of the road, at the corner of the present Garden Court. Kent did not
awake. Then by the Capen house, a little farther on the easterly
side. No one there awakened. Then by the Hunnewell brothers on the
easterly side at the turn of the road. They were both somewhat deaf
and did not hear the military tread.
The next house is the home of Timothy Tufts, on the easterly side
of the road, nearly opposite Beech Street. Mrs. Tufts heard the
soldiers, and saw from her bed the gun-barrels shining in the
moonlight. She awakened her husband and they both looked out upon
that red-coated column, as it halted long enough for some of the
soldiers to drink at the well.
LIEUT.-COL. SMITH'S ADVANCE THROUGH CAMBRIDGE.
The march was again resumed a few rods farther along the Milk Row
road, then wheeling left southwesterly into Cambridge through what
is now Beech Street, less than an eighth of a mile in length, then
wheeling right into the Lexington and Concord road, towards the
northwest.[95] They were then on what is now known as Massachusetts
Avenue.
Along this part of Battle Road in Cambridge, were perhaps captured
the first prisoners, Thomas Robins and David Harrington, both of
Lexington. Robins was carrying milk to Boston, and in company with
Harrington when they reached the vicinity of Menotomy River, the
present dividing line between Cambridge and Arlington. They were
detained, and compelled to return to Lexington with the soldiers, and
released at the commencement of hostilities on the Common.[96]
FOOTNOTES:
[95] E. C. Booth in The Somerville Journal, April, 1875.
[96] Francis H. Brown, M.D., in Lexington Historical Society
Proceedings, III, 101.
LIEUT.-COL. SMITH'S ADVANCE THROUGH ARLINGTON.
Just after crossing the Menotomy River into Arlington they passed a
house where lived the venerable Samuel Whittemore[97] with his sons
and grandchildren. Silent as was the march intended to be, it awoke
the inmates and preparations for the day commenced.
The troops soon arrived opposite to the Black Horse Tavern, kept by
Mr. Wetherby. Thus far their march had not been heralded other than
by the flashing lights and fleet and silent messengers. Lieut.-Col.
Smith still thought his little army unnoticed, for he rode a little
way beyond the Tavern, halted his men, and sent back an officer with
a file of men, to surround and guard the house, while others should
search the interior for members of the rebel congress whom he thought
to be within. His surmise was correct, to some extent, for three
members were there, just awakened by the heavy tread, and who heard
the low-voiced commands to halt.
The day before, April 18, the Committee of Safety and the Committee
of Supplies, had held a joint meeting at the Tavern, and there were
present, Col. Azor Orne, Col. Joseph Palmer, Col. William Heath,
Col. Thomas Gardner, Richard Devens, Abraham Watson, Capt. Benjamin
White, and John Pigeon, of the Committee of Safety, and David
Cheever, Elbridge Gerry, Col. Charles Lee, and Col. Benjamin Lincoln,
of the Committee of Supplies. At the close of the meeting most of
them, being near enough, had departed for their homes. It will be
remembered that Richard Devens of Charlestown departed early enough
to meet Revere on the Charlestown shore, and acquaint him with the
movement of the ten British officers riding up the road. It will also
be recalled that Elbridge Gerry had sent from here a messenger to
John Hancock at Lexington to the same effect.
However, there were three members of the two committees who chose
to remain at the Black Horse Tavern that night. They were Col. Azor
Orne, Elbridge Gerry, and Col. Charles Lee.
It was not quite three o'clock when the slumbers of these three men
were disturbed by the unusual noise in the road, and they went to the
windows and looked out into the moonlight and down on the marching
host and its gleaming arms. They watched with eager curiosity. Not
for a moment did they connect themselves individually with the
movement, but when they heard the command to halt, and saw a file
of soldiers leave the ranks for the Tavern they were startled, and
then it suddenly occurred to them that possibly they were the objects
of those military manœuvres. They hurried down stairs, even clad in
their night-clothes as they were, and finally sought a safe exit at
the rear. It is said that Mr. Gerry, in his nervous haste to escape,
was on the point of opening the front door and rushing out that way,
but was prevented by the cry of the landlord:
"For God's sake, don't open that door," and who then conducted the
three to the back part of the house, and headed them for a field of
corn stubble. Elbridge Gerry stumbled and fell, and cried out to his
friend:
"Stop, Orne, for me, till I can get up; I have hurt myself."
His position, flat on the ground, out of sight because of the
corn-stubble, suggested that it would be a good hiding-place for all,
so the three lay prone on the ground until the King's troops passed
on. They returned to the Tavern finally to find that the house had
indeed been searched for them, very ineffectively, for even their
personal effects including Mr. Gerry's gold watch, left ticking under
his pillow, had not been disturbed. The search by the soldiers had
not been a very thorough one.
Col. Lee never recovered from the ill effect of his exposure on the
damp ground in the night air, too thinly clad as he was, for he died
within a month.[98]
The march of the British forces under Lieut. Col. Smith up to this
point, was a little over five miles, and it was nearly three o'clock.
He continued serenely for a little farther, for unknown to him the
inmates of many houses that he passed were aroused by the measured
tread of his men.
Solomon Bowman, Lieutenant in Captain Benjamin Locke's Company of
Minute-men, lived in Menotomy, now Arlington.[99] He came to the door
to witness the unusual sight. A soldier perceiving him, left the
ranks and asked for a drink of water. Bowman refused the request,
but asked him:--
"What are you out at this time of night for?"
The reply of the thirsty soldier was not recorded, but whatever it
was Bowman readily drew his own conclusions, and when the column
disappeared up the road, hastened to call out members of his company.
They formed at day-break on the Common.[100]
But at the house across the road, with its chimneys painted white,
the reception was more gracious. A tory lived there, and white
chimneys, it has been said, indicated the owner's politics.[101]
The column halted again, briefly in the centre of the town, and
Lieut.-Col. Smith despatched forward six companies of light infantry
under Major Pitcairn, for the purpose of earlier securing the two
bridges on the roads just beyond Concord village.[102] Scarcely
had he done so, when signal guns and alarm bells were heard,
which indicated a general awakening to arms of the Provincials.
Smith realized the full meaning of those ominous sounds, and from
there, in Arlington village, promptly sent back to Gen. Gage for
reinforcements. Fortunate for him that he did so, for otherwise the
day's climax for his force would have been even more disastrous than
it was.
His marching soldiers could now hardly expect to pass any house
unseen. A party of young men, playing cards, even at that late hour,
in an old shop that stood near the road, lost their interest in the
game and gave it up.[103]
At the Tufts Tavern, still standing on the easterly side of
Massachusetts Avenue, nearly opposite Mt. Vernon Street, the soldiers
halted and some of them proceeded towards Mr. Tufts's barn. He was
awake, and saw them, and suspected that their mission might be the
confiscation of his favorite white horse. He called for his gun, but
his prudent wife informed him that it had been loaned. Opening the
door however, he addressed a British officer saying:
"You are taking an early ride, sir!"
"You had better go to bed and get your sleep while you can," replied
the officer significantly.[104]
At the corner of the main road and the one leading to Winchester, now
Forest Street, "At the Foot of the Rocks," lived a shoemaker. A light
glimmering through the shutters caught the attention of an officer,
who sent a soldier to investigate its cause, so late in the night.
The good wife replied that her "old man" was sick and she was "making
some herb tea." That excuse satisfied the officer, for the family
was left undisturbed. The "tea" was in fact melted pewter plates
being run into bullets. When the rap first came at the door the old
man took to his bed, and his wife emptied the molten pewter into
the ashes, where it was readily found after the soldiers had passed
on.[105] It is probable that ere night some of the leaden tea had
hardened into leaden fruit, and was used for other than medicinal
purposes.
In the next house, still standing (1912) and numbered 1193
Massachusetts Avenue, lived Capt. Benjamin Locke. He looked out and
saw the marching red-coats, and knew what their mission was. He lost
no time in arousing such of his command as lived in that neighborhood.
The British continued along the main road, which at that time ran up
the hill westerly from Capt. Locke's home, and is now called Appleton
Street, into Paul Revere Road, and out again into the present
Massachusetts Avenue. At that time there was no highway between the
extreme ends of these two.
Through the rest of Arlington the march was uneventful, save the
capture of the scouts sent out from Lexington, who were so neatly
ambushed and taken. As we have seen, they were permitted to come down
the road passing a few soldiers who were out in advance, and who
secreted themselves when an approaching horseman was heard. After the
unfortunate scout had passed into the stretch of road bounded by the
advance guard and the main body he was not permitted to return to
Lexington.
Two men from Woburn, Asahel Porter and Josiah Richardson, were
thus captured. It has been stated that they were on their way to
the Boston market. If they lived in that part of Woburn which
adjoins Lexington, then their natural journey would have been into
Lexington, and thence through Arlington and Cambridge. But it may
be that they were scouting simply, for they were on horseback, and
therefore without any apparent market business. They were compelled
to dismount, their horses taken, and then forced to walk along as
prisoners. Reaching the Common in Lexington they were both released
by their kindly disposed guard, with the particular understanding
that they were to walk, not run, away. Richardson accepted those
conditions, carried them out and so escaped. But Porter, once over
Rufus Merriam's garden-wall, twenty rods away from his captors,
started into a run. Some other soldier than his guard saw him, and
evidently thinking that a prisoner was escaping, promptly shot him
through the body. Those captures were probably made in Arlington, and
not far from the Lexington boundary line.
FOOTNOTES:
[97] House still standing, (1912) and numbered 54 Massachusetts
Avenue.
[98] Samuel A. Smith's Address at West Cambridge, page 17.
[99] House still standing on the northerly side of Massachusetts
Avenue, numbered 417, nearly opposite Whittemore Street. Arlington
Past and Present, Parker, page 141.
[100] Statement of Mrs. Hill, daughter of Bowman, in Smith's Address,
page 18.
[101] Smith, 18.
[102] Lieut.-Col. Smith's Report.
[103] A. R. Proctor, who heard it from William Hill and told it to
Mr. Smith. The shop stood front of the residence occupied by James
Schouler in 1864. Smith, West Cambridge Address, page 19.
[104] Mrs. Almira T. Whittemore in Parker's Arlington, 194-5.
[105] Mrs. Henry Whittemore's Statement, Smith's West Cambridge
Address, 20.
LIEUT.-COL. SMITH'S ADVANCE THROUGH LEXINGTON.
It must have been just over the line into Lexington that the young
man, Simon Winship, was met. He was on horseback, unarmed, and
passing along in a peaceable manner, when he was halted and ordered
to dismount. He questioned their right to treat him in that manner,
but for answer they forced him from his horse and compelled him to
march on foot in their midst. They asked him if he had been out
warning the minute-men, to which he replied that he had not, but that
he was returning home to his father's. He was kept as a prisoner
until they arrived at Lexington Common, two and one-half miles, where
he was compelled to witness the shooting of his fellow townsmen.
Half a mile farther along, and about two miles from Lexington Common,
Benjamin Wellington, one of Capt. Parker's Company of minute-men, was
captured. This took place very nearly at the corner of Massachusetts
Avenue and Pleasant Street. Wellington was armed and on his way from
home on Pleasant Street to join his company. Thus it is claimed, and
rightly, that he was the first belligerent or armed man captured
by the British. But for some reason he was allowed to depart, not
towards the Common, but for home. His gun was not returned to him,
however. He started towards home but when out of their sight, turned
and passed northerly along the crest of the hills, parallel to the
highway, and reached the Common just after Thaddeus Bowman, but ahead
of the British.
THE OPENING BATTLE ON LEXINGTON COMMON.
The six companies of light infantry under command of Major Pitcairn
were now considerably in advance of the main body under Smith, and up
the road somewhat farther than the present high school building, even
farther along than where the Woburn road, now Woburn Street, turns
off to the eastward. When still nearer Lexington Common, within about
one hundred rods of it, they heard the beating of a drum by William
Dimond, drummer in Captain Parker's Company. It was the summons for
that little band to assemble across the pathway of an invading army.
Major Pitcairn accepted it as a challenge, and promptly ordered his
soldiers to halt and load their muskets,[106] and then to march on
the double quick for Lexington Common.[107]
[Illustration: _The Battle of Lexington, April 19^{th}, 1775. Plate
I._]
[Illustration: LEXINGTON COMMON AND VICINITY.
1. Lexington Common. 2. Meeting House. 3. Belfry. 4. Marrett Munroe.
5. Emerson. 6. Buckman Tavern. 7. Harrington. 8. Rev. Jonas Clarke.
9. Merriam. 10. Loring. 11. Mead. 12. Mulliken. 13. Bond. 14. Munroe
Tavern. 15. Sanderson. 16. Mason. 17. Percy's Cannon. 18. Lieut.-Col.
Smith wounded. 19. Hayward mortally wounded. 20. Wellington captured.]
Captain John Parker's company numbered, all told, one hundred and
twenty men, but only a few more than half answered to this call at
day-break, April 19. It will be remembered that Paul Revere did not
reach Lexington with his message of alarm until midnight. Many of
the minute-men lived too remote to be so quickly summoned. Captain
Parker's home was over two miles away, in the southwesterly part
of the town, near the Waltham line. He was called at about one
o'clock,[108] and stood on the Common before two o'clock with such
of his men as had then assembled. We have seen how they answered the
roll-call and then dispersed to be within call of the drum, as the
night was chilly. Those who lived near, went home, and those who
lived too far away, to quickly go and come, repaired to Buckman's
Tavern, close at hand.
Captain Parker has been described by his grandson, Theodore Parker,
the celebrated Unitarian preacher, as being "a great, tall man, with
a large head, and a high, wide brow." His great grand-daughter,
Elizabeth S. Parker, has described him as stout, large-framed, medium
height, like Rev. Theodore Parker, but with a longer face.[109] We
can imagine him as a prudent man, with a quiet, yet firm courage.
Two men from Woburn had just arrived, and it was then a little
before five o'clock. They were Sylvanus Wood and Robert Douglass.
They had come about three miles, having heard, about an hour before,
the ringing of the bell in the Old Belfry, which stood near the
church on the Common. As Wood came up he approached Captain Parker
and inquired the news. Parker replied that he did not know what to
believe, for, half an hour before, a messenger had returned with the
assurance that no British were on the way. While talking, another
messenger, Thaddeus Bowman, rode up with the startling announcement
that the British were within half a mile. They were nearer than
that--not even down the road as far as Woburn Street.
Captain Parker then ordered his drummer, William Dimond[110] to beat
to arms. The minute-men assembled from their homes and from the
Buckman Tavern. They were but few, so few indeed, that he turned to
Wood and begged him to join their ranks. Wood consented. Parker asked
him if his young companion, meaning Robert Douglass, would also join.
And Douglass also enlisted into Captain Parker's Company. These two
were indeed brave, for the danger was really then and there.
The minute-men gathered around their captain in the middle of the
road, about half way between the meeting-house and the tavern. The
meeting-house then stood where the heroic statue of a minute-man in
bronze now stands. The tavern is still standing (1912).
Parker then said:
"Every man of you who is equipped, follow me; and those of you who
are not equipped, go into the meeting-house and furnish yourselves
from the magazine, and immediately join the company."[111] Joseph
Comee, Caleb Harrington and Joshua Simonds then went into the
meeting-house, to comply with the Captain's command.
Then Parker led those who were equipped, to the northerly end of the
Common, where they formed in single line. Sylvanus Wood stepped from
the ranks long enough to count them, and has left his sworn statement
that there were thirty-eight, "and no more."[112]
In the brief moments which followed others were hastening to join the
ranks, and as they arrived Orderly Sergeant William Munroe attempted
to form them into a second line, and partially succeeded.[113]
Even later still a few more reached the Common, and were back to
the British as they wheeled grandly around the easterly end of the
meeting-house and at last stood on Lexington Common.[114] Captain
Parker's entire force then numbered between sixty and seventy
men,[115] ununiformed, scantily armed, poorly disciplined, pitifully
few as compared with the three or four hundred of the British.
It is no wonder that one minute-man exclaimed:
"There are so few of us it is folly to stand here."
Captain Parker heard the remark, and answered:
"The first man who offers to run shall be shot down."[116]
On came the British, almost on the run,[117] the light companies of
the Tenth Regiment in advance.[118] At their head rode Major John
Pitcairn and two other mounted officers.[119]
"Stand your ground," exclaimed Parker; "don't fire unless fired upon.
But if they want to have a war let it begin here!"[120]
Major Pitcairn galloped up to within six rods of Captain Parker's
foremost line, and exclaimed:
"Lay down your arms, you damned rebels, and disperse."
Captain Parker, seeing the utter hopelessness of armed resistance,
gave the order to disperse and not to fire.[121] He did not, however,
order his men to lay down their arms. Evidently Pitcairn wished to
disarm them, for while they were dispersing he shouted again:--
"Damn you, why don't you lay down your arms?"[122]
But no answer came back, and each one of Capt. Parker's little band
retiring from the field, carried his gun with him.
Then one of the other mounted officers, about two rods behind
Pitcairn, name unknown, brandished his sword and the regulars huzzaed
in unison. He then pointed his pistol towards the minute-men and
fired.[123]
Pitcairn was back to that officer, so did not see him fire. He heard
the discharge, and easily might have mistaken it as coming from
an enemy, for he had not authorized it himself.[124] Furious with
passion he gave the order:
"Fire!"
There was hesitation to obey from his men, for he repeated:
"Fire, damn you, fire!"[125]
The first platoon of eight or nine men then fired, evidently over
the heads of the minute-men, for none were killed or wounded.[126]
Pitcairn saw the effects of that volley and realized that his men did
not aim to kill. Then came his next order:
"G----d d----n you, fire _at_ them!"[127]
The second volley surely was fired to kill.
John Munroe, one of the minute-men in line, thought that the first
volley was nothing but powder and so remarked to Ebenezer Munroe, who
stood next to him. But as the second volley came quickly and with
fatal effect, the latter answered that something more than powder was
being used for he had received a wound in his arm, and, he added:
"I'll give them the guts of my gun."[128]
These two Munroes then deliberately fired at the British, though
the smoke from the latter's guns prevented a deliberate and careful
aim.[129] John Munroe, after retreating about ten rods, loaded a
second time, with two balls, and fired, but the charge was too heavy,
and he lost about a foot from the muzzle end of his gun.[130]
Jonas Parker, cousin to the Captain, was mortally wounded through the
body,[131] from the second volley, but having sufficient strength,
fired in return. He had but just uttered his determination not to
run, and had placed his hat on the ground at his feet, and in it put
his bullets and extra flints. The British bullet in his body caused
him to sink to his knees, but he heroically endeavored to reload. He
could not, before the advancing enemy were upon him, and one of them
ended his sufferings with a bayonet thrust.[132]
Jonathan Harrington, Jr., was mortally wounded, but staggered towards
his home, on the northerly end of the Common. He fell before reaching
there, struggled to his feet again, and staggered almost to his own
door, where he expired, just as his wife rushed to meet him. He fell
near the barn, then standing in what is now Bedford Street.[133]
Ensign Robert Munroe was killed while attempting to escape. He was
just at the edge of the Common, by the wall at Merriam's barn.[134]
His daughter, Anna, wife of Daniel Harrington, who lived at the
northerly end of the Common, must have seen the tragedy, as must also
his two sons, Ebenezer and John, and his two sons-in-law, Daniel
Harrington and Lieut. Tidd, all four in line with Captain Parker.
When Parker directed such of his force as were without ammunition
to proceed into the meeting-house near by, and supply themselves
from the town's stock, as we have written, Joseph Comee, Caleb
Harrington and Joshua Simonds entered the sacred edifice for that
purpose. Simonds succeeded in getting down from the upper loft to
the first balcony, two quarter casks of powder, and had removed
the head from one.[135] The opening volley, but a few rods away,
indicated to him that hostilities had commenced. He expected to meet
his fate. Pointing his gun to the open cask he resolved to blow up
the meeting-house, himself and his enemies, rather than to have them
enter and capture him.[136] Comee and Harrington attempted to escape,
and were running from the westerly end of the meeting-house, when the
latter was shot and instantly killed,[137] and the former wounded in
the arm. He made his way to the Marrett Munroe house, passed through
it and out of the back door, and escaped over the hill at the rear.
Then with savage ferocity the British rushed on, hunting down the
fleeing minute-men, as they attempted to escape in all directions. A
mounted officer, supposed to be Pitcairn, pursued William Tidd up the
North road (now Hancock Street), about thirty rods, calling out to
him:
"Damn you, stop, or you are a dead man!"
Thereupon Tidd leaped over a pair of bars, made a stand and
discharged his gun at his pursuer, who then retreated to the main
body.[138]