Relocated: Displaced Civilians and the Siege of Boston
I 48
Discover CONCORD
| Spring 2022
Excerpt from the Minutes of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, May 1, 1775
[1776] Map. loc.gov/item/gm71000622/
In the aftermath of the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775, thousands of colonial militiamen trapped occupying British forces and ordinary civilians on the tiny Boston peninsula. As the provincials massed in the countryside around Boston and laid siege to the city, they blocked the one land route across Boston Neck, cutting off British access to surrounding towns. General Thomas Gage, senior commanding British officer, prohibited any civilians from leaving the city. All commerce, travel, and trade between Boston and local towns stopped. No fresh meat or produce from the country was carted to the city. Dysentery and fever raged throughout Boston as both civilians and British soldiers consumed only salt provisions. As desperation increased among the Bostonians, local officials negotiated with the British to allow civilians to leave the besieged city. In April and May, General Gage permitted some civilians to cross into the colonist-controlled countryside. As many as 130 of these desperate Bostonians would end up finding refuge in Concord. Not all Bostonians who wished to leave the city had the ability to pack up and move under their own power. Some were indigent due to age or illness. Others had already been struggling due to the Port Act and lacked the means to relocate themselves. The Massachusetts Provincial Congress resolved to aid in the removal process and facilitate the relocation of particularly vulnerable civilians. City officials provided certificates to relocating civilians attesting to their indigent status and recommending them to the care of various Massachusetts towns, including Concord. The Provincial Congress developed a schedule by which displaced persons would be relocated and hired wagons and drivers to transport whole families out of Boston.
The Town of Concord Archives, Early Town Records Collection
BY KATIE TURNER GETTY
Page, Thomas Hyde, Sir. A plan of the town of Boston and its environs, with the lines, batteries, and incampments of the British and American armies.
