This week in Revolutionary War history, let’s check up on what was going on 250 years ago in New England and the northern Thirteen Colonies. Last week, Washington arrived in the largest city in the colonies, and the de-facto capital of the Thirteen Colonies, Philadelphia. Here, he meets with representatives from across the revolting former-British subjects. Calls for independence continue to grow louder.

            On May 31, 1776, Washington continues his meetings with the Continental Congress. delegates agree to grant the Quartermaster General, Brigadier General Thomas Mifflin, a massive $50,000 to procure supplies for the army including clothes, tools, and tents.

            Major General Philip Schuyler has continued to write both the congress and Washington requesting ammunition and manpower. The next day, the congress votes to send an additional 6,000 men north towards the battle in Canada to support the desperate defense of the Hudson River. These men are to be raised from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New York.

            That same day, Washington receives a message from Major General William Alexander, known as Lord Stirling. He has spent the last days, under Washington’s orders, to survey fortifications around the Hudson River around New York. He also notes the highlands and advantageous positions. Including hand-drawn maps of the region, he warns that Fort Constitution and Fort Montgomery to the north are dilapidated and undermanned. They require urgent attention and work. He presses the forts, “appear well worth possessing on many accounts; should the enemy be in possession of it, we should be cut off from our best communication with the whole country.”

            Major General Israel Putnam, placed temporarily in charge of the defense of New York by Washington, writes on June 2, quelling any fears held so far. He says, “No ships arrived since I wrote by express yesterday – nor no other news of importance.”

            On June 3, the Continental Congress was back in session following the prior day’s Sunday recess. The day would see many military reforms. Reading various accounts presented by Washington, they vote to reinforce New York with 13,800 militiamen from the Northeast. Another 11 battalions are to guard New England, and a “flying camp” will be established in the middle, Atlantic colonies of Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. These flying camps were a experiment employed by the congress. The regiments employed by them would not be divided by state-of-origin and instead be mixed and not answer to any one state.

            June 4 was the 38th birthday of King George III. Though once a popular holiday in the colonies, the current situation made it an unremarkable day.

            On June 5, the Town of Wrentham declares independence. At a Town Meeting, not unlike the Tri-Town’s own we just had, citizens, stirred by zealous anger at the crown and recent events around Boston, officially vote to no longer recognize the Crown as an executive and declare themselves free of “tyranny and oppression.”

This Week in Revolutionary War History

By Sam Bishop

            Pansies were my first floral love. As a child, I encountered these winsome blooms along the garden paths of my great-grandmother’s home, pausing every few steps to admire their sweet, smiling faces. These tiny plants felt like kindred spirits – their small stature matched my own – and their beguiling expressions beckoned me ever closer, as though each blossom held a secret meant only for me.

            I haven’t forgotten that delight, and so each spring I tuck pansies into my window boxes to welcome the changing seasons. When summer’s heat finally overtakes them, I gently move the weary plants to a shady corner of the garden in hopes they will continue to bloom a little longer. “Pansies have charmed gardeners for centuries, descended from the tiny Johnny-jump-ups that once grew wild in open fields,” writes Emelie Tolley in her book A Potpourri of Pansies, adding: “Over time, they have served many roles – featured in lovers’ potions and medicinal remedies, scattered as decorative garnishes upon the table, and dried into fragrant potpourris – yet their greatest gift may simply be the joy contained within each cheerful face.”

            The author notes that by the mid-19th century, pansies had been carefully hybridized into the large-flowered, richly colored blooms familiar to gardeners today. A full-fledged “pansy mania” soon followed, as the flowers were cultivated for exhibition and celebrated as fashionable bedding plants. Before long, their charming faces appeared everywhere – adorning China, paintings, and decorative objects throughout the Victorian era.

            The word “pansy” is derived from the French word pensée, meaning “thought” or “remembrance.” In the language of flowers, pansies conveyed the sentiment “thoughts of you,” and countless postcards of the period were embellished with their likeness. I have one such card bearing a New Bedford postmark from 1908. It features a lucky gold horseshoe framing a small countryside scene, surrounded by pink dogwood blossoms and purple pansies. The handwritten message is intriguing, almost cryptic: “Five o’clock Sunday all alone. I am going to the P. Church fair tomorrow night. Wish you were here. JS.”

            Such postcards were part of the Golden Age of Postcards, a remarkable cultural craze that flourished from about 1907 to 1915. During those years, hundreds of millions of beautifully illustrated picture postcards were mailed annually, serving as the inexpensive and accessible “text messages” of their day.

            That little postcard brings me to another truth about pansies. The garden pansy we know today was developed from wild members of the Viola family. In fact, all pansies are violas, but not all violas are pansies. Pansies generally bear larger flowers, while violas make up for their smaller blooms by flowering more abundantly.

            The entire group belongs to the genus Viola, which includes pansies, violas, violettas, and violets. These cheerful flowers have delighted gardeners for centuries with their jewel-like colors and expressive faces.

            Among the most beloved members of the family is the Johnny-jump-up (Viola tricolor), often called the European wild pansy. It has been a familiar sight in American gardens for so long that some gardeners like to imagine it arrived with the earliest settlers on the Mayflower. Whether or not that tale holds any truth, its popularity is undeniable.

            Over the years, Johnny-jump-up has collected a charming assortment of folk names, including “three faces in a hood,” “love in idleness (mentioned in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream),” “cull-me-to-you,” and “heart’s ease.” Such names reflect the flower’s long history in cottage gardens and its reputation for bringing comfort and cheer. It is easy to understand their affection. The blossoms seem almost to smile back at us.

            But I digress.

            Every spring I happily welcome these lovelies back into my garden. They spill from my window boxes in a tapestry of color akin to a stained-glass window, their beguiling velvety faces lifting my spirits every time I pass by or look out from said windows. Rather than planting just one or two colors, I delight in a kaleidoscope of hues: blue, yellow, purple, lavender, white, rust, pink, orange, bronze, and even velvety black. Some blooms are a single color; others are splashed, whiskered, bicolored, or tricolored. And then there is their fragrance – lightly sweet and delicate, all the more enchanting because it reveals itself only when one pauses long enough to lean in and enjoy it.

            Whether you buy plants from the nursery or start from seed, division, or cuttings, pansies are easy to grow. To grow them from seed Tolley advises sowing the tiny seeds indoors in flats in late winter (in cool climates), covering them with 1/16 inch of soil, keeping them warm during the day and relatively cool at night. Or sow them outdoors in very early spring or in late summer for the following spring. Seeds germinate in one to three weeks. When they are two inches tall it’s time to harden them off and plant as soon as the ground can be worked. Pansies are heavy feeders and will enjoy all-purpose fertilizer or compost and sand into the soil before planting to ensure ample nutrients and good drainage. Be sure to pinch back stems and deadhead regularly to encourage more blossoming.

            When the weather gets hot pansies will wane and become leggy. When this happens, cut the plants way back, feed them well, and move to a cooler location. You’ll see them perk up when the cooler weather comes.

            Tolley’s book expands on the uses for pansies as well as how to make potpourri. After allowing the petals to dry, mix with sweet-smelling dried herbs and oak moss tossed with fragrant oil. Here is a recipe:

            4 parts each dried narcissus blossoms, dried geranium petals, air-dried pansies, air-dried delphinium petals, and bay leaves.

            2 parts each dried woodruff and dried lemon verbena.

            1 part each dried orange rind, whole cloves, oak moss and coriander seeds.

            6 drops rose geranium oil, 4 drops bergamot oil, and 2 drops cinnamon oil for every ½ pound dry mixture.

            Whole pansies dried in silica gel.

            Combine all ingredients except the whole pansies and allow to mellow in a tightly sealed jar for several weeks. Display in a bowl of your choice and scatter whole pansies on top. Tolley’s small book, which is beautifully illustrated with gorgeous photos by Chris Mead, abounds with ideas ranging from culinary uses and arranging hints to arts and craft projects. Like the garden counterparts, it’s a true delight.

            Ophelia’s iconic lines from Shakespeare’s Hamlet (Act 4, scene 5) remind us of the deep emotional power flowers can carry: There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies, that’s for thoughts.

The Seaside Garden

By Laura McLean