USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lexington > History of the town of Lexington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1868, Volume I > Part 23
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merits of the soldier, others, with reasons satisfactory to themselves, may think that it adds to the worth of the man.
The bravery and self-devotion of Captain Davis and his gallant Acton company warmly commend themselves to every true and noble heart. But at the same time it is but just to say that his command was better situated than were the companies of Concord for bold and efficient action in the field. The wives and children of the former were remote from the scene of action, and could be best defended by meeting and repulsing the enemy there and then. But an attack and even a repulse of the enemy at the North Bridge might, to the citizens of Concord, be but the prelude to the firing of their dwellings and the destruction of their families. The honors of the 19th of April are too great to be engrossed by any one individual or to be monopolized by a single town. As the cause was one, so are the honors to be distributed among all who acted together that day. When Concord talks of her old North Bridge, she should remember that the spot is conse- crated by the blood of Davis and Hosmer shed under the guidance of Barrett and Buttrick; and when Arlington points to the field where patriots struggled and where heroes fell, she must remember that the victims of Danvers were offered upon her altar. And if Lexington in the twilight of the morning was doomed to "tread the wine-press alone," it was only because the attack was so sudden that others could not arrive to share the glories with her. Concord, Lincoln, Lexington, Cam- bridge, and Charlestown- towns through which the British passed that day- must be content to divide their honors with Acton, Stow, Sudbury, Framingham, Billerica, Chelms- ford, Bedford, Reading, Woburn, Medford, Watertown, Dedham, Roxbury, Needham, Brookline, Newton, Beverly, Salem, Danvers, Lynn, and even with other towns, whose gallant minute-men promptly rushed toward the scene of action, and were prevented only by distance from sharing in the dangers of the day.
The events of the 19th of April are far too momentous to be confined to a township, limited to a colony, or circumscribed by a continent. They are an important link in a vast chain of causes whose effects have been and are still being felt in the remotest part of the civilized world. They grew out of a sys- tem of oppression, and were but the natural upheaving of the
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human breast in its sighs for freedom. They were the begin- ning of a revolution founded in human nature; and the work they commenced must go on. Kings may denounce and courts may condemn it; but the cause itself must prosper. Liberty will rise and reign when thrones shall have crumbled to dust.
CHAPTER VIII
EFFECTS OF THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON
The Idea of Independence of Slow Growth - Was entertained by the Leading Statesmen in 1774 - The Movement at Lexington and Concord in Obedience to the Policy of the Committee of Safety - Its Effect upon the Colonies - Intelli- gence sent to Great Britain - Its Effects there.
WE have seen the gradual developments of the oppressive policy of Great Britain which led to the American Revolu- tion, and the measures adopted by the Colonies to resist those usurpations. We recur to this subject only for the purpose of inquiring into the intent of the Colonies in their opposition, and whether they actually aimed at independence. Every one proficient in the philosophy of the human mind and every attentive reader of history will readily admit that a fixed and permanent public opinion is of slow growth; and when this sentiment is directly repugnant to the sentiment which has before prevailed, it frequently has its origin in some startling event or crying evil. And however great the evil may be, the first effort generally is not to eradicate but to reform it, re- garding it only as an abuse of something intrinsically valua- ble. But to oppose the evil with success, to awaken the public to its enormity, the strongest ground is taken in opposition; and principles are laid down, which, when fully carried out, will not only reform the abuse, but eradicate the thing abused.
This principle may be seen in the controversy between the Colonies and the mother country. Our patriot fathers had in the first instance no idea of a separation from the British Empire. They had established governments here which were comparatively free, and while the royal governors and officers appointed by the Crown conformed substantially to their wishes, the colonists were perfectly content to remain sub- ject to Great Britain. Absolute independence was not at first aspired to or hardly dreamed of. But when Great Britain boldly asserted the right of Parliament to legislate for the Colonies "in all cases whatsoever," and this right was firmly denied by the colonists, an issue was made which, if carried to a final decision, must end in the utter subjugation or the abso-
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lute independence of the Colonies. This must have been seen by the intelligent men on both sides; but mutually hoping and believing that the other would yield something, they both flattered themselves that the controversy would be set- tled without being carried to extremes.
The absolute independence of the Colonies was undoubt- edly an idea of slow growth, especially in some minds. The proverbial loyalty of Britons, their attachment to British institutions, contributed to drive from their minds the thought of an entire separation from the parent country, and led them to appeal to the justice and humanity of Great Bri- tain. But when their repeated petitions were answered only by repeated injuries, they began to balance in their minds the painful and uncertain struggle of a revolution and the dis- graceful submission to unconstitutional and arbitrary exac- tions. That men of different temperaments should come to different conclusions was to be expected; and that those who saw that resistance must come should differ as to the time and manner of making the demonstration is much more nat- ural.
But in this they were all agreed - that persuasion and sup- plication should first be tried, and that resistance to the laws should not be resorted to till all milder means had failed. Before the breaking-out of hostilities, the intelligent men of the country must have seen whither things were tending, that a collision of arms was inevitable, and that a war once begun must end in our independence or subjugation.
The master minds in Massachusetts, from their intimate acquaintance with public affairs, must have perceived, after the action of Parliament, in May, 1774, that a reconciliation was out of the question. The Regulating Act, as it was gener- ally denominated, and the "Act for the more impartial ad- ministration of justice in the Province," virtually repealed the Charter of Massachusetts, and established a despotism. Connected as they were with the shutting-up of the Port of Boston and the military possession of the town, they pre- sented the alternative of submitting to unlawful and oppress- ive measures or defending their rights at the point of the bayonet. The stern principles of the Puritans, developed, tried, and purified as they had been by ten years' contro- versy with the British Ministry in defence of what they held most dear, led them at once to decide this question. Uncondi-
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tional submission was not to be tolerated and resistance be- came a mere question of manner and of time.
Samuel Adams and Joseph Hawley, the controlling minds in eastern and western Massachusetts, foresaw the result, and employed all their powers to prepare the people for the crisis. Their zeal, however, was strictly according to knowledge. Being sensible that Massachusetts could not contend single- handed and alone with the gigantic power of Great Britain, their great object was to enlist the other Colonies in the cause. Knowing that any hasty or premature step on the part of this Colony might repel their distant brethren who felt less keenly the iron heel of oppression, they counselled moderation and forbearance; but at the same time they la- bored to the utmost to put the Colony in the best state of defence, that it might be prepared for the crisis which they foresaw was approaching.
Some persons appear to have regarded the events of April 19, 1775, as merely accidental, producing an open rupture which a little prudence might have avoided; and to have sup- posed that up to that time the controversy might have been settled, as our fathers had not aspired to independence. Our own distinguished historian seems to be of this opinion. Speaking of the people as late as May, 1774, he says, "They were rushing towards revolution, and they knew it not." 1 Again, speaking of the Suffolk Convention of that day, he says, "Thus far, they had not discovered that independence was really the desire of their own hearts." 2 Such ignorance of the real state of affairs at that period might perhaps be ascribed to some men in the community; but could not with any propriety be attributed to Samuel Adams and Dr. War- ren - the very men who got up and guided that convention. As evidence that the people of the Colonies did not aspire to independence as late as October, 1774, our historian reverts to the fact that the Continental Congress, in their Address to the King, say, "We ask but for peace, liberty, and safety. Your royal authority over us, and our connection with Great Britain, we shall always support and maintain." He then
1 Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. VII, p. 22.
2 Ibid., p. 36. Mr. Bancroft seems to delight in surprising his readers by the sudden transition from one extreme to the other; and while in this way he is able to produce a striking stage effect, we are satisfied that the writer who follows nature and events just as they are developed, is a safer guide, though his page may be less dramatic. Lightning from a clear sky is a rare phenomenon.
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adds, "But the best evidence of their sincerity is found in the measure (non-importation) which they recommended. Had independence been their object, they would have strained every nerve to increase their exports, and fill the country in return with manufactures and munitions which they re- quired." 1
We admit that the Congress, in true diplomatic style, speak of their attachment to the person of the King and devotion to the parent country; but this was in an address in which they recount all their grievances, which they declare to be "too severe to be any longer tolerable," and which they entreat the Crown to remove. Nor can we see any evidence that they did not desire independence in their recommendation of non- intercourse, because a free importation, such as is suggested, would subject them to those very impost duties which were the primary cause of their dissatisfaction. Nor was this ad- dress to the King adopted until after they had resolved "That this Congress approve of the opposition of the inhabit- ants of Massachusetts-Bay to the execution of the late Acts of Parliament; and if the same shall be attempted to be car- ried into execution by force, in such a case, all America ought to support them in their opposition."
The same Congress, in their Declaration of Rights, laid down principles which, if adhered to, must of necessity bring them into collision with Great Britain, unless she retraced her steps by repealing her obnoxious Acts and withdrawing her troops from the Colonies. Resolutions unanimously passed declared in substance that taxes could not be imposed upon them or troops quartered among them without their consent; that they held their rights by the English Constitution and their Charters, and that America cannot submit to an invasion of her rights.
The leading men, especially in Massachusetts, where the development of tyranny was the most perfect, were fully sensible, during the year 1774, that an open rupture would ensue; though, from prudential considerations, they did not make this public avowal. They knew that the first collision in arms would be the signal for a war which must eventuate in the absolute independence or the utter subjugation of the Colonies. Knowing that Massachusetts was marked as the first victim, and that this Colony, unaided and alone, could not
1 Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. VII, p. 150.
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hope for success in a contest with one of the mightiest powers of the earth, their first effort was to enlist the other Colonies in the cause. Consequently they bore and forbore, knowing that the other Colonies which had in a less degree felt the weight of British oppression were not equally prepared with themselves to make an appeal to the God of battles. Their great object was to impress their brethren in the other Colonies with the important fact that Massachusetts was suf- fering in the cause of American freedom, and that the blow aimed at the patriotic town of Boston was, in truth, aimed at Massachusetts, and through her at the other Colonies. They assured their brethren elsewhere that this Colony would act with prudence and moderation, so that the other Colo- nies, which had the same interest at stake with themselves, should not be involved in any new difficulties through their rashness.
This policy is manifest from the correspondence of that day. When the inhabitants of Boston were reduced to the greatest distress by the operation of the Boston Port Bill, and the people at a distance with a liberal hand contributed to their necessities, the voice which went out from Boston in grateful acknowledgments breathed this wise, cautious, and patriotic spirit: "We are greatly distressed; but we rejoice that we are suffering in a common cause; and while we are thus sustained by your sympathy and munificence, we are resolved to stand firm in defence of those rights which are the common inherit- ance of all the American Colonies." But in the midst of these assurances the idea is frequently presented that war must ultimately ensue, unless their grievances are redressed.
Writing to the Committee of Preston, Connecticut, under date of August 24, 1774, Dr. Warren says, "If non-intercourse with Great Britain should fail, and we should be obliged to seek redress in the way you hint (by arms), we flatter our- selves that we shall act like men, and merit the approbation of all America." On the 27th, to the Committee of Norwich, he says, "If this should fail, we must have recourse to the last resort."
Samuel Adams, whose foresight enabled him to perceive the inevitable issue of the contest, with characteristic caution says, in writing to the Committee of Westmoreland, Virginia, in March, 1775: "The people of Boston bear repeated insults of the grossest kind, not from want of the feelings of just
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resentment, or spirit enough to make ample returns, but from principles of sound policy and reason. Put your enemy in the wrong, and keep him so, is a wise maxim in politics as well as in war. They had rather forego the gratification of revenging affronts and indignities than prejudice that all-important cause which they have so much at heart, by precipitating a crisis. When they are pushed by clear necessity for the de- fence of their liberties to the trial of arms, I trust in God, they will convince their friends and their enemies of their military skill and valor. . . . They are daily preparing for it."
Such intimations, cautiously expressed, show in the clearest manner the expectations of those patriots; and when they were writing more privately to particular friends, they ex- pressed their convictions more fully. Dr. Warren, in a letter to Josiah Quincy, Jr., Esq., then in London, dated November 21, 1774, employs this language: "It is the united voice of America to preserve their freedom or lose their lives in de- fence of it. Their resolutions are not the effects of inconsider- ate rashness, but the sound result of sober inquiry and delib- eration. I am convinced that the true spirit of liberty was never so universally diffused through all ranks and orders of people in any country on the face of the earth, as it now is through all North America." In a letter to Arthur Lee, then in London, dated February 20, 1775, he says: "It is truly astonishing that the administration should have a doubt of the resolution of the Americans to make the last appeal, rather than submit to wear the yoke prepared for their necks." Again, under date of April 3, 1775, he says : " America must and will be free. The contest may be severe, the end will be glorious. But we mean not to make that appeal, until we can be justified in doing it in the sight of God and man."
Nor was Warren alone in entertaining these views. Samuel Adams had long seen the result of this misunderstanding, and in writing to Arthur Lee, our agent at London, on the 14th of February, 1775, he says: "Our safety depends upon our being in readiness for the extreme event. Of this the people here are thoroughly sensible; and from the preparations they are making, I trust in God that they will defend their liberties with dignity." This ardent patriot was so devoted to liberty, that he said in the fulness of his heart: "I would advise per- sisting in our struggle for liberty, though it were revealed from heaven that nine hundred and ninety-nine were to per-
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ish, and only one of a thousand survive and retain his liberty. One such freeman must possess more virtue and enjoy more happiness than a thousand slaves; and let him propagate his like and transmit to them what he had so nobly preserved." With such views and feelings, it is no wonder that Samuel Adams could exclaim on the morning of the 19th of April, 1775, on hearing the discharge of British muskets, "What a glorious morning for America is this!"
Joseph Hawley, of Northampton, the leading patriot in the western part of the State, in the summer of 1774 wrote: "We must fight; we must fight, if we cannot otherwise rid ourselves of British taxation. Fight we must finally, unless Britain re- treats." When Patrick Henry read the prophetic words of Hawley, "WE MUST FIGHT," calling God to witness, he ex- claimed, "I am of that man's mind."
Public bodies of men as well as individuals gave unmistak- able evidence that they foresaw the result. The Middlesex Convention, as we have already seen, as early as August, 1774, declared in sentiment that God and the world would justify resistance, and he could not die too soon who laid down his life for his country. The first Provincial Congress of Massachu- setts did more than express an opinion that public resistance should be made to the King's troops. They took the most decisive measures in their power to be prepared for that event. They provided arms and military stores, recom- mended the organizing and training of the militia - measures which looked directly to a resistance of the Acts of Parliament and a conflict with the King's troops. And to give force and efficiency to these measures, they created a Committee of Safety, clothed them with full executive power, giving them express authority to call out the militia and minute-men for the defence of life, liberty, and property, whenever the case should require it, and elected general officers to command the troops that might be called out.
Such were the opinions expressed, the resolutions adopted, and the measures taken by the people of this Province, long before the 19th of April, 1775. It was not the Battle of Lex- ington that gave rise to the Revolution. The real causes were deeper and more remote than the marching of the King's troops from Boston. Nor was the breaking-out of the Revo- lution in any proper sense adventitious. It was accidental that it occurred on that particular day, and at that particular
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place, and under those particular circumstances. But the op- pressive Acts of Parliament and the firm and determined spirit of resistance on the part of the colonists were sure to lead to a collision. If it had not occurred at that time and place, it would at some other. The same spirit which actuated the people of Lexington filled the whole community; and all who took arms that day only obeyed the public voice, and carried into effect what had been resolved upon by the Pro- vincial Congress and by almost every town in the Province. When Captain Parker at Lexington and Major Buttrick at Concord ordered their men "to load their pieces, but not to fire unless they were fired upon," they obeyed the orders of the Committee of Safety, just as truly as though that Com- mittee had been upon the field and given the command in person. Though the men who appeared in arms on that day acted in one sense on their own responsibility, they neverthe- less acted in obedience to a firmly fixed public sentiment, which surrounded every man like the atmosphere, and which exerted a controlling influence in every part of the Province. But those who were the first actors in the opening scene of that eventful drama, in all probability had influences more direct and orders more immediate than the controlling senti- ment above alluded to. Hancock, the Chairman of the Com- mittee of Safety, had been stopping some days in Lexington. The Provincial Congress of which he was President, and which had been sitting at Concord, adjourned on the 15th; the Committee of Safety were in session at Concord on the 17th; and he returned to Lexington, as was his custom, the same evening, where he was in consultation with that ardent patriot Rev. Jonas Clarke, and with Samuel Adams, who was also stopping at Mr. Clarke's house. They were there during the 18th; and in consequence of the fact that several British officers had passed up the road towards Concord late in the afternoon, apprehension was felt for the safety of Hancock and Adams, whose arrest had been publicly rumored. Fear- ing that these officers intended to return late at night and seize Hancock and Adams, Captain Parker detailed a portion of his company to guard Mr. Clarke's house, where they were lodging. The movement of the British troops from Boston was communicated to Hancock and Adams by messengers sent by Dr. Warren, who arrived at Lexington at twelve o'clock at night; whereupon Captain Parker called his com-
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pany together. About two o'clock they met and the roll was called on the Common, within hailing distance of Hancock's lodgings.
Under these circumstances it is morally certain that Cap- tain Parker came into direct contact with Hancock, and un- questionably took his advice, or orders, as to the course he should pursue. This is the more obvious from the well-estab- lished fact that at first Hancock resolved to join the company, and it was not until after much persuasion from Mr. Adams that he desisted. In matters of detail the gallant Parker acted on his own responsibility, but on the subject of general policy, he must have known the wishes, designs, and as it were the orders of the Committee of Safety, which was the only commander-in-chief then recognized by the military.
The same is undoubtedly true of the operations at Con- cord. Colonel Barrett was a member of the Provincial Con- gress which had been in session at Concord as late as the 15th, and must have known perfectly the policy of that body: and the Committee of Safety, on the 17th, voted that Colonel Barrett be desired to raise a company of artillery. The com- munication of this vote and the precautions taken to secure the military stores entrusted to Colonel Barrett would bring him into close connection with the Committee of Safety; hence his course would be guided by the policy they had adopted. The acts of that day, which have often been regarded as the result of mere accident, were in fact the carrying-out of a policy dictated and enjoined by the only commander-in-chief known and recognized by the people.
The history of the world does not present a more grand and imposing spectacle than that of the rising of the people on the 19th of April, 1775. It was not a restless population, gathered by blind impulse, without definite motive or design; not a hired soldiery, organized by some bold and daring leader, to avenge some personal wrong, or to embark upon some mad scheme of conquest, in which the perils they bore would be repaid by plunder; nor was it a people goaded to desperation, or reduced to the last stages of despair by the iron heel of despotism, making their last mighty effort to throw off the yoke they could no longer endure; but it was a cool, voluntary rising of a sedate and orderly, an intelligent and conscientious people who knew their rights and "knowing, dared maintain them" - a people bred to the right of private judgment and
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the equality of men; and who, seeing in their religious creed the great principles of civil as well as religious liberty, were determined to defend them whenever invaded or whoever might be the aggressor. It was the spontaneous rising of a people who felt that they were set for the defence of American liberty, and were ready to offer their bodies a living sacrifice in the cause. They realized that they were acting, not for themselves alone, but for those who should come after them, and that they would be false to their great mission should they tamely surrender rights which God in his Providence held out to them and their posterity. They knew that the promptings of their own hearts were in perfect accordance with the sentiments of the Provincial Congress, and that the only acknowledged Executive would approve their acts.
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