New Page #40!
Anyone else miss this face?
(There is a strange, creepy foreshadowing to Knowlton’s advice, isn’t there?)
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Thomas Knowlton was a Captain of the 5th Company in General Putnam’s 3rd Connecticut on June 17, 1775. They were the first group from an outside colony to arrive in Boston after the April 19th battle at Lexington and Concord.
That day, the Americans chased the British army back into Boston and laid siege to the city. There were over 5,000 men in the army, crammed inside. Colonists arrived from all over to join the men who had fought at Lexington and were stationed all over the countryside waiting for the next move.
That move came the night of June 16th when the Americans were sent to dig in a position on the top of Bunker Hill. Dr. Sam Forman just met me there last week and gave us a tour of the battlefield. He explained that the Americans were instructed to build their redoubt at Bunker Hill and that it was put on Breed’s Hill instead was probably a mistake. It was much too close to the British warships and cannon. Bunker Hill, which sits further back, was more defensible. Some of the Americans, in fact, thought they’d been set up because in daylight the position looked so vulnerable.
In any event, on June 17th, 1775, the British Army awoke to the surprise of seeing 2,000 men at Breed’s Hill with a redoubt on top. Orders were given to dislodge the Americans, and the army began to ferry over.
Captain Knowlton and his men were positioned along the rail fence at the foot of Breed’s Hill, connecting to the Mystic River. This was the hottest spot of the fighting that day. General Howe, newly arrived in America, charged the fence three times before he was successful. If you go to Bunker Hill, there’s a plaque on the stairs showing where John Stark and the the rail fence was positioned. This is where you would have found Thomas Knowlton. He held that spot all day, and was among the last to leave the battlefield as they covered the retreat while the others made their way out of the redoubt.
My friend Derek Beck wrote a blog about the Battle of Bunker Hill which is the most concise yet comprehensive description I’ve found. A few weeks back he gave me the run down in person on the back of a greasy tavern placemat-menu. Everything clicked for me when he explained it the way he did. You can read it over at his blog… sans ketchup stains.
"And right where that burger grease is you would find Thom Knowlton..."
If you want a much longer analysis of the battle, read Decisive Day by Richard Ketchum. Buy it via that link, and you’ll help support The Dreamer!
***
Well, Anime Boston and C2E2 were fantastic shows. Every show I go to I meet more and more Dreamers and Paper Wingerz! I just got back from Chicago and the end of my epic road trip yesterday. So look for my post-con write up soon, but not today.
Gods, I was just there. I was just there and I never wanted to leave that hill…*tear*
You took the words out of my mouth before I could say them. I miss Boston. 4th of July trip? :P
Even if I could afford the cost I couldn’t afford the time off.
I’m probably in the same boat…. We’ll have to give it a few months I guess XD
Sorry, you also need: from circuits.net.pollers imropt EPollI also tried the same test on a monster 2x quad core xeon 5520httperf –hog –timeout=60 –client=0/1 –server=localhost –port=10000 –uri=/ –rate=400 –send-buffer=4096 –recv-buffer=16384 –num-conns=40000 –num-calls=1 Maximum connect burst length: 1Total: connections 40000 requests 40000 replies 40000 test-duration 100.001 sConnection rate: 400.0 conn/s (2.5 ms/conn, FD_SETSIZE; limiting max. # of open files to FD_SETSIZEMaximum connect burst length: 40Total: connections 40000 requests 39975 replies 20859 test-duration 114.926 sConnection rate: 348.0 conn/s (2.9 ms/conn, <=26959 concurrent connections) Connection time [ms]: min 233.0 avg 6634.8 max 72470.5 median 3327.5 stddev 9396.5 Connection time [ms]: connect 4989.3 Connection length [replies/conn]: 1.000Request rate: 347.8 req/s (2.9 ms/req) Request size [B]: 62.0Reply rate [replies/s]: min 0.0 avg 189.6 max 1384.3 stddev 392.4 (22 samples) Reply time [ms]: response 3230.8 transfer 0.0 Reply size [B]: header 38.0 content 5.0 footer 0.0 (total 43.0) Reply status: 1xx=0 2xx=20859 3xx=0 4xx=0 5xx=0CPU time [s]: user 2.43 system 112.48 (user 2.1% system 97.9% total 100.0%) Net I/O: 28.7 KB/s (0.2*10^6 bps)Errors: total 19141 client-timo 583 socket-timo 0 connrefused 0 connreset 18558 Errors: fd-unavail 0 addrunavail 0 ftab-full 0 other 0
Yeah, I know what you mean – I was like that when I went to Bunker Hill, too (and I’m not even from the States). I guess it just has that effect on people.
It was so cold when I was there on my birthday. Sam Forman showed up to meet me there took one look at me and said, “You’re freezing!”
Yup. But so worth it!
That’s so cool that you’re literally getting history written out for you! (with Ketchup… :) makes it that much more authentic! :D )
MAN I missed Knowlton! Great to have him back! :D Always the wise leader, :) Can’t wait to see what else is in store!
I missed him too. It was super fun to draw him again. Though I think he looks weird out of uniform!!
Yay, Knowlton’s back! Happy days are here again….
So, we’re seeing a lot of great meets here. I’d ask where Nathan is, but I know he’s running out his teaching contract back at Yale. In any case, it’s all almost enough to make one forget what day we’re seeing. *tear*
INCENTIVE CAPTION!!!
Knowlton: “Come on, men! They may take our lives, but they’ll never take our cozies!”
Alan: “Mmmmm….tea cozies…” *drools*
Not at Yale, in New London. Though he’s just weeks away from resigning to enlist…
Ah, well….I had the deeds right, at least.
LOL @ caption! :) Thanks for that one Brent!
Side note for the doctor lovers — it’s David Tenant’s birthday today!
*hands out apples, satsumas and dressing gowns* :D
Love a man with blackpowder all over his face. It’s really not fair, Lora, just how dang good-looking you make our Thom look :)
(though once you’ve tasted blackpowder, you’ll never forget it. I did a wee bit of reenacting back in college and still remember the sharp tang of powder when you bite open a cartridge)
and speaking of biting cartridges…I hadn’t even looked at the VI yet when I wrote that :)
Those two do look like they’re having entirely too good a time, don’t they?
Instant BFFs. Next week’s page is sort of adorable, which I guess a battle of Bunker Hill page ought not be, but y’know… It’s Al & Thom becoming friends for the first time. It kind of has to make your heart melt.
ps.. LOVE the new icon. It’s too hot for the earmuffs in April.
Thanks! I just had to wait for another adorable Thom picture to update to :) I might switch it again once you post the next page in color :D
Wow…your new icon will make it hard for me to scroll past any comments you make… :) So much hotness…
omg!!! Squeel! I LOVE YOUR NEW GRAVATAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dang it – you’re not holding back on the punches, aren’t you? The way you’ve been doing the flashbacks so far, I was hoping we’d cover Lexington and Concord in more detail instead of jumping straight to Bunker Hill.
That being said, Thomas Knowlton’s definitely a welcome sight. Quick confession: I actually hadn’t heard of him prior to reading “The Dreamer” and it was only through reading the comments here that I realized he wasn’t an OC. I know that sounds weird, Lora, but…just take it as a compliment at your awesome storytelling and character devlopment skills.
And now I’m gonna go curl up in a corner now – both in dread for what’s to come and in humiliation at what I’d just admitted to a bunch of Revolutionary War enthusiasts….
I didn’t know Knowlton before this either–and my husband is related to him. Doh!
Well, now you know. And your husband’s related to him? That’s AWESOME!
Awesomeness does run in that family. :)
You’re in good company. I didn’t know him either, and I’m a compulsive history reader/researcher :P
Really? I thought more of a fuss would have been made about him – that’s rather odd, don’t you think?
I think it would too, but he’s one of those guys like Joseph Warren who died at the start of the Revolution before they had a chance to do anything with the new country, so most people’s memory of who made the war happen actually starts with the guys who made the new country happen. After Sam Adams, Patrick Henry, Joseph Warren, James Otis, etc, etc, etc, actually got the Revolution started.
In the years leading up to the Revolution the Massachusetts Bay patriots thought of Benjamin Franklin as an Anglophile Loyalist who had spent so much time out of the colonies he’d lost touch with them!! NO ONE thinks of Franklin like that today…
p.s. It’s also the reason I wanted to write about these guys. Now you all know who they are, thanks to me. Evil plan achieved!!
Add me to the list of people who has benefited greatly from your “evil plan” and applauds it wholeheartedly. I always had the hardest time paying attention in history class when I was in school. Even though I grew up in New England I only remember ever getting a very basic overview of the Revolutionary War, and there was never any attempt to make history interesting. It was dates and places to memorise long enough to regurgitate on a multiple choice/matching/fill in the blank test. Hardly memorable.
I’ve always learned the best when I have an interesting story with people I care about. You’ve definitely given me that, and I thank you.
Don’t worry, I knew next to nothing about the RW too until I started reading this. That’s just how good a writer she is.
Yep!
You don’t need to be ashamed! :) I’m a mega-Knowlton fan-girl now, but I’d never heard of him before either.
You know, I’m halfway considering sharing this comic with my history professor this summer when I take the American History class that covers the beginnings through the Civil War. :) Maybe I’ll get bonus points!
Or maybe I shouldn’t say anything about it and just sound like a know-it-all talking about figures who aren’t well known to those who don’t do their digging…
:D
one of the reviewers on Amazon for the first volume was a teacher who used it in her classroom. She was quite disappointed that the rest of the comic wasn’t finished yet :(
I think whether you’ve heard of people like Knowlton or not often depends where you were raised. I’m originally from Vermont, so I’ve heard about Ethan Allen more than some might. I live in Virginia, where the Revolution in New England kinda gets glossed over, since “everybody important” came from VA (that’s a bit of sarcasm there, but that does seem to be the attitude down here).
Frankly, I’d love to see a graphic novel/web comic about Francis Marion. Definitely not the studly hero from Disney’s Swamp Fox TV series, but all the more awesome for what he was able to do :)
I’d also like to see that done with Francis Marion. Not just because I think he was cool, but also because his adversary Banastre Tarleton would make a great villain. Tarleton was the partial inspiration for that “bad guy” British officer in the “The Patriot” movie so that should give a good idea what he was like. I might be mistaken, but some online research I did on Tarleton said that he was in the 1776 New York campaign. If that’s the case it would be interesting if he were specifically assigned by Howe to recapture Bea.
And apparently Benjamin Martin (the protagonist of “The Patriot”) was based on some mixture of Francis Marion and Daniel Morgan – so you might be onto something there.
Ethan Allen…now THERE’S someone I’d like to see more of!
The clothing guy? *ducks*
no, the furniture guy ;)
I wonder if Ethan Allen had anything to do with furniture in real life? Anyway, I wouldn’t mind seeing Alan battle Tarleton in defense of Bea.
Wait…what’s this about clothing or furniture? I’m confused now, guys!
aww Knowlton’s back from the dead yay! and the VI looks action packed :) Can’t wait for Friday not only will it be a Dreamer Update, but I write my last exam that afternoon! Yay!!
Good luck!!
Knowlton and Howe fought and shared the same field? Man, that is EPIC.
Today’s update is pretty sweet. It’s always good to see Thom and Alan share the same space and their first meeting to boot!
Not just shared the field. Howe marched right up to Knowlton’s spot and was repelled 3x. Knowlton made short work of his line because Howe didn’t entirely take them seriously.
Lesson learned.
I seem to remember but couldn’t double check it in time that I wrote my blog last night that by Howe’s third attack he was the only officer left standing. The men along the rail fence were actually aiming for the officers. BAD FORM, Americans. Don’t you know or care about the rules of warfare?
Apparently they just wanted to win. ;)
Did Knowlton and Howe actually get as close as they’re shown in the painting? And did Knowlton really wait until the final charge was practically on top of him before finally retreating?
ha ha ha, I don’t think anything in that painting is accurate, lol.
Yes, Knowlton’s company covered the retreat and was among the last to leave the battlefield.
Oh yeah, That painting is FULL of inaccuracies. For example, where’s the rail fence?
Oh, it’s down off the side at the bottom of the hill. That painting is up in the redoubt.
Not to speak ill of the man, but Howe really did have some clunker moments, eh?
Hi Lora, nice post. Howe was definitely not the last officer standing, though he had about half of his aides-de-camp gunned down around him in the second assault.
Thank you, Derek! It’s been so long since I did my research on this I have hazy bits of recollections and don’t know where they all came from. Some of my scripts are several years old and I have to trust the research I did back when I was writing/ researching.
Lately all my research energies have been devoted to the Civil War. Shhhh! I don’t feel like I should say that on The Dreamer site!
Great to see Knowlton again. I’ve missed him.
This hill is something amazing. I’m going to have to go back and read that blog entry. Can’t wait to do it! I’m getting ready to cry in one of the next few updates because of what happens at the end of this battle :(
Do not do this to me Lora! It is bad enough that I am still recovering from Thomas Knowlton’s death, and the upcoming death of Nathan Hale, now you are going to show Joseph Warren?????? *cries* Gah!
Well, thanks for making this very hard loss easier to bear by bringing Thomas Knowlton back. I think he looks handsome with that black powder covering his face. :)
The VI- Looks things are getting a little bit hairy.
I don’t feel bad “killing” Joseph Warren. He’s been dead since Issue #1!! That you guys got to know him at all is my gift to you. ;)
Oops. I just spilled the beans. My bad. O__O
lol – don’t worry. One of the things I always tell people is “History is the world’s biggest spoiler” ;)
But even still, with all the epic drama, some of it forgotten, getting there is half the fun.
Ahhhh yay! Knowlton’s back! <3 Since day one when everyone was making such a big deal of Bunker Hill, I'd wanted to see your depiction of that battle!
I’ve been excited to draw it for a long time. Though… these pages are taking forever to draw.
Lora, this flashback just makes me want to hug you. :)
It was awesome hanging out with you this past weekend at C2E2 – glad I was finally able to get you back out to Chicago! Next time we’ll have to bring Mike and have you guys out for a weekend filled with fun in the city. Maybe we can get Alan to come down and visit for a day as well.
Love Knowlton’s attitude here. It’s not about fighting dirty, it’s about fighting to win. And in a numbers game, you need all the advantages you can get.
Geez, I seem to just be plain “late to the party” on the past couple of updates! :3 But then again I’m currently in Fremont about to crash for the night soooo *starts cuddling Knowlton Pillow*
OH MY. I am late to this party and did not expect to see Knowlton when I arrived. TEARS. So many tears!
But it also makes me happy. Like seeing an old friend at the end of a hard day (and I’ve had a hard WEEK). Thanks for that. :) :)
Hope your week improves!
It already has. :) Thanks!!
One thing worth noting: Howe was not guilty of much folly, really. His tactics were sound, but the common British soldier was untested in battle, being mostly young and green. True, some British officers had experience from the last war (nearly 15 years earlier), but most of the soldiers were young, new recruits. If the common soldier had followed the orders of their officers, the British probably would have succeeded in the first assault. Howe’s initial assault was actually quite brilliant.
Love the updates as always, but just wanted to say that the guy in the top panel whose head seems to be turned 180 degrees from his body, really disturbed me, like watching the exorcist all over again :/