USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lexington > History of the town of Lexington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1868, with a genealogical register of Lexington families > Part 23
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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, Va., in March, 1775 : "The people of Boston bear repeated insults of the grossest kind, not from want of the feelings of just 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 in- dignities, 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 defence 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 expressed their convictions more fully. Dr. Warren, in a letter to Josiah Quincy, Jr., Esq., then in London, dated Nov. 21, 1774, employs this language : "It is the united voice of America to preserve their freedom or lose their lives in defence of it. Their resolutions are not the effects of inconsiderate rashness, but the sound result of sober inquiry and deliberation. 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 Feb. 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 glor- ious. 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
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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 fullness of his heart, " I would advise persisting in our struggle for liberty, though it were revealed from heaven, that nine hun- dred and ninety-nine were to perish, 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 is this for America !"
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 exclaimed, " I am of that man's mind."
Public bodies of men as well as individuals gave unmistakable evidence that they foresaw the result. The Middlesex Conven- tion, 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 Massachusetts did more than express an opinion that public resistance would 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, recommended 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, and 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, when- ever the case should require it, and elected general officers to command the troops that might be called out.
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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 Lexington 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 Revolution in any proper sense adventitious. It was accidental that it occurred on that particular day, and at that particular place, and under those particular circumstances. But the oppressive Acts of Parlia- ment, and the firm and determined spirit of resistance on the part of the colonists, were sure to lead to a collision ; and 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 Provincial 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 nevertheless 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 sentiment above alluded to. Hancock, the Chairman of the Committee of Safety, had been stopping some days in Lexington. The Provincial Congress of which he was President, 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 has passed up the road towards Concord late in the
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afternoon, apprehension was felt for the safety of Hancock and Adams, whose arrest had been publicly rumored. Fcaring 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 communi- cated 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 company 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 Captain Parker came into direct contact with Hancock, and unquestion- ably took his advice or orders, as to the course he should pursue. This is the more obvious from the well established 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 ยท matters of detail the gallant Parker acted on his own respon- sibility, 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 recog- nized by the military.
The same is undoubtedly true of the operations at Concord. Colonel Barrett was a member of the Provincial Congress which ' had been in session at Concord as late as the 15th, and must have known perfectly the policy of that body : and the Com- mittee of Safety on the 17th, voted that Colonel Barrett be desired to raise a company of artillery. The communication of this vote, and the precautions taken to secure the military stores intrusted to Colonel Barrett, would bring him into close connec- tion with the Committee of Safety ; and 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
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by blind impulse, without a definite motive or design ; not a hired soldiery, organized by some bold and daring leader, to avenge some personal wrong, or to embark in 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 the equality of men ; and who, seeing in their religious creed the great principles of civil, as well as relig- ious 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 should be false to their great mission, if they should 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.
They had no thirst for military glory ; nor did they rally under any invincible chieftain whose presence inspired courage, 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 oppressor. 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 consequences.
The tidings of the battle of Lexington spread with great rapidity, and brought upon the ground troops from the distance of twenty miles. Others much more remote left their homes on
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the receipt of the news and marched towards the scene of action. 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 super- seded 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 Barrett ; and Lieutenant-Colonels Spaulding, Nixon, Whitney, Mansfield and Wheelock." They were soon joined by General Putnam, and Colonel Stark.
Expresses were sent forth in every direction, and considering the state of the roads at that day, it is remarkable that intelli- gence 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, N. H., early on the morning of the 20th. The tidings of Lexington Battle reached Worcester before noon on the 19th ; Newport, R. I., on the 20th ; Fairfield, Conn., at 8 o'clock, A. M., on the 22d ; New York at 12, M., on the 23d ; Philadelphia at 12, M., on the 26th ; Baltimore at 10, A. M., on the 27th ; Frederick, Va., at 4, P. M., on the 30th ; Beau- fort, N. C., on the 6th of May ; Wilmington on the 8th, and Savannah, Ga., 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 Lexington, 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 com- manders appeared in the vicinity of Boston, ready to encounter the common enemy, if he attempted 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
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had as late as February, 1775, refused to elect delegates to the General Congress, was aroused by the slaughter of her country- men ; 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, and to abide the decision of the Continental Congress. Pennsylvania, 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 elung to the delusive hope of a reconcilia- tion with Great Britain, the voice of her patriots was distinet for resistance, and thousands agreed "to associate together for the purpose of defending with arms their lives, property and liberty." Little Delaware was not behind the larger Colonies in her devotion to freedom. Maryland felt the impulse, but leaned a little to the side of reconciliation in the first instance.
The ery from Lexington met a hearty response from the Old Dominion ; and the patriotie 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 hundred stands of arms that the citizens might be in a condition to defend their rights. The Provincial Congress of that gallant State, adopted measures pre- paratory to the contest, and declared themselves "ready to sacri- fiee their lives and fortunes to seeure 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
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tribes of hostile savages, they sent supplies to Boston in token of their approbation of their gallantry and patriotism 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 fruitless, and that they must submit unconditionally or vindicate 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 the large towns manifest their indig- nation at the barbarity of the British troops, but the people 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 prosper or perish in her cause. Not only in the log-huts beyond 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 recep- tion of the news, celebrated the victory, and in honor of the birthplace of American liberty, gave to the place of their encamp- ment 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 undisciplined rebels, whom they had been taught to regard as braggarts, and despise as cowards.
The patriots of Massachusetts deemed it important to obtain a reliable account of the events of the 19th of April ; accordingly
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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. Watson, and Esquire Dix, be a Committee to take deposi- tions in perpetuam, from which a full account of the transac- tions of the troops, 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 fol- lowing, Dr. Church, Mr. Gerry and Mr. Cushing, were ap- pointed a Committee " to draw up a narrative of the Massacre." The Committee on depositions held sessions 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 dis- persed through every town in England, and especially to be communicated to the Lord Mayor, Aldermen and Council of the City of London, 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 exhib- ited 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 eruel
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
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Ministry, we will not tamely submit. Appealing to Heaven for the justice of our cause, we determine to die or be free."
The Committe of Safety was directed to forward the papers 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 Eng- land, 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 Provincial intelligence to the agent. He will, forth- with, 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 per- son 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 intelligence 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
the general views they had always maintained. The popular language of mon- archy 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 courtsey and 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 allegiance. 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 Par- liament, 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 alle- giance 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 Par- liament, which they never admitted, but to the king whose authority they had allowed.
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first display of the royal regiments in arms would frighten the " rude rabble" in Massachusetts, and put to flight all the undis- ciplined stragglers they could bring into the field. What then must have been their astonishment, what their mortification, on hearing that the veteran 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 submis- sion, had been driven to their entrenchments, and were closely besieged in the limited peninsula of Boston ! The effect pro- duced 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 America 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 Administration 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 gratifica- tions 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 dis- patches were received from General Gage."
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