USA > Massachusetts > The history of Massachusetts, the provincial period. 1692-1775 v. II > Part 47
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Apr. 18. On the following day, ten or twelve British officers, who had dined at Cambridge, were directed at nightfall to station them- selves along the roads leading to Concord, to intercept expresses sent out to alarm the country. The committees of safety were at the same time in session at Wetherby's tavern,4 in what is now West Cambridge ; and Gerry, and Orne, and Lee, three of the members, remained to pass the night. Two others, Dev- ens and Watson, rode towards Charlestown, and, meeting on the way several officers on horseback, they returned to inform their friends of the fact, and proceeded on their journey. Gerry at once sent a messenger to Hancock and Adams, who were stopping at Mr. Clark's, the minister of Lexington, to ac- quaint them with what was passing ; and precautionary meas- ures were adopted at Lexington.5 Upon his arrival in Charles- town Devens learned that the British troops were on the eve of
1 Frothingham's Siege of Boston, 53.
2 Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 309; Ev- erett's Lexington and Concord Ad- dresses ; Frothingham's Siege of Bos- ton, 56.
3 Shattuck's Concord, 95 ; Everett's Lexington Address; Frothingham's Siege of Boston, 56.
4 Some authorities say, at Newell's tavern.
5 Austin's Life of Gerry, i. 68; Frothingham's Siege of Boston, 57 ; Shattuck's Concord, 101. Informa- tion of the movements of the officers had already been received at Lexing- ton through Solomon Brown. Ever- ett's Lexington Address.
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ALARM AT LEXINGTON.
embarking ; and a lantern was displayed by Paul Revere in the CHAP. upper window of the tower of the North Church, in Boston - XIV. the signal which had been agreed upon. Gage, who supposed 1775. that nothing was known of his movements, communicated them in confidence to Lord Percy, at nine in the evening ; but the latter, shortly after, in returning to his quarters, overheard a conversation which satisfied him that the affair was no longer secret ; 1 and, hastening to Gage, orders were issued that no one should be suffered to leave the town. Dr. Warren, how- ever, but a few moments before, had sent into the country two trusty messengers, - Paul Revere and William Dawes, - who eluded the vigilance of the guards, and spread the alarm. At midnight one of the messengers, Paul Revere, reached the house of the Rev. Mr. Clark ; and, though the family were at rest, they were promptly aroused.2
At one in the morning the minute men of Lexington and Apr.19. the militia of the town were summoned to meet at their place of parade, on the green near the meeting house ; and messen- gers were sent towards Cambridge for additional information. At two the soldiers, one hundred and thirty in number, assem- bled ; the roll was called, and every gun was loaded ; 3 but, by the return of the messengers, they were informed that all was quiet ; and, as the night was chilly, they dispersed into the neighboring houses - most of them going to Bucknam's tav- ern. 4
In Concord the alarm was likewise spread ; 5 and Dr. Pres- cott agreed to assist in rousing the people. While thus en- gaged, with Revere and Dawes, he was met by a party of
1 Everett's Concord Address ; Frothingham's Siege of Boston, 58.
2 Phinney's Hist. of the Battle, 33; Everett's Lexington and Concord Ad- dresses; Frothingham's Siege of Bos- ton, 59; Shattuck's Concord, 101. A guard of eight men had been stationed at Mr. Clark's house for the protection of Adams and Hancock. Everett's Address.
3 Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 310; Ev- erett's Lexington Address ; Frothing- ham's Siege of Boston, 60.
Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 310.
5 Three persons - Sanderson, Lor- ing, and Brown - had been sent up from Lexington towards Concord, to watch the movements of the officers. Everett's Address.
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MARCH OF THE BRITISH TROOPS.
CHAP. officers, armed and mounted ; and, in the scuffle which ensued, XIV. Revere was captured, but was subsequently liberated.1 There 1775. could now be no doubt that the regulars were on their march ; and it was afterwards ascertained that Lieutenant Colonel Smith, at the head of about eight hundred men, had embarked at ten o'clock, on the evening of the eighteenth, at the foot of the Common, in Boston, in the boats of the ships of war. Just as the moon rose he landed, with his men, in perfect stillness, at Lechmere's Point, crossed the marshes, and entered the old Charlestown and West Cambridge road, near the foot of Pros- pect Hill. As they passed the tavern where the "rebels " were lodging, the latter arose from their beds to gaze on the un- wonted spectacle ; and, when a party was detached to surround the tavern, they hastily escaped to an adjoining field.2 Colonel Smith had marched but a few miles before he was satisfied, by the ringing of bells and the noise of guns, that the country was alarmed. He therefore detached six companies of infan- try and marines, under Major Pitcairn, with orders to press on and secure the bridges at Concord, while a messenger was sent to Boston for a reënforcement.3
Pitcairn, in obedience to his orders, hurried his men for- ward ; but, within a mile and a half of the Lexington meeting house, Thaddeus Bowman escaped his advanced guard, galloped to the Common, and sounded the alarm.4 It was now half past four ; and, by the orders of Captain Parker, the drums were beaten, guns were fired, and Sergeant Monroe was in- structed to form his company in two ranks a little north of the meeting house. A short time after Pitcairn arrived, halted for a moment, ordered his men to "prime and load," and then to march forward in double quick time. Sixty or seventy of the militia had collected, and about forty spectators, a few of whom
1 Everett's Concord Address ; Frothingham's Siege of Boston, 60; Shattuck's Concord, 101.
Almon's Remembrancer for 1775,
69; Everett's Addresses ; Frothing- ham's Siege of Boston, 61.
3 Everett's Addresses ; Frothing- ham's Siege of Boston.
4 Everett's Concord Address.
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THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON.
were armed ; and, as Pitcairn rode up, he shouted, "Disperse, CHAP. you rebels ! Throw down your arms ! Villains, disperse !" XIV. Finding they did not obey, he ordered his men to fire. A few 1775. guns were discharged, but no one was killed. A general dis- charge followed, with fatal results.1 The militia immediately returned the fire ; and, both from the ranks of the company, and from behind a stone wall, and from the back door of Bucknam's house, shots were aimed at the regular troops.2 The skirmish became general ; and the troops under Pitcairn continued their fire as long as the militia continued in sight - killing eight and wounding ten. Parker,3 Muzzy, the Har- ringtons,4 Monroe,5 Hadley, Brown, and Porter, of Woburn, were the persons killed.6 The British suffered but little. "A private of the tenth regiment, and probably one other, were wounded, and Major Pitcairn's horse was struck." 7
The citizens of Concord had been aroused at an early hour ; and the committee of safety, the military officers, and promi- nent citizens met for consultation. The soldiers were likewise mustered, and formed on the parade ground, near the meeting house ; messengers were sent towards Lexington for informa- tion ; and a portion of the militia, under Colonel Barrett, labored in removing the stores to the woods. Soon word came
1 Rev. J. Clark, in Shattuck's Con- cord, 102, 103; Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 310; Everett's Addresses; Froth- ingham's Siege of Boston, 62.
Phinney's Hist. of the Battle ; Everett's Concord Address ; Froth- ingham's Siege of Boston, 63, and note.
3 "Roman history does not furnish an example of bravery that outshines that of Jonas Parker. A truer heart did not bleed at Thermopyla." Ev- erett's Address.
4 Jonathan and Caleb Harrington. Of the former Everett says, "Har- rington's was a cruel fate. He fell in front of his own house, on the north of the Common. His wife, at the window, saw him fall, and then start up, the blood gushing from his breast.
He stretched out his hands towards her, as if for assistance, and fell again. Rising once more on his hands and knees, he crawled across the road towards his dwelling. She ran to meet him at the door, but it was to see him expire at her feet."
5 Robert Monroe had served in the French wars, and was the standard bearer of his company at the capture of Louisburg, in 1758. Everett's Ad- dress ; Frothingham's Siege of Bos- ton.
6 For the list of the killed see Jour. Prov. Cong. and Frothingham's Siege of Boston.
7 Gage's Account, in Frothingham's Siege of Boston, 64.
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THE BATTLE OF CONCORD.
CHAP. that the British had fired upon the provincials at Lexington. XIV. The excitement was intense ; and a portion of the militia of
1775. Concord, and of Lincoln, the adjoining town, resolved to push on to the assistance of their neighbors, while Captain Minot, with the alarm company, remained in town, and took posses- sion of the hill near the liberty pole.1 No sooner had he gained this position than the companies which had left re- turned, with the intelligence that the number of the British was treble that of the Americans ; and the whole force fell back to an eminence back of the town, and formed in two bat- talions.2 Scarcely were they thus posted when the British appeared in sight, rapidly advancing on the Lincoln road, with their guns glittering in the early sunshine. Deeming resist- ance useless, Colonel Barrett, who had joined his townsmen, ordered a retreat, over the North Bridge, to an eminence about a mile from the centre of the town.3
Shortly after the withdrawal of the Americans the British troops marched into Concord, in two divisions - the one by the main road, and the other by the hill which the Americans had just left. The grenadiers and light infantry, under Colonel Smith, were posted in the centre of the town; and Captain Parsons, with six light companies, was detached to secure the North Bridge, while Captain Pole was sent to secure the South Bridge.4 On reaching the North Bridge, three companies, under Captain Lawrie, were left to guard it; and the other three, under Captain Parsons, proceeded to Colonel Barrett's house, in search of stores. In the mean time, the militia of Concord and Lincoln, joined by their brethren from Carlisle, Chelmsford, Weston, Littleton, and Acton, formed under Hos- mer. Captain Smith, with his company, volunteered to dis-
' The minute men from Lincoln were under Captain William Smith, and the militia under Captain Samuel Farrar. Frothingham's Siege of Bos- ton, 66.
2 Shattuck's Concord, 105 ; Froth- ingham's Siege of Boston, 66.
Shattuck's Concord, 106 ; Froth- ingham's Siege of Boston, 66.
Shattuck's Concord, 107 ; Froth- ingham's Siege of Boston, 66.
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RETREAT OF THE BRITISH.
lodge the guard at the North Bridge ; Captain Isaac Davis, CHAP. with his company from Acton, was equally patriotic; and, by
XIV. the orders of Colonel Barrett, they were detached, under Major 1775. John Buttrick, with Lieutenant Colonel Robinson as an assist- ant, for the discharge of this difficult service. As they drew near the bridge, the British fired ; and at the second volley Captain Davis was killed, and Hosmer, a private in his com- pany, fell at his side. "Fire, fellow-soldiers ! for God's sake, fire !" exclaimed Major Buttrick ; and a general action ensued, when the British, in confusion, retreated. A detachment was sent to their relief ; and the provincials pursued them over the bridge, until they joined the main body in the centre of the town.1
By this time the old New England drums, that had beat at Louisburg, at Quebec, at Martinique, and at the Havana, were sounding on all the roads leading to Concord ; 2 and Colonel Smith, after resting for two hours, prepared about twelve o'clock to march for Boston. The militia of Reading and Bil- lerica came hurrying in to lend their aid to their countrymen ; the Sudbury company was there ; and the roads all along the route were occupied by the Americans, posted behind trees, and walls, and rocks. Smith pushed on, but was met by a fire so hot that his ranks were speedily thinned, and his situation became perilous. At this critical moment a reenforcement arrived, consisting of three regiments of infantry and two divisions of marines, with two field pieces, under Lord Percy, who had marched through Roxbury to the tune of Yankee Doodle.3 By the aid of the field pieces the Americans were kept at bay for a time, and the retreat was resumed. Yet every height was filled, and at every defile the contest was bloody. Below West Cambridge the militia from Dorchester, Roxbury, and Brookline came up ; the Danvers company had
1 Shattuck's Concord, 112; Ever- ett's Concord Address ; Frothing- ham's Siege of Boston, 70.
VOL. II. 33
2 Everett's Concord Address.
3 Frothingham's Siege of Boston, 72-75.
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RETREAT OF THE BRITISH.
CHAP. previously arrived ; and, thus recruited, the gallant provincials XIV. fell with overwhelming force upon their assailants. The Brit- 1775. ish were nearly exhausted ; and as they reached Prospect Hill, their situation was critical. Their progress was obstructed by the number of wounded ; they had but a few rounds of car- tridges left ; the roads were alive with pursuers, as if they had " dropped from the clouds ; " and volley on volley was poured in upon them. At length, about sunset, almost on the run, they reached Charlestown Common, where they were sheltered by the guns from the ships, and the pursuit was stopped. Of the Americans, forty-nine were killed, thirty-nine were wounded, and five were missing. Of the British, seventy-three were killed, one hundred and seventy-four were wounded, and twenty-six were missing.1 This was THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. The blood of the English and of the Americans had flowed; the union of the colonies with Great Britain was severed ; and from this hour the era of INDEPENDENCE properly dates. " What a glorious morning is this!" exclaimed Samuel Adams, as he heard the sound of the guns at Lexington. It was the morning of FREEDOM. The day star of liberty had risen upon America.
1 Almon's Remembrancer for 1775, 70; Everett's Concord Address ; Frothingham's Siege of Boston, 79. For minute details of this whole ex- pedition see Almon's Remembrancer for 1775, 72-82 ; Phinney's Account ;
the different orations at Lexington and Concord; Frothingham's Siege of Boston ; the local histories of Con- cord, &c. ; Jour. Prov. Cong. 660- 694, &c.
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