Andrew McClary was an Irish soldier and major in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. McClary was born in Ulster, Ireland and came to colonial America with his parents at age sixteen where they lived on a farm in New Hampshire. Here the McClary family built a local tavern, where town meetings were also held. Many of New Hampshire's prominent and influential men had come from the McClary family. In session Andrew McClary had also become the Town Clerk and soon a notable community leader during the years before the revolution. In the mid 1700s New Hampshire frontier McClary gained much of his field experience leading expeditions against hostile Indians in the area.
Detail of McClary and Knowlton from Trumbull painting. McClary is standing behind Thomas Knowlton, holding musket. Major McClary was the last American soldier to fall during the Battle of Bunker Hill.
The Death of General Warren by John Trumbull McClary (center left) is depicted in Trumbull's famous painting, wearing a white shirt with musket in hand and standing behind the mortally wounded Dr. Warren.
The Battle of Bunker Hill by Howard Pyle, 1897
McClary standing behind Thomas Knowlton, holding musket wearing) white shirt, along with the mortally wounded Warren are among the central figures depicted on a U.S. commemorative postage stamp, issued on the bicentennial anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1975
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. It was the original objective of both the colonial and British troops, though the majority of combat took place on the adjacent hill which became known as Breed's Hill.
Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker Hill by John Trumbull
The Battle of Bunker Hill by Howard Pyle, 1897
The Bunker Hill Monument
Ralph Farnham, one of the last survivors