John Warren (July 27, 1753 – April 4, 1815) was a Continental Army surgeon during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, founder of the

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is cons ...

and the younger brother of Dr. Joseph Warren.

Early life

Warren was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts and studied at The Roxbury Latin School after which he proceeded to

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

where he graduated in 1771. He studied medicine under his elder brother Joseph, later becoming a renowned doctor in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- m ...

Military activities

Warren joined Colonel Pickering's Regiment in 1773 as an army surgeon. On June 17, 1775, he was in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

tending to the wounded coming in from the

Battle of Bunker Hill The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775, during the Siege of Boston in the first stage of the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Boston, Charlestown, Massachusetts, which was perip ...

on Breed's Hill over four miles away. Worried about his brother Joseph, who had joined the fighting and died, Warren went to search for him after the battle was over. A British sentry told John he could not pass and then

bayonet A bayonet (from French ) is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit on the end of the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar firearm, allowing it to be used as a spear-like weapon.Brayley, Martin, ''Bayonets: An Illustra ...

ed him as a warning, forcing the depressed Warren to go back to Cambridge. After his brother's death, Warren volunteered for service and was made a senior surgeon at the hospital in Cambridge. He became surgeon of the general hospital on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...

in 1776 during General Washington's defense there. He also served at the

Battle of Trenton The Battle of Trenton was a small but pivotal American Revolutionary War battle on the morning of December 26, 1776, in Trenton, New Jersey. After General George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River north of Trenton the previous night, ...

and the

Battle of Princeton The Battle of Princeton was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, fought near Princeton, New Jersey on January 3, 1777, and ending in a small victory for the Colonials. General Lord Cornwallis had left 1,400 British troops under the comma ...

. Warren returned to Boston in 1777 to continue his medical practice while still serving as a military surgeon in the army hospital there.

Civilian practice

Warren became very successful in the years after the war, performing one of the first abdominal operations in America. In 1780 he began teaching a course on dissections and founded

in 1782. He was also one of the founders of the

Massachusetts Medical Society The Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) is the oldest continuously operating state medical association in the United States. Incorporated on November 1, 1781, by an act of the Massachusetts General Court, the MMS is a non-profit organization th ...

in 1781 and the Boston Medical Society in 1780. He was known as an excellent teacher, giving "eloquent" lectures. He was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, ...

in 1781.

Later life

While Warren had suffered from heart disease for many years, he died on April 4, 1815 from inflammation of the lungs at age 61. He was buried in the former crypt of the St. Paul's Church in

. When church and family crypts were cleared by order of the town for public health reasons, later in the 1800s, his buried remains were removed to

Forest Hills Cemetery Forest Hills Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery, greenspace, arboretum and sculpture garden located in the Forest Hills section of the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The cemetery was established in 1848 as a public m ...

. Plaques in the church still commemorate him, and other members of his family.

Personal

Dr. Warren was raised in a Congregational home; some members of his family, including his son John Collins Warren, later became associated with the

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Euro ...

church. He was given to bouts of depression, perhaps as a result of his heart disease, to the extent that he lost the will to live to an old age. He was said to be generous and charitable. Warren was of middle height, and carried himself with a military bearing of a gentleman, but with an agreeable nature. Warren was married to the daughter of Rhode Island Governor John Collins. His son, Dr. John Collins Warren succeeded him as professor of surgery and anatomy. His brother, Joseph, was a character in Esther Forbes' 1943 novel '' Johnny Tremain'' although it is possible that the character could easily have been based on John himself. Both he and his brother were army surgeons in the early revolutionary war. His brother was joined in the fighting at the Battle at Bunker Hill while he mended the wounded from the battle in Cambridge. Both Joseph and John Warren were active Freemasons. John served as Grand Master of the Massachusetts Grand Lodge (Antients) for two non-consecutive terms, 1783–84 and 1787-88. He was reelected in 1788, but declined the honor. John was present in 1792 when the Massachusetts Grand Lodge and St. John's Grand Lodge (Moderns) united to form the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts, and installed John Cutler as the first Grand Master of the united Grand Lodge. John Warren Lodge in Hopkinton is named after him.

References

* James Jackson, ''Life'', (Boston, 1915)

Sources

John Warren Biography (1753–1815)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, John 1753 births 1815 deaths American surgeons Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Harvard Medical School faculty Harvard College alumni People from colonial Boston People of Massachusetts in the American Revolution Physicians in the American Revolution 18th-century American physicians People from Roxbury, Boston Roxbury Latin School alumni