USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lexington > History of the town of Lexington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1868, Volume I > Part 16
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1 Frothingham's Siege of Boston, p. 57, and authorities there cited.
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THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON
rently reported, that the British had threatened, that Hancock and Adams should not stay at Lexington; and it was generally believed to be the object of these officers, who had passed up, to return secretly, at a late hour in the night and seize and carry them to Boston. After some consultation, it was concluded by the persons present to send three of their number, Sanderson, Brown, and Lor- ing, towards Concord to watch the British officers, and endeavor to ascertain and give information of their movements. In the borders of Lincoln, the whole three were taken prisoners by the British officers, who were paraded across the road." 1
Soon after Mr. Devens had arrived at Charlestown, he received intelligence that the British troops in Boston were in motion and were preparing to leave the town on some secret expedition. A signal had previously been agreed upon. If the British attempted an expedition by the Neck, one lantern was to be hung out from the steeple of the Old North Church, and if by water, two.2 Devens, an ardent patriot and an active member of the Committee of Safety, kept his eye upon the church; the lanterns soon conveyed the tidings that the troops were leaving Boston by crossing the river. Believing that Concord was the place of their destination, and fear- ing for the safety of his friends at Menotomy and Lexington, he immediately prepared to despatch messengers with the intelligence.
General Gage in the mean time supposed that his move- ment was unobserved, and that his expedition was known only to himself and the few officers to whom he had com- mitted the secret. Stedman, the English historian, who ac- companied Percy in this expedition, informs us that Gage sent for Percy that evening about nine o'clock, communicated to him the contemplated expedition, and congratulated himself upon his success in keeping it from the patriots. But as Percy was crossing the Common a short time after, he saw a group of citizens assembled, and mingling with them he found the subject of this expedition to Concord was freely spoken of and well understood; whereupon he hastened back to Gage's
1 Phinney's History of the Battle of Lexington.
? "The Sunday before . . . I had been to Lexington; .. . there I agreed with a Colonel Conant and some other gentlemen, that if the British went out by water, we would shew two lanthorns in the north church steeple; and if by land, one, as a signal; for we were apprehensive it would be difficult to cross the Charles River; or get over Boston neck." Colonel Revere's Letter, Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll. for 1798, 1st Series, Vol. v, p. 107. Ed.
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HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
quarters, and gave him the information.1 Mortified at the intelligence and to prevent its further spread, he immediately issued orders that no one should be permitted to leave Boston. 2
But it was too late. The intelligence had gone forth from the Old North Church with the rapidity of light; 3 and Dr. Warren had a few minutes before dispatched Paul Revere and William Dawes 4 into the country to give the informa- tion and alarm the people. A little before eleven o'clock, Revere crossed the river in his own boat, close to the Somerset man-of-war, unobserved, and landed at Charlestown, where he had an interview with Mr. Devens, who informed him that ten British officers, well armed and mounted, were upon the road. A fleet horse was obtained of Deacon Larkin, and Revere started on his perilous mission about eleven o'clock. Soon after passing Charlestown Neck, he fell in with two British officers who attempted to arrest him; but turning his horse back towards Charlestown, he gained the Medford road, and, owing to the fleetness of his horse, he escaped from his pursuers, one of whom, in attempting to cut him off, rode into a clay-pit.
Relieved from such troublesome company, Revere passed through Medford to Menotomy, alarming the people by the way, and arrived safely at Lexington, where he found Rev. Mr. Clarke's house guarded by Sergeant Munroe and eight men. This was a little past midnight; and on requesting to be admitted to Mr. Clarke's house, he was told by the sergeant that the family had just retired and had requested that they might not be disturbed by any noise about the house. "Noise!" exclaimed Revere, "you'll have noise enough be- fore long. The regulars are coming out." He was then per- mitted to pass. Hearing knocking at the door, Mr. Clarke opened a window and inquired who was there. Revere, with- out answering the question, said he wished to see Mr. Han- cock. Mr. Clarke, ever deliberate and watchful, was inti-
1 Stedman's History, Vol. I, p. 119.
2 Dr. Belknap's Journal; Proc. Mass. Hist. Soc., June, 1858. Ed.
3 Paul Revere's Signal. The True Story of the Signal Lanterns in Christ Church, Boston, pp. 5, 17, Rev. John Lee Watson, D.D. New York, 1880: Trow's Printing and Bookbinding Co. Ed.
4 "When I got to Dr. Warren's house, I found he had sent an express by land to Lexington - a Mr. William Dawes." Colonel Revere's Letter, Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll. for 1798. Ed.
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THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON
mating that he did not like to admit strangers to his house at that time of night, without knowing who they were and the character of their business, when Hancock, who had retired to rest but not to sleep, recognizing Revere's voice, cried out, "Come in, Revere, we are not afraid of you." Shortly after, Dawes, who came out through Roxbury, arrived.1 They both brought the intelligence that "a large body of troops, supposed to be a brigade of twelve or fifteen hundred men, were embarked in boats at Boston, and gone over to Lech- mere's Point in Cambridge; and it was suspected that they were ordered to seize and destroy the stores belonging to the Colony at Concord." 2
After refreshing themselves at Lexington, Revere and Dawes, not knowing the fate of the three men who had been sent up the road from Lexington, set off for Concord to alarm the people. Soon after, they were overtaken by Dr. Prescott, a young gentleman of Concord, who had been spending the evening at Lexington.3 Being an ardent Whig, Prescott entered heartily into their design, and they proceeded towards Concord, alarming the people on the road. Before reaching Brooks's Tavern at the Concord line, they were suddenly met by a party of British officers, armed and mounted, who imme- diately surrounded and captured Revere, who was in advance of his companions. Prescott, being a little in the rear,4 eluded them, and leaping a stone wall, made his escape and arrived safely in Concord, where he gave the alarm. The same officers had already taken Sanderson, Brown, and Loring of Lexing- ton, and had them then in custody. These prisoners were all subjected to a rigid examination. Presenting their pistols the officers threatened to blow out the brains of their captives if they did not give true answers to their questions. They inter- rogated the Lexington men relative to Hancock and Adams, and inquired where they could be found. They also ques- tioned Revere, who at first gave them rather evasive an-
1 The distance covered by Revere in coming to Lexington was about thirteen miles, and that covered by Dawes was about seventeen miles. See F. W. Coburn, The Battle of April 19, 1775, p. 25. Ed.
2 Revere's Narrative; William Munroe's Deposition; Clarke's Narrative; and Phinney's History.
a Paying court to the young lady whom he afterwards married. Ed.
4 "I called for the Doctor and Mr. Dawes to come up. . .. The Doctor being foremost he came up: and we tried to get past them; but they being armed with pistols and swords they forced us into the pasture; the Doctor jumped his horse over a low stone wall and got to Concord." Colonel Revere's Letter. Ed.
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HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
swers; but finding himself in their keeping and seeing no way of escape, he said to them firmly, "Gentlemen, you have missed your aim." One of the officers said, "What aim?" Revere replied, "I came out from Boston an hour after your troops left, and if I had not known that messengers had been sent out to give information to the country, and 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 them, "The bell's ringing - the town's 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 one hundred rods of the meeting-house. Then, taking Revere's horse from him and cutting the girths and bridles of the other horses, the officers rode off at full speed towards Boston. This was about three o'clock in the morning of the 19th.1
While these things were occurring on the road towards Concord, the alarm spread rapidly throughout Lexington, and the minute-men were summoned to assemble at their usual place of parade on the Common. At two o'clock on the morn- ing of the 19th, Captain John Parker caused the roll 2 of his company to be called, and ordered every man to load his gun with powder and ball. After remaining some time upon pa- rade, one of the messengers who had been sent towards Bos- ton returned and reported that he could hear nothing of the regulars, as the British troops were then generally called.
1 Sanderson's Deposition, and Revere's Narrative.
The Ride of Paul Revere has been made classic by the poem, Tales of a Wayside Inn, by Longfellow. We have heard of poetic license, but have always understood that this sort of latitude was to be confined to modes of expression and to the regions of the imagination, and should not extend to historic facts. This distinction Long- fellow has not been careful to observe. He says of Revere: -
"It was two by the village clock, When he came to the bridge in Concord town."
Now the plain truth, as stated by Revere himself, and by all other authorities, is that he did not even enter the township of Concord, or approach within several miles of Concord Bridge. When poets pervert plain matters of history, to give speed to their Pegasus, they should be restrained, as Revere was in his midnight ride.
2 "About one hundred and thirty men answered to their names, including ex- empts, armed and equipped; so Daniel Harrington, clerk of the company, stated to Parson Gordon." E. Chase, Beginnings of the American Revolution, Vol. II, p. 346. Ed.
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THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON
This created the impression that the movement of the troops at Boston was a mere feint on the part of General Gage, to call off public attention from an expedition he was about to undertake in some other direction. The night being cool, the company was dismissed, with orders to assemble again at the beat of the drum. Some who resided in the immediate neighborhood repaired to their own homes, but the greater part of them went to Buckman's Tavern, near the place of parade.1
It may aid the reader in understanding what is to follow, to give a brief description of the village and of the localities where the principal events occurred. Lexington is about twelve miles northwest of Boston, and six miles southeast of Concord. The immediate village at that time did not contain more than eight or ten houses. "The road leading from Bos- ton divides near the centre of the village in Lexington. The part leading to Concord passes to the left, and that leading to Bedford to the right of the meeting-house, and form two sides of a triangular green or common, on the south corner of which stands the meeting-house, facing directly down the road lead- ing to Boston. The road is perfectly straight for about one hundred rods below the meeting-house, and nearly level. The common is a pleasant level green, containing about two acres, surrounded by trees, having on the left a gently rising knoll, on which stands a monument of granite." 2 On the right of the meeting-house, nearly opposite, and separated from the Common by the road leading to Bedford, stood Buckman's Tavern. The house is still standing, and is owned by the Merriams.3 Its perforated clapboards are living witnesses of the attack of a ruthless foe. On the north side of the Green, in the rear of the meeting-house, at about twenty rods, were two dwelling-houses, one the house owned and occupied by Mr. James Gould, 4 and the other the old house now standing and owned by Mr. Bowen Harrington.5 These houses, with their outbuildings and one or two shops, formed the northerly boundary of the Common. North of this is a belt of low swampy ground, extending, without interruption for a con- siderable distance, from the northeast to the southwest. The present Bedford road not then having been constructed, the
1 Gordon's Letter; Phinney's History; and Depositions of 1775. 2 Phinney.
3 Stetson heirs. Ed.
' Mr. Leroy S. Brown, 8 Elm Avenue. Ed. 5 Taken down in 1875. Ed.
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HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
travel to Bedford passed by the house of the Rev. Mr. Clarke, on what is now known as Hancock Street. There were also houses on the Concord road southerly of the Common - the one where Mr. John Hudson 1 now resides, then occupied by Marrett Munroe. The accompanying diagram will show more fully the localities of the events of that day, and the house where Adams and Hancock were staying.
The apprehension felt for the safety of Hancock and Adams was increased by the report of Sanderson, Revere, and others just escaped from the British officers, who had held them as prisoners. Their inquiries where these distinguished patriots could be found left no doubt in the minds of the people of Lexington that one object of the expedition was to seize them. The friends of Adams and Hancock advised them to leave their present lodgings and repair to a place of greater safety. At first they objected. Hancock declared that "it should never be said of him that he turned his back upon the British." But they were told that their preservation was of the utmost consequence to the interest of the Colony and to the great cause of freedom; and as they were unarmed, they could do but little towards opposing the King's troops. They at last consented, though with great reluctance, to leave the scene of danger and the patriot priest whose hospitality they had shared. It was decided that they should repair to Burlington . But being unwilling to retire at once to a distant place, where they would be beyond the reach of the earliest intelligence, and having a strong desire to witness with their own senses whatever might occur, they at first retired to the hill south- east of Mr. Clarke's house, which was then covered with wood. There they remained concealed till after the British had taken up their line of march for Concord,2 when they re- paired to the house of a Mr. Reed, in the borders of Burling- ton. Here they remained a short time,3 when they were in- duced to retire further from the scene of danger; and they
1 526 Mass. Avenue. Ed.
2 Colonel Revere's Letter states: "They concluded to go from that house towards Woburn. I went with them, and a Mr. Lowell, who was clerk to Mr. Hancock. When we got to the house where they intended to stop, Mr. Lowell and myself returned to Mr. Clark's to find what was going on. . .. We went up chamber (at Buckman Tavern) . . . we saw the British very near upon full march." Ed.
3 The Diary of Rev. John Marrett (quoted in Henry Dunster and his Descend- ants, by Samuel Dunster, 1876) states that they waited at Mr. Reed's in order to send back to Mrs. Clarke's for a salmon, "the first of the season," which had been intended for their breakfast. Ed.
CATHOLIC CHURCH
FIRST CHURCHO
D. HARRINGTON
J. HARRINGTON
BEDFORD ST.
FIRST
NORMAL SCHOOL
HANCOCK CHURCH
COMMON
HANCOCK ST.
HANCOCK- CLARK HOUSE
HANCOCK SCHOOL
MARRETT MUNROE
BOULDER
SITE OF FIRST THREE CHURCHES
STATUE
-BUCKMAN TAVERN
CLARK ST.
CARY MEMORIALLA LIBRARY
MERRIAM ST.
OLD BELFRY. CLUB
MUZZEY ST.
B & M.R.R. ·STATION
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE CHURCH
FOREST ST.
WALTHAM ST.
TOWN HALL
LEXINGTON
MASSACHUSETTS AVE.
BAPTIST CHURCH
RD .
STONE CANNON
N
1
SLOCUM RD.
HIGH SCHOOL
BLOOMFIELD ST.
WOBURN ST.
TABLET . 0
MUNROE SCHOOL
PERCY RD.
MUNROE TAVERNA
MAP OF LEXINGTON CENTRE
WINTHROP
EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
EMERSON'S HOUSE
MONUMENT
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HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
were conducted to the house of Madam Jones, widow of Rev. Thomas Jones, and of Rev. Mr. Marrett, in Burlington.1
Dorothy Quincy, true to the instincts of patriotism and her attachment to Hancock, to whom she was engaged, and whom she married in September of that year, accompanied him on that perilous occasion. It was at this place, in the wood near Mr. Clarke's house, that Adams, on hearing the firing of the British troops, made that memorable exclama- tion, "What a glorious morning for America is this !" 2
While these British officers were playing their part on the road towards Concord, the British troops were on their march to their destination. Colonel Smith, at the head of about eight hundred grenadiers, infantry and marines, the flower of the British army, embarked about ten o'clock in the even- ing of April 18 in the boats of the ships-of-war. They landed at Phipps's farm in Cambridge, near where the present court- house stands,3 just as the moon was rising; and to prevent discovery took an unfrequented path across the marshes to the old road leading from Charlestown to Menotomy. This subjected them to considerable delay and inconvenience, as the path was untrodden and they were compelled in some cases to wade through water. Being on a secret expedition, their advance was noiseless. Gerry, Orne, and Lee, having been apprised of their approach, rose from their beds at Menotomy, to witness their stealthy midnight march. The front of the column passed the house without annoying any one; but as they proceeded a sergeant's guard was detached to search the house. Gerry, Orne, and Lee, considering them- selves in immediate danger, escaped, though but partly dressed, from the house to the neighboring fields, where they remained till the overflowing scourge had passed by.4 The
1 While they were there, an alarm was given that the British were upon them. Whereupon Mr. Marrett conducted them along a cartway to Mr. Amos Wyman's house, in a corner of Billerica. Marrett's Diary states that the salmon was perforce left untasted and that all Mrs. Wyman could give them was cold pork and pota- toes. Family tradition has it that in later days Hancock gave Mrs. Wyman a cow. Ed.
2 This sentence could not have been spoken at the time of the battle, since accord- ing to Revere's testimony, Adams must have been at some distance from Lexington at the time of the arrival of the British. See F. W. Coburn, The Battle of April 19, 1775, p. 31. Ed.
3 Thorndike and Second Streets, East Cambridge. Ed.
4 Smith, in his West Cambridge Address, says, "Gerry in his perturbation, being on the point of opening the front door in their faces, the landlord cried out to him, 'For God's sake, don't open that door!' and led them to the back part of the house,
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THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON
soldiers searched the house, and entered the chambers where they had been sleeping, but their intended victims had departed.1
Colonel Smith had not marched far before he found that the country was alarmed. Though General Gage had used the utmost secrecy in preparing for the expedition, and his own movements had been cautious and stealthy; though no mar- tial airs had animated his troops, and their march was silent as the grave to which many of them were hastening, he found that the news of his expedition had preceded him. The lights from the Old North Church in Boston had drawn forth a chime from the bells of the country churches, and the firing of alarm-guns in every direction showed that the faithful her- alds, sent out by the patriots, had performed their duty. If they had not prepared his way before him, they had prepared the people to give him a warm if not cordial reception. Fear- ing that the country was rising to oppose his progress, he de- tached six companies of light infantry, under the command of Major Pitcairn, with orders to press forward and secure the bridges at Concord. At the same time, Colonel Smith dis- patched a messenger to General Gage for a reinforcement. Soon after, the officers who had been sent forward the pre- ceding night returned with very exaggerated statements of the numbers of the militia which were collecting - repre- senting that there were five hundred assembled at Lexington, and that they were continually coming in from every quarter. The representation so alarmed Pitcairn that when he had arrived near Lexington Common, he halted till the grenadiers came in sight, that he might be supported in case he should be attacked by an overwhelming force.2
"The march of the British," says Phinney, "was silent and rapid. One of the messengers sent by our people to ascertain if they were coming, was surprised before he was aware of their approach, and
whence they escaped into the cornfield, before the officer had posted his guards about the doors. There was nothing to conceal them from view in the broad field but the corn-stubble which had been left the previous fall a foot or two high, and that was but little protection in the bright moonlight. Gerry stumbled and fell, and called out to his friend, 'Stop, Orne; stop for me, till I can get up; I have hurt myself!' This suggested the idea, and they all threw themselves flat on the ground, and, con- cealed by the stubble, remained there, half-clothed as they left their chamber, till the troops passed on. Colonel Lee never recovered from the effects of that midnight exposure; he died in less than a month from that night."
1 Gage's Account; and Austin's Life of Gerry, p. 169.
2 Gage's Account.
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HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
taken prisoner in Cambridge.1 They thus continued their march undiscovered, taking and detaining as prisoners every person they met with on the road, till they had arrived within a mile and a half of Lexington meeting-house. In order to secure persons travelling upon the road, they would send two soldiers at a considerable dis- tance in advance of the main body, with orders to secrete them- selves, one on each side of the road, and when any one approached, they would allow him to pass them, so as to get between them and the troops, and then rise and close upon him. In this way they had taken a number of our men, who had been sent to get information of their approach. Thaddeus Bowman, the last one sent on this business, was riding pretty rapidly down the road, and had pro- ceeded about a mile and a half, when his horse became suddenly frightened, stopped, and refused to go forward. In a moment he discovered the cause. Two British soldiers were perceived just ahead, sitting on opposite sides of the way, close to the fence. It was then daylight. While Bowman was unsuccessfully endeavoring by all the means of whip and spur to urge his horse forward, not con- ceiving of their plan to entrap him, he caught a glimpse of the main body of the British troops, then about twenty rods off. He in- stantly turned his horse and rode with all possible speed to the meeting-house, and gave Captain Parker the first certain intelli- gence of the approach of the King's troops. About the same time that Bowman discovered them, a flanking party made prisoner of Benjamin Wellington, who was within about ten rods of the main road, on his way to join the company at the meeting-house. They took his arms from him, and on his promise to return home, he was released. Wellington, however, took a cross route to the meeting- house, and reached there soon after Bowman. There was no longer any doubt that the regulars were coming." 2
It was now about half-past four in the morning. Captain Parker immediately ordered the alarm-guns to be fired and the drum to beat to arms. Sergeant William Munroe was di- rected to form the company, which he did with the utmost dispatch, in two ranks, a few rods north of the meeting-house. Fifty or sixty of the militia had formed, or rather were form- ing, while there were some thirty spectators near by, a few of whom had arms.3 But what was to be done! What could this
1 Clarke's Narrative.
2 Phinney's History.
" Sylvanus Wood's account. ""'I left my place, and went from one end of the company to the other, and counted every man who was paraded, and the whole num- ber was thirty-eight and no more.'" Ripley, A History of the Fight at Concord, 19th of April, 1775. Theodore Parker says, however: "In all seventy men appeared, were formed into platoons, and marched on to the Common." Force's Archives, 4th series, Vol. II, p. 627. This discrepancy is explained by the Deposition of Wood,
THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON BY PENDLETON THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON BY DOOLITTLE "THE DAWN OF LIBERTY " BY SANDHAM
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