resent at the Bunker Hill Battle, relate to my father the
story of the death of Major Pitcairn. He said the Major had
passed the storm of fire without, and had mounted the
redoubt, when, waving his sword, he commanded, in a loud
voice, the 'rebels' to surrender. His sudden appearance, and
his commanding air, at first startled the men immediately
before him. They neither answered nor fired; probably not
being exactly certain what was next to be done. At this
critical moment, a negro soldier stepped forward, and,
aiming his musket directly at the Major's bosom, blew him
through. My informant declared that he was so near, that he
distinctly saw the act. The story made quite an impression
on my mind. I have frequently heard my father relate the
story, and have no doubt of its truth. My father on the day
of the battle was a mere child, and witnessed the battle and
burning of Charlestown from Roxbury Hill, sitting on the
shoulders of the Rev. Mr. Jackson, who said to him as he
placed him on the ground, 'Now, boy, do you remember this!'
Consequently, after such an injunction, he would necessarily
pay particular attention to anecdotes concerning the first
and only battle he ever witnessed."

[Illustration: BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL.

Peter Salem shooting the British Major Pitcairn.]

Salem was undoubtedly one of the chief heroes of that ever memorable
battle. Orator, historian, poet, all give this sable patriot credit for
having been instrumental in checking the British advance and saving the
day.

At the unveiling of the statue erected to the memory of Gen. Joseph
Warren, who fell at Bunker Hill, the orator of the occasion, Hon. Edward
Everett, said:

"It is the monument of the day of the event, of the battle
of Bunker Hill; all of the brave men who shared its
perils,--alike of Prescott and Putnam and Warren, the chiefs
of the day, and the colored man, Salem, who, is reported to
have shot the gallant Pitcairn, as he mounted the parapet.
Cold as the clods on which it rests, still as the silent
Heaven to which it soars, it is yet vocal, eloquent, in
their individual praise."

The following is a copy of a petition now in the Archive Department of
Massachusetts:

"TO THE HONORABLE GENERAL COURT OF THE MASSACHUSETTS' BAY.

"The subscribers beg leave to report to your Honorable