforming to your orders, I am anchored as near the lighthouse as the pilot thought safe. I understand it is next to certain I am to be attacked by boats. Sir, I must mention that I think the Scorpion is almost the only vessel in His Majesty’s service that an enemy with only small arms could affect any execution. She is without waste, and her decks consequently without cover. The men are entirely exposed to the enemy’s fire. Arriving at Boston and not expecting such service, I have not yet had time to make netting against being boarded, and this night shall be without it. However, I must conclude with assuring you I am making the ship as defensible as possible in my power.

Jake of the Past:
[43:49] The Americans, however, were happy to have achieved their tactical goal of disabling the lighthouse again. They weren’t in a rush to start a larger engagement on the harbor, where the Royal Navy and Marines had a distinct advantage. Instead, they continued consolidating their lines and scheming up ways to draw the British into an engagement on land, where the Continentals had the advantage. They also took the time to count the cost on both sides, as recorded by Abigail Adams in a letter to John on July 31st. I went out yesterday to attend the funeral of a poor fellow who the night before fell in battle, as they were returning from the lighthouse, without the loss of a man till they were upon their return, when they were so closely pursued that they were obliged to run one of the whale boats ashore and leave her to them. The rest arrived safe, except the unhappy youth whose funeral I yesterday attended, who received a ball through the temples as he was rowing the boat. He belonged to Rhode Island. His name was Griffin.

Jake of the Past:
[44:51] He, with four wounded marines, was brought by Captain Turner to Germantown and buried from there with the honors of war. The poor wounded fellows, who were all wounded in their arms, desired they might attend. I spoke with them. I told them it was very unhappy that they should be obliged to fight their best friends. They said they were sorry. They hoped in God an end would speedily be put to the unhappy contest. When they came, they came in the way of their duty to relieve Admiral Montague, with no thoughts of fighting. Their situation was such as obliged them to obey orders, but they wished with all their souls they that sent them here had been in the heat of the battle, expressed gratitude at the kindness they received, said in that they had been deceived. For they were told if they were taken alive, they should be sacrificed by us. Dr. Tufts stressed their wounds.

Jake of the Past:
[45:51] The care shown to these British prisoners by their captors over 150 years before the Geneva Convention caught General Washington’s attention. In his general orders for August 1st, he committed the bravery, judgment, and mercy of the men who would attack the lighthouse. The general thanks Major Tupper and the officers and soldiers under his command for their gallant and soldier-like behavior in possessing themselves of the enemy’s post at the lighthouse and for the number of prisoners they took there and doubts not that the Continental Army will be as famous for their mercy as for their valor. In his own July 31st letter to John Adams, Mass Provincial Congress President James Warren noted that at least some of the civilian carpenters were well known to the rebels. Among the prisoners are four Marshfield Tories and three or four others. The rest are Marines and soldiers. One of the whites of Marshfield is wounded, it’s said mortally.

Jake of the Past:
[46:53] No doubt, but the surviving Tory carpenters would have been expelled from the province with the Banishment Act of 1778 if they hadn’t already left Massachusetts with the evacuation of Boston in 1776. Today, we celebrate March 17th as the anniversary of the British evacuation. But they only evacuated the town of Boston, not the harbor. Some British ships would continue to linger in the outer harbor until June. With this potential threat still hanging around in Boston’s backyard, many eyes watched the harbor from the surrounding hills, and none more keenly than businessman and progenitor of many future Boston mayors, Josiah Quincy.

Jake of the Past:
[47:36] Starting almost as soon as the fleet moved from Boston’s wharves to the shipping channel near Pettix Island known as Nantasket Roads, Quincy kept a near-constant watch on the fleet and regularly reported their movements to George Washington. For example, the very day the fleet was forced to fall down to Nantasket Road, Quincy wrote on March 21, 1776, Yesterday in the afternoon, we were happily relieved by the appearance of a number of whale boats stretching across our bay, under the command, as I have since heard, of the brave Lieutenant Colonel Tupper, who in the forenoon had been cannonading the ships with one or more field pieces from the east head of Thompson’s Island. And I suppose last night cannonaded them again from the same place, or from Spectacle Island. This judicious maneuver had its genuine effect. For this morning, the Admiral and all the rest of the ships except one of the line came to sail and fell down to Nantasket Road, where a countless number is now collected. In reply, George Washington wrote, The continuance of the fleet in Nantasket Road affords matter for speculation. It surpasses my comprehension and awakens all my suspicions.

Jake of the Past:
[48:54] Josiah Quincy would keep such a close eye on the harbor that he sometimes sent Washington hour-by-hour reports on what ships were moving on the harbor at any given time and what signal flags they were flying.

Jake of the Past:
[49:07] George Washington was not Josiah Quincy’s only correspondent, and it seems like everyone in Massachusetts was sending letters to John Adams down in Philadelphia. In a letter to Adams on June 13, 1776, Quincy griped, It is almost three months, since, by the smiles of providence upon our army, General Howe with the rest of our unnatural and perfidious enemies were forced to abandon the capital of this colony. On which memorable event I sincerely congratulate you. But to my astonishment, anger, and just resentment, a single .50-gun ship has ever since kept possession of Nantasket Road, and buyer tenders taken more prizes than at a moderate computation, would have fortified and rendered impregnable every island in this harbor.

Jake of the Past:
[49:57] Meaning that the value of the American cargos the lingering British captured was greater than the cost of building strong forts on the harbor islands. Quincy continues, to increase our hazards and to add to our mortification, on the 10th instant, seven transports filled with Highland troops arrived in Nintasket Road. This event has waked the watchman of the public wheel, for, whilst I’m writing, I hear there are parties with cannon, mortars, and entrenching tools going this night to fortify the Moon, Great Hill at Howl’s Neck, Peddix Island, Long Island, and Nantasket. The Commodore, about eleven o’clock, brought his broadside to bear upon Nantasket and fired about twenty of his lower-tier guns, at which place I suppose they are now at work.

Jake of the Past:
[50:46] For his part, John Adams had been nearly desperate to see fortifications go up on the harbor islands ever since the initial evacuation. Now that he was finally getting his wish, author Pelletiah Webster wrote to him on June 13, 1776, Eleven enemy vessels are at Nantasket, mostly transports lately arrived. The Bostonians will occupy the heights of Allerton Point, Long Island, and Peddocks Island this night and designed to clear the harbor soon of enemy ships. Forts at Dorchester Point, Nottles Island, Point Shirley, the Castle, and Charlestown Point are in great forwardness.

Jake of the Past:
[51:25] By June of 1776, George Washington and the main force of the Continental Army had moved to New York, as the main theater of war opened around Manhattan Island. But a small garrison remained around Boston.

Jake of the Past:
[51:39] As we’ve described in earlier episodes, several hundred Continental troops and a few hundred more local militia began fortifying the heights at Peddocks Island, Long Island, Hull, and other easy-to-reach points on the evening of June 13th, putting their artillery well within range of any ships remaining in Nantasket Roads. Our very observant Josiah Quincy wrote to John Adams on June 14th that he could see about 300 volunteers at Squantum Point, but he saw no evidence of orders or organization. His letter continues, However, with our glass, we could see a large number of men collected upon the east head of Long Island. At about six o’clock, an 18-pounder was discharged upon the ships in the road, when the transports and tenders immediately came to sail. After about a half a dozen shot were discharged from the first cannon, a second of the same bore was got ready, and a warm cannonading of the Commodore ensued. When he clapped a spring upon his cable and brought his broadside to bear, then returned the fire, with seeming resolution. But very soon discovering a shell from an 18-inch mortar burst in the air about two-thirds of the way to his ship, he slipped or cut his cables and came to sail.

The Final Destruction of Boston Light

Jake of the Past:
[52:58] Another of John Adams’ many pen pals gave a more detailed description of the operation, though from a surprising source. Miss Polly Palmer wrote to the Continental Congressman on June 15, 1776. You will wonder at receiving a letter from one who is very far from being sufficiently qualified to write to a member of the Grand Congress. But I am under parental injunctions to do it, which every good child ought to obey. In other words, father’s making me write to you. She describes the secrecy surrounding the plan to move troops onto the harbor islands and the difficulty in getting cannons and troops where they needed to be, and continues, 700 of the continental troops were ordered to Long Island and Moon Island, 700 of colony troops and militia to Nantasket, and 700 ditto to Pettix Island and Spears Hill. The night was dark and so still that our people could hear the sound of the voices on board the ships in their common conversation. In the meantime, the fort at Long Island was carrying on briskly so that before seven in the morning, they began to fire upon the ships. Upon the first firing, the little vessels hoisted sail, but the Commodore and larger ones stood it for about an hour or more, Though without returning the fire, as it was to no purpose, I suppose, the advantage being so much greater on the high land than on the water.

Jake of the Past:
[54:27] That morning, Captain Francis Banks of the HMS Renown saw the progress that had been made overnight and began gathering up his fleet to leave the harbor. The ship’s journal entry for June 14, 1776 states, At daybreak in the morning, perceived the rebels had thrown up two very strong batteries on Long Island. Immediately sent my boat on board the transports to order them underway. At the same time, sent the gunboat and cutter to bring the sick off from Georgia’s island. At 5 a.m., the rebels began to fire upon me from the batteries on Long Island, and likewise hove several shells. Fired 50 shot at the rebels. At 7, unmoored. You’d think that being burned twice in two weeks would be enough carnage for one lighthouse, but less than a year later, Boston Light was faced with yet another destruction. Polly Palmer’s letter continues, Before nine o’clock, the Commodore thought proper to set sail with all his ships and small craft. After having stood a continued fire from Long Island all that time, as it was calm, they sailed but slowly, and brought to by the lighthouse, which they dismantled and blew up, taking all their soldiers from that place with the cannon. This was about one o’clock yesterday.

Jake of the Past:
[55:49] On the British side, the landing on Little Brewster was recorded by both Captain Banks of the Renown and the Captain of HMS Hope. The Journal of the Renown records, At nine, came two off the lighthouse, sent my boats and brought off Lieutenant Stewart and his party of Marines, as also Lieutenant Curry with my own party, having effectually destroyed the lighthouse by blowing it up, two barrels of powder being sent from the ship for that purpose. The Hope kept close by the Renown during this interlude, with its journal stating, At 10 a.m. anchored off the lighthouse. At 11, the rebels opened a battery on Nataskat Head and fired a number of shot at the shipping. Our captain went on shore and set the lighthouse on fire, there being powder in it soon after it blowed up. I’ve often seen the destruction of the original Boston Light described as having been done with a time-delay fuse. But both descriptions from the Royal Navy and the one from Josiah Quincy state that the powder was taken into the tower, and the tower was then set on fire. Quincy’s account says, After we got home, between 11 and 12 o’clock, we perceived the lighthouse was on fire. After burning about an hour, the tower was blown up and reduced to a heap of rubbish.

Jake of the Past:
[57:12] Quincy also noted that the weather was a bit hazy, and the enemy ships were out of sight before the tower exploded, which is probably the origin of the idea of a time-delay fuse. All in all, the layover to blow up the lighthouse didn’t slow the fleet down much, and they soon made good their escape from Boston Harbor, where they were no longer safe. In the Journal of the HMS Renown, Captain Francis Banks explains how the fleet began withdrawing from Boston Harbor in earnest at about 11 a.m. On June 14, just after setting fire to the lighthouse. At 10, the rebels opened a battery on Nantasket Head and began to fire upon me and the transports. Perceiving some of them on the hill, fired 20 24-pounders and 20 12-pounders at them. At 11, weighed and came to sail in company with His Majesty’s armed brig Hope, eight sail of transports, the Yankee Hero Prize, and two small schooner prizes. At five, brought two, hoisted the boats in, and stowed the anchor. Fired four guns and made the signal for the convoy to come under my stern. Sent on board the Yankee Hero Prize, my second lieutenant, a midshipman, and six men. Likewise, Lieutenant Stewart and his party of Marines. At eight, made sail in company with the Milford, Hope, and 14 sail of vessels.

Jake of the Past:
[58:37] An officer in the artillery train of the Massachusetts Militia noted on June 17th, The Continental train began firing, and the ships immediately got underway and anchored opposite the lighthouse. The Commodore lay foremost, and after firing the second shot, he blew up the lighthouse. And at our fourth round, the whole fleet got underway a second time. Some of our shot we have no doubt struck him, as all the boats in the fleet were sent to tow him off. He fired but one shot, but we pelted him till out of reach of our cannon. Thus we have got rid of a nest of scoundrels the very day two years ago they blocked the harbor up.

Jake of the Past:
[59:18] Polly Palmer’s letter to John Adams also describes the rapid departure of the fleet after the lighthouse exploded. Soon after, they continued their course outwards, though not without some disagreeable salutes from Nantasket, which was then furnished with cannon and fired about thirty balls at them as they passed. Some of which, it is thought, struck the Commodore and other vessels. About five or six o’clock, they were all out of sight. As this news will be agreeable to you, though told in a very imperfect and faulty manner, I the rather hope for your generous allowances in the behalf of the writer, whose abilities are far from being equal to the subject. I should not have presumed so far had Mrs. Adams been at home, but she set out for Plymouth Thursday morning, and so could not have the opportunity of writing so particularly as if she had been in town at the time of the evacuation.

Jake of the Past:
[1:00:10] After the departure of the Royal Navy, it was deemed wise not to rebuild the light on Little Brewster immediately. As long as the British fleet and the British Army remained a threat, Massachusetts officials believed that the lighthouse would provide more of an advantage to British captains than it would to local pilots who already knew the coast well. However, just because Boston Light wouldn’t be rebuilt didn’t mean that there wouldn’t be a signal at the mouth of Boston Harbor. General Artemis Ward was one of several officers to suggest placing decoys in the harbor to lure in British ships. Writing to the Provincial Congress on June 15, 1776, As the enemy are driven out of this harbor, I would submit to your consideration whether it might not be proper to station a large ship in Nantasket with a broad pennant. As a decoy to the enemy’s vessels, who may fall in not knowing the men of war are gone. The transport ship lately brought into this port I think might answer for this purpose.

Jake of the Past:
[1:01:09] Sure enough, two days later, two British transports carrying companies of the 71st Highland Regiment found themselves at the mouth of Boston Harbor at daybreak. The officers didn’t realize that the four ships bearing down on them were American privateers, and not pilot ships sent by the Admiral to help them find their way into Boston Harbor until it was too late. When they realized their mistake, the two ships made full sail for the town of Boston, where they expected to find a powerful British garrison. It wasn’t until an American battery opened up on them from shore as they entered the inner harbor that they realized their mistake. The transports ran aground at George’s Island and fought while were now six privateers surrounding them until all their powder was gone and they were forced to surrender.

Jake of the Past:
[1:01:57] In hopes of repeating this success and bringing in more British prisoners, or even better, useful warlike supplies, a committee at the Provincial Congress ordered the use of ships and lighthouses as decoys to further confuse enemy ships on June 18th. The said committee are empowered to procure, on the best terms, two ships at the expense of this colony, and man and fix them in such way, and place them at such station, as may appear to the said committee best calculated to serve as a decoy to the enemy ships and vessels that may at any time be coming into the harbor of Boston. And the aforesaid committee are further empowered and directed to erect such lights where the lighthouse stood without erecting a lighthouse, as may serve further to decoy and bring into the harbor of Boston ships and vessels of the enemy.

Jake of the Past:
[1:02:47] The lighthouse remained in ruins for the rest of the war years, though efforts were made to reuse some of the component parts. After the fires that plagued the lighthouse in early years, the topmost portion, known as the lantern, was rebuilt using as much metal as possible to render it fireproof. Many accounts I’ve read say that this metal was later reused to make cannon

The Rebuilding of Boston Light

Jake of the Past:
[1:03:08] ladles for the Continental Army. But the only primary source I could find for this idea was a transcription of a September 3, 1776, order of the legislature, stating, As the old top of the lighthouse is rendered unfit to be used for that purpose in the future, the commissary general is hereby directed to deliver so much of it to the committee for fortifying the harbor of Boston, as they shall need to supply the cannon with balls.

Jake of the Past:
[1:03:34] Reading that reminded me that after New Yorkers first heard the Declaration of Independence in July of 1776, they tore down their gilded lead statue of King George III and melded it down into musket balls for the Continental Army. Listen to the recent episode of the Ben Franklin’s World podcast titled The Horse’s Tale for more on that incident. When the American victory at Yorktown promised to restore Boston and the new nation to peace, merchants in Boston began clamoring for a new lighthouse to make the maritime trade that the city’s economy relied on easier. There were some temporary measures in the 1770s and the early 1780s, but the legislature took up the question in earnest in 1783, as described in the 1911 Story of Boston Light.

Jake of the Past:
[1:04:23] In June 1783, a committee of the Marine Society of Boston addressed a memorial to the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth, on the subject of the increase in trade, which, returning peace with all its great concomitant advantages, would probably bring to the state, declaring that the two principal requisites for the accomplishment of this most desirable purpose are the erection of judiciously disposed lighthouses and the establishment of a regular skillful system of pilotage. The loss is occasioned by the egregious defect in both during the continuance of the late war, being, the committee said, too distressing and too recent to demand a recital. This resulted in the appointment of committees to consider the expediency of erecting lighthouses on the coasts of the state and the passage of an act in July 1783 wherein Richard Devins Esquire, Commissary General of the Commonwealth, was directed to build a lighthouse as soon as possible on the island at the entrance of Boston Harbor where the old house stood, to be nearly of the same dimensions of the former lighthouse. He was also directed to repair the wharves at the island and construct other such buildings as were necessary.

Jake of the Past:
[1:05:35] The new tower is believed to have incorporated the foundation and some stones from the original Boston Light. Where the original tower was 50 feet tall, the replacement was 60 feet tall, plus another 15 for the lantern on top.

The Legacy of Boston Light

Jake of the Past:
[1:05:51] The first keeper of the newly rebuilt lighthouse, Thomas Knox, took up his post on December 5, 1783, continuing the tradition that’s carried on today by Sally Snowman, the 70th keeper of Boston Light, which is now the oldest light station in the U.S., if not the oldest lighthouse structure thanks to the British.

Jake of the Present:
[1:06:13] Since this story first aired in 2021, Sally Snowman is retired after 20 years as the first woman to serve as keeper of Boston Light and the first civilian to operate the light station since before World War II. From 2003 until the end of the 2023 season, she maintained and serviced the lighthouse mechanisms and the fog signal. She supervised volunteers. She carefully cleaned the 1856 Second Order Fresnel lens. And she answered every question that curious visitors asked during their summer visits to Little Brewster. In 2016, during the celebration of the light station’s 300th anniversary, Snowman told the Coast Guard compass, A very unique thing occurs every night when the sun goes down. There are 12 separate rays that go out, and when there’s any moisture in the air, it really magnifies those beams, and they appear to drop down onto the horizon. It’s just an optical illusion, but it feels so safe. Nothing’s going to harm me. Those are the Guardian Lights.

Jake of the Present:
[1:07:23] Thanks to a 1989 law championed by Ted Kennedy, Little Brewster Island and Boston Light are required to be administered and maintained in a way that preserves for public enjoyment and appreciation their special historic character. Continued, manned operation of the Boston Light will preserve its special historic character. Any proposal to automate or modernize Boston Light must be consistent with the National Historic Preservation Act. The Boston Light shall be operated on a permanently manned basis.

Jake of the Present:
[1:07:59] Recent winter storms have destroyed the Coast Guard Pier on Little Brewster, and coastal erosion has rendered the shoreline unstable, leaving the future of Boston Light uncertain. Despite the law, it’s currently unsafe for a successor to Sally Snowman to spend the summer manning Boston Light. On top of that, the Coast Guard is trying to get rid of Boston Light. Under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000, the federal government has been offloading historic lighthouses to outside entities and organizations. and the Coast Guard announced in 2020 that Boston Light would be next.

Jake of the Present:
[1:08:40] The National Park Service already administers the Boston Harbor Island’s National Recreation Area. And as America’s preeminent steward of historic sites, they seem like the obvious choice to take over Boston Light. In fact, Sally Snowman herself told Outside Magazine in 2022 that the National Park Service would be the ideal buyer of Boston Light. Unfortunately, the Trump administration’s ill-planned and indiscriminate budget cuts have left the National Park Service on life support, barely able to staff and take care of existing premier parks like Yosemite or Gettysburg, and the Boston-area parks have been forced to lay off dozens of rangers in July 2025 alone. Meanwhile, the Coast Guard has been nearly forgotten by a Department of Homeland Security whose funding and priorities have been shifted to focus solely on persecuting brown people and harassing urban liberals.

Jake of the Present:
[1:09:37] Let’s hope that Americans rediscover their sense of civic and national pride,

The Future of Boston Light

Jake of the Present:
[1:09:42] and that we as a nation decide that historic treasures like Boston Light are worth investing in. That we decide that they’re worth spending the pennies per year that the National Park Service costs the average taxpayer. That we find some way to allow the lighthouse that’s welcomed ships to our harbor for almost 310 years to continue beaming its guardian lights upon the water. To learn more about the three battles for Boston Light, check out this week’s show notes at hubhistory.com slash 332. I’ll include links to all the 18th century sources that I quoted in the original episode, most of which are collected in the naval documents of the American Revolution. For more context, I’ll also link to the 1911 book, The Story of Boston Light, which is well-researched and conveniently in the public domain. I’ll also link to a 2018 article about the lighthouse battles by Andrews A. Zellers Frederick for the Journal of the American Revolution.

Jake of the Present:
[1:10:47] I’ll link to a broadsheet poem by Elisha Rich of Chelmsford titled Poetical Remarks Upon the Fight at the Boston Lighthouse that was published in the wake of the Second Continental Raid. It includes brilliant stanzas like this one. All those who were not killed and wounded there were taken captive by our men, we hear. Though numbers came to set the captives free, They killed but one, we hear, and wounded three.

Jake of the Present:
[1:11:20] Wow. Genius. I’ll also link to a couple of articles that cover Sally Snowman’s 2023 retirement and the uncertain future of Boston Light. If you’d like to get in touch with us, you can email podcast at hubhistory.com. You can message me by searching for Hub History on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. But if you want to see me posting or have an active, ongoing relationship, your best bet is blue sky. I haven’t been super active there lately, but I am on there, and you can find me by searching for hubhistory.com. You can find my profile on Mastodon by searching for at hubhistoryatbetter.boston. If you’ve been as turned off by social media as I have been lately, just go to hubhistory.com and click on the Contact Us link. While you’re on the site, hit the subscribe link. Be sure that you never miss an episode. If you subscribe on Apple Podcasts, please consider writing us a brief review. If you do, drop me a line, and I’ll send you a Hub History sticker as a token of appreciation. That’s all for now. Stay safe out there, listeners.