They Sent for Somebody, They Got Some Body

A mysterious "Doctor Windship" who turned up in Exeter, N. H., in 1802 has been identified as Dr. Amos Windship—a Boston-area surgeon during the Revolutionary War.

Respected by the Americans, he was also admired by the British when, in 1791, he arranged to have the remains of one Major John Pitcairn returned to England for internment in the family plot. Pitcairn had fallen during the Battle of Breed's Hill and died shortly thereafter. His grateful family believed that Windship had done them a gracious favor.

But there are a number of gaping holes in the story of this respectable war veteran. In Boston's Old North Church lies [the] crypt of Major John Pitcairn — it seems that Amos Windship had failed to send the correct body and Bostonians still believe Pitcairn resides in the basement. [Link]

Breeds Bred to Battle Bunkers

Every History Channel fan knows that the Battle of Bunker Hill was actually fought on Breed's Hill. According to AP writer Allen G. Breed, the misnomer still bugs his family.

Cousins have fired off letters to the editor when some hapless columnist makes the mistake of calling it the Battle of Bunker Hill. My youngest brother briefly attended Bunker Hill Community College, and whenever a piece of mail from the school arrived at our home, Dad would scribble "and Breed's" into the name.

In 1975, at the bicentennial battle re-enactment in Charlestown, I watched with a 10-year-old's mixture of pride and mortification as my father nudged his way up to the Bunker-laden reviewing stand, reached up and tugged on the sleeve of one of the town fathers. "The Breeds are here, too," he announced and, sure enough, the mayor told us to come on up. [Link]