auction. Capt. Nathan Barrett bought the pistols, beautiful ones,
with elaborately chased silver mountings, with Pitcairn's name
engraved thereon. Capt. Barrett offered them to Gen. Washington, who
declined them, and then to Gen. Putnam, who carried them through the
war. They were brought to Lexington on Centennial Day, April 19,
1875, for exhibition by Rev. S. I. Prime, D.D., on behalf of the
owner, a widow of John P. Putnam, of Cambridge, N. Y., who was the
grandson of Gen. Putnam and to whom they descended. Later Mrs. Putnam
gave them to the town of Lexington and they are now on exhibition by
the Lexington Historical Society (See Handbook of Lexington, 1891.)
Rev. William Emerson of Concord, requested of the Third Provincial
Congress, June 1, 1775, the use of a horse, probably Pitcairn's,
which they granted specifying one captured from a regular by Isaac
Kittredge, of Tewksbury, Capt. Nathan Barrett, and Henry Flint, of
Concord, Mr. Emerson to pay a reasonable price for its keeping up to
that time.
[240] Statement to me by the late Rev. Carlton A. Staples.
[241] U. S. Geological Survey, 1886.
[242] Statement of H. M. Houghton to the Rev. Carlton A. Staples,
who so informed me. Mr. Houghton lived in that vicinity during his
boyhood and furnished a roughly sketched plan to Mr. Staples.
[243] James Fletcher's History of Acton, in Hurd's History of
Middlesex County.
[244] See Foster's Narrative.
[245] The exact spot was pointed out to me by the late Rev. Carlton
A. Staples, Sept. 11, 1900, who received his information accompanied
by a plan from H. M. Houghton.
[246] Diary of a British Officer in Boston in 1775, who was a member
of the expedition.
[247] U. S. Geological Surveys, 1898, 1900.
[248] Foster's Account. E. P. Bliss gives the number as two, in
Lexington Hist. Soc., I, 75.
[249] E. P. Bliss, in Lexington Historical Society, I, 75.
[250] C. Stedman. History of the Origin, Progress, and Termination of
the American War. London, 1794.
[251] Percy's Report to Gen. Gage.
[252] The damage to the meeting-house by the cannon ball cost the
Town of Lexington to repair £1 1s. Rev. C. A. Staples in Lexington
Historical Society, I, 21.
[253] Ripley.
[254] Hudson's History of Sudbury.
[255] De Bernicre.
[256] "Father sent Jonas down to Grandfather Cook's to see who was
killed and what their condition was and, in the afternoon, Father,
Mother with me and the Baby went to the Meeting House, there was the
eight men that was killed, seven of them my Father's parishoners,
one from Woburn, all in Boxes made of four large Boards Nailed up
and, after Pa had prayed, they were put into two horse carts and took
into the grave yard where your Grandfather and some of the Neighbors
had made a large trench, as near the Woods as possible and there we
followed the bodies of those _first slain_, _Father_, _Mother_, I
and the Baby, there I stood and there I saw them let down into the
ground, it was a little rainey but we waited to see them covered up
with the Clods and then for fear the British should find them, my
Father thought some of the men had best Cut some pine or oak bows and
spread them on their place of burial so that it looked like a heap of
Brush."
I am indebted to the Lexington Historical Society, Proceedings, Vol.
IV, page 92, for the above extract from a letter written by Miss
Elizabeth Clarke, daughter of Rev. Jonas Clarke. It is dated from
Lexington, April 19, 1841, and written to her niece, Mrs. Lucy Ware
Allen, whose mother was Mary, another daughter of Rev. Mr. Clarke.
The writer, Miss Elizabeth, was then in her seventy-eighth year. I am
inclined to think that Asahel Porter, the Woburn man, was buried in
his own town. Though killed near the Common he was not one of Capt.
Parker's Company.
EARL PERCY MARCHES TO REINFORCE LIEUT.-COL. SMITH.
As the command of Lieut.-Col. Smith will now rest for a brief period,
let us go back to Boston and start with Earl Percy, on his mission to
reinforce the former, and consider his delays and difficulties, and
why he got no farther than Lexington.
As we have seen, it was between two and three o'clock in the morning
when Smith reached Arlington, and becoming alarmed at the increasing
attention his soldiers were attracting;--attention that seemed to
him hostile, he despatched back to Gen. Gage an urgent request for
reinforcements. His messenger should have reached Gage within two
hours easily, for to retrace the march was less than six miles by
land with an additional half a mile or little more by boat across
the Charles River. So Gen. Gage should have had Smith's message by
five o'clock, at least. He acted promptly, by ordering the First
Brigade, consisting of eight companies of the Fourth, Twenty-third,
and Forty-seventh Regiments, under arms, and to these were added two
detachments of the Royal Marines to be under Major John Pitcairn. Two
pieces of artillery, six-pounders, were also added to the force, and
the whole placed under the command of Lord Percy, with the title, for
the occasion, of Acting Brigadier-General. His little army numbered
about one thousand men.
[Illustration: HUGH, _EARL_ PERCY.
_Published, Sep.^r 30^{th} 1785, by John Fielding, Pater Noster
Row._]
It was about seven o'clock when the eight companies assembled on
Tremont Street, and the line extended from Scollay Square to the
lower part of the Common. There they waited for Pitcairn and his
Marines, nearly two hours. Finally it dawned upon the mind of General
Gage that his orders to that worthy officer might still be lying on
his desk unopened, for he had been granted permission to accompany
Lieut.-Col. Smith as a volunteer, and perhaps had gone. Such proved
to be the case and the two hours were lost. Then another commander
for them was selected, and they were in line at nine o'clock.[257]
These two hours would have meant Percy's force almost into Concord
instead of into Lexington village, and would have made great
difference in the results of the day's fighting.
Percy, mounted on a beautiful white horse, headed the column, and
they proceeded over Boston Neck, through the present Washington
Street, to Roxbury, up the hill to the meeting-house, then to the
right, where the old Parting Stone then stood, even as it does
to-day. In Roxbury his soldiers excited the attention of a very young
patriot, who laughed derisively as the musicians played "Yankee
Doodle." Lord Percy noticed him and asked the reason of his mirth.
The boy responded:
"To think how you will dance by-and-by to Chevy Chase."
The British commander felt uncomfortable the rest of the day because
of the suggestive and prophetic reply.[258] He continued into
Brighton and to the westerly bank of the Charles River, opposite to
Harvard Square in Cambridge. At that place the river is narrow and
thus easily bridged even in those early days, and over that was then
the only way into Boston by road from the upper towns in Middlesex
County.
The Americans, anticipating Percy's movements, had taken up the
planks of the bridge, but did not continue the good work thoroughly,
for they piled them handily on the Cambridge side. It was a simple
matter for Percy's engineers to cross over on the stringers and
re-lay enough of them for his soldiers to pass into Cambridge. But
had the planks been farther removed Percy was prepared to replace
them, for he had brought with him sufficient for the purpose and
carpenters to do the work. He anticipated the partial destruction of
the bridge at least, and prepared his remedy accordingly, and must
have been surprised at the point where the Americans concluded their
labors. He carried his planks along about a mile and a half, and then
sent them back as they were only an encumbrance. He had no use for
them on his return for he had another plan, as we shall see later
on.[259]
It was at the bridge that Percy marched ahead and left his wagon
train of supplies to follow on, as soon as they could safely cross.
The delay to them was considerable and so the main army soon passed
out of sight.
The round about route the British had taken to reach Harvard Square
was necessary, at that time, because as we have stated, no bridge
crossed the river lower down. Could he have crossed as we do to-day,
the distance would have been but a little over three miles, whereas
it was eight miles as he marched, or nearly two hours more time. He
could not cross in boats as did Lieut.-Col. Smith, for two reasons:
first, his soldiers were too many, and secondly, the boats were even
then moored on the Cambridge side awaiting Smith's return.
When Percy reached Cambridge, he was somewhat puzzled to know just
which way to start for Lexington. In his official report he declares
the houses were all shut up and there was not a single inhabitant to
give him any information about the force under Smith. He did find one
man, Isaac Smith, a tutor in Harvard College, who directed him along
the right highway. When his fellow citizens of Cambridge learned of
this free intelligence, a little later on, they were indignant--and
Isaac Smith, feeling reproved, shortly afterwards left the country
for a while. It does not appear that he intended to aid and abet
the enemy, but granted the little courtesy without thinking of its
value. It was regretted that Percy was not sent down into the marshes
bordering Willis Creek, and so delayed an hour or more.[260]
The British marched rapidly on leaving Harvard Square and were
soon quite a distance ahead of the baggage train, deeming it safe
to leave it to follow under the guidance of a sergeant's guard of
twelve men. It was no small task to get it safely over the dismantled
bridge, and the delay there was considerable. Vigilant Americans
watched the proceedings and realized the opportunity to seize it.
They hurried on to Arlington to formulate their plans for its
capture. As Cambridge seemed to be generally deserted, the sergeant
and his men evidently felt no uneasiness at their delay. In due time,
however, they were on the march again, headed for Lexington.[261]
Not long after they passed the Charlestown road, the Beech Street of
today, Dr. Joseph Warren and his friend Dr. Thomas Welsh came into
Cambridge. Warren lived in Boston, and left his home that morning
and crossed the ferry into Charlestown. There he met Welsh and many
other citizens and communicated to them the news he had received by
special messenger from Lexington. It was then about ten o'clock.[262]
A little after, he and Dr. Welsh on horseback, were on their way to
Cambridge, where they arrived, only to find the road ahead occupied
by the baggage-train. They endeavored to pass but were not permitted
to do so. The sergeant inquired of Dr. Warren if he knew where the
British troops then were; but the doctor could only give a negative
reply. There seemed to be quite a little uneasiness in the minds of
the British, as they evidently feared they were too widely separated
from the main body and might be captured.[263] A guard of twelve men
is not a large force to conduct a baggage-train through a hostile
country. Percy's first and most serious mistake had been committed.
It was then noon-time, or a little after.
In the meantime about a dozen of the elderly men of Menotomy, exempts
mostly, assembled near the centre of the village and waited the
arrival of the baggage train. Among them were Jason Belknap, Joe
Belknap, James Budge, Israel Mead, Ammi Cutter and David Lamson, a
half Indian. Some of them had served in the French War. Rev. Phillips
Payson, A.M., of Chelsea, was also present and took an active
part.[264] They chose Lamson to be leader, and took a position behind
a stone wall on the northerly side of the road, nearly opposite the
First Parish Meeting-House. As the baggage-train appeared nearly
opposite, Lamson ordered his men to rest and aim at the horses, at
the same time calling out to the sergeant to surrender. He made no
reply, and his driver whipped up the horses to escape. It was too
late, for American bullets easily stopped them, killed two British
soldiers and wounded several others.[265] The soldiers then abandoned
their charge and ran southerly along the westerly shore of Spy Pond,
as far as Spring Valley, where they came upon an elderly lady of
Menotomy, known as Mother Bathericke, engaged in digging dandelions.
They begged her assistance and protection, consequently she
conducted them to the house of Capt. Ephraim Frost, where they were
detained as prisoners,[266] and probably to their mental relief. They
were thoughtful enough not to include their guns in the surrender,
for some were thrown into Spy Pond, and one was ruined by striking it
heavily over a stone wall and bending it hopelessly out of shape.
The captured wagons were drawn down into the hollow, still to be seen
a little northeasterly of the present Arlington railroad station,
where the contents were distributed freely to all comers. The living
horses were driven off to Medford, and the bodies of the dead ones,
in accordance with the suggestion of the Rev. Mr. Cook, who feared
exciting the anger of the returning British, were dragged away to the
field near Spring Valley, westerly of Spy Pond. And there, for many
years, their bones bleached in the sun.[267]
All other marks of the contest were obliterated from the highway,
that Percy might not trace what had happened to his baggage-wagons
and wreak vengeance upon the townspeople.
Gen. Percy[268] marched less than two miles beyond Arlington centre,
when he distinctly heard the firing in Lexington. He was not far from
the boundary line between Arlington and Lexington and the time was,
as he has written, between one and two o'clock.[269] At about that
time he met Lieut. Gould of the Fourth, or King's Own Regiment, who,
as we have written, was wounded at the North Bridge and was then
returning in a borrowed Concord chaise, drawn by a borrowed Concord
horse. From him Percy learned the details of Lieut.-Col. Smith's
march, and of his present urgent need of assistance. He hurried along
towards Lexington, and Lieut. Gould continued his retreat towards
Boston, but was captured as he reached Arlington village. The exact
spot was on the present Massachusetts Avenue, near Mill Street,
and his captors were some of the old men who had destroyed the
baggage-wagons. Gould was first taken to Ammi Cutter's, and then to
Medford,[270] and his own deposition shows that he was kindly treated.
At last, after a march of nearly sixteen miles,[271] Percy met the
returning force under Lieut.-Col. Smith, who had passed Lexington
Common, the scene of his engagement in the morning, and was down the
road towards Boston, half a mile. The place of meeting was opposite
the present Lexington High School, and the time between two and three
o'clock. Percy being the ranking officer, immediately took command of
the united forces. It did not take him long to realize the terrible
condition that Smith's troops were in, and to minister to their
wants. As they halted in the road, his own ranks opened to receive
them, and there they sank to the ground utterly exhausted. Such as
could eat or drink were supplied from his own stores, while the
wounded were taken still farther down the road, less than a quarter
of a mile, to the Munroe Tavern, which he proceeded to establish
as his headquarters and for use as a hospital. Near the place of
meeting, coming in from the eastward, was then and is now, the Woburn
road, the bordering walls of which sheltered plenty of American
minute-men. Back a little to the southward rose the modest elevation
now sometimes called Mt. Vernon. Americans were there also, for it
was high enough for them to look down on the highway very nicely if
permitted to do so. Percy's flankers, however, were directed to clear
all surrounding locations of enemies to the King, and Mt. Vernon and
the Woburn road were soon under the British flag again, or nearly
so. But occasionally from some obscure or neglected corner, rose a
puff of blue smoke and then the wearer of that brilliant red uniform
would tumble over in the road, wounded or dying, or dead. Little
bodies of minute-men, unorganized always, were seen dodging back and
forth around the meeting-house on the Common. Other little groups,
and many singly, were noticed climbing over walls, emerging from, and
disappearing again, behind clumps of bushes, and trees, and houses;
hardly ever in sight long enough to shoot at. Percy, thinking to awe
them, wheeled his two six-pounders into position and opened his first
cannonade on the meeting-house on Lexington Common. It was likewise
the first cannon fired in the American Revolution. No American was
killed, or even wounded, but the house of God in Lexington suffered,
and it cost the town some money to repair it. The cannon ball
crashing through the meeting-house did have the effect to drive the
Americans farther back, and probably out of rifle range for a while.
[Illustration: _Plate IV. A View of the South Part of Lexington_]
Percy having thus scattered his near-by enemies then moved one of his
six-pounders a few rods down the road near the present Bloomfield
Street, then up the little elevation to the southward, now called Mt.
Vernon. The precise spot was probably about opposite the northerly
end of the present Warren Street. He strongly supported it with a
part of his brigade.[272] This location was an excellent one for
artillery, as it commanded the highway for fully a mile to Lexington
Common and beyond. As before, his gunner could find no American long
enough in one place to aim at. So there were no fatalities.
While Smith's soldiers were resting, some of those under Percy
as reinforcements wandered about that part of the village bent
on mischief and pillage, not the kind usually indulged in by the
average rowdy element of an army, but on a much larger and grander
scale. Houses and outlying buildings were looted and burned. The
first ones were owned by Deacon Joseph Loring, non-combatant,
seventy-three years of age, situated close by the meeting place of
the two detachments, on the westerly side of the road. This group
of buildings consisted of a mansion house, a barn seventy-five feet
long, and a corn house. All were completely destroyed, together
with such of their contents as could not be carried away. About
two hundred rods of Loring's stone walls were also pushed over,
emphasizing strongly the feeling of hostility existing among the
British soldiers for their American cousins. His loss was £720.[273]
This wanton and needless destruction of property must have been by
the express command of Percy, for he was but a few rods away.
On the easterly side of the road, nearly opposite the Loring house,
standing on the site of the present Russell House, was the home of
Matthew Mead. That, too, was within a few rods of where Percy sat on
his white horse, but it was ransacked by his soldiers, and Mead's
loss was £101.[274]
Another plundered Lexington home in that neighborhood belonged to
Benjamin Merriam, one of Parker's Company, and of course absent. His
house was not burned, but damaged to the extent of £6. His loss of
personal property amounted to £217, 4s.[275] The building is still in
existence, but has been moved easterly into Woburn Street across the
railroad tracks. Its original location was on the westerly side of
Massachusetts Avenue, a few rods north of Winthrop Road, and easily
within sight of the British commander, Lord Percy.
And let us not forget that from that time on, Percy was in supreme
command of the united British forces, amounting to nearly eighteen
hundred men. To him belongs the credit of a masterly retreat, for
his loss in killed and wounded was surprisingly small considering
the number of American riflemen in pursuit. To him belongs the blame
also for the burned homes of inoffensive non-combatants, for the
killing of such helpless old men as Raymond; for the summary removal
of Hannah Adams and her infant from child-bed; for the killing of
feeble-minded William Marcy; for the killing of fourteen-year old
Edward Barber. His entire march back to Charlestown was thickly
dotted with just such incidents, unrelieved by any conspicuous
merciful action, or by any deed of bravery. It was a masterly
retreat, indeed,--and it was a brutal one, too. Happily for the
American patriots in succeeding contests, no other British commander
seemed inspired by such revengeful instincts. Happily for the British
historian he has no other such brutal events to apologize or blush
for. Percy occupies his one page in history, uniquely, at least.
His services in America, terminated soon thereafter, and at his
own request, and for some reason which we know not of. Possibly he
was satisfied with the fame, such as it was, which he won on that
glorious day.[276]
The next Lexington home to be destroyed by the incendiary belonged
to the widow Lydia Mulliken and her son. It stood not far from
Loring's, on the main road to Boston, nearly opposite the present
Munroe School. The clock shop connected with the same estate was
also burned. As in the previous cases such personal effects as were
desired by the soldiers were first removed and subsequently carried
away. The works of a valuable musical clock were found in the
knapsack of a wounded Briton, when he was subsequently captured.[277]
The Mulliken loss was £431.[278]
John Mulliken, cabinet-maker, son of the widow, and living in
Concord, joined in the pursuit, and came as far as Lexington. There
he saw his mother's house in flames, which affected him so deeply
that he could proceed no farther.[279]
A modest little home and shop belonging to Joshua Bond, standing
northwesterly from Munroe Tavern, and very near the present beginning
of "Percy Road," were first looted, and then burned. His loss was
£189, 16s. 7d.
The greater part of these happenings were within that first half hour
after Percy took command of the united British forces, and before he
began his retreat. This energetic destroyer of American homes had
selected Munroe Tavern as his temporary headquarters, and ordered his
wounded conveyed there also. While their wounds were being dressed
his men demanded such refreshments as the place could provide, and
unlike Smith's subordinates in Concord, were not considerate enough
to pay for them. So landlord William Munroe's loss was £203, 11s.
9d., of which £90 was in the "retail shop," presumably of a liquid
nature. As he was orderly sergeant in Captain Parker's Company, he
was naturally absent on duty, and left a lame man, John Raymond, in
charge, who waited upon the unbidden guests because he was compelled
to. His last service was to mix a glass of punch for one of the
red-coats, after which he essayed to escape through the garden.
He was not alert enough, for two soldiers fired, and one of their
bullets readily overtook him as he hobbled away.[280] Thus one more
was added to the list of American dead, one of the easiest victims,
of course, for he was simply an unarmed cripple. This probably
happened at the rear of the Tavern.
A few rods from the Tavern, down the road towards Boston, were two
more Lexington homes, on opposite sides of the street, and so quite
near to each other. They are still standing (1912). In the one on
the westerly side lived Samuel Sanderson, a member of Capt. Parker's
Company. He was not at home, so they killed his cow instead, not
for food, but for the pure pleasure of killing something. Evidently
landlord Munroe's liquor was having some effect, if not in making men
braver, then in making them more brutal. Sanderson did not report the
amount of his loss to the Legislature. On the easterly side of the
road lived John Mason and family. All were absent so the soldiers
permitted themselves to carry away property to the value of £14, 13s.
4d.[281]
Many other homes in Lexington were ransacked, mostly during Percy's
halt. The total loss, as reported to the Legislature in 1783,
amounted to £1761, 1s. 5d.; nearly $9,000 as computed in money of
to-day. Undoubtedly many minor losses were not reported at all.