Born in Massachusetts on June 11, 1741, Dr. Joseph Warren was a physician in Boston where he played a pivotal role exhorting his countrymen and women to break from the British crown. It was Warren who sent Paul Revere and William Dawes on the famous ride of April 18, 1775 to warn that the British army was marching on Lexington and Concord, resulting in the opening shots of the Revolutionary War the following day. Warren fought in the first day’s battles and a musket ball passed through his wig but he was uninjured.

President of the revolutionary Massachusetts Provincial Congress, Warren was commissioned as a Major General in the Colony’s militia but chose to serve on the front lines and died heroically in the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 18, 1775. 

Upon hearing news of his death, British General Thomas Gage reportedly said, “Warren's death is equal to 500 men,” while another British commander celebrated Warren’s demise, calling him "the greatest incendiary in all of America." 

When residents of the southern half of Sussex County pushed to form their own county 50 years later, they chose to name it for Dr. Warren to honor his efforts and sacrifice.

Commissioned into the Continental Army at the rank of  major general on June 14, 1775, Warren arrived at Charlestown just before the start of the Battle of Bunker Hill and made his way to where Patriot militiamen were forming. Upon meeting General Israel Putnam, Warren asked where Putnam thought the heaviest fighting would take place. Putnam responded by pointing to Breed's Hill. Although Putnam and Colonel William Prescott requested that Warren serve as their commander, Warren insisted on joining with the militia at the rank of private. 

During the early stages of the battle, Warren repeatedly stated that "These fellows say we won't fight! By Heaven, I hope I shall die up to my knees in blood!"

"The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill, June 17, 1775" - a 1786 painting by John Trumbull