Here Comes the General, (Suffield) Rise Up!
A statue of George Washington commemorating his command during the Siege of Boston: Credit User King of Hearts from Wikipedia
Happy (almost) Independence Day everyone! I hope you are able to celebrate with friends and family. Whenever I think of Independence Day, I am reminded of Schoolhouse Rock America Rock VHS that I owned as a kid. My favorite song was“The Shot Heard Round the World” and because of that song, I had assumed that George Washington was in command at Lexington and Concord. It was not until later that I learned that the Pride of Mount Vernon needed to travel from his native Virginia to just outside of Boston to take command of the troops. This journey would take him through the very town we call home 250 years ago.
Suffield was a town with strong patriot sympathies and since it was located on the Boston Post Road, the word of Washington being appointed commander of the Continental Army and his movement towards Boston came well in advance of his arrival. When Washington and his party came on the morning of June 30th, 1775, the town rose up to greet them.
The route Washington and his officers took through Suffield created using Google Maps
Washington came into Suffield on present day East Street and was met at the entrance of Boston Neck Road by a delegation of town leaders. He was wearing a uniform similar to the one pictured below and rode in on horseback. This group paraded up Boston Neck Road and on to Kent Avenue, gathering well wishers along the way. By the time they reached the southern end of the green, a substantial portion of the populace had gathered to see the general.
Washington’s uniform from 1789 thought to be similar in style to one he wore throughout the war: Credit Smithsonian Institute
In front of the Phelps-Hatheway House, Washington addressed the crowd. While no transcript of the speech exists, we can assume a good portion of the speech was dedicated to recruiting volunteers to join the fight. Washington understood that facing the most powerful military in the world meant he was outgunned, outmanned, outnumbered, and outplanned and he needed to close that gap fast. While Suffield had already sent two militia companies in the wake of Lexington and Concord, the town would provide hundreds more men for Washington’s army by the time the war was over.
After a brief reception where Washington shook hands with the crowd, he climbed the steeple of the First Congregational Church to scout out our portion of the Connecticut River Valley. In addition to recruiting troops, Washington took every opportunity to assess the geography of the areas along his route just in case they were future battle sites.
George Washington’s spyglass possibly used in Suffield: Credit Museum at Mount Vernon
After formally completing his duties at the church, Washington and his men headed to the Austin Tavern which was located on what is today known as South Main Street. They had their main meal of the day called dinner which was served midday. So who was in the room where this dinner happened and what did they eat? Unfortunately, most of those details are lost to history, but we can make some educated guesses.
A picture of the Austin Tavern. Credit Kent Memorial Library
The guest list would have probably included town officials like the Selectmen, the town clerk, and the town’s representative to the General Assembly. Others that might have been there would have been the town’s Committee for Correspondence that supported resistance to British policy before the revolution. It is possible too that the town’s clergy may have attended.
Now what might they have eaten? According to the Grating the Nutmeg podcast a menu might have included rolls, anadama bread (a brown molasses bread), peas and bacon, chicken soup, roast pork or beef, and a potato dish with a shortbread or pound cake for dessert. To drink, there was probably beer, hard cider, wine, and coffee. His horses were also given food and water in the tavern’s stables and took the opportunity to rest. Refreshed, both man and beast were ready to undertake the next phase of their journey.
After departing the tavern, Washington and his men were escorted by town officials up modern day Route 75 on to Mapleton Ave and north on modern day Route 159 to the Massachusetts state line where Washington continued his journey towards Boston.
While Washington’s thoughts on that day are lost to history, I hope he enjoyed his time in our part of this grand experiment we call the United State of America.
Works Cited
Alcorn, Robert Hayden. The biography of a town: Suffield, Connecticut, 1670-1970. Hartford, CT: 300th Anniversary Committee of the Town of Suffield, 1970.
Chernow, Ron. Washington: A life. New York, NY: Penguin Press, 2010.
Jaffe, Eric. The King’s Best Highway: The lost history of the Boston Post Road, the route that made America. New York, NY: Scribner, 2014.
Walter W Woodward, Tom Linsky’s Hearth Cooked Feast, Grating the Nutmeg, podcast audio, March 16, 2020. https://gratingthenutmeg.libsyn.com/91-tom-linskys-hearth-cooked-feast
