Leslie’s Retreat 250 Weekend
Leslie’s Retreat 250 is a cooperative partnership between Salem 400 + and the Leslie’s Retreat SR Steering Committee to spearhead and work in cooperation with individuals and institutions to present a series of community events to mark the 250th anniversary of Leslie’s Retreat.
Schedule of Events:
Friday February 21, 2025
All Day Leslie’s Retreat: Salem on the Brink of Revolution Exhibit
This National Park Service exhibit will explore why Crown soldiers under Lt. Col. Alexander Leslie came to Salem on February 26, 1775, who were the major players in the event, and how this event has been remembered and celebrated in Salem in the last 250 years. This free exhibit will be on display from February 21-April 27 at the Salem Armory Visitor Center, 2 New Liberty Street, Salem. The Salem Armory Visitor Center is open Wednesday-Sunday, 10 am – 4 pm.
5:00 pm Leslie’s Retreat: Salem on the Brink of Revolution Exhibit Opening Reception and Lecture
Join the National Park Service, Essex National Heritage Area, and Eastern National for an opening reception and curator lecture for the exhibit Leslie’s Retreat: Salem on the Brink of Revolution. This free event will be held on Friday, February 21 at 5 pm at the Salem Armory Visitor Center, 2 New Liberty Street, Salem. A lecture by exhibit curator Dr. Emily Murphy will begin at 6:30 pm.
Saturday, February 22, 2025
9:30 am Speaking Portion at St. Peter’s San Pedro’s Episcopal Church 24 St. Peter’s Street, Salem, MA
11:00 am Leslie’s Retreat Redcoat March to North Bridge
12:00-3:00 pm Tours of St. Peter’s San Pedro Episcopal Church 24 St. Peter’s Street, Salem, MA
“Loyalists in our Midst” tours featuring guided exploration of the sanctuary containing General Gage’s decorated pew and fascinating stories of Salem’s Tories. Tours are free, donations welcome!
12:30 pm & 2:30 pm Salem-Marblehead Trolley Tour lead by Judy Anderson starting at St. Peter’s San Pedro Episcopal Church SOLD OUT!
Trolley boards at 12:15 and 2:15. Everyone with a reservation must be on the trolley by 12:20 or 2:20. Remaining seats will be available on a first-come first-served basis.
2:30 pm “Fashion in the Season of Revolution: A Panel Discussion & Revolutionary Reenactor Promenade” free with admission to the Peabody Essex Museum 161 Essex Street, Salem, MA
7:30 pm Revolution Ball at Hamilton Hall 9 Chestnut Street, Salem, MA
Sunday, February 23, 2025
10:30 am “A Revolutionary Reckoning”
First Church in Salem, located at 316 Essex Street in Salem, will honor the 250th anniversary of Leslie’s Retreat with a special service and coffee hour on Sunday, February 23. “A Revolutionary Reckoning”, the joint service led by First Church in Salem, Unitarian Universalist and Tabernacle Congregational Church will begin at 10:30am. All ages and denominations are welcome to attend!
Immediately following the service we welcome everyone to attend a special Fellowship Hour of coffee, tea, and refreshments in our historic Cleveland and Barnard Rooms.
12:30 pm Norumbega Harmony Concert at First Church 316 Essex Street, Salem, MA
Norumbega Harmony is a choral ensemble founded in 1976 at Wellesley College by Professor Stephen Marini and dedicated to the preservation, promotion, and performance of New England psalm singing from the colonial and early American periods. It has performed at more than one-hundred twenty-five colleges, universities, libraries, and churches in the Northeast, released three recordings, and published its own collection of historical and original tunes in this tradition. This hour-long concert will bring the audience into the musical, emotive, intellectual, political, and spiritual dimensions of Revolutionary religious culture in New England.
12:00-3:00 pm Tours of The Pickering House at 18 Broad Street, Salem, MA
Tour a First Period Colonial house in Salem’s McIntire Historic District. Built in 1660, it became the home to Colonel Timothy Pickering, a pivotal figure in Leslie’s Retreat, and the American Revolution. Tours are free, donations welcome!
3:00 pm In Open Rebellion at Old Town Hall, 32 Derby Square, Salem, MA
The Salem Gunpower Raid of February 26th, 1775, known locally as “Leslie’s Retreat”, was a significant incident leading up to the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. British troops had previously been successful at capturing the Massachusetts Provincial militia’s powder stores in Somerville on September 1st, 1774, but after stores were seized and relocated by the Americans from Portsmouth, NH, the British knew another mission would be needed.
On Sunday, February 26th, 1775, Lt. Colonel Alexander Leslie of the 64th Regiment of Foot embarked from Castle Island in Boston Harbor aboard the HMS Lively to confiscate some cannon the Salem militia had recently secured. Leslie’s orderly landing and march from Marblehead to Salem was noticed and the alarm raised. By the time he arrived in Salem, the drawbridge across the North River to where the cannons were stashed, had been raised. A large rabble of Salemites had formed surrounding and upon the Bridge – a tense situation only grew more excited as British troops attempted to requisition some small boats to cross the North River. One gentleman who was scuttling the boats, Thomas Whicher, defiantly bared his chest and walked into an extended British bayonet.
After a few hours and stiff negotiation between Col. Leslie, Captain John Felt, Colonel Timothy Pickering and Rev. Thomas Barnard, an agreement was met. The frequently cited account of the incident by Charles Endicott mentions, “By the prudence and praise-worth forbearance of Colonel Leslie, any serious collision with the troops was happily averted”. Under a lesser officer than Leslie, it is easy to imagine the inciting incident of the Revolution starting at our North Bridge rather than Concord’s. The drawbridge would be lowered, Col. Leslie and his troops would march 30 rods (~500 feet) into North Salem to do their search, accomplishing their mission of searching for the guns, before returning to their vessel in Marblehead Harbor and ultimately back to Boston. No weapons were found, and after returning across the bridge, the Danvers and Salem militias escorted Leslie and the 64th Regiment back out of town. As the neither of the two militia companies had a drummer present, both bodies of troops marched the beat of the British drummer, an unusual incident in retrospect. After leaving Salem, the Marblehead militia took over the role of supervising the British troops back to their transport vessel, ready to fall open to them if conflict had broken out.
While no shots were fired that day, the incident is historically significant on several counts and deserves our recognition and commemoration. A British magazine published April 1775 stated that “the Americans have hoisted the standard of liberty at Salem”, clearly viewing this as an inciting incident to the anticipated conflict. Joseph Whicher was recognized as sustaining the first injury in the conflict, proudly displaying his wound when asked, even late into life. Most importantly, the monument placed by the City of Salem identifies it as “the first armed resistance to the Royal authority was made at this Bridge”. While previous opposition to the British military had either been unsuccessful or clandestine in nature, this was the first open, successful opposition made but could easily have resulted in the war starting if not for cooler heads prevailing that day. There would not be another incident of this nature – only 6 weeks later, on April 19th, the very next attempt to oppose the British troops erupted into violent conflict on the misty lawns of Lexington Green.