Famend American actor Kurt Russell spent a part of his Fourth of July visiting the Arlington home the place his eighth great-grandfather was butchered to loss of life by British troopers in a bloody battle that kicked off the Revolutionary Struggle in 1775.
Russell, a 74-year-old Springfield native, mentioned he wasn’t conscious till just lately of his household’s ties to the American Revolution, regardless of the dramatic nature of his ancestor’s loss of life — which occurred outdoors his house in one of many bloodiest battles that occurred on the primary day of the American Revolution, April 19, 1775.
“I’m stunned by it,” Russell mentioned Friday, when requested whether or not he was shocked that such a dramatic occasion in his household’s historical past was not handed right down to him, as he toured the historic Jason Russell Home for the primary time. “I don’t know why.”
The actor’s eighth great-grandfather, Jason Russell, was shot twice and brutally bayoneted a number of occasions by British troopers outdoors his house because the Crimson Coats have been retreating from the battles of Lexington and Harmony — the place the primary pictures of the conflict happened — and passing via Menotomy, now referred to as Arlington, en path to Boston.
“He’s 59 years old, had a bad leg, but he saw himself as still being eligible and someone who should fight if they had to,” Russell mentioned. “He selected to return … and examine to ensure every thing was OK, realizing he was coming again to this.
“So that guy is my eighth — his ninth — grandfather, and I think he was a badass dude and I’m digging it,” Russell mentioned alongside his oldest son, Boston Russell.
Household legend has it that the farmer Jason Russell died on the doorsteps of his house, the place colonials have been fleeing inside, though the precise location of his loss of life will not be recognized, in response to Revolution 250 Govt Director Jonathan Lane.
Jason Russell, in response to his Hollywood descendant, was stabbed as many as 27 occasions with a bayonet.
“These guys are trained soldiers,” Kurt Russell mentioned. “They stabbed you once in the heart and you’re dead. He was stabbed somewhere between 11 and 27 times. That’s a hate crime.”
Russell’s go to to his ancestor’s house coincided not solely with the Fourth of July, however with Boston’s yearlong occasions marking the 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary Struggle. The actor mentioned he was planning to attend the Boston Pops celebration later within the day, and maybe shoot a cannon.
Jason Russell was considered one of 12 colonials to die on the house as a part of the Battle of Menotomy, in response to the Arlington Historic Society, which acquired and restored the home in 1923. The house had remained within the Russell household till 1896, in response to the society’s web site.
A portray that depicts Russell being bayoneted by a British soldier on the doorsteps of his house now hangs within the Jason Russell Home, the place the actor and his son, Boston, 45, kicked off their tour on Friday. The museum can be open to the general public for guided excursions.
Russell mentioned it was truly his different son Wyatt Russell, who he shares along with his longtime accomplice and actress Goldie Hawn, who found the household’s potential ancestral connection to the Revolutionary determine. Wyatt needed to come back, however couldn’t attend, as he’s in London capturing a Marvel film, Russell mentioned.
“The other thing that would have been fun would be to be in the Jason Russell House with a Captain America,” Russell mentioned, jokingly including, “He was the wrong Captain America. He was a little over the top. And so I think that’s a fun delineation that goes from Jason Russell to that.”
Russell spoke to his household’s function in a pivotal second in American historical past, whereas gesturing to the bullet holes from the 1775 battle that also riddle the partitions of his ancestor’s outdated house. The preventing was so intense that blood from the troopers who retreated or have been taken into the house was “ankle deep,” he mentioned.
The conflict’s lesser-known first-day battle would make a very good film, Russell mentioned. If he have been to make such a movie, he mentioned he’d favor to give attention to the personalities of these concerned and what led as much as the ultimate “tragedy,” likening that sense of realism to “Tombstone,” a 1993 Western movie he starred in.
“That movie is the one I’d want to see,” Russell mentioned, “and I wouldn’t mind playing Jason.”
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