Military officer; born in
Groton, Mass., Feb. 20, 1726; was a provincial colonel at the capture of Cape Breton in 1754, and was one of
General Winslow's captains in
Nova Scotia in 1756, when the dispersion of the Acadians took place (see
Acadia).
Prescott inherited a large estate at
Pepperell, and held several offices of trust there.
When the news of the fight at
Lexington reached him he assembled a regiment of minute-men, of which he became colonel, and marched to
Cambridge.
When it was decided to fortify
Bunker Hill,
Prescott was chosen to conduct the enterprise.
He cast up a redoubt and breastworks on
Breed's Hill, and defended it bravely the next day (June 17, 1775) until his
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ammunition was exhausted, when he was compelled to retreat, after a severe battle with 3,000 troops under
Generals Howe and
Clinton.
He was among the last to quit the field.
Prescott resigned his commission early in 1777, and returned home; but in the autumn of the same year he entered the
Northern army under
Gates as a volunteer, and was present at the capture of
Burgoyne.
After the war he was in the Massachusetts legislature several years.
He died in
Pepperell, Oct. 13, 1795.
