History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. II, Part 3

Author: Drake, Samuel Adams, 1833-1905
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Boston : Estes and Lauriat
Number of Pages: 650

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. II > Part 3

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

After refreshing themselves at Lexington, Re- vere and Dawes, not knowing the fate of the three men who had been sent up the road from Lexing- ton, set off for Concord to alarm the people. Soon after they were overtaken by a young gentleman of Concord, who had been spending the evening in Lexington in no hostile array, with a special female friend. Being an ardent patriot, he entered heart- ily into their design, and proceeded with them, alarming the people on the road. Before reaching Concord they were suddenly met by a party of British officers, armed and mounted, who immedi- ately surrounded and captured Revere, who was in advance of his companions. The young man from Concord, being a little in the rear and mounted on a spirited horse, eluded them by leaping a stone wall, made his escape, and arrived safely in Con- cord, where he gave the alarm. The same officers had already taken the three men from Lexington, and had them in custody. These prisoners were all subjected to a rigid examination. Presenting

their pistols, the officers threatened to blow out the brains of the captives if they did not give true answers to their questions. They interrogated the Lexington men relative to Hancock and Adams, and inquired where they could be found. They questioned Revere, who at first gave them rather evasive answers, but finding himself in their keep- ing, and seeing no way of escape, said to them, firmly, " Gentlemen, you have missed your aim !" One of the officers said, " What aim ?" Revere replied, " I came out from Boston one hour after your troops left, and if I had not known that mes- sengers had been sent out to give information to the country, and must have had time enough to carry it fifty miles, I would have ventured one shot from you before I would have suffered you to stop me." Startled at this, they pushed their inquiries further, when, on hearing the sound of a distant bell, one of the Lexington prisoners said to thein, " The bell is ringing, the town is alarmed, and you are all dead men !" These declarations frightened the British officers, who, after a brief consultation aside, started on their return towards Lexington. They kept possession of their prisoners till they came within about a hundred rods of the meeting- house, when, taking Revere's horse from him, and cutting the girths of the saddles and the bridles of the other prisoners, the officers left them, and rode off at full speed toward Boston. This was about three o'clock on the morning of the 19th.

While these things were occurring on the road towards Concord, the alarm was spread rapidly throughout Lexington, and the minute-men were . assembling on the Common. At two o'clock on the morning of the 19th Captain Parker caused the roll of his company to be called, and ordered every man to load his gun with powder and ball, so as to be ready for any emergency ; and gave the well- known and well-concerted order, " Not to fire un- less they were fired upon !" After remaining some time upon parade, and no certain intelligence being received of the approach of the regulars, as the king's troops were generally at that time called, and the evening being cool, the company was dis- missed, with orders to assemble again at the beat of the drum, the ringing of the bell, and the firing of the alarm guns. Some, who resided in the neighborhood, repaired to their own homes, but a greater part, perhaps, went to Buckman's tavern, near the place of parade.

In order to comprehend fully the events in Lex- ington which we have partially narrated, and to

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

understand the events of which we must speak to make our history perfect, it must be known that Revere and Dawes, of whom we have spoken, were sent' ont by that vigilant patriot, Dr. Warren, the one by way of Charlestown and the other by way of Roxbury ; that Gage had detailed eight hun- dred men, under the command of Colonel Smith, to march hastily upon Concord to destroy the mili- tary stores collected there ; that this corps left Bos- ton about ten o'clock on the evening of the 18th of April ; and, moreover, that Gage and Smith at the time deemed the movement a perfect secret, not knowing that messengers had already passed out from Boston to give the alarm, and that the lan- tern from Christ Church was flashing intelligence of the movement with the rapidity of light; and that they supposed the officers, who had dined at Cambridge, would intercept all travel upon the road, so as to prevent any spread of intelligence at Concord of the approach of this expedition. But Smith had not marched far before the ringing of the church bells and the firing of alarm guns con- vinced him that their design was known, and that he felt the danger, and sent back for a reinforce- ment, which brought Percy to Lexington and saved Smith's force from utter destruction; and, Smith in the mean time despatched Pitcairn, with the light troops, to move as rapidly as practicable to Concord and take possession of the bridges. These well- established facts are deemed necessary to a full understanding of what transpired in Lexington ; and are mentioned here thus briefly, so as not to anticipate what properly belongs to the history of the county, or of other towns.

We have already stated that Parker had allowed his company a recess, as they had learned nothing with certainty of the approach of the regulars. It was subsequently learned that the messengers sent to ascertain the movements of the British were captured and held in custody, for the very purpose of rendering their movement a secret. Their course was to send two or more of their men ahead, and, if they discovered the approach of any person to secrete themselves, and permit him to pass, and then turn upon him and make him a prisoner. The last messenger sent from Lexington was Thad- deus Bowman, who was riding down the road rapidly, when about a mile and a half from the Common, his horse became suddenly frightened, stopped, and refused to go forward. In a moment he discovered the cause. The light of the morn- ing appearing in some degree, he perceived just

ahead, sitting on opposite sides of the way, two British soldiers ; and while he was attempting to urge his horse forward, not suspecting their plan to entrap him, he caught a glimpse of the British troops, then about thirty rods off. He instantly turned his horse, and rode with all possible speed to the meeting-honse, and gave Captain Parker the first certain knowledge of the approach of the king's troops. There was no longer a doubt that the British were near at hand. It was now about half past four in the morning. Captain Parker immediately ordered the alarm guns to be fired, the bell to be rung, and the drums to beat to arms. Sergeant William Munroe was directed to form the company, which he did with all pos- sible despatch, a few rods north of the meeting- house, which stood near where the present hay scales now stand. Abont fifty of the militia had formed, or rather were forming, while there were some thirty spectators near by, a few of whom had arms. But what was to be done? What could this little devoted band do in the face of what they then believed to be twelve or fifteen hundred veteran troops ? To attack them would, in a mili- tary point of view, be the height of folly, and con- trary to the moral resolve of the province, not to commence any act of war; and to stand their ground in case they were attacked by such over- whelming numbers would be exposing themselves to certain destruction without any justifiable mo- tive. Captain Parker and his men not only knew their danger, but they knew the great responsibility which rested upon them. They stood their ground, not merely as soldiers, but as citizens, nay, almost as statesmen, having the destiny of the country in their hands.

But this was not the time or the place to de- liberate. They must act, and that speedily, from principles imbibed and resolves taken before that trying morning. Knowing his duty as a soldier, and feeling the full weight of his responsibility as a citizen, Captain Parker gave strict orders that 110 man leave his post until he was ordered, and he gave the well-concerted command, "not to fire until they were fired upon."

At a short distance from the parade ground, Major Pitcairn, who, with his light troops, was a little in advance of Smith, halted his men, and ordered them to fix their flints, and see that their guns were properly loaded and primed, and so fitted for action. The British then rushed forward with a shout, led on by Major Pitcairn, who exclaimed,

LEXINGTON.

" Disperse, ye rebels ; lay down your arms and dis- perse !" The Americans stood firm ; when hc repeated his exclamation with an oath, rushed for- ward, discharged his pistol, and commanded his men to fire. A few guns were discharged, but as no execution was done, the Americans supposing that blank cartridges only were fired, remained unmoved, but did not return the fire. The com- mand was repeated by Pitcairn, and a general dis- charge from the front rank followed, decimating the American line. The Americans, seeing that some of their number were killed and others wounded, hesitated no longer as to their right to resist, and several of them immediately returned the fire of the British. Jonas Parker, John Munroe, Ebenezer Munroe, Jr., and some others returned the fire be- fore leaving. the line. Captain Parker, seeing sev- eral of his men fall, and the British rushing upon the little band from both sides of the meeting-house, as if to surround them, ordered his men to disperse. They did so; but as the British continued firing, several of the Americans returned the fire when leaving and after leaving the field. The firing on the part of the Americans, and also on the part of the British, after the first two rounds, was scat- tering and irregular. As Major Pitcairn led the van, the responsibility of the first attack rests solely upon him. From the best information that can be obtained, it is not probable that Colonel Smith was upon the ground until after or about the moment of the fatal volley. Most of the accounts, and especially those of the British, which are the best authority on the question as to who was then in command, ascribe it to Pitcairn, who, I believe, never attempted to shun the responsibility.1

The depositions taken in 1775, a few days after the events transpired, and subsequently, have pre- served many interesting facts, relative to the firm- ness and gallantry of individuals on that occasion.

1 The following extract from Lieutenant-Colonel Smith's re- port to General Gage conclusively shows that Smith was not with the troops who began the firing.

BOSTON, April 22, 1775.

" I think it proper to observe, that when I had got some miles on the march from Boston, I detached six light infantry com- panics to march with all expedition to seize the two bridges on different roads beyond Concord. On these companies' arrival at Lexington, I understand from the report of Major Pitcairn, who was with them, and from many officers, that they found on a green close to the road a body of the country people drawn up in military order, with arms and accoutrements, and, as appeared after, loaded; and that they had posted some men in a dwelling and meeting house. Our troops advanced towards them, without any intention of injuring them, further than to inquire the reason

Jedediah Munroe was wounded in the morning; but nothing daunted by the danger he had encoun- tered and the wound he had received, instead of quitting the field, when his wound was dressed, he mounted his horse, and rode to a neighboring town giving the alarm, and rallying the citizens; and when Parker's company went forward to meet the British returning from Concord, Munroe joined the company and was killed in the afternoon. On the first fire of the British in the morning, John Mun- roe, seeing no one fall, said coolly to his namesake, Ebenezer Munroe, Jr., that they had fired nothing but powder. On the second discharge Ebenezer replied, "They have fired something besides powder this time; for I am wounded in the arm." He then discharged his gun at the British, receiving two balls in return, one of which grazed his cheek, the other passed between his arm and his body, leaving its mark in his garment. John Munroe, after firing in the line, loaded his gun with two balls, and on leaving the Common discharged it at his pursuers ; the strength of the charge carrying away eight or ten inches of the muzzle of his gun ; the gun has been preserved, and may be seen with the relics in our Library Hall. William Tidd, Cap- tain Parker's lieutenant, when retreating from the Common, was pursued by an officer on horseback, supposed to be Pitcairn, up the Bedford road, with repeated cries : " Stop, or you are a dead man !" Tidd turned from the road into the lot, where he made a stand, and discharged his gun at his pur- suer, who in turn sought safety in flight. John Tidd remained upon the field so long that, as he was leaving the Common, a British officer on horse- back rushed upon him, and struck him down with his entlass ; and while he remained insensible from the effect of the blow upon the head, they despoiled him of his arms, taking away his gun, cartridge- box and powder-horn.

of their heing thus assembled, and, if not satisfactory, to have secured their arms; but they io confusion went off, principally to the left, only one of them fired before he went off, and three or four more jumped over a wall and fired from behind it among, the soldiers ; on which the troops returned it and killed several of them. They likewise fired on the soldiers from the meeting and dwelling house. We had one man wounded and Major Pit- cairn's horse shot in two places."

Upon this report, and the statement of Major Pitcairn, who always asserted that the Americans fired first, the letter of General Gage to Governor Trumbull, in which is an account of the action of the 19th of April, is hased. Stedman rc- peats, with considerable detail, this distinct charge, in which he has been followed by a long line of successors. Sec Vol. I. p. 120 .- ED.

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

AUSSELE CA LAFLAGI !

Battle of Lexington. [The central figure is the Meeting-House, the right hand the Belfry, the left hand the Buckman Tavern.]

Joshua Simonds, with three others, on the ap- proach of the British, had gone into the church where their ammunition was kept, to obtain a sup- ply of powder. They had succeeded in getting two quarter-casks from the upper loft into the gallery, when the British reached the meeting-house. Two of them, Caleb Harrington and Joseph Comee, re- solved at every hazard to escape from the house, and join the company. Harrington was killed in the attempt at the west end of the meeting-house. Comee, finding himself cut off from the company, . ran under a shower of balls, one of which struck him in the arm, to the Munroe house, (now occul- pied by the widow of the late John Hudson) and passing through the house, escaped at the back door. When this house was repaired some years ago, they found several bullets lodged in the tim- bers, being those fired at Comee. The third se- creted himself in the opposite gallery, while Simonds loaded and cocked his gun, and lying down, placed the muzzle upon the open cask of powder, deter- mined to blow up the British, if they should enter the gallery, choosing to destroy his own life rather than fall into their hands.

" History, Roman history," said Everett, in an address delivered in Lexington, " does not furnish an example of bravery that outshines that of Jonas Parker. A truer heart did not bleed at Ther- mopylæ. He was next-door neighbor of Mr. Clarke, and had evidently imbibed a double por- tion of his lofty spirit. Parker was often heard to say that, be the consequences what they might, and let others do what they might, he would never run from the enemy. He was as good as his word, - better. Having loaded his musket, he placed his hat, containing his ammunition, on the ground be- tween his feet, in readiness for the second charge. At the second fire from the enemy he was wounded, and sunk upon his knees, and in this condition dis- charged his gun. While loading it again, upon his knees, and striving in the agonies of death to redeem his pledge, he was rushed upon and trans- fixed by a bayonet, and thus died on the spot where he first stood and fell." In addition to Jonas Parker, whose death was thus remarkable, Isaac Muzzy, Robert Munroe, and Jonathan Harrington, were killed on or near the Common, where the com- pany were paraded. Robert Munroe, who fell a

LEXINGTON.

sacrifice to the lawless oppression of Great Britain, had on a former occasion perilled his life in her defence, having served in the French War, and been standard-bearer at the capture of Louisburg. Harrington's was a cruel fate. He fell in front of his own house, on the north of the Common. His wife at the window saw him fall, and then start up, the blood gushing from his breast. He stretched out his hands towards her, as if for assistance, and then fell again. Rising once more upon his hands and knees, he crawled towards his dwelling. She ran to meet him at the door, but it was to see him expire. Samuel Hadley and John Brown were killed after they left the Common, and Caleb Har- rington in attempting to escape from the meeting- house. Asahel Porter of Woburn was not under arms. He had been captured on the road by the British that morning on their approach to Lexing- ton, and in attempting to make his escape, about the time the firing commenced, was shot down a few rods from the Common.

The Lexington men killed on or near the Com- mon in the morning, were Ensign Robert Munroe, Jonas Parker, Samuel Hadley, Jonathan Harring- ton, Jr., Isaac Muzzy, Nathaniel Wyman, Caleb Harrington, and John Brown, - eight in number ; and the wounded were Ebenezer Munroe, Jr., John Tidd, John Robbins, Solomon Pierce, Joseph Comee, Thomas Winship, Nathaniel Farmer, Jede- diah Munroe, and a colored man called Prince. Francis Brown was wounded in the afternoon, and Jedediah Munroe was wounded in the morning and killed in the afternoon. John Raymond was killed in the afternoon. Here is a heavy loss ! The num- ber of ten killed and ten wounded of the Lexing- ton men is a larger proportion than the loss in the most deadly battles recorded in history. In the famous battles of Napoleon, where the enemy were defeated, overwhelmed, and destroyed, twelve or fifteen per cent would cover their loss. In this case, if we should allow that Lexington had a hundred men in the field that day, which is a high estimate, her loss would be twenty per cent.

After the British had driven the Americans from the place of parade, and pursued them as far as they deemed expedient, they drew up on the Com- mon and gave three cheers as a token of rejoicing at their supposed success. They then commenced their march to Concord, to which the intelligence of their killing some half a dozen men at Lexing- ton had preceded them, as appears from the depo- sitions of John Hoar and eleven others of Lincoln,

and Captain Nathan Barrett and sixteen others of Concord, who testified that they had assembled near the meeting-house in Concord, in consequence of the approach of the British, who, they learned, had fired upon the citizens of Lexington and killed six of their men.

Expresses were sent forth in every direction, and considering the state of the roads at that day, it is remarkable that intelligence of the attack upon the militia at. Lexington could have reached dis- tant places in so short a time. The intelligence reached Newburyport at 12 M. on the 19th, and Portsmouth, N. H., early on the 20th; Worcester before noon on the 19th; Newport, R. I., on the 20th ; Fairfield, Conn., at 8 A. M. on the 22d; New York, at 12 M. on the 23d; Philadelphia, at 12 M. on the 26th ; Baltimore, at 10 A. M. on the 27th, and so on. Every town within ten or fifteen miles of Lexington must have had the intelligence of the slaughter at Lexington before nine o'clock that day. The military operations in Lexington in the morning being in almost every respect dif- ferent from what occurred in the afternoon, we will embrace the interval between them, when Smith is absent at Concord, to state some incidents which occurred in Lexington, and to review the scenes of the morning.

After the British left Lexington in the morning, several of their soldiers who had strayed from the main body, and probably had entered some of the houses in search of refreshments (for in the then existing state of things, every house near the Com- mon was open and in a state of confusion), were captured and delivered over to James Reed of Bur- lington, who, in his deposition, admits that five or six were entrusted to his care in the morning, and a larger number in the afternoon. These prisoners were sent the next morning to Chelmsford for safe keeping. Another prisoner, who from fatigue or other cause, was found resting by the wayside near. the Viles Tavern in Lexington, was taken soon after the main body had passed. His gun is be- lieved to be the one given to Captain Parker, and by his grandson, the late Theodore Parker, pre- sented to the Commonwealth, and is now in the senate chamber at the state house at Boston, among the relics of the Revolution, kept as me- morials of the patriotism and valor of our fathers, - an example well worthy of imitation.

The men of Lexington had declared, two years before, their trust in God to prepare them to sacri- fice property and life in the cause of the country ;

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

and they felt themselves ready to meet the exi- gency ; and their conduct on that eventful day was such as to redeem the pledge thien given. They had resisted British tyranny, and prudently refrained from the premature act of commencing hostilities, by firing before they were fired upon.

But for this prudent observance of the voice of the public, they have been accused of cowardice, of not returning the fire at all ! But as all the facts connected with the events of the day go to show that the fire was returned, that some half- dozen participants have testified that they did re- turn the fire, that Parson Clarke, Dr. Warren, Hancock, and Gordon, at that day, testified to the fact, and that it was asserted by Smith and Gage, and has had the sanction of Everett, Ban- croft, and Frothingham, and in fact has gone into history on both continents, we deem the mere asser- tion of jealous interested individuals, made half a century after the event, and totally unsustained by any proof, unworthy of any labored refutation. But then it has been said that if individuals did fire, they did it without orders. Such an assertion only shows that the privates in Captain Parker's company knew their duty - knew what the public required and what the orders of their captain im- plied; and like skirmishers in the discharge of their duty, and sentinels on their post, they were sensi- ble that they were required to act on general princi- ples, and not wait for a superior to come and give the order to fire.

On the other hand, it has been said that it was rashness in Parker to parade his handful of men in the face of such a superior force. What could he expect to accomplish ? Parker knew his duty. He was sensible that the demand of the patriots throughout the province was to assume an exemp- tion from the requirements of the late acts of par- liament; and to make this manifest whenever and wherever an opportunity presented itself. Here was an opportunity, and though attended with great danger, he knew that disinterested patriotism required the hazard. But to depreciate the impor- tance of the acts of Lexington on that trying morn- ing, it has been often repeated that the resistance, whatever it may have been, was not " organized "

resistance. Nothing can be farther from the fact. To say nothing of the public voice, the moral organi- zation, which was understood and realized in Lex- ington as fully and as sensibly as in any other town, every movement, and even each preparatory step had the sanction of the only anthority which the

people at the time acknowledged. Parker's com- pany was recruited and organized in conformity with the requirements of the Provincial Congress ; and Parker was legally chosen their commander. The troops were duly paraded, and that with the knowledge and under the eye of John Hancock, who, as chairman of the Committee of Safety, was commander-in-chief of all the military force of the province. He was near by, and knew what was going on; and he was anxious to go upon the Com- mon and take command of the minute-men, but reluctantly yielded to the remonstrance of Adams and Clarke. Surely here was organization more perfect than anything which occurred on that day. Besides, there were some half-dozen prisoners taken that morning, and delivered over to Mr. Reed, who were kept as prisoners of war. Here was military, physical, organized resistance ; and the prisoners were the first taken in the Revolution.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. II, Part 3

Author: Drake, Samuel Adams, 1833-1905 Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Boston : Estes and Lauriat Number of Pages: 650

Author: Drake, Samuel Adams, 1833-1905
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Boston : Estes and Lauriat
Number of Pages: 650