Share This Episode
Our American Stories Lee Habeeb Logo

When 7-Year-Old John Quincy Adams Watched the Battle of Bunker Hill

Our American Stories / Lee Habeeb
The Truth Network Radio
September 22, 2026 3:03 am

When 7-Year-Old John Quincy Adams Watched the Battle of Bunker Hill

Our American Stories / Lee Habeeb

00:00 / 00:00
On-Demand Podcasts NEW!

This broadcaster has 4996 podcast archives available on-demand.

Broadcaster's Links

Keep up-to-date with this broadcaster on social media and their website.


September 22, 2026 3:03 am

On this episode of Our American Stories, on June 17, 1775, Abigail Adams climbed Penn's Hill with her seven-year-old son, John Quincy. Across the water, British and American soldiers were fighting the Battle of Bunker Hill. Cannon fire echoed in the distance, smoke rose over the battlefield, and Charlestown burned before their eyes. The American Revolution was no longer something happening somewhere else. A future president was watching it unfold beside his mother.With her husband away and war unfolding around her family, Abigail turned to the Bible for strength and taught her young son to do the same. She gave John Quincy a prayer to carry with him, one he would remember long after the smoke over Boston had cleared. Robert J. Morgan, author of 100 Bible Verses That Made America, shares the story of a mother, her son, and the faith that sustained them through the frightening opening months of the American Revolution. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. Spending time outdoors, then let's talk about skin cancer. Non-melanoma skin cancers, or NMSCs, including basal cell carcinoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, are the most common cancers in the U.S. and can become harder to treat if left undetected.

That's why sun protection and timely detection matter. Our sponsor, Regeneron, is raising awareness about advanced NMSCs. Learn more and take the pledge to see a dermatologist annually at Let's Get RealaboutskinCancer.com. During Lowe's Pro Savings Days, my Lowe's Pro Rewards members can save up to 20% when they buy more job site materials. Save 20% when you buy 30 or more select bats and rolls of fiberglass insulation.

24 or more cartons or pails of joint compound, tape, and bead. Or when you spend $200 or more on 3M painting and job site essentials. Members get more at Lowe's. Valid through 925. While supplies last.

Selection varies by location. Program subject to terms and conditions. See Lowe's.com slash terms for details. Subject to change. Liberty has never been just a word to we Americans.

It has guided every one of our endeavors for the past 250 years. And now it takes form in a new way. The 2026 Semi-Quincentennial Coin and Metal Program from the United States Mint. It celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage. Available one year only, this historic collection features new coin designs, limited edition releases, and reissues.

Shop new official coins at usmint.gov forward slash semi-q. That's usmint.gov/slash S-E-M-I-Q. This is Charlemagne the Garde from the World's Most Dangerous Morning Show the Breakfast Club.

Now, imagine somebody buying a file on us. Our names, addresses, phone numbers, that's what data brokers do. They package our personal information and sell it, exposing us to identity thieves who can open loans, drain investment accounts, or commit crimes in our name. LifeLock's automatic data broker removal tool helps remove our exposed information from these sites. It's identity theft protection for the life of the You're building.

So get Lifelock at Lifelock.com and use promo code Breakfast for up to 30% off your first year. That's Lifelock.com, code Breakfast. Because isn't your identity worth protecting? Professional wrestling fans, the action continues every week. Watch CNA Thursday Night Impact every week on AMC.

It is like electronic. Electricity flowing through your veins. Don't miss the adrenaline, the drama, and the total non-stop action. No one can ever be as good as this right here! Don't miss the action of TNA Thursday Night Impact every week on AM SIG.

For show types and more information, visit TNAWrestling.com. Yeah. You've watched racing.

Now get behind the wheel. At Kaizen Autosport Racing School at VIR, professional race drivers teach you how to drive faster, safer, and with more confidence on one of America's legendary racetracks. Never driven on track? We'll get you started. Already experienced, we'll take you to the next level.

Ready to race? Earn your competition license and learn real wheel-to-wheel racecraft. Stop watching, start driving. Go to racevir.com. That's racevir.com.

You're grinding, putting tracks on Spotify, making TikToks, and watching fractions of a cent roll in. Exposure doesn't pay rent. Time for real steaks. Welcome to The Beam, the new music competition app. Real fans vote.

Brands buy your music before it breaks. You win money and exposure. No more chasing algorithms. Just compete and get paid. Download The Beam at TheBeam.com or on the App Store.

Submit your tract. Earn what your music deserves on The Beam, the only chart that writes checks. This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people. To search for the Our American Stories podcast, go to the iHeartRadio app. or wherever you get your podcasts.

If you want to know about the history of America, It is imperative that you know the role that the Bible played in shaping our country. Our founding fathers, both Christian and non-Christian, were heavily influenced by the Bible. Here to share another story is Robert Morgan. who's the author of 100 Bible Verses That Made America. defining moments that shaped our enduring foundation of faith.

Let's take a listen. When the Puritans migrated to America in the early sixteen hundreds they established the city of Boston. the first Englishman to inhabit Boston, was a pastor and a chaplain named William Blaxton. who named the city for his hometown, the city of Boston, in Lincolnshire, in England. Over the next hundred years, Boston grew into a thriving community that increasingly resented British domination.

It all culminated, as we know, in the famous Boston Tea Party of 1773. After the Boston Tea Party, the British issued additional punitive measures against Boston, and this prompted the colonies to convene the first Continental Congress in 1774. John Adams of Massachusetts traveled to Philadelphia, leaving his wife Abigail and his children in Braintree near Boston, which was quickly becoming a battle zone. British troops began swarming the area and shots were fired nearby Lexington and Concord. Abigail was the daughter of a minister, and she was a force to be reckoned with, but she grew increasingly anxious for her children's safety.

On June 15th she wrote to her husband, We now expect our seacoast to be ravaged. Perhaps the very next letter I will write to you will inform you that I'm driven away from our quiet cottage. We live in a continual expectation of alarm. Courage we have an abundance, but gunpowder. Where will we get a sufficient supply?

Seven-year-old John Quincy Adams felt the strain too. He later wrote, My mother, with her infant children, dwelt every hour of the day and of the night, liable to be butchered in cold blood or taken and carried into Boston as hostages by foraging or marooning detachments of British soldiers. On June the 17th, Abigail and her children heard the guns and the cannons that marked the beginning of the battles of Bunker Hill and Reeds Hill. As the British started up the slopes, a command passed through the American lines. Don't shoot until you see the white of their eyes.

When the guns began firing, the sound traveled for miles. Hearing the roar of the cannons and the sounds of the battle, Abigail took her seven-year-old son, John Quincy. and they hike to the top of nearby Penn Hill where they watch the battle unfold across the bay. The Boston neighborhood of Charlestown went up in flames and the winds blew the heat and smoke into their faces. Waves of British soldiers fell, while charging up the hill the Patriots were driven back and it was the bloodiest battle thus far in the war.

The next morning Abigail wrote to John, and in the middle of her letter she burst into some of the cherished Bible verses that were sustaining her. She especially recalled a passage from Psalm 62, as she wrote to her husband John in this letter. The day, perhaps the decisive day, has come. on which the fate of America depends. My bursting heart must give vent at my pen.

I have just heard that our dear friend, Dr. Warren, is no more, but fell gloriously fighting. The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power to his people. And then she quoted from Psalm 62, the verse that she was leaning on for strength and support. Trust in him at all times, you people.

Pour out your hearts before him. For God is a refuge for us. She continued writing to John saying, Charlestown is laid in ashes. The battle began upon our entrenchments upon Bunkers Hill Saturday morning about 3 o'clock, has not ceased yet. It is expected they will come out over the neck tonight.

and a dreadful battle must ensue. Almighty God. Cover the heads of our countrymen, and be a shield to our dear friends. How many have fallen I do not know. The constant roar of the cannon is so distressing that we cannot eat or drink or sleep.

Well, John Quincy Adams never forgot the carnage. that filled his seven year old eyes as he stood transfixed by the cannons, the gunfire, the charging soldiers, the dying troops and burning city, and the unfolding history. He said it later made an impression upon his mind that haunted him for the rest of his life. Even in old age, he could never bring himself to attend celebrations associated with the events of that day. He said, I saw with my own eyes the fires of Charlestown.

and heard Britannia's thunders in the battle. and witnessed the tears of my mother and mingled them with my own. Abigail finally turned and left the bloody panorama, leading her son back home. where she made him promise to repeat the Lord's Prayer. every morning before rising from bed.

in order to help heal his thoughts. And this was a practice. that he kept for the rest of his life. Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. and leadest not in temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom. and the power and the glory forever.

Amen. And a terrific job by the production, editing, and storytelling by our own Greg Hengler. And a special thanks to Robert Morgan. He's the author of 100 Bible Verses That Made America. The story of Abigail Adams and John Quincy Adams, and how the Bible helped them through.

some of the most perilous times in American history. Here on Our American Stories. Here at Our American Stories, we bring you inspiring stories of history, sports, business, faith, and love. Stories from a great and beautiful country that need to be told. But we can't do it without you.

Our stories are free to listen to, but they're not free to make. If you love our stories in America like we do, please go to ouramericanstories.com and click the donate button. Give a little. Give a lot. Help us keep the great American stories coming.

That's ouramericanstories.com. Spending time outdoors, then let's talk about skin cancer. Non-melanoma skin cancers, or NMSCs, including basal cell carcinoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, are the most common cancers in the U.S. and can become harder to treat if left undetected. That's why sun protection and timely detection matter.

Our sponsor, Regeneron, is raising awareness about advanced NMSCs. Learn more and take the pledge to see a dermatologist annually at Let's Get RealAbout SkinCancer.com. Liberty has never been just a word to we Americans. It has guided every one of our endeavors for the past 250 years. And now it takes form in a new way.

The 2026 Semi-Quincentennial Coin and Metal Program from the United States Mint. It celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage. Available one year only, this historic collection features new coin designs, limited edition releases, and reissues. Shop new official coins at usmint.gov forward slash semi-q. That's usmint.gov/slash S-E-M-I-Q.

Professional wrestling fans, the action continues every week. Watch CNA Thursday Night Impact every week on AMC. It is like electricity. Electricity blowing through your face. Don't miss the adrenaline, the drama, and the total non-stop action.

No one can ever be as fun as this right here! Don't miss the action of TNA Thursday Night Impact every week on AM Sing. For show types and more information, visit TNA Wrestling.com. You've watched racing.

Now get behind the wheel. At Kaizen Autosport Racing School in VIR, professional race drivers teach you how to drive faster, safer, and with more confidence on one of America's legendary racetracks. Never driven on track? We'll get you started. Already experienced, we'll take you to the next level.

Ready to race? Earn your competition license and learn real wheel-to-wheel racecraft. Stop watching. Start driving. Go to racevir.com.

That's racevir.com. You're grinding, putting tracks on Spotify, making TikToks, and watching fractions of a cent roll in. Exposure doesn't pay rent. Time for real steaks. Welcome to The Beam, the new music competition app.

Real fans vote. Brands buy your music before it breaks. You win money and exposure. No more chasing algorithms. Just compete and get aid.

Download the Beam at TheBeam.com or on the App Store. Submit your track. Earn what your music deserves on The Beam, the only chart that writes checks. This is the Dan Levatar Show. This is Dan Levatar, and I've been doing this for more than two decades.

Our show is contagious. It's a little bit addictive. It's uh. In the most positive of ways. It has a good amount of range from smart to silly, and it's got a journalistic backbone.

Monday through Friday, I show up and talk about sports, listen to the Dan Lebetard show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever it is that you get your podcasts. It's football season and Vizio mini LED TVs are here to turn your living room into the front row of the stadium. Watch every play come to life in breathtaking realism on a 55-inch or 65-inch mini LED TV. Plus, crank your favorite game day tunes on the iHeartRadio app built right into your Vizio TV. Big screens, big picture, and a totally immersive experience.

Find rollback deals at Walmart today on Vizio 55-inch and 65-inch mini LED TVs.

Now just 248 and 358. Yeah.

Get The Truth Mobile App and Listen to your Favorite Station Anytime