His one shot from the musket got the wolf. He fought with Roger's Rangers in the French & Indian War. At one point the Indians captured him, had tied him to a tree, and were going to burn him alive. A French officer rescued him in the nick of time. When the first shots of the American Revolution were fired at the Battle of Lexington and Concord, word reached Putnam on his farm. He literally "came off the plow" to ride off to war again. Without bothering to change his clothes, he mounted his horse and rode the 25 miles to the scene in 18 hours. He was known for his courage, and demonstrated it at the Battle of Bunker Hill, where he is credited with giving the command "Don't fire until you can see the whites of their eyes." He became a major general in the Revolutionary War. His birthplace in Danvers, known as the General Israel Putnam House, still stands. In 1847, the railroad came to Danvers. A street railway was installed in 1884, originally consisting of 69 horse-drawn trolleys. This system was later converted to electricity. The Town Hall was built in 1855. It has been modified and renovated and is still in use. Also in 1855, the southern portion of Danvers broke away to become the town of South Danvers, later renamed Peabody. In 1878, the Danvers State Hospital opened its doors. This was an institution to provide asylum and treatment for the mentally ill. Originally an agricultural town, Danvers farmers developed two breeds of vegetables: the Danvers Onion (origin of the "Oniontown" nickname) and the Danvers Half-Long Carrot. This carrot was introduced by "market gardeners" in 1871. Shoe manufacturing was a prominent industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Successful manufacturing companies included Ideal Baby Shoe. Local shoe companies were undercut in price by factories in other areas, and shoe manufacturing moved out. Movies filmed in Danvers, Massachusetts include:   On November 22, 2006, around 2:46 a.m., a major chemical explosion occurred at a facility housing Arnel Company (a manufacturer of industrial-use paint products) and CAI Inc. (a manufacturer of solvents and inks). The blast shook several North Shore towns, knocking homes off foundations and damaging buildings up to half a mile away. Glass windows shattered at least away, in neighboring Peabody and even in downtown Salem. The explosion was heard and felt up to away; the concussion was intense.