From Lexington our little party went on at once to Concord. There they
saw the monument, and near it the graves of the two British soldiers of
whom the Captain had spoken as having fallen in the fight.
"The British entered Concord in two divisions," he said; "one by the
main road, the other passing over the hill north of it. Captain Beeman,
of Petersham, and other Tories had given them information in regard to
the stores secreted in Concord, and Captain Parsons with six companies
was sent to destroy them."
"Sent where, Papa?" asked Lulu.
"To the house of Colonel Barrett," replied her father. "Captain Lawrie,
with three companies was stationed at the North Bridge, just here. The
monument stands upon the very spot where the British stood, and on yon
plain across the river is where the American militia were when the fire
of the British killed Hosmer and Davis.
"Colonel Smith, in the village, heard the firing, and sent a
reinforcement to Lawrie's help; but seeing that the militia were
increasing in numbers, they turned about and joined in the retreat.
Then the party under Captain Parsons, who, you will remember, had gone
to Colonel Barrett's to destroy the secreted stores, returned, and were
allowed by the militia to pass the bridge unmolested."
"Why didn't they attack them, Captain?" asked Eva, "weren't they strong
enough?"
"Yes; but war had not yet been declared, and the colonists had been
enjoined to act only on the defensive and let Great Britain be the
aggressor.
"Besides, the militia at Concord had not yet heard of the slaughter
of their brethren at Lexington. They themselves had just killed three
British soldiers, to be sure, but it was purely in self-defence."
"The British started back to Boston pretty soon after that, didn't
they, Papa?" asked Lulu.
"Yes; Colonel Smith thought it prudent, seeing how rapidly the militia
were gathering, to return at once, and a little after twelve o'clock
began his retreat toward Lexington, covering his main column by strong
flanking guards.
"As you may suppose, the people had become intensely excited by this
time, and I dare say very many were burning to avenge the slaughter of
their comrades. They no longer adhered to the cautious counsels given
them at Concord, and secreting themselves behind barns and fences,
fired upon the British troops as they passed. All along the line of
march to Lexington the British were terribly galled in this way. Guns
were fired with sure aim from every house, barn, and stone wall. As we
noticed in coming here the road between this town and Lexington passes
through a hilly country, as well calculated as possible for such work.
At almost every wooded defile numbers of the British were picked off by
concealed marksmen, and at Hardy's Hill there was a severe skirmish.
"There was no longer any military order among the Americans, but each
man fought as he deemed best. Some of them were killed by the British
flankers coming suddenly upon them in their places of concealment, but
their numbers were comparatively small.
"Several of the British were shot near the battle-ground of the morning
at Lexington, and Colonel Smith was badly wounded in the leg at Fiske's
Hill, near the town."
"So they didn't have a very good time on their march back to Boston,"
remarked Max.
"No, very far from it," replied his father. "You will remember they had
been marching the night before, marching and fighting pretty much all
that day, and attacked every now and then by a concealed foe, who shot
down one after another; they became at last so fatigued that they must
have surrendered to the Americans if reinforcements had not reached
them.
"I have said a request for help had been sent to General Gage from
Lexington early in the morning, and he had responded with about nine
hundred men under Lord Percy,--three regiments of infantry and two
divisions of marines. These left Boston about nine o'clock in the
morning and marched toward Lexington.
"As they passed through Roxbury they played 'Yankee Doodle' in
derision, having before used it as a Rogue's March."
"Papa," Gracie asked, "did the Roxbury people know about the fight at
Lexington and Concord?"
"They had heard vague rumours of a fight at Lexington, and the marching
in that direction of these Boston troops confirmed their worst fears."
"What an excitement the marching of those British troops must have
caused all along the way as they went!" exclaimed Eva.
"Yes," replied Captain Raymond, "one of their officers said, 'they [the
Americans] seemed to drop from the clouds.'"
"Percy's brigade met them about half a mile from Lexington. He formed
a hollow square, and for its defence, planted a cannon on high ground
near Monroe's tavern, and received into his enclosure the wearied
troops of Smith. Some of them were so heated and worn out that they
lay exhausted and panting upon the ground, their tongues hanging out of
their mouths, as a dog's does when he is tired and overheated.
"But Percy did not dare allow them to rest long, for the militia
had gathered from all quarters, and the woods were swarming with
minute-men. They were given a little refreshment, a brief rest, then
hurried on their way, committing as they went deeds of ruffianism of
which they had reason to be heartily ashamed; property was destroyed,
houses were plundered, and several innocent persons were murdered.
"Of course the Americans were filled with indignation as well as grief
for the sufferings of friends and neighbours, some of them their near
kindred."
"Yes; oh, it was just dreadful, Papa!" exclaimed Gracie, her eyes
filling with tears. "I think the British of those days were very, very
cruel."
"Very true," replied her father; "there were very many deeds of blood
and violence, for which there was no excuse, committed by them during
that war. Rawdon, Tarleton, and even Cornwallis showed themselves men
of savage cruelty."
"Yes," exclaimed Rosie, "I perfectly detest and abhor that brutal
Tarleton! No Indian was ever more heartless and cruel than he!"
"I think that is true," the Captain said. "He treated American
prisoners so unfortunate as to fall into his hands, with most inhuman
cruelty; also he was so vain, conceited, and untruthful that in a
'History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781 in the Southern Provinces of
North America,' which he wrote after his return to England, he distorts
events for his self-glorification to such a degree as has seldom been
paralleled. Yes, take him all together he was, I think, one of the most
despicable characters of the Revolution."
"I have always been so glad over his defeat by Morgan at the battle of
the Cowpens," said Eva, "and have always admired the reminders of it
given him by some of the Southern ladies, particularly of the wound
on his hand that Colonel Washington gave him in chasing him from that
battle-field."
"Yes, I remember," said Rosie. "The ladies were great admirers of
Colonel Washington, talked a great deal about him, and at least two or
three times gave that vain, boastful, cruel Tarleton a rub about that
wound."
"Yes," said the Captain, "those sallies of wit were expended on him by
two sisters,--daughters of Colonel Montfort, of Halifax County, North
Carolina. When Cornwallis was there on his way to Virginia, Colonel
Washington was the subject of conversation one evening; and Tarleton,
nettled doubtless by the admiration freely expressed by the ladies,
began talking against him, saying that he was an illiterate fellow,
hardly able to write his own name.
"The remark was made in the presence of Mrs. Willie Jones, one of the
sisters I have spoken of, and she replied, 'Ah, Colonel, you ought to
know better, for you bear on your person proof that he knows very well
_how to make his mark_.'"
"I shouldn't have liked to be in his place," remarked Max. "I dare say
he felt like shooting Mrs. Jones for her compliment."
"That is not at all unlikely," said his father. "It is said that when
her sister, Mrs. Ashe, twitted him in like manner, he showed his
temper plainly. He had been talking again, sarcastically of Colonel
Washington, in her presence, and finally said with a sneer, 'I would
be happy to see Colonel Washington.' To which she instantly replied,
'If you had looked behind you, Colonel Tarleton, at the battle of the
Cowpens, you would have enjoyed that pleasure.'"
"That was just good for him!" exclaimed Lulu. "I wonder what he said to
it,--if he answered her at all."
"He was very angry (for no doubt the words stung him) and laid his hand
on the hilt of his sword, while he regarded her with a frown," replied
the Captain. "But General Leslie, his superior officer said, 'Say what
you please, Mrs. Ashe; Colonel Tarleton knows better than to insult a
lady in my presence.'"
"Did Tarleton ever insult a lady, Papa?" asked Gracie.
"I have read that he once insulted an American woman,--one who was
large and strong,--and that she knocked him down upon the floor, seized
him by the throat, and choked him till he was black in the face;
she probably would have killed him if some one had not come to his
assistance and pulled her off."
"Surely he must have been proud of _that_ encounter," laughed Max.