Description
The first edition of An Enquiry Into The Conduct Of General Putnam, In Relation To The Battle Of Bunker, Or Breed’s Hill, attributed to David Lee Child.
Octavo, [5], 6-58pp. Three quarter brown morocco, marbled boards. Title stamped in gilt along the spine. Bookplate removed from front pastedown. New endpapers. Occasional light foxing throughout, toning along margins of title page.
(Sabin 12696)
This pamphlet was written in response to the Dearborn-Putnam controversy, a long-running historical dispute, which reignited in 1818, when General Henry Dearborn published an account of the Battle of Bunker Hill, alleging that Major General Israel Putnam had shown indecision and cowardice by failing to assume effective command during the engagement. Dearborn’s charges directly challenged the Revolutionary War heroism long attributed to Putnam and provoked an intense regional backlash, particularly in Connecticut, where Putnam was venerated. The controversy unfolded through a series of pamphlets, newspaper editorials, and public statements defending or attacking Putnam’s conduct.
Historians have since viewed the episode as an instructive example of the politicization of Revolutionary War reputations in the early republic, reflecting the tension between emerging historical inquiry and entrenched patriotic legend.
