John Pitcairn was a British

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 Marine

Royal Marines

The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...

 who was stationed in Boston, Massachusetts at the start of the American Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

.

Pitcairn was born in late December 1722 in Dysart, a port town in Fife

Fife

Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. His parents were the Reverend David and Katherine (Hamilton) Pitcairn. His father was descended from the ancient Scottish family of Pitcairn of Pitcairn. He was married to Elizabeth (1724–1809), daughter of Robert Dalrymple. He entered the Marines and was commissioned as a Lieutenant in 1746. He served in Canada during the French and Indian War

French and Indian War

The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...

 as a Captain, and was promoted to Major in 1771. In 1774 he arrived in Boston, Massachusetts in command of 600 Marines to support the occupation.

Major Pitcairn was respected by the citizens in Boston as one of the more reasonable officers in the occupying force. Nevertheless, he was in command of the advance party when the first shot (the original shot heard 'round the world) was fired at Lexington, Massachusetts

Lexington, Massachusetts

Lexington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 31,399 at the 2010 census. This town is famous for being the site of the first shot of the American Revolution, in the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775.- History :...

 on April 19, 1775 starting the Battles of Lexington and Concord

Battles of Lexington and Concord

The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. They were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy , and Cambridge, near Boston...

. He had a horse shot out from under him, and even lost a pair of matched pistols when the column's baggage was abandoned. American leader Israel Putnam

Israel Putnam

Israel Putnam was an American army general and Freemason who fought with distinction at the Battle of Bunker Hill during the American Revolutionary War...

 carried them through the rest of the war.

At the Battle of Bunker Hill

Battle of Bunker Hill

The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775, mostly on and around Breed's Hill, during the Siege of Boston early in the American Revolutionary War...

 Pitcairn commanded a reserve force of about 300 Marines. They landed at the south end of the Charlestown peninsula. When the first assaults failed, he led his men up the hill toward the American position, only to fall to a musket shot, said to have been fired by a black former slave named Peter Salem

Peter Salem

Peter Salem was an African American who served as a soldier in the American Revolutionary War. He was born in Framingham, Massachusetts, a slave of Jeremiah Belknap. Salem was later sold to Lawson Buckminster, who gave him his freedom. At least one record calls him "Salem Middlesex"- Military...

. He toppled into the arms of his son, William, also a Royal Marine, who cried, "I have lost my father!" Some of the Marines tried to console the young officer, while others, overcome with emotion, moaned. Pitcairn was carried back to Boston, and died of his wound within hours. He is buried at the Old North Church

Old North Church

Old North Church , at 193 Salem Street, in the North End of Boston, is the location from which the famous "One if by land, and two if by sea" signal is said to have been sent...

 in Boston.

John Trumbull

John Trumbull

John Trumbull was an American artist during the period of the American Revolutionary War and was notable for his historical paintings...

's famous painting of the Battle of Bunker Hill depicts his death. However, it contains several errors and anachronisms. No known picture of Major Pitcairn survives. Another son, Dr. David Pitcairn (1749–1809) was used as a model by Trumbull. The uniform depicted was not adopted by the Marines until the 1780s. Pitcairn is shown falling at the bunker at its capture from the American force, but he was shot while starting the ascent of the hill. Pitcairn is also depicted in the scene of the Battle of Lexington in the U.S. Capital rotunda.

Pitcairn Island in the South Pacific (known chiefly for its part in the mutiny on the Bounty

Mutiny on the Bounty

The mutiny on the Bounty was a mutiny that occurred aboard the British Royal Navy ship HMS Bounty on 28 April 1789, and has been commemorated by several books, films, and popular songs, many of which take considerable liberties with the facts. The mutiny was led by Fletcher Christian against the...

) was named for another son, Robert, who was a midshipman in the British navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

. While on watch on a voyage led by Captain Philip Carteret

Philip Carteret

Philip Carteret, Seigneur of Trinity was a British naval officer and explorer who participated in two of the Royal Navy's circumnavigation expeditions in 1764-66 and 1766-69.-Biography:...

, he was the first to sight the unknown island on July 3, 1767.

A daughter, Catherine, married Charles Cochrane, a son of the 8th Earl of Dundonald

Thomas Cochrane, 8th Earl of Dundonald

Thomas Cochrane, 8th Earl of Dundonald was a nobleman, army officer and politician.Thomas was born in 1691, the seventh son of William Cochrane of Ochiltree, and his wife Lady Mary Bruce, eldest daughter of Alexander Bruce, 2nd Earl of Kincardine...

 and a first cousin of Admiral Thomas Cochrane

Thomas Cochrane

Thomas Cochrane may refer to:*Thomas Cochrane, 8th Earl of Dundonald , Scottish nobleman and politician*Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald , Marquis of Maranhão, naval officer and radical politician...

, 10th Earl of Dundonald.

The character, Major Pitcairn, appears in April Morning

April Morning

April Morning is a 1961 novel by Howard Fast depicting the Battle of Lexington and Concord from the perspective of a fictional teenager, Adam Cooper. It takes place in the 27-hour period from April 18, 1775 to the aftermath of the battle...

, a 1961 novel by Howard Fast

Howard Fast

Howard Melvin Fast was an American novelist and television writer. Fast also wrote under the pen names E. V. Cunningham and Walter Ericson.-Early life:Fast was born in New York City...

 depicting the Battle of Lexington and Concord. Pitcairn also is a character in the novel Johnny Tremain

Johnny Tremain

Johnny Tremain is a 1944 children's novel by Esther Forbes set in Boston prior to and during the outbreak of the American Revolution. The novel's themes include apprenticeship, courtship, sacrifice, human rights, and the growing tension between Whigs and Tories as conflict nears...

.

External links

• Major JOHN PITCAIRN, Marines
• John Pictairn's Grave as it appears on Find A Grave
  Find A Grave
  Find a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...