USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lexington > History of the town of Lexington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1868, Volume I > Part 24
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They had no thirst for military glory; nor did they rally under any invincible chieftain whose presence inspired cour- age and whose previous success gave assurance of victory. Neither could they rely on that perfection of discipline and those improvements in the implements of war which insure success on the ensanguined field. In all these respects, they knew that the advantage was greatly on the side of the op- pressor. But their faith in the righteousness of their cause nerved their arms, and their trust in the Lord of hosts gave them confidence. They felt that they had a solemn duty to perform, and they must do it - a sacred trust to keep, and they must be faithful, whatever might be the immediate con- sequences.
The tidings of the Battle of Lexington spread with great rapidity and brought upon the ground troops from a distance of twenty miles. Others much more remote left their homes on the receipt of the news and marched towards the scene of action.1 A considerable force was assembled at Cambridge, Charlestown, and other places in the immediate vicinity of Boston, on the evening of that day. General Heath, who joined the Americans at Lexington, took command of the troops, and continued the superior officer till the afternoon of the 20th, when he was superseded by General Ward. "At the first council of war on the 20th," says Frothingham, "there were present Generals Ward, Heath, and Thomas; Colonels Bridge, Frye, James Prescott, William Prescott, Bullard, and
1 See E. Chase, Beginnings of the American Revolution, Vol. III, Chap. VII, for details of an interesting character. Ed.
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Barrett; and Lieutenant-Colonels Spaulding, Nixon, Whit- ney, Mansfield, and Wheelock." They were soon joined by General Putnam and Colonel Stark.
Expresses were sent forth in every direction, and consider- ing the state of the roads at that day, it is remarkable that intelligence could have reached distant places in so short a time; especially as there could have been no arrangement beforehand. The intelligence reached Newburyport at 12 M., on the 19th, and Portsmouth, New Hampshire, early on the morning of the 20th. The tidings of the Lexington Battle reached Worcester before noon on the 19th; Newport, Rhode Island, on the 20th; Fairfield, Connecticut, at 8 A.M., on the 22d; New York at 12 M., on the 23d; Philadelphia at 12 M., on the 26th; 1 Baltimore at 10 A.M., on the 27th; Frederick, Vir- ginia, at 4 P.M., on the 30th; Beaufort, North Carolina, on the 6th of May; Wilmington on the 8th, and Savannah, Georgia, on the 10th.
The cautious and prudent policy pursued by the patriots of Massachusetts had in a good degree enlisted the sympathy of the other Colonies; so that on hearing of the outrage at Lex- ington, they were prepared at once to embark in her cause. New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, already trained in the school of Adams and Hancock, rushed to arms on hearing of the attack of the King's troops, and under their respective commanders appeared in the vicinity of Boston, ready to encounter the common enemy, if he should attempt another excursion into the country. Other and more distant Colonies, which had hesitated before, responded to the calls of patriotism. The blood spilt at Lexington and Concord, like that of the righteous Abel, cried from the ground for redress.
New York, which had been held back by her Assembly, which had, as late as February, 1775, refused to elect dele- gates to the General Congress, was roused by the slaughter of her countrymen; and the people, rising superior to the Royal Assembly, pledged themselves to the cause of freedom. New Jersey, whose position had been rather doubtful, was now willing to risk life and fortune in support of Massachusetts,
1 This and the following dates refer to the official account sent by the Committees of Correspondence. News actually reached Philadelphia on the evening of April 23 (see Chase, Beginnings of the American Revolution, Vol. III, p. 300), and must have reached the cities later named at an earlier date than given by Mr. Hudson. Ed.
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and to abide the decision of the Continental Congress. Penn- sylvania, whose distracted councils had been a subject of great anxiety to the friends of liberty throughout the Colonies, caught the fire; and though a portion of her people clung to the delusive hope of a reconciliation with Great Britain, the voice of her patriots was distinct for resistance, and thousands agreed "to associate together for the purpose of defending with arms their lives, property, and liberty." Little Dela- ware was not behind the larger Colonies in her devotion to freedom. Maryland felt the impulse, but leaned a little in the first instance to the side of reconciliation.
The cry from Lexington met a hearty response from the Old Dominion. The patriotic ardor of Patrick Henry and the cool dispassion of James Madison regarded the blow struck in Massachusetts as a hostile attack upon every Colony and a sufficient cause for reprisals. To these sentiments the people of Virginia gave their cordial assent.
Nor did the Colonies more remote feel indifferent to the events which had occurred. On the very night after receiving the news, the patriots of Charleston, South Carolina, took possession of the royal arsenal and distributed twelve hun- dred stands of arms, that the citizens might be in a condition to defend their rights. The Provincial Congress of that gal- lant State adopted measures preparatory to the contest, and declared themselves "ready to sacrifice their lives and for- tunes to secure their freedom and safety." Such was the zeal and enthusiasm of the people of that Colony that General Gage declared "that the people of Charleston were as mad as they are here in Boston."
The infant Colony of Georgia was not behind her sister Colonies. On the receipt of the intelligence of the attack of the King's troops, the gallant people of Savannah broke open the royal magazine and appropriated to their own use over five hundred pounds of powder. And though the people of that Colony were few in numbers, and were surrounded by powerful tribes of hostile savages, they sent supplies to Bos- ton in token of their approbation of her gallantry and patri- otism in standing firm in defence of the rights of the Colonies.
Thus did the Battle of Lexington awaken the sympathy of the colonists, and in a good degree unite them in one common cause. Thousands who had been fondly brooding over the delusive idea of a reconciliation, now saw that entreaty was
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fruitless, and that they must submit unconditionally or vindi- cate their rights by the sword. And though the timid feared and the prudent hesitated, though the men in power clung to the places which gave them their living, and those who aspired at place were unwilling to impair their prospects of preferment, the leading patriots of the country and the great mass of the people were ready for the last appeal, and saw safety only in a triumph in the field.
Not only did the cities and large towns manifest their in- dignation at the barbarity of the British troops, but the peo- ple in the rural districts, where the love of liberty is always strong, vied with the more populous places in showing their readiness to peril all in freedom's sacred cause. Wherever the fact of open resistance was known, the people showed that they were ready to flock to the standard of freedom, and to prosper or perish in her cause. Not only in the log huts be- yond the mountains, but farther in the wilderness, where no huts had been erected, did the echoes of freedom resound. The hardy hunters of Kentucky, wandering in the beautiful valley of the Elkhorn, on the reception of the news, cele- brated the victory, and in honor of the birthplace of American liberty, gave to the place of their encampment the name of LEXINGTON - a name which it bears to the present day.
Nor did the thrilling appeal die on their shores. The sound crossed the Atlantic; and while the deluded Ministry were dreaming over the subjugation of the rebellious Province of Massachusetts Bay, they were startled from their slumbers by intelligence that His Majesty's veteran troops in America had been baffled, routed, and driven like sheep by the undis- ciplined rebels, whom they had been taught to regard as brag- garts and to despise as cowards.1
The patriots of Massachusetts deemed it important to obtain a reliable account of the events of the 19th of April; accordingly on the 22d of April, the Provincial Congress, being in session at Watertown, -
"Ordered that Mr. Gerry, Colonel Cushing, Colonel Barrett, Captain Stone, Dr. Taylor, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Freeman, Mr. Wat- son, and Esquire Dix, be a Committee to take depositions in perpet- uam, from which a full account of the transactions of the troops,
1 See Force's Archives, Vol. II, 4th Series; also Walpole's Letters, Vol. Ix, pp. 203-05; and the London press comments, quoted in Chase, Beginnings of the American Revolution, Vol. III, Chap. Ix. Ed.
1 ....... . "will 23, 277.5.
I John Porker of low fat age, and wenn .... dary the militia in Laington, do teflify and declare that, on the 19!thinh in the morning about one of the block, being informed that there wer à number of thegular officers rising info. I down the road, taking on Band infulling people and allo was informed that the rope were on their march from Brotton, in order to take the Provinces attore at Concord, immer diately ordered our militia to meet or the common in faid Lexington, to confuttwhat to do; and concluded not to be diferente, new bau medalle or make with laid thequeles troops (if they thanks affront unless they thour infilt or moleft us, und upon Their fudden approach,
. I immediately ordered our militia to differte and not to fire; infattiit imediatty said Troops made their appearances and Rupfed furiously to find upon and Killed Sight of our party without. Mesinging any provocation Thanfor porsius Sobre Varher
chiara b . April y 23. 925 The above named John. Parker appeared and make Solemn Ram to the truth of the within diposition by him subscribed before us .!
Jon: Haflinger
CAPTAIN JOHN PARKER'S DEPOSITION
EFFECTS OF THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON 219
under General Gage, in their route to and from Concord, &c., on Wednesday last, may be collected, to be sent to England by the first ship from Salem."
On the day following, Dr. Church, Mr. Gerry, and Mr. Cush- ing were appointed a Committee "to draw up a narrative of the Massacre." The Committee on Depositions held session the 23d and 25th of April, at Concord and Lexington, and took a large number of affidavits. On the day following, the President, Dr. Taylor, Mr. Freeman, Mr. H. Gardner, and Colonel Stone were appointed to prepare a letter to our agent in London, Dr. Franklin. The Committee reported the same day the draught of a letter, urging our agent in England to cause the depositions and the Address to the inhabitants of Great Britain, giving an account of the events of the 19th of April, "to be immediately printed and dispersed through every town in England, and especially to be communicated to the Lord Mayor, Aldermen and Council of the City of Lon- don, that they may take such order thereon as they may think proper."
In the Address to the inhabitants of Great Britain, after giving a brief account of the march of the King's troops, they say: -
"To give a particular account of the ravages of the troops, as they retreated from Concord to Charlestown, would be very difficult, if not impracticable. Let it suffice to say, that a great number of houses on the road were plundered and rendered unfit for use; several were burnt; women, in childbed, were driven by the soldiery, naked into the streets; old men peaceably in their houses, were shot dead, and such scenes exhibited as would disgrace the annals of the uncivilized nations.
"These, brethren, are the marks of Ministerial vengeance against this Colony, for refusing, with her sister Colonies, submission to slavery; but they have not detached us from our royal sovereign. We profess to be his loyal and dutiful subjects, and so hardly dealt with as we have been, are still ready with our lives and fortunes to defend his person, family, crown and dignity.1 Nevertheless to the persecution and tyranny of his cruel Ministry, we will not tamely
1 It may appear singular that they should express such devotion to the Crown, while they express their abhorrence of slavery, and determination to be free. This is explained partly by the popular language of monarchy, and partly by the general views they had always maintained. The popular language of monarchy is that the King can do no wrong. If a wrong is done, it is charged upon the Ministry; and the King by changing his Ministers, removed the evil. Our fathers from courtesy and
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submit. Appealing to Heaven for the justice of our cause, we deter- mine to die or be free."
The Committee of Safety was directed to forward the pa- pers to England at the earliest practicable moment. They agreed with the Hon. Richard Derby, of Salem, to fit out a vessel as a packet. The order to Captain Derby was as follows: -
"In the Committee of Safety, April 27, 1775. Resolved, That Captain Derby be directed, and he hereby is directed, to make for Dublin or any other good port in Ireland, and from thence to cross to Scotland or England, and hasten to London. This direction is given, that so he may escape all enemies that may be in the chops of the channel, to stop the communication of the Provincialintelligence to the agent. He will, forthwith, deliver his papers to the agent on reaching London.
"J. WARREN, Chairman.
"P. S. - You are to keep this order a profound secret from every person on earth."
Captain Derby with these documents, and with copies of the Salem Gazette, which contained an account of the battle, arrived in London on the 29th of May. On the day following, the Address was printed and circulated, giving the first intel- ligence of the Battle of Lexington to the people of Great Britain. The Ministry were astounded. They had fondly anticipated that the recent measures of Parliament and the increase of the King's troops in Boston would bring the rebels to submission; that the first display of the royal regiments in arms would frighten the "rude rabble" in Massachusetts and put to flight all the undisciplined stragglers they could bring into the field. What, then, must have been their astonish- ment, what their mortification, on hearing that the veteran from policy, in addressing the inhabitants of Great Britain, would adopt the respectful language of the empire.
They would also be inclined to employ this courtly language, from the views they had from the first maintained. Their theory had always been that they held their Charter by a grant from the Crown; and that to the Crown alone they owed alle- giance. From the very first, they denied the power of Parliament. Their argument was that Parliament has power over, or rather can legislate for its constituents; but that the American Colonies, not being represented in Parliament, were never subject to its laws. So that in their Address to the people of England, they but carried out the previous doctrine, that they owed allegiance to the Crown, while they denied the power of Parliament and detested the oppression of the Ministry. This view of the subject casts light upon the Declaration of Independence, which is a renunciation of allegiance, not to Parliament, which they never admitted, but to the King whose authority they had allowed.
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troops of England had been put to an inglorious flight by the sudden rising of the country people without leaders; and that the army in which they had reposed so much confidence, and which was to awe America into submission, had been driven to its entrenchments and was closely besieged in the limited peninsula of Boston! The effect produced by the intelligence is thus described in a letter from London, dated June 1, 1775 :-
"This great city was agitated to its centre. The friends of Amer- ica rejoiced at the noble victory of the Bostonians, and its enemies were abashed at their courage. The news flew rapidly, and soon caught the ear of the unwise and deluded King. The Administra- tion were alarmed at the unexpected success of the Provincials, and were at a loss what lies to fabricate, which would destroy the force of the gratifications which accompanied the intelligence. Runners were sent to every part of the city, who were authorized to deny the authenticity of the facts; and so distressed was the Government that they officially requested a suspension of belief, until dispatches were received from General Gage."
Having no intelligence from General Gage, the Ministry issued the following card: -
"SECRETARY OF STATE'S OFFICE, WHITEHALL, May 30, 1775. .
"A report having been spread, and an account having been printed and published, of a skirmish between some of the people in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, and a detachment of His Majesty's troops, it is proper to inform the public, that no advices have as yet been received in the American Department of any such event.
"There is reason to believe that there are dispatches from Gen. Gage on board the Sukey, Captain Brown, which, though she sailed four days before the vessel that brought the printed account, is not yet arrived."
On the appearance of this card Arthur Lee immediately issued the following note: -
" To the Public.
"As a doubt of the authenticity of the account from Salem, touching an engagement between the King's troops and the Provin- cials in Massachusetts Bay, may arise from a paragraph in the Gazette of this evening, I desire to inform all those who wish to see the original affidavits which confirm that account, that they are
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deposited at the Mansion House with the right hon. the Lord Mayor, for their inspection.
"ARTHUR LEE,
"Agent for the House of Representatives of Massachusetts Bay."
General Gage's dispatches arrived in London on the 10th of June, which, instead of allaying, rather increased the ex- citement. For though his account differed from the American account as to the commencement of hostilities, in all other respects the two accounts substantially agreed. He virtually admitted that the expedition was a failure, and that the flower of his army, consisting of nearly two thousand men, had been harassed and actually driven fifteen miles with a loss of nearly three hundred in killed, wounded, and missing.
The account of the Ministry covering General Gage's dis- patch was severely criticized in Great Britain. One writer says: -
"When the news of the massacre first arrived, the pensioned writer of the Gazette entreated the public 'to suspend their judg- ment, as the Government had received no tidings of the matter.' The public have suspended their judgment, and the humane part of mankind have. wished that the fatal tale related by Captain Derby, might prove altogether fictitious. To the great grief of every thinking man, this is not the case. We are now in possession of both accounts."
After comparing them and showing that they agree in all important particulars, the writer adds: -
"The public have but to ponder on the melancholy truths thus attested by the Government. The sword of civil war is drawn, and if there is truth in heaven, the King's troops unsheathed it. Will the English nation much longer suffer their fellow subjects to be slaughtered? It is a shameful fallacy to talk of the supremacy of Parliament. It is the despotism of the Crown, and the slavery of the people, which the Ministry aim at. For refusing these attempts, and for that only, the Americans have been inhumanly murdered by the King's troops. Englishmen, weigh these things with delibera- tion; make the case your own. If the massacre of brethren will not make you open your eyes, they deserve to be forever shut against your welfare."
Another writer, alluding to the British account of the affair after Percy had joined Smith, says: -
"The Gazette tells us dryly that 'the rebels were for a time dis-
+
EFFECTS OF THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON 223
persed.' They were so dispersed, however, that as soon as the troops resumed their march (not their flight), they began again to fire upon them, and continued it during the whole fifteen miles march, 'by which means several hundred were killed and wounded.' If this was not a flight, and if Percy's activity was not in running away, I should be glad to know where were the flanking parties of this army on its march, with all this light infantry? Would any commanding officer suffer such an enemy to continue killing and wounding his troops from stone walls and houses, if it was not a de- feat and flight? I think that when the military lend themselves to fight against the freedom of their fellow subjects, they deserve to be both disgraced and defeated.
"Take then the whole of this account as it stands, and to what does it amount, but that General Gage's army, having marched out of Boston in the night, was attacked by the militia, hastily assem- bled without a leader, and was driven back with the loss of sixty- five killed and one hundred and eighty wounded, and twenty-eight taken prisoners - making in all two hundred and seventy-three. In fact, this superiority does not arise from any difference between the English and the Americans, but from the one contending in the cause of tyranny, and the other in that of liberty. It has never entered into the hearts of these wretched Ministers and their tools, to feel or conceive the enthusiasm and valor which so good and noble a cause inspires."
There was, at the opening of the Revolution, a large class in Great Britain whose sympathies were in favor of America. Even the King's own brother, the weak but amiable Duke of Gloucester, is said to have had strong feelings in favor of the Colonies. Soon after the news of the collision at Lexington reached England, he took a tour in France; and at a public dinner, given in honor of the Duke, there was present a young Frenchman, not then eighteen years of age; he lis- tened with avidity to the story of the uprising of the people of New England. And from that time America had a true friend in the person of Lafayette.1
Several officers in the British army declined serving against their American brethren and threw up their commissions.2
1 Bancroft.
2 "At a meeting of the Livery of London, in Common Hall assembled, on Satur- day, the 24th of June, it was 'Resolved that the Thanks of the Lord Mayor, Alder- men and Livery, in Common Hall assembled, be given to the Right Hon. the Earl of Effingham, for having, consistent with the Principles of a true Englishman, refused to draw that sword against the lives and liberties of his Fellow Subjects in America, which has hitherto been employed to the honour of his Country.'" Quoted in Chase's Beginnings of the American Revolution, Vol. III, p. 353. Ed.
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Lord North, who at that day was here regarded as the im- placable foe of America, but who was in fact averse to many of the measures of Parliament, on the breaking-out of hostili- ties desired to retire from the Ministry; but the King would neither accept his resignation nor relent towards America. The French Minister at the Court of England, who looked with peculiar interest into the affairs of the Colonies, wrote to his own Court: -
"The Americans display in their conduct, and even in their errors, more thought than enthusiasm, for they have shown in suc- cession that they know how to argue, to negotiate, and to fight. All England is in a position from which she never can extricate her- self. Either all rules are false, or the Americans will never again consent to become her subjects."
On the 24th of June, the citizens of London voted an Ad- dress to the King, desiring him to consider the situation of his subjects in England, "who had nothing to expect from Amer- ica but gazettes of blood, and mutual lists of slaughtered fel- low-subjects." And they prayed for a dissolution of Parlia- ment, and a dismission forever of the present Ministry.
The Society for Constitutional Information raised one hundred pounds, "to be applied to the relief of the widows, orphans, and aged parents of our beloved American fellow- subjects, who faithful to the character of Englishmen, prefer- ing death to slavery, were for that reason only, inhumanly murdered by the King's troops at Lexington and Concord."
Thus did the events of the 19th of April, 1775, excite thrilling interest on both sides of the Atlantic. In America they aroused the patriotism of every Colony and united them in the great cause of human freedom. And in Europe the effect was equally great. It brought matters to an issue in the British Parliament, and taught the stupid and obstinate King and his lordly flatterers, that neither Acts of Parliament nor Orders in Council nor Edicts from the Throne could compel the submission of the colonists to the arbitrary acts of the Ministry. They saw that their only hope of success lay in the sword, which they had already drawn; and while they had the madness to believe that they should be able to subdue their Colonies, their formidable and sagacious rival, France, plainly saw that independence was the ultimate portion of the oppressed Colonies in America.
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