I began my research of Joseph Warren in 1985. Warren was the foremost Patriot leader in 1775. He was a widowed father of four young children and a prominent Boston physician. His name, courage, and determination to stand opposed to British tyranny was known throughout the colonies and in England. Though not present, he unified the disgruntled First Continental Congress. He was forced to make the decision ALONE to ignite the American Revolution. He took part in every major event in Massachusetts starting in 1765 and ending with his sacrificial death at the Battle of Bunker Hill. British General William Howe declared Warren’s life equal to 500 ordinary colonials. A prominent Boston Loyalist stated that had Warren survived the war, the name of Washington would be obscure. Washington himself referred to Warren as the commander-in-chief. He had just turned thirty-four before being killed in action. Joseph Warren was the essence of Liberty.
After extensive research, my book, Liberty’s Martyr: The Story of Dr. Joseph Warren was first published in 2001. (Just prior to publication Brigadier General Church Matthews, Warren’s direct descendant, discovered that I had written the book and invited me to his daughter’s wedding reception at the Anderson House, headquarters of the Society of the Cincinnati in Washington DC, “to meet the Warren descendants.” I have remain in contact with the descendants.) Liberty’s Martyr went into a second printing in 2009. At that time only two scholarly biographies existed on Warren, the first printed in 1865, and the second in 1964. In 2012, I was made aware of a battle sash in a private collection–the owner claimed it was worn by Joseph Warren at the Battle of Bunker Hill. The sash had what appeared to be blood stains upon it. I supervised the Joseph Warren Sash Project which involved raising the funds and finding direct male descendants from Joseph Warren’s father’s line to test their DNA against the DNA on the sash.
I began my research on General Nathanael Greene in 1993. Greene was the strategist of the American Revolution. His role in the War for Independence was second only to General George Washington. Born and reared a Quaker, with no military experience, he was promoted from private to brigadier general literally overnight. Greene quickly became Washington’s confidant and close friend. He was chosen by the Commander to lead the Continental Army should Washington be killed, injured, or taken captive. It was General Greene who pulled the Continental Army from the throes of certain death at Valley Forge. It was Greene who first petitioned Congress for a Declaration of Independence. It was Greene who was given the desperate task of commanding the Southern Department of the Continental Army after other commanders had failed. It was Greene who drove British General Cornwallis to surrender at Yorktown. Unable to participate or witness the victorious battle, he was forced to immediately return south with his troops to subdue the remaining British forces. Greene led his troops in battle and laid siege for a year after the victory at Yorktown. His persistence finally forced the British to evacuate the South.
Again, after extensive research which included family stories passed down through the Greene family, my second book, Freedom’s Cost: The Story of General Nathanael Greene was first published in 2011. In 2012, I was invited to give the keynote address on General Greene at the Triennial of the General Society of the Sons of the Revolution. My presentation included many unknown and forgotten facts of his service — including his vital role in saving the Continental Army at Valley Forge when he accepted the position of Quartermaster General. Within twelve hours of my address the GSSR voted to raise the funds to commission a full-sized bronze statue of Greene to be placed at Valley Forge. The General Nathanael Greene Statue Project took three years to complete. I was involved in all aspects of the project. The statue was unveiled in August of 2015, with Quartermaster General Ronald Kirklin of the U.S. Army giving the dedication speech. Up until that time, the Valley Forge National Historical Park made absolutely no mention of Nathanael Greene on their website!
I served on the Board of Trustees of the Nathanael Greene Homestead, and on the advisory board of the Mulberry Grove Foundation (General Greene’s home in Savannah, GA). With the realization of overlooked documentation pertaining to Greene’s southern command and the cruel abandonment of Congress found in centuries old writings, I updated Freedom’s Cost in 2023. Still more information has recently come to light, of which I am presently researching.
Between 2012-2018, two biographies on Joseph Warren written by Samuel Forman and Christian DiSpigna, and Nathaniel Philbrick’s Bunker Hill, were released. Each took reckless inferential leaps pertaining to Warren’s personal life and character. The most flagrant were Forman and Philbrick’s purely fictitious account of Warren being a pedophile rapist. With the encouragement and support of three notable American History professors representing Boston College, Harvard, Brigham Young, and Suffolk Universities I wrote an exhaustive, cited essay for publication on the inferential leaps taken by these contemporary authors titled, Dr. Joseph Warren, Sally Edwards, Mercy Scollay and the Problem of Inferential Leaps, which can be found in its entirely on this website. A condensed version of this essay has been recently published in two separate articles in the Journal of the American Revolution (found on this website).
https://allthingsliberty.com/2025/09/mercy-scollays-quest-for-custody-of-joseph-warrens-children/
I have done three interviews for the Rev250 Boston podcast on Josiah Quincy, Jr., Joseph Warren, and Nathanael Greene (links to all three can be found on this website).
In July 2025, the second edition of Liberty’s Martyr was released addressing these libels. I was invited by the Dedham Museum and Archive to present a refutation of Philbrick and Forman’s libel on October 15, 2025. The invitation and venue were significant as Philbrick and Forman claimed the documentation they based their narrative of pedophile rape came from the Dedham Archive (In all, Philbrick/Forman implicated four physicians being involved in their fantasized act of sexual violence against a child.) Below is a link to that presentation:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10riKT_zumXQRdaOEEZU9lI5IYWqnEtaN/view?usp=sharing
I continue to research an aspect of Warren’s life that all historians to date have failed to fully realize and touched upon it in the new edition – his prominent Masonic position and the advantages unique to him because of it. I am in the process of co-authoring an article on this for publication.
Both books on the American Revolution are the written in the rare and unique genre of biographical fiction, in which accurate history (which can be cited) is presented in the telling of the subject’s entire life, not simply their political or military achievements. What made Warren and Greene who they were? It has always been my goal to use this unusual genre to reach and teach an audience not likely to pick up a work of nonfiction. There is also a keen interest by those well-versed in the American Revolution in my accurate story telling which allows them to actually feel as though they have met and even befriended Joseph Warren and Nathanael Greene.
In 2013, I was chosen to serve on the jury of the high-profile federal trial the United States of America v. James J. Bulger. That is another story for another day!
