Lines composed on the execution of W. Clement's: who was shot for desertion, on Fort Independence, Feb. 18 having been four times pardoned, but having last deserted his post, was condemned to die

This is a puzzling broadside as there is no record of such an execution taking place (Matchette). While many military records from the War of 1812 were destroyed when the British burned Washington, D.C., an execution such as this one would surely have been reported in local newspapers if it had happened. It is interesting that Coverly printed two editions of the text, this one giving Clements’s first initial as W, and another, not in the Thomas collection, giving his first initial as J.

A military historian suggested that the broadside may have simply been, in a time of great upheaval, a warning to soldiers of the consequences of failure at their duty (Fahey). The four pardons mentioned in the subtitle certainly suggest a forgiving military establishment. Except for the lurid title and the specific date of February 18, up to the final verse, the text itself is generic—it could be anywhere, anyone.

The location of the supposed execution, Fort Independence, is the oldest continuously fortified site in the United States. First constructed in 1634 on the strategically located Castle Island in Boston Harbor, the site is now connected to South Boston, at the end of William J. Day Boulevard.