It must have been just over the line into Lexington that the young man, Simon Winship, was met. He was on horseback, unarmed, and passing along in a peaceable manner, when he was halted and ordered to dismount. He questioned their right to treat him in that manner, but for answer they forced him from his horse and compelled him to march on foot in their midst. They asked him if he had been out warning the minute-men, to which he replied that he had not, but that he was returning home to his father's. He was kept as a prisoner until they arrived at Lexington Common, two and one-half miles, where he was compelled to witness the shooting of his fellow townsmen.
Half a mile farther along, and about two miles from Lexington Common, Benjamin Wellington, one of Capt. Parker's Company of minute-men, was captured. This took place very nearly at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Pleasant Street. Wellington was armed and on his way from home on Pleasant Street to join his company. Thus it is claimed, and rightly, that he was the first belligerent or armed man captured by the British. But for some reason he was allowed to depart, not towards the Common, but for home. His gun was not returned to him, however. He started towards home but when out of their sight, turned and passed northerly along the crest of the hills, parallel to the highway, and reached the Common just after Thaddeus Bowman, but ahead of the British.
The six companies of light infantry under command of Major Pitcairn were now considerably in advance of the main body under Smith, and up the road somewhat farther than the present high school building, even farther along than where the Woburn road, now Woburn Street, turns off to the eastward. When still nearer Lexington Common, within about one hundred rods of it, they heard the beating of a drum by William Dimond, drummer in Captain Parker's Company. It was the summons for that little band to assemble across the pathway of an invading army. Major Pitcairn accepted it as a challenge, and promptly ordered his soldiers to halt and load their muskets,[106] and then to march on the double quick for Lexington Common.[107]
1. Lexington Common. 2. Meeting House. 3. Belfry. 4. Marrett Munroe. 5. Emerson. 6. Buckman Tavern. 7. Harrington. 8. Rev. Jonas Clarke. 9. Merriam. 10. Loring. 11. Mead. 12. Mulliken. 13. Bond. 14. Munroe Tavern. 15. Sanderson. 16. Mason. 17. Percy's Cannon. 18. Lieut.-Col. Smith wounded. 19. Hayward mortally wounded. 20. Wellington captured.
Captain John Parker's company numbered, all told, one hundred and twenty men, but only a few more than half answered to this call at day-break, April 19. It will be remembered that Paul Revere did not reach Lexington with his message of alarm until midnight. Many of the minute-men lived too remote to be so quickly summoned. Captain Parker's home was over two miles away, in the southwesterly part of the town, near the Waltham line. He was called at about one o'clock,[108] and stood on the Common before two o'clock with such of his men as had then assembled. We have seen how they answered the roll-call and then dispersed to be within call of the drum, as the night was chilly. Those who lived near, went home, and those who lived too far away, to quickly go and come, repaired to Buckman's Tavern, close at hand.
Captain Parker has been described by his grandson, Theodore Parker, the celebrated Unitarian preacher, as being "a great, tall man, with a large head, and a high, wide brow." His great grand-daughter, Elizabeth S. Parker, has described him as stout, large-framed, medium height, like Rev. Theodore Parker, but with a longer face.[109] We can imagine him as a prudent man, with a quiet, yet firm courage.
Two men from Woburn had just arrived, and it was then a little before five o'clock. They were Sylvanus Wood and Robert Douglass. They had come about three miles, having heard, about an hour before, the ringing of the bell in the Old Belfry, which stood near the church on the Common. As Wood came up he approached Captain Parker and inquired the news. Parker replied that he did not know what to believe, for, half an hour before, a messenger had returned with the assurance that no British were on the way. While talking, another messenger, Thaddeus Bowman, rode up with the startling announcement that the British were within half a mile. They were nearer than that—not even down the road as far as Woburn Street.
Captain Parker then ordered his drummer, William Dimond[110] to beat to arms. The minute-men assembled from their homes and from the Buckman Tavern. They were but few, so few indeed, that he turned to Wood and begged him to join their ranks. Wood consented. Parker asked him if his young companion, meaning Robert Douglass, would also join. And Douglass also enlisted into Captain Parker's Company. These two were indeed brave, for the danger was really then and there.
The minute-men gathered around their captain in the middle of the road, about half way between the meeting-house and the tavern. The meeting-house then stood where the heroic statue of a minute-man in bronze now stands. The tavern is still standing (1912).
Parker then said:
"Every man of you who is equipped, follow me; and those of you who are not equipped, go into the meeting-house and furnish yourselves from the magazine, and immediately join the company."[111] Joseph Comee, Caleb Harrington and Joshua Simonds then went into the meeting-house, to comply with the Captain's command.
Then Parker led those who were equipped, to the northerly end of the Common, where they formed in single line. Sylvanus Wood stepped from the ranks long enough to count them, and has left his sworn statement that there were thirty-eight, "and no more."[112]
In the brief moments which followed others were hastening to join the ranks, and as they arrived Orderly Sergeant William Munroe attempted to form them into a second line, and partially succeeded.[113] Even later still a few more reached the Common, and were back to the British as they wheeled grandly around the easterly end of the meeting-house and at last stood on Lexington Common.[114] Captain Parker's entire force then numbered between sixty and seventy men,[115] ununiformed, scantily armed, poorly disciplined, pitifully few as compared with the three or four hundred of the British.
It is no wonder that one minute-man exclaimed:
"There are so few of us it is folly to stand here."
Captain Parker heard the remark, and answered:
"The first man who offers to run shall be shot down."[116]
On came the British, almost on the run,[117] the light companies of the Tenth Regiment in advance.[118] At their head rode Major John Pitcairn and two other mounted officers.[119]
"Stand your ground," exclaimed Parker; "don't fire unless fired upon. But if they want to have a war let it begin here!"[120]
Major Pitcairn galloped up to within six rods of Captain Parker's foremost line, and exclaimed:
"Lay down your arms, you damned rebels, and disperse."
Captain Parker, seeing the utter hopelessness of armed resistance, gave the order to disperse and not to fire.[121] He did not, however, order his men to lay down their arms. Evidently Pitcairn wished to disarm them, for while they were dispersing he shouted again:—
"Damn you, why don't you lay down your arms?"[122]
But no answer came back, and each one of Capt. Parker's little band retiring from the field, carried his gun with him.
Then one of the other mounted officers, about two rods behind Pitcairn, name unknown, brandished his sword and the regulars huzzaed in unison. He then pointed his pistol towards the minute-men and fired.[123]
Pitcairn was back to that officer, so did not see him fire. He heard the discharge, and easily might have mistaken it as coming from an enemy, for he had not authorized it himself.[124] Furious with passion he gave the order:
"Fire!"
There was hesitation to obey from his men, for he repeated:
"Fire, damn you, fire!"[125]
The first platoon of eight or nine men then fired, evidently over the heads of the minute-men, for none were killed or wounded.[126] Pitcairn saw the effects of that volley and realized that his men did not aim to kill. Then came his next order:
"G——d d——n you, fire at them!"[127]
The second volley surely was fired to kill.
John Munroe, one of the minute-men in line, thought that the first volley was nothing but powder and so remarked to Ebenezer Munroe, who stood next to him. But as the second volley came quickly and with fatal effect, the latter answered that something more than powder was being used for he had received a wound in his arm, and, he added:
"I'll give them the guts of my gun."[128]
These two Munroes then deliberately fired at the British, though the smoke from the latter's guns prevented a deliberate and careful aim.[129] John Munroe, after retreating about ten rods, loaded a second time, with two balls, and fired, but the charge was too heavy, and he lost about a foot from the muzzle end of his gun.[130]
Jonas Parker, cousin to the Captain, was mortally wounded through the body,[131] from the second volley, but having sufficient strength, fired in return. He had but just uttered his determination not to run, and had placed his hat on the ground at his feet, and in it put his bullets and extra flints. The British bullet in his body caused him to sink to his knees, but he heroically endeavored to reload. He could not, before the advancing enemy were upon him, and one of them ended his sufferings with a bayonet thrust.[132]
Jonathan Harrington, Jr., was mortally wounded, but staggered towards his home, on the northerly end of the Common. He fell before reaching there, struggled to his feet again, and staggered almost to his own door, where he expired, just as his wife rushed to meet him. He fell near the barn, then standing in what is now Bedford Street.[133]
Ensign Robert Munroe was killed while attempting to escape. He was just at the edge of the Common, by the wall at Merriam's barn.[134] His daughter, Anna, wife of Daniel Harrington, who lived at the northerly end of the Common, must have seen the tragedy, as must also his two sons, Ebenezer and John, and his two sons-in-law, Daniel Harrington and Lieut. Tidd, all four in line with Captain Parker.
When Parker directed such of his force as were without ammunition to proceed into the meeting-house near by, and supply themselves from the town's stock, as we have written, Joseph Comee, Caleb Harrington and Joshua Simonds entered the sacred edifice for that purpose. Simonds succeeded in getting down from the upper loft to the first balcony, two quarter casks of powder, and had removed the head from one.[135] The opening volley, but a few rods away, indicated to him that hostilities had commenced. He expected to meet his fate. Pointing his gun to the open cask he resolved to blow up the meeting-house, himself and his enemies, rather than to have them enter and capture him.[136] Comee and Harrington attempted to escape, and were running from the westerly end of the meeting-house, when the latter was shot and instantly killed,[137] and the former wounded in the arm. He made his way to the Marrett Munroe house, passed through it and out of the back door, and escaped over the hill at the rear.
Then with savage ferocity the British rushed on, hunting down the fleeing minute-men, as they attempted to escape in all directions. A mounted officer, supposed to be Pitcairn, pursued William Tidd up the North road (now Hancock Street), about thirty rods, calling out to him:
"Damn you, stop, or you are a dead man!"
Thereupon Tidd leaped over a pair of bars, made a stand and discharged his gun at his pursuer, who then retreated to the main body.[138]
Solomon Brown was not idle. Though not in line with Captain Parker's 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]
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.
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]
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.
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:
"To march into the middle of the town for its defence, or die in the attempt."[185]
Col. Barrett then gave the order to Major John Buttrick to lead an advance over the Bridge and to the centre of the town. And his instructions were like those of Captain Parker a few hours before, not to fire unless fired upon.
It was then between nine and ten o'clock.[186] Col. Barrett retired to the rear on higher ground,[187] and Major Buttrick hastened to execute his order. His choice for a company to lead was naturally one from Concord, but the Captain of that one replied that he would rather not.[188] We wonder at the reason, for Concord seemed to be the most deeply concerned just at that hour. However, it could not have been for lack of courage, for the Concord companies were a part of that advance. Then Buttrick turned to Capt. Davis, and asked him if he was afraid to go. Davis promptly responded:
"No, I am not; and there isn't a man in my company that is."[189]
He immediately gave the command to march, and the men of Acton wheeled from the left of the line to the right, and were the first to march upon the invaders.
Major John Buttrick of Concord led in person this little army down the slope towards the river, but not until he had offered the command to a superior officer who happened to be present, but without a command, Lieut.-Col. John Robinson of Prescott's Regiment. Robinson lived in Westford, and had responded to the alarm. Magnanimously he refused the honor to lead, but with characteristic bravery, begged that he might march by Buttrick's side, which the latter acceded to. These were the two men in front of all the American host to first march against the soldiers of their King.
Then came Captain Isaac Davis and his company of thirty-seven men from Acton. Then next, a Concord company under Charles Miles. Then two more Concord companies under Capt. David Brown and Capt. Nathan Barrett.[190] Another company from Acton, then fell into line, the one commanded by Capt. Simon Hunt. They were just turning the corner of the main road when the firing at the bridge took place.[191] By order of Col. Barrett the companies from Bedford and Lincoln next fell into line. The march was by twos, and to the tune of "The White Cockade," played by two young fifers, Luther Blanchard of Davis's Acton company, and John Buttrick of Brown's Concord company.[192]
Down the road, now discontinued, in a southerly direction to the point of the triangle, then back towards the Bridge in an easterly direction, in all about a quarter of a mile, they marched.[193] The British watched the advance keenly, and when the southerly point of the triangle was reached, and the columns wheeled left towards the Bridge, they commenced to pull up the planks. Major Buttrick, in a loud voice, ordered them to desist, whereupon they left the Bridge and hastily formed for action in the road just beyond the easterly end. Then came the report of the first hostile gun in the battle of Concord, fired from the British ranks. Solomon Smith,[194] a member of Davis's Acton company, saw where the ball struck the river, on his right, which then ran nearly parallel to the road. This was quickly followed by two others, but they were not thought by the Americans to be aimed at them either.
Still onward marched Major Buttrick and his little band. They soon came nearly to the Bridge, when a sudden volley from the British indicated their serious intention to check the American advance. Luther Blanchard, the fifer from Acton, was slightly wounded.[195]
Major Buttrick heard his cry of anguish, and almost jumping into the air, exclaimed:
"Fire, for God's sake, fire!"
The order was obeyed. The British responded, killing Capt. Davis and one of his privates, Abner Hosmer. Davis on realizing that Blanchard was wounded had taken a firmer position on a flat stepping-stone, and while aiming his gun received a bullet through his heart. Hosmer was killed by a bullet through his head.[196] Ezekiel Davis, brother of the Captain, and a private in his company, was wounded, as was also Joshua Brooks of Lincoln, whose forehead was slightly cut by a bullet which continued through his hat.[197]
The opening volley of the Americans was also effective, killing one private, and wounding Lieut. Hull of the Forty-third Regiment; Lieut. Gould of the Fourth; Lieut. Kelly of the Tenth; Lieut. Sutherland of the Thirty-eighth; and a number of the rank and file.
The Americans under Major Buttrick advanced and the three British companies, under Lowrie, gave way, and retreated towards Concord village. They were met on the way by reinforcements consisting of two or three companies headed by Lieut.-Col. Smith himself, who was responding to a very urgent request for assistance from Capt. Lowrie, sent just before the engagement began. Smith being a "very fat, heavy man," according to the testimony of one of his officers, who has left an interesting diary for our perusal,[198] instead of reaching Lowrie at the Bridge met him but a little way out of the village.
From the moment of that heroic advance of the Americans over the bridge, military discipline among them ceased.[199] They rushed after the retreating British but a few rods, then proceeded to an eminence on the east side of the road back of Elisha Jones's house, taking position there behind a stone wall, and perhaps an eighth of a mile from where the British halted when they were met by their reinforcements.[200]
Why the Americans turned aside instead of pursuing their enemies into Concord village as they had resolved to do, can only be surmised. Why they gave no heed to the small force still behind them up the river, engaged in destroying American property at Col. Barrett's, excites our wonder, too. Not lack of personal courage surely, but rather a lack of military experience.
While these scenes were being enacted at the North Bridge, the British force above alluded to, and consisting of three companies under Capt. Parsons, had gone up the river, to the home of Col. Barrett, nearly two miles from the Bridge. They were under the direct guidance of the spy, Ensign De Bernicre, who had previously gone over the road, and made himself familiar with its topography, and particularly with the hiding of military stores among the homes along the way. He knew thoroughly well of those at Col. Barrett's, and that place above all others was the principal objective.
Early that morning the men in the Barrett family had busied themselves in securing the Colonial stores. They had plowed a tract of land about thirty feet square, south of the old barn and later used as a kitchen garden. One guided a yoke of oxen, in turning over the furrows, into which others dropped the muskets that had been stored in the house. Succeeding furrows covered them nicely. Musket balls were carried to the attic, put into the bottoms of barrels which were then filled with feathers.[201] Other munitions were hidden in the adjoining woods.[202]
When the soldiers reached there they found the homestead in care of the venerable wife of Col. Barrett. Capt. Parsons explained his mission, and assured her it was his aim to destroy public property only, and to capture Col. Barrett.[203] They commenced their search, but did not find as much as expected.[204] Nor did they capture the commander of the minute-men.
While this work was in progress, Col. Barrett's son, Stephen, a young man of about twenty-five years, returned from his mission, up the river road to Price Plain, to intercept minute-men expected from Stow, Harvard, and other towns in that vicinity. He wished to inform them of the danger surrounding his own home, that they might travel by some other road into Concord.
Reaching the kitchen door of his own home he was met by a British officer, who, thinking he might be Col. Barrett, placed him under arrest. Upon learning from Mrs. Barrett, however, of his mistake, that he was her son, the young man was released.[205] Another son, James, Jr., being lame and inactive, did not attract any hostile attention.[206]
So successfully had Col. Barrett and his numerous assistants secreted the large amount of provincial property left in his charge, that Capt. Parsons found but little to confiscate or destroy. He seized and burned a few gun-carriages in the road near the house.[207]
This was the remotest point of the British invasion. The three companies at Col. Barrett's had by far the longest route of any, by several miles. After a night without sleep, and so long a march they were hungry and thirsty, and Mrs. Barrett was requested to supply their wants. She was in no position to refuse. Some, if not all, were willing to pay for what they had, but the good lady refused, saying:
"We are commanded to feed our enemy if he hunger."
Some, however, insisted, and on leaving tossed their money into her lap. She could only exclaim:
"It is the price of blood!"[208]
The object of their mission being accomplished, so far as within their power, they set out for a return march to the village by the same roundabout route over the North Bridge, as they came. When at Widow Brown's Tavern at the cross roads, within about a mile of the Bridge, they halted and three or four officers entered the house for drink. The soldiers sat at the roadside, and drink was carried out to them. Pay was offered to Mrs. Brown by the officers, but she declined to receive it. Charles Handley, a youth in his thirteenth year, and a native of Concord, was living there, and has left his sworn statement, that he then heard the guns at the Bridge, but that the British did not appear to notice them. It was then generally understood that they knew nothing of the engagement until their arrival at the scene, and saw the British slain.[209] There were two, one having been killed instantly, and the other, at first wounded, and while helpless, despatched with a savage cut in the head with a hatchet. It seems that after the British had been driven from the Bridge and the Americans had also passed in pursuit, a young man employed by Rev. William Emerson, at the Old Manse (still standing, 1912), came forth to view the field of strife. He saw the wounded Briton attempting to arise, and in a thoughtless moment, conceived it his patriotic duty to kill him. He did so, as the soldier was on his knees, in a futile attempt to stand. The hatchet sank deep into his skull, and the blood gushed forth, and covered the top of his head, as he sank back to Concord battle ground. A little later the British force under Capt. Parsons passed him on their way to the village. They could only shudder, and bear away the impression, which was subsequently published, that the Americans had scalped and cut off the ears of their enemies.[210] The young man who did the deed lived many years, and often confessed that his conscience had been sorely troubled.[211]
The men under Captain Parsons were thus permitted to join the main body of British very much to their surprise, and which was forcibly expressed by Ensign De Bernicre in his account of the battle.[212] As we have seen, the main body of the Americans halted on the high ground to the eastward of the Elisha Jones house. From that moment to the arrival of the British at Charlestown Neck, no one seemed to be in command, and discipline of any kind was not attempted.
While Military critics cannot endorse the kind of warfare employed by the Americans on that day, almost if not quite of a guerilla nature, yet it must be confessed that their death roll was much smaller and their success, in some respects much greater, than it would have been had they fought as an army, in the open, under some brave commander. The British, on the other hand, were ever in the highway, standing or marching in a solid formation. The Americans were never more than a dozen or a score, side by side, and usually not more than two or three. Their selected position was a sheltered one; behind the walls; among the trees; even within the houses. Often the vigilant flank-guard, which Lieut.-Col. Smith counted upon so intelligently, came upon them unawares, and so added to the American death roll. Had they known the value of the flanking movements, and still fought as individuals as they did from the North Bridge to Charlestown Neck, but few would have been slain.
As we have seen, the Americans halted on the high ground to the eastward of Elisha Jones's house. They felt that when the retreating British were reinforced, they would return and renew the struggle. In their strong position behind the stone wall they had no cause to fear an assault, for the advantage would be greatly with them. But Lieut.-Col. Smith also realized as much and turned his troops back into Concord village.
Several of the minute-men then returned to the North Bridge, and conveyed the bodies of Capt. Isaac Davis and private Abner Hosmer to the home of Major Buttrick, which stood near the spot from which they started on their fatal march.[213] Later in the day they were conveyed to Acton.
Such was the baptism of Concord soil with the blood of its brave defenders.
Captain Mundy Pole of the Tenth Regiment with one hundred men, had been detailed by Lieut.-Col. Smith for guard duty at the South Bridge. He was also instructed to destroy any public stores that he might find in that vicinity.
The Bridge is nearly a mile southerly from the village, and in an opposite direction from the North Bridge, the two being nearly two miles apart.
Captain Pole reached there about eight o'clock, and promptly placed a guard at the Bridge to prevent any one passing into or out of the village. Then he foraged the immediate neighborhood for food and drink for his force, which was easily accomplished, as most of the able bodied men were absent on patriotic duties.
They searched the houses of Ephraim Wood, Joseph Hosmer and Amos Wood, but with slight success, for most of the stores once there had been secreted elsewhere. The Britons demeaned themselves nicely in this neighborhood and were generous enough to pay for what food they took. Each of the women at Amos Wood's house was presented with a guinea. In this home was one room pretty well filled with goods that were sought for. It was locked, but the gallant officer believing that women were hiding within, issued orders that none of his soldiers should enter it.
Capt. Mundy Pole's little expedition to this part of Concord, was not entirely without results, however. He succeeded in knocking off the trunnions of three iron twenty-four pounders, burning their carriages, destroying a small quantity of flour, and several barrels of trenchers and wooden spoons.[214]
Some of his soldiers ascended Lee's Hill, about one hundred feet[215] higher than, and overlooking, the river down to North Bridge. From there they could plainly see the growing excitement, as evidenced by the moving about of the minute-men, and the constant accession to their numbers. Finally there came echoing up the valley, the signal gun, then two more, then the volley; and they knew the scene on Lexington Common was being re-enacted.
They descended the Hill, and gathered with the others at the South Bridge, removed the planks therefrom to protect their retreat, and marched rapidly back to the main body in the village.[216]
Lieut.-Col. Smith now commenced to realize his distance from Boston and the dangers that might lurk along the way. He had his entire force assembled in Concord village very soon after ten o'clock, but his many wounded soldiers required attention before he could begin his return march. Some of them were attended by Dr. Cumings and Dr. Minot, of the village.[217] As no provision had been made by the British commander for the transportation of his disabled soldiers, the people of Concord were called upon to supply the deficiency. A chaise was confiscated from Reuben Brown, and another from John Beaton. Bedding from near-by houses was added for the comfort of the riders. Several horses were taken, among them one belonging to Capt. Smith of the Lincoln Company, which he had, for some reason, left at Wright Tavern, before he marched for North Bridge. Lieut. Hayward of Concord, recaptured Reuben Brown's chaise from the regulars in Arlington, and with it a horse, bedquilt, pillow, etc., for the owners of which he advertised in the Essex Gazette of Aug. 10, 1775.[218]
Besides his wounded, Lieut.-Col. Smith had his able-bodied men to consider also. They had been without sleep since the time of starting from Boston Common, at half past ten o'clock the evening before, and possibly back to the night before that. They had already marched over seventeen miles to Concord village, and those who had gone to Col. Barrett's, and to the North and South Bridges, so much farther yet. They had passed through the exciting scenes of bloodshed at Lexington Common and North Bridge, which must have added agitated minds to weary bodies. His soldiers needed rest and Smith knew it, and was justified in granting the two hours that he did.
Aside from those reasons Smith had another good one for not starting, at once. It will be remembered that when he had reached Arlington (Menotomy) realizing his march had aroused the entire community, he had sent back an urgent request to Gen. Gage for strong reinforcements. He could reasonably expect them to reach any place that he had, within three hours at least, of his time. But unfortunately for Smith the forces under Percy had not started until nine o'clock that morning, and were then less than five miles on the way, and coming over a longer route than he had taken.[219]
The destruction of the public military stores, according to the report of Lieut.-Col. Smith, hardly balanced his loss of prestige even, to say nothing of the British lives that had been and would be given up in the cause. He gives his men credit for knocking the trunnions off from three field pieces of iron ordnance; destroying by fire some new gun carriages, and a great number of carriage wheels; and throwing into the river considerable flour, some powder, musket balls and other small articles. De Bernicre in his account, adds to the list, by mentioning barrels of trenchers and spoons of wood destroyed by Capt. Pole.
While the bonfire was consuming the cannon wheels, it was discovered that the Court House, facing the Green, was on fire. It was noticed by Mrs. Martha Moulton, an elderly widow who lived close by, and who had not fled with the younger part of the population as the enemy approached. She felt that her years, seventy-one, would be her protection, as indeed they were. She has left an interesting statement of the events of those few hours,—how her home was invaded by the soldiers for food and water; how Pitcairn and other officers sat before her door, watching the soldiers in their destructive work; how she discovered the Court House on fire, and how earnestly she pleaded with them to put it out, even bringing water for them to do so. At first they were indifferent, but finally yielded, and extinguished the flames. Thus was the Court House saved, and possibly some of the adjoining homes, by Martha Moulton.[220]
The provincial Congress, in their published account of the damages sustained in Concord, aside from the public stores, set the value at £274, 16s. 7d. of which £3, 6s. was for broken locks in His Majesty's Jail.[221]