TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors
have been corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences
within the text and consultation of external sources.
More detail can be found at the end of the book.
Revolutionary Reader
REMINISCENCES AND
INDIAN LEGENDS
COMPILED BY
SOPHIE LEE FOSTER
STATE REGENT
DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION OF GEORGIA
ATLANTA, GA.:
BYRD PRINTING COMPANY
1913
_COPYRIGHTED 1913_
_BY_
_SOPHIE LEE FOSTER_
_DEDICATION_
_As my work has been a labor of love, I therefore affectionately
dedicate this book to the Daughters of the
American Revolution of Georgia._
September 4, 1913.
MRS. SHEPPARD W. FOSTER,
Atlanta, Georgia.
My Dear Mrs. Foster:--To say that I am delighted with your
Revolutionary Reader is to state the sheer truth in very mild
terms. It is a marvel to me how you could gather together so many
charmingly written articles, each of them illustrative of some
dramatic phase of the great struggle for independence. There
is much in this book of local interest to each section. There
is literally nothing which does not carry with it an appeal of
the most profound interest to the general reader, whether in
Georgia or New England. You have ignored no part of the map. I
congratulate you upon your wonderful success in the preparation of
your Revolutionary Reader. It is marvelously rich in contents and
broadly American in spirit.
Sincerely your friend,
(Signed) LUCIAN LAMAR KNIGHT.
September 8, 1913.
MRS. S. W. FOSTER,
711 Peachtree Street.
I like very much your plan of a Revolutionary reader. I hope it
will be adopted by the school boards of the various states as a
supplementary reader so that it may have a wide circulation.
Yours sincerely,
JOSEPH T. DERRY.
CONTENTS
PAGE
America 11
Washington's Name 12
Washington's Inauguration 13
Important Characters of the Revolutionary Period in American
History 14
Battle of Alamance 20
Battle of Lexington 22
Signers of Declaration 35
Life at Valley Forge 37
Old Williamsburg 46
Song of the Revolution 52
A True Story of the Revolution 53
Georgia Poem 55
Forts of Georgia 56
James Edward Oglethorpe 59
The Condition of Georgia During the Revolution 61
Fort Rutledge of the Revolution 65
The Efforts of LaFayette for the Cause of American
Independence 72
James Jackson 77
Experiences of Joab Horne 79
Historical Sketch of Margaret Katherine Barry 81
Art and Artists of the Revolution 84
"Uncle Sam" Explained Again 87
An Episode of the War of the Revolution 88
State Flowers 93
Georgia State History, Naming of the Counties 95
An Historic Tree 100
Independence Day 101
Kitty 102
Battle of Kettle Creek 108
A Daring Exploit of Grace and Rachael Martin 111
A Revolutionary Puzzle 112
South Carolina in the Revolution 112
Lyman Hall 118
A Romance of Revolutionary Times 120
Fort Motte, South Carolina 121
Peter Strozier 123
Independence Day 125
Sarah Gilliam Williamson 127
A Colonial Hiding Place 129
A Hero of the Revolution 131
John Paul Jones 132
The Real Georgia Cracker 135
The Dying Soldier 136
When Benjamin Franklin Scored 139
A Revolutionary Baptising 139
George Walton 140
Thomas Jefferson 143
Orators of the American Revolution 150
The Flag of Our Country (Poem) 154
The Old Virginia Gentleman 155
When Washington Was Wed (Poem) 160
Rhode Island in the American Revolution 162
Georgia and Her Heroes in the Revolution 168
United States Treasury Seal 173
Willie Was Saved 174
Virginia Revolutionary Forts 175
Uncrowned Queens and Kings as Shown Through Humorous
Incidents of the Revolution 185
A Colonial Story 192
Molly Pitcher for Hall of Fame 195
Revolutionary Relics 196
Tragedy of the Revolution Overlooked by Historians 197
John Martin 204
John Stark, Revolutionary Soldier 206
Benjamin Franklin 209
Captain Mugford 211
Governor John Clarke 214
Party Relations in England and Their Effect on the American
Revolution 221
Early Means of Transportation by Land and Water 228
Colonel Benjamin Hawkins 236
Governor Jared Irwin 240
Education of Men and Women of the American Revolution 243
Nancy Hart 252
Battle of Kings Mountain (Poem) 255
William Cleghorn 257
The Blue Laws of Old Virginia 259
Elijah Clarke 264
Francis Marion 266
Light Horse Harry 274
Our Legacy (Poem) 276
The Ride of Mary Slocumb 277
The Hobson Sisters 284
Washington's March Through Somerset County, N. J. 289
Hannah Arnett 293
Button Gwinnett 298
Forced by Pirates to Walk The Plank 300
Georgia Women of Early Days 301
Robert Sallette 308
General LaFayette's Visit to Macon 312
Yes! Tomorrow's Flag Day (Poem) 317
Flag Day 319
End of the Revolution 328
Indian Legends
Counties of Georgia Bearing Indian Names 330
Story of Early Indian Days 331
Chief Vann House 332
Indian Tale 334
William White and Daniel Boone 336
The Legend of Lovers' Leap 337
Indian Mound 344
Storiette of States Derived from Indian Names 346
Cherokee Alphabet 348
The Boy and His Arrow 351
Indian Spring, Georgia 353
Tracing The McIntosh Trail 367
Georgia School Song 369
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Facing
Page
Fraunces Tavern 11
Ruins of Old Fort at Frederica 58
Monument to Gen. Oglethorpe 60
Indian Treaty Tree 98
The Old Liberty Bell 130
Carpenter's Hall 170
Monument Site of Old Cornwallis 266
Birthplace of Old Glory 318
Chief Vann House 330
Map of McIntosh Trail 366
Map of Georgia, Showing Colonial, Revolutionary and
Indian War Period Forts, Battle Fields and Treaty Spots 370
PREFACE.
Since it is customary to write a preface, should any one attempt the
somewhat hazardous task of compiling a book, it is my wish, as the
editor, in sending this book forth (to live or die according to its
merits) to take advantage of this custom to offer a short explanation
as to its mission. It is not to be expected that a volume, containing
so many facts gathered from numerous sources, will be entirely free
from criticism. The securing of material for compiling this book was
first planned through my endeavors to stimulate greater enthusiasm
in revolutionary history, biography of revolutionary period, Indian
legends, etc., by having storiettes read at the various meetings of the
Daughters of the American Revolution, and in this way not only creating
interest in Chapter work, but accumulating much valuable heretofore
unpublished data pertaining to this important period in American
history; with a view of having same printed in book form, suitable for
our public schools, to be known as a Revolutionary Reader.
At first it was my intention only to accept for this reader unpublished
storiettes relating to Georgia history, but realizing this work could
not be completed under this plan, during my term of office as State
Regent, I decided to use material selected from other reliable sources,
and endeavored to make it as broad and general in scope as possible
that it might better fulfill its purpose.
To the Daughters of the American Revolution of Georgia this book is
dedicated. Its production has been a labor of love, and should its
pages be the medium through which American patriotism may be encouraged
and perpetuated I shall feel many times repaid for the effort.
To the Chapters of the Daughters of American Revolution of Georgia for
storiettes furnished, to the newspapers for clippings, to the _American
Monthly Magazine_ for articles, to Miss Annie M. Lane, Miss Helen
Prescott, Mr. Lucian Knight and Professor Derry, I wish to express my
deep appreciation for material help given.
SOPHIE LEE FOSTER.
[Illustration: FRAUNCES TAVERN, OF COLONIAL AND REVOLUTIONARY FAME, ON
PEARL STREET, CORNER OF BROAD, NEW YORK.
It was here that Washington bade farewell to his officers, December
4, 1783. Purchased in 1904 by the New York Society of the Sons of the
American Revolution, and now occupied by them as headquarters.]
AMERICA.
1. My Country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where our fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims' pride,
From every mountain side
Let freedom ring.
2. My native Country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills,
My heart with rapture thrills,
Like that above.
3. Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees,
Sweet Freedom's song;
Let mortal tongues awake,
Let all that breathe partake,
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.
4. Our Father's God, to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing;
Long may our land be bright,
With Freedom's holy light,
Protect us with Thy might,
Great God, our King!
WASHINGTON'S NAME.
At the celebration of Washington's Birthday, Maury Public School,
District of Columbia, Miss Helen T. Doocy recited the following
beautiful poem written specially for her by Mr. Michael Scanlon:
Let nations grown old in the annals of glory
Retrace their red marches of conquest and tears,
And glean with deft hands, from the pages of story
The names which emblazon their centuried years--
Bring them forth, ev'ry deed which their prowess bequeathed
Unto them caught up from the echoes of fame;
Yet thus, round their brows all their victories wreathed,
They'll pale in the light of our Washington's Name!
Oh, ye who snatched fame from the nation's disasters
And fired your ambitions at glory's red springs,
To bask, for an hour, in the smiles of your masters,
And flash down life's current, the bubbles of kings,
Stand forth with your blood-purchased trappings upon you,
The need of your treason, the price of your shame,
And mark how the baubles which tyranny won you
Will pale in the light of our Washington's Name!
Parade your proud trophies and pile up your arches,
And flaunt your blood banner, oh, trumpet-tongued War!
But ruin and woe mark the lines of your marches,
While Liberty, captive, is chained to your car;
But, lo! in the west there flasht out to defend her
A sword which was sheened in humanity's flame,
And Virtue, secure, glass'd her form in its splendor--
The splendor which haloes our Washington's Name!
The kings whose dread names have led captive the ages
Now sink in the sands of their passion and lust;
Their blood-roll of carnage in history's pages
Is closed, and their names will go down to the dust.
But long as a banner to Freedom is flying
No shadow can rest on his sunshine of fame,
For glory has crowned him with beauty undying,
And time will but brighten our Washington's Name!
--_American Monthly Magazine._
WASHINGTON'S INAUGURATION.
BY REV. THOMAS B. GREGORY.
On April 30, 1789, at Federal Hall, George Washington was duly
inaugurated first President of the United States, and the great
experiment of self-government on these Western shores was fairly begun.
The beginning was most auspicious. Than Washington no finer man ever
stood at the forefront of a nation's life. Of Washington America is
eminently proud, and of Washington America has the right to be proud,
for the "Father of His Country" was, in every sense of the word, a
whole man. Time has somewhat disturbed the halo that for a long while
held the place about the great man's head. It has been proven that
Washington was human, and all the more thanks for that. But after the
closest scrutiny, from every part of the world, for a century and a
quarter, it is still to be proven that anything mean, or mercenary, or
dishonorable or unpatriotic ever came near the head or heart of our
first President.
Washington loved his country with a whole heart. He was a patriot to
the core. His first, last and only ambition was to do what he could to
promote the high ends to which the Republic was dedicated. Politics, as
defined by Aristotle, is the "science of government." Washington was
not a learned man, and probably knew very little of Aristotle, but his
head was clear and his heart was pure, and he, too, felt that politics
was the science of government, and that the result of the government
should be the "greatest good to the greatest number" of his fellow
citizens.
From that high and sacred conviction Washington never once swerved,
and when he quit his exalted office he did so with clean hands and
unsmirched fame, leaving behind him a name which is probably the most
illustrious in the annals of the race.
Rapid and phenomenal has been the progress of Washington's country! It
seems like a dream rather than the soundest of historical facts. The
Romans, after fighting "tooth and nail" for 300 years, found themselves
with a territory no larger than that comprised within the limits of
Greater New York. In 124 years the Americans are the owners of a
territory in comparison with which the Roman Empire, when at the height
of its glory, was but a small affair--a territory wherein are operant
the greatest industrial, economic, moral and political forces that this
old planet ever witnessed.
IMPORTANT CHARACTERS OF THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD IN AMERICAN HISTORY.
To make a subject interesting and beneficial to us we must have a
personal interest in it. This is brought about in three ways: It
touches our pride, if it be our country; it excites our curiosity as to
what it really is, if it be history; and we desire to know what part
our ancestors took in it, if it be war.
So, we see the period of the Revolutionary war possesses all three
of these elements; and was in reality the beginning of true American
life--"America for Americans."
Prior to this time (during the Colonial period) America was under
the dominion of the lords proprietors--covering the years of 1663 to
1729--and royal governors--from 1729 to 1775--the appointees of the
English sovereign, and whose rule was for self-aggrandizement. The very
word "Revolutionary" proclaims oppression, for where there is justice
shown by the ruler to the subjects there is no revolt, nor will there
ever be.
We usually think of the battle of Lexington (April 19, 1775,) as being
the bugle note that culminated in the Declaration of Independence and
reached its final grand chord at Yorktown, October 19, 1781; but on
the 16th of May, 1771, some citizens of North Carolina, finding the
extortions and exactions of the royal governor, Tryon, more than they
could or would bear, took up arms in self-defense and fought on the
Alamance River what was in reality the first battle of the Revolution.
The citizens' loss was thirty-six men, while the governor lost almost
sixty of his royal troops. This battle of the Alamance was the seed
sown that budded in the Declaration of Mecklenburg in 1775, and came to
full flower in the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.
There were stages in this flower of American liberty to which we will
give a cursory glance.
The determination of the colonies not to purchase British goods had a
marked effect on England. Commercial depression followed, and public
opinion soon demanded some concession to the Americans.
All taxes were remitted or repealed except that upon tea; when there
followed the most _exciting_, if not the most enjoyable party in the
world's history--the "Boston Tea Party," which occurred on the evening
of December 16, 1773.
This was followed in March, 1774, by the Boston Port Bill, the first in
the series of retaliation by England for the "Tea Party."
At the instigation of Virginia a new convention of the colonies was
called to meet September, 1774, to consider "the grievances of the
people." This was the second Colonial and the first Continental
congress to meet in America, and occurred September 5, 1774, at
Philadelphia. All the colonies were represented, except Georgia, whose
governor would not allow it.
They then adjourned to meet May 10, 1775, after having passed a
declaration of rights, framed an address to the king and people of
England, and recommended the suspension of all commercial relations
with the mother country.
The British minister, William Pitt, wrote of that congress: "For
solidity of reasoning, force of sagacity and wisdom of conclusion, no
nation or body of men can stand in preference to the general congress
of Philadelphia."
Henceforth the Colonists were known as "Continentals," in
contradistinction to the "Royalists" or "Tories," who were the
adherents of the crown.
No period of our history holds more for the student, young or old, than
this of the Revolutionary war, or possesses greater charm when once
taken up.
No man or woman can be as good a citizen without some knowledge of this
most interesting subject, nor enjoy so fully their grand country!
Some one has pertinently said "history is innumerable biographies;" and
what child or grown person is there who does not enjoy being told of
some "great person?" Every man, private, military or civil officer, who
took part in the Revolutionary war was great!
It is not generally known that the _executive power_ of the state
rested in those troublesome times in the county committees; but it was
they who executed all the orders of the Continental Congress.
The provincial council was for the whole state; the district committee
for the safety of each district, and the county and town committees for
each county and town.
It was through the thought, loyalty and enduring bravery of the men
who constituted these committees, that we of today have a constitution
that gives us "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness"--in whatever
manner pleases us, so long as it does not trespass on another's well
being.
We do not give half the honor we should to our ancestry, who have done
so much for us! We zealously seek and preserve the pedigrees of our
horses, cows and chickens, and really do not _know_ whether we come
from a mushroom or a monkey!
When we think of it, it is a much more honorable and greater thing to
be a Son or Daughter of the American Revolution, than to be a prince
or princess, for one comes through noble deeds done by thinking,
justice-loving men, and the other through an accident of birth. Let
us examine a little into a few of these "biographies" and see wherein
their greatness lies, that they like righteous Abel, "though dead yet
speak."
The number seven stands for completeness and perfection--let us see if
seven imaginary questions can be answered by their lives.
James Edward Oglethorpe was born in 1696, and died in 1785--two years
after the Revolutionary war. He planted the Colony of Georgia, in
which the oppressed found refuge. He had served in the army of Prince
Eugene of Savoy in the war with the Turks. He founded the city of
Savannah, Georgia. He exported to England the first silk made in the
colonies, of which the queen had a dress made. King George II gave
him a seal representing a family of silk worms, with their motto:
"Not for ourselves but for others." He forbade the importation of rum
into the colony. He refused the command of the British forces sent in
1775 to reduce, or subdue the American Colonies. In this life told in
seven questions, or rather answered, we find much--a religious man,
a soldier, an architect (of a city), one versed in commerce, a wise
legislator and a man who had the respect of the king--the head of
England.
The next in chronological order is Benjamin Franklin (for whom our
little city is named), born in 1706, died in 1790. He discovered the
identity of lightning and electricity, and invented the lightning
rods. He was an early printer who edited and published "Poor Richard's
Almanac." Of him it was said, "He snatched the lightning from heaven
and the sceptre from tyrants."
He founded the first circulating library in America. His portrait
is seen to-day on every one-cent postage stamp. He was America's
ambassador to France during the Revolutionary war.
He said after signing the Declaration of Independence, "We must all
hang together or we shall all hang separately."
In him, we find an inventor and discoverer, an editor and author, a
benefactor, a politician and statesman, and one whose face we daily see
on account of his greatness.
George Washington was born 1732, and died 1799. He was the first
president of the United States--"The Father of His Country," the
commander-in-chief of the American forces in the Revolutionary war. He
was the hero of Valley Forge, and the one to receive the surrender of
Cornwallis at Yorktown.
He was the president of the convention that framed the United States
constitution. The one of whom it was said, "He was the first in war,
the first in peace, and the first in the hearts of his countrymen."
It is his--and his only--birthday America celebrates as a national
holiday. Of him Lord Byron said, "The first, the last, and the best,
the Cincinnatus of the West." How much do seven short paragraphs tell!
Patrick Henry was born in 1736, died 1799, the same year that
Washington "passed away;" and like his, this life can speak for itself.
He was the most famous orator of the Revolution. He said, "give me
liberty or give me death!" He also said, "We must fight. An appeal to
arms and to the god of battles is all that is left us. I repeat it,
sir, we must fight." Another saying of his was, "Caesar had his Brutus,
Charles I his Cromwell, and George III--may profit by their example."
Again, "The people, and only the people, have a right to tax the
people." He won in the famous Parson's case, the epithet of "The Orator
of Nature." He was the first governor of the Colony of Virginia after
it became a state.
John Hancock was born in 1737, and died 1793. He first signed the
Declaration of Independence. He was a rich Boston merchant as well as
a Revolutionary leader. He was chosen president of the Continental
congress in 1775. He and Samuel Adams were the two especially excepted
from pardon offered the "rebels" by the English.
As president of congress he signed the commission of George Washington
as commander-in-chief of the army.
When he signed the Declaration of Independence he said, "The British
ministry can read that name without spectacles; let them double
their reward." He was elected the first governor of the state of
Massachusetts in 1780.
Anthony Wayne was born in 1745, and died in 1796. He was often called
"Mad Anthony" on account of his intrepidity. He was the hero of Stony
Point. He built a fort on the spot of St. Clair's defeat and named
it Fort Recovery. He was made commander-in-chief of the Army of the
Northwest in 1792. He gained a great victory over the Miami Indians in
Ohio in 1794. He, as a Revolutionary general, banished whiskey from
his camp calling it "ardent poison"--from whence came the expression
"ardent spirits" when applied to stimulants. Major Andre composed a
poem about him called the "Cow Chase," showing how he captured supplies
for the Americans.
Alexander Hamilton was born in 1757, and died in 1804. He was
aide-de-camp to Washington in 1777--the most trying year of the entire
Revolutionary war. He succeeded Washington as commander-in-chief of the
United States army. He was the first secretary of the treasury of the
United States. He founded the financial system of the United States.
He was the Revolutionary statesman who said, "Reformers make opinions,
and opinions make parties"--a true aphorism to-day. He is known as the
"prince of politicians, or America's greatest political genius." His
brilliant career was cut short at the age of 43 by Aaron Burr--whose
life is summed up in two sad, bitter lines:
"His country's curse, his children's shame;
Outcast of virtue, peace and fame."
Although John Paul Jones was not a Revolutionary soldier on the land,
yet he was "the Washington of the Seas."
He was born in 1747 and died 1792. He was the first to hoist an
American naval flag on board an American frigate. He fought the first
naval engagement under the United States' national ensign or flag.
He commanded the _Bon Homme Richard_ in the great sea fight with the
_Serapis_ in the English Channel.
He said, after the commander of the _Serapis_ had been knighted, "if
I should have the good fortune to meet him again, I will make a lord
of him." He was presented with a sword by Louis XVI for his services
against the English. He was appointed rear-admiral of the Russian fleet
by Catherine II.
These are but a few of the many men who did so valiantly their part
during the Revolutionary period.
SUSIE GENTRY,
_State Vice-Regent, D. A. R._
(A talk made to the public school teachers of Williamson County--at the
request of the superintendent of instruction--in Franklin, Tennessee,
January 13, 1906.)--_American Monthly Magazine._
THE BATTLE OF ALAMANCE.
BY REV. THOMAS B. GREGORY.
At the battle of Alamance, N. C., fought May 16, 1771, was shed
the first blood of the great struggle which was to result in the
establishment of American independence.
All honor to Lexington, where the "embattled farmers" fired shots that
were "heard around the world," but let it not be forgotten that other
farmers, almost four years before the day of Lexington, opened the
fight of which Lexington was only the continuation.
The principles for which the North Carolina farmers fought at Alamance
were identified with those for which Massachusetts farmers fought
at Lexington. Of the Massachusetts patriots nineteen were killed and
wounded, while of the Carolina patriots over 200 lay killed or crippled
upon the field and six, later on, died upon the scaffold, yet, while
all the world has heard of Lexington, not one person in a thousand
knows anything to speak of about Alamance.
William Tryon, the royal Governor of North Carolina, was so mean that
they called him the "Wolf." In the name of his royal master and for
the furtherance of his own greedy instincts Tryon oppressed the people
of his province to the point where they were obliged to do one or two
things--resist him or become slaves. They resolved to resist and formed
themselves into an organization known as "Regulators," a body of as
pure patriots as ever shouldered a gun.
Having protested time and again against the unlawful taxation under
which they groaned, they finally quit groaning, raised the cry of
freedom and rose in arms against Tryon and King George.
To the number of 2,000 or 3,000 the Regulators, only partly armed and
without organization, met the forces of the royal Governor at Alamance.
"Lay down your guns or I will fire!" shouted the British commander.
"Fire and be damned!" shouted back the leader of the Regulators. At
once the battle opened, and, of course, the Regulators were defeated
and dispersed. But old Tryon received the lesson he had so long
needed--that, while Americans could be shot down on the battlefield,
they could not be made tamely to submit to the high-handed oppression
of King George and his creatures.
THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON APRIL 19, 1775.
On the afternoon of the day on which the Provincial Congress of
Massachusetts adjourned, General Gage took the light infantry and
grenadiers off duty and secretly prepared an expedition to destroy the
colony's stores at Concord. The attempt had for several weeks been
expected, and signals were concerted to announce the first movement
of troops for the country. Samuel Adams and Hancock, who had not yet
left Lexington for Philadelphia, received a timely message from Warren,
and in consequence the Committee of Safety moved a part of the public
stores and secreted the cannon.
On Tuesday, the eighteenth of April, ten or more British sergeants in
disguise dispersed themselves through Cambridge and farther west to
intercept all communication. In the following night the grenadiers and
light infantry, not less than eight hundred in number, the flower of
the army at Boston, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Smith, crossed in
the boats of the transport ships from the foot of the Common at East
Cambridge.
Gage directed that no one else should leave the town, but Warren had,
at ten o'clock, dispatched William Dawes through Roxbury and Paul
Revere by way of Charlestown to Lexington.
Revere stopped only to engage a friend to raise the concerted signals,
and two friends rowed him across the Charles River five minutes before
the sentinels received the order to prevent it. All was still, as
suited the hour. The _Somerset_, man-of-war, was winding with the young
flood; the waning moon just peered above a clear horizon, while from a
couple of lanterns in the tower of the North Church the beacon streamed
to the neighboring towns as fast as light could travel.
A little beyond Charlestown Neck Revere was intercepted by two British
officers on horseback, but being well mounted he turned suddenly and
escaped by the road to Medford. In that town he waked the captain and
Minute Men, and continued to rouse almost every house on the way to
Lexington, making the memorable ride of Paul Revere. The troops had not
advanced far when the firing of guns and ringing of bells announced
that their expedition had been heralded, and Smith sent back for a
reinforcement.
Early on the nineteenth of April the message from Warren reached
Adams and Hancock, who at once divined the object of the expedition.
Revere, therefore, and Dawes, joined by Samuel Prescott, "a high Son
of Liberty" from Concord, rode forward, calling up the inhabitants as
they passed along, till in Lincoln they fell upon a party of British
officers. Revere and Dawes were seized and taken back to Lexington,
where they were released, but Prescott leaped over a low stone wall and
galloped on for Concord.
There, at about two hours after midnight, a peal from the bell of the
meeting house brought together the inhabitants of the place, young
and old, with their firelocks, ready to make good the resolute words
of their town debates. Among the most alert was William Emerson, the
minister, with gun in hand, his powder horn and pouch of balls slung
over his shoulder. By his sermons and his prayers his flock learned to
hold the defense of their liberties a part of their covenant with God.
His presence with arms strengthened their sense of duty.
From daybreak to sunrise, the summons ran from house to house through
Acton. Express messengers and the call of Minute Men spread widely
the alarm. How children trembled as they were scared out of sleep by
the cries! How women, with heaving breasts, bravely seconded their
husbands! How the countrymen, forced suddenly to arm, without guides or
counsellors, took instant counsel of their courage! The mighty chorus
of voices rose from the scattered farmhouses, and, as it were, from the
ashes of the dead. "Come forth, champions of liberty; now free your
country; protect your sons and daughters, your wives and homesteads;
rescue the houses of the God of your fathers, the franchises handed
down from your ancestors." Now all is at stake; the battle is for all.
Lexington, in 1775, may have had seven hundred inhabitants. Their
minister was the learned and fervent Jonas Clark, the bold inditer of
patriotic state papers, that may yet be read on their town records. In
December, 1772, they had instructed their representative to demand "a
radical and lasting redress of their grievances, for not through their
neglect should the people be enslaved." A year later they spurned the
use of tea. In 1774, at various town meetings, they voted "to increase
their stock of ammunition," "to encourage military discipline, and
to put themselves in a posture of defense against their enemies." In
December they distributed to "the train band and alarm list" arms and
ammunition and resolved to "supply the training soldiers with bayonets."
At two in the morning, under the eye of the minister, and of Hancock
and Adams, Lexington Common was alive with the Minute Men. The roll
was called and, of militia and alarm men, about one hundred and thirty
answered to their names. The captain, John Parker, ordered everyone
to load with powder and ball, but to take care not to be the first to
fire. Messengers sent to look for the British regulars reported that
there were no signs of their approach. A watch was therefore set, and
the company dismissed with orders to come together at beat of drum.
The last stars were vanishing from night when the foremost party, led
by Pitcairn, a major of marines, was discovered advancing quickly
and in silence. Alarm guns were fired and the drums beat, not a call
to village husbandmen only, but the reveille of humanity. Less than
seventy, perhaps less than sixty, obeyed the summons, and, in sight of
half as many boys and unarmed men, were paraded in two ranks a few rods
north of the meeting house.
The British van, hearing the drum and the alarm guns, halted to load;
the remaining companies came up, and, at half an hour before sunrise,
the advance party hurried forward at double quick time, almost upon a
run, closely followed by the grenadiers. Pitcairn rode in front and
when within five or six rods of the Minute Men, cried out: "Disperse,
ye villains! Ye rebels, disperse! Lay down your arms! Why don't you
lay down your arms and disperse?" The main part of the countrymen
stood motionless in the ranks, witnesses against aggression, too few
to resist, too brave to fly. At this Pitcairn discharged a pistol, and
with a loud voice cried "Fire!" The order was followed first by a few
guns, which did no execution, and then by a close and deadly discharge
of musketry.
Jonas Parker, the strongest and best wrestler in Lexington, had
promised never to run from British troops, and he kept his vow. A
wound brought him on his knees. Having discharged his gun he was
preparing to load it again when he was stabbed by a bayonet and lay
on the post which he took at the morning's drum beat. So fell Isaac
Muzzey, and so died the aged Robert Munroe, who in 1758 had been an
ensign at Louisburg. Jonathan Harrington, Jr., was struck in front of
his own house on the north of the common. His wife was at the window
as he fell. With blood gushing from his breast, he rose in her sight,
tottered, fell again, then crawled on hands and knees toward his
dwelling; she ran to meet him, but only reached him as he expired on
their threshold. Caleb Harrington, who had gone into the meeting house
for powder, was shot as he came out. Samuel Hadley and John Brown
were pursued and killed after they had left the green. Asabel Porter,
of Woburn, who had been taken prisoner by the British on the march,
endeavoring to escape, was shot within a few rods of the common. Seven
men of Lexington were killed, nine wounded, a quarter part of all who
stood in arms on the green.
There on the green lay in death the gray-haired and the young; the
grassy field was red "with the innocent blood of their brethren
slain," crying unto God for vengeance from the ground.
These are the village heroes who were more than of noble blood, proving
by their spirit that they were of a race divine. They gave their lives
in testimony to the rights of mankind, bequeathing to their country
an assurance of success in the mighty struggle which they began. The
expanding millions of their countrymen renew and multiply their praise
from generation to generation. They fulfilled their duty not from an
accidental impulse of the moment; their action was the ripened fruit of
Providence and of time.
Heedless of his own danger, Samuel Adams, with the voice of a prophet,
exclaimed: "Oh, what a glorious morning is this!" for he saw his
country's independence hastening on, and, like Columbus in the tempest,
knew that the storm bore him more swiftly toward the undiscovered land.
The British troops drew up on the village green, fired a volley,
huzzaed thrice by way of triumph, and after a halt of less than thirty
minutes, marched on for Concord. There, in the morning hours, children
and women fled for shelter to the hills and the woods and men were
hiding what was left of cannon and military stores.
The Minute Men and militia formed on the usual parade, over which the
congregation of the town for near a century and a half had passed to
public worship, the freemen to every town meeting, and lately the
patriot members of the Provincial Congress twice a day to their little
senate house. Near that spot Winthrop, the father of Massachusetts,
had given counsel; and Eliot, the apostle of the Indians, had spoken
words of benignity and wisdom. The people of Concord, of whom about two
hundred appeared in arms on that day, derived their energy from their
sense of the divine power.
The alarm company of the place rallied near the Liberty Pole on the
hill, to the right of the Lexington road, in the front of the meeting
house. They went to the perilous duties of the day "with seriousness
and acknowledgment of God," as though they were to engage in acts of
worship. The minute company of Lincoln, and a few men from Acton,
pressed in at an early hour; but the British, as they approached,
were seen to be four times as numerous as the Americans. The latter,
therefore, retreated, first to an eminence eighty rods farther north,
then across Concord River, by the North Bridge, till just beyond it, by
a back road, they gained high ground about a mile from the center of
the town. There they waited for aid.
About seven o'clock, under brilliant sunshine, the British marched with
rapid step into Concord, the light infantry along the hills and the
grenadiers in the lower road.
At daybreak the Minute Men of Acton crowded at the drum-beat to the
house of Isaac Davis, their captain, who "made haste to be ready." Just
thirty years old, the father of four little ones, stately in person, a
man of few words, earnest even to solemnity, he parted from his wife,
saying: "Take good care of the children," and while she gazed after him
with resignation he led off his company.
Between nine and ten the number of Americans on the rising ground above
Concord Bridge had increased to more than four hundred. Of these, there
were twenty-five men from Bedford, with Jonathan Wilson for their
captain; others were from Westford, among them Thaxter, a preacher;
others from Littleton, from Carlisle, and from Chelmsford. The Acton
company came last and formed on the right; the whole was a gathering
not so much of officers and soldiers as of brothers and equals, of
whom every one was a man well known in his village, observed in the
meeting houses on Sundays, familiar at town meetings and respected as a
freeholder or a freeholder's son.
Near the base of the hill Concord River flows languidly in a winding
channel and was approached by a causeway over the wet ground of its
left bank. The by-road from the hill on which the Americans had rallied
ran southerly till it met the causeway at right angles. The Americans
saw before them, within gunshot, British troops holding possession of
their bridge, and in the distance a still larger number occupying their
town, which, from the rising smoke, seemed to have been set on fire.
The Americans had as yet received only uncertain rumors of the
morning's events at Lexington. At the sight of fire in the village the
impulse seized them "to march into the town for its defense." But were
they not subjects of the British king? Had not the troops come out in
obedience to acknowledged authorities? Was resistance practicable?
Was it justifiable? By whom could it be authorized? No union had been
formed, no independence proclaimed, no war declared. The husbandmen
and mechanics who then stood on the hillock by Concord River were
called on to act and their action would be war or peace, submission
or independence. Had they doubted, they must have despaired. Prudent
statesmanship would have asked for time to ponder. Wise philosophy
would have lost from hesitation the glory of opening a new era for
mankind. The small bands at Concord acted and God was with them.
"I never heard from any person the least expression of a wish for
a separation," Franklin, not long before, had said to Chatham. In
October, 1774, Washington wrote: "No such thing as independence is
desired by any thinking man in America." "Before the nineteenth
of April, 1775," relates Jefferson, "I never heard a whisper of a
disposition to separate from Great Britain." Just thirty-seven days had
passed since John Adams published in Boston, "That there are any who
pant after independence is the greatest slander on the province."
The American Revolution grew out of the souls of the people and was
an inevitable result of a living affection for freedom, which set in
motion harmonious effort as certainly as the beating of the heart sends
warmth and color through the system.
The officers, meeting in front of their men, spoke a few words with
one another and went back to their places. Barrett, the colonel, on
horseback in the rear, then gave the order to advance, but not to
fire unless attacked. The calm features of Isaac Davis, of Acton,
became changed; the town schoolmaster of Concord, who was present,
could never afterwards find words strong enough to express how deeply
his face reddened at the word of command. "I have not a man that is
afraid to go," said Davis, looking at the men of Acton, and, drawing
his sword, he cried: "March!" His company, being on the right, led
the way toward the bridge, he himself at their head, and by his side
Major John Buttrick, of Concord, with John Robinson, of Westford,
lieutenant-colonel in Prescott's regiment, but on this day a volunteer
without command.
These three men walked together in front, followed by Minute Men and
militia in double file, training arms. They went down the hillock,
entered the by-road, came to its angle with the main road and there
turned into the causeway that led straight to the bridge. The British
began to take up the planks; to prevent it the Americans quickened
their step. At this the British fired one or two shots up the river;
then another, by which Luther Blanchard and Jonas Brown were wounded.
A volley followed, and Isaac Davis and Abner Hosmer fell dead. Three
hours before, Davis had bid his wife farewell. That afternoon he was
carried home and laid in her bedroom. His countenance was pleasant in
death. The bodies of two others of his company, who were slain that
day, were brought to her house, and the three were followed to the
village graveyard by a concourse of neighbors from miles around. Heaven
gave her length of days in the land which his self-devotion assisted
to redeem. She lived to see her country reach the Gulf of Mexico and
the Pacific; when it was grown great in numbers, wealth and power, the
United States in Congress bethought themselves to pay honors to her
husband's martyrdom and comfort her under the double burden of sorrow
and of more than ninety years.
As the British fired, Emerson, who was looking on from an upper window
in his house near the bridge, was for one moment uneasy lest the fire
should not be returned. It was only for a moment; Buttrick, leaping in
the air and at the same time partially turning around, cried aloud:
"Fire, fellow soldiers! for God's sake, fire!" and the cry "fire! fire!
fire!" ran from lip to lip. Two of the British fell, several were
wounded, and in two minutes all was hushed. The British retreated in
disorder toward their main body; the countrymen were left in possession
of the bridge. This is the world renowned "Battle of Concord," more
eventful than Agincourt or Blenheim.
The Americans stood astonished at what they had done. They made no
pursuit and did no further harm, except that one wounded soldier,
attempting to arise if to escape, was struck on the head by a young
man with a hatchet. The party at Barrett's might have been cut off,
but was not molested. As the Sudbury company, commanded by the brave
Nixon, passed near the South Bridge, Josiah Haynes, then eighty years
of age, deacon of the Sudbury Church, urged an attack on the British
party stationed there; his advice was rejected by his fellow soldiers
as premature, but the company in which he served proved among the most
alert during the rest of the day.
In the town of Concord, Smith, for half an hour, showed by marches and
counter-marches his uncertainty of purpose. At last, about noon, he
left the town, to retreat the way he came, along the hilly road that
wound through forests and thickets. The Minute Men and militia who
had taken part in the fight ran over the hills opposite the battle
field into the east quarter of the town, crossed the pasture known as
the "Great Fields," and placed themselves in ambush a little to the
eastward of the village, near the junction of the Bedford road. There
they were reinforced by men from all around and at that point the
chase of the English began.
Among the foremost were the Minute Men of Reading, led by John Brooks
and accompanied by Foster, the minister of Littleton, as a volunteer.
The company of Billerica, whose inhabitants, in their just indignation
at Nesbit and his soldiers, had openly resolved to "use a different
style from that of petition and complaint" came down from the north,
while the East Sudbury company appeared on the south. A little below
the Bedford road at Merriam's corner the British faced about, but after
a sharp encounter, in which several of them were killed, they resumed
their retreat.
At the high land in Lincoln the old road bent toward the north, just
where great trees on the west and thickets on the east offered cover
to the pursuers. The men from Woburn came up in great numbers and well
armed. Along these defiles fell eight of the British. Here Pitcairn for
safety was forced to quit his horse, which was taken with his pistols
in their holsters. A little farther on Jonathan Wilson, captain of
the Bedford Minute Men, too zealous to keep on his guard, was killed
by a flanking party. At another defile in Lincoln, the Minute Men at
Lexington, commanded by John Parker, renewed the fight. Every piece of
wood, every rock by the wayside, served as a lurking place. Scarce ten
of the Americans were at any time seen together, yet the hills seemed
to the British to swarm with "rebels," as if they had dropped from the
clouds, and "the road was lined" by an unintermitted fire from behind
stone walls and trees.
At first the invaders moved in order; as they drew near Lexington,
their flanking parties became ineffective from weariness; the wounded
were scarce able to get forward. In the west of Lexington, as the
British were rising Fiske's hill, a sharp contest ensued. It was at the
eastern foot of the same hill that James Hayward, of Acton, encountered
a regular, and both at the same moment fired; the regular dropped
dead; Hayward was mortally wounded. A little farther on fell the
octogenarian, Josiah Haynes, who had kept pace with the swiftest in the
pursuit.
The British troops, "greatly exhausted and fatigued and having expended
almost all of their ammunition," began to run rather than retreat in
order. The officers vainly attempted to stop their flight. "They were
driven before the Americans like sheep." At last, about two in the
afternoon, after they had hurried through the middle of the town, about
a mile below the field of the morning's bloodshed, the officers made
their way to the front and by menaces of death began to form them under
a very heavy fire.
At that moment Lord Percy came in sight with the first brigade,
consisting of Welsh Fusiliers, the Fourth, the Forty-seventh and the
Thirty-eighth Regiments, in all about twelve hundred men, with two
field pieces. Insolent, as usual, they marched out of Boston to the
tune of Yankee Doodle, but they grew alarmed at finding every house on
the road deserted.
While the cannon kept the Americans at bay, Percy formed his detachment
into a square, enclosing the fugitives, who lay down for rest on the
ground, "their tongues hanging out of their mouths like those of dogs
after a chase."