Today, April 19, 2011, is the 236th anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battles of the American Revolutionary War.
On the night of the 18th, about 700 British regulars, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith boarded boats and began to cross the Charles River towards Lexington. Their orders were to capture and destroy the colonist's military supplies that were hidden in Concord, Massachusetts and take John Hancock and Samuel Adams prisoner.
The colonists had been watching the British Army's every movement and had moved most but not all of the supplies to a safer area. That night Joseph Warren ( author of the Suffolk Resolves) found out about the Army's plan and sent Paul Revere across the Charles River and William Dawes through the Boston Neck to warn Hancock and Adams of the British movements. On their way to Lexington, Paul Revere warned the patriots of the Army's advance and by the morning of the 19th there were roughly 40 men spreading the news throughout the surrounding towns.
When he heard the news, Captain John Parker, a farmer from Lexington, gathered his troops onto Lexington Green and sent scouts toward Boston to find out if Revere's warning was true. Thaddeus Bowman, the last scout he sent, galloped onto the green at 4:15 am and reported that the British regulars were less than a half hour away. Captain Parker ordered his men to line up between the roads to Concord and Bedford. Their intent was not to provoke a fight but to show their determination. As Parker so famously said "Stand your ground: don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here."1
As the British regulars approached and saw the Americans on the green they formed battle lines. One officer rushed at the militia, waving his sword and ordering them to "lay down your arms".
Suddenly a bullet ripped through the air. No one knows who fired that first shot and both sides denied responsibility. Regardless, the damage was already done. The soldiers began firing frantically, making it impossible for the leaders to regain control and during the frantic ten minutes that followed eight Americans were killed. Only one English soldier was slightly injured. Finally, Lt. Col. Smith ordered a cease fire and the regulars continued toward Concord. The militia was, of course, demoralized by their easy defeat but Captain Parker performed what has been called "a miracle of leadership"2 when he regrouped his men and prepared to meet the British on their return from Concord.
Meanwhile, in Concord, militiamen from that town and Lincoln gathered or mustered and waited for the English to arrive. After hearing reports of the firing in Lexington a group of them marched out to meet the regulars. They traveled about a mile and a half before seeing the Army and realizing that it numbered 700 to their 250. The men turned back and reached Concord a full 500 yards ahead of the English.
The militia, under Colonel James Barrett, quickly surrendered Concord and retreated to a ridge overlooking the town to watch watch the Regulars actions. Quietly they watched as the British spread through the town, found and destroyed three cannon and several gun carriages and dumped about 550 pounds of musket balls into the mill pond.
By the time the English finished, men from Acton and Bedford had joined the men on the ridge raising their numbers to at least 400. Now they moved to the North Bridge where Colonel Barrett ordered them to line up, two men deep, along the road leading to the bridge. Again they were instructed to wait for the British to fire first. The 90-95 regulars guarding the bridge began to advance and a shot was fired from one of their soldiers. In the volleys that followed two Americans fell and at least three regulars were killed or mortally wounded. At least 17 men were injured. Trapped and outnumbered, the British abandoned their wounded and fled.
We'll never know exactly what the 11 Americans that died 236 years ago today were fighting for but my guess is that they agreed with John Adams who said,
"I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain."3
We are in a similar situation as the men in Lexington and Concord, not with rifles and cannon, but with minds and ideas. We all know that the government is steadily regulating away our freedoms and it is our duty to study the issues and speak out so that our sons and daughters will have the liberty to study what they want without government intrusion on their lives.
~Addie
"Our obligations to our country never cease but with our lives."
John Adams
1 Captain John Parker to the company assembled on Lexington Green
2 John Galvin, The Minute Men: The First Fight : Myths and Realities of the American Revolution pp 181
3 Letter to Abigail Adams (12 May 1780)
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