Women's History Month 2023 - Margaret Kemble Gage

[Mrs. Smith]

Welcome to the Project Appleseed annual series in honor of Women's History Month.  Every week in March we showcase a different extraordinary woman in Revolutionary War history.  Thank you for joining us!

You can find earlier editions at the Women's History Month Series Post Guide

This week's submission comes from the desk of New Mexico's desert_diver.  Huzzah!!!

Margaret Kemble Gage

For this week's installment of Women's History Month, I'd like to share the story of Margaret Kemble Gage, wife of Thomas Gage.   Margaret Kemble was born in New Jersey in 1734 to wealthy and socially connected parents. Thomas, as we know, was the commander of all British Regulars in North America and the Royal Governor of Massachusetts in 1775.  Margaret and Thomas married in 1758.  We know their marriage was genuinely warm and loving, based on the observations of friends and Thomas's papers.  The marriage was also socially acceptable - as the 2nd son of an aristocratic family, Thomas had social standing, but no prospect of an inheritance.  A portrait of Margaret made in about 1771 shows a well-dressed and attractive woman in an atypical pose for late 18th century portraits, radiating confidence and composure. 



The Gages were in England in late 1772, during the Boston Tea Party.  When Thomas returned to North America he had orders to enforce the Coercive Acts, known as the Intolerable Acts among some colonists.  Indeed, Thomas had advocated for some of the elements of the Coercive Acts.  Margaret's personal papers and observations of those who knew her suggest that she feared that Thomas would be forced into military action against her fellow colonists and that the prospect of military action caused her distress. 

We know the Whigs in Massachusetts cultivated sources - spies or informants - among the British Regulars.  Dr. Joseph Warren, a leading Whig, had one source very highly placed in the British command.  Because of the quality of information the source could provide, Warren had to be careful, lest the use of the information lead to the discovery of the source.  Dr. Warren took the risk of contacting his source when it became apparent to Bostonians that the Regulars were preparing for something.  Dr. Warren's source revealed the plan.  Dr. Warren sent for Paul Revere and they activated the alarm system.  We'll never know the identity of Warren's source - the secret died with him in June of 1775.  Circumstantial evidence suggests Warren's source was none other than Margaret Kemble Gage. 

General Gage revealed the plans for the march to Concord to Earl Percy late in the afternoon of April 18th.  As Earl Percy went from the meeting to his residence, he encountered a group of Bostonians talking among themselves.  Earl Percy asked what they were talking about.  One of the men replied to the effect that the Regulars would not succeed in capturing the cannon stored in Concord.  Earl Percy returned to General Gage and reported the conversation.  Gage's secret plan was definitely not a secret.  Gage responded that he told only one person besides Earl Percy. 



After the battles at Lexington and Concord, Thomas sent Margaret to England on the same ship which carried his account of the fighting.  We know from Thomas' papers that their marriage wasn't the same after April 19th, 1775.  Margaret never returned to America, even after Thomas' death in 1787.  Margaret outlived Thomas, being 16 years younger and living to be 90. 

If Margaret did betray Thomas, think about what that must have cost her.  Many women sacrificed much during the Revolutionary War - Hannah Davis comes to mind, but spare a thought for Margaret Kemble Gage, who may have chosen Liberty over her marriage. 

[Mrs. Smith]

As a personal aside, if you ever get to Albuquerque or Amarillo and have a chance to attend an event with desert_diver, maybe you'll get lucky and he'll tell this story.  I've seen him do it many times, and he never fails to inspire a genuine emotional reaction from his audience. It's a real treat.

[CarrollMS]

I recently completed  The Life of Joseph Warren by Alexander Hill Everett, LL.D, 1845 (1792-1847).  Chapter IV does mention Percy speaking with a group of citizens at the corner of one street and hearing the expedition spoken of on the 19th, but does not identify Mrs. Gage specifically as a possible source. One might infer that from her access to sensitive information. He wrote,


"the first intimation having been given, as is said, by a patriotic lady of Boston, the wife of a royalist officer. A most vigilant observation was, in consequence, maintained upon the movements of the British ; and, in this operation, great advantage was derived from the services of an association, composed chiefly of Boston mechanics, which had been formed in the autumn of the preceding year."


This book is available in the Kindle store and has some details about the events surrounding the 19th of April which might interest instructors.


I prefer to instruct this without the allusion to Mrs. Gage being the source of the information. I have heard it instructed as a certainty. Other sources I have read make it clear that the preparations and the activity of the Navy and Regular Army, or lack thereof, in the days preceding the 19th account for good intelligence gathering by the various committees and guilds which were vigilant in observing and reporting Regular's activities, and for the leadership of General Warren in analyzing the intelligence reported. Examples include the Navy and the long-boat preparation and positioning, the restriction on a good number of the soldiers so that they did not frequent the public houses, the anticipation of the raid based on Revere's early rides that week, and finally, armed patrols dispatched in the early afternoon of the 19th (as observed by one Lexintonian returning from the market).  I bought the Amazon "Sons of Liberty" which takes great liberties with this rumor to the extent of slander against Mrs. Gage.


One will find this yarn on such sources as Wikipedia, yet I recommend the accounts provided at this link below. The first alert went to Samual Adams several days in advance of the 19th. We recall that the letter authorizing increased action by Gage had recently arrived from England and may well have been shared with staff, separate from the exact operations plan for the 18th and 19th, and that may be the source of the mystery lady of Boston. 
http://www.drjosephwarren.com/2016/04/unequally-yoked-in-point-of-politics/
msc

[Mrs. Smith]

Whenever I have heard Margaret included her in presentation, it's always asserted that we don't actually know for a fact who Warren's informant was, and that this is conjecture, albeit reasonable conjecture. The truth is, we'll never know.  But, as desert_diver said, can you imagine what an agonizing decision what would have been, and what that would have cost her?