There were two Colonels from Waltham at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775. Colonel Thomas Gardner led a regiment which included the company from Waltham and one from Charlestown among others.
The August 1952 edition of American Heritage tells of the Battle of Bunker Hill and one part says, “The entire American left flank, acting as a rear guard, fell back stubbornly, carrying their wounded with them, taking cover wherever they found it, and returning British fire like professional troops. The last rebels to leave were those with the most fight for it – the Charlestown company of Thomas Gardner’s regiment, who had hurried into the line at the rail fence just before the third British attack. They had lost their colonel (Gardner was mortally wounded while trying to lead reinforcements to the redoubt, and was carried off the field on a litter of rails by his son and some other men);
Fortunately for the Americans, the British had very nearly reached the end of their string. They had climbed Breed’s Hill three times that afternoon, and the grisly slopes were littered with their dead; twice victory had eluded then…..”
The other colonel from Waltham was Jonathan Brewer, who lived on the lot where the Gore Estate was later built. In an earlier section of the American Heritage article it says, “On Breed’s Hill the grisly task of taking off the dead and wounded (after the British’s second assault) had begun. In comparison to the British losses, those of Americans were slight, but a number of officers and men were down. Colonel Brewer, whose men had taken a position between the breastwork and the rail fence, was hurt…..”
Colonel Brewer later went on to fight under George Washington during the Revolutionary War.
Colonel Brewer and Gardner are members of The Waltham Museum Hall of Fame.
Taken from The Waltham Museum Newsletter June 10, 1989