USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Concord > History of the siege of Boston, and of the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill. Also an account of the Bunker Hill Monument. With illustrative documents > Part 8
USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > History of the siege of Boston, and of the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill. Also an account of the Bunker Hill Monument. With illustrative documents > Part 8
USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lexington > History of the siege of Boston, and of the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill. Also an account of the Bunker Hill Monument. With illustrative documents > Part 8
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4 This barbarous deed gave rise to the British charge, that the Americans scalped the wounded, and cut off their ears. Mr. Emerson gave Gordon an account of it at the time, with great concern for its having happened. It was the act of a young man, who killed the soldier as he was attempting to get up.
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LEXINGTON AND CONCORD.
hill on the east of the main road, while another portion returned to the high grounds, carrying with them the remains
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of the gallant Davis and Hosmer. Military order was broken, and many, who had been on duty all the morning and were
1 Lexington road.
2 Hill and high lands where the liberty pole stood.
3 Centre of the town, and main body of the British.
4 Road to the South Bridge.
5 Road to the North Bridge, and to Colonel Barrett's, two miles from the centre of the town.
6 High grounds a mile north of the meeting-house, where the militia assembled.
7 Road along which they marched to dislodge the British at North Bridge.
8 Spot where Davis and Hosmer fell.
9 Reverend Mr. Emerson's house.
10 Bridges and roads made in 1793, when the old roads, with dotted lines, were discontinued.
Arrow. Return of Captain Parsons, after the firing at the North Bridge.
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GATHERING OF THE MINUTE-MEN.
hungry and fatigued, improved the time to take refreshment., Meantime, the party under Captain Parsons - who was piloted by Ensign D'Bernicre - returned from Captain Bar- rett's house, re-passed the bridge where the skirmish took place, and saw the bodies of their companions, - one of which was mangled. It would have been easy for the provincials to have cut them off. But war had not been declared ; and it is evident that it had not been fully resolved to attack the Brit- ish troops. Hence, this party of about one hundred were allowed, unmolested, to join the main body. Colonel Smith concentrated his force, obtained conveyances for the wounded, and occupied about two hours in making preparations to return to Boston, - a delay that nearly proved fatal to the whole detachment.1
While these great events2 were occurring at Lexington and Concord, the intelligence of the hostile march of the British troops was spreading rapidly through the country ; and hun- dreds of local communities, animated by the same determined and patriotic spirit, were sending out their representatives to the battle-field. The minute-men, organized and ready for action, promptly obeyed the summons to parade. They might wait, in some instances, to receive a parting blessing from their minister, or to take leave of weeping friends ;3 but in all the
1 The time occupied by the British troops was nearly as follows : Left Boston at half-past ten, P. M., on the 18th, (British accounts,) - arrived at Lexington at half-past four, A. M., on the 19th, (Gordon,) - halted twenty minutes, (Phinney,) - arrived at Concord at seven, (Barrett's deposition, 1775, " about an hour after sunrise,") - the firing at the bridge was between nine and ten, (Brown's diary, in Adams, and deposition No. 18, 1775, " nearly ten,") - the troops left Concord at twelve, (British accounts, Clark,) - they met Percy's brigade at two, (British letters,) - arrived at Charles- town at sunset.
2 Samuel Adams heard the volley of musketry at Lexington that com- menced the war of the revolution. It was in view of the inevitable train of consequences that would result from this, that he exclaimed, "O, what a glorious morning is this ! "
3 King's Danvers Address, p. 11. In Dedham, besides the minute-men, there was a company of veterans who had been in the French wars. On the alarm reaching this town, they assembled on the green in front of the church, where Reverend William Gordon stood on the steps, and invoked the blessing of Heaven on their enterprise. "The gray-headed warriors then began their
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LEXINGTON AND CONCORD.
roads leading to Concord, they were hurrying to the scene of action. They carried the firelock that had fought the Indian, and the drum that beat at Louisburg; and they were led by men who had served under Wolfe at Quebec. As they drew near the places of bloodshed and massacre, they learned that, in both cases, the regulars had been the aggressors, - " had fired the first," - and they were deeply touched by the slaugh- ter of their brethren.1 Now the British had fairly passed the Rubicon. If any still counselled forbearance, moderation, peace, the words were thrown away. The assembling bands felt that the hour had come in which to hurl back the insult- ing charges on their courage that had been repeated for years, and to make good the solemn words of their public bodies. And they determined to attack on their return the invaders of their native soil.
Colonel Smith, about twelve o'clock, commenced his march for Boston. His left was covered by a strong flank guard that kept the height of land that borders the Lexington road, lead- ing to Merriam's Corner ; his right was protected by a brook ; the main body marched in the road. The British soon saw how thoroughly the country had been alarmed. It seemed, one of them writes, that "men had dropped from the clouds," so full were the hills and roads of the minute-men. The pro- vincials left the high grounds near the North Bridge and went across the pastures known as " the great fields," to Bedford road. Here the Reading minute-men, under Major Brooks, afterwards Governor Brooks, joined them; and a few minutes after, Colonel William Thompson, with a body of militia from Billerica and vicinity, came up. It is certain, from the diaries and petitions of this period, that minute-men from other towns also came up in season to fire upon the British while leaving Concord.
Rev. Mr. Foster, who was with the Reading company, relates the beginning of the afternoon contest in the following manner : "A little before we came to Merriam's Hill, we discovered the enemy's flank guard, of about eighty or one
march, leaving the town, almost literally, without a male inhabitant below the age of seventy and above that of sixteen." - Haven's Historical Address. ' Tay's petition.
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ATTACKS ON THE BRITISH.
hundred men, who, on their retreat from Concord, kept that height of land, the main body in the road. The British troops and the Americans, at that time, were equally distant from Merriam's Corner. About twenty rods short of that place, the Americans made a halt. The British marched down the hill, with very slow but steady step, without music, or a word being spoken that could be heard. Silence reigned on both sides. As soon as the British had gained the main road, and passed a small bridge near that corner, they faced about suddenly, and fired a volley of musketry upon us. They overshot ; and no one, to my knowledge, was injured by the fire. The fire was immediately returned by the Americans, and two British soldiers fell dead, at a little distance from each other, in the road, near the brook." 1
The battle now began in earnest, and as the British troops retreated, a severe fire was poured in upon them from every favorable position. Near Hardy's Hill, the Sudbury company, led by Captain Nathaniel Cudworth,2 attacked them, and there was a severe skirmish below the Brooks tavern, on the old road, north of the school-house. The woods lined both sides of the road which the British had to pass, and it was filled with the minute-men. "The enemy," says Mr. Foster, "was now completely between two fires, renewed and briskly kept up. They ordered out a flank guard on the left, to dislodge the Americans from their posts behind large trees, but they only became a better mark to be shot at." A short and sharp battle ensued. And for three or four miles along these woody defiles the British suffered terribly. Woburn had " turned out extraordinary ;" it sent out a force one hundred and eighty strong, " well armed and resolved in defence of the common cause." Major Loammi Baldwin, afterwards Colo- nel Baldwin, was with this body. At Tanner Brook, at Lincoln Bridge, they concluded to scatter, make use of the trees and walls as defences, and thus attack the British. And in this way they kept on pursuing and flanking them.3 In Lincoln, also, Captain Parker's brave Lexington company again appeared in the field, and did efficient service. "The
1 Ripley's History. 2 Mass. Archives. 3 Tay's Petition and Baldwin's Diary. I am indebted to George W. Baldwin, Esq., for the Ms. Diary.
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LEXINGTON AND CONCORD.
enemy," says Colonel Baldwin, "marched very fast, and left many dead and wounded, and a few tired." Eight were buried in Lincoln grave-yard. It was at this time that Captain Jonathan Wilson, of Bedford, Nathaniel Wyman, of Billerica, and Daniel Thompson, of Woburn, were killed.
In Lexington, at Fiske's Hill, an officer on a fine horse, with a drawn sword in his hand, was actively engaged in directing the troops, when a number of the pursuers, from behind a pile of rails, fired at him with effect. The officer fell, and the horse, in affright, leaped the wall, and ran tow- ards those who had fired. It was here that Lieut-col. Smith was severely wounded in the leg. At the foot of this hill, a personal contest between James Hayward, of Acton, and a British soldier took place. The Briton drew up his gun, remarking, "You are a dead man !" " And so are you!" answered Hayward. The former was killed. Hayward was mortally wounded, and died the next day.1
The British troops, when they arrived within a short dis- tance of Lexington meeting-house, again suffered severely from the close pursuit and the sharp fire of the provincials. Their ammunition began to fail, while their light companies were so fatigued as to be almost unfitted for service. The large number of wounded created confusion, and many of the troops rather ran than marched in order. For some time the officers in vain tried to restore discipline. They saw the con- fusion increase under their efforts, until, at last, they placed themselves in front, and threatened the men with death if they advanced. This desperate exertion, made under a heavy fire, partially restored order. The detachment, however, must have soon surrendered, had it not, in its extreme peril, found shelter in the hollow square of a reinforcement sent to their relief.2
' Shattuck ; Foster ; Essex Gazette ; Ripley.
2 British accounts admit that the position of Colonel Smith, when Percy joined him, was very critical. Lieut. Carter, in his letters, says : " The con- sequences must have proved far more serious, had not a brigade, under the command of Lord Percy, marched to our support." Other accounts admit that the detachment must have surrendered. These accounts err as much in making the numbers of the provincials too large, as some of the American ac- counts do in making them too small. Thus, one letter says, April 30: " It
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LORD PERCY'S MARCH.
General Gage received, early in the morning, a request from Colonel Smith for a reinforcement. About nine o'clock he detached three regiments of infantry and two divisions of marines, with two field-pieces, under Lord Percy, to support the grenadiers and light infantry. Lord Percy marched through Roxbury, to the tune of Yankee Doodle, to the great alarm of the country. To prevent or to impede his march, the selectmen of Cambridge had the planks of the Old Bridge, over which he was obliged to pass, taken up; but instead of being removed, they were piled on the causeway on the Cam- bridge side of the river. Hence, Lord Percy found no diffi- culty in replacing them so as to admit his troops to cross. But a convoy of provisions was detained until it was out of the protection of the main body. This was captured at West Cam- bridge. According to Gordon; Rev. Dr. Payson led this party. David Lamson, a half Indian, distinguished himself in the
was thought there were about six thousand at first, and at night double that number." Another letter says : "The rebels were monstrous numerous, and surrounded us on every side ; when they came up we gave them a smart fire, but they never would engage us properly." Another says : " As we came along. they got before us, and fired at us out of the houses, and killed and wounded a great number of us, but we levelled their houses as we came along." Bernicre says that Captain Laurie was attacked "by about fifteen thousand rebels," and yet "they let Captain Parsons, with his com- pany, return, and never attacked us."
The Conduct of the American War states : "Lieutenant-colonel Smith's party would have been destroyed had not Lord Percy joined him, and even he was almost too late, from two stupid blunders we committed. The general ordered the first brigade under arms at four in the morning ; these orders, the evening before, were carried to the brigade major's ; he was not at home ; the orders were left ; no inquiry was made after him ; he came home late ; his servant forgot to tell him there was a letter on his table ; four o'clock came ; no brigade appeared ; at five o'clock an express from Smith, desiring a reinforcement, produced an inquiry ; the above discovery was made ; at six o'clock part of the brigade got on the parade : there they waited, expecting the marines ; at seven, no marines appearing, another inquiry commenced ; they said they had received no orders ; it was asserted they had; in the altercation it came out that the order had been addressed to Major Pitcairn, who commanded the marines, and left at his quarters, though the gentlemen concerned in this business ought to have recollected that Pitcairn had been despatched the evening before, with the grenadiers and light infantry, under Lieut-col. Smith. This double mistake lost us from four till nine o'clock, the time we marched off to support Col. Smith." 7
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LEXINGTON AND CONCORD.
affair. Percy's brigade met the harassed and retreating troops about two o'clock, within half a mile of tlie Lexington meeting-house. "They were so much exhausted with fa- tigue," the British historian, Stedman, writes, " that they were obliged to lie down for rest on the ground, their tongues hang- ing out of their mouths, like those of dogs after a chase." The field-pieces from the high ground below Monroe's tavern played on the provincials, and for a short period there was, save the discharge of cannon, a cessation of battle. From this time, however, the troops committed the most wanton destruction. Three houses, two shops and a barn, were laid in ashes in Lexington; buildings on the route were defaced and plundered, and individuals were grossly abused.
At this time, Dr. Warren and General Heath were active in the field, directing and encouraging the militia. General Heath was one of the generals who were authorized to take the command when the minute-men should be called out. On his way to the scene of action, he ordered the militia of Cambridge to make a barricade of the planks of the bridge, take post there, and oppose the retreat of the British in that direction to Boston. At Lexington, when the minute-men were somewhat checked and scattered by Percy's field-pieces, he labored to form them into military order. Dr. Warren, about ten o'clock, rode on horseback through Charlestown. He had received by express intelligence of the events of the morning, and told the citizens of Charlestown that the news of the firing was true. Among others, he met Dr. Welsh, who said, " Well, they are gone out." "Yes," replied the Dr., "and we'll be. up with them before night."
Lord Percy had now under his command about eighteen hundred troops, of undoubted bravery and of veteran disci- pline. He evinced no disposition, however, to turn upon his assailants, and make good the insulting boasts of his associates. After a short interval of rest and refreshment, the British recommenced their retreat. Then the provincials renewed their attack. At West Cambridge the skirmishing again became sharp and bloody, and the troops increased their atroc- ities. Jason Russell, an invalid and a non-combatant, was barbarously butchered in his own house. Near the foot of
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SKIRMISH AT WEST CAMBRIDGE.
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the rocks a mother was killed nursing her child. Others were driven from their dwellings, and their dwellings were pilfered. Here the Danvers company, who marched in advance of the Essex regiment, met the enemy. Some took post in a walled enclosure, and made a breastwork of bundles of shingles ; others planted themselves behind trees on the side of the hill west of the meeting-house. The British came along in solid column on their right, while a large flank guard came up on their left. The Danvers men were surrounded, and many were killed and wounded.' Here Samuel Whittemore was shot and bayoneted, and left for dead. Here Dr. Eliphalet Downer, in single combat with a soldier, killed him with a bayonet. Here a musket ball struck a pin out of the hair of Dr. Warren's earlock." The wanton destruction of life and property that marked the course of the invaders, added re- venge to the natural bravery of the minute-men. "Indigna- tion and outraged humanity struggled on the one hand; vete- ran discipline and desperation on the other."3 The British had many struck in West Cambridge, and left an officer wounded in the house still standing at the railroad depot.4
1 Address of Hon. D. P. King. 2 Heath's Memoirs. 3 Hon. Edward Everett.
4 Dr. Eliot remarks of Dr. Warren, - " At the battle of Lexington he was, perhaps, the most active man in the field. His soul beat to arms, as soon as he learnt the intention of the British troops." He said to the last person with whom he conversed in Boston, near the ferry, just as he was about crossing, in reply to a question about the political aspect : " Keep up a brave heart. They have begun it -that either party could do ; and we'll end it - that only one can do." A poem was printed in Boston, 1781, by John Boyle, entitled, " An Eulogium on Major-general Joseph Warren, by a Columbian." After describing the march of the troops to Concord, the alarm, the retreat, and the rescue by Lord Percy, the author thus describes the feats on the " Plain," at West Cambridge :
" Again the conflict glows with rage severe, And fearless ranks in combat mixt appear. Victory uncertain ! fierce contention reigns, And purple rivers drench the slippery plains. Column to column, host to host oppose, And rush impetuous on their adverse foes, When lo ! the hero Warren from afar Sought for the battle, and the field of war.
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LEXINGTON AND CONCORD.
The British troops took the road that winds round Prospect Hill. When they entered this part of Charlestown their situa- tion was critical. The large number of the wounded proved a distressing obstruction to their progress, while they had but few rounds of ammunition left. Their field-pieces had lost their terror. The main body of the provincials hung closely on their rear; a strong force was advancing upon them from Roxbury, Dorchester, and Milton; while Colonel Pickering, with the Essex nilitia, seven hundred strong, threatened to cut off their retreat to Charlestown.1 Near Prospect Hill the fire again became sharp, and the British again had recourse to their field-pieces. James Miller, of Charlestown, was killed here. Along its base, Lord Percy, it is stated, received the hottest fire he had during his retreat. General Gage, about sunset, might have beheld his harassed troops, almost on the run, coming down the old Cambridge road to Charlestown Neck. anxious to get under the protection of the guns of
From rank to rank the daring warrior flies, And bids the thunder of the battle rise. Sudden arrangements of his troops are made, And sudden movements round the plain displayed. Columbia's Genius in her polished shield Gleams bright, and dreadful o'er the hostile field ! Her ardent troops, enraptured with the sight, With shock resistless force the dubious fight. Britons, astonished, tremble at the sight, And, all confused, precipitate their flight.
1 Dr. Welsh, who was on Prospect Hill when the British went by, saw Colonel Pickering's regiment on the top of Winter Hill, near the front of Mr. Adams' house, the enemy being very near in Charlestown road. Washington writes, May 31, 1775 : " If the retreat had not been as precipitate as it was, - and God knows it could not well have been more so, - the ministerial troops must have surrendered, or been totally cut off. For they had not arrived in Charlestown, (under cover of their ships,) half an hour, before a powerful body of men from Marblehead and Salem was at their heels, and must, if they had happened to be up one hour sooner, inevitably have intercepted their retreat to Charlestown." - Sparks' Washington, vol. II., p. 407.
Dr. Welsh says that cannon fired occasionally. The troops kept up a steady fire. A Ms. letter of Mr. W. B. Shedd states that in a house now in Somerville, at the foot of Prospect Hill, a regular was found, on the return of the inmates, laying across the draw of a secretary, dcad, having been shot through the window as he was pilfering.
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EVENTS IN CHARLESTOWN.
the ships of war. The minute-men closely followed them, but when they reached the Charlestown Common, General Heath ordered them to stop the pursuit.
Charlestown, throughout the day, presented a scene of in- tense excitement and great confusion. It was known early in the morning that the regulars were out. Rumors soon arrived of the events that had occurred at Lexington. The schools were dismissed, and citizens gathered in groups in the streets.1 After Dr. Warren rode through the town, and gave the cer- tain intelligence of the slaughter at Lexington, a large number went out to the field, and the greater part who remained were women and children. Hon. James Russell received, in the afternoon, a note from General Gage, to the effect, that he had been informed that citizens had gone out armed to oppose his majesty's troops, and that if a single man more went out armed, the most disagreeable consequences might be expected. It was next reported, and correctly, that Cambridge Bridge had been taken up, and that hence the regulars would be obliged to return to Boston through the town. Many then prepared to leave, and every vehicle was employed to carry away their most valuable effects. Others, however, still believing the troops would return the way they went out, determined to remain, and in either event to abide the worst. Just before sunset the noise of distant firing was heard, and soon the British troops were seen in the Cambridge road. The inhabitants then rushed towards the Neck. Some crossed Mystic River, at Penny Ferry. Some ran along the marsh, towards Medford_ 'The troops, however, soon approached the town, firing as they came along. A lad, Edward Barber, was killed on the Neck. The inhabitants then turned back into the town, panic-struck. Word ran through the crowd that
1 The late Dr. Prince, of Salem, used to relate, that as he was standing with a party of armed men at Charlestown Neck, a person enveloped in a cloak rode up on horseback, inquired the news, and passed on ; but he imme- diately put spur to his horse, and.the animal started forward so suddenly as to cause the rider to raise his arms, throw up the cloak, and thus reveal a uniform. The men instantly levelled their guns to fire, when Dr. Prince struck them up, exclaiming, "Don't fire at him - he is my friend Small, a fine fellow." It was Major Small, an express from the army, who got safe into Boston.
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LEXINGTON AND CONCORD.
" The Britons were massacring the women and children !" Some remained in the streets, speechless with terror ; some ran to the clay-pits, back of Brecd's Hill, where they passed the night. The troops, however, offered no injury to the inhab- itants. Their officers directed the women and children, half- distracted with fright, to go into their houses, and they would be safe, but requested them to hand out drink to the troops. The main body occupied Bunker Hill, and formed a line opposite the Neck. Additional troops also were sent over from Boston. The officers flocked to the tavern in the square, where the cry was for drink. Guards were stationed in vari- ous parts of the town. One was placed at the Neck, with orders to permit no one to go out. Everything, during the night, was quiet.1 Some of the wounded were carried over immediately, in the boats of the Somerset,2 to Boston. Gell- eral Pigot had the command in Charlestown the next day, when the troops all returned to their quarters.
The Americans lost forty-nine killed, thirty-nine wounded, and five missing.3 A committee of the Provincial Congress
1 Of the notices of the arrival of the troops in Charlestown, I select the following. The Salem Gazette, April 25, says : The consternation of the people of Charlestown, when our enemies were entering the town, is inex- pressible ; the troops, however, behaved tolerably civil, and the people have since nearly all left the town. Stiles, in his diary, April 24, 1775, writes : " In the afternoon of the same day, by order of General Gage, a proclama- tion was read to the inhabitants of Charlestown, purporting that he would lay that town in ashes if they obstructed the king's troops." Clark says : The firing continued, " with but little intermission, to the close of the day, when the troops entered Charlestown, where the provincials could not follow them, without exposing the worthy inhabitants of that truly patriotic town to their rage and revenge." Jacob Rogers' petition gives a minute detail of the town during the evening.
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