Concord Fight, April 19, 1775

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Concord Fight,

APRIL 19, 1775.

REV. GEINDALL REYNOLDS,
OONOOKD, MASS.

A. WliLIAMS & CO.,

; COBIfIB OF BCHOOI. AND WASHINQIOIT BTBUBTS.

BOSTON.

1875.

\ .
•■ I

. v:

Press of

TOLMAN & WHITE,

383 Washington Stbbbt, Boston.

CONCORD FIGHT.

[Repkinted fbom the Unitabian Review and Religious Magazine.]

What was there in the character and position of
the town of Concord a hundred years ago, or in its
relations to the larger interests and transactions of
the times, to make it the object of the first really
powerful, hostile movement of the British governor?
Any one who visits Concord now finds a neat, quiet
town, of moderate size, girdled by low hills, and look-
ing out upon broad green meadows, and upon the
most winding and most tranquil of rivers. It is a
pleasant town to see, and restful to the eye. To its own
children it seems as towns are apt to seem, the pleas-
antest spot on the earth. To a stranger, no doubt, it
does not dij0fer essentially from scores of villages which
nestle amid our hills, or sun themselves along our
streams.

It is very difficult, therefore, in 1875, to appreciate
that in 1775 this quiet town was one of the great
centres, not only of intellectual life, but also of political
influence and power. Yet so it must have been. Of
all our inland settlements in population, it was almost
the largest, in resources almost the wealthiest. As a
shire town there came to it necessarily that continual
excitement which stimulates in any community mental
activity, ^ither, five or six times a year, came the
various courts of law, with their retinue of judges.

'

'r.t

■i !

6 Concord Fight.

jurors, lawyers, and suitors, numbering many scores
came, not as now, borne quickly there by the rai
in the morning, and as quickly away at night, b
make the town a home for days and weeks. Here
ventions for all manner of objects of county int
were accustomed to gather. Here, especially, in
i tan fashion, in the meeting-house, the choice spiri^

the county, or, as Paul Revere termed them, the
sons of liberty, met to discuss grievances, to deeper^
I: love of freedom, and the purpose to resist oppressi

^" ^ and, above all, to ripen feeling of patriotism or indig

tion into wise action. It was not an unimportant <

vt ; . cumstance either that Concord was the first settlem<

i\ ] in the State off tide-water. For a time our fathers ck

j to the rocky and barren shores of that ocean wh

I divided them from their old home. At Plymouth,

Salem, at Boston, at Dorchester and Roxbury, and

I many other places on the seaboard, the germs of flouri

' ing towns and cities were planted. But inland th'

! was nothing but the wilderness and the savage. I

; until fifteen years after that immortal voyage of

"Mayflower," in 1635, did a little band of Puritans cr

the first barrier of hills which shuts from sight

J ocean, and settle by the side of what the Indian call

i from its wide meadows, the " grass-ground river." Tl

\ named the new home Concord, — title strangely unj

I phetic of that bitter fight which ushered in the bitte

struggles of the Revolution ! As a necessary resuli

this early origin, the town became one of the few hi

from whose redundance New England was peop]

j Everywhere its children went. In all the towns ale

■ the seaboard of Maine, in the new settlements wh

i were springing up in southern New Hampshire j

1 Vermont, in the younger villages of Middlesex «

' Worcester Counties, in far off Connecticut, as it was tt

there were men and women whose ancestral home ^

\ within the territorial limits of old Concord. So its na

i was a household word on the lips of many who ne

Concord Fight. 7

had seen, and perhaps never should see it, with the
bodily eye.

Thus, from various reasons it happened that, in 1775,
among all the inland towns in eastern Massachusetts,
Concord was the most prominent, — the natural, as it
was the political, centre of the great and patriotic county
of Middlesex. It was a small town, as we estimate
towns, never in its best estate before the Eevolution
having exceeded two thousand people. But we must
not forget that Massachusetts, according to modern
standards, was itself a small State.

It was no doubt on account of this prominence in
character and position, that Concord was, from the
beginning, chosen to be the place for the first meeting j

of the first Provincial Congress of Massachusetts. In
making this statement, we do not overlook the just
claims of Salem. It was at Salem that the vote was
passed which created that Congress. It was at Salem,
too, that the General Court resolved to become a part of
that Congress. But we repeat, in its wholeness^ with
all the members which constituted it, the Provincial
Congress first met and transacted business at Concord.
As the creation of a Provincial Congress drew after it
by almost necessary sequence " Lexington Alarm," Con-
cord Fight, Bunker Hill, and to no little degree the
national independence, it is well to count the steps by
which it came into existence. In the summer of 1774
thoughtful people saw that a break between the legis-
lative and executive branches was at hand, — to be
followed, inevitably, by a stern struggle for supremacy
between the two. When that break took place, where
should the representatives of the people find a legisla-
tive home ? Boston was dominated by a great British
army. Salem and all the sea-coast towns would, in event
of trouble, be at the mercy of British fleets. A town, itself
thoroughly patriotic, and surrounded by a population of
the same temper, near enough to Boston to be in com- •
munication with its sons of liberty, far enough from it

8 Concord Fight.

to be safe from the interference or threats of the rojj
governor, seemed to be the first requisite. All eyes tume
to Concord. A convention of the best men in Middlese:
held in its meeting-house, "voted, August 31, 177<
that each town in the county be recommended to elec
one or more delegates to attend a Provincial meeting
to be holden at Concord, the second Tuesday in October.
Suffolk County, in an equally important convention
held at Mr. Vose's house, Milton, September 9, recom
mended to its towns the same course. Cumberlanc
County, in what was then the distant province of Maine,
added its voice tathe same ej0fect, September 22. And
Worcester County spake with no uncertain sound. It
advised "its towns to instruct the Representatives, who
may be chosen to meet at Salem, in October next,
absolutely to refuse to be sworn by any officer or
officers but such as are or may be appointed according
to the constitution. And should anything prevent their
acting with the Governor and Council, as is set forth in
the charter, that they immediately repair to the town
of Concord, and there join in a Provincial Congress
with such other members as are or may he chosen for
that purpose." The General Court met at Salem, Oct.
•5, 1774, waited two days for the Governor to take the
proper steps to qualify its members, — waited, as no
doubt it expected to wait, in vain, — and then proceeded
on the seventh to elect John Hancock its chairman, and
Benjamin Lincoln its clerk, and by the following votes
to merge its own existence into that of the new and
larger body: "Voted, that the members aforesaid do
now resolve themselves into a Provincial Congress, to
he joined hy such other persons as may have been, or
shall he chosen for that purpose^ to take into considera-
tion the dangerous and alarming situation of public
afiairs in the province, and to consult and determine on
such measures as they shall judge will tend to promote
the true interests of his Majesty in the peace, welfare
and prosperity of the province. Voted, that the Con-

Concord Fight. 9

gress be adjourned to tlie meeting-house in Concord."
Arrived at Concord the second Tuesday in October,
the first business was to reconsider the votes by which
John Hancock was elected chairman, and Benjamin
Lincoln clerk, and then to elect the same persons to
similar positions under the titles of President and Sec-
retary. Such action was had, no doubt, because the
presence of additional members made the form of reor-
ganization both respectful and proper. It is absolutely
certain that in some cases such additional members
were chosen. It is well-nigh certain that more than
one-half of those who were at Concord were not elected
to Salem. The body thus reorganized and its successor
for six months met alternately at Concord and Cam-
bridge. The Second Provincial Congress was in Con-
cord in March and April, 1775, and adjourned only four
days before the encounter at North Bridge. By its
sessions there it must have helped largely to make the
town an object of interest to the friends, and an object
of enmity to the foes, of freedom. In that old meeting-
house, which, repaired and remodelled, alas ! stands now
on the same church green, what words, to fire men's
souls, were spoken, what policy, to shape the destiny of
the state, was enacted ! There, Joseph Warren, John
Hancock, Samuel and John Adams, Elbridge Gerry,
names memorable in the state and national history for
the next generation, and with them Prescott, Heath,
Ward, Lincoln, the first military leaders of the Revo-
lution, played their part. Scarcely Independence Hall
itself has more venerable associations.

As a natural consequence the committees of safety
and supplies — the most important bodies which ever
existed in the Commonwealth, to whom the whole work
of arousing the people and preparing for their defence
was intrusted, who were to call into existence soldiery,
to find officers, to procure arms, to gather supplies, to
appoint depots, to be, as it were, eyes and hands to all
the rest — were constantly at Concord. : :TJtiay. a¥«re

10 Concord Fight.

there — John Hancock at theh* head — on the 17th
April, not more than thirty-six hours before brave me
were massacred almost before his eyes on Lexingtoir:^
Green.

Very early in the history of these committees, it is
stated that they ordered to be deposited in Worcester
two himdred barrels of pork, four hundred of flour, and
one hundred and fifteen bushels of peas ; and in Con-
cord, one hundred and thirty-five barrels of pork, three
himdred of flour, one hundred and fifty bushels of peas,
and fifty-five tierces of rice ; and " voted, that all the
cannon, mortars, cannon-balls and shells be deposited in
the towns of Worcester and Concord in the same pro-
portions as the provisions are to be deposited." These
votes, so far as Worcester was concerned, were never
carried into effect. But Concord became one great
store-house. Every farmer's bam, the town-house, the
court>-house, the tavern-shed, the miller's loft, all became
extempore depots for provisions and munitions of war.
Very likely in other places there were limited supplies.
But gradually, in comparison with the means of the
State, a vast store was accumulated at Concord. Eleven
hundred tents, ten tons of cartridges, eighteen tons of
rice, eight tons of fish, many hundred barrels of flour,
fifteen thousand canteens, a thousand iron pots, besides
cannon and mortars, round-shot and grape-shot, canister
and shells, spades, pick-axes, bill-hooks, shovels, axes,
hatchets, crows and wheelbarrows, wooden-plates and
spoons, cartouch-boxes and holsters, belts and saddles,
and many other articles, make up this astonishing
deposit. No doubt Concord was made such a depot
because it was a large town, and had several military
companies ; because, too, it was near the probable scene
of action, yet far enough away to be reasonably safe
from any sudden attack. One cannot but ,think that
the thoroughly trustworthy character of Col. James
Barrett, who was the sole custodian of these treasures,
muat have , e;ntered largely into the calculation. The

Concord Fight. 11

committee were aware how precious was the charge
committed to the brave old town. They enjoin Col.
Barrett to keep watch day and night. He must always
have teams ready to transport away the goods at the
first alarm. He "must not so much as mention the
name powder, lest our enemies should take advantage
of it." But such a secret could not be kept. Tories
stole to Boston to tell it. British ofl&cers came thither
in disguise, noting all the difl&culties of the way, and
seeking to find the places of deposit. Tradition says
that Maj. Pitcairn had visited the town. Finally the
committee was alarmed, and the day before the battle,
too late fully to accomplish their purpose, ordered that
the munitions and provisions should be distributed
among nine different towns. Meanwhile each patriot
in Boston was a volunteer sentinel, watching every
movement of Gen. Gage, with eye quick to detect each
change of military position, with ear open to catch the
faintest whisper of danger. So that when the royal
Governor resolved upon action, almost before he gave
his order to Col. Smith to march to Concord and destroy
there the munitions of war, his counsels were known ;
and, while the soldiery were embarking to cross Charles
Eiver, Paul Revere was taking that adventurous ride,
over which poet and historian alike delight to linger.

Why did the fight happen at Concord? It could
happen nowhere else. With Boston for a centre,
within a radius of twenty-five miles there was no other
spot where Gage could strike to such profit. He might,
indeed, in quiet villages find men to whom it was sweet
to die for country ; for brave hearts were plenty then.
He might burn the humble homes of those who loved
freedom more than safety. But such acts exasperated
rather than weakened. But, at Concord, had the fom*
himdred militia, gathered on Ponkawtasset Hill, held
aloof, and left the provincial stores to the mercy of the
British troops twenty-four hours, Gage had struck a
deadlier blow than if he had slain five hundred on the

12 Concord Fight.

battle-field. The direction of his inarch was neither of
accident nor of choice, but of necessity. When Revere
knew that Gage was on the war-path, he did not have
to ask whither to ride.

But what happened at Concord ? A body of Ameri-
can soldiers, organized under legal authority, at the com-
mand of their officers, advanced, in military array,
received the fire of the enemy, and, when ordered,
attacked and forced a similar body of British troops to
retreat. This is what distinguishes the fight at old North
Bridge from all previous afiairs. Not to speak of the
troubles in North Carolina, there had already been in
New England hostile incidents and meetings more than
one, though they are fast being forgotten. The boy
Snider, who was shot in Boston streets the 22nd of
February, 1770, was unquestionably the first revolu-
tionary martyr. But he was murdered, not by a British
soldier, but by a British sympathizer, who, resenting the
posting of a brother tory, was driven home by a band
of boys with many hoots and some stones, and in his
fury shot a little fellow of eleven years, who happened
to be present. Eleven days after, the Boston Massacre
followed. Here a squad of British soldiers fired a vol-
ley into a crowd of people, killing three and wounding
eight persons, most of whom had committed no offence
whatever. But the affair was so connected with pre-
vious quarrels, and with immediate threats and insults,
that an American jury, rather than run the risk of in-
justice, substantially acquitted the soldiery. The next
encounter in order is the burning of the "Gaspee," —
one of the most gallant achievements of the whole
period. The " Gaspee " was a British schooner of eight
guns, which haunted the waters of Narragansett Bay,
and, with little cause, and no evidence of rightful
authority, stopped and harassed the vessels plying there-
upon. This sea-wasp, pursuing a peaceful packet, got
aground a few miles below Providence. John Brown, of
that place, with others, fitted out eight whale-boats^

Concord Fight. 13

which dropped down the river on the evening of June
9, 1772, and reached the stranded vessel a little after
midnight. After a brief struggle, the schooner was cap-
tured, her crew put ashore, and she burned. In the
ajffray her commander, Lieut. Duddingston, was wounded,
and could justly claim that from his veins had come the
first English blood shed in the contest. Capt. Abraham
Whipple led the Americans, and thus was engaged in
the earliest private naval exploit, as three years later
he commanded in the first public naval battle. But
gallant as the achievement certainly was, it was a private
expedition, and always disallowed by the Ehode Island
authorities. Boston gave its celebrated tea-party Dec.
16, 1773. The festivities, though they closed with a
masquerade and a libation to Neptune, need not be de-
scribed. They certainly were not presided over by the
authorities. Feb. 26, 1775, Col. Leslie stole out of Castle
William with two hundred men, and made a rapid march
through Marblehead, hoping to capture in Salem and
Danvers certain military stores. He found the draw-
bridge between the two towns up. A scuflBle ensued for
the possession of two flat>-boats. And North Bridge,
Salem, might have taken its place in history instead of
North Bridge, Concord. For Col. Pickering was the
best educated military man in the State, and the Essex
militia afterwards, at the close of that hot April day,
showed of what stuff they were made. But neither party-
was anxious to precipitate hostilities. And Leslie agreed,
that if, for honor's sake, he was permitted to march thirty
rods beyond the bridge, he would abandon the objects
of his expedition. About this time an affair of great
seriousness took place at Westminister, the shire-town
of Cumberland County, which then included the whole
southern half of Vermont this side the mountains.
Under the direction of some sort of a rude organization,
the people of Westminister and the vicinity took pos-
session of the court-house March 13, and refused entrance
to the royal judge, sheriff, and their attendants. A

14 Concord Fight.

parley ensued. It was agreed that the judge, without
an armed force, should come into the court-house and
discuss matters with the malcontents. This agreement
was broken by the sheriff. For at midnight he appeared
with a considerable party and demanded admittance.
Being refused, he gave orders to fire into the building.
One man was killed and one wounded. This was the
first American blood shed by direct command of a royal
official, when at the time no violence was offered or
threatened. But, as there was then in Vermont no State
authority of any kind, patriotic or otherwise, this affair
too must take its place among volunteer movements.

Five hours before the fight at Concord, the first hos-
tile meeting between organized American and organized
British soldiers, each party acting under what it held
to be legitimate authority, took place. Before sunrise
on that morning, at the first intimation of danger, forty
to seventy minute-men (the exact number is uncertain)
assembled by order of their captain, John Parker, on
the little green in front of Lexington church. The
promptness with which these men responded to the
call, the courage which they displayed in a hot encoun-
ter later in the day, proves them to be entitled to the
place of brave men among the bravest. As this party
was drawn up across the upper end of the common, the
sudden appearance of Maj. Pitcairn, his order to the
Americans to disperse, and his quick command to his
own soldiers to fire, made the quiet green the scene of
a bloody massacre, and at the command of their cap-
tain, the Lexington men dispersed, leaving one-quarter,
if not one-third of their number, dead or wounded.
There has been a long and often needlessly warm dis-
cussion as to whether any guns were fired by the
minute-men in return for the fatal volley which they
received. Authorities certainly differ. And it is not
possible quite to reconcile the adverse affidavits. So
the question can never be absolutely settled. But a
candid weighing of all the evidence makes it altogether

CoNCOKD Fight. 15

probable that, as the company dispersed, three or four,
and possibly eight or ten guns were fired. Butyls a
military encounter, the contest was hopeless from the
beginning. Such shots as were fired were discharged,
not only without the orders of Capt. Parker, but in di-
rect opposition to them, and were prompted by the
impulse and courage of the individuals themselves.
Beyond inflicting slight flesh wounds upon a soldier or
two, they did no damage to the enemy, and scarcely
delayed his onward movement "The blood of the mar-
tyrs is the seed of the church." And it is impossible to
exaggerate the importance of the cruel afi^ir at Lexing-
ton, in exciting sympathy, in arousing indignation, in
giving courage to the timid, and in fusing all different
feelings and opinions into one imited sentiment of
patriotism. It is with just reason, therefore, that the
sons of Lexington, and the whole State, hold in solemn
remembrance the brave men who fell that day.""

The peculiarities of the fight at old North Bridge,
which divided it from all skirmishes or battles which
had occurred previously, and which entitle it to distinct
remembrance as an event of unsurpassed importance,
are, that there every movement of the militia was made
in accordance with the orders of those legitimately in
command ; that there, for the first time, British soldiers
fell before an American fire ; and, especially, that there
the invader was turned back, once for all, never to
make another hostile advance on Massachusetts soil,
unless the few acres enlargement of his prison house,
won by the awful slaughter at Bunker Hill, be called
an advance. Other places have, and justly, their sacred
memories. But within the bound of the original thir-
teen States there is no spot more interesting than the
two secluded green slopes, with the quiet river flowing
between, where the soldiers of the king and the soldiers
of the people met in military array and exchanged
fatal volleys.

" 1775, 19 April. — This morning," writes the patriotic

16 Concord Fight.

Concord minister in his diary, " between one and two
o'clock, we were alarmed by the ringing of the bell,
and upon examining found that the troops, to the num-
ber of eight hundred, had stolen their march from
Boston in boats and barges, from the bottom of the
Common over to a point in Cambridge near to Inman's
farm. This intelligence was brought us first by Dr.
Samuel Prescott, who narrowly escaped the guard that
were sent before on torses, purposely to prevent all
posts and messengers from giving us timely information.
He, by the help of a very fleet horse, crossing several
walls and fences, arrived at Concord at the time afore-
mentioned ; when several posts were immediately dis-
patched, that returning confirmed the account of the
regulars arrival at Lexington, and that they were on
the way to Concord." Such is the account of the first
tidings of the invasion in the very words of one who
was an eye-witness of the events which succeeded. It
was probably about three o'clock before the town
thoroughly comprehended its danger. The hurry, the
confusion, the excitement, the alarm, which must have
filled this little village during the four hours in which
it awaited the coming of eight himdred mercenary sol-
diers, can hardly be imagined, far less described. Every
available man and team must be impressed to carry
away or to hide the precious stores. The minute-men
and members of the old military companies were pre-
paring their arms and equipments for immediate service.
Many of the women and children took to the woods
for safety. Tradition preserves some simple anecdotes,
which have not yet been recorded, and which reveal the
varying humors of the time. Thus, one good lady,
hearing that the regulars were coming, goes straight to
the adjoining meeting-house, and takes the communion
plate and buries it in her soap-barrel, in her cellar, in
the arch under a great chimney which is still standing.
Another, getting ready to take her children into the
woods, in her confusion went to her drawer and put on

Concord Fight. 17

a checked apron, which in those days was the proper
adornment on state occasions. This she unconsciously
did over and- over again, until, when she recovered her
wits in her hiding-place, she found she had on seven
checked aprons. No doubt every home had its tale,
both pathetic and ludicrous, to tell.

A little after sunrise two hundred armed men had
come together. Three-quarters were from Concord, a
few from Acton, and the rest minute-men and militia
from Lincoln. Their advance was . stationed a mile
toward Lexington, at the end of that steep ridge which
skirts the village on the north. The main body occu-
pied, "as the most advantageous situation," the high
point of that same ridge, directly opposite the meeting-
house. A little before seven, the advance came hurrying
back, saying that the enemy were at hand, and "their
numbers were more than treble ours." A second po-
sition was now taken, " back of the town, on an eminence."
This was probably somewhere on that high land which
borders Monument street, though some think at the ex-
treme northern end of the ridge first occupied, which
many years ago was levelled to give room for the court-
house. " Scarcely had we formed," says the same diary,
"before we saw the British troops, at a distance of a
quarter of a mile,. glittering in arms, advancing towards
us with the greatest celerity." So high was the courage
of our people, and so unwilling were they to retreat,
that not a few insisted upon meeting the enemy then
and there, though some estimated his numbers at twelve
hundred, and none at less than eight hundred. Finally,
Col. James Barrett, who had been by the Provincial
Congress put over all the forces in the neighborhood,
and who about this time rode up, having been engaged
since daybreak in securing the stores, ordered them to
fall back over the bridge to Ponkawtasset Hill, a high
eminence which overlooks the village, and their wait
for reinforcements. This order was obeyed, as were all
rightful orders given that day. By half-past nine the

18 Concord Fight.

Acton minute-men, two small companies from Bedford,
and individuals from Westford, Carlisle, Chelmsford, and
very likely from other places, had joined them. They
numbered, perhaps four himdred and fifty, perhaps three
hundred and fifty, — more likely the last than the first.
Meanwhile a small body of British troops occupied South
Bridge. A hundred, under Capt Laurie, guarded North
Bridge. A hundred marched by the river road to seek
for stores at Col. Barrett's, possibly to seek for the
Colonel himself. The main body of five or six hundred
remained in the centre, looking, to very little purpose,
for munitions of war.

At this time smoke and flame, rising from the burn-
ing of cannon wheels, became visible to these anxious
watchers upon the hill. What was it ? Were the cruel
enemy setting fire to their homes? They could not
longer remain inactive. A hurried debate was had.
And then CoL Barrett gave orders to Maj John But-
trick to lead the little force down the hill to the bridge,
charging him not to fire unless he was fired upon.
There has been a hot discussion as to the relative posi-
tion of men and companies in this advance. We shall
not enter into it;, for it belittles and insults a great
event. Whether the Acton men led, or marched side
by side with David Brown's Concord . minute-men ; or,
if they led, whether it was because they had a more
forward courage, or, as Amos Baker, of Lincoln, testified,
because they alone had bayonets with which to meet
the enemy, if he should trust to steel rather than lead,
— are questions which can never be settled. Enough,
that in fact the Acton men did occupy the post of
greatest danger, and like brave men, as they were, held
it firmly. But what swallows up every other consid-
eration is the thought of the incredible courage which
was in all these men. Was there not real courage in
that Colonel, man of mark and position, foremost person
of his town and neighborhood, with little to gain and
much to lose, who, with his hair already whitening with

Concord Fight. 19

age, sat there on his horse, and issued a command which
was nothing less than flat rebellion, which could never
be forgiven him, except at the end of a successful civil
war ? Estimate for me, if you can, the courage of the
last man in the last file of that little battalion ; his
physical courage who dared, with a few hundred militia,
to march down to attack what he believed to be three
times their number of the best soldiers in the world ;
his moral courage who, a plain farmer perhaps, averse
to quarrels, law-abiding, in obedience to his political
convictions was ready to confront with hostile weapons
the servants of him who till that hour he had held to
be his legitimate sovereign ! Merely to have contem-
plated seriously such a step stamps all these men as
heroes.

What followed, everybody knows. The Americans
marched down to within a few rods of the bridge, with
wonderful self-restraint received a few scattering shots,
which wounded Luther Blanchard, of Acton, and Jonas
Brown, of Concord, and afterwards a volley by which
Capt. Davis and Abner Hosmer, of Acton, were killed.
Then rang out the startling order, " Fire, fellow-soldiers,
for God's sake, fire ! " And from all those silent pieces
poured forth a volley. It was a deadly one. Out of a
hundred men, according to Gage's official statement,
three were killed, and nine wounded, and, by the
American account, three killed and eight wounded.
Of the killed, one died immediately by a shot in the
head. One expired before his comrades reached the
village, and was buried in the old graveyard. One,
mortally wounded, was cloven through the skull with a
hatchet by a lad, at whom, says Chaplin Thaxter, he
had made a thrust with his bayonet. From the window
of the house now occupied by the Hon. John S. Keyes,
a little girl of four years was looking out She never
forgot how pleased she was to see the two hundred
British soldiers march by in perfect order, with their
bright weapons and scarlet coats and white pantaloons.

20 Concord Fight.

or how terrified to see the same men come back,
hurriedj in disorder, muddy, a great many as it seemed
to her, with limbs tied up and bloody. In the record
of this hot skirmish, five names stand out to receive
peculiar honor. First, Capt. Isaac Davis, of Acton, a
modest manly soldier of only thirty years, who could
say that he had trained up a company, not one of whom
feared to follow him, who assumed his position with a
full sense of its gravity, and died first of all in the front
rank; Maj. John Buttrick, of Concord, who himself,
within sight and sound of his own home, led the advance,
and at the right moment gave the word of command ;
Col. John Robinson, of Westford, who, reaching the
field before his own townsman, as a volunteer walked
side by side with Davis and Buttrick; Lieut. Joseph
Hosmer, of Concord, who acted as adjutant on that day,
and by his earnest words, "Will you let them burn
the town down ? " determined that heroic march down
the hill to the river ; Capt. William Smith, of Lincoln,
who volunteered with his single company to attempt to
dislodge the enemy from the bridge, — brave men were
these, whose names must ever be connected with a
memorable event, but possibly not braver than scores
who that day played their part and are forgotten.

Here, perhaps, dramatic unity would close the story.
For here ends the fight at old North Bridge. The
Americans pursued the retreating foe a few rods, until
he was strongly reinforced, then, turning to the left,
climbed the hill back of Mr. Keyes' house, from which
they had in all probability descended in the morning.
As it was evident that there was no intention to bum
the town, the insane attempt to dislodge twice their
number fi^om what Emerson terms "the most advan-
tageous situation" was not made. But the field of
battle was really won. Irresolution and timidity had
entered the British counsels ; and, after various marches
and countermarches, at twelve o'clock they began their
terrible retreat. Then a strong detachment of Amer-

Concord Fight. 21

leans hurried across the great fields, and at Merriam's
Corner, a mile and a quarter below the village, joined
the Billerica and Reading men in a fresh attack. Half
a mile on, the Sudbury company came up, and there
was a new struggle. On the edge of Lincoln, where
then thick woods shut in the road, there was the
severest encounter of the day. And so the fight merged
into that persistent attack and pursuit, from all quarters
of the British forces, through Lincoln, through Lexing-
ton, through West Cambridge, through Charlestown
almost to the water's edge, and to the protection of the
great ships of war. In Lincoln it was that Capt. Jona-
than Wilson, of Bedford, who had been on the field
among the earliest, through a too adventurous courage,
died. During this pursuit, too, three out of the four
Concord captains were wounded. So somewhere in
that long route, if not at North Bridge, these men
sought and found their post of danger.

What were results of the Concord Fight? If we
look only at its immediate results, then we say, of
itself it baffled the plans of the royal Governor.
Had nothing occurred after the encounter at North
Bridge, had Col. Smith gone back peacefully to Boston,
as over a parade ground, noiie the less he would have
gone back defeated. He did not steal out from Boston,
with the best soldiers of her garrison, and swiftly traverse
the fields of Middlesex, that he might see the beauty
of the country, — not even to slay, in unequal conflict,
ten rebels. He came to ravage that provincial store-
house and magazine which Concord was. And he failed.
Quite likely great efforts had been made in the preced-
ing weeks, and especially pn the day before, to deplete
that store-house. Certainly that morning, while await-
ing his arrival, wonderful energy was displayed by the
whole people in removing stores to places of safety.
Every conceivable expedient was tried. They were
removed to neighboring towns. They were concealed
in thickets. They were hidden under straw and feathers.

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