Thomas Gardner (1724 – July 3, 1775) was an American politician and soldier.

Early life

Gardner was born in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

. He was a descendant of Thomas Gardner of Roxbury. In 1755, he married Joanna Sparhawk, a member of one of Brighton's founding families.

Career

Gardner, a political figure in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

on the eve of the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

, was in the forefront of those urging resistance to the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

's dissolution of the General Court in 1774, following the

Boston Tea Party The Boston Tea Party was an American political and mercantile protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 16, 1773. The target was the Tea Act of May 10, 1773, which allowed the British East India Company to sell tea ...

. He was chosen to represent

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 bec ...

in the Middlesex County Convention, called to consider measures for public safety, as well as in the First and Second provincial Congresses. In May 1775 he was elected to the Revolutionary Council of Safety. During the spring of 1775, he was commissioned a Colonel of a regiment he had organized largely at his own expense. Gardner's rapid rise to prominence ended when he was mortally wounded at 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, Massachusetts, which was peripherally involved in ...

, in June 1775.

Death

On the date of his death, July 3, 1775, Gardner was the second-highest ranking American officer killed at Bunker Hill. His funeral services were attended by General

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

. Gardner is the namesake of Gardner Street in Boston, Massachusetts, the Gardner Pilot Academy school, and the city of

Gardner, Massachusetts Gardner, officially the City of Gardner, is a city in Worcester County in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,287 in the 2020 census. Gardner is home of such sites as the Blue Moon Diner, Dunn State Park, Ga ...

, in 1785.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Thomas 1724 births 1775 deaths United States military personnel killed in the American Revolutionary War Massachusetts militiamen in the American Revolution Gardner, Massachusetts People from Cambridge, Massachusetts