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1737–1814

William Heath

GeneralMassachusetts Militia

Biography

William Heath, a farmer from Roxbury who had studied military tactics for years, commanded American positions during the siege. He had helped coordinate the militia response on April 19 and served competently if not brilliantly during the siege. Washington found him reliable but unimaginative. Heath's service in Cambridge exemplified the citizen-soldier ethos—a man of modest means who studied war as a civic duty.