USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lexington > History of the town of Lexington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1868, Volume I > Part 20
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2 See Paul Revere's own written narrative. (Colonel Revere's Letter, Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll. for 1798), as follows: -
"The Saturday night preceding the 19th of April, about twelve o'clock at night, the boats belonging to the transports were all launched, and carried under the sterns of the men-of-war. (They had been previously hauled up and repaired.) We likewise found that the grenadiers and light infantry were all taken off duty.
"From these movements we expected something serious was to be transacted. On Tuesday evening, the 18th, it was observed that a number of soldiers were marching towards the bottom of the Common. About ten o'clock, Dr. Warren sent in great haste for me, and begged that I would immediately set off for Lexington, where Messrs. Hancock and Adams were, and acquaint them of the movement, and that it was thought they were the objects. When I got to Dr. War- ren's house, I found he had sent an express by land to Lexington, - a Mr. William Dawes. The Sunday before, by desire of Dr. Warren, I had been to Lexington, to Messrs. Hancock and Adams, who were at the Rev. Mr. Clark's. I returned at night through Charlestown; there I agreed with a Colonel Conant and some other gentlemen, that if the British went out by water, we would show 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. I left Dr. Warren, called upon a friend, and desired him to make the signals. I then went home, took my boots and surtout, went to the north part of the town, where I kept a boat; two friends rowed me across Charles River a little to the eastward where the Somerset man-of-war lay. It was then young flood, the ship was winding, and the moon was rising.
"They landed me on the Charlestown side. When I got into town, I met Colonel Conant and several others; they said they had seen our signals. I told them what was acting, and went to get me a horse; I got a horse of Deacon Larkin. While the horse was preparing, Richard Devens, Esq., who was one of the Committee of Safety, came to me, and told me that he came down the road from Lexington, after sundown, that evening; that he met ten British officers, all well mounted and armed, going up the road.
"I set off upon a very good horse; it was then about eleven o'clock, and very pleasant. After I
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vided by the change of commanders which took place in Lex- ington, we will, like the fugitives of Smith's command, rest for a short time, and commence our next chapter with the flight of Lord Percy.
had passed Charlestown Neck, and got nearly opposite where Mark was hung in chains, I saw two men on horseback under a tree. When I got near them, I discovered they were British offi- cers. One tried to get ahead of me, and the other to take me. I turned my horse very quick and galloped towards Charlestown Neck, and then pushed for the Medford road. The one who chased me, endeavoring to cut me off, got into a clay pond, near where the new tavern is now built. I got clear of him, and went through Medford, over the bridge, and up to Menotomy. In Medford, I awakened the Captain of the Minute Men; and after that, I alarmed almost every house, till I got to Lexington.
"I found Messrs. Hancock and Adams at the Rev. Mr. Clark's; I told them my errand, and enquired for Mr. Dawes; they said he had not been there; I related the story of the two officers, and supposed that he must have been stopped, as he ought to have been there before me. After I had been there about half an hour, Mr. Dawes came; we refreshed ourselves, and set off for Con- cord, to secure the stores, etc., there. We were overtaken by a young Dr. Prescott, whom we found to be a high Son of Liberty. I told them of the ten officers that Mr. Devens met, and that it was probable we might be stopped before we got to Concord; for I supposed that after night they divided themselves, and that two of them had fixed themselves in such passages as were most likely to stop any intelligence going to Concord. I likewise mentioned that we had better alarm all the inhabitants till we got to Concord; the young Doctor much approved of it, and said he would stop with either of us, for the people between that and Concord knew him, and would give the more credit to what we said. We had got nearly half way; Mr. Dawes and the Doctor stopped to alarm the people of a house; I was about one hundred rods ahead, when I saw two men, in nearly the same situations as those officers were, near Charlestown. I called for the Doctor and Mr. Dawes to come up; in an instant I was surrounded by four; - they had placed themselves in a straight road, that inclined each way; they had taken down a pair of bars on the north side of the road, and two of them were under a tree in the pasture. 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. I observed a wood at a small distance, and made for that. When I got there, out started six offi- cers, on horseback, and ordered me to dismount; - one of them, who appeared to have the com- mand, examined me, where I came from, and what my name was? I told him. He asked me if I was an express? I answered in the affirmative. He demanded what time I left Boston? I told him: and added, that their troops had catched aground in passing the river, and that there would be five hundred Americans there in a short time, for I had alarmed the country all the way up. He immediately rode towards those who stopped us, when all five of them came down upon a full gallop; one of them, whom I afterwards found to be a Major Mitchell of the 5th Regiment, clapped his pistol to my head, called me by name, and said he was going to ask me some ques- tions, and if I did not give him true answers he would blow my brains out. He then asked me similar questions to those above. He then ordered me to mount my horse after searching me for arms. He then ordered them to advance and to lead me in front. When we got to the road, they turned down toward Lexington, and when we had got about one mile, the Major rode up to the officer that was leading me and told him to give me to the Sergeant. As soon as he told me, the Major ordered him, if I attempted to run, or anybody insulted them, to blow my brains out. We rode till we got near Lexington meeting-house, when the militia fired a volley of guns, which appeared to alarm them very much. The Major inquired of me how far it was to Cambridge, and if there were any other road. After some consultation, the Major rode up to the Sergeant, and asked if his horse was tired. He answered him he was - he was a Sergeant of Grenadiers, and had a small horse - then take that man's horse. I dismounted and the Sergeant mounted my horse, when they all rode toward Lexington meeting-house. I went across the burying-ground and some pastures, and came to the Rev. Mr. Clark's house, where I found Messrs. Hancock and Adams. I told them of my treatment, and they concluded to go from that house towards Wo- burn. I went with them, and a Mr. Lowell, who was a 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. When we got there an elderly man came in; he said he had just come from the tavern, that a man had come from Boston, who said there were no British troops coming. Mr. Lowell and myself went towards the tavern, when we met a man on a full gallop, who told us the troops were coming up the rocks. We afterwards met another, who said they were close by. Mr. Lowell asked me to go to the tavern with him, to get a trunk of papers belonging to Mr. Hancock. We went up chamber, and while we were getting the trunk, we saw the British very near, upon a full march. We hurried towards Mr. Clark's house. In our way, we passed through the militia. There were about fifty. When we had got about one hundred yards from the meeting-house, the British troops appeared on both sides of the meeting-house. In their front was an officer on horse- back. They made a halt; when I saw and heard a gun fired, which appeared to be a pistol. Then I could distinguish two guns, and then a continual roar of musketry: when we made off with the trunk." Ed.
EARL PERCY
MAJOR PITCAIRN
CHAPTER VII
THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON (continued)
Percy commences his Retreat - Heath and Warren join the Provincials - The Militia gather at West Cambridge - The Danvers Company - The Zeal and Bravery of Warren - The, Barbarities of the British - Aspinwall's Account - Retreat becomes a Rout - British take Shelter in Charlestown - The Fatigue and Exhaustion of their Troops - The British Loss - The Provincial Loss - The Effect of this Day's Events upon the Public Mind - The Nine- teenth of April celebrated - Lexington Monument - The Relative Claims of Lexington, Concord, and Other Towns to the Honors of the Nineteenth of April, 1775.
PERCY, as senior officer, assumed the command. He had now under him a force of about eighteen hundred well- disciplined troops and two pieces of artillery - a force four times as large as that of the Americans.1 But still he mani- fested no disposition to attack the rebels, as he denominated them, or to drive back the undisciplined citizens who hung upon his rear and flanked him at every convenient point. Though he left Boston in the morning with as stout a heart as that of his namesake of Northumberland, immortalized in the ballad of Chevy-Chase, and though his force was superior to that of his prototype, he had no disposition to "spend his dearest blood" in a contest with the rebels; but took warning by the fate of his predecessor, and, giving over his hunt in the woods of old Middlesex, made the best of his way to his headquarters at Boston.
After the weary fugitives of Smith's command were rested and refreshed, Percy commenced his retreat. His field-pieces, which at first kept the Provincials at a distance, soon lost their terror; and the same undisciplined force which had proved such a scourge to Smith and Pitcairn, hung upon his rear, and assailed him on his right and left from the trees, rocks, and fences, and rendered his movement rather a flight than a retreat. Some of the Americans who had pursued the British from Concord, gave over the chase from time to time
1 In view of the fact that men from all over eastern Massachusetts were pouring in to join the fight, and that each took such part as he might choose, regardless of leaders or commands, it is difficult to form any estimate whatever of the actual number of Provincials who were engaged in the day's fighting. Ed.
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on the route; and at Lexington, after seeing that Smith was supported by a thousand fresh troops and two pieces of artil- lery, and deeming a further pursuit unavailing, others re- turned to their homes. The larger portion, however, remained, and being joined by others united in the pursuit.
It was nearly three o'clock when Percy commenced his retreat. Up to this time there had been no general officer who assumed command of the Americans. General Heath, who had been appointed by the Provincial Congress one of the general officers, to command the militia and the minute-men in case they were called out, had an interview with the Com- mittee of Safety that morning: after which he repaired to Watertown, where he collected a small body of the militia, which he ordered to move to Cambridge, to take up the planks and make a barricade of them at the Great Bridge, so as to intercept the British if they attempted to return to Boston by way of Roxbury and the Neck. Having given this order, Heath, accompanied by Dr. Warren, passed by a cross- road to the scene of action, and arrived at Lexington just before Percy took up his line of march, or rather commenced his flight. Heath collected the scattered Provincials, and put- ting them in as good order as the nature of the case would permit, pressed closely upon Percy's rear. For the first two miles nothing of special moment occurred; but on descending from the high lands, at the "foot of the rocks" upon the plain in West Cambridge,1 the fire became brisk. The topography of the country, the locality of the population in other towns, and the direction of the roads would naturally bring together a considerable accession to the Provincial force at this point. Not only from Cambridge, but from Roxbury, Dorchester, Brookline, Needham, Watertown, and Dedham, on the one hand, did the militia and minute-men rally and move to West Cambridge; but they came in freely from Medford, Charles- town, and Lynn, on the other. Thus strengthened, the Americans made a more formidable resistance here than at any point below Lexington. Here, too, the youthful Foster brought up his gallant company of minute-men from Danvers, which marched in advance of the Essex regiment, and arrived, after a rapid march of sixteen miles in four hours, in time to
1 Now Arlington. "Foot of the Rocks" is a very ancient term and designates a break in the rim of that Boston Basin which, in comparatively recent geological times, was completely submerged. Ed.
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meet the common enemy. The company consisted of one hundred men, and had about ten days before elected Gideon Foster, a brave and ardent young man of twenty-six years of age, their captain.1 Arriving at West Cambridge, and being, as he says, "unused to the artifices of war," he posted a part of his men near the road to intercept the main body of the British. They took post in a walled enclosure, and made a breastwork of bundles of shingles; others placed themselves behind trees on the side of the hill west of the meeting-house, where they awaited the arrival of the King's troops. But while the main body of the British came down the road, they had thrown forward a large guard, which had flanked and come up in rear of the Danvers men, who found themselves between two fires. In this critical situation they suffered severely - having seven killed and several wounded.
This accumulation of fresh troops in front of the retreating regulars, together with the force which hung upon their rear, made their position uncomfortable, and induced them to assume a more warlike attitude than they had done before. They drew up their men temporarily in order of battle, and in a few instances had recourse to their field-pieces. But this more formal array on their part was met by a more perfect organization on the part of the Provincials. General Heath assumed control, and as far as practicable reduced the dis- cordant elements to order; and the ardent and intrepid Warren, by word and deed, and by active effort in places of the greatest danger, rallied and inspired the men. As at Bunker Hill in June following, so here, he seemed to rise with the occasion, and take new courage as obstacles presented and as dangers pressed. He was seen everywhere, animating the men and directing their movement.2 But the British
1 Foster's Address at the laying of the corner-stone of the Danvers Monument, in memory of the members of his company who fell at West Cambridge. He says: "On that morning [April 19, 1775] more than one hundred of my townsmen has- tened to the field of battle, unused to the artifices of war; but their hearts were glow- ing with zeal in their country's cause, and they were ready to offer their lives on the altar of their liberties." - "I was then twenty-six years of age. About ten days be- fore, I had been chosen to command a company of minute-men, who were at all times to be in readiness at a moment's warning. They were so ready. They all went, and in about four hours from the time of meeting, they travelled on foot, half of the way upon the run, sixteen miles and saluted the enemy." King's Address, and Frothingham's Siege of Boston.
2 The conduct of Warren on this occasion was a subject of general commendation and probably secured to him the appointment of major-general, which he soon after-
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were too anxious to gain the cover of their ships and the Pro- vincials were too ardent in their pursuit to admit of anything like a formal battle.
But there was brisk skirmishing; and bold attacks of small bands and instances of individual courage occurred at differ- ent points. Here General Warren had his temple grazed by a musket ball, which carried away a pin from his earlock.1 Here Samuel Whittemore 2 was shot, bayoneted, and left for dead. Here Dr. Eliphalet Downer, in a single combat with a British soldier, killed him with his bayonet.3
Up to the time of the arrival of Percy with his reinforce- ment, the British troops had, in the main, abstained from pillage, and had confined themselves mostly to the destruc- tion of military stores. But we have already seen that before leaving Lexington they commenced a system, not merely of plunder but of barbarity - wantonly destroying private prop- erty and butchering the aged and defenceless. If this was not actually ordered, it was permitted by Percy. And this policy, commenced at Lexington, was continued through the remainder of the day. At West Cambridge their course was marked by pillage and by a wanton destruction of private property. Nor was their barbarity confined to the destruc- tion of property. They attacked and ruthlessly butchered the old and infirm, the weak and defenceless. Even women and children were the subjects of their brutal rage. Furniture was destroyed, houses were set on fire, women and children driven from their homes, and peaceable citizens murdered and mangled in cold blood. Jason Russell, an invalid and non-combatant, was cruelly murdered in his own house. Jabez Wyman and Jason Winship, two aged citizens, un- armed, who came to Cooper's Tavern simply to inquire the
wards received. In a poem, published in Boston, 1781, Warren's conduct at West Cambridge is thus described: -
"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 Heath's Memoirs, pp. 12-14.
2 A tablet marks the spot. He lived to be 98. Ed.
3 Siege of Boston, p. 79.
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news, "were most barbarously and inhumanly murdered by the British, being stabbed through in many places, their heads mauled, skulls broken, and their brains dashed out on the floors and walls of the house."1 The house of Deacon Joseph Adams was rudely entered, his sick wife driven from her bed, and her young children exposed to the flames of their burning dwelling. We give these facts in the language of Mrs. Adams: --
"Divers of the King's troops entered our house by bursting open the door, and three of the soldiers broke into the room in which I was confined to my bed, being scarcely able to walk from the bed to the fire, not having been to my chamber door from being delivered in child-bed to that time. One of the soldiers immediately opened my curtain with his bayonet fixed, pointing the same at my breast. I immediately cried out, 'For the Lord's sake, do not kill me'; he replied, 'Damn you.' One that stood near said, 'We will not hurt the woman, if she will go out of the house, but we will surely burn it.' I immediately arose, threw a blanket over me, and crawled into a corn-house near the door, with my infant in my arms, where I remained until they were gone. They immediately set the house on fire, in which I had left five children; but the fire was happily extin- guished, when the house was in the utmost danger of being utterly consumed." 2
Before setting fire to the house, they robbed it of all the valuables which they could carry away- not sparing the communion service of the church, which was kept by Deacon Adams. Various houses were entered and similar outrages committed.3 These enormities tended to exasperate the Amer- icans and make them more zealous in the pursuit. "Indigna- tion and outraged humanity struggled on the one hand; veteran discipline and desperation on the other." 4
The loss to the Americans and to the British within the limits of West Cambridge was considerable. One British officer was left wounded at a house near the present railroad station. Approaching night and the constant accessions to the Provincials admonished Percy to hasten his retreat.
The British took the road which winds round Prospect
1 Deposition of Benjamin and Rachel Cooper, taken May 10, 1775, while the facts were fully known.
2 Hannah Adams's Deposition, May 16, 1775.
3 The amount of property stolen and destroyed in West Cambridge was estimated at £1202 8s. 7d.
4 Everett's Address.
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Hill.1 When they entered this part of Charlestown their situ- ation became nearly as critical as was Smith's when he ar- rived at Lexington and took shelter under the protection of Percy's brigade.
"The large number of wounded," says Frothingham, "proved a distressing obstruction to their progress, while they had but a 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 militia, seven hundred strong, threatened to cut off their retreat to Charlestown.2 Near Prospect Hill the fire again became sharp, and the British again had recourse to their field-pieces. James Miller, of Charles- town, was killed here. Along its base Lord Percy, it is stated, re- ceived 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 the ships-of-war.
1 Colonel Aspinwall, of Brookline, has kindly furnished the following incidents which he has heard from those who were actors in the scene: -
"On the 19th of April, 1775, the militia of Brookline marched towards Lexington across the fields as a crow flies. My father, Dr. William Aspinwall, and my maternal grandfather, Isaac Gardner, one of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace, went with the rest. Red was in those days a common color for coats, and appearing at the rendezvous, Dr. Aspinwall had on a coat of that color, but being told that he might be shot for an enemy by his own friends, he thought it best to put on another of a different hue. When the Brookline men reached West Cambridge, the British troops were resting at Lexington, and they endeavored to get within musket range of the British pickets, at least to see them when they came. An irregular fire took place; but when the Brit- ish began to move towards Boston, the militia scattered, some to a distance, and others to various covers to harass the retreating enemy.
"Mr. Gardner with a few others posted themselves behind some casks near Watson's Corner. While they were intently watching the approaching column, the British flank guard came upon their rear, and shot and bayoneted the whole party. Mr. Gardner was pierced by balls and bayo- nets in twelve places.
"Dr. Aspinwall, in the mean time, had regained the college road, where he found a detachment of six or seven score of men under Captain Gridly, drawn up in line across the road. He suggested to the captain that the enemy would not take the college road, but go directly towards Charles- town as the shortest course; and if they did come down the road, his company could not stop them. Finding, however, that his remonstrances were unheeded, the doctor mounted the wall just as the head of the British column crossed the northern extremity of the road, and crying out, "There they go! Now, boys, whoever wants to do any good, follow me,' pushed on with about half the detachment and a number of his Brookline neighbors, and getting within musket shot, he continued to fire with deliberate aim as fast as he could load. In reloading, however, he found it best to shelter himself behind a tree or whatever protection he could find, against the fire of his own party in the rear. On one of the momentary halts, his neighbor, Ebenezer Davis, passing him, pointing out the body of a British soldier, cried out, 'Doctor, that man's arms are yours, for you brought him down.' But the doctor thought himself better employed in endeavoring to get another shot as quick as possible.
"After the pursuit was ended, he learned the fate of Mr. Gardner, sought out the body, and had it conveyed home to his bereaved widow and her eight young children."
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