men, he was an active participant. After their second volley, he
opened fire from the back door of Buckman's Tavern, and then in order
to get a better shot, passed through to the front door, and fired
from there. The British retaliated with a return volley, and the
bullet holes in the old building still vouch for it. John Buckman,
the landlord, remonstrated with Brown, against having his house used
as a fort, so the latter took a new position, lying down behind a
neighboring stone wall back of the barn, and opened fire again.[139]
The British again responded. Their leaden bullets spattered against
the wall and from their impact little clouds of stone dust like
smoke, told a witness where they struck.[140] Brown's aim was at an
officer, and group of soldiers, and subsequently Abijah Harrington
saw a pool of blood on the ground where they stood.[141]
John Brown and Samuel Hadley were killed on the edge of the swamp, a
little way to the north of the Common. They were retreating, but not
beyond the reach of their pursuers' bullets.[142]
Asahel Porter, unarmed, non-combatant, and who had been brought
up from Menotomy with Josiah Richardson as prisoners, was killed
a few rods over the wall in Buckman's garden, to the eastward of
the Tavern. He had been liberated with other prisoners, and had
been cautioned not to _run_, but walk away. After walking a little
distance he felt impelled to run, and was pursued by a British
bullet, with fatal effect. Richardson walked away, and safely escaped.
The work of the British on Lexington Common, occupying less than
half an hour, was now finished. Their casualties were slight, one man
of the Tenth Regiment wounded in the thigh, another in the hand, and
Major Pitcairn's horse shot in two places.[143] The killing of the
minute-men, had, however, wrought the rank and file up to a frenzied
pitch of excitement, so much so, that the officers had difficulty
in forming them into line again.[144] They succeeded though. In the
meantime the main body under Lieut.-Col. Smith arrived, and when they
were all in marching order a volley was fired, and huzzas shouted as
an expression of victory, and then they proceeded on their way.[145]
Just then the sun rose on this new field of battle.[146]
Again the fife and drum, at first harsh and loud, echoing against the
neighboring hills; then fainter and fainter, as the troops marched up
and over the summit of Concord Hill, a mile away.
And when they were indeed gone, the men and women and children of
Lexington came forth from their hiding places and looked upon the
scene. We of today, have never seen our Common as they saw it, its
turf torn with horses' hoofs, and clotted here and there with human
blood; with prostrate figures of men, some with faces upward to the
sky, others with theirs smothered helplessly in the dust. One might
almost think they were asleep.
Such was the fulfilment of their solemn pledge, that they stood ready
to sacrifice "_everything dear in life, yea and life itself, in
support of the common cause_."[147]
Strong and willing arms then bore all of those precious dead into
the house of God. And we can imagine, as they came forth, that their
faces were turned towards Concord Hill, shining with a patriot's full
meaning. We can go with them through the day, as they join the men
of Acton; of Concord;--men from all over Middlesex, and Essex, and
Norfolk Counties, who also stood so ready to defend the common cause,
yea, even with life itself!
The dead on or near Lexington Common were Jonas Parker, Jonathan
Harrington, Jr., Ensign Robert Munroe, Isaac Muzzy, John Brown,
Samuel Hadley, Caleb Harrington, and Asahel Porter. The wounded were
John Robbins, so that he could not write his name or even make his
mark;[148] Solomon Pierce; John Tidd, sabre cut on his head by a
British officer;[149] Joseph Comee, on his arm;[149] Ebenezer Munroe,
Jr., on his arm;[150] Thomas Winship; Nathaniel Farmer; Prince
Estabrook (colored) and Jedediah Munroe (who was killed later in the
day).
Hardly had the soldiers of King George reached the summit of Concord
Hill, a mile away, ere stragglers, wearing the same uniform, were
seen coming up the road, apparently without fear or guile. There
were five in all, but as they came singly or in twos, were not
looked upon as dangerous belligerents. Joshua Simonds emerging
from the meeting-house, captured the first one, took his gun away,
and gave it to Captain Parker.[151] Deacon Benjamin Brown captured
one.[152] Joshua Reed, of Woburn, captured one, took away his gun
and other warlike equipments and turned him over to James Reed of
Burlington,[153] then called Woburn Precinct. Two more were taken on
or near the Common, and their arms, or those of two Britons at all
events, carried into Buckman Tavern by Ebenezer Munroe, later given
to minute-men, who had none of their own.[154]
Another prisoner, the sixth, was captured by Sylvanus Wood of
Woburn, the man who joined Captain Parker's Company, and stood in
line to receive the first volley, as the British marched into sight.
When they marched away he followed on, up over Concord and Fiske
Hills. Arriving at a turn in the road, beyond the latter, he came
unexpectedly upon a soldier who for some good reason had dropped
out of the ranks. He was seated at the roadside, and his gun leaned
at rest beyond his reach. Wood was a little man, about five feet
tall, but large in valor. So he demanded the surrender of his enemy.
Helpless as he was he could only comply, and Wood marched him back to
Lexington Common and placed him in the charge of a Mr. Welsh.[155]
This prisoner also was captured in Lexington, at the bluff near the
Bull Tavern, later kept by Mr. Viles. It stood not far from the
Lincoln line. He and four of the others taken on Lexington Common
were escorted to James Reed's in Burlington by Thomas R. Willard,
William Munroe, and E. Welsh.[156]
FOOTNOTES:
[106] Deposition of Wm. Munroe who states that he saw about two
hundred cartridge ends dropped by the soldiers when loading.
[107] Deposition of William Munroe, reciting a statement to him by a
British prisoner.
[108] Deposition of Captain John Parker.
[109] Article by Elizabeth S. Parker in Lexington Historical Society,
I, 47.
[110] "William Dimond. Died July 29, 1828. Aged 73." Inscription
on his gravestone in Peterboro, N. H. See article in the Boston
Globe, Sept. 23, 1903, speaking of him at length as the drummer in
Capt. Parker's Company. See also the deposition of Sylvanus Wood who
called him William Dimon. See also list of Capt. Parker's Company in
Boutwell's Oration at Acton.
[111] Deposition of Sylvanus Wood.
[112] Deposition of Sylvanus Wood.
[113] Deposition of William Munroe.
[114] Depositions of Nathaniel Parkhurst and thirteen others, and of
Nathaniel Mulliken and thirty-three others.
[115] Depositions of John Munroe, of Ebenezer Munroe, and of William
Tidd. Also of Lieut. Edward Thornton Gould, of the Fourth or King's
Own Regiment, taken prisoner at Concord.
[116] Depositions of Robert Douglass and of Joseph Underwood.
[117] Deposition of William Draper.
[118] Historical Memoirs of the 52nd Regiment copied in Evelyn's
Memoirs, pages 56-7.
[119] Depositions of Thomas Fessenden and of John Robbins.
[120] When this scene was re-enacted in 1822, William Munroe, Orderly
Sergeant under Parker that morning, repeated the words of Captain
Parker as above quoted, and added: "Them are the very words that
Captain Parker said." Report of the Committee on Historical Monuments
and Tablets, 1884. Paul Revere heard Captain Parker say: "Let the
troops pass by and don't molest them without they begin first." See
Revere's Narrative.
[121] Deposition of Captain John Parker.
[122] Rev. Jonas Clarke.
[123] Deposition of Thomas Fessenden.
[124] The English contention is that the Americans fired first. See
letter of W. S. Evelyn, who was with Percy; De Bernicre's Account,
and Lieut.-Col. Smith's Report. It seems to me of but little moment
as to who fired first. The council of war, convened by Gen. Gage,
April 18, wherein it was determined to march out and destroy the
public stores of Massachusetts was the first real hostile act and
could only lead to war. Major Pitcairn has denied that he authorized
that first shot. I believe him to have been gruff and profane, but
honest, brave, and faithful to his King. He died from wounds received
in the Battle of Bunker Hill.
[125] Depositions of William Draper; of William Munroe; of Simon
Winship; of John Munroe; and of John Bateman, a British soldier.
[126] Deposition of William Wood.
[127] MSS. narrative of Levi Harrington, a youthful spectator.
[128] Deposition of John Munroe.
[129] Deposition of John Munroe.
[130] MSS. narrative of Levi Harrington, and Deposition of John
Munroe.
[131] MSS. Narrative of Levi Harrington.
[132] Deposition of William Munroe.
[133] MSS. Narrative of Levi Harrington.
[134] MSS. Narrative of Levi Harrington.
[135] Phinney's History of the Battle of Lexington.
[136] Deposition of Ebenezer Munroe.
[137] MSS. Narrative of Levi Harrington.
[138] Deposition of William Tidd.
[139] Miss Mary Merriam, ninety years of age in 1887, reported to
Edward P. Bliss, that she had heard her father say (and he was
thirteen years old when the battle took place) that on that morning
some who would not stand up for their country believed the British
would not fire on _them_. They were at the Tavern. The British fired
on them, however, and they promptly retreated to the cellar and
attic. Edward P. Bliss in Lexington Hist. Society Proceedings, I, 71.
[140] Depositions of William Munroe, minute-man, and of Elijah
Sanderson, spectator. Also statement of Rufus Merriam, spectator,
then in his thirteenth year, to Rev. A. B. Muzzey. Young Merriam
overheard Buckman's remonstrance. Muzzey's Battle of Lexington, page
6. MSS. Narrative of Levi Harrington.
[141] MSS. Narrative of Levi Harrington; Deposition of Abijah
Harrington.
[142] MSS. Narrative of Levi Harrington, who, however, erroneously
names them John Parker and Isaac Hadley.
[143] A British officer in Boston in 1775, De Bernicre's Account,
Report of Lieut.-Col. Smith, Statement of a British Prisoner as
recited in Ebenezer Munroe's Deposition.
[144] A British Officer in Boston in 1775.
[145] Rev. Jonas Clarke, an eye-witness of this incident.
[146] At 5.19 A. M. Astronomical Diary and Almanack for 1775, by
Nathaniel Low.
[147] From a patriotic resolution passed in Town Meeting in December,
1773. Hudson's History of Lexington, page 92.
[148] His deposition April 24, 1775.
[149] MSS. Narrative of Levi Harrington.
[150] His deposition.
[151] This gun descended to his grandson, Rev. Theodore Parker, who
gave it to the State of Massachusetts. Bradford Smith in Lexington
Hist. Soc. Proceedings, II, 145.
[152] Deposition of Abijah Harrington.
[153] Deposition of James Reed.
[154] Deposition of Ebenezer Munroe.
[155] Mt. Vernon Papers by Edward Everett, page 430. Everett, a
member of Congress in 1826, secured a pension of $96 per year for
Wood. Once, when the latter was in Washington he introduced him to
President Jackson. See also the History of Woburn, by Sewall, who
received his information from Wood's son. Also see the deposition of
Wood.
[156] Deposition of E. Welsh.
LIEUT.-COL. SMITH'S ADVANCE THROUGH LINCOLN.
The march of the British from Lexington Common to the Lincoln line
and thence through the Town of Lincoln and into Concord to Meriam's
Corner, a distance of a little over five miles, was without unusual
incidents. That part of Lincoln through which they passed is the
edge of the town, and then, as now, but sparsely settled. The
village of Lincoln is considerably to the westward, fortunately,
and thus most of the inhabitants were too remote for insult or more
serious trouble. The men of Lincoln, however, were not unmindful of
the enemy's movements, as we shall see later on. In the woods that
bordered the highway, the British saw some of them,[157] but not in
sufficient number evidently to oppose their advance.
[Illustration: _Plate II. A View of the Town of Concord_]
FOOTNOTE:
[157] Deposition of Lieut. Edward Thornton Gould, a British prisoner.
LIEUT.-COL. SMITH'S ADVANCE INTO CONCORD.
From Meriam's Corner in Concord to the centre of Concord village is
about a mile and a quarter. From the Corner and on the northerly
side of the road, commences a line of hills rising fully sixty
feet,[158] or more above the road, which skirts along their edges,
and perhaps an eighth of mile from, and parallel to, their summits.
The ridge commands very easily and nicely the road, for the entire
distance, and was looked upon by both sides as a desirable place to
occupy. Captain Nathan Barrett and his company of Concord militia
had occupied that part of it near the meeting-house from about an
hour after sunrise, for they had received the intelligence of the
killing of six Americans at Lexington.[159] Capt. George Minot
and his company of minute-men, assembled there also.[160] Farther
along the ridge, towards Meriam's Corner, other Americans had taken
position,[161] probably as individuals. It was about two hours after
sunrise when the enemy came into sight.[162]
As Lieut.-Col. Smith came into view of this location he saw the body
of provincials along the ridge, and quickly decided to dislodge them.
The light infantry were ordered to that work, and they succeeded in
forcing the Americans back to the village. The grenadiers continued
along the road, driving before them there, Captain David Brown's
Company of Concord minute-men, who had marched up from the village
as far as Meriam's Corner, on a scouting trip. When the British were
seen descending from the hills of Lincoln, they halted, and when the
enemy came within about one hundred rods, wheeled about and marched
back to the village, the fifes and drums of both forces playing.[163]
On the hill not far from the village stood the Liberty Pole, from the
summit of which some kind of a flag was flying. The British cut it
down.[164]
It was between seven and eight o'clock, when the enemy reached
Concord village.[165] The march from Lexington must have been a
steady one, without interruption. The distance is about six and
a quarter miles and the elapsed time about two hours. The entire
distance from Lechmere Point is about seventeen miles, sufficiently
long, even thus far, to weary many of the soldiers. Add to the
length of the march, their loss of sleep, before starting, and the
excitement on Lexington Common, it is easy to imagine that a few
halts for rest were allowed, though an anxiety to accomplish their
errand would not have permitted of unnecessary delays.
Their advance into Concord village compelled the Americans to
move along to an adjoining hill just to the northward, which they
subsequently abandoned, and marched still farther along, passing
over the North Bridge and taking a stronger position on Punkatasset
Hill whose summit is fully two hundred feet[166] higher than Concord
River, and perhaps half a mile from the bridge, and rather more than
a mile from the village itself. It was their third position, and then
about eight o'clock in the morning.[167]
Reaching Concord village Lieut.-Col. Smith proceeded at once to carry
out the plan of his expedition, viz., the destruction of the military
stores. Ensign De Bernicre acted as guide to where they could be
found, for he had been one of the spies sent out by Gen. Gage for the
express purpose of locating them.
Smith found but few people in the village, for the able-bodied
men were with their companies, and many of the non-combatants had
considered other places more secure. Some, however, remained, and the
British officers labored to convince them that no bodily harm was
intended.
Pitcairn was especially active in that diplomatic work, but insisting
all the time that their doors must be unlocked that the soldiers
might search their premises. Many would not submit peaceably to
such an indignity, and one of those old men of Concord, had the
courage to strike Major John Pitcairn in the presence of the King's
soldiers.[168] We can imagine this incident happened before that
doughty officer entered Wright's Tavern, and called for liquor,
into which he plunged his finger to stir the sweetening. Some of
the precious fluid slopped over, which he likened to the way Yankee
blood should spill ere nightfall, a remark possibly inspired by his
over-wrought feelings at the affront.
Captain Lawrence Parsons of the Tenth Regiment, with six light
companies, was immediately despatched for the North Bridge, distance
three quarters of a mile. There he left Capt. Walter Sloane Lawrie of
the Forty-third Regiment, with three of the companies for guard duty,
while he proceeded with the other three companies, guided by Ensign
De Bernicre over the bridge and up the left bank of the Concord River
and its northerly branch, the Assabet River, to the home of Colonel
Barrett,[169] almost two miles from the bridge.[170]
Capt. Lawrie, arriving near the bridge, assigned one company of the
Forty-third Regiment to the bridge itself, one of the Tenth Regiment,
to a nearby hill, and one of the Fourth or King's Own Regiment to
another hill a quarter of a mile farther away,[171] so arranged as to
be within supporting distance of each other.[172]
After the six companies under Parsons had departed Lieut.-Col. Smith
sent Capt. Mundy Pole of the Tenth Regiment with a force, towards the
South Bridge, incidentally for guard duty there, and in particular to
destroy such military stores as they might find.[173] The distance
from the village to the bridge is almost a mile.[174] They went a
little beyond, to the homes of Amos and Ephraim Wood, and in the
vicinity of Lee's Hill.[175]
Within the village the British were very active in their search
for the military supplies. Public buildings, stores, and private
dwellings were alike examined. At the malt house of Ebenezer Hubbard
a considerable quantity of flour was discovered, and the end boards
of the building were pulled off, that the barrels might the easier
and faster be rolled out into the road, where they were broken open,
and the contents mixed with the dust.[176] At the store house of
Timothy Wheeler, another lot of flour was found, which the miller, by
a little artifice, saved. It was indeed public property, but Wheeler,
placing his hand upon the bags of meal, one after another, and which
stood with the flour, assured the soldiers that he was a miller, and
that they were his.
They were considerate enough to spare his personal property, and
included the flour.[177]
At the neighboring grist-mill several barrels were seized, and rolled
to or into the mill pond, but part was subsequently saved, as it
hardly reached the water.[178]
Deacon Thomas Barrett, brother of Colonel Barrett, was a resident of
the village. He was an aged man, and remained quietly in or near his
home while the soldiers were busy in looting and destroying. He was a
man of gentle demeanor, and unarmed, but they seized him, called him
rebel, and even threatened to take his life. He pleaded with them to
dispense with that trouble, for his extreme age meant that he should
soon die anyway. They permitted him to go in peace. In his building
was a gun-factory carried on by his son, Samuel Barrett.[179]
FOOTNOTES:
[158] U. S. Geological Survey, 1886.
[159] Deposition of Capt. Nathan Barrett and fifteen others, all of
Concord.
[160] Diary of Rev. William Emerson.
[161] Deposition of Lieut. Edward Thornton Gould, British.
[162] Deposition of Capt. Nathan Barrett and fifteen others.
[163] Capt. Amos Barrett's Account, who was then present as a member
of Brown's Company.
[164] A British Officer in Boston in 1775.
[165] De Bernicre, the British authority who was present, states the
time as being between nine and ten o'clock, but I follow Captain
Barrett and fifteen others who state in their deposition that it was
about two hours after sunrise.
[166] U. S. Geological Survey, 1886.
[167] Frederic Hudson in Harper's Magazine, May, 1875.
[168] Lieut.-Col. Smith's report.
[169] De Bernicre and Editor's Note to Diary of a British Officer.
[170] 1-74/88 miles, to be exact.
[171] Editor's Note in A British Officer in Boston in 1775, and
Deposition of Lieut. Edward Thornton Gould, British officer present.
[172] De Bernicre.
[173] De Bernicre.
[174] 82/88 mile to be exact.
[175] Frederic Hudson, in Harper's Magazine, May, 1875.
[176] Ripley, Rev. Ezra. History of the Fight at Concord.
[177] Ripley.
[178] The old mill-pond occupied a goodly portion of the land bounded
by Lexington Road, Heywood, Walden, and Main Streets, the northerly
corner almost reaching Wright's Tavern. Subsequently it was filled in
and now stores and dwellings occupy its entire area.
[179] Ripley.
BATTLE AT NORTH BRIDGE IN CONCORD.
In the meantime large numbers of Americans were gathering on the
hills to the northward beyond the river. The commander of the British
at the North Bridge and vicinity was not unmindful of that, and
deemed it wise to concentrate his little army of three companies
at the bridge itself, as that seemed to be the threatened point of
attack. Consequently the two remoter companies were marched down from
the hills and joined the third, and then all three marched to the
easterly or nearer end of the bridge.
[Illustration: _Plate III. The Engagement at the North Bridge in
Concord_]
[Illustration: CONCORD VILLAGE AND VICINITY.
1. Col. Barrett. 2. Barrett's Mill. 3. John Handley. 4. John White's
Store. 5. Widow Brown's Tavern. 6. J. Davis. 7. John Brown. 8. Fourth
American Position. 9. Major Buttrick. 10. Third American Position.
11. North Bridge. 12. Rev. Mr. Emerson. 13. Elisha Jones. 14. Second
American Position. 15. Capt. Eph. Jones's Tavern. 16. Grist Mill.
17. Wright's Tavern. 18. First American Position. 19. Meriam's
Corner. 20. South Bridge. 21. Lieut. Jos. Hosmer. 22. Eph. Wood. 23.
Discontinues Roads. 24. New Roads.]
About a quarter of a mile beyond the North Bridge, and in a westerly
direction from it, is a little hill about forty feet higher than
the river.[180] To reach it by road from the bridge meant traveling
over two sides of an irregular triangle, and going nearly half a
mile.[181] The crest of the elevation commands a beautiful view up
and down the river, with the North Bridge in the middle foreground,
and the village nearly a mile away to the southward.
The Americans moved forward from Punkatasset Hill to this, their
fourth position, at about nine o'clock, as their reinforcements had
augmented sufficiently to induce a growing feeling of aggressiveness.
Here were assembling the sturdy men of Concord and of Acton; of
Bedford, Lincoln, and Carlisle, and of other neighboring towns.
Joseph Hosmer acted as Adjutant, forming the soldiers as they
arrived, the minute companies on the right and the militia on the
left, facing the bridge.[182]
Col. James Barrett summoned his subordinate officers for a council of
war, the first one of the American Revolution, and while they were so
engaged, Captain Isaac Davis and his company of minute-men from Acton
arrived, and marched to a position on the left of the line, as they
had been accustomed to on training-days. After halting his little
command, Capt. Davis joined his brother officers in their council of
war.
There were then assembled on that little hill, four Concord
companies, commanded respectively by Capt. David Brown, fifty-two
men; Capt. Charles Miles, fifty-two men; Capt. George Minot, number
of men unknown; and Capt. Nathan Barrett, number of men also unknown.
From Acton there were three companies, one under Capt. Isaac Davis,
thirty-eight men; one under Capt. Joseph Robins, number of men
unknown; and one under Capt. Simon Hunt,[183] number of men also
unknown. There were two companies from Bedford, one being under
Capt. John Moore, fifty-one men; and the other under Capt. Jonathan
Willson, twenty-eight men. A little later Captain Willson was killed
and his command fell to Lieut. Moses Abbott. Lincoln was represented
by Capt. William Smith with sixty-two men.[184]
In addition to these regular organized soldiers, there were many
individuals present, who undoubtedly took a patriotic part in the
subsequent events, and easily constituted the American force as one
of at least four hundred and ninety.
These men looked down on the hostile troops at the Bridge, and beyond
the river to the village, where huge volumes of smoke were rising
from the bonfires of military stores. These seemed to them as the
burning of their homes. Inspired by that fear, and by their knowledge
of the bloodshed at Lexington, they were ready to follow where their
officers should lead. Their council could only decide in one way: