The Battle of April 19, 1775 - in Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Arlington, Cambridge, - Somerville and Charlestown, Massachusetts

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Title: The Battle of April 19, 1775 - in Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Arlington, Cambridge, - Somerville and Charlestown, Massachusetts
Author: Coburn, Frank Warren
Language: English
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TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE

Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.

Superscripts are represented by ^, for example 19^{th}.

All changes in the Errata, found at the end of the narrative and
before the main Index, have been applied to the etext.

Other 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.

[Illustration: MAJOR JOHN PITCAIRN

BY WHOSE ORDER THE OPENING VOLLEY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION WAS
FIRED.]

SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION,

WITH THE

MUSTER ROLLS

OF THE

PARTICIPATING AMERICAN

COMPANIES.

Number of copies printed:

This one No.

THE BATTLE OF APRIL 19, 1775,

LEXINGTON, CONCORD,
LINCOLN,
ARLINGTON, CAMBRIDGE,
SOMERVILLE AND CHARLESTOWN,
MASSACHUSETTS.

FRANK WARREN COBURN.

LEXINGTON, MASS., U. S. A.,
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR,
1912.

F. L. COBURN & CO., PRINTERS, BOSTON, MASS., U. S. A.

DEDICATION.

TO MY SON:

CHARLES LYMAN COBURN,

A NATIVE OF LEXINGTON.

PREFACE.

There have been many histories of the Battle of Lexington and of the
Battle of Concord, some of them excellent to the extent of that part
of the contest to which they were devoted. From time to time gifted
orators have gone to the one town or to the other, and eloquently
portrayed the heroic deeds of men within that town on the opening
day of the American Revolution. No fault should be found with any of
those, designed as a healthy stimulus to local pride, and to foster
sentiments of national patriotism.

But the student in American local history needs a more extensive view
of the operations of that day. He needs to be better informed as to
the various scenes of carnage that were waged along all of those
nearly twenty miles of highway. Men were slain in Lexington, and in
Concord; but there were many others slain in Lincoln, in Arlington,
in Cambridge, and in Somerville. Nor should we forget the youngest
martyr of the day, but fourteen years of age, who fell in Charlestown.

For the purpose, then, of presenting to such as may be interested,
I have assembled here the most comprehensive account that has ever
been offered, and one that aims to be a history of the entire day.
I have endeavored to make it not only complete and interesting, but
just and reliable, recognizing fully the rights of my own ancestors
to rebel, and also recognizing the rights of the mother country
to prevent such rebellion--even by an appeal to arms. Since those
days we have grown to be a mother country ourselves, and have had
reason, on more than one occasion, to exercise that accepted right of
parental control.

This narrative is based upon official reports, sworn statements,
diaries, letters, and narratives of participants and witnesses; upon
accounts of local historians and national orators; and, in a few
cases, upon tradition, if such seemed authentic and trustworthy.

But I am sorry to say, that in more than one instance, I have
found even the sworn statements at variance with each other. I am
satisfied that the authors did not intend to mislead in any way, but
simply tried to tell to others what appeared to them. Their mental
excitement naturally added a little of that vivid coloring noticeable
in most war narratives of a personal nature. My work has been to
harmonize and simplify these, and to extract simply the truth.

In 1775 the greater part of the present town of Arlington was a part
of Cambridge, and known as the Menotomy Precinct. Later it was
incorporated as a separate town and called West Cambridge. Later
still its name was changed to Arlington. Somerville, in that year,
was a part of Charlestown. What remained of Charlestown eventually
became a part of Boston, though still retaining its ancient name.
In writing of the events that happened within the boundaries of
each, I shall speak of them as of Arlington, of Somerville, and of
Charlestown.

I am glad to add that the bitterness and hatred, so much in evidence
on that long-ago battle day, no longer exist between the children of
the great British Nation.

FRANK WARREN COBURN.

Lexington Mass., April 19, 1912.

CONTENTS.

AUTHORITIES XII

IN PARLIAMENT 1

THE PROVINCIAL CONGRESS 5

BRITISH FORCES IN BOSTON 13

THE BRITISH START FOR LEXINGTON AND CONCORD 19

THE MESSENGERS OF ALARM 20

FLIGHT OF HANCOCK AND ADAMS 30

ALARMS IN OTHER PLACES 32

LIEUT.-COL. SMITH'S ADVANCE THROUGH CAMBRIDGE 47

LIEUT.-COL. SMITH'S ADVANCE THROUGH SOMERVILLE 48

LIEUT.-COL. SMITH'S ADVANCE THROUGH CAMBRIDGE 50

LIEUT.-COL. SMITH'S ADVANCE THROUGH ARLINGTON 51

LIEUT.-COL. SMITH'S ADVANCE THROUGH LEXINGTON 57

THE OPENING BATTLE ON LEXINGTON COMMON 58

LIEUT.-COL. SMITH'S ADVANCE THROUGH LINCOLN 72

LIEUT.-COL. SMITH'S ADVANCE INTO CONCORD 73

BATTLE AT NORTH BRIDGE IN CONCORD 78

LIEUT.-COL. SMITH'S RETREAT THROUGH CONCORD 95

LIEUT.-COL. SMITH'S RETREAT THROUGH LINCOLN 99

LIEUT.-COL. SMITH'S RETREAT TO LEXINGTON VILLAGE 105

EARL PERCY MARCHES TO REINFORCE LIEUT.-COL. SMITH 114

PERCY'S RETREAT THROUGH ARLINGTON 130

PERCY'S RETREAT THROUGH CAMBRIDGE 145

PERCY'S RETREAT THROUGH SOMERVILLE 150

PERCY'S ARRIVAL IN CHARLESTOWN 154

AMERICAN KILLED, WOUNDED AND MISSING 157

BRITISH KILLED, WOUNDED, PRISONERS AND MISSING 159

DISTANCES MARCHED BY THE BRITISH SOLDIERS 161

ENGLISH FRIENDS AFTER THE BATTLE 162

INDEX 165

ILLUSTRATIONS.

MAJOR JOHN PITCAIRN facing title

Copied from a rare miniature in the possession of the Lexington
Historical Society, and published in this work by their permission.

THE DOOLITTLE PICTURES.

PLATE I. THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON, APRIL 19TH,
1775 facing page 58

PLATE II. A VIEW OF THE TOWN OF CONCORD, facing page 73

PLATE III. THE ENGAGEMENT AT THE NORTH BRIDGE
IN CONCORD facing pace 78

PLATE IV. A VIEW OF THE SOUTH PART OF
LEXINGTON facing page 122

The Amos Doolittle Pictures of Lexington and Concord, copperplate
engravings, size about 12 x 18 inches, and hand-colored, were
originally published by James Lockwood in New Haven, December
13, 1775. The drawings were made by Mr. Earl, a portrait painter,
and the engravings therefrom were by Amos Doolittle. Both were
members of the Governor's Guard, and came on to Cambridge as
volunteers under Benedict Arnold immediately after the battle of
April 19th, and soon after commenced these early specimens of
American art. The student of today prizes them, not for their
artistic excellence, but for their faithfulness in depicting the
scenery, buildings, and troops engaged.

In the _Book Buyer_ for January, 1898, is an illustrated article
on Early American Copperplate Engraving, by William Loring
Andrews. I am indebted to him, and to the publishers, Charles
Scribners' Sons, for permission to copy the Doolittle set for this
work.

HUGH EARL PERCY facing page 114

From a contemporary copperplate engraving published by John
Fielding. London, 1785.

GENERAL WILLIAM HEATH, facing page 154

From a portrait in _Harper's Magazine_, October, 1883, and copied
for publication in this work by permission of Harper & Brothers.

MAPS.

BOSTON AND VICINITY IN 1775-6, facing page 19

Copied from part of the map to illustrate the Siege of Boston in
Marshall's Life of Washington, and dated 1806. I have made slight
additions to indicate Smith's and Percy's movements.

LEXINGTON COMMON AND VICINITY, page 59

CONCORD VILLAGE AND VICINITY, page 79

BATTLE ROAD THROUGH CONCORD AND LINCOLN page 100

BATTLE ROAD THROUGH ARLINGTON AND CAMBRIDGE page 131

BATTLE ROAD THROUGH SOMERVILLE AND CHARLESTOWN page 151

AUTHORITIES.

_Individuals, Societies, and Historical Works of Value to Me in the
Preparation of this Work._

Adams, Josiah. Address at Acton, July 21, 1835.

Adams, Josiah. Letter to Lemuel Shattuck, in Vindication of the
Claims of Capt. Isaac Davis.

Allen, Joseph and Lucy Clark Allen, Memorial of, by their
Children.

Almanack. George's Cambridge, or the Essex Calendar for 1776.

Almanack. Nathaniel Low, 1775.

Almanack. North American, 1775. By Samuel Stearns.

Almanack. North American, 1776. By Samuel Stearns. Containing
Rev. Wm. Gordon's Account of the Battle.

Austin, James T. Life of Elbridge Gerry.

Bacon, Edwin M. Historical Pilgrimages in New England.

Bancroft, George. History of the United States.

Barber, John Warner. Historical Collections of Massachusetts.

Barber, John W. History and Antiquities of New Haven.

Barrett, Capt. Amos. Concord and Lexington Battle, in Journal and
Letters of Rev. Henry True.

Barry, William. History of Framingham.

Bartlett, George B. Concord Guide Book.

Bartlett, S. R. Concord Fight.

Bolton, Charles Knowles. Brookline, the History of a Favored Town.

Bolton, Charles Knowles. Letters of Hugh Earl Percy.

Bond, Henry, M.D. Genealogies of the Families of Watertown.

Boston. Celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of the
Evacuation of, by the British Army.

Booth, E. C. Article in Somerville _Journal_, April, 1875.

Boutwell, George S. Oration at Acton, Oct. 29, 1851.

British Officer in Boston in 1775, in _Atlantic Monthly_, April,
1877.

Brooks, Charles, and James M. Usher. History of Medford.

Brown, Abram English. Beneath Old Roof Trees.

Brown, Abram English. History of Bedford.

Brown, Charles, of East Lexington.

Cambridge of 1776. Edited for the Ladies' Centennial Committee,
by A. G.

Clarke, Jonas. Pastor of the Church in Lexington. Opening of the
War of the Revolution. Appended to a Sermon Preached by Him,
April 19, 1776.

Cleaveland, Colonel, of the Artillery. Historical Record of the
52nd Regiment.

Concord Celebration of the Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary
of the Incorporation, Sept. 12, 1885.

Concord Fight, Souvenir of the 120th Anniversary of.

Converse, Parker Lindall. Legends of Woburn.

Curtis, George William. Oration on the One Hundredth Anniversary
of the Fight at Concord.

Cutter, Ben. and William R. History of Arlington.

Dana, Richard H. Oration on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the
Battle of Lexington.

Dawson, Henry B. Battles of the United States.

De Bernicre's Report of the Battle.

Depositions of Eye-witnesses and Participants.

Drake, Francis S. The Town of Roxbury.

Drake, Samuel Adams. Historic Fields and Mansions of Middlesex.

Drake, Samuel Adams. History of Middlesex County.

Drake, Samuel Adams. Old Landmarks and Historical Personages of
Boston.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Historical Discourse, Concord, Sept. 12,
1835. Containing Diary of Rev. William Emerson (eye-witness),
April 19, 1775.

Everett, Edward. Oration at Concord, April 19, 1825.

Everett, Edward. Address at Lexington, April 19 (20), 1835.

Everett, Edward. Mount Vernon Papers.

Farmer, John. Historical Memoir of Billerica.

Frothingham, Richard. History of the Siege of Boston.

Frothingham, Richard. Rise of the Republic of the United States.

Gage. Gen. Thomas. Report of the Battle.

Gettemy, Charles Ferris. True Story of Paul Revere's Ride, in the
_New England Magazine_, April, 1902.

Gordon, William, D.D. History of the United States.

Goss, Elbridge Henry. Life of Col. Paul Revere.

Graham, James. History of the United States.

Great Britain, War Office of, for Gen. Gage's Report.

Green, Samuel Abbott. Groton During the Revolution.

Hale, Edward E., in Winsor's Memorial History of Boston.

Hamlin, Rev. Cyrus. My Grandfather, Col. Francis Faulkner.

Hanson, J. W. History of Danvers.

Harper's Popular Cyclopaedia of U. S. History.

Haven, Samuel F. Historical Address, Dedham, Sept. 21, 1836.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Mosses From an Old Manse.

Hazen, Rev. Henry A. History of Billerica.

Heath, Major-General. Memoirs of. Written by Himself.

Historical Records of the British Army. The Fourth or King's Own
Regiment of Foot.

Holland, Henry W. William Dawes and His Ride with Paul Revere.

Houghton, H. M. Plans Locating Graves of British Soldiers.

Hudson, Alfred Sereno. History of Sudbury.

Hudson, Charles. History of Lexington.

Hudson, Charles. History of Marlborough.

Hudson, Frederic. Concord Fight in _Harper's New Monthly
Magazine_, May, 1875.

Hunnewell, James F. A Century of Town Life. A History of
Charlestown.

Hurd, D. Hamilton. History of Essex County.

Hurd, D. Hamilton. History of Middlesex County.

Jewett, C. F. & Co. History of Worcester County.

King, Daniel P. Eulogy at the Funeral of Gen. Gideon Foster.

Lannon, John. Lexington.

Lexington, Handbook of its Points of Interest, 1891.

Lexington, Historical Monuments and Tablets.

Lexington Historical Society, Alonzo E. Locke, President, and
various officers and attendants.

Lexington Historical Society, Proceedings of, Vol. I., II.,
III., IV. Contributions by Edward P. Bliss; Francis H. Brown,
M.D.; G. W. Brown; Albert W. Bryant; Elizabeth Clarke; Elizabeth
W. Harrington; Herbert G. Locke; James P. Munroe; Elizabeth W.
Parker; G. W. Sampson; A. Bradford Smith; Geo. O. Smith; and Rev.
Carlton A. Staples.

Lexington, History of the Fight at, From the Best Authorities.

Lexington, Proceedings at the Centennial Celebration of the
Battle of.

Lewis, Alonzo. History of Lynn.

Lincoln, William. History of Worcester.

Lincoln, Mass. Celebration of the 150th Anniversary of Its
Incorporation, April 23, 1904.

Local Loiterings and Visits in the Vicinity of Boston. By a
Looker-on.

Lossing, Benson J. History of the United States.

McGlenen, Edward W., Boston.

McKenzie, Rev. Alexander. Address at Dedication of Monument Over
Cambridge Killed.

Mansfield, Rev. Isaac, Chaplain of Gen. Thomas's Regiment.
Thanksgiving Sermon in Camp at Roxbury, Nov. 23, 1775.

Marshall, John. Life of George Washington.

Massachusetts Archives, at State House, Boston.

Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, Vols. II., IV., V.,
XVIII., and Vol. IV., Second Series.

Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings, May, 1876.

Military Journals of Two Private Soldiers, 1758, 1775. Lemuel
Lyons, Samuel Haws.

Muzzey, A. B. History of the Battle of Lexington.

Muzzey, A. B. Reminiscences and Memorials of the Men of the
Revolution.

Narrative of the Excursion and Ravages of the King's Troops.
Worcester, Printed by Isaiah Thomas, by Order of the Provincial
Congress.

New England Historic Genealogical Society.

Osgood, Charles S. and H. M. Batchelder. Historical Sketch of
Salem.

Paige, Lucius R. History of Cambridge.

Parker, Charles S. Town of Arlington, Past and Present.

Parliamentary History of England. Published Under the
Superintendence of T. C. Hansard, Vol. XVIII.

Percy, Acting Brigadier-General, His Report of the Battle.

Phinney, Elias. History of the Battle of Lexington.

Provincial Congress of Massachusetts. Journals of Each.

Rantoul, Robert, Jr. Oration at Concord, on the Seventy-fifth
Anniversary of the Events of April 19, 1775.

Revere, Paul. His Account of the Ride to Lexington. Reprinted in
the Life of Revere by Goss.

Reynolds, Rev. Grindall. Concord Fight.

Riply, Rev. Ezra. History of the Fight at Concord.

Russell, Edward J., Dorchester.

Samuels, E. A., and H. H. Kimball. Somerville, Past and Present.

Sawtelle, Ithamar B. History of Townsend.

Scull, G. D. Memoir and Letters of Capt. W. Glanville Evelyn, of
the 4th Regiment (King's Own).

Sewall, Samuel. History of Woburn.

Shattuck, Lemuel. History of Concord, Bedford, Acton, Lincoln and
Carlisle.

Sidney, Margaret. Old Concord, Her Highways and Byways.

Simonds, Eli. Article Containing his Statement about the Battle
of Lexington, Boston _Globe_, July 17, 1895.

Smith, Samuel A. West Cambridge on the Nineteenth of April, 1775.
An Address.

Smith, S. F., D.D. History of Newton.

Somerville, Handbook of the Historic Festival, 1898.

Staples, Rev. Carlton A.

Stearns, Jonathan F., D.D. Historical Discourse, Bedford
Sesqui-Centennial, Aug. 27, 1879.

Stedman, C. History of the Origin, Progress and Termination of
the American War.

Stephens, Alexander. Memoirs of John Horne Tooke.

Stone, Edwin M. History of Beverly.

Sumner, William H. History of East Boston.

Swan, Charles W. MSS. of Levi Harrington. Account of the Battle,
given by him to his son, Bowen, March, 1846. (Eye-witness on
Lexington Common, and then about fifteen years of age.)

Tenney, Wallace Fay.

Tolman, George. Concord Minute Man.

Thornton, John Wingate. Pulpit of the American Revolution.

United States Geological Survey, Maps of.

Watson, John Lee. Paul Revere's Signal. The True Story of the
Signal Lanterns.

Webber, C. H. and W. S. Nevins. Old Naumkeag. Historical Sketch
of Salem.

Wellington, Caroline, Charles A., Cornelius, and Eliza.

Wheildon, W. W. Chapter in the History of the Concord Fight.
Boston _Sunday Herald_, April 19, 1885.

Winsor, Justin. Memorial History of Boston.

Worthington, Erastus. History of Dedham.

Wyman, Thomas B. Genealogies and Estates of Charlestown.

THE BATTLE OF APRIL 19, 1775.

IN PARLIAMENT.

The Treaty of Peace signed at Paris, Feb. 10, 1763, terminated the
prolonged struggle between England and France, for supremacy in the
New World. For seven long years it had lasted, and its cost had been
treasure and blood. Justly proud were the British Colonies of the
martial success of their mother country, a goodly part of which they
had valorously won themselves.

During the war, and at its close, England had been generous
in remitting to the Colonial Treasuries large sums in partial
liquidation of the war expenses advanced by them; but subsequently
it was esteemed wise, by a majority of her statesmen, to gradually
replace such sums in the royal coffers, by a system of colonial
taxation very similar to modern methods of raising war revenues.
In the abstract this fact was not particularly disagreeable to the
colonists, for the necessity was admitted, but the arbitrary method
of levying those taxes was bitterly contested.

England's Parliament claimed the right to tax the distant Colonies
even as it taxed the neighboring Boroughs, and as a commencement of
its financial plan enacted a Stamp Act, so called, to take effect
Nov. 1, 1765, similar in intent and working, to the modern revenue
stamp of our Government. These stamps were to be purchased of the
Crown's officers and affixed to certain articles of merchandise and
in denominations according to a schedule of taxable value.

The opposition to this Act was immediate, continuous, and bitter in
the extreme, and the result was that it was repealed March 18, 1766.

The next move on the part of the Mother Country was the passage of
a Military Act which provided for the partial subsistence of armed
troops on the Colonies. Violent opposition to this was also immediate
and general, but without avail. In Boston one result was a conflict
between the troops and the inhabitants on March 5, 1770, and now
referred to as the Boston Massacre.

In June, 1767, another Act was passed, taxing tea and other
commodities, which was repealed April 12, 1770, on all articles
except the tea. Large consignments were sent to America. Ships
thus laden that arrived in New York were sent back with their full
cargoes. At Charleston the tea was landed but remained unsold. At
Boston, a party disguised as Indians threw it from the ship into the
sea.[1] Parliament in consequence passed the Boston Port Bill, March
7, 1774, closing Boston as a commercial port, and removing the Custom
House to Salem in another harbor a dozen miles or more northward up
the coast.

This Act went into effect June 1, 1774, and was immediately felt
by all classes, for all commerce ceased. Boston merchants became
poor, and Boston poor became beggars. The hand of relief, however,
was extended, even from beyond the sea. The City of London in its
corporate capacity subscribed £30,000[2]. In America the assistance
was liberal and speedy. George Washington headed a subscription paper
with £50[3].

These severe measures of Parliament, with their natural effect of
ruin and starvation among the people of America, served to stimulate
a feeling of insubordination, and hatred of the Mother Country, from
which crystalized the First Continental Congress which assembled at
Philadelphia, Sept. 5, 1774, soon followed by the First Provincial
Congress of Massachusetts which met at Salem, Oct. 7, of the same
year.

On the question of Colonial Government Great Britain and her American
colonies were not divided by the Atlantic Ocean, for on the American
side the Crown had its ardent supporters, while on the other side
friends of the American cause were almost as numerous as were the
oppressors. We have seen how the great City of London contributed
liberally to the Bostonians, shut off from the world by the Port
Bill, and on the floor of Parliament many gifted orators espoused the
American cause.

With prophetic eloquence the Lord Mayor, Mr. Wilkes, exclaimed:

"This I know, a successful resistance is a revolution, not a
rebellion.... Who can tell, sir, whether in consequence of this
day's violent and mad Address to his Majesty, the scabbard may not
be thrown away by them as well as by us?... But I hope the just
vengeance of the people will overtake the authors of these pernicious
councils, and the loss of the first province of the empire be
speedily followed by the loss of the heads of those ministers who
advised these wicked and fatal measures."[4]

Lord Chatham in his motion to withdraw the troops from Boston, said:

"As an American I would recognize to England her supreme right of
regulating commerce and navigation: as an Englishman by birth and
principle I recognize to the Americans their supreme unalienable
right in their property; a right in which they are justified in the
defence of to the last extremity."[5]

The Corporation of the City of London passed a vote of thanks to
Chatham, and to those who supported him for having offered to the
House of Lords a plan to conciliate the differences with America.[6]

When Lord North's unfriendly proposition for conciliating America was
introduced, it naturally found an advocate in the loyal and courtly
Gen. Burgoyne--courtly but courageous; loyal ever to his King but not
blind to the merits of the claims of the Colonists. While modestly
pledging his loyalty to the Crown, he could not refrain from adding:

"There is a charm in the very wanderings and dreams of liberty that
disarms an Englishman's anger."[7]

In the debate on the bill for restraining the Trade and Commerce of
the English Colonies, Lord Camden asked:--

"What are the 10,000 men you have just voted out to Boston? Merely
to save General Gage from the disgrace and destruction of being
sacked in his entrenchments. It is obvious, my Lords, that you
cannot furnish armies or treasure, competent to the mighty purpose
of subduing America.... It is impossible that this petty island can
continue in dependence that mighty continent."[8]

Continuing, he drew a picture of American union and American courage,
that in the end would prevail.

The Earl of Sandwich replied:--

"Suppose the colonists do abound in men, what does that signify? They
are raw, undisciplined, cowardly men. I wish instead of 40 or 50,000
of these brave fellows, they would produce in the field at least
200,000, the more the better, the easier would be the conquest; if
they did not run away, they would starve themselves into compliance
with our measures."[9]

And the Bill was passed.

One has but to read the stirring debates of that memorable year
in Parliament, over the Petitions for Redress of Grievances from
America; over the Petitions for Reconciliation from the Merchants
of Bristol and of London; over the Resolutions offered by its own
members; and over the addresses to them by their King;--to realize
that the great question of American rights had almost as many, and
surely as eloquent advocates, there as here.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] In a little cemetery at West Fairlee, Vt., is a memorial stone
which reads "Wm. Cox, died July 27, 1838, Aged 88. He helped steep
the tea in the Atlantic." His name seems to have been overlooked by
historians, so I mention it here.

[2] Lossing's History of the United States, page 226.

[3] Frothingham's Rise of the Republic, page 326.

[4] Hansard's Parliamentary History, XVIII, cols. 238, 240.

[5] Hansard's Parliamentary History, XVIII, col. 154.

[6] Hansard's Parliamentary History, XVIII, col. 215.

[7] Hansard's Parliamentary History, XVIII, col. 355.

[8] Hansard's Parliamentary History, XVIII, cols. 442, 443.

[9] Hansard's Parliamentary History, XVIII, col. 446.

THE PROVINCIAL CONGRESS.

As we have seen, the First Continental Congress assembled at
Philadelphia, Sept. 5, 1774. They met in Carpenter's Hall. The First
Provincial Congress of Massachusetts met at Salem, Oct. 7, following.
John Hancock was chosen President. In its first set of Resolutions
it announced: "the necessity of its most vigorous and immediate
exertions for preserving the freedom and constitution," of the
Province.

The Royal Governor, Gen. Thos. Gage, had issued his writs the
first day of September, calling upon the inhabitants to return
representatives to the Great and General Court to be convened at
Salem on the fifth of October. In the meantime, becoming alarmed at
the tumults and disorders--the extraordinary resolves passed by some
of the Counties, the instructions given by Boston and some other
towns to their representatives, and the general unhappy condition of
the Province, he determined that the time was not auspicious for such
a gathering, and accordingly issued a proclamation countermanding
the call. However, ninety representatives met on that day, waited
loyally for the Governor, and when he failed to appear, adjourned to
the next day, Oct. 6, and met as a Convention, choosing John Hancock,
Chairman. Not much in the way of business was accomplished on that
day, and they adjourned again, until the next, Oct. 7th, when they
met and declared themselves to be a Provincial Congress and chose
John Hancock, Permanent Chairman.

Thus the First Provincial Congress was, strictly speaking a
self-constituted body, with not even the sanction of a popular vote.
Yet they felt secure in a popular support. They could not pass laws,
but they could resolve, advise and recommend, and such acts were
generally heeded by a majority of their fellow citizens.[10]

The military organization of the Province was equally without
effective power, as they recognized no real commanding officer of
higher rank than Colonel. It is true that the Congress had nominated
three general officers, but their real powers to command were feeble.
The minute men and militia were enrolled by thousands, but they were
poorly equipped, without uniforms, and without discipline. They
marched to Battle Road in company formation, but upon arrival or very
soon after, manœuvred and fought as individuals simply.

The Second Provincial Congress, more nearly an elective body than
the First, realized their own lack of authority over the people and
particularly over the military branch of their constituents. They
wrote to the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, under date of May
16, 1775, stating that they were compelled to raise an army; of their
triumph at having one consisting of their own countrymen; but they
admitted a lack of civil power to provide for, and control it. And
they asked for advice from the greater congress which represented
all the Colonies as to the taking up and exercising of the necessary
powers of a civil government.[11]

Let us, then, as we go forward with this narrative, bear these facts
in mind, that we may not in this very first day of a new nation's
struggle for liberty expect too much from those who, indeed had
the wisdom, had the strength, had the courage and the skill, but
greatly lacked the first elements of a civil government or a military
force--discipline and efficiency.

The First Provincial Congress next met in Concord, Oct. 11, 1774.
Hancock was chosen President, an office higher than Permanent
Chairman. Several following days were devoted to public business.
From there they addressed a communication to Gen. Gage, wherein they
expressed the apprehensions excited in their minds by the rigorous
execution of the Port Bill; by the alteration of the Charter; by
the administration of justice in the Colony; by the number of
troops in the capital [Boston]; and particularly by the formidable
and hostile preparations on Boston Neck. And they asked, rather
pointedly, "whether an inattentive and unconcerned acquiescence in
such alarming, and menacing measures would not evidence a state of
insanity?" They entreated him to reduce the fortress at the entrance
to Boston, and concluded by assuring his Excellency that they had not
the least intention of doing any harm to his Majesty's troops.[12]

Four days later, Oct. 17, sitting at Cambridge, they received his
reply. It was altogether lacking in satisfaction. He answered them
as to the fortification on Boston Neck, that "unless annoyed," it
would "annoy nobody." And the rest of his communication was equally
unassuring.

Oct. 19, a committee was appointed to inquire into the then present
state and operations of the British Army;[13] and on Oct. 20,
another committee to report on what was necessary to be done for the
safety and defence of the Province.[14]

Matters were crystallizing very fast, for on Oct. 24, a committee
was appointed to consider and report on the most proper time for the
Province to provide a stock of powder, ordnance and ordnance stores.
That same afternoon, one of the members, Mr. Bliss, was ordered
to wait upon the Committee to ascertain their reply. They quickly
responded that their opinion was that "_now_" was the proper time to
procure such a stock.[15] Another committee was at once appointed
to take into consideration and determine the quantity and expense
thereof.[16]

On the afternoon of the following day, Oct. 25, the schedule was
presented to the Congress and one of its items called for 1000
barrels of powder, and the proposed expense was £10,737. Items
were added by the Congress to increase the amount to £20,837. It
was likewise ordered "that all the matters which shall come under
consideration before this Congress be kept secret."[17]

Oct. 26, it was resolved that a Committee of Safety should be
appointed, whose business it should be "most carefully and diligently
to inspect and observe all and every such person and persons as
shall at any time, attempt or enterprise the destruction, invasion,
detriment or annoyance of this province." And they should have the
power to alarm, muster and cause to be assembled with the utmost
expedition and completely armed for the defence, such of the militia
as they shall deem necessary for its defence.[18] And it was also
resolved that as the security of the lives, liberties and properties
of these inhabitants depend on their skill in the art military and
in their being properly and effectively armed, it was therefore
recommended that they immediately provide themselves therewith.[19]

On Oct. 27, Congress appointed a Committee of Safety consisting
of nine members, three from Boston and six from the country, John
Hancock, Chairman, and also a Commissary, or Committee of Supplies,
consisting of five members.[20] At a subsequent meeting on the same
day, Jedidiah Preble was elected to be chief in command and Artemas
Ward, second.[21]

Oct. 27 a vote was passed recommending that the inhabitants perfect
themselves in the military art.[22] On that same day a committee
was appointed to wait upon his excellency the governor to express
their surprise at his active warlike preparations, and to announce
that their constituents would not expect them to be guided by his
advice.[23] But before the conclusion of this session another
resolution was passed to the effect that the lives and liberties
of the inhabitants depended upon their knowledge and skill in the
military art.[24]

The First Provincial Congress was dissolved Dec. 10, 1774, every
session of its deliberations having been devoted to the Civil Rights
and Liberties of the People over which it had presided.

The Second Provincial Congress was convened in Concord Feb. 1, 1775.
One of its earliest acts, Feb. 9, was to appoint Hon. Jedidiah
Preble, Hon. Artemas Ward, Col. Seth Pomeroy, Col. John Thomas and
Col. William Heath, general officers.[25] The same day, in an address
to the Inhabitants of the Massachusetts Bay they said, "Though we
deprecate a rupture with the Mother State, yet we must urge you to
every preparation for your necessary defence."[26]

Nor were the Indians neglected in these strong appeals to the
patriotism of the inhabitants of the Massachusetts Bay, for under
date of April 1, 1775, an address was issued to Johoiakin Mothksin
and the rest of the Indians of Stockbridge, expressing great pleasure
that they were "willing to take up the hatchet," and announcing
that Col. Paterson and Capt. Goodridge should present each that had
enlisted a blanket and a ribbon. A committee was also appointed to
address the chief of the Mohawks.[27]

The Committee of Safety met for the first time at the house of Capt.
Stedman, in Cambridge, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 1774, and organized, as
we have stated, with John Hancock, Chairman. John Pigeon was chosen
clerk. Their first vote after organization was a recommendation to
the Committee of Supplies to procure as soon as may be, 335 barrels
of pork, 700 barrels of flour, 20 tierces of rice, 300 bushels of
peas, and that these be distributed in Worcester and Concord. On Nov.
8, following, in joint meeting with the Committee on Supplies, the
latter was advised to procure all of the arms and ammunition possible
from the neighboring provinces, and that they might with safety
engage to pay for the same on arrival.

At subsequent meetings various military stores were liberally
provided. With a unanimous vote on Feb. 21, 1775, by both committees
in joint session, it was decided that the Committee of Supplies
should purchase all kinds of military stores sufficient for an army
of 15,000 men.[28] It did not then seem to them as if a peaceful
solution of the estrangement were longer possible.

The last meeting of the Provincial Congress before the battle, was
held in Concord, April 15, and when it adjourned it was until May
10. But considering "the great uncertainty of the present times,"
it was provided, however, that a call might issue for an earlier
assembling. Only two days elapsed before apprehensions of immediate
danger arose, which grew so intense, that Richard Devens on the 18th,
issued a summons for immediate assembling at Concord. Although it was
circulated with the greatest dispatch many of the members could not
have learned of it before the marching of the British troops on that
same night from Boston Common.

The meeting was finally assembled on April 22, and quickly adjourned
to Watertown, evidently to be in closer touch with the thrilling
events that had so dramatically opened.[29]

FOOTNOTES:

[10] See their "advice" to constables and to tax collectors Oct. 14,
1774, not to pay moneys collected by them to the royal treasurer
of the province, Hon. Harrison Gray (Journals of Each Provincial
Congress, page 19) and their "recommendation" to towns, Oct. 28, to
direct their constables and tax collectors to pay such moneys to
their appointee as Receiver General, Henry Gardner (Journals of Each
Provincial Congress, page 38.)

[11] Journals of Each Provincial Congress, page 230.

[12] Journals of Each Provincial Congress of Mass., page 18.

[13] Journals of Each Provincial Congress of Mass., page 22.

[14] Journals of Each Provincial Congress of Mass., page 23.

[15] Journals of Each Provincial Congress of Mass., page 29.

[16] Journals of Each Provincial Congress, page 29.

[17] Journals of Each Provincial Congress, page 30.

[18] Journals of Each Provincial Congress, page 32.

[19] Journals of Each Provincial Congress, page 34.

[20] Journals of Each Provincial Congress, page 35.

[21] Journals of Each Provincial Congress, page 35.

[22] Journals of Each Provincial Congress, page 41.

[23] Journals of Each Provincial Congress, page 45.

[24] Journals of Each Provincial Congress, page 48.

[25] Journals of Each Provincial Congress, page 90.

[26] Journals of Each Provincial Congress, page 92.

[27] Journals of Each Provincial Congress, pages 115, 116.

[28] Journals of Each Provincial Congress, pages 505, 509.

[29] Journals of Each Provincial Congress, pages 146-7.

BRITISH FORCES IN BOSTON.

General Thomas Gage, Commander of the British forces in America,
and successor of Thomas Hutchinson as Governor of Massachusetts
Bay, landed in Boston, May 13, 1774. Inspired by a hope that his
administration might soften the feeling of resentment against the
Mother Country, by annulling some of its causes, his reception on the
17th was dignified and cordial. He was greeted with cheers by the
multitude, the firing of salutes in his honor, and a lavish banquet
in Faneuil Hall.[30] A few weeks before he had assured his king that
the Americans "will be lions while we are lambs; but if we take the
resolute part they will prove very weak."[31]

His military force then in Boston was less than 4,000 men,[32] and
consisted of the Fourth or King's Own; Fifth; Tenth; Seventeenth:
3 Companies of the Eighteenth; Twenty-second; Twenty-third;
Thirty-eighth; Forty-third; Forty-fourth; Forty-seventh;
Fifty-second; Fifty-ninth; Sixty-third; Sixty-fourth; six or eight
Companies of Artillery; and six or eight Companies of Marines,
numbering 460, under Major Pitcairn.[33]

Major Gen. Heath is the authority for the statement that the
Provincial Congress appointed a committee to make inquiry into the
state of operation of the British Army in Boston, and on the 20th of
March, they reported that there were about 2,850 men distributed as
follows: Boston Common, about 1,700; Fort Hill, 400; Boston Neck,
340; in Barracks at the Castle, about 330; King Street, 80; that they
were erecting works at Boston Neck on both sides of the way, well
constructed and well executed. The works were in forwardness and
mounted with ten brass and two iron cannon. The old fortification at
the entrance of the town was replaced and rendered much stronger by
the addition of timber and earth to the parapet, and ten pieces of
iron cannon were mounted on the old platform. A block house had been
brought from Governor's Island and was being erected on the south
side of the Neck.[34]

But a short time was required to show that in every political
question Gen. Gage was loyal to his king. Accordingly throughout the
Province the press, the pulpit, the expression of opinion in public
meetings, while professing loyalty to the king personally, were
extremely bitter against his representative in command.

Conventions were held in the various Counties of the Province, the
earliest one being in Berkshire County, July 6, 1774, followed by the
one in Worcester County, Aug. 9. Resolutions were passed at each,
professing loyalty to the king, but remonstrating strongly against
Parliament. It was left for the Middlesex County Convention, August
30, to pass resolutions that rang throughout the Province. While also
professing loyalty to the King their final sentence was:

"No danger shall affright, no difficulties intimidate us; and if in
support of our rights we are called to encounter even death, we are
yet undaunted, sensible that he can never die too soon, who lays down
his life in support of the laws and liberty of his country."

These resolutions were passed by a vote of 146 yeas against 4
nays.[35]

Although the town of Boston itself was the headquarters of Gen. Gage,
and his soldiers were parading in its streets, and encamping on its
Common, the patriots had by no means deserted it. There were several
secret societies who made it their business to watch for and report
hostile movements and plans. These were the "North End Caucus;" the
"South End Caucus;" the "Middle District Caucus;" and the "Long Room
Club;" all of which owned allegiance to the "Sons of Liberty," a
body which acted in the capacity of a higher council and which kept
itself in close communication with similar organizations outside of
this Province. Members of these various bodies paraded the streets
nightly, that any sudden or unusual movement of the army might be at
once reported. Paul Revere belonged to one or more of these, and was
active in patriotic work.

Nor was Gen. Gage idle in acquiring information about the Provincial
Army being assembled, and the topographical features of the country
around Boston. His troops were especially trained by marches, over
the highways in the vicinity,[36] and his spies brought him maps and
reports from the scenes of his possible future operations. The two
that acted for him in this secret service were Capt. Brown of the
52nd regiment, and Ensign De Bernicre of the 10th regiment. They were
disguised in "brown clothes" with "reddish handkerchiefs" tied about
their necks, and were accompanied by a servant. All three were well
armed.

Gen. Gage's instructions to them, under date of Feb. 22, 1775,
called for description of the roads, rivers, and hills; available
places for encampments; whether or not the churches and church yards
were advantageous spots to take post in and capable of being made
defensible. They were also told that information would be useful in
reference to the provisions, forage, etc., that could be obtained at
the several places they should pass through.

Their first trip was to Worcester, in the latter part of February,
and their next one to Concord, for which place they set out on March
20, passing through Roxbury, Brookline, and Weston, where they
stopped at the Jones Tavern.

Then they proceeded through Sudbury, crossed over the South Bridge
into Concord village, where they were entertained by a Mr. Bliss, a
friend of the royal government.

Wherever they went their mission was known in spite of their
disguises. They succeeded, however, in bringing back to Gen. Gage
a very tolerable description of the country, and so fulfilled their
mission. In Concord, especially, they located many of the provincial
military stores, information particularly useful to the invading
force on April 19th.

Having thus possessed himself of sufficient data, Gen. Gage then laid
his plans for a midnight march to Lexington and Concord with the
view, possibly, of capturing Hancock and Adams, who were known to be
at the former place, and especially of destroying all the war-like
supplies that had been gathered at Concord.

April 15, the grenadiers and light infantry had been relieved from
duty, with the excuse that they were to learn a new exercise. That
night, about twelve o'clock, boats belonging to the transports which
had been hauled up for repairs were launched and moored under the
sterns of the men-o-war.[37] The _Somerset_ was anchored near the
Charlestown Ferry.[38] These movements awakened the suspicions of
Dr. Warren, who lost no time in notifying Hancock and Adams, then at
Lexington. On the afternoon of April 18th, he learned from several
sources that the British were about to move. A gunsmith named Jasper,
learned as much from a British sergeant and lost no time in informing
Col. Waters of the Committee of Safety, who in turn gave the news to
Warren.[39] John Ballard, connected with the stable in Milk Street,
overheard some one in the Province House remark that there would "be
hell to pay tomorrow;" a remark so full of significance that he
reported it to a friend of liberty in Ann Street, thought to have
been William Dawes, who in turn reported it to Paul Revere.[40]

That night Gen. Gage despatched ten or more sergeants, partially
disguised, along the highways in Cambridge and beyond, towards
Concord. They were instructed to intercept any passers-by, and so
prevent his intended movement from becoming known. A party of his
officers dined at Wetherby's Tavern[41] in Menotomy (now Arlington),
where also met that day the Committee of Safety and Committee of
Supplies, some of whom, Mr. Gerry, Col. Orne and Col. Lee, remained
to pass the night.[42]

[Illustration: BOSTON AND VICINITY, 1775-6.

1--x Lieut.-Col. Smith's starting place.

2--x His landing place in Cambridge.

3. 3. 3. Earl Percy's route from Boston to Cambridge.

Top of the map is north.]

Solomon Brown of Lexington, a young man nineteen years old, was
the first to report in that town the unusual occurrence of so many
officers along the highways in the night, and it was surmised there
that the capture of Hancock and Adams was intended. Brown was
returning home from Boston when they passed him on the road. Somehow
gaining the front again he rode rapidly into Lexington village and
reported what he had seen. Sergeant Munroe and eight men were sent to
guard the parsonage where the patriot statesmen were stopping, and
Solomon Brown, Jonathan Loring, and Elijah Sanderson, all members
of Captain Parker's Company of Minute Men, were despatched to watch
the officers after they had passed through Lexington toward Concord.
They followed them on horseback into Lincoln, about two and a
half miles from Lexington village, where they were ambushed by the
ones they were following, and taken prisoners. It was then about 10
o'clock in the evening of April 18th. They were detained until Revere
was also captured at the same place a few hours later, early in the
morning of the 19th.

FOOTNOTES:

[30] Frothingham's Rise of the Republic of the U. S., page 330.

[31] Frothingham's Rise of the Republic of the U. S., page 318.

[32] Hale in Memorial History of Boston, III, 79.

[33] This list I make up from a document from among the Swett papers,
and an article in the Atlantic Monthly, April, 1877, entitled A
British Officer in Boston in 1775. The Swett MS. is interesting as
giving the distinctive uniforms as follows:

Fourth or King's Own, red faced with white; 5th, Lord Percy, red
faced with blue; 10th, red faced with green; 17th, Light Dragoons,
red faced with yellow; 22d, Gen. Gage, red faced with white; 23d,
Gen. Howe, red faced with blue; 38th, Gen. Piget, red faced with
yellow; 43rd, red faced with light buff; 44th, red faced with yellow;
52d, red faced with white; 59th, called the Pompadours, red faced
with crimson; 63d, red faced with yellow; 64th, red faced with black;
artillery, blue faced with red; Marines, red faced with white.

Some of these were encamped on the Common.

[34] Heath's Memoirs, written by himself. Boston, 1798. Page 11.

[35] Journals of Each Provincial Congress of Mass., page 114.

[36] Rev. Mr. Gordon, of Roxbury, wrote a very interesting account
of the commencement of hostilities which was published in the North
American Almanack for 1776. He speaks of one of their practice
marches, on March 30, when about 1100 men marched to Jamaica Plain,
by way of Dorchester and back to Boston, about five miles. On this
particular march the soldiers amused themselves by pushing over stone
walls.

[37] Frothingham's Siege of Boston, page 56.

[38] Holland, pages 7, 8.

[39] Holland, page 9.

[40] Holland, page 9.

[41] Known also as the Black Horse Tavern.

[42] Frothingham, page 10.

THE BRITISH START FOR LEXINGTON AND CONCORD.

The grenadiers and light infantry under command of Lieut.-Col.
Francis Smith, of the 10th Regiment, augmented by a detachment of
Marines under Major John Pitcairn, assembled at the foot of Boston
Common, on the evening of April 18th, and at about half-past ten
o'clock embarked for Lechmere Point, or, as it was often called at
that time, Phip's Farm, in East Cambridge. They numbered about eight
hundred men.[43]

The "Foot of the Common," was not far from the present corner of
Boylston and Charles Streets, and just there was the shore line of
the Back Bay, a large body of water opening out into the Charles
River. Since then the Bay has been filled in and is now an attractive
residential district bearing still its ancient aquatic name however.

The transportation was by means of the row boats connected with the
British men-of-war and transports, and was thus necessarily slow,
and undoubtedly required several trips. It seems probable that their
course was westerly a little way, along the present Boylston Street,
then northerly along the present Arlington Street, into the Charles
River and across to Lechmere Point, a distance of about a mile and a
quarter.

They landed in the marshes nearly opposite the Court House on Second
Street, for East Cambridge also was much smaller then than now. The
water was too shallow to allow the heavily loaded boats to reach dry
land, so the troops waded knee deep to the shore. There they were
halted in a "dirty road," as one of the British officers present
termed it,[44] and detained still longer, that each might receive a
day's rations and thirty-six rounds of ammunition.

FOOTNOTES:

[43] Frothingham's Siege of Boston.

[44] Diary of a British Officer in Boston in 1775.

THE MESSENGERS OF ALARM.

The invading army safely across the Charles River was now really
on its way, but with all its precautions for secrecy, its coming
was even at that moment being heralded in every direction. The
ever-vigilant Sons of Liberty had noticed the unusual movements
of the troops after dark, and so informed Dr. Warren. He quickly
summoned William Dawes and Paul Revere. Dawes arriving first was
the first to start, and his route to Lexington was through Roxbury.
So to him belongs the credit of being the first messenger out of
Boston bearing the alarm of the British invasion. Paul Revere came
soon after and was carried over the Charles River considerably
farther down than the British soldiers were crossing, and landed in
Charlestown. His route to Lexington was much shorter than the one
through Roxbury.

Dr. Warren had arranged with these two men for this especial work,
and so they were ready. Dawes had left home that afternoon, not
even confiding to his wife his intention. Immediately after the
embarkation he was ready and on his way. He managed to elude the
guard at Boston Neck by passing out with some soldiers. His ride
was then through Roxbury, Brookline, Brighton, over the Charles
River there by bridge into Cambridge, at Harvard Square, and thence
directly on to Lexington. So much longer was his route than Revere's,
that he did not reach there until half an hour later than Revere did,
and then found that Hancock and Adams had been alarmed. The work of
William Dawes was efficient over the route he traveled. In Lexington,
Revere waited for Dawes, and from there onwards toward Concord they
traveled together. It is to be regretted that a more detailed account
of the ride of William Dawes cannot be given. But momentary flashes
of light reveal his course and his work. Revere left a narrative of
his ride, and historians have fallen into the error of supposing him
to be the only messenger with the warlike tidings. As we progress
with this narrative we shall surmise that William Dawes and Paul
Revere were but two out of many, for the exciting news radiated in
every direction, and could only have been borne by riders equally as
patriotic and fleet as those two.

The previous Sunday evening Paul Revere had been out to Lexington,
for a conference with Hancock and Adams, and on his return that
same night to Charlestown he had agreed with Col. Conant and some
others to display lanterns in the North Church steeple, if the
troops should march; one lantern if they went by land, which meant
out over Boston Neck, through Roxbury, Brookline, and Brighton, into
Harvard Square, Cambridge; and two, if they crossed the Charles
River in boats and landed at Lechmere Point in East Cambridge. This
arrangement was made because it was surmised that no messenger would
be allowed to leave Boston with the news while the troops were
leaving.

When Revere left Warren his first duty was to call upon Capt. John
Pulling, Jr.,[45] and arrange for the signal lanterns. Then he went
to his home in North Square for his boots and surtout, and from
there to where his boat was moored beneath a cob-wharf, near the
present Craigie Bridge, in the north part of the town. Two friends
accompanied him, Joshua Bentley and Thomas Richardson.[46]

Their point of starting was not far from the then Charlestown Ferry,
the boats of which were drawn up nightly at nine o'clock. Out in the
Charles River was anchored the _Somerset_, a British man-of-war.
It was young flood, and the moon was rising.[47] Fearing that the
noise of the oars in the oar-locks might alarm the sentry, Revere
despatched one of his companions for something to muffle them with,
who soon returned with a petticoat, yet warm from the body of a fair
daughter of Liberty who was glad to contribute to the cause.[48]
Rowing out into the river and passing to the eastward of the
_Somerset_ they looked back and there shining from the tall steeple
of Christ Church, the Old North, were two signal lanterns.

Far up into the valleys of the Mystic and the Charles, those
twinkling rays gleamed, and their meaning picked up wherever it fell,
was carried still farther to the remoter hamlets and villages beyond
the hills.

When Capt. Pulling left Paul Revere he proceeded at once to the home
of the sexton of Christ Church, Robert Newman, who lived on Salem
St., opposite Bennett St. Pulling was vestryman of the church and
when he demanded the keys of Newman they were handed to him without
question. Pulling proceeded to the church, climbed the belfry stairs,
hung two lighted lanterns out of the highest little window, forty-two
feet above the sidewalk,[49] descended and made his exit through a
window, and so escaped unnoticed.

These lanterns were seen by all who looked, and quickly British
soldiers sought out the sexton and placed him under arrest. His
denial of any knowledge as to who displayed the lanterns was
believed, and he was released. Pulling, disguised as a sailor,
escaped from Boston in a fishing vessel, landed in Nantucket, and did
not return until after the siege.[50]

Revere and his two companions reached the Charlestown shore in
safety. Their landing place was near the old battery at Gage's Wharf,
not far from No. 85 of the present Water St., near City Square. They
were met by Col. Conant and several others, who reported that the
lanterns had been seen and interpreted. While Revere was waiting for
his horse, which was furnished by Deacon Larkin, Richard Devens, one
of the Committee of Safety, came and told Revere that as he came
down the road from Lexington after sundown that evening, he met ten
British officers, all well mounted and armed, going up the road.

It was about 11 o'clock when Revere started from the Charlestown
shore on his mission to alarm. He had intended to proceed over
Charlestown Neck, through Somerville to Cambridge and thence to
Lexington. Just such a ride as his had been anticipated, for he had
gone but a short distance along the Cambridge road beyond Charlestown
Neck, when he perceived two mounted British officers halted under the
shadows of a tree in a narrow part of the road.[51] Near by was the
gibbet where Mark, the negro slave, executed in 1755 for poisoning
his master, hung in chains for about fifteen years.

Revere wheeled his horse and made his escape, retreating along the
road to the Neck, then turning into the Mystic road, which runs over
Winter Hill into Medford.[52] There he awakened the Captain of the
Minute Men, Isaac Hall, and alarmed almost if not every house on
the way to Lexington. His road was through West Medford to Arlington
Centre, there turning at the Cooper Tavern northwesterly towards
Lexington. He reached the parsonage in Lexington at midnight, which
then stood on the westerly side of the Bedford Road about a quarter
of a mile beyond the Common.[53] Within were sleeping John Hancock
and Samuel Adams. Keeping guard outside were eight men under Sergeant
William Munroe, who cautioned Revere not to make too much noise, lest
he should awaken the family, who had just retired.

"Noise," exclaimed Revere, "You'll have noise enough before long. The
regulars are coming out."

But he had already alarmed the inmates, for the window was raised,
and the parson, Mr. Clarke, inquired who was there. Revere, without
answering the question, said he wished to see Mr. Hancock.

"Come in, Revere," exclaimed Hancock, who also had been awakened, "we
are not afraid of you."

Half an hour later Dawes rode up from his longer ride from
Boston.[54] They partook of refreshments and together set out for
Concord. Not far beyond Lexington Common they were overtaken by a
young man, Dr. Samuel Prescott, whose home was in Concord. That
evening he had been visiting the young lady to whom he was engaged
to be married, Miss Mulliken of Lexington. Revere spoke of the ten
officers that Devens had met, and of the probability that they would
attempt to stop them before they should reach Concord. It was planned
to alarm every house on the way. Dr. Prescott volunteered to remain
with the two riders, as his acquaintance with the people along the
road might be needed to vouch for the genuineness of the message.

His company was accepted and very welcome. They rode along, alarming
each household, a little over two and a half miles from Lexington
Common. Dawes and Prescott had stopped at a house to arouse the
inmates, and Revere was about a hundred rods ahead, when he saw
two men in the highway. He called loudly for Dawes and Prescott to
come up, thinking to capture them, but just then two more appeared,
coming through the bars from a pasture on the right, or northerly
side of the road, where they had been standing in the shadow of a
tree. They proved to be officers of the British Army. Dawes wheeled
his horse back towards Lexington and escaped. Prescott and Revere
attempted to ride towards Concord, but were intercepted and ordered
to move through the bars into the pasture or have their brains blown
out. They preferred to do as ordered, but when a little way inside,
Prescott said to Revere, "put on," and immediately jumped his horse
over the stone wall at his left and disappeared down the farm road
leading into a ravine where rise the headwaters of the Shawsheen
River. He knew the location well, and easily followed the road
through the thicket until it comes out on the Concord road again,
a half mile or so beyond. Revere, not so well acquainted with the
location, headed towards the dense woods on the lower edge of the
pasture, thinking to dismount within their shadows and escape on
foot. Six more British officers were in hiding there, and they easily
seized his horse's bridle and with pistols levelled at his breast
ordered him to dismount.

And so there in Lincoln, about two and one-half miles beyond
Lexington, ended the midnight rides of William Dawes and Paul Revere.
Prescott had gone on to continue the alarm, Dawes had retreated
towards Lexington, and Revere was a prisoner. While the latter was
being secured, three or four of the officers started up the road
in pursuit of Dawes, who galloped his horse furiously up to a farm
house, where he reined in so suddenly that he was thrown to the
ground. With great presence of mind he shouted loudly for assistance,
exclaiming:--

"Hallo, my boys. I've got two of 'em."

The British in pursuit supposing they were ambushed in turn,
retreated and made good their escape. Dawes rose from the ground and
found himself quite alone, for the house, which might have contained
a force of American minute men, was empty and deserted. He mounted
his horse and rode leisurely away.[55]

But Revere was not the only prisoner captured by the British officers
in Lincoln. Solomon Brown, Jonathan Loring, and Elijah Sanderson,
all of Lexington, had been passing along at that place about ten
o'clock, the previous evening (for it is now after midnight, April
19th), and were detained and being held as prisoners when Revere was
added. A one-handed peddler, Allen by name, was also a prisoner,
having been captured after Brown and his two companions. For some
reason he was not long delayed, but released, and went his way.

Revere was ordered to dismount and one of the six proceeded to
examine him, asking his name; if he was an express; and what time he
left Boston. He answered each question truthfully, and added that the
troops in passing the river had got aground; that he had alarmed the
country on the way up; and that 500 Americans would soon be present.
This was rather disturbing news for his captors, and the one who
had acted as spokesman rode to the four who had first halted the
messengers. After a short conference the five returned on a gallop,
and one of them, whom Revere afterwards found to be Major Mitchell of
the Fifth Regiment, clapped a pistol to his head, and, calling him
by name, said he should ask him some questions, and if they were not
answered truthfully, he should blow his brains out. Revere answered
the many questions, some of them new ones and some the same as he had
already answered. He was then directed to mount, and the whole party
proceeded towards Lexington. After riding about a mile Major Mitchell
instructed the officer leading Revere's horse to turn him over to the
Sergeant who was instructed to blow the prisoner's brains out, if he
attempted to escape, or if any insults were offered to his captors on
the way.

When within half a mile of Lexington meeting-house, on the Common,
they heard a gun fired, and Major Mitchell, beginning to feel
alarmed, asked Revere its cause, who told him it was an alarm. The
other prisoners were then ordered to dismount, one of the officers
cut the bridles of their horses and drove them away. Revere asked to
be discharged, also, but his request was not heeded.

Coming a little nearer to the meeting-house, within sight of it, in
fact, they heard a volley of gun shots, whereupon Major Mitchell
called a halt, and questioned Revere again, as to the distance to
Cambridge, and if there were two roads going there, etc. He then
ordered him to dismount and exchange horses with the Sergeant, who
cut away bridle and saddle from his own, which was a small one and
well nigh exhausted, before completing the exchange.[56]

The officers then hastily disappeared down the road towards Lexington
meeting-house, and Revere made his way, probably afoot, across the
old cemetery and the adjacent pasture near Lexington Common, to the
parsonage on Bedford Road, where he had left Hancock and Adams a few
hours earlier.

The entire distance that Revere rode, from the Charlestown shore to
the spot in Lincoln where he was captured, and back to Lexington
Common, was between 18 and 19 miles, and the elapsed time nearly
four hours.

FOOTNOTES:

[45] Boston Sunday Globe, Apr. 19, 1908. Article on Lanterns Hung in
the Steeple.

[46] Goss, E. H., Life of Paul Revere.

[47] Full moon April 15. Moon rose on April 18, at 9.45 P. M. Low's
Almanack for 1775.

[48] She was an ancestor of John R. Adan, and lived in the
Ochterlong-Adan house at the corner of North and North Centre
Streets. Goss, Life of Paul Revere.

[49] Goss, Life of Paul Revere.

[50] Capt. John Pulling, Jr., was son of John and Martha Pulling.
Born in Boston, Feb. 18, 1737. Resided on corner of Ann and Cross
Streets in 1775. Died in 1787. Goss, Life of Paul Revere.

[51] In Somerville on Washington Street, near Crescent Street.

[52] Now Broadway and Main Street, in Somerville, and Main Street in
Medford.

[53] Bedford Road is now called Hancock Street and a newer road
to Bedford is called Bedford Street. The old parsonage is still
standing, though moved from its original location to a few rods
across the street.

[54] Revere's ride was 12-86/88 miles and Dawes's ride was 16-61/88
miles.

[55] Unfortunately no poet has ever thought the ride of William Dawes
a sufficiently thrilling one for a place in poetic literature. When
he left the farm house he rode into obscurity. For the incidents in
Lincoln that he took part in, I am indebted to his granddaughter,
Mrs. Mehitable May Goddard, as narrated in Henry W. Holland's book,
William Dawes and his Ride With Paul Revere.

[56] Tradition says that Deacon Larkin's horse died from the effects
of the strenuous ride of Revere, but it is probable that his second
rider may have been equally or more of a contributory cause, as
Revere's ride was not long and fast enough to kill a horse in sound
condition.

FLIGHT OF HANCOCK AND ADAMS.

The narration of Revere's adventures was eagerly listened to by the
patriots assembled at the parsonage. Hancock and Adams were urged
to flee by their friends. Hancock was loth to do so, but Adams
persuaded him that their duties were executive rather than military,
so they prepared for a hasty retreat. Their flight commenced in a
chaise driven by Jonas Clarke, son of the minister.[57] Mr. Lowell,
Hancock's secretary, and Paul Revere, accompanied them for two miles
into Burlington, where they stopped, first at the house of Mr. Reed
for a little time, and then continued farther on to the home of
Madame Jones, widow of Rev. Thomas Jones and of Rev. Mr. Marrett.
Then they sent back to the parsonage for Hancock's betrothed, Dorothy
Quincy, his aunt, Mrs. Hancock, and lastly, a "fine salmon," which
had been presented to them for dinner, and naturally forgotten as
they started on their flight. All of these arrived in due time,
and then Revere and Lowell returned to Lexington Common, with the
intention of rescuing a trunk and its contents which belonged to
Hancock, and which he had left at the Buckman Tavern.

The fugitives were about to sit down to the salmon dinner when a
Lexington farmer, in great excitement, rushed in exclaiming, that the
British were coming, and that his wife was even then in "eternity."
The salmon dinner was abandoned, and the flight continued under the
guidance of Mr. Marrett, to Amos Wyman's, where they finally sat down
to a dinner, not of salmon, but of cold salt pork and potatoes served
on a wooden tray. The last stopping place was just over the boundary
line of Woburn into Billerica, easterly from the present Lowell
Turnpike, and northerly from the Lexington parsonage about four miles.

Samuel Adams had left behind him somewhere on the road his immortal
saying:--

"What a glorious morning for America is this."[58]

Revere and Lowell reached Buckman Tavern, and there learned from a
man who had just come up the road that the troops were within two
miles. They proceeded to a chamber for the trunk, which they secured,
and looking out of the window towards Boston, saw the King's soldiers
but a little way off. They quickly made their exit from the Tavern,
passed along the Common through Captain Parker's Company, or rather a
small part of it, and heard his words:--

"Let the troops pass by and don't molest them without they begin
first."[59]

When a little farther along, "_not half gun shot off_," as Revere
expresses it, he heard a single gun, turned and saw the smoke of it
rising just in front of the troops, heard them give a great shout,
saw them run a few paces, heard irregular firing as of an advance
guard, and then firing by platoons.

The American Revolution had indeed commenced.

FOOTNOTES:

[57] Holland.

[58] It has sometimes been written that Hancock and Adams first went
to a little wooded hill southeasterly from the parsonage overlooking
Lexington Common, and perhaps half a mile away, and where they
remained concealed until after the British had passed, and that
Adams, looking down upon that first scene of bloodshed expressed
himself as above quoted. But I cannot reconcile that statement with
Revere's own version of the flight wherein he speaks of going with
them two miles and then returning for Hancock's trunk at the Buckman
Tavern, and which he succeeded in getting just before the British
arrived there at five o'clock. Thus Adams could not have witnessed
the opening scene on Lexington Common.

[59] Revere's Narrative. Otherwise quoted as "Don't fire unless fired
upon, but if they want war, let it begin here." Lexington Hist. Soc.
I, 46.

ALARMS IN OTHER PLACES.

It must not be imagined that information of the night march of the
troops was known only along the highway to their destination in
Concord. There were fleet messengers in every direction, through
the Counties of Middlesex and Essex and Norfolk. Those lanterns in
the North Church steeple meant as much to many others as to those
on the Charlestown shore. But few details of their rides have been
left to us. Yet everywhere the hoof-beats, the shadowy form of the
horseman--his cry of alarm, the drums--the bells--the guns--the
assembling of the minute men,--their hurried march towards that one
long and thin highway from Boston to Concord; some of these are
known, and can be written of, as a part of the record of that day.

Northerly along the coast the alarm went. At Lynn, ten miles away,
the inhabitants were awakened in the early morn of the 19th, by the
information that 800 British soldiers had left Boston in the night
and were proceeding towards Concord. Many immediately set out for the
scene of the invasion, singly and in little bands, without waiting
to march in company file.[60]

At Woburn, ten miles from Boston, a man rode up to the house of Mr.
Douglass, about an hour before sunrise--and knocked loudly at the
door, saying:

"There is an alarm--the British are coming out; and if there is any
soldier in the house he must turn out and repair to Lexington as soon
as possible."[61]

Such is the sworn statement of Robert Douglass, who lived in
Portland, Maine, but who was then staying at his father's home
in Woburn. He arose and started for Lexington, four miles away,
with Sylvanus Wood. And Douglass, upon arrival, paraded with Capt.
Parker's Company. Col. Loammi Baldwin resided in Woburn, and entered
in his diary some of his experiences of the day. Under date of April
19, he says that in the morning a little before the break of day,
they were alarmed by Mr. Stedman's express from Cambridge. With
others he hurried to Lexington, but could not reach the Common in
time to participate in the opening struggle. They saw the stains of
blood on the ground, hurried on to Lincoln, and at Tanner's Brook
commenced to harass the British on their return.[62]

In Reading, twelve miles from Boston, alarm guns were fired, just
at sunrise. Edmund Foster in a letter to Col. Daniel Shattuck, of
Concord, dated March 10, 1825, speaks at length of his personal
experiences. Following the guns came a post, bringing the
information that the Regulars had gone to Concord.

In Danvers, sixteen miles away, news of the British advance was given
at about 9 o'clock, and was communicated to the citizens by bells
and drums, who responded by thronging to the rendezvous near the Old
South Church at the bend of the Boston Road. Women were there, not
with entreaty, but to fasten on the belt, and gird on the sword.[63]

At Andover, twenty-five miles away, the alarm was given at about
sunrise, and minute-men were ready to march for Concord at about
10 o'clock. On their way through Tewksbury they learned that eight
Americans had been killed at Lexington; and at Billerica, that
the British were killing Americans at Concord. Reaching Bedford
they learned more definitely that two Americans had been killed at
Concord, and that the enemy was falling back.[64]

Lexington lies in a northwesterly direction from Boston, at a
distance of about eleven miles. At that time it was the abiding place
of John Hancock and Samuel Adams who were stopping at the parsonage
of Rev. Jonas Clarke. It was then supposed that one of the objects
of Gen. Gage was to effect their capture, and that his other object
was the destruction of military stores at Concord. Possibly the
first intimation that Lexington had of the proposed hostile visit of
Gage's troops was communicated by a young man, Solomon Brown, who had
been to Boston, on market business, and on his return had passed a
patrol of British officers. There were ten of them, it was late in
the afternoon, or early evening of April 18, and they were riding
away from Boston towards Lexington, which seemed out of harmony with
their ordinary way of riding back to Boston at night. Mr. Brown
kept somewhat near them along the road for awhile, that he might
the better determine their intentions, allowing them to pass and
repass him several times. Having at last satisfied himself that their
mission meant more than a pleasure sortie into the country, he gained
the lead once more, and when out of their sight rode rapidly to
Lexington and reported his observations to Orderly Sergeant William
Munroe, proprietor of Munroe's Tavern.[65]

These ten officers riding in advance must have known that actual
hostilities were at hand, for they not only detained travelers on the
highway, but deliberately insulted a large number of the inhabitants
along the road. Three or four of them, at least, went far beyond the
behavior of military men in time of peace, for as they rode into
Lexington, they stopped at the house of Matthew Mead, entered and
helped themselves to the prepared family supper of brown bread and
baked beans. Mrs. Mead and her daughter, Rhoda, were within, and Mr.
Mead and two sons were absent. This Lexington home was at the corner
of Massachusetts Avenue and Woburn Street, where the Russell House
now stands.[66]

Quickly following Solomon Brown's message came a written one,
directed to John Hancock, sent by Elbridge Gerry, one of the
Committee of Supplies, then sitting at the Black Horse Tavern in
Menotomy. It was practically to the same effect, "that eight or nine
officers of the King's troops were seen, just before night, passing
the road towards Lexington, in a musing, contemplative posture; and
it was supposed they were out upon some evil design."[67]

Hancock at once replied to Gerry that it was said the officers had
gone to Concord, and that he would send word thither.[68]

But naturally it was surmised that the capture of Hancock and Adams
was intended, so a guard of eight men, under Sergeant William Munroe,
was stationed around the home of Rev. Jonas Clarke. About forty of
the members of Captain Parker's Company gathered at the Buckman
Tavern after the mounted officers passed through Lexington,[69] and
it was deemed best that scouts should be sent out to follow them.
Accordingly Solomon Brown, Jonathan Loring, and Elijah Sanderson
volunteered to act,--and they started about 9 o'clock in the
evening.[70] As we have previously written, they were ambushed and
captured at about 10 o'clock on the road towards Concord, in the town
of Lincoln, by the same ones they had set out to follow.

Soon after the arrival of Paul Revere between 12 and 1 o'clock in the
morning of April 19, with the intelligence of the starting of the
King's troops, Captain Parker assembled his company on the Common.
The roll was called and they were instructed to load with powder
and ball. One of the messengers who had been sent towards Boston,
returned and reported that he could not discover any troops on the
way out, which raised some doubts as to their coming. It was between
1 and 2 o'clock when they were dismissed with instructions, however,
to remain in the immediate neighborhood, for quick response to the
call of the drum. Many of them adjourned to Buckman's Tavern, and the
others, living in the immediate vicinity, returned to their homes.

Between daylight and sunrise Capt. Thaddeus Bowman rode up, and
reported that the regulars were near. The drum was beat, and Captain
Parker's little band assembled on the Common.

The soldiers of the King were but one hundred rods down the road.[71]

Bedford an adjoining town to Lexington, and about fifteen miles from
Boston, was alarmed on the evening of the 18th, by Nathan Munroe and
Benjamin Tidd, both of Lexington, who had been sent there by Captain
Parker because of the suspicious actions of the British officers on
their way to Concord. Munroe and Tidd aroused the town, and some of
the minute-men rallied at the tavern kept by Nathan Fitch, Jr., and
were there served with light refreshments. Captain Willson said:--

"It is a cold breakfast, boys, but we will give the British a hot
dinner. We'll have every dog of them before night."[72]

The larger Bedford rally was at the oak tree standing in the little
triangle a few rods west of the village, where the road to Concord
branches away from the road to Billerica.[73]

Munroe and Tidd continued their alarm to Meriam's Corner in Concord
and returned to Lexington in time to hear the first alarm bell in the
morning of the 19th, and witness the assembling of Capt. Parker's
Company. Munroe, being a member joined the ranks, and Tidd remained
on or near the Common and was dispersed with the rest.[74]

Josiah Nelson, living in the northeast part of Lincoln, was awakened
on the night of the 18th, by horsemen passing up the road. Rushing
out partly dressed, to ascertain who they were, he received a blow on
his head from a sword, cutting sufficiently to draw the blood. He was
seized and detained a little while by his British captors, and when
released had his wound dressed, and hurried to Bedford and gave the
alarm in that town also.[75]

Billerica, seventeen miles northwest from Boston, probably received
the alarm about two o'clock, and when the encounter on Lexington
Common took place few if any families but had heard the call to
arms.[76]

Concord, seventeen miles northwesterly from Boston was first aroused
by Dr. Samuel Prescott, between one and two o'clock in the morning
of the 19th. He had just escaped from the British, in Lincoln, at
the time they captured Revere. It was nearly three o'clock when the
alarm bell was rung, whereupon several posts were despatched, who
returning, brought the news that the regulars were indeed coming;
that they had reached Lexington, and killed six Americans, and then
started for Concord.[77] Capt. Minot's Company took possession of
the hill to the eastward above the meeting house, and Capt. Brown's
Company marched up the road to meet the enemy.[78]

Corporal Amos Barrett of Capt. David Brown's Company has left a
written statement that he thinks one hundred and fifty minute-men had
assembled. His Company resolved to go up the road towards Lexington
and meet the British. They accordingly marched a mile or a mile and
a half, when they saw them coming. They halted and awaited them, and
when they were within one hundred rods were ordered by their captain
to about face. They marched back to the village to the music of their
fife and drum, the British following, also playing their fifes and
drums.[79]

Brown's Company consolidated with Minot's, and both took up a new
position, a little farther north on the adjoining hill, back of the
town. The British were so many more in number, that it was thought
prudent to still farther retire. Accordingly the two companies
marched down the hill, over the North Bridge, distance three-quarters
of a mile from the village, and took a new and stronger position on
Punkatasset Hill, a little more than a mile from the village, but
clearly overlooking it. There they welcomed the reinforcements that
were arriving from the neighboring towns.

In Tewksbury, twenty miles northwesterly from Boston, the alarm was
given at about 2 o'clock in the morning. "The British are on their
way to Concord and I have alarmed all the towns from Charlestown to
here,"[80] were the words that aroused Capt. John Trull, from his
slumber, who in turn fired his gun to arouse Gen. Varnum, across
the Merrimack River over in Dracut, a signal previously agreed upon
between them. When Capt. Trull reached the village his men were
awaiting him and they at once started for Concord. There were two
other Tewksbury companies commanded respectively by Capt. Jonathan
Brown and Capt. Thomas Clark, who also responded to the alarm.

In Acton, twenty-one miles northwesterly from Boston, and the
adjoining town to Concord westerly, the alarm was given early in the
morning. Col. Francis Faulkner resided in South Acton. His son,
Francis, Jr., was lying awake and listening to the clatter of a
horse's feet drawing nearer and nearer. Suddenly he leaped from his
bed and ran to his father's room, adjoining, and exclaimed:

"Father, there's a horse coming on the full run, and he's bringing
news!"

His father had heard the horseman also, for he was partly dressed
with gun in hand. Across the bridge and up to the house came the
messenger.

"Rouse your minute-men, Mr. Faulkner, the British are marching on
Lexington and Concord." And away he rode to spread the news.

Col. Faulkner, without completing his dress, fired his gun three
times as fast as he could load, that being the preconcerted signal.
Very quickly a neighbor repeated it, and the boy, still listening,
heard a repetition many times, each farther away. Thus was Acton
aroused.

At the home of Col. Faulkner very soon assembled Capt. Hunt's
Company. Women were there, too, to help as they might. Stakes were
driven into the lawn, kettles hung, fires built, and a dinner for the
soldiers soon cooked. Some of the older boys were delighted to follow
on and carry it in saddle-bags, separately from the minute-men, with
instructions to take the field roads if the British should be found
occupying the highways. Col. Faulkner marched away with Capt. Hunt's
Company, to take command of the Middlesex Regiment, which he supposed
to be assembling at Concord.

The home of Capt. Davis, was about a mile westerly from the meeting
house in the centre of Acton, and about six miles from the North
Bridge in Concord. His Company were assembling rapidly, and when
about twenty had reported he was anxious to march. A man of serious
mien, he seemed particularly so on the morning of April 19. One
of his companions, speaking cheerily, perhaps lightly, was gently
reproved by the brave Captain, who seemed to have a premonition of
his own fate, and reminded the other of what the day might have in
store for them. They were about to proceed when he turned to his
wife, as if to speak, but he could only say:

"Take good care of the children."[81]

Then he turned and marched away with his little command. It might
have been seven o'clock when he started,[82] to the lively tune of
the "White Cockade" played by his fifer, Luther Blanchard, and his
drummer, Francis Barker.

When they reached the westerly part of Concord they must have learned
what the British were doing at the home of Col. Barrett, for they
left the highway and passed into the fields to the northward of the
Barrett home, stopping for a while a little way off to watch the
King's soldiers in their work of destruction of the military stores.
Continuing again, they marched through the fields until they came
out into the highway at Widow Brown's Tavern,[83] which was situated
across the river from Concord village, a mile away. From there they
proceeded by way of the Back Road, so called, to the high ground
now called Punkatasset Hill, rising about a quarter of a mile to the
westward of the North Bridge.

Other companies of militia and minute-men were already assembled
there, and Capt. Davis marched his men, who now numbered about forty,
to the left of the line, a position that had been assigned to him at
the muster a little while before.

From this position on Punkatasset, they looked down upon the gently
flowing Concord River; upon the old North Bridge which crossed just
in the immediate foreground; upon the red-coated soldiers who stood
grimly on guard at the nearer end; and beyond, up the river to
Concord village, three-quarters of a mile away, where curling volumes
of smoke seemed to indicate the burning of American homes.

In Chelmsford, twenty-three miles northwesterly from Boston, the
alarm was early given by a mounted messenger, upon which guns were
fired and drums beat. Minute-men met at the Alarm-post, a rock
standing where the hay-scales were placed in after years. Captain
Moses Parker's Company, and Captain Oliver Barron's Company, marched,
not in regular order, but in squads, and came into Concord at
Meriam's Corner and on Hardy's Hill in time for the pursuit.

In Dracut, twenty-five miles from Boston, the alarm was given soon
after two o'clock, by the firing of a gun by Capt. Trull across the
Merrimac River in Tewksbury, a signal previously agreed upon, which
aroused Gen. Varnum. Two companies marched immediately, one under
Captain Peter Coburn, and the other under Captain Stephen Russell.
They were, however, too remote from the scene of strife to meet the
British, but continued their rapid march to Cambridge.

Littleton, twenty-five miles from Boston, was alarmed in the morning
by the news of the British march on Concord. The messenger then
hurried over Beaver Brook Bridge, and into the towns beyond on his
mission.

Even in Pepperell, thirty-five miles northwesterly from Boston, the
alarm went, reaching there about 9 o'clock. Gen. Prescott gave orders
to the Pepperell and Hollis companies, to march to Groton, there to
join others of the regiment.[84]

Roxbury, the adjoining town to Boston, southwesterly, was naturally
the first town in that direction to know of the movement of the
British. William Dawes, the first messenger out of Boston, as we have
seen, passed through the town on his round-about-way to Lexington,
and must have delivered his first message there before 11 o'clock on
the evening of the 18th. There were three companies under the command
of Captain Moses Whiting, Captain William Draper, and Captain Lemuel
Child, respectively, who took active parts in the events of the 19th.
As they marched for the scene of strife many women and children fled
to other towns for greater safety.[85]

The news reached Dedham, ten miles southwesterly from Boston, a
little after 9 o'clock in the morning. It came by way of Needham and
Dover.[86]

Framingham, eighteen miles southwesterly from Boston, was alarmed
before 8 o'clock in the morning. A bell was rung, and alarm guns
fired, which assembled many of the two companies of militia and one
of minute-men, who started in about an hour. Captain Edget went on
foot the entire distance, and carried his gun. Those living in the
extreme south and west parts of the town followed on a little later.
Not long after the men had left, a report was started that negroes
were coming to massacre them all, which seemed the more frightful to
the women and children because of the absence of about all of the
able-bodied men. For those defenceless ones at home it was a terrible
day.[87]

Newton, seven miles westerly from Boston, was alarmed at early
dawn by a volley from one of John Pigeon's field-guns, kept at the
gun-house in Newton Centre, near the church.[88]

Sudbury, eighteen miles westerly from Boston, received its first news
by a messenger from Concord, eight miles away, who reported to Thomas
Plympton, a member of the Provincial Congress. Captain Nixon was
aroused by a messenger, who shouted:

"Up, up! the red-coats are up as far as Concord."

Captain Nixon started off at once on horseback.[89]

In Worcester, forty miles westerly from Boston, the people were
alarmed before noon by a messenger mounted on a white horse dripping
with sweat, and bloody from spurring. Driving at full speed through
the town he shouted:

"To arms, to arms! the war has begun!"

At the church the horse fell exhausted. Another was procured and
the news still went on. The bell rang out the alarm, cannon were
fired, and special messengers despatched to every part of the town to
summon the soldiers. In a little while 110 men, under Captain Timothy
Bigelow were paraded on the Green, and soon marched for Concord. They
were met on the way by the intelligence of the British retreat. So
they changed their course towards Boston.[90]

It would be interesting to know the full details of that messenger's
long ride, and just where in the westward it ended. His exhausted
horse, covered with bloody foam, falling in the street before the
church, must have been a spectacular sight, and one that spoke loudly
of that terrific ride, perhaps the longest one of all the messengers.
And we can safely imagine that all along his course, other
messengers, drawing their inspiration from him, rode into the north,
and into the south, bearing with them the news that he bore; and that
in turn their words were echoed by the gun-volley, the clanging bell
and the drum-beat.

The reveille had now been sounded in Essex, in Middlesex, in Norfolk,
and in Worcester Counties, and the minute-men were on their way to
the battle of April 19.

FOOTNOTES:

[60] Lewis and Newhall's History of Lynn, page 338.

[61] Deposition of Robert Douglass.

[62] Beneath Old Roof Trees. A. E. Brown.

[63] Hansen's History of Beverly, page 88; Hurd's Middlesex County,
II, page 1010.

[64] Journal of Thomas Boynton of Capt. Ames's Company, and Hurd's
History of Essex County, II., page 1572.

[65] In an article on the Munroe Tavern in the Proceedings of the
Lexington Hist. Soc., III., 146, Albert W. Bryant recites a tradition
that the information of ten British officers riding up the road was
given to Sergeant Munroe, who gave the first general alarm that
assembled Captain Parker's Company. A messenger later was sent down
the road on a scouting trip for the British, but who did not return.
A second was sent who did not return. A third was sent who also did
not return. A fourth was despatched who did return with the news
that the British Army was really marching on Lexington, and that
the previous messengers who had been sent down the road had met and
passed two or more British soldiers riding in advance of the main
body, who then closed in on them as prisoners. The horse of the
fourth messenger had become frightened at the two advancing Britons
and turned back in spite of his rider, who caught a glimpse of the
British front ranks on the march. [This last messenger was Captain
Thaddeus Bowman, F. W. C.]

[66] Our Grandmothers of 1775, by Miss Elizabeth W. Harrington in
Lex. Hist. Soc. Proceedings, I, 51.

[67] Rev. Jonas Clarke's Narrative.

[68] Life of Elbridge Gerry, by James T. Austin, page 67.

[69] Dep. of Joseph Underwood.

[70] Sanderson having no horse was offered one by Thaddeus
Harrington, which he accepted. Dep. of Elijah Sanderson.

[71] Dep. of William Munroe containing statement also of a British
prisoner.

[72] Brown's History of Bedford, page 24.

[73] Brown's History of Bedford, page 53.

[74] Deposition of Tidd and Abbot.

[75] Brown's History of Bedford, pages 218, 219.

[76] Hazen's History of Billerica, page 235.

[77] Diary of Rev. Wm. Emerson in R. W. Emerson's Discourse, and
Capt. Amos Barrett's Account of the Battle in True's Journal.

[78] Dep. of Capt. Nathan Barret and fifteen others of Concord, and
Dep. of John Hoar and seven others of Lincoln, present in Concord
before the arrival of the British.

[79] Capt. Amos Barrett's Account of the Battle.

[80] Drake's Middlesex County, II, 375-6.

[81] Deposition of his widow.

[82] Between one and two hours after sunrise. Deposition of his widow.

[83] Deposition of Charles Handley.

[84] Lorenzo P. Blood in Hurd's Middlesex County, III, 231.

[85] There is a tradition in the Greaton family that Mrs. Greaton
took her younger children and such articles as she could carry in a
cart and fled to Brookline; the older children walking beside the
vehicle. Drake's Roxbury, 61.

[86] Haven's Historical Address, page 46.

[87] Rev. Josiah H. Temple, in Hurd's Middlesex County, III, 624.

[88] Smith's Newton, 341.

[89] Hudson's Sudbury, 374-5, and Hudson in Hurd's Middlesex County,
II, 401.

[90] Lincoln and Hersey's History of Worcester, 97.

LIEUT.-COL. SMITH'S ADVANCE THROUGH CAMBRIDGE.

Let us now return to the King's soldiers under the command of
Lieut.-Col. Smith, whom we left on the shore of Charles River at
Lechmere Point in Cambridge. It was one o'clock on the morning of the
19th, before the column was fully under way.[91]

Lechmere Point then had but one house, which stood on the southern
slope of the hill, on the northern side of Spring Street, between
Third and Fourth Streets, and facing to the south.[92] Where the
troops landed, on Second Street, was sufficiently remote to be out
of sight and hearing, evidently the particular aim of the commanding
officer.

They proceeded cautiously, following an old farm-road around the
northeasterly slope of the hill, sometimes wading in the marshes that
bordered Willis Creek, and fording that stream, waist-deep, in the
vicinity of Bullard's Bridge.

Smith evidently thought that the noise of his soldiers tramping
across the bridge itself might attract attention. His soldiers found
the ford a long one, and the waters deep.[93]

Even thus early on the expedition was the British Army betrayed by
one of its own soldiers, if the tradition handed down by a Mrs.
Moore can be relied upon. Seventy-five years or more ago she related
to Rev. J. L. Sibley, who has stated accordingly, that she was then
living in Cambridge, a young girl, and that one of the soldiers was
taken sick after his landing at Lechmere Point, and accordingly
permitted by his commander to return by boat to Boston. He did
not immediately return, however, but made his way to the solitary
farm-house where Mrs. Moore was living. The occupants gained from
him the significance of his midnight presence, and it was considered
of sufficient importance to communicate speedily to their fellow
townsmen.

Bullard's Bridge crossed Willis Creek, near the present Prospect
Street, which runs from Cambridge to Somerville.[94] Later on the
Creek was called Miller's River. It was then a little tributary to
the Charles River, but has long since been filled in, and modest
dwellings, and more pretentious business establishments now cover its
upper area.

FOOTNOTES:

[91] A British officer in Boston in 1775 (See Atlantic Monthly,
April, 1877). In his Diary he places the time of starting at two
o'clock, and De Bernicre, in his report, at about two o'clock, but I
am compelled to compute it about one o'clock considering the distance
they had to march and the well known time they arrived at Lexington
Common, viz., almost eleven miles and reaching there at half past
four.

[92] E. C. Booth, in The Somerville Journal, April, 1875.

[93] Diary of a British officer in Boston in 1775.

[94] The interested reader should consult the map of Boston and
vicinity by J. F. W. Des Barres first published, May 5, 1775, and
reprinted in Shattuck's History of Boston, and the one by Henry
Pelham, first published in London, June 2, 1777, and reprinted in the
Siege and Evacuation of Boston. A study of them will enable one to
more fully understand the topography of the country about Boston at
that time.

LIEUT.-COL. SMITH'S ADVANCE THROUGH SOMERVILLE.

The invading army emerging from Willis Creek were now in Somerville.
They quickly arrived at Piper's Tavern, then standing in what is now
Union Square. It was after two o'clock, but the moon was shining
sufficiently bright for some of the soldiers to read the sign
aloud, which an awakened inmate heard. Up the present Bow Street
they marched, passing the Choate and Frost houses, continuing
along the present Somerville Avenue to Jonathan Ireland's house,
at the southwest corner of the present School Street. None of the
inhabitants just along there seem to have been disturbed. A few rods
farther lived Samuel Tufts on the westerly side of the road near the
present Laurel Street. He was casting bullets in a little hut back of
his dwelling, and being assisted by his negro, but neither of them
heard the tread of soldiers in the road. But yet a little farther
along, however, at the northwest corner of the present Central Street
lived the widow Rand. She was disturbed by the unusual noise in the
road, and came down stairs in her night-clothes to investigate. A hog
had been killed for her the day before, and she feared a midnight
thief. Upon opening the door she saw the soldiers, but hid behind the
rain-water hogshead until they had passed and then hurried across
the road to tell her neighbor Tufts of the unusual sight. At first
he could not believe the story, but with his lantern's aid saw the
many foot-prints in the road, and became convinced. Springing to his
horse's back he took a short cut bridle path to Cambridge, there to
spread the alarm.

Then marched the column by Samuel Kent's house on the westerly side
of the road, at the corner of the present Garden Court. Kent did not
awake. Then by the Capen house, a little farther on the easterly
side. No one there awakened. Then by the Hunnewell brothers on the
easterly side at the turn of the road. They were both somewhat deaf
and did not hear the military tread.

The next house is the home of Timothy Tufts, on the easterly side
of the road, nearly opposite Beech Street. Mrs. Tufts heard the
soldiers, and saw from her bed the gun-barrels shining in the
moonlight. She awakened her husband and they both looked out upon
that red-coated column, as it halted long enough for some of the
soldiers to drink at the well.

LIEUT.-COL. SMITH'S ADVANCE THROUGH CAMBRIDGE.

The march was again resumed a few rods farther along the Milk Row
road, then wheeling left southwesterly into Cambridge through what
is now Beech Street, less than an eighth of a mile in length, then
wheeling right into the Lexington and Concord road, towards the
northwest.[95] They were then on what is now known as Massachusetts
Avenue.

Along this part of Battle Road in Cambridge, were perhaps captured
the first prisoners, Thomas Robins and David Harrington, both of
Lexington. Robins was carrying milk to Boston, and in company with
Harrington when they reached the vicinity of Menotomy River, the
present dividing line between Cambridge and Arlington. They were
detained, and compelled to return to Lexington with the soldiers, and
released at the commencement of hostilities on the Common.[96]

FOOTNOTES:

[95] E. C. Booth in The Somerville Journal, April, 1875.

[96] Francis H. Brown, M.D., in Lexington Historical Society
Proceedings, III, 101.

LIEUT.-COL. SMITH'S ADVANCE THROUGH ARLINGTON.

Just after crossing the Menotomy River into Arlington they passed a
house where lived the venerable Samuel Whittemore[97] with his sons
and grandchildren. Silent as was the march intended to be, it awoke
the inmates and preparations for the day commenced.

The troops soon arrived opposite to the Black Horse Tavern, kept by
Mr. Wetherby. Thus far their march had not been heralded other than
by the flashing lights and fleet and silent messengers. Lieut.-Col.
Smith still thought his little army unnoticed, for he rode a little
way beyond the Tavern, halted his men, and sent back an officer with
a file of men, to surround and guard the house, while others should
search the interior for members of the rebel congress whom he thought
to be within. His surmise was correct, to some extent, for three
members were there, just awakened by the heavy tread, and who heard
the low-voiced commands to halt.

The day before, April 18, the Committee of Safety and the Committee
of Supplies, had held a joint meeting at the Tavern, and there were
present, Col. Azor Orne, Col. Joseph Palmer, Col. William Heath,
Col. Thomas Gardner, Richard Devens, Abraham Watson, Capt. Benjamin
White, and John Pigeon, of the Committee of Safety, and David
Cheever, Elbridge Gerry, Col. Charles Lee, and Col. Benjamin Lincoln,
of the Committee of Supplies. At the close of the meeting most of
them, being near enough, had departed for their homes. It will be
remembered that Richard Devens of Charlestown departed early enough
to meet Revere on the Charlestown shore, and acquaint him with the
movement of the ten British officers riding up the road. It will also
be recalled that Elbridge Gerry had sent from here a messenger to
John Hancock at Lexington to the same effect.

However, there were three members of the two committees who chose
to remain at the Black Horse Tavern that night. They were Col. Azor
Orne, Elbridge Gerry, and Col. Charles Lee.

It was not quite three o'clock when the slumbers of these three men
were disturbed by the unusual noise in the road, and they went to the
windows and looked out into the moonlight and down on the marching
host and its gleaming arms. They watched with eager curiosity. Not
for a moment did they connect themselves individually with the
movement, but when they heard the command to halt, and saw a file
of soldiers leave the ranks for the Tavern they were startled, and
then it suddenly occurred to them that possibly they were the objects
of those military manœuvres. They hurried down stairs, even clad in
their night-clothes as they were, and finally sought a safe exit at
the rear. It is said that Mr. Gerry, in his nervous haste to escape,
was on the point of opening the front door and rushing out that way,
but was prevented by the cry of the landlord:

"For God's sake, don't open that door," and who then conducted the
three to the back part of the house, and headed them for a field of
corn stubble. Elbridge Gerry stumbled and fell, and cried out to his
friend:

"Stop, Orne, for me, till I can get up; I have hurt myself."

His position, flat on the ground, out of sight because of the
corn-stubble, suggested that it would be a good hiding-place for all,
so the three lay prone on the ground until the King's troops passed
on. They returned to the Tavern finally to find that the house had
indeed been searched for them, very ineffectively, for even their
personal effects including Mr. Gerry's gold watch, left ticking under
his pillow, had not been disturbed. The search by the soldiers had
not been a very thorough one.

Col. Lee never recovered from the ill effect of his exposure on the
damp ground in the night air, too thinly clad as he was, for he died
within a month.[98]

The march of the British forces under Lieut. Col. Smith up to this
point, was a little over five miles, and it was nearly three o'clock.
He continued serenely for a little farther, for unknown to him the
inmates of many houses that he passed were aroused by the measured
tread of his men.

Solomon Bowman, Lieutenant in Captain Benjamin Locke's Company of
Minute-men, lived in Menotomy, now Arlington.[99] He came to the door
to witness the unusual sight. A soldier perceiving him, left the
ranks and asked for a drink of water. Bowman refused the request,
but asked him:--

"What are you out at this time of night for?"

The reply of the thirsty soldier was not recorded, but whatever it
was Bowman readily drew his own conclusions, and when the column
disappeared up the road, hastened to call out members of his company.
They formed at day-break on the Common.[100]

But at the house across the road, with its chimneys painted white,
the reception was more gracious. A tory lived there, and white
chimneys, it has been said, indicated the owner's politics.[101]

The column halted again, briefly in the centre of the town, and
Lieut.-Col. Smith despatched forward six companies of light infantry
under Major Pitcairn, for the purpose of earlier securing the two
bridges on the roads just beyond Concord village.[102] Scarcely
had he done so, when signal guns and alarm bells were heard,
which indicated a general awakening to arms of the Provincials.
Smith realized the full meaning of those ominous sounds, and from
there, in Arlington village, promptly sent back to Gen. Gage for
reinforcements. Fortunate for him that he did so, for otherwise the
day's climax for his force would have been even more disastrous than
it was.

His marching soldiers could now hardly expect to pass any house
unseen. A party of young men, playing cards, even at that late hour,
in an old shop that stood near the road, lost their interest in the
game and gave it up.[103]

At the Tufts Tavern, still standing on the easterly side of
Massachusetts Avenue, nearly opposite Mt. Vernon Street, the soldiers
halted and some of them proceeded towards Mr. Tufts's barn. He was
awake, and saw them, and suspected that their mission might be the
confiscation of his favorite white horse. He called for his gun, but
his prudent wife informed him that it had been loaned. Opening the
door however, he addressed a British officer saying:

"You are taking an early ride, sir!"

"You had better go to bed and get your sleep while you can," replied
the officer significantly.[104]

At the corner of the main road and the one leading to Winchester, now
Forest Street, "At the Foot of the Rocks," lived a shoemaker. A light
glimmering through the shutters caught the attention of an officer,
who sent a soldier to investigate its cause, so late in the night.
The good wife replied that her "old man" was sick and she was "making
some herb tea." That excuse satisfied the officer, for the family
was left undisturbed. The "tea" was in fact melted pewter plates
being run into bullets. When the rap first came at the door the old
man took to his bed, and his wife emptied the molten pewter into
the ashes, where it was readily found after the soldiers had passed
on.[105] It is probable that ere night some of the leaden tea had
hardened into leaden fruit, and was used for other than medicinal
purposes.

In the next house, still standing (1912) and numbered 1193
Massachusetts Avenue, lived Capt. Benjamin Locke. He looked out and
saw the marching red-coats, and knew what their mission was. He lost
no time in arousing such of his command as lived in that neighborhood.

The British continued along the main road, which at that time ran up
the hill westerly from Capt. Locke's home, and is now called Appleton
Street, into Paul Revere Road, and out again into the present
Massachusetts Avenue. At that time there was no highway between the
extreme ends of these two.

Through the rest of Arlington the march was uneventful, save the
capture of the scouts sent out from Lexington, who were so neatly
ambushed and taken. As we have seen, they were permitted to come down
the road passing a few soldiers who were out in advance, and who
secreted themselves when an approaching horseman was heard. After the
unfortunate scout had passed into the stretch of road bounded by the
advance guard and the main body he was not permitted to return to
Lexington.

Two men from Woburn, Asahel Porter and Josiah Richardson, were
thus captured. It has been stated that they were on their way to
the Boston market. If they lived in that part of Woburn which
adjoins Lexington, then their natural journey would have been into
Lexington, and thence through Arlington and Cambridge. But it may
be that they were scouting simply, for they were on horseback, and
therefore without any apparent market business. They were compelled
to dismount, their horses taken, and then forced to walk along as
prisoners. Reaching the Common in Lexington they were both released
by their kindly disposed guard, with the particular understanding
that they were to walk, not run, away. Richardson accepted those
conditions, carried them out and so escaped. But Porter, once over
Rufus Merriam's garden-wall, twenty rods away from his captors,
started into a run. Some other soldier than his guard saw him, and
evidently thinking that a prisoner was escaping, promptly shot him
through the body. Those captures were probably made in Arlington, and
not far from the Lexington boundary line.

FOOTNOTES:

[97] House still standing, (1912) and numbered 54 Massachusetts
Avenue.

[98] Samuel A. Smith's Address at West Cambridge, page 17.

[99] House still standing on the northerly side of Massachusetts
Avenue, numbered 417, nearly opposite Whittemore Street. Arlington
Past and Present, Parker, page 141.

[100] Statement of Mrs. Hill, daughter of Bowman, in Smith's Address,
page 18.

[101] Smith, 18.

[102] Lieut.-Col. Smith's Report.

[103] A. R. Proctor, who heard it from William Hill and told it to
Mr. Smith. The shop stood front of the residence occupied by James
Schouler in 1864. Smith, West Cambridge Address, page 19.

[104] Mrs. Almira T. Whittemore in Parker's Arlington, 194-5.

[105] Mrs. Henry Whittemore's Statement, Smith's West Cambridge
Address, 20.

LIEUT.-COL. SMITH'S ADVANCE THROUGH LEXINGTON.

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 OPENING BATTLE ON LEXINGTON COMMON.

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]

[Illustration: _The Battle of Lexington, April 19^{th}, 1775. Plate
I._]

[Illustration: LEXINGTON COMMON AND VICINITY.

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]

FOOTNOTES:

[106] Deposition of Wm. Munroe who states that he saw about two
hundred cartridge ends dropped by the soldiers when loading.

[107] Deposition of William Munroe, reciting a statement to him by a
British prisoner.

[108] Deposition of Captain John Parker.

[109] Article by Elizabeth S. Parker in Lexington Historical Society,
I, 47.

[110] "William Dimond. Died July 29, 1828. Aged 73." Inscription
on his gravestone in Peterboro, N. H. See article in the Boston
Globe, Sept. 23, 1903, speaking of him at length as the drummer in
Capt. Parker's Company. See also the deposition of Sylvanus Wood who
called him William Dimon. See also list of Capt. Parker's Company in
Boutwell's Oration at Acton.

[111] Deposition of Sylvanus Wood.

[112] Deposition of Sylvanus Wood.

[113] Deposition of William Munroe.

[114] Depositions of Nathaniel Parkhurst and thirteen others, and of
Nathaniel Mulliken and thirty-three others.

[115] Depositions of John Munroe, of Ebenezer Munroe, and of William
Tidd. Also of Lieut. Edward Thornton Gould, of the Fourth or King's
Own Regiment, taken prisoner at Concord.

[116] Depositions of Robert Douglass and of Joseph Underwood.

[117] Deposition of William Draper.

[118] Historical Memoirs of the 52nd Regiment copied in Evelyn's
Memoirs, pages 56-7.

[119] Depositions of Thomas Fessenden and of John Robbins.

[120] When this scene was re-enacted in 1822, William Munroe, Orderly
Sergeant under Parker that morning, repeated the words of Captain
Parker as above quoted, and added: "Them are the very words that
Captain Parker said." Report of the Committee on Historical Monuments
and Tablets, 1884. Paul Revere heard Captain Parker say: "Let the
troops pass by and don't molest them without they begin first." See
Revere's Narrative.

[121] Deposition of Captain John Parker.

[122] Rev. Jonas Clarke.

[123] Deposition of Thomas Fessenden.

[124] The English contention is that the Americans fired first. See
letter of W. S. Evelyn, who was with Percy; De Bernicre's Account,
and Lieut.-Col. Smith's Report. It seems to me of but little moment
as to who fired first. The council of war, convened by Gen. Gage,
April 18, wherein it was determined to march out and destroy the
public stores of Massachusetts was the first real hostile act and
could only lead to war. Major Pitcairn has denied that he authorized
that first shot. I believe him to have been gruff and profane, but
honest, brave, and faithful to his King. He died from wounds received
in the Battle of Bunker Hill.

[125] Depositions of William Draper; of William Munroe; of Simon
Winship; of John Munroe; and of John Bateman, a British soldier.

[126] Deposition of William Wood.

[127] MSS. narrative of Levi Harrington, a youthful spectator.

[128] Deposition of John Munroe.

[129] Deposition of John Munroe.

[130] MSS. narrative of Levi Harrington, and Deposition of John
Munroe.

[131] MSS. Narrative of Levi Harrington.

[132] Deposition of William Munroe.

[133] MSS. Narrative of Levi Harrington.

[134] MSS. Narrative of Levi Harrington.

[135] Phinney's History of the Battle of Lexington.

[136] Deposition of Ebenezer Munroe.

[137] MSS. Narrative of Levi Harrington.

[138] Deposition of William Tidd.

[139] Miss Mary Merriam, ninety years of age in 1887, reported to
Edward P. Bliss, that she had heard her father say (and he was
thirteen years old when the battle took place) that on that morning
some who would not stand up for their country believed the British
would not fire on _them_. They were at the Tavern. The British fired
on them, however, and they promptly retreated to the cellar and
attic. Edward P. Bliss in Lexington Hist. Society Proceedings, I, 71.

[140] Depositions of William Munroe, minute-man, and of Elijah
Sanderson, spectator. Also statement of Rufus Merriam, spectator,
then in his thirteenth year, to Rev. A. B. Muzzey. Young Merriam
overheard Buckman's remonstrance. Muzzey's Battle of Lexington, page
6. MSS. Narrative of Levi Harrington.

[141] MSS. Narrative of Levi Harrington; Deposition of Abijah
Harrington.

[142] MSS. Narrative of Levi Harrington, who, however, erroneously
names them John Parker and Isaac Hadley.

[143] A British officer in Boston in 1775, De Bernicre's Account,
Report of Lieut.-Col. Smith, Statement of a British Prisoner as
recited in Ebenezer Munroe's Deposition.

[144] A British Officer in Boston in 1775.

[145] Rev. Jonas Clarke, an eye-witness of this incident.

[146] At 5.19 A. M. Astronomical Diary and Almanack for 1775, by
Nathaniel Low.

[147] From a patriotic resolution passed in Town Meeting in December,
1773. Hudson's History of Lexington, page 92.

[148] His deposition April 24, 1775.

[149] MSS. Narrative of Levi Harrington.

[150] His deposition.

[151] This gun descended to his grandson, Rev. Theodore Parker, who
gave it to the State of Massachusetts. Bradford Smith in Lexington
Hist. Soc. Proceedings, II, 145.

[152] Deposition of Abijah Harrington.

[153] Deposition of James Reed.

[154] Deposition of Ebenezer Munroe.

[155] Mt. Vernon Papers by Edward Everett, page 430. Everett, a
member of Congress in 1826, secured a pension of $96 per year for
Wood. Once, when the latter was in Washington he introduced him to
President Jackson. See also the History of Woburn, by Sewall, who
received his information from Wood's son. Also see the deposition of
Wood.

[156] Deposition of E. Welsh.

LIEUT.-COL. SMITH'S ADVANCE THROUGH LINCOLN.

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.

[Illustration: _Plate II. A View of the Town of Concord_]

FOOTNOTE:

[157] Deposition of Lieut. Edward Thornton Gould, a British prisoner.

LIEUT.-COL. SMITH'S ADVANCE INTO CONCORD.

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]

FOOTNOTES:

[158] U. S. Geological Survey, 1886.

[159] Deposition of Capt. Nathan Barrett and fifteen others, all of
Concord.

[160] Diary of Rev. William Emerson.

[161] Deposition of Lieut. Edward Thornton Gould, British.

[162] Deposition of Capt. Nathan Barrett and fifteen others.

[163] Capt. Amos Barrett's Account, who was then present as a member
of Brown's Company.

[164] A British Officer in Boston in 1775.

[165] De Bernicre, the British authority who was present, states the
time as being between nine and ten o'clock, but I follow Captain
Barrett and fifteen others who state in their deposition that it was
about two hours after sunrise.

[166] U. S. Geological Survey, 1886.

[167] Frederic Hudson in Harper's Magazine, May, 1875.

[168] Lieut.-Col. Smith's report.

[169] De Bernicre and Editor's Note to Diary of a British Officer.

[170] 1-74/88 miles, to be exact.

[171] Editor's Note in A British Officer in Boston in 1775, and
Deposition of Lieut. Edward Thornton Gould, British officer present.

[172] De Bernicre.

[173] De Bernicre.

[174] 82/88 mile to be exact.

[175] Frederic Hudson, in Harper's Magazine, May, 1875.

[176] Ripley, Rev. Ezra. History of the Fight at Concord.

[177] Ripley.

[178] The old mill-pond occupied a goodly portion of the land bounded
by Lexington Road, Heywood, Walden, and Main Streets, the northerly
corner almost reaching Wright's Tavern. Subsequently it was filled in
and now stores and dwellings occupy its entire area.

[179] Ripley.

BATTLE AT NORTH BRIDGE IN CONCORD.

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.

[Illustration: _Plate III. The Engagement at the North Bridge in
Concord_]

[Illustration: CONCORD VILLAGE AND VICINITY.

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]

FOOTNOTES:

[180] U. S. Geological Survey, 1886.

[181] The road forming one side of the triangle, and leading from the
bridge, has been discontinued and now appears only as a part of the
river meadow.

[182] Lemuel Shattuck as quoted by Josiah Adams, page 27.

[183] Statement of Aaron Jones, a member, in Adams's Address, page 21.

[184] Affidavit of Amos Baker, a member.

[185] Survivors testified that both Major Buttrick and Capt. Davis
used these words. See Ripley's History of the Concord Fight.

[186] Journal of Capt. David Brown, Commander of one of the Concord
companies, as quoted by Adams, page 32.

[187] Ripley.

[188] Deposition of Bradley Stone.

[189] Depositions of Bradley Stone and Solomon Smith.

[190] Corporal Amos Barrett of Brown's Company indicates Davis's as
first and his own company as third. The exact order of the other
participating companies I am unable to give.

[191] Statement of Aaron Jones, a member, to Mr. Adams. See Adams's
Address, page 21.

[192] Frederic Hudson.

[193] Doolittle picture. Adams, 1835. Frothingham, 1851.

[194] Deposition of Solomon Smith.

[195] Deposition of Solomon Smith.

[196] Frederic Hudson.

[197] Deposition of Amos Baker.

[198] A British Officer in Boston in 1775. See also Rev. Mr.
Emerson's account, who speaks of the "marches and counter-marches for
half an hour," and their "great fickleness and inconstancy of mind."
Smith can hardly be blamed for nervousness at that moment with part
of his eight hundred men at Col. Barrett's, five hundred Americans
between, and another part of his force at the South Bridge.

[199] "Our company and most of the others pursued, but in great
disorder." Deposition of Thomas Thorp of the Acton Company. "The loss
of our Captain was the cause of much of the confusion that followed."
Deposition of Solomon Smith of the Acton Company.

[200] Deposition of Solomon Smith.

[201] Sidney, Margaret. Old Concord, Her Highways and Byways.

[202] Rev. Mr. Emerson's Narrative.

[203] Sidney.

[204] De Bernicre.

[205] Sidney, page 23.

[206] Frederic Hudson. The Concord Fight in Harper's New Monthly
Magazine, May, 1875.

[207] Ripley.

[208] Frederic Hudson.

[209] Charles Handley's Deposition.

[210] Deposition of Zechariah Brown and Thomas Davis, Jr., who buried
the two soldiers in a common grave near where they fell. A memorial
stone marks the spot.

[211] I have his name, but do not think it best to insert it in this
narrative. Revenge was deeply impressed on his mind by the bitterness
of public feeling against the mother country. He was too young to
exercise proper judgment in separating the soldier from his King.

[212] See De Bernicre's Account.

[213] Deposition of Solomon Smith.

[214] De Bernicre.

[215] U. S. Geological Survey, 1886.

[216] Frederic Hudson.

[217] Frederic Hudson.

[218] Frederic Hudson.

[219] In the Diary of A British Officer in Boston in 1775, and who
was with Smith in the Concord expedition, he writes of the return to
Lexington and the expected reinforcements: "We had been flatter'd
ever since the morning with the expectation of the Brigade coming
out, but at this time had given up all hope of it, as it was so late."

[220] Petition of Martha Moulton, Concord, Feb. 4, 1776, to the
Honorable Court of the Province of Massachusetts Bay for recognition
of her services on that occasion.

[221] Journals of Each Provincial Congress.

LIEUT.-COL. SMITH'S RETREAT THROUGH CONCORD.

It was about twelve o'clock when Lieut.-Col. Smith gave the order to
march. As the neighboring hills were covered with provincials,[222]
he ordered out even larger bodies of flankers, and farther away from
the main body in the highway. The march along the Lexington road for
a little more than a mile to Meriam's Corner, was uneventful, but at
that place the struggle was renewed. There the men of Concord, Acton,
Lincoln, and Bedford, came within rifle shot of the highway. They had
passed along the Great Meadow, so called, northerly from the range of
hills near the highway, and reached Meriam's Corner at about the same
time that Smith did.

New American forces joined the contest here also. Billerica sent
Lieut. Crosby with twelve men; Capt. Edward Farmer, thirty-five men;
and Capt. Jonathan Stickney, fifty-four men. Chelmsford sent Capt.
Oliver Barron, sixty-one men, and Colonel Moses Parker's company,
forty-three men. Framingham sent Capt. Simon Edget, seventy-six men;
Capt. Jesse Emes, twenty-four men; Capt. Micajah Gleason, forty-nine
men.[223] Reading sent Capt. John Bacheller, sixty-one men; Capt.
Thomas Eaton, sixty-three men; Capt. John Flint, seventy-nine
men, and Capt. John Walton, eighty-eight men. Some of the Reading
companies, at least, marched from home under Major, afterwards
Governor, John Brooks. Rev. Edmund Foster accompanied Capt.
Bacheller's company, as a volunteer, and has left an interesting
narrative of what he saw. Sudbury sent Capt. Nathaniel Cudworth,
forty men; Capt. Aaron Haynes, forty men; Capt. Isaac Locker, thirty
men; Capt. John Nixon, fifty-four men; Capt. Joseph Smith, fifty
men, and Capt. Moses Stone, thirty-five men. Woburn sent Capt. Samuel
Belknap, sixty-six men; Capt. Jonathan Fox, seventy-two men; and
Capt. Joshua Walker, one hundred and seventeen men.

The American reinforcements coming in at Meriam's Corner numbered
eleven hundred and forty-nine, making a total of fifteen hundred and
seventy-seven enrolled men in the ranks of the Provincials if all at
the North Bridge still remained in the fight.

There were many other minute-men anxious to be in the first struggle,
but who lived too far away. Stow sent a company of militia belonging
to Col. Prescott's regiment, commanded by Capt. William Whitcom,
numbering eighty-one men. They did not reach North Bridge until
about noon, too late to be in the action there, but in ample time
to be active in the pursuit. We are told that another company from
Stow under Capt. Hapgood, also joined, but I find no returns in the
Massachusetts State Archives.

Three companies from Westford reached the North Bridge too late, but
were active afterwards. They were respectively under the command of
Capt. Oliver Bates, thirty-six men; Capt. Jonathan Minot, thirty-six
men; and Capt. Joshua Parker, forty-one men.

As the Reading men came along the road from Bedford, and nearing
Meriam's Corner, they discovered the flank guard of the British just
descending the ridge of hills. There were from eighty to one hundred
red-coats, and they were marching slowly and deliberately down the
hill, without music and without words. The Americans were but a
little over three hundred feet away. They halted and remained in
silence watching their foes. The British flankers soon gained the
main road, at the Corner, and passed along a few hundred feet towards
Lincoln and Lexington, over the little bridge that spans Mill Brook.
The Americans gathered around the Meriam house. As the British passed
the bridge they wheeled suddenly and fired in volley, but too high,
so no one was struck. Then the Americans returned the fire with
better aim, and two Britons fell on the easterly side of the little
stream, while several were wounded, among them Ensign Lester of the
Tenth Regiment.[224]

Less than half a mile along that road, from Meriam's Corner, is the
northerly corner of the town of Lincoln. Along on the edge of Lincoln
the highway continues; still in an easterly direction, for less than
another half mile, this stretch being on rather higher ground, the
northerly side of the road in Concord, the southerly side in Lincoln.
On the Lincoln side is the Brooks Tavern (still standing, 1912). This
little elevation is called Hardy's Hill, and is about sixty feet
higher than Concord village.[225] Along the summit the skirmishing
was actively renewed, and continued down its easterly slope into
Lincoln.

This ended the struggle in Concord, but her sons and the others were
not mindful of the boundary line. To them it was more than the Battle
of Concord; it was the Battle of April Nineteenth.

The patriots who died in Concord were Capt. Isaac Davis, and private
Abner Hosmer, both of Acton. The wounded were Luther Blanchard and
Ezekiel Davis also of Acton; Jonas Brown of Concord and Joshua Brooks
of Lincoln. These were all at the North Bridge. Abel Prescott, Jr.,
of Concord was wounded while in the village. The British killed were
two privates at North Bridge, and two at Meriam's Corner bridge.
Their wounded were Lieut. Gould of the Fourth Regiment, Lieut. Kelly
of the Tenth Regiment, Lieut. Sutherland of the Thirty-eighth, and
Lieut. Hull of the Forty-third, and a number of privates; all at the
North Bridge. At the little bridge near Meriam's Corner Ensign Lester
of the Tenth Regiment and several privates were wounded.

FOOTNOTES:

[222] De Bernicre thought there could not have been less than five
thousand rebels on the hills about Concord. His anxiety greatly
multiplied the real number.

[223] Massachusetts Archives.

[224] Rev. Edmund Foster and Ensign De Bernicre.

[225] U. S. Geological Survey, 1886.

LIEUT.-COL. SMITH'S RETREAT THROUGH LINCOLN.

At the foot of the easterly slope of Hardy's Hill is a little stream
crossing the road in a northerly direction. It is in Lincoln, and on
most maps is put down as Mill Brook, the same that curves around and
crosses the road near Meriam's Corner, rather more than a mile back.
At Hardy's Hill it has sometimes been called Tanner's Brook.[226]

The British had now reached this point, and were marching rapidly,
keeping their flankers out parallel to the highway.

[Illustration: BATTLE ROAD THROUGH CONCORD AND LINCOLN.

1. Col. Barrett. 2. North Bridge. 3. South Bridge. 4. Meriam's
Corner. 5. Bloody Angle. 6. Sergt. John Hartwell. 7. Sergt. Samuel
Hartwell. 8. Revere Captured. 9. Nelson. 10. Hastings.]

Over the bridge and up another slight rise and then the road turns
at a sharp angle to the left, northeasterly, to still higher ground
about eighty feet higher than Concord village. On the northwesterly
side of that road was a heavy growth of trees and on the opposite
side a younger growth. On each side of the road, in those two
forest growths, many American minute-men were posted.[227] They had
anticipated the passing of the British, by hurrying across the Great
Fields, so called, from the Bedford Road near Meriam's Corner. Among
these were the Bedford company under Capt. Willson. This forest lined
road was only about a half of a mile in extent before it turned again
to the eastward.

When the foremost British reached this location the Americans poured
in a deadly volley, that killed eight and wounded many others.

The contest was by no means one-sided. The attention of the Americans
here, as all along the line to Charlestown, was too firmly fixed on
the ranks of the enemy marching in the road. The British flankers
were unnoticed and unthought of. Silently and rapidly they swung
along, on their parallel lines, and very often closed in on those
little tell-tale puffs of smoke that arose behind the trees and
walls, and among the bowlders. Thus were many Americans surprised and
slain--more, probably twice or thrice over, than were killed by the
soldiers in the highway.

It was at this bloody angle of Battle Road, that Capt. Jonathan
Willson of Bedford met his death. And so did Nathaniel Wyman, a
native of Billerica, but a member of Capt. Parker's Company. Daniel
Thompson, of Woburn, was also killed here. Another son of Bedford,
Job Lane, was severely wounded and disabled for life.[228]

The next day five of the British killed were removed to the little
cemetery, near Lincoln village several miles away, for burial. Not
many years ago the Town of Lincoln caused to be placed over their
common grave, a neat and appropriately lettered Memorial Stone.

After the northeasterly angle the road turns again easterly towards
Lexington. Half or three quarters of a mile along are the two
Hartwell houses, still standing (1912), on the northerly side of the
road, and but a few hundred feet apart.

In the westerly, or first one, lived Sergt. John Hartwell, and in the
easterly one, Sergt. Samuel Hartwell, both members of Capt. Smith's
Lincoln Company. Both were absent on duty then, but the wife of
Samuel was at home. She has furnished a vivid narrative of what she
saw and experienced, that afternoon and the following morning. Her
first alarm of the coming Britons was reports of musketry, seemingly
in the vicinity of the Brooks Tavern. Then nearer and nearer, to the
bloody angle. Then the hurrying red-coats themselves, anxious and
wild in their demeanor, as they hurried along past her house. And how
one, in his insane anger, fired into their garret, though he could
see no foeman there.[229]

For another mile along the Lincoln road the British must have had
some relief, for the country is comparatively level, the fields
extending away smoothly on either side. It was not a complete lull in
the battle, however, for an American bullet terminated the life of
one Briton at least. The remains were uncovered a few years ago when
the road builders were widening and grading anew the highway. He was
re-interred over the bordering wall in the field to the southwest of
the highway, a short distance westerly from Folly Pond.[230]

Then comes an easterly bend in the road, though still continuing
nearly level, and for about a quarter of a mile, to the Nelson
house.[231] Here lived Josiah Nelson, the Lincoln patriot, who, as
we have written, alarmed his neighbors in Bedford the night before.
Around it were many picturesque bowlders, large enough to shelter
venturesome minute-men. And they were there. William Thorning, one
of Capt. Smith's Lincoln company, had fired on the British from some
hiding place in this neighborhood, and they had returned his fire and
chased him into the woods. As he was thus escaping the main body,
he met the ever vigilant flank-guard, and but narrowly escaped them
also. Later as they passed along, he advanced to one of the Nelson
bowlders and fired again, at the British, probably with fatal effect.
Across the road from the house is a little knoll which is called
"The Soldiers' Graves,"[232] even to this day, for therein sleep
two British soldiers whose summons undoubtedly came from behind the
Nelson bowlders.

About a sixth of a mile yet farther along, stood the home of Samuel
Hastings, near the Lexington boundary line, yet within the town
of Lincoln. Hastings was a member of Capt. Parker's Lexington
Company,[233] and was present and in line for action when Pitcairn
gave that first order to fire. As the British column swept along, one
of the soldiers left the ranks and entered the house for plunder,
unmindful of the dangers lurking in the adjoining woods and fields.
As he emerged and stood on the door-stone, an American bullet met
him, and he sank seriously wounded. There he lay, until the family
returned later in the afternoon, and found him. Tenderly they carried
him into the house, and ministered to his wants as best they could,
but his wound was fatal. After his death they found some of their
silver spoons in his pocket. He was buried a short distance westerly
from the house.[234]

It was in Lincoln that Captain Parker's Lexington Company, numbering
in all one hundred and forty men, again went into the action,
probably not far from the Nelson and Hastings homes; and also the
Cambridge Company under Capt. Samuel Thatcher, seventy-seven men,
joined the pursuit from there.[235]

The American fatalities in Lincoln, as we have seen, were Capt.
Jonathan Willson, of Bedford; Nathaniel Wyman of Billerica, who was
a member of Capt. Parker's Lexington Company; and Daniel Thompson of
Woburn. Job Lane of Bedford was slightly wounded.

The exact British loss in Lincoln cannot be stated. It is known that
eight were killed at the Bloody Angle, and at least four more along
the road from there to the Hastings house. Many were wounded but no
statement or estimate has ever been given. The distance across that
part of the town is about two miles, and the fighting severe for more
than half the way.

FOOTNOTES:

[226] Frothingham's Siege of Boston. Rev. Mr. Foster's Account.

[227] Foster's Account.

[228] Stearns, Jonathan F. Bedford Sesqui-Centennial, page 26.
Ripley, page 21, seems to think that Lane was wounded a little
farther along at the Hartwell barn.

[229] Beneath Old Roof Trees, by Abram English Brown, page 221.

[230] Statement of Mr. George Nelson, near-by resident, who saw the
remains and pointed out to me in 1890 the locations of the old and
new graves.

[231] Standing until a few years ago, although in a shattered
condition. It had been abandoned as a habitation for many years. A
conflagration completed its destruction, and now only the scar of its
cellar-hole, and a pile of bricks that formed its mammoth chimney and
hospitable hearth, mark where it stood.

[232] Statement to me in 1890, of Mr. Nelson, owner of the old ruins
with the surrounding fields, and who pointed out "The Soldiers'
Graves."

[233] See his deposition in Journals of Each Provincial Congress of
Mass., but I do not find his name in any other place as a member.

[234] I am indebted to the great-grandchildren of Samuel Hastings,
Cornelius and Charles A. Wellington, for this statement. They were
residents of Lexington, but since both have died.

[235] See Massachusetts State Archives where twenty-eight miles is
the distance charged for by most of his men.

LIEUT.-COL. SMITH'S RETREAT TO LEXINGTON VILLAGE.

As the British forces again invaded Lexington soil undoubtedly they
looked for vengeance from the hands of the little band that stood
before them in the early morning. If they did anticipate as much they
were not disappointed, for as we have stated Captain Parker and his
men had come out into the edge of Lincoln to meet them.

Just over the line into Lexington, and a few rods north of the road,
the land rises about fifty feet rather abruptly and with a ledgy
face. This little summit commands a grand view up and down the road,
for quite a distance, and therefore was an ideal location for the
minute-men. Many were there awaiting the passing of the British, and
when they were opposite, poured down on them a volley. At least one
fell, an officer, for a few years ago a sword was taken up from the
depth of about four feet, evidently from his grave. It was almost
consumed with rust, but enough remaining to identify it as of British
make and of that period. The reports of muskets, and little puffs of
blue smoke betrayed the location of the marksmen, and the British
at once returned the fire. Their aim was without effect. One of
their bullets flattened against the ledge, and was also found by the
present owner of the land, buried in the decayed leaves and refuse at
the base of the ledge.[236]

Not more than a quarter of a mile farther along the road, stood
Bull's Tavern,[237] in later times known as Viles Tavern. Nothing
now remains of it but the cellar-hole and that is not so deep as
once. The soldiers ransacked the house for food and drink, but left
no recompense. A few rods more the road turns northeasterly around
a bluff twenty feet high, perhaps. The struggle was renewed there
furiously, for the British flankers could not manœuvre to protect
the main column so well, and they suffered severely for half a mile
or more towards Fiske Hill. Lieut.-Col. Smith was wounded by a
bullet passing through his leg.[238] Major Pitcairn's horse becoming
unmanageable through fright, threw him to the ground, and escaped
into the American lines, where he was captured, together with
equipments, including the Major's beautiful brace of pistols.[239]

Many British were wounded, and many killed, along this part of Battle
Road. A little way from the bluff, over the wall on the opposite
side of the road and in a southerly direction, are graves of two. No
memorial stone marks the exact spot, and even the mounds, too, have
long since dissolved away.[240]

The contending forces were now climbing Fiske Hill, about sixty feet
higher than the bluff.[241] The road at that time passed higher up
than at present, and near the summit fighting was more severe again.
One Briton, at least, fell there and was buried in the little strip
of ground between the old and new road. A heap of small stones once
marked the spot, but they have disappeared.[242]

Down the easterly slope of Fiske Hill stands a modest little
farmhouse, on the southerly side of the road. It was then the home of
Benjamin Fiske. The entire family had fled, and the stragglers from
the British columns entered for pillage. One in his greed stayed too
long. Brave James Hayward of Acton, willing to fight though exempt
from military service because of a partially dismembered foot, met
him at the door, laden with booty. The Briton recognized in Hayward
an enemy, and raising his gun, exclaimed,

"You are a dead man!"

"And so are you," responded Hayward as he raised his gun also. Both
fired--both fell, the British instantly killed and Hayward mortally
wounded, the ball piercing his bullet-pouch and entering his side.
He lived eight hours and was conscious to the last. Calling for his
powder horn and bullet-pouch, he remarked that he started with one
pound of powder and forty bullets. A very little powder and two or
three balls were all that were left.

"You see what I have been about," he exclaimed, calling attention
to the slight remainder. "I am not sorry; I die willingly for my
country."[243] And so Concord and Lexington, too, reverently treasure
the memory of brave Acton men, whose life blood stained the soil of
each.

Up the westerly slope of Concord Hill, an elevation named after
her sister town, marched the British. Their ranks were broken and
disordered. Many had been wounded, many had been killed, and many
had fallen exhausted by the wayside. It was then about half past
one o'clock, and they had marched rather more than twenty-three
miles. At that time their ammunition began to give out, which added
to their discomfiture. Their enemies seemed to be countless and
everywhere. De Bernicre, the spy, who was with them, has left a vivid
word picture of how anxious they were getting. "There could not be
less than 5,000," he says in his account, "so they kept the road
always lined, and a very hot fire on us without intermission....
We began to run rather than retreat in order." Lieut.-Col. Smith,
says, in his report, that the firing on his troops, which began in
Concord, "increased to a very great degree and continued without the
intermission of five minutes, altogether for I believe upwards of
eighteen miles."

Such was the impression on the minds of Smith, and his weary soldiers
as they hurried along down Fiske Hill and up Concord Hill. If he
entertained any idea of surrendering, though I have no evidence
that he did, he must have realized the hopelessness of that, for no
one seemed to be commanding the multitude before him, beside him,
and behind him. They constituted a large circle of individuals, but
made no attempt to stay his march or guide it in any way. They just
followed along, seemingly intent only on hunting down the King's
soldiers. Had some master mind been in charge of the patriot army,
Smith's entire force could easily have been taken prisoners. But this
was the first day of the war, and was only a contest between soldiers
and citizens. And so Smith was allowed to march along.

Near the foot of the westerly slope of Concord Hill stood the home of
Thaddeus Reed.[244] He was one of Captain Parker's Company. After the
British passed along the Americans picked up three severely wounded
soldiers and carried them into the house, where they all died. They
were buried not far away, a few feet westerly of Wood St., on the
northerly side of a stone wall still standing, and but a few rods
from Battle Road. Their graves are unmarked and almost unknown.[245]

The British flankers were now so thoroughly tired out that they could
hardly act in that capacity, and were of but little use as protectors
of the main body. The severely wounded were abandoned to some extent.
Many of the slightly wounded were carried along somehow, but they
greatly impeded the march. Hopes of reinforcements were practically
abandoned.[246]

And so they proceeded up the hill, the summit of which is fully
forty feet higher than Fiske Hill and at least eighty feet higher
than Lexington Common,[247] now in view less than a mile away. They
must have been anxious to reach and pass that little field. Down
the easterly slope of Concord Hill they almost ran, in more or
less confusion and intense excitement. The Americans were actively
keeping up their firing, and so more Britons were killed and wounded,
three of the latter so severely that they were abandoned by their
fellow soldiers, fell into the hands of the Americans and were taken
into Buckman Tavern.[248] One subsequently died and was buried with
the British slain in the old cemetery near by. Their graves are
unmarked.[249]

The British did not stop to disperse any rebels on Lexington Common,
for none were there to oppose their retreat, but passed off the
southeasterly point, as the Americans came promptly after them on the
northwesterly side. It was between two and three o'clock when they
reached the site of the present Lexington High School, a trifle more
than half a mile from the Common. There they met the long-wished for
reinforcements, under Lord Percy, who opened his ranks, and enclosed
them in his protecting care. Many sank immediately into the road
where they halted, for their physical condition was pitiful in the
extreme. One of the contemporary English historians, an officer in
the British Army in America, has described them as lying prone on the
ground, like dogs with protruding tongues.[250]

Percy then quickly wheeled about his two field pieces,[251] and
opened fire up the road, towards the Common, where he could see the
Americans were gathered. It was not fatal in its effect, but served
to scatter them and do considerable damage to the meeting-house, one
ball passing through it. Col. Loammi Baldwin, of Woburn, was one who
had been standing in sight of the British, but he sought shelter
behind the sacred edifice when he realized the enemy had opened fire
with artillery. When a ball passed through the meeting-house and came
out near his head he retreated northwesterly to the meadow.[252]

Not many of the Americans had been killed thus far, in the retreat
of the British through Lexington. We have spoken of James Hayward of
Acton, killed on the easterly side of Fiske Hill, and must add the
name of Deacon Josiah Haynes of Capt. Nixon's Sudbury Company, who
met his death somewhere along the road from Fiske Hill to Lexington
Common.[253] He was a venerable man, in his seventy-ninth year,[254]
and had marched from his home down to Concord village, up through
Lincoln, and into Lexington. He was thoroughly in earnest in his work
of driving the British back to Boston, and in an unguarded moment
exposed himself to one of the King's riflemen.

On the Lexington part of Battle Road, many British were killed and
many wounded. Among the latter were Lieut. Hawkshaw, Lieut. Cox, and
Lieut. Baker, all of the Fifth Regiment; Ensign Baldwin and Lieut.
McCloud, of the Forty-seventh Regiment; and Captain Souter and
Lieut. Potter of the Marines.[255] I have previously mentioned the
wounding of the commander, Lieut.-Col. Smith, on the westerly slope
of Fiske Hill.

After the British had departed from Lexington immediate attention
was given to the Lexington patriot dead who were slain on the Common
in the early morning. From the field of battle they had been borne
to the meeting-house, and there a simple service held over them,
consisting of a prayer by Rev. Jonas Clarke. Then they were carried
to the little church-yard, where one broad grave received them all.
It had been a day of terror in Lexington, and some fear was felt that
the enemy might return and wreak yet further vengeance, even upon the
dead. So the grave was made in a remote part of the yard, near the
woods, and the fresh mound of earth itself hidden beneath branches
cut from the neighboring trees.[256] And not forgotten three score
years later, their grateful fellow townsmen removed their remains to
the field where they died, and erected a monument to their memory.

FOOTNOTES:

[236] The sword and bullet were found by Mr. John Lannon about 1895,
and from whom I obtained them. He was then as now owner of the farm.
In removing a bowlder from his garden it was necessary to dig around
it and on one side to a depth of about four feet. There he found
the sword and a little of its rust-eaten scabbard, and quite likely
in the grave by the side of its wearer. The bullet once round, now
not half that, had struck the ledge rather than the American on its
summit, and fell harmlessly at the base.

[237] Rev. Mr. Foster called it Benjamin's Tavern.

[238] De Bernicre's Account.

[239] The accoutrements were taken to Concord and later sold by
auction. Capt. Nathan Barrett bought the pistols, beautiful ones,
with elaborately chased silver mountings, with Pitcairn's name
engraved thereon. Capt. Barrett offered them to Gen. Washington, who
declined them, and then to Gen. Putnam, who carried them through the
war. They were brought to Lexington on Centennial Day, April 19,
1875, for exhibition by Rev. S. I. Prime, D.D., on behalf of the
owner, a widow of John P. Putnam, of Cambridge, N. Y., who was the
grandson of Gen. Putnam and to whom they descended. Later Mrs. Putnam
gave them to the town of Lexington and they are now on exhibition by
the Lexington Historical Society (See Handbook of Lexington, 1891.)
Rev. William Emerson of Concord, requested of the Third Provincial
Congress, June 1, 1775, the use of a horse, probably Pitcairn's,
which they granted specifying one captured from a regular by Isaac
Kittredge, of Tewksbury, Capt. Nathan Barrett, and Henry Flint, of
Concord, Mr. Emerson to pay a reasonable price for its keeping up to
that time.

[240] Statement to me by the late Rev. Carlton A. Staples.

[241] U. S. Geological Survey, 1886.

[242] Statement of H. M. Houghton to the Rev. Carlton A. Staples,
who so informed me. Mr. Houghton lived in that vicinity during his
boyhood and furnished a roughly sketched plan to Mr. Staples.

[243] James Fletcher's History of Acton, in Hurd's History of
Middlesex County.

[244] See Foster's Narrative.

[245] The exact spot was pointed out to me by the late Rev. Carlton
A. Staples, Sept. 11, 1900, who received his information accompanied
by a plan from H. M. Houghton.

[246] Diary of a British Officer in Boston in 1775, who was a member
of the expedition.

[247] U. S. Geological Surveys, 1898, 1900.

[248] Foster's Account. E. P. Bliss gives the number as two, in
Lexington Hist. Soc., I, 75.

[249] E. P. Bliss, in Lexington Historical Society, I, 75.

[250] C. Stedman. History of the Origin, Progress, and Termination of
the American War. London, 1794.

[251] Percy's Report to Gen. Gage.

[252] The damage to the meeting-house by the cannon ball cost the
Town of Lexington to repair £1 1s. Rev. C. A. Staples in Lexington
Historical Society, I, 21.

[253] Ripley.

[254] Hudson's History of Sudbury.

[255] De Bernicre.

[256] "Father sent Jonas down to Grandfather Cook's to see who was
killed and what their condition was and, in the afternoon, Father,
Mother with me and the Baby went to the Meeting House, there was the
eight men that was killed, seven of them my Father's parishoners,
one from Woburn, all in Boxes made of four large Boards Nailed up
and, after Pa had prayed, they were put into two horse carts and took
into the grave yard where your Grandfather and some of the Neighbors
had made a large trench, as near the Woods as possible and there we
followed the bodies of those _first slain_, _Father_, _Mother_, I
and the Baby, there I stood and there I saw them let down into the
ground, it was a little rainey but we waited to see them covered up
with the Clods and then for fear the British should find them, my
Father thought some of the men had best Cut some pine or oak bows and
spread them on their place of burial so that it looked like a heap of
Brush."

I am indebted to the Lexington Historical Society, Proceedings, Vol.
IV, page 92, for the above extract from a letter written by Miss
Elizabeth Clarke, daughter of Rev. Jonas Clarke. It is dated from
Lexington, April 19, 1841, and written to her niece, Mrs. Lucy Ware
Allen, whose mother was Mary, another daughter of Rev. Mr. Clarke.
The writer, Miss Elizabeth, was then in her seventy-eighth year. I am
inclined to think that Asahel Porter, the Woburn man, was buried in
his own town. Though killed near the Common he was not one of Capt.
Parker's Company.

EARL PERCY MARCHES TO REINFORCE LIEUT.-COL. SMITH.

As the command of Lieut.-Col. Smith will now rest for a brief period,
let us go back to Boston and start with Earl Percy, on his mission to
reinforce the former, and consider his delays and difficulties, and
why he got no farther than Lexington.

As we have seen, it was between two and three o'clock in the morning
when Smith reached Arlington, and becoming alarmed at the increasing
attention his soldiers were attracting;--attention that seemed to
him hostile, he despatched back to Gen. Gage an urgent request for
reinforcements. His messenger should have reached Gage within two
hours easily, for to retrace the march was less than six miles by
land with an additional half a mile or little more by boat across
the Charles River. So Gen. Gage should have had Smith's message by
five o'clock, at least. He acted promptly, by ordering the First
Brigade, consisting of eight companies of the Fourth, Twenty-third,
and Forty-seventh Regiments, under arms, and to these were added two
detachments of the Royal Marines to be under Major John Pitcairn. Two
pieces of artillery, six-pounders, were also added to the force, and
the whole placed under the command of Lord Percy, with the title, for
the occasion, of Acting Brigadier-General. His little army numbered
about one thousand men.

[Illustration: HUGH, _EARL_ PERCY.

_Published, Sep.^r 30^{th} 1785, by John Fielding, Pater Noster
Row._]

It was about seven o'clock when the eight companies assembled on
Tremont Street, and the line extended from Scollay Square to the
lower part of the Common. There they waited for Pitcairn and his
Marines, nearly two hours. Finally it dawned upon the mind of General
Gage that his orders to that worthy officer might still be lying on
his desk unopened, for he had been granted permission to accompany
Lieut.-Col. Smith as a volunteer, and perhaps had gone. Such proved
to be the case and the two hours were lost. Then another commander
for them was selected, and they were in line at nine o'clock.[257]
These two hours would have meant Percy's force almost into Concord
instead of into Lexington village, and would have made great
difference in the results of the day's fighting.

Percy, mounted on a beautiful white horse, headed the column, and
they proceeded over Boston Neck, through the present Washington
Street, to Roxbury, up the hill to the meeting-house, then to the
right, where the old Parting Stone then stood, even as it does
to-day. In Roxbury his soldiers excited the attention of a very young
patriot, who laughed derisively as the musicians played "Yankee
Doodle." Lord Percy noticed him and asked the reason of his mirth.
The boy responded:

"To think how you will dance by-and-by to Chevy Chase."

The British commander felt uncomfortable the rest of the day because
of the suggestive and prophetic reply.[258] He continued into
Brighton and to the westerly bank of the Charles River, opposite to
Harvard Square in Cambridge. At that place the river is narrow and
thus easily bridged even in those early days, and over that was then
the only way into Boston by road from the upper towns in Middlesex
County.

The Americans, anticipating Percy's movements, had taken up the
planks of the bridge, but did not continue the good work thoroughly,
for they piled them handily on the Cambridge side. It was a simple
matter for Percy's engineers to cross over on the stringers and
re-lay enough of them for his soldiers to pass into Cambridge. But
had the planks been farther removed Percy was prepared to replace
them, for he had brought with him sufficient for the purpose and
carpenters to do the work. He anticipated the partial destruction of
the bridge at least, and prepared his remedy accordingly, and must
have been surprised at the point where the Americans concluded their
labors. He carried his planks along about a mile and a half, and then
sent them back as they were only an encumbrance. He had no use for
them on his return for he had another plan, as we shall see later
on.[259]

It was at the bridge that Percy marched ahead and left his wagon
train of supplies to follow on, as soon as they could safely cross.
The delay to them was considerable and so the main army soon passed
out of sight.

The round about route the British had taken to reach Harvard Square
was necessary, at that time, because as we have stated, no bridge
crossed the river lower down. Could he have crossed as we do to-day,
the distance would have been but a little over three miles, whereas
it was eight miles as he marched, or nearly two hours more time. He
could not cross in boats as did Lieut.-Col. Smith, for two reasons:
first, his soldiers were too many, and secondly, the boats were even
then moored on the Cambridge side awaiting Smith's return.

When Percy reached Cambridge, he was somewhat puzzled to know just
which way to start for Lexington. In his official report he declares
the houses were all shut up and there was not a single inhabitant to
give him any information about the force under Smith. He did find one
man, Isaac Smith, a tutor in Harvard College, who directed him along
the right highway. When his fellow citizens of Cambridge learned of
this free intelligence, a little later on, they were indignant--and
Isaac Smith, feeling reproved, shortly afterwards left the country
for a while. It does not appear that he intended to aid and abet
the enemy, but granted the little courtesy without thinking of its
value. It was regretted that Percy was not sent down into the marshes
bordering Willis Creek, and so delayed an hour or more.[260]

The British marched rapidly on leaving Harvard Square and were
soon quite a distance ahead of the baggage train, deeming it safe
to leave it to follow under the guidance of a sergeant's guard of
twelve men. It was no small task to get it safely over the dismantled
bridge, and the delay there was considerable. Vigilant Americans
watched the proceedings and realized the opportunity to seize it.
They hurried on to Arlington to formulate their plans for its
capture. As Cambridge seemed to be generally deserted, the sergeant
and his men evidently felt no uneasiness at their delay. In due time,
however, they were on the march again, headed for Lexington.[261]

Not long after they passed the Charlestown road, the Beech Street of
today, Dr. Joseph Warren and his friend Dr. Thomas Welsh came into
Cambridge. Warren lived in Boston, and left his home that morning
and crossed the ferry into Charlestown. There he met Welsh and many
other citizens and communicated to them the news he had received by
special messenger from Lexington. It was then about ten o'clock.[262]
A little after, he and Dr. Welsh on horseback, were on their way to
Cambridge, where they arrived, only to find the road ahead occupied
by the baggage-train. They endeavored to pass but were not permitted
to do so. The sergeant inquired of Dr. Warren if he knew where the
British troops then were; but the doctor could only give a negative
reply. There seemed to be quite a little uneasiness in the minds of
the British, as they evidently feared they were too widely separated
from the main body and might be captured.[263] A guard of twelve men
is not a large force to conduct a baggage-train through a hostile
country. Percy's first and most serious mistake had been committed.
It was then noon-time, or a little after.

In the meantime about a dozen of the elderly men of Menotomy, exempts
mostly, assembled near the centre of the village and waited the
arrival of the baggage train. Among them were Jason Belknap, Joe
Belknap, James Budge, Israel Mead, Ammi Cutter and David Lamson, a
half Indian. Some of them had served in the French War. Rev. Phillips
Payson, A.M., of Chelsea, was also present and took an active
part.[264] They chose Lamson to be leader, and took a position behind
a stone wall on the northerly side of the road, nearly opposite the
First Parish Meeting-House. As the baggage-train appeared nearly
opposite, Lamson ordered his men to rest and aim at the horses, at
the same time calling out to the sergeant to surrender. He made no
reply, and his driver whipped up the horses to escape. It was too
late, for American bullets easily stopped them, killed two British
soldiers and wounded several others.[265] The soldiers then abandoned
their charge and ran southerly along the westerly shore of Spy Pond,
as far as Spring Valley, where they came upon an elderly lady of
Menotomy, known as Mother Bathericke, engaged in digging dandelions.
They begged her assistance and protection, consequently she
conducted them to the house of Capt. Ephraim Frost, where they were
detained as prisoners,[266] and probably to their mental relief. They
were thoughtful enough not to include their guns in the surrender,
for some were thrown into Spy Pond, and one was ruined by striking it
heavily over a stone wall and bending it hopelessly out of shape.

The captured wagons were drawn down into the hollow, still to be seen
a little northeasterly of the present Arlington railroad station,
where the contents were distributed freely to all comers. The living
horses were driven off to Medford, and the bodies of the dead ones,
in accordance with the suggestion of the Rev. Mr. Cook, who feared
exciting the anger of the returning British, were dragged away to the
field near Spring Valley, westerly of Spy Pond. And there, for many
years, their bones bleached in the sun.[267]

All other marks of the contest were obliterated from the highway,
that Percy might not trace what had happened to his baggage-wagons
and wreak vengeance upon the townspeople.

Gen. Percy[268] marched less than two miles beyond Arlington centre,
when he distinctly heard the firing in Lexington. He was not far from
the boundary line between Arlington and Lexington and the time was,
as he has written, between one and two o'clock.[269] At about that
time he met Lieut. Gould of the Fourth, or King's Own Regiment, who,
as we have written, was wounded at the North Bridge and was then
returning in a borrowed Concord chaise, drawn by a borrowed Concord
horse. From him Percy learned the details of Lieut.-Col. Smith's
march, and of his present urgent need of assistance. He hurried along
towards Lexington, and Lieut. Gould continued his retreat towards
Boston, but was captured as he reached Arlington village. The exact
spot was on the present Massachusetts Avenue, near Mill Street,
and his captors were some of the old men who had destroyed the
baggage-wagons. Gould was first taken to Ammi Cutter's, and then to
Medford,[270] and his own deposition shows that he was kindly treated.

At last, after a march of nearly sixteen miles,[271] Percy met the
returning force under Lieut.-Col. Smith, who had passed Lexington
Common, the scene of his engagement in the morning, and was down the
road towards Boston, half a mile. The place of meeting was opposite
the present Lexington High School, and the time between two and three
o'clock. Percy being the ranking officer, immediately took command of
the united forces. It did not take him long to realize the terrible
condition that Smith's troops were in, and to minister to their
wants. As they halted in the road, his own ranks opened to receive
them, and there they sank to the ground utterly exhausted. Such as
could eat or drink were supplied from his own stores, while the
wounded were taken still farther down the road, less than a quarter
of a mile, to the Munroe Tavern, which he proceeded to establish
as his headquarters and for use as a hospital. Near the place of
meeting, coming in from the eastward, was then and is now, the Woburn
road, the bordering walls of which sheltered plenty of American
minute-men. Back a little to the southward rose the modest elevation
now sometimes called Mt. Vernon. Americans were there also, for it
was high enough for them to look down on the highway very nicely if
permitted to do so. Percy's flankers, however, were directed to clear
all surrounding locations of enemies to the King, and Mt. Vernon and
the Woburn road were soon under the British flag again, or nearly
so. But occasionally from some obscure or neglected corner, rose a
puff of blue smoke and then the wearer of that brilliant red uniform
would tumble over in the road, wounded or dying, or dead. Little
bodies of minute-men, unorganized always, were seen dodging back and
forth around the meeting-house on the Common. Other little groups,
and many singly, were noticed climbing over walls, emerging from, and
disappearing again, behind clumps of bushes, and trees, and houses;
hardly ever in sight long enough to shoot at. Percy, thinking to awe
them, wheeled his two six-pounders into position and opened his first
cannonade on the meeting-house on Lexington Common. It was likewise
the first cannon fired in the American Revolution. No American was
killed, or even wounded, but the house of God in Lexington suffered,
and it cost the town some money to repair it. The cannon ball
crashing through the meeting-house did have the effect to drive the
Americans farther back, and probably out of rifle range for a while.

[Illustration: _Plate IV. A View of the South Part of Lexington_]

Percy having thus scattered his near-by enemies then moved one of his
six-pounders a few rods down the road near the present Bloomfield
Street, then up the little elevation to the southward, now called Mt.
Vernon. The precise spot was probably about opposite the northerly
end of the present Warren Street. He strongly supported it with a
part of his brigade.[272] This location was an excellent one for
artillery, as it commanded the highway for fully a mile to Lexington
Common and beyond. As before, his gunner could find no American long
enough in one place to aim at. So there were no fatalities.

While Smith's soldiers were resting, some of those under Percy
as reinforcements wandered about that part of the village bent
on mischief and pillage, not the kind usually indulged in by the
average rowdy element of an army, but on a much larger and grander
scale. Houses and outlying buildings were looted and burned. The
first ones were owned by Deacon Joseph Loring, non-combatant,
seventy-three years of age, situated close by the meeting place of
the two detachments, on the westerly side of the road. This group
of buildings consisted of a mansion house, a barn seventy-five feet
long, and a corn house. All were completely destroyed, together
with such of their contents as could not be carried away. About
two hundred rods of Loring's stone walls were also pushed over,
emphasizing strongly the feeling of hostility existing among the
British soldiers for their American cousins. His loss was £720.[273]
This wanton and needless destruction of property must have been by
the express command of Percy, for he was but a few rods away.

On the easterly side of the road, nearly opposite the Loring house,
standing on the site of the present Russell House, was the home of
Matthew Mead. That, too, was within a few rods of where Percy sat on
his white horse, but it was ransacked by his soldiers, and Mead's
loss was £101.[274]

Another plundered Lexington home in that neighborhood belonged to
Benjamin Merriam, one of Parker's Company, and of course absent. His
house was not burned, but damaged to the extent of £6. His loss of
personal property amounted to £217, 4s.[275] The building is still in
existence, but has been moved easterly into Woburn Street across the
railroad tracks. Its original location was on the westerly side of
Massachusetts Avenue, a few rods north of Winthrop Road, and easily
within sight of the British commander, Lord Percy.

And let us not forget that from that time on, Percy was in supreme
command of the united British forces, amounting to nearly eighteen
hundred men. To him belongs the credit of a masterly retreat, for
his loss in killed and wounded was surprisingly small considering
the number of American riflemen in pursuit. To him belongs the blame
also for the burned homes of inoffensive non-combatants, for the
killing of such helpless old men as Raymond; for the summary removal
of Hannah Adams and her infant from child-bed; for the killing of
feeble-minded William Marcy; for the killing of fourteen-year old
Edward Barber. His entire march back to Charlestown was thickly
dotted with just such incidents, unrelieved by any conspicuous
merciful action, or by any deed of bravery. It was a masterly
retreat, indeed,--and it was a brutal one, too. Happily for the
American patriots in succeeding contests, no other British commander
seemed inspired by such revengeful instincts. Happily for the British
historian he has no other such brutal events to apologize or blush
for. Percy occupies his one page in history, uniquely, at least.
His services in America, terminated soon thereafter, and at his
own request, and for some reason which we know not of. Possibly he
was satisfied with the fame, such as it was, which he won on that
glorious day.[276]

The next Lexington home to be destroyed by the incendiary belonged
to the widow Lydia Mulliken and her son. It stood not far from
Loring's, on the main road to Boston, nearly opposite the present
Munroe School. The clock shop connected with the same estate was
also burned. As in the previous cases such personal effects as were
desired by the soldiers were first removed and subsequently carried
away. The works of a valuable musical clock were found in the
knapsack of a wounded Briton, when he was subsequently captured.[277]
The Mulliken loss was £431.[278]

John Mulliken, cabinet-maker, son of the widow, and living in
Concord, joined in the pursuit, and came as far as Lexington. There
he saw his mother's house in flames, which affected him so deeply
that he could proceed no farther.[279]

A modest little home and shop belonging to Joshua Bond, standing
northwesterly from Munroe Tavern, and very near the present beginning
of "Percy Road," were first looted, and then burned. His loss was
£189, 16s. 7d.

The greater part of these happenings were within that first half hour
after Percy took command of the united British forces, and before he
began his retreat. This energetic destroyer of American homes had
selected Munroe Tavern as his temporary headquarters, and ordered his
wounded conveyed there also. While their wounds were being dressed
his men demanded such refreshments as the place could provide, and
unlike Smith's subordinates in Concord, were not considerate enough
to pay for them. So landlord William Munroe's loss was £203, 11s.
9d., of which £90 was in the "retail shop," presumably of a liquid
nature. As he was orderly sergeant in Captain Parker's Company, he
was naturally absent on duty, and left a lame man, John Raymond, in
charge, who waited upon the unbidden guests because he was compelled
to. His last service was to mix a glass of punch for one of the
red-coats, after which he essayed to escape through the garden.
He was not alert enough, for two soldiers fired, and one of their
bullets readily overtook him as he hobbled away.[280] Thus one more
was added to the list of American dead, one of the easiest victims,
of course, for he was simply an unarmed cripple. This probably
happened at the rear of the Tavern.

A few rods from the Tavern, down the road towards Boston, were two
more Lexington homes, on opposite sides of the street, and so quite
near to each other. They are still standing (1912). In the one on
the westerly side lived Samuel Sanderson, a member of Capt. Parker's
Company. He was not at home, so they killed his cow instead, not
for food, but for the pure pleasure of killing something. Evidently
landlord Munroe's liquor was having some effect, if not in making men
braver, then in making them more brutal. Sanderson did not report the
amount of his loss to the Legislature. On the easterly side of the
road lived John Mason and family. All were absent so the soldiers
permitted themselves to carry away property to the value of £14, 13s.
4d.[281]

Many other homes in Lexington were ransacked, mostly during Percy's
halt. The total loss, as reported to the Legislature in 1783,
amounted to £1761, 1s. 5d.; nearly $9,000 as computed in money of
to-day. Undoubtedly many minor losses were not reported at all.

While these events were happening, the American riflemen were not
idle. From Mt. Vernon to the westward, and from the Munroe meadows to
the eastward, came many leaden messengers, some of them effective.
Among the British officers wounded, and probably most of them during
the halt, were Lieut. Hawkshaw, Lieut. Cox, and Lieut. Baker, of the
Fifth, Ensign Baldwin and Lieut. McCloud of the Forty-seventh; and
Capt. Souter and Lieut. Potter of the Marines. Many privates were
killed and wounded.[282]

Shortly after the meeting of Percy and Smith, Gen. William Heath
of Roxbury arrived in Lexington, and endeavored to effect the
organization of the American forces into the semblance of an army.
Dr. Joseph Warren arrived on the scene at the same time. Heath's
efforts were hardly successful, as the patriots chose to fight as
they had from the beginning, singly and self-commanded. It appears
that Heath had first gone to Cambridge, to meet the Committee of
Safety, and from there intended to go to Lexington, but fearing
the British were in possession of the road in that direction had
taken one across to Watertown. Finding there some of the militia
of the town awaiting orders, he directed them to Cambridge to take
up the planks of the Boston bridge, barricade its southerly end and
dispute the passage of the retreating British on their way home to
Boston. Then he proceeded to Lexington and upon his arrival there
was generally recognized as the commanding officer of the American
forces. He found the people there aroused to great excitement caused
by the bombardment of the meeting-house and the burning of so many
homes.[283]

It must have been half past three, or perhaps nearly four o'clock,
when Percy gave the order to march. He realized the distance
to Boston, and the dangers along the way. "As it now began to
grow pretty late," he says in his official report, "and we had
15 miles[284] to retire, and only our 36 rounds, I ordered the
Grenadiers and Light Infantry to move off first,[285] and covered
them with my Brigade, sending out very strong flanking parties."

The imposing display and the vigilant flankers had the desired effect
of keeping the Americans at a comparatively safe distance, and so
Percy and his little army marched down through East Lexington in
safety.

The looting section picked up considerable plunder from the abandoned
homes along the way, evidently without protest from the commander.
The march was a slow one, for Smith's weary and wounded soldiers had
to be considered. Many of them were on the verge of collapse and
quite a few dropped out of the ranks for good. De Bernicre in his
account places the "missing" at twenty-six. One of these, a German,
was discovered by the roadside in East Lexington soon after Percy had
passed out of sight. He was well treated by the Americans, and made
his home among them for many years.[286]

The Americans killed in Lexington during the afternoon were Jedediah
Munroe, and John Raymond. The British loss was much greater, for
the Americans were being reinforced constantly by minute-men from
the remote towns. Three companies from Newton entered the battle at
Lexington, under the command respectively of Lieut. John Marean,
thirty-eight men; Capt. Amariah Fuller, one hundred and six men; and
Capt. Jeremiah Wiswell, seventy-six men. Together these numbered two
hundred and nineteen men, making the total enrolment of the Americans
in pursuit of Percy as he passed out of Lexington, two thousand and
thirteen men.

FOOTNOTES:

[257] Frothingham's History of the Siege of Boston.

[258] William Gordon's History of the Rise, Progress, and
Establishment of the Independence of the United States of America. N.
Y., 1794. Vol. I, page 312.

[259] Rev. Isaac Mansfield, Jr., Chaplain of Gen. Thomas's Regiment,
in a Thanksgiving Sermon in Camp at Roxbury, Nov. 23, 1775. See
Thornton's Pulpit of the American Revolution, page 236.

[260] Edward Everett Hale in Memorial History of Boston. Vol. 3.

[261] West Cambridge on the Nineteenth of April, 1775, An Address by
Samuel Abbot Smith, Boston, 1864, page 27.

[262] Frothingham's Siege of Boston.

[263] Edward Everett Hale in Memorial History of Boston, Vol. 3.

[264] Brown's Beneath Old Roof Trees.

[265] Smith's Address.

[266] Smith's Address. Some of the opposition newspapers in England
were quite merry and some quite sarcastic over the surrender of six
lusty soldiers to one old woman, and inquired, on that basis, how
many British troops would it take to conquer America?

[267] Smith's Address.

[268] He signed his official report to Gen. Gage, "Percy, Acting
Brig. Gen." So that was his title for April Nineteenth.

[269] See the rough or preliminary draft of his report to Gage.

[270] Smith's Address, pages 31, 32.

[271] To be exact, for I have measured the route over which he
marched, it was 15-74/88 miles.

[272] In his report he states that he "drew up the Brigade on a
height." Only Mount Vernon was easily accessible for such a movement.
See also Doolittle's "A View of the South Part of Lexington," for
confirmation.

[273] Journals of Each Provincial Congress of Mass. in 1775, page 686.

[274] Journals of Each Provincial Congress of Mass. in 1775, page 688.

[275] Journals of Each Provincial Congress of Mass. in 1775, page 688.

[276] A majority of the voters of Lexington in town meeting assembled
have re-named a near-by street, "Percy Road," in commemoration of his
visit on that Nineteenth of April. Almost any other foeman's name
would have been better, if it is thus necessary to mark a growing
feeling of respect and kindliness between two nations of kindred
blood. Its older name was Mt. Vernon Street!

The town has many street names in memory of that battle day, such
as Adams, Clarke, Hancock, Muzzey, Revere. Percy Road starts from
near the old Munroe Tavern. What better name could there be for
this thoroughfare than Munroe Avenue, in memory of Sergeant William
Munroe, or of his grandson James S. Munroe, who has generously left
the Tavern to be forever open to the public for inspection.

[277] Lexington Historical Society Proceedings, III, 135.

[278] See Doolittle's "A View of the South Part of Lexington," for an
idea of those burning Lexington homes.

[279] Lexington Historical Society Proceedings, III, 135.

[280] A carefully written newspaper clipping evidently from a Boston
periodical, dated April 19, 1858, preserved in a scrap book once
belonging to the Thomas Waterman collection of American History.

[281] Journals of Each Provincial Congress of Mass. in 1775.

[282] De Bernicre's Report.

[283] Heath's Memoirs, page 201.

[284] Then he had in mind to return by way of Roxbury, a longer march
than to Charlestown.

[285] De Bernicre says the Light Infantry was in front, then the
Grenadiers.

[286] Told to me by the venerable Charles Brown still living (1911)
in East Lexington. His grandfather, Capt. Edmund Munroe, was an
active participant in the events of April 19th.

PERCY'S RETREAT THROUGH ARLINGTON.

[Illustration: BATTLE ROAD THROUGH ARLINGTON AND CAMBRIDGE.

1. Capt. Benj. Locke. 2. Tuft's Tavern. 3. Adams. 4. Russell. 5.
Percy's Baggage Wagons Captured. 6. Adams. 7. Cooper Tavern. 8.
Lieut. Solomon Bowman. 9. Black Horse Tavern. 10. Whittemore. 11.
Watson. 12. Tufts. 13. Whittemore Wounded.]

It was not far from half past four when the British crossed the
Lexington line and entered into Arlington. Their retreating march in
Lexington measured about two and one quarter miles. Along the road
they had striven to kill in honorable battle. They had succeeded
but slightly, and paid an unusual price with a much larger number
of their own dead and wounded. Percy's aim seemed to have been to
terrorize his opponents at whatever cost. The life of Raymond was
not taken in battle, nor can rapine and incendiarism add glory to
his military renown. Lexington's highway to Arlington ran between
pillaged and burning homes, and his soldiers staggered along under
heavy burdens of property stolen from those whose King was his
King. Concord and Lincoln have none of Percy's deeds related in
their chronicles, but Lexington, and Arlington, and Cambridge, and
Somerville, and Charlestown have good reason to remember his terrible
conception of warfare.

Gen. William Heath, as the commanding officer of the Americans,
endeavored to organize his forces into something like an army. He did
not greatly succeed, but re-formed some of the forces that had been
scattered by Percy's cannonade, directed towards the meeting-house on
Lexington Common.[287]

Descending the high lands in the upper part of Arlington by the road,
now known as Appleton Street, that skirts along the base of Arlington
Heights, and drops to the "Foot of the Rocks," the Americans pressed
in greater numbers and greater courage on Percy's rear guard. The
bravery of individuals at this point became conspicuous and often
foolishly hazardous. Percy, in his report, speaks of some concealed
in houses by the wayside, who would emerge therefrom and approach
within ten yards to fire at him and his officers--though sure of a
fatal fire in return. He seemed surprised at their enthusiasm, as
he called it, evidently forgetting how much he had excited their
anger. It is almost beyond belief that he could have escaped through
such a gauntlet, mounted as he was, on his beautiful white horse, a
conspicuous mark from the hillsides along the way. But he did,--for
such is occasionally the fortune of war as granted to brave men. His
personal courage was beyond question.

The forces of the Americans were greatly augmented during the pursuit
through Arlington. Minute-men from the nearby Middlesex towns, and
from Essex and Norfolk counties, arrived at the time and disposed
themselves along a line parallel to the highway as their individual
fancies dictated, and independent of any commander-in-chief. Along
the hillside to the south, behind the walls, and even within
buildings adjacent to the road, they were posted, singly and in
squads, among them many unerring marksmen, who added greatly to the
British loss in killed and wounded. Percy would have been dismayed
had he known the number of reinforcements he must then contend
with, but they were not paraded for his inspection. His own army
at the highest had not numbered over eighteen hundred men, but now
considerably depleted, by his losses along the way, it is doubtful if
it would equal fifteen hundred really effective soldiers.

The Americans entering the contest at Arlington were from Brookline,
Capt. Thomas White and ninety-five men, and possibly two other
companies under Col. Thos. Aspinwall and Major Isaac Gardner, number
of men unknown;[288] Watertown, Capt. Samuel Barnard, one hundred
and thirty-four men; Medford, Capt. Isaac Hall, fifty-nine men;
Malden, Capt. Benjamin Blaney, seventy-five men; Roxbury, Capt.
Lemuel Child, thirty-five men, Capt. William Draper, fifty men,
Capt. Moses Whiting, fifty-five men; Dedham, Capt. Eben Battle,
sixty-six men, Capt. Wm. Bullard, fifty-nine men, Capt. Daniel
Draper, twenty-four men, Capt. William Ellis, thirty-one men, Capt.
David Fairbanks, fourteen men, Capt. Aaron Fuller, sixty-seven men,
Capt. George Gould, seventeen men, Capt. Joseph Guild, fifty-nine
men; Needham, Capt. Aaron Smith, seventy men, Capt. Robert Smith,
seventy-five men, Capt. Caleb Kingsbery, forty men; Lynn, Capt.
Nathaniel Bancroft, thirty-eight men, Capt. William Farrington,
fifty-two men, Capt. Rufus Mansfield, forty-six men, Capt. Ezra
Newhall, forty-nine men, Capt. David Parker, sixty-three men;
Beverly, Capt. Caleb Dodge, thirty-two men, Capt. Larkin Thorndike,
forty-eight men, Lieut. Peter Shaw, forty-two men; Danvers, Capt.
Samuel Epes, eighty-two men, Capt. Samuel Flint, forty-five men,
Capt. Israel Hutchinson, fifty-three men, Capt. Caleb Lowe,
twenty-three men, Capt. Jeremiah Page, thirty-nine men, Capt. Asa
Prince, thirty-seven men, Capt. Edm. Putnam, seventeen men, Capt.
John Putnam, thirty-five men; Menotomy, Capt. Benjamin Locke,
fifty-three men. Undoubtedly some of Locke's men were engaged
earlier in the day, particularly those who lived in Arlington, for
twenty-six of them assembled on the Common at daybreak, and must
have gone up to Lexington, at least. Of the other members, eleven
were from Charlestown, seven from Boston, three from Stoneham, two
from Lexington, one from Newton, and one residence unknown. Together
these reinforcements at Arlington numbered seventeen hundred and
seventy-nine men.

Under the combined efforts of Gen. Heath and Dr. Warren the
minute-men were encouraged to rally and draw nearer the rear guard
of Percy's column, to harass and destroy them. The two British field
pieces were often turned on the Americans but were too cumbersome for
effective use against the elusive minute-men. The cannon balls went
tearing up the road, smashing trees and shrubs, toppling over stone
walls, pushing jagged holes through buildings, striking terror into
the hearts of women and children, and presumably many of the men, who
were unused to war.

This renewal of activities commenced in Arlington where the road
comes in from Lexington, and skirts along the northerly base of
Peirce's Hill, now called Arlington Heights. The descent from there
to the plain is by a steep grade and the lower end of that part of
the highway was then, and is now, known as Foot of the Rocks. This
skirting, curved road around Peirce's Hill still exists. Its westerly
end is now called Paul Revere Road, and its easterly end, Appleton
St. Since that time a straight road with gentler grade has been made
to connect the two ends of that part of Battle Road, and forms a part
of the new Massachusetts Avenue from Boston to the Concord line.

It was at the Foot of the Rocks that Dr. Warren, brave even to
recklessness, exposed himself to some vigilant British marksman, who
could not fail to notice his enthusiasm and influence. The bullet
came dangerously near the doctor's head, so near, in fact, as to
strike a pin from his ear-lock.[289] Here, also, Dr. Downer of
Roxbury engaged in single combat with a British soldier, whom he slew
with a bayonet thrust.[290]

Towards the summit of Peirce's Hill was the Robbins home. The family
had fled. Percy's flank-guard ransacked the house, built a fire
on the kitchen floor, which burned off a line full of wet clothes
hanging over it, letting them fall into the flames which were thereby
extinguished.[291]

Down this road a little farther stood the Tufts Tavern, once occupied
by Mr. Cutler, the rich farmer and butcher, but at that time by John
Tufts, previously of Medford, whose wife was Rebecca, a daughter of
Mr. Cutler. It will be recalled that Tufts had been aroused in the
early morning by the British, and when they returned the family had
fled. Soldiers broke into the upper end of it, loaded themselves with
such plunder as they could carry away, and maliciously destroyed
some that they were obliged to leave behind. One thrust his bayonet
through the best mirror, the frame of which was long preserved.[292]
While others, thinking to serve their King, opened the taps of the
casks containing molasses and spirits, allowing them to escape. Then
they set fire to the building, and left in haste to rejoin their
retreating companions. A faithful colored slave of Mr. Cutler's
watching from a distance, entered soon after their departure and
extinguished the fire.

Richer plunder awaited the looters at the home of Joseph Adams, a
venerable deacon of the Second Precinct Church. He had remained
at home with his family until Percy's troops came into sight up
the road. Then fearing his outspoken views, strongly antagonistic
to the British ministry, might subject him to abuse by Percy and
his soldiers, he determined to make his way across the fields to
the Rev. Mr. Cook's barn. He was seen, and a volley of bullets
followed, but he reached the barn, and hid in the hay. Some of the
soldiers followed, even into the barn, and pierced the hay with their
bayonets, but he was not exactly there. Some of them burst open the
door of his home, and three broke into the chamber, where lay his
wife and their infant child, but a few days old. The mother was too
ill to arise, even. One of the soldiers opened the bed-curtains and
with fixed bayonet, pointing to her breast, seemed about to slay her.
She begged him not to kill her, but he only angrily replied:

"Damn you!"

Another soldier, with a more humane heart, interceded, and said,

"We will not kill the woman if she will go out of the house, but we
will surely burn it."

Inspired by the threat, Mrs. Adams then arose, drew a blanket about
herself and little infant,[293] and painfully made her way to the
corn-house close by. It was the first journey since her illness, as
far as her chamber door even. Other children were left within the
house, but she was too weak to be of any assistance to them. They
had hidden under a bed, but curiosity getting the better of Joel,
aged nine years, the little folks were all discovered, but not
harmed. They saw the sheets stripped from the beds and household
valuables dumped into them, even including the works of an old clock,
an heirloom in the family. Most valuable of all the booty, was the
silver tankard belonging to the communion service given to the church
in 1769, by Jonathan Butterfield. It was subsequently pawned by the
thief, to a Boston silversmith, Austin by name, who read the engraved
inscription thereon and notified Deacon Adams. After the evacuation
of Boston by the British, the two deacons redeemed the tankard at
their own expense, and returned it to the church, where it is still
in use.

The soldiers of Lord Percy, then emptied a basket of chips on the
floor, set them on fire with a brand from the hearth, and went on
their way. The Adams children put out the blaze with a quantity
of home-brewed beer, but not until the floor was badly burned,
the ceiling smoked and a quantity of pewter plates on the dresser
melted.[294]

A little farther along, on the westerly side of the road, lived
Jason Russell, aged fifty-eight years.[295] Somewhat helpless because
lame, he had started with his family at noontime for refuge at George
Prentiss's on the hill. After going a little way he felt impelled to
return and look after the safety of his home. He barricaded his gate
with bundles of shingles and from behind them took his position to
fire upon the enemy as they should come along and pass by in the road
a rod away. Rather a feeble fortress from any military standpoint,
and one that proved to be a death trap for its builder. Northerly
across the road and across the brook lived Ammi Cutter, a kindly
neighbor, who came and pleaded with Russell to abandon his door-yard
for a place of greater safety. Russell replied that "An Englishman's
house is his castle." Cutter remained by his side until the advancing
British were seen up the road, and then started on the run across the
road, over the wall and through the fields towards his home. Reaching
the old mill-yard, and still running, he stumbled and fell between
two logs, and the enemy's bullets scattered bark over him as he lay.
They thought him dead because he fell as they fired, and so left him.
But he was entirely uninjured.

Back of the Russell house in a southerly direction, the land slopes
gently upward for a little way, and then rises to a considerable
height. Near the foot of this hill a goodly number of Americans were
posted, among them the men from Danvers. Approaching along the
slope of the hill, and parallel to the highway, was a strong British
flanking party driving all before it. The Americans at that point
were too few to openly resist, so retreated and entered the Russell
house. Down the road came the main body under Percy, and perceiving
the minute-men, advanced and opened fire. Russell being lame, was
the last to reach the door-way, where two bullets felled him. The
soldiers rushed in and pierced him, as he lay, with eleven bayonet
thrusts. Then they entered the house, and within that little home
enacted the bloodiest tragedy of the day. Here, the seven men from
Danvers were killed. The other Americans retreated to the cellar, and
from the foot of the stairs threatened death to any Briton who should
come down. One attempted to, and died on the way. Another died in the
struggle overhead. Then the house was plundered in accordance with
Percy's method of warfare.

After the British had passed, the Americans gathered at the home of
Jason Russell. The dead from the yard, and within the house, were
laid, side by side, in the little south room. There were twelve of
them, and the blood from their wounds mingled in one common pool upon
the floor.[296]

The highway from Jason Russell's house, to the centre of Arlington
village, proved to be the bloodiest half mile of all the Battle Road.
Within this little stretch were killed twenty or more Americans,
and as many or more Britons. And here, on the northerly side of the
road, not far from where the British convoy was captured, in the
forenoon, stood another Adams home. It was punctured with bullets and
it was stained with blood, for the dead and dying and wounded were
carried there after the combatants had passed on.[297]

One of the most unequal duels of any war was fought near here,
between the venerable Samuel Whittemore, aged eighty years, and
a number of British soldiers, acting as a flanking party, on the
easterly side of the road.

Whittemore lived with a son and grandchildren near Menotomy River,
and had been aroused early in the morning by the passing of Smith's
forces on their way to Concord. Mrs. Whittemore then commenced her
preparations for flight, to another son's house, near Mystic River,
towards Medford. She supposed that her husband intended to accompany
her, but was surprised to find him engaged in the warlike occupation
of oiling his musket and pistols, and sharpening his sword. In his
younger days he had been an officer in the militia. She urged him to
accompany her and the children. He refused, with the excuse that he
was going "up town" as he expressed it. He did so, arriving there
before the British had returned. When they reached the neighborhood
of the present railroad crossing they halted, some of them opposite
Mystic Street. Whittemore had posted himself behind a stone wall,
down Mystic Street about four hundred and fifty feet, near the
corner of the present Chestnut Street. The distance seemed an easy
range for him, and he opened fire killing the soldier he aimed at.
They must have discovered his hiding-place from the smoke-puff, and
hastened to close in on him. With one pistol he killed the second
Briton, and with his other fatally wounded a third one. In the
meantime the ever vigilant flank-guard were attracted to the contest,
and a ball from one of their muskets struck his head and rendered
him unconscious. They rushed to the spot, and clubbed him with their
muskets and pierced him with their bayonets until they felt sure that
he was dead. Soon after they left him, he was found by the Americans,
and as he seemed to still live they bore him to the Cooper Tavern.
Dr. Tufts of Medford was summoned, but declared it useless to dress
so many wounds as the aged man could not possibly survive. However,
he was persuaded to try, and Whittemore lived eighteen more years,
dying in 1793, at the age of ninety-eight. When he was recovering,
his wife could not forbear asking him if he did not regret he had
not remained with the rest of the family from the first. But the old
hero, still suffering from his many wounds, replied:

"No! I would run the same chance again."[298]

Four hundred feet farther along, at the corner of the Medford road,
now Medford Street, stood the Cooper Tavern, Benjamin Cooper,
landlord. He and his wife, Rachel, were mixing flip at the bar. Two
of their guests, and possibly those two were all at the time, were
Jason Winship, about forty-five years old, and his brother-in-law,
Jabez Wyman, in his fortieth year.[299] Evidently they were
non-combatants, and as such expected to remain unmolested. But the
soldiers were lashed to a fury by the reception they had met along
the road, particularly that of the last half mile. So many houses
along back had concealed minute-men, that about all were freely
riddled with bullets, then ransacked, and then set on fire. Cooper
Tavern was not considered by them as a privileged exception. More
than a hundred bullets were fired into it through the doors and
windows. Then the soldiers entered for their finishing strokes. Mr.
and Mrs. Cooper escaped to the cellar, but Wyman and Winship, both
unarmed, were stabbed in many places, their heads mauled until their
skulls were broken, and brains scattered about on the floor and
walls.[300]

The death of these two unarmed men, formed the climax of Arlington's
part of the battle, for Percy's troops passed through the rest of
the town, and crossed Menotomy River into Cambridge without further
bloody incident.

The Americans who were killed in Arlington, were Jason Russell, Jason
Winship and Jabez Wyman of Arlington; Reuben Kennison, of Beverly;
Samuel Cook, Benjamin Daland, Ebenezer Goldthwait, Henry Jacobs,
Perley Putnam, George Southwick, and Jotham Webb, of Danvers; Elias
Haven of Dedham; William Flint, Thomas Hadley, Abednego Ramsdell, and
Daniel Townsend, of Lynn; William Polly and Henry Putnam, of Medford;
Lieut. John Bacon, Nathaniel Chamberlain, Amos Mills, Sergt. Elisha
Mills, and Jonathan Parker of Needham; Benjamin Peirce of Salem;
and Jacob Coolidge of Watertown. These numbered twenty-five, and
constituted half of all the Americans killed during the day.

The wounded in Arlington were Samuel Whittemore, of Arlington;
Nathaniel Cleaves, Samuel Woodbury, and William Dodge, 3rd, of
Beverly; Nathan Putnam, and Dennison Wallace of Danvers; Israel
Everett of Dedham; Eleazer Kingsbury, and a son of Dr. Tolman, of
Needham. They numbered nine out of the thirty-nine Americans wounded
during the day.

The British killed in Arlington were at least forty, more than half
of all their loss during the day.

The patriot dead of old Menotomy and her sister towns were gathered,
and twelve of them placed on a sled and drawn by a yoke of oxen to
the little village church-yard. There they were laid away in one
large grave, side by side, in the same bloody garments they wore
when they fell. One monument marks the place. In the meeting-house
close by, friends and relatives met on the following Sabbath, and, we
are told that among them were Anna, infant grand-daughter of Jason
Russell, born on the day of the battle, and the little son of Jason
Winship, who was brought to the altar for baptism. It must have been
a sacred and patriotic consecration for all.[301] Some of the other
slain from distant towns, were borne by their comrades back to their
own homes.[302]

In Arlington, then, as the casualties show, the battle reached its
climax. The savage ferocity of the personal encounters show to what a
maddening frenzy the King's troops had been wrought. As in Lexington,
Percy attempted the wholesale destruction of the American homes by
the torch, but so closely had he been followed by the ever-increasing
minute-men, that his efforts were futile. His soldiers had the time
to start the fires, but not the time to fan them into conflagrations,
and thus old Menotomy escaped the fate of Lexington.

Percy continued his march through the town of Arlington, crossing
Menotomy River into Cambridge between five and six o'clock. The
minute-men hovered dangerously near his rear guard so that he paused
often long enough to wheel his two six-pounders about and prevent
them from coming too near. They were entirely without fatal effect,
but inspired at all times a wholesome respect, and kept the Americans
farther away.

FOOTNOTES:

[287] Heath's Memoirs.

[288] Bolton's Brookline. White's was the only company to file claim
for pay, however. See Mass. Archives.

[289] Heath's Memoirs.

[290] Heath's Memoirs.

[291] Mrs. Lydia Peirce's statement in Smith's Address, page 33.

[292] Mrs. Almira T. Whittemore in Parker's Arlington, page 194. The
tavern is still standing, or part of it, numbered 965 Massachusetts
Ave., opposite Mt. Vernon Street.

[293] This little child lived into womanhood and became the wife of
James Hill.

[294] Mrs. Adams's Deposition and Smith's Address, wherein he quotes
Mrs. Thos. Hall, grand-daughter of Mrs. Adams, Rev. Mr. Brown's
Sermon on James Hill, and S. G. Damon's article in The Christian
Register, Oct. 28, 1854. The building, or part of it, is still
standing (1912) being the ell of a building on the southerly side of
Massachusetts Avenue, third house westerly from Bartlett Avenue.

[295] Born Jan. 25, 1717. Paige's History of Cambridge. The old
grave-stone in the cemetery at Arlington calls him 59 years old.

[296] King's Address and Smith's Address. The old home is still
standing though removed a few rods back from its original location.

[297] It stood easterly of the present (1911) Town Hall. When
the railroad went through, part of the house blocked the way and
therefore the whole had to be demolished. The grand old elm that
shaded the yard was destroyed in a gale and a smaller one now takes
its place.

[298] Statement of F. H. Whittemore. Smith's Address, pages 43, 44.

[299] Cutter's Arlington and Paige's Cambridge.

[300] Deposition of Rachel Cooper.

[301] Smith's Address, page 52.

[302] King's Address, page 14.

PERCY'S RETREAT THROUGH CAMBRIDGE.

Occasionally the contest narrowed down to personal encounters between
two or more. It was near the Menotomy River, on the Cambridge side,
that Lieut. Bowman, of Arlington, overtook a straggler from the
British ranks, and engaged him in single combat. Both had guns,
but neither one was loaded. The Briton rushed at Bowman with fixed
bayonet, but the latter warded it off, and with his musket clubbed
his antagonist to the ground. Then he took him prisoner.[303]

Cambridge was the home of Capt. Samuel Thatcher's company of
seventy-seven men, but it is probable that Smith had encountered them
as far back as Lincoln, for the muster roll in the Massachusetts
Archives states that most of them marched twenty-eight miles, which
would mean up into Lincoln and return, and to Charlestown Neck and
return.

Percy's march through Cambridge, from Menotomy River to the
Somerville line, measured nearly a mile and a quarter. The
provincials expected that he would return to Boston by the route he
came out, that is through Harvard Square over Charles River bridge
into Brighton, thence through Roxbury, and along Boston Neck and
into Boston. Anticipating as much, it was ordered that the bridge
should be made impassable. But Percy deemed it wise to hurry on to
Charlestown, trusting that Gen. Gage would have an ample force there
to receive and protect him. It was several miles nearer, and with
no possibility of dismantled bridges to reconstruct, for his troops
to pass over. Nor should it be forgotten that Percy's original plan
was to remain that night, at least, in Harvard Square, but he had
not counted on such intense hostility, from so large an army of
minute-men in open rebellion. He deemed it wiser, therefore, to move
constantly forward towards the main army.

This mile and a quarter in Cambridge proved to be one of continual
battle, also. The Americans were ever on the alert, and growing more
and more active as they realized more and more the real meaning of
the invasion. The sight of many of the British soldiers loaded down
with plunder; the curling smoke and flames from American dwellings;
the dying and the dead, some of them horribly mutilated, scattered
all along the highway, were at last inspiring an intense feeling
of hatred, and a longing for a satisfying vengeance. Percy's army
experienced practically the same sensations. Trained as soldiers
to the usages of open warfare, they deemed the frontier method of
fighting as unfair and cowardly. They held in contempt the man
who should remain concealed in safety and shoot down one who was
compelled to remain in the open. Undoubtedly, too, the memory of a
comrade, lying at the North Bridge with that ugly hatchet death-wound
in the head, aroused the most savage instincts, that seemed to cry
for brutal retaliation. Whittemore, and Wyman, and Winship seem to
have been victims of vengeance rather than of war.

The Americans did not profit much by the lessons which they had
received, earlier in the day, for they again fell victims to the
British flankers. Quite a number had gathered near the home of
Jacob Watson, situated on the southerly side of the highway near
the present Rindge Avenue. Their fragile security was a pile of
empty casks, not far from the road, from behind which they awaited
the oncoming of the British. But the flank-guard came up in their
rear, unobserved, and completely surprised them, killing Major Isaac
Gardner of Brookline, a favorite son of that town, and the first
graduate of Harvard College to fall in the War, and two Cambridge
men, John Hicks, nearly fifty years old, and Moses Richardson,
fifty-three years old. And near the same place, another Cambridge
man, William Marcy, as tradition says[304] of feeble intellect, and
a non-combatant. He was sitting on the fence, evidently enjoying
the military spectacle, and perhaps good-naturedly cheering on
the marching red-coats. His friendly demonstrations were entirely
mistaken for shouts of derision. In the midst of his simple pleasure,
some Briton esteemed it his duty to kill him as an enemy of the King.

The British loss at this place was but one killed.

On they marched, wheeling to the left, into Beech Street, a
thoroughfare about seven hundred feet long, and thence out of
Cambridge and into Somerville.

Soon after this, the wife of John Hicks, whose home is still standing
(1912) at the corner of Dunster and Winthrop Streets, fearing for his
safety, sent her son, fourteen years of age, to look for him. He had
been absent since morning, and undoubtedly the noise of battle, a
mile and a quarter away, coming across the fields, bore a sad burden
of prophecy. Her misgivings were well founded, for the son found his
father by the roadside where he fell, and near him the others.

The body of Isaac Gardner was taken to Brookline and there buried the
next day. The remains of John Hicks, Moses Richardson and William
Marcy, were immediately taken to the little churchyard near the
Common, a mile from where they fell. They were buried in one grave,
without coffins or shrouds even. A son of Moses Richardson, standing
by, realizing that the earth was to fall directly on their faces,
jumped down into the grave and arranged the cape of his father's
coat, that it might shield him somewhat from the falling earth.

We may wonder now, at that hasty burial, without much, if any,
ceremony; but let us associate with it the trail of the invading
army, and of what seemed possible for the morrow, if it should
return, greatly reinforced, for vengeance. Boston was not far away,
and Gen. Gage, even then, might be preparing to move on Cambridge,
with a force sufficiently large for its subjection. The Americans
did not fully realize their own power or their own courage, not even
as well as Gen. Gage did, who wisely decreed to remain in Boston and
Charlestown, and decide later whether to pursue an aggressive or a
defensive campaign. The spontaneous rousing of the country was an
impressive one to the British commander.

It had evidently been Percy's plan to camp on Cambridge Common
that night, and while awaiting expected reinforcements, or upon
their arrival, lay the buildings of Harvard College, and others, in
ruins. Such a course would have been in harmony with his warfare in
Lexington and Arlington, and serve as a practical lesson to those in
rebellion, of the disposition and readiness of their King to wreak
a swift and terrible vengeance upon his enemies.[305] But Percy's
plans were rudely disarranged, and he commenced to realize that he
was really being driven back to Boston.

FOOTNOTES:

[303] Dr. B. Cutter's Statement in Smith's Address, page 47.

[304] Paige's History of Cambridge, page 414.

[305] See Thanksgiving Sermon in the Camp at Roxbury, Nov. 23, 1775,
by Rev. Isaac Mansfield, Jr., Chaplain to Gen. Thomas's Regiment. Mr.
Mansfield fully believed such plans to have been made and states that
his information came so direct that he could not hesitate to accept
it but did not feel at liberty to publish the name of his informer.

PERCY'S RETREAT THROUGH SOMERVILLE.

It was about half past six o'clock when Percy left Cambridge and
entered the present city of Somerville, crossing the line at the
corner of Beech and Elm Streets. Just about at the Somerville line
the battle was hotly renewed. Near the corner of Beech Street, and
on the easterly side of Elm Street, stood, and still stands (1912),
the house of Timothy Tufts. Here Percy halted his army while his
two field-pieces were dragged up the hill back of the Tufts house
and discharged towards his pursuers, with the usual result of his
cannonading--none killed. From out a grove a little way up the road,
came a scattering fire of American sharpshooters and in consequence
quite a number of Britons were killed. They fell in the road, just in
front of the Tufts house, and a tablet there marks where they were
buried.

[Illustration: BATTLE ROAD THROUGH SOMERVILLE AND CHARLESTOWN.

1. Tufts. 2. Hunnewell. 3. Capen. 4. Kent. 5. Rand. 6. Tufts. 7. A
pond. 8. Ireland. 9. Frost. 10. Choate. 11. Piper's Tavern. 12. Shed.
13. Miller Killed. 14. Miller's Home. 15. Revere Stopped by British.
16. Barber.]

Along Elm Street to Oak Street, and then continuing in Somerville
Avenue, was their route, when the march was resumed. At the foot
of Laurel Street on Somerville Avenue was then a little pond. Into
that many weary Britons threw themselves--some for the refreshing
plunge, others to quench their thirst.[306]

Their march was continued rapidly now, and in consequence the
fatalities on the American side were slight, if any, on the road from
the Tufts house through Bow Street, for that was a part of Battle
Road then, to Union Square. From the latter place they continued
through Washington Street, where the American sharpshooters had a
grand opportunity to renew their havoc. Washington Street skirts
along the westerly foot of Prospect Hill, the summit of which
commands easily a stretch of highway for more than half a mile. Many
were killed and wounded, some of the latter of whom were taken into
the house then standing at the corner of Washington and Prospect
Streets. Here Percy paused long enough to train his two field pieces
up the road, and again with his usual lack of fatal results. But he
checked the Americans.

A little way farther along on the northerly side of the road, stood
the home of Samuel Shed. Percy's troops halted there, for the few
moments necessary to turn his field pieces on his pursuers again.
While there one of the Britons, ambitious for plunder, entered
the Shed home, and finding there a bureau or highboy filled with
household effects, commenced the work of selecting what he desired.
It took him too long, for his companions passed on, and left him
still too busy to notice their departure or the coming of the
Americans. Bullets came through the window, one of which killed him,
and three riddled the old bureau, spattering his blood over it, and
on the floor.[307]

A few rods farther, the grassy slope of Prospect Hill descended in a
southerly direction to Washington Street, then called the Cambridge
Road. James Miller, about sixty-six years old, stood there awaiting
the British. With him was a companion, and both fired with deadly
effect, again and again, as the British marched by in the road below.
They were discovered finally, and Miller's companion urged him to
retreat.

"Come, Miller, we've got to go."

"I'm too old to run," replied Miller, and he remained only to be
pierced with a volley of thirteen bullets.[308] His home was but a
short distance down the road, and is still standing, next to the
house on the easterly corner of Washington and Franklin Streets.

Miller was the only American killed in Somerville, as the British
were in too full retreat to act very much on the aggressive. Their
loss was considerable, however, and along the entire Battle Road,
for the minute-men were exceedingly active in the rear and on the
northerly side of the road, particularly.

The policy of property destruction was continued by Percy through
Somerville. The limited time at his command did not allow of very
thorough work, but he accomplished something. The estate of James
Miller whom they killed on the slope of Prospect Hill, was damaged
to the extent of £4, 12s. ($23.00). Ebenezer Shed lost his house,
barn, and another building, valued at £140 ($700), and the damage to
his crop, fences, etc., he estimated at £279, 3s. 2d. ($1395.79). The
widow of Abigal Shed suffered to some extent in the same way.[309]

FOOTNOTES:

[306] Booth, in Somerville Journal. April, 1875.

[307] The old highboy was in existence in 1910 and treasured by a
Somerville man, Francis Tufts, to whom it descended. I have seen it,
with its blood stains and three bullet holes.

[308] E. C. Booth in an article on Somerville in Drake's History of
Middlesex County, Vol. 2, page 312.

[309] J. F. Hunnewell, A Century of Town Life, page 153.

PERCY'S ARRIVAL IN CHARLESTOWN.

The sun set at seven o'clock on that nineteenth day of April, in
1775.[310] It never rose again on Middlesex County under kingly rule.
Percy must have been in the vicinity of Union Square, Somerville, at
that particular moment. The pauses for his artillery demonstration;
the destruction of the few buildings; the killing of Miller; and the
hurried march to the Charlestown line, did not occupy more than half
an hour. It was just dark enough for the musket flashes to be seen
across the marshes and across the waters of the Charles River to the
Boston shore, where were grouped anxious watchers awaiting the news
of battle.

Percy's thirty-six rounds for each of his soldiers had been about all
expended. He describes the fire all around his marching column as
"incessant," coming from behind stone walls, and from houses that he
at first supposed had been evacuated.[311]

[Illustration: GENERAL WILLIAM HEATH.]

Charlestown Common, now Sullivan Square, was soon reached, and his
column gladly wheeled to the right and marched up Bunker Hill. As
they did so, a mile away, on top of Winter Hill, in Somerville, were
just then arriving three hundred more Americans, who had marched from
Salem under Col. Timothy Pickering. They were half an hour late to be
particularly effective. No blame can be attached to them for that,
for there were thousands of other minute-men, from distant towns who
were also late, for April 19th, but who were in ample time to join
the besieging army on April 20th.

At Charlestown Common, on the corner of the road to the Penny Ferry
which crossed the Mystic River to Everett,[312] stood the home of
William Barber, sea captain. His family consisted of his wife, Anne
Hay, and their thirteen children. One of them, Edward, fourteen
years old, sat at the window looking out upon the brilliant pageant
of marching soldiers in the road. Many of the soldiers must have
seen him, for he was not in hiding. One did, at all events, and with
that thirst for killing some one, even though but a boy, shot him
and saw him fall back into the room dead. Thus Edward Barber became
Charlestown's martyr of April 19th.

While Charlestown did not officially contribute to the organized
minute-men who were pursuing Percy, yet many individuals must
have been in the American ranks on that day, for in the afternoon
Gen. Gage wrote to James Russell of Charlestown that he had been
informed people of that town had gone out armed to oppose His
Majesty's Troops, and that if a single man more went out armed, the
most disagreeable consequences might be expected. The people of
Charlestown indeed had reason to be in terror, surrounded as they
were by the soldiers, frenzied with their disastrous retreat from
Lexington. The Selectmen arranged with Percy an armistice, agreeing
that the troops should not be attacked, and that assistance should
be given in getting them across the ferry to Boston, provided they
would not attack the citizens or destroy their homes. This agreement
seems to have been kept in good faith by both parties.[313] British
officers walked up and down the streets, directing the women to keep
within doors.

Percy's force remained on Bunker Hill until arrangements were
completed for their trip across the Charles River to Boston. The
wounded were sent over first, being conveyed by the boats of the
_Somerset_ man-of-war, which still lay there, as it did when Revere
crossed the night before.

Gen. Gage sent pickets from Boston, selected from the Tenth and
Sixty-fourth Regiments to do guard duty in Charlestown.[314]

Gen. William Heath, as commander of the American forces, assembled
the officers of the minute-men at the foot of Prospect Hill, in
Somerville, for a Council of War. Then he ordered the formation of a
guard to be posted near, and sentinels along the road now known as
Washington Street in Somerville, and Cambridge Street in Charlestown,
to Charlestown Neck. The remainder of the force was ordered back to
Cambridge,[315] which place was to be for a while the Headquarters of
the American Army.

FOOTNOTES:

[310] Low's Almanack, Boston, 1775.

[311] See his report to Gen. Gage.

[312] Everett was then a part of Malden.

[313] De Bernicre's Report.

[314] De Bernicre, and Diary of a British Officer in Boston in 1775.

[315] Heath's Memoirs.

AMERICAN KILLED, WOUNDED AND MISSING.

_Acton._ Killed: Capt. Isaac Davis, James Hayward, Abner Hosmer.
Wounded: Luther Blanchard and Ezekiel Davis.

_Arlington._ Killed: Jason Russell, Jason Winship, Jabez Wyman.
Wounded: Samuel Whittemore.

_Bedford._ Killed: Captain Jonathan Willson. Wounded: Job Lane.

_Beverly._ Killed: Reuben Kennison. Wounded: Nathaniel Cleaves,
William Dodge, 3rd, Samuel Woodbury.

_Billerica._ Wounded: Timothy Blanchard, John Nichols.

_Brookline._ Killed: Major Isaac Gardner.

_Cambridge._ Killed: John Hicks, William Marcy, Moses Richardson.
Missing: Samuel Frost, Seth Russell.

_Concord._ Wounded: Capt. Nathan Barrett, Jonas Brown, Capt.
Charles Miles, Capt. George Minot, Abel Prescott, Jr.

_Charlestown._ Killed: Edward Barber.

_Chelmsford._ Wounded: Oliver Barron, Aaron Chamberlain.

_Danvers._ Killed: Samuel Cook, Benjamin Daland, Ebenezer
Goldthwait, Henry Jacobs, Perley Putnam, George Southwick, Jotham
Webb. Wounded: Nathan Putnam, Dennison Wallis. Missing: Joseph
Bell.

_Dedham._ Killed: Elias Haven. Wounded: Israel Everett.

_Framingham._ Wounded: Daniel Hemenway.

_Lexington._ Killed: John Brown, Samuel Hadley, Caleb Harrington,
Jonathan Harrington, Jr., Jedediah Munroe, Robert Munroe, Isaac
Muzzy, Jonas Parker, John Raymond, Nathaniel Wyman. Wounded:
Francis Brown, Joseph Comee, Prince Estabrook, Nathaniel Farmer,
Ebenezer Munroe, Jr., Jedediah Munroe (killed later), Solomon
Pierce, John Robbins, John Tidd, Thomas Winship.

_Lincoln._ Wounded: Joshua Brooks.

_Lynn._ Killed: William Flint, Thomas Hadley, Abednego Ramsdell,
Daniel Townsend. Wounded: Joshua Felt, Timothy Monroe. Missing:
Josiah Breed.

_Medford._ Killed: William Polly, Henry Putnam.

_Needham._ Killed: Lieut. John Bacon, Nathaniel Chamberlain, Amos
Mills, Sergt. Elisha Mills, Jonathan Parker. Wounded: Eleazer
Kingsbury, ---- Tolman (son of Dr. Tolman).

_Newton._ Wounded: Noah Wiswell.

_Roxbury._ Missing: Elijah Seaver.

_Salem._ Killed: Benjamin Pierce.

_Somerville._ Killed: James Miller.

_Sudbury._ Killed: Josiah Haynes, Asahel Reed. Wounded: Joshua
Haynes, Jr.

_Stow._ Wounded: Daniel Conant.

_Watertown._ Killed: Joseph Coolidge.

_Woburn._ Killed: Asahel Porter, Daniel Thompson. Wounded: Jacob
Bacon, ---- Johnson, George Reed.

_Totals._ Killed: 49. Wounded: 41. Missing: 5. Total loss: 95.

BRITISH KILLED, WOUNDED, PRISONERS AND MISSING.[316]

"Return of the Commission, Non-Commission Officers, Drummers, Rank
and File, killed and wounded, prisoners and missing, on the 19th of
April, 1775.

"4th or King's Own Regiment, Lieutenant Knight, killed. Lieutenant
Gould, wounded and prisoner. 3 Serjeants, 1 Drummer, wounded. 7 Rank
and File, killed, 21 wounded, 8 missing.

"5th Regiment, Lieutenant Thomas Baker, Lieutenant William Cox,
Lieutenant Thomas Hawkshaw, wounded. 5 Rank and File killed. 15
wounded, 1 missing.

"10th Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, Captain Lawrence
Parsons, Lieutenant Wald. Kelly, Ensign Jeremiah Lester, wounded. 1
Rank and File killed, 13 wounded, 1 missing.

"18th Regiment. 1 Rank and File killed, 4 wounded, 1 missing.

"23rd Regiment. Lieutenant Colonel Bery Bernard, wounded. 4 Rank and
File killed, 26 wounded, 6 missing.

"38th Regiment. Lieutenant William Sutherland, wounded. 1 Sergeant
wounded. 4 Rank and File killed, 11 wounded.

"43rd Regiment. Lieutenant Hull, wounded and prisoner. 4 Rank and
File killed, 5 wounded, 2 missing.

"47th Regiment. Lieutenant Donald McCloud, Ensign Henry Baldwin,
wounded. 1 Sergeant wounded. 5 Rank and File killed, 21 wounded.

"52nd Regiment. 1 Sergeant missing. 3 Rank and File killed, 2 wounded.

"59th Regiment. 3 Rank and File killed, 3 wounded.

"Marines. Captain Souter, Second Lieutenant McDonald, wounded. Second
Lieutenant Isaac Potter, missing. 1 Sergeant killed, 2 wounded, 1
missing. 1 Drummer killed. 25 Rank and File killed, 36 wounded, 5
missing.

"Total. 1 Lieutenant killed. 2 Lieutenant Colonels wounded. 2
Captains wounded. 9 Lieutenants wounded. 1 Lieutenant missing. 2
Ensigns wounded. 1 Sergeant killed, 7 wounded, 2 missing. 1 Drummer
killed, 1 wounded. 62 Rank and File killed, 157 wounded, 24 missing.

"N. B. Lieutenant Isaac Potter reported to be wounded and taken
prisoner.

"Signed

"THO. GAGE."

Lieut. Hull, of the 43rd Regiment, wounded traveling in a chaise,
fell behind the troops, again wounded, and carried into the house of
Samuel Butterfield, in Arlington, where he died, two weeks later.[317]

The forces participating were about eighteen hundred British, well
organized and well commanded, opposed by about thirty-seven hundred
and ninety-two Americans, without effective organization and without
a real commanding officer.

FOOTNOTES:

[316] I am under obligations to the Military Secretary of the English
War Office for a copy of the official returns of Gen. Gage of his
losses on April 19, 1775, accompanied by the following:

"WAR OFFICE

"The Military Secretary begs to inform Mr. Frank W. Coburn with
reference to his letter of the 27th November last, addressed to the
late Commander in Chief, that the only information available on the
subject of the casualties sustained by the British Troops during the
action at Lexington on 19th April, 1775, is contained in the Lords'
Gazette of 6-10 June, 1775, an extract of which is enclosed.

"WAR OFFICE,
"25th Sept., 1901."

"MR. FRANK W. COBURN,
"Lexington, Massachusetts."

[317] Smith's West Cambridge Address.

DISTANCES MARCHED BY THE BRITISH SOLDIERS.

I have measured the routes of the various detachments and am enabled
to give them as follows, in each case of Smith's force from the shore
of Charles River in Cambridge, out to Concord and back to the shore
of Charles River in Charlestown. The route of Percy's force was
from School Street, Boston, out through Roxbury, etc., to the High
School in Lexington, and return to the shore of Charles River, in
Charlestown. My cyclometer is divided into eighty-eight fractions of
a mile, each one of sixty feet.

Three companies under Capt. Lawrence Parsons to the home of Col.
Barrett, beyond North Bridge, Concord, 39-71/88 miles.

Three companies under Capt. Walter Sloane Lawrie to the North Bridge,
Concord, 36-11/88 miles.

Force of about one hundred men under Capt. Mundy Pole, to the South
Bridge, Concord, 36-40/88 mile.

Main division under Lieut.-Col. Smith, to Concord village, 34-55/88
miles.

Earl Percy's reinforcement, to the High School in Lexington,
25-(70½)/88 miles.

That of his baggage train captured and destroyed in Arlington,
11-(39⅓)/88 miles.

ENGLISH FRIENDS AFTER THE BATTLE.

As in the beginning of this little history we gratefully chronicled
the warm and sympathetic friendship for America that permeated the
British nation, and particularly the councils of Parliament, so as
we close, we may glance across the ocean again to see if that same
friendship can survive the shock of rebellion against the King. In
quarrels of a family nature one does not feel unpatriotic if he
happens to espouse the cause of the minority. So it was with John
Horne Tooke.[318] His intense friendship for this part of the British
Kingdom was evident at the start and reached a decided climax after
the battle. He was a member of the Constitutional Society, and during
an adjournment or recess of a meeting held June 7th proposed that a
subscription should be immediately entered into "for raising the sum
of one hundred pounds, to be applied to the relief of the widows,
orphans, and aged parents, of our beloved American fellow-subjects,
who, faithful to the character of Englishmen, preferring death to
slavery, were, for that reason only, inhumanly murdered by the King's
troops at or near Lexington and Concord." The money was raised
and placed at the disposal of Benjamin Franklin, to distribute in
accordance with its purpose. The resolution was forwarded to several
newspapers, and its publication naturally aroused considerable
surprise and painful comment.

Mr. Horne was arrested and tried for "a false, wicked, malicious,
scandalous and seditious libel of, and concerning, his said Majesty's
government, and the employment of his troops," etc.[319] He was found
guilty and sentenced to a fine of £200; to be imprisoned for twelve
months; and that he find securities in £800 for his good behavior,
for three years.[320]

I have not read of any other Briton punished to that extent at that
time, for friendship for his fellow subjects on this side of the
ocean. There were many as sincere and devoted to the cause of the
colonists as Horne, and perhaps as openly, too, but he happened to be
the one selected to bear the heavy burden of his King's displeasure.

On a much larger and more impressive scale was the petition of the
Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Commons, of the City of London, in Common
Council assembled, to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament
assembled. It was presented in October, and recited how that body had
"taken into the most serious consideration the present distressed
situation of our fellow subjects in America," and concluded with
the prayer that the House would be "pleased to adopt such measures
for the healing of the present unhappy disputes between the mother
country and the colonies, as may be speedy, permanent and honourable."

But the wise counsels of the great city did not prevail in the House
of Parliament, for that body simply ordered their petition to "lie
upon the table."[321]

So was fought the opening battle of the American Revolution, the
beginning of that long struggle which rent in twain the great English
nation, and gave birth to these United States.

END.

FOOTNOTES:

[318] At that time his name was simply John Horne.

[319] "The Battle of Lexington as looked at in London before Chief
Justice Mansfield and a jury in the Trial of John Horne, Esq. By John
Winslow."

[320] See Memoirs of John Horne Tooke, by Alexander Stephens, London,
1813. Vol. I, page 431, etc.

[321] Parliamentary History of England, XVIII, column 698.

ERRATA

Page XV. line 25 Genealogical, not Genealogicol.
11 line 20 Mothksin, not Mothskin.
11 bottom line, 115, 116, not 116, 117.
13 line 31, MS. not MSS.
16 line 4, of the note, 1100, not 100.
45 line 8, Edget, not Edgell.
67 line 7, latter, not former.
67 line 8, former, not latter.
(_ie._ Comee wounded, Harrington killed).
96 line 18, Colonel, not Lieutenant.
96 line 20, Edget, not Edgett.
96 line 21, Micajah, not Micajab.
96 line 32, Nathaniel, not Nathan.
96 line 33, forty, not thirty-nine.
97 line 1, fifty, not forty-nine.
97 line 2, thirty-five, not twenty-five.
97 line 5, seventeen, not sixteen.
97 line 8 and 9, 1149, not 1137.
97 line 9 and 10, 1577, not 1565.
97 line 17, Whitcom, not Whitcomb.
104 line 27, forty, not twenty.
114 line 15, becoming, not became.
128 line 6, 5, not 15.
130 line 17, Cook's Company was commanded by his
Lieutenant John Marean, thirty-eight men.
130 lines 23 and 24, 2013, not 1981.
133 line 11, were, not was.
134 line 4, seventy-five, not seventy-six.
134 line 16, Kingsbery, not Kingsbury.
134 line 23, Lieut. Shaw, not Capt. Shaw.
134 line 31, fifty-three, not fifty-two.
148 line 23, Dunster, not Dusnster.
161 lines 2 and 3, 3792, not 3760.

INDEX.

Acton, alarm in, 40
Killed and wounded, 157
Men of, 81

Abbott, Lieut. Moses, 81

Adams children, 138
Hannah, removed from her home, 125
Home, 141
Joel, 138
Deacon Joseph, 137,
home set on fire and looted, 137; 138
Mrs. Joseph, 137
Samuel, 17; 18; 21; 25; 29; 30; 31; 34; 36

Adan, John R., note, 23

Alarm in other places, 32

Allen, the one-handed peddler, 28

Americans killed and wounded, 157
Number of, engaged, 161

Andover, alarm in, 34

Arlington, battle in, 130
Killed and wounded of, 157
Men of, 134
Smith's advance through, 51
Percy's retreat through, 130

Aspinwall, Capt. Thomas, 133

Bacheller, Capt. John, 96

Bacon, Jacob, 158
Lieut., John, 143; 158

Baggage wagons of Percy captured, 119
Length of their route, 161

Baker, Lieut. Thomas, of the 5th Regt., 112; 128; 159

Baldwin, Ensign Henry, of the 47th Regt., 112; 128; 160
Col. Loammi, 33; 112

Ballard, John, 17

Bancroft, Capt. Nathaniel, 134

Barber, Mrs. Anne Hay, 155
William, home of, 155
Edward, 125; 155; 157

Barker, Francis, 42

Barnard, Capt. Samuel, 134

Barrett, Corporal Amos, 39
Col. James, 42; 76; 80; 81; 82; 83; 86; 87; 88; 161
Mrs. James, 87; 88
James, Jr., 87
Capt. Nathan, 73; 80; 157
Samuel, 78
Stephen, 87
Deacon Thomas, 78

Barron, Capt. Oliver, 43; 96; 157

Bates, Capt. Oliver, 97

Bathericke, Mother, 119

Battle, Capt. Eben, 134

Beaton, John, 93

Bedford, alarm in, 37
Killed and wounded, 157
Men of, 37

Belfry, the Old, in Lexington, 61

Belknap, Jason, 119
Joe, 119
Capt. Samuel, 97

Bell, Joseph, 157

Bentley, Joshua, 22

Berkshire County Convention, 14

Bernard, Lieut.-Col. Bery, 159

Beverly, killed and wounded, 157
Men of, 134

Bigelow, Capt. Timothy, 46

Billerica, alarm in, 39
Men of, 96
Wounded, 157

Black Horse Tavern (see also Wetherby's Tavern), 18; 36; 51; 52

Blanchard, Luther, 42; 83; 84; 99; 157
Timothy, 157

Blaney, Capt. Benjamin, 134

Bliss, Mr., 9
Mr. (tory), 16

Bloody Angle in Lincoln, battle at, 101; 105

Bond, Joshua, house and shop of, burned, 126

Boston Massacre, 2

Boston Port Bill, 2

Boston, start of Percy from, 114
Start of Smith from, 19

Bowman, Lieut. Solomon, 53; 54; 145
Capt. Thaddeus, note 35; 37; 58; 61

Boynton, Thomas, Journal of, note 34

Breed, Joshua, 158

British Forces, 13
Killed, wounded, prisoners and missing, 159
Number of engaged, 160
Prisoners, first ones captured, 71
Start for Lexington and Concord, 19

Brookline, killed, 157
Men of, 133

Brooks, Major John, 96
Joshua, 84; 99; 158
Tavern, 98; 102

Brown, Deacon Benjamin, 71
Capt. David, 39; 40; 74; 80; 83
Francis, 158
John, 60; 70; 158
Jonas, 99; 157
Jonathan, 40
Reuben, 93
Solomon, 18; 27; 28; 34; 35; 36; 67; 68
Widow, her Tavern, 42; 88

Bryant, Albert W., note, 35

Buckman, John, 67
Tavern, 30; 31; 36; 37; 60; 61; 62; 67; 68; 71; 111

Budge, James, 119

Bullard's Bridge, 47; 48

Bullet found in Lexington, 106

Bull's Tavern, 72; 106

Burgoyne, Gen. John, 4

Butterfield, Jonathan, 138
Samuel, home of, 160

Buttrick, Major John, 81; 82; 84; 85; 91
John (fifer), 83

Cambridge, battle of, 145
Burial of the patriot dead of, 149
Killed and missing, 157
Men of, 104
Percy's retreat through, 145
Smith lands at, 20;
advances through, 47; 50

Camden, Lord, 4

Cannon, carriages of, burned, 92; 94
Percy's opening bombardment in Lexington, 122; 123
Trunnions knocked off, 92; 94

Capen house, 49

Chamberlain, Aaron, 157
Nathaniel, 143; 153

Charlestown, battle in, 154
Killed, 157
Percy's arrival in, 154
Selectmen arrange an armistice with Percy, 156

Chatham, Lord, 4

Cheever, David, 51

Chelmsford, alarm in, 43
Men of, 96
Wounded, 157

"Cheevy Chase," 115

Child, Capt. Lemuel, 44; 134

Choate house, in Somerville, 49

Christ Church (Old North) in Boston, 23

Clarke, Miss Elizabeth, letter of, note, 113
Rev. Jonas, 25; 34; 36; 113
Jonas, son of Rev. Jonas, 30

Clark, Capt. Thomas, 40

Cleaves, Nathaniel, 144; 157

Coburn, Capt. Peter, 44

Concord, alarm in, 39
Battle of, 78
Court House saved, 95
Damages in, 95
Men of, 81
Smith's advance into, 73
Smith's retreat from, 95
Wounded, 157

Comee, Joseph, 62; 66; 67; 70; 158

Committee of Safety, 9; 10; 11; 12; 18; 51; 128
Supplies, 10; 11; 12; 18; 51

Conant, Col., 21; 24
Daniel, 158

Congress, First, Continental, 3
First, Provincial, 3; 5
Its limited power, 6; 7
Second, Provincial, 7; 11

Cook, Capt. Phinehas, 130
Rev. Mr., 120; 137
Samuel, 143; 157

Cooper, Benjamin, 142; 143
Rachel, 142; 143
Tavern, 25; 142; 143

Coolidge, Jacob, 144
Joseph, 158

Council of War in Concord, 80; 81
In Somerville, 156

Court House in Concord saved, 95

Cox, Lieut., of the 5th Regt., 112; 128; 159
William, one of the Boston Tea Party, note, 2

Crosby, Lieut., 96

Cudworth, Capt. Nathan, 96

Cumings, Dr., 93

Cutler, Mr., 136
Rebecca, 136

Cutter, Ammi, 119; 121; 139

Daland, Benjamin, 143; 157

Damages in Concord, 95

Damages in Lexington, viz., Bond's, 126;
Loring's, 124;
Mason's, 128;
Mead's, 124;
Meeting House, 112; 123;
Merriam's, 124;
Mulliken's, 126;
Munroe's, 127;
Sanderson's, 127;
Total, 128

Damages in Somerville, viz., Miller's, 153;
Abigal Shed, 154;
Ebenezer Shed, 154

Danvers, alarm in, 34
Killed, wounded and missing, 157
Men of, 134

Davis, Ezekiel, 84; 99; 157
Capt. Isaac, 41; 42; 43; 80; 81; 82; 83; 84; 91; 99; 157

Dawes, William, 18; 20; 21; 25; 26; 27; 44

De Bernicre, Ensign, 16; 75; 76; 86; 89; 94; 109; 130

Dedham, alarm in, 44
Killed and wounded, 157
Men of, 134

Des Barres's Map of Boston and Vicinity, note, 48

Devens, Richard, 12; 24; 26; 51; 52

Dimond, William, 58; 61

Distances marched by the British soldiers, 16

Dodge, Capt. Caleb, 134
William, 3rd, 144; 157

Douglass, Robert, 33; 61

Downer, Dr., 136

Dracut, alarm in, 43
Men of, 44

Draper, Capt. Daniel, 134
Capt. William, 44; 134

Ears, cutting off of, charged to Americans, 89

Eaton, Capt. Thomas, 96

Edgett, Capt. Simon, 45; 96

Ellis, Capt. William, 134

Emerson, Rev. William, 39; 89

Emes, Capt. Jesse, 96

English friends after the battle, 162

English War Office, letter from the Military Secretary of, note, 159

Epes, Capt. Samuel, 134

Estabrook, Prince, 70; 158

Everett, Israel, 144; 157

Fairbanks, Capt. David, 134

Farmer, Capt. Edward, 96
Nathaniel, 70; 158

Farrington, Capt. William, 134

Faulkner, Col. Francis, 41
Francis, Jr., 41

Felt, Joshua, 158

Fiske, Benjamin, home of, 108

Fiske Hill in Lexington, fighting near, 106

Fitch, Nathan, Jr., Tavern of, 38

Flight of Hancock and Adams, 30

Flint, Capt. John, 96
Capt. Samuel, 134
William, 143; 158

Flour in Concord destroyed, 92; 94

Forces of the Americans and British compared, 160

Foster, Rev. Edmund, 33; 96

Fox, Capt. Jonathan, 97

Framingham, alarm in, 45
Men of, 96
Wounded, 157

Franklin, Benjamin, 162

Friends, English, after the battle, 162

Frost, Capt. Ephraim, 120
House in Somerville, 49
Samuel, 157

Fuller, Capt. Aaron, 134
Capt. Amariah, 130

Gage, Gen. Thomas, 5; 6; 8; 13; 14; 15; 16; 17; 18; 34; 54; 75; 94;
114; 115; 146; 149; 155; 156; 160

Gardner, Henry, note, 7
Major Isaac, 133; 147; 157
Col. Thomas, 51

Gerry, Elbridge, 18; 36; 51; 52; 53

Gleason, Capt. Micajab, 96

Goddard, Mrs. Mehitable Gay, 27

Goldthwaite, Ebenezer, 143; 157

Goodridge, Capt., 11

Gordon, Rev. William, note, 16

Gould, Lieut. Edward Thornton, of the 4th or King's Own Regt., 85;
99; 121; 159

Gould, Capt. George, 134

Great Fields in Concord, 101

Great Meadows in Concord, 96

Greaton Family, note, 44

Guild, Capt. Joseph, 134

Gun carriages in Concord burned, 87

Hadley, Samuel, 68; 158
Thomas, 143; 158

Hall, Capt. Isaac, 25; 134
Mrs. Thomas, note, 138

Hancock, John, 6; 8; 10; 17; 18; 21; 25; 29; 30; 34; 36; 52
Mrs., 30

Handley, Charles, 88

Hapgood, Capt., 97

Hardy's Hill, fight at, 98

Harrington, Caleb, 62; 66; 67; 68; 70; 158
David, 50; 66
Jonathan, Jr., 66; 68; 70; 158
Thaddeus, note, 37

Hartwell houses in Lincoln, 102
Sergt. John, 102
Sergt. Samuel, 102
Mrs. Samuel, 102

Harvard College, Percy's contemplated destruction of, 116; 149

Hastings, Samuel, 104

Hatchet, British soldier killed with a, 89

Haven, Elias, 143; 157

Hawkshaw, Lieut. Thomas, of the 5th Regt., 112; 128; 159

Haynes, Capt. Aaron, 96
Deacon Josiah, 112; 158
Joshua, Jr., 158

Hayward, James, 108; 112; 157
Lieut., 93

Hicks, John, 148; 157
Mrs. John, 148
Son of John, 148

Hill, Mrs. James, note, 138

Heath, Gen. William, 11; 14; 51; 128; 132; 135; 156

Hemenway, Daniel, 157

Horne, John, 162; 163

Hosmer, Abner, 84; 91; 99; 157
Adjutant Joseph, 80; 91

Hubbard, Ebenezer, 77

Hull, Lieut., of the 43rd Regt., 85; 99; 160

Hunnewell brothers, 49

Hunt, Capt. Simon, 41; 81; 83

Hutchinson, Capt. Israel, 134
Thomas, 13

Indians of Stockbridge, 11

Ireland, Jonathan, 49

Jacobs, Henry, 143; 157

Jasper, Mr., gunsmith, 17

Johnson, Mr., 158

Jones, Elisha, house of, 85; 90
Madame, 30

Jones Tavern, 16

Jones, Rev. Thomas, 30

Kelly, Lieut. Waldo of the 10th Regt., 85; 99; 159

Kennison, Reuben, 143; 157

Kent, Samuel, 49

Killed, wounded and missing, Americans, 157

Killed, wounded and missing, British, 159

Kingsbury, Capt. Caleb, 134
Eleazer, 144; 158

Knight, Lieut., 159

Lamson, David, 119

Lane, Job, 102; 105; 157

Lanterns, signal, 23

Larkin, Deacon, 24, note, 25

Lawrie, Capt. Walter Sloane, of the 43rd Regt., 76; 85; 161

Lechmere Point, Smith lands at, 20; 47; 48; 74

Lee, Col. Charles, 18; 51; 52; 53

Lee's Hill, Concord, 77; 82

Lester, Ensign Jeremiah, of the 10th Regt., 98; 99; 159

Lexington, alarm in, 34
Battle of, 57
Burial of the slain, 113
Damages, 128
Killed and wounded, 158
Men of, 58
Meeting house bombarded by Percy, 112
Smith's advance through, 57
Smith's retreat to Lexington Village, 105

Liberty pole in Concord, 74

Lincoln, Col. Benjamin, 51

Lincoln, alarm in, 38
Men of, 81
Wounded, 158
Smith's advance through, 72
Smith's retreat through, 99

Littleton, alarm in, 44

Locke, Capt. Benjamin, 56; 134

Locker, Capt. Isaac, 96

London, City of, 3
Petition to Parliament, 163

Long Room Club, 15

Loring, Jonathan, 18; 28; 36
Deacon Joseph, 123;
his loss, 124

Lowe, Capt. Caleb, 134

Lowell, Mr., 30; 31

Lynn, alarm in, 32
Killed, wounded and missing, 153
Men of, 134

McDonald, Second Lieutenant, 160

McCloud, Lt. Donald, of the 47th Regt., 112; 128; 160

Malden, men of, 134

Mansfield, Capt. Rufus, 134

Marcy, William, 125; 148; 149; 157

Mark, the negro slave, 24

Marrett, Rev. Mr., 30; 31

Mason, John, 127;
home of, looted, 128

Mead home, looted, 124

Mead, Israel, 119
Mrs. Matthew, 35; 36
Rhodes, 35

Medford, killed, 158
Men of, 134

Meeting house in Lexington, bombarded by Percy, 122

Menotomy, men of, 134

Meriam's Corner, fight at, 96

Merriam, Benjamin, home of, looted, 124

Messengers of alarm, 20

Middle District Caucus, 15

Middlesex County convention, 14

Miles, Capt. Charles, 80; 83; 157

Miller, James, 153; 158

Miller's River, 48

Mills, Amos, 143; 158
Sergt. Elisha, 144; 158

Minot, Capt. George, 39; 40; 73; 80; 157
Dr., 93
Capt. Jonathan, 97

Military Act, 2

Mitchell, Major, 28; 29

Mohawks, Chief of the, 11

Monroe, Timothy, 158

Moore, Capt. John, 81
Mrs., 48

Mothskin, Johoiakin, 11

Moulton, Martha, 95

Mount Vernon, in Lexington, 122; 123; 128

Mulliken, John, 126
Lydia, house of, burned, 126;
her loss, 126
Miss, 26

Munroe Avenue, suggested as a substitute name for Percy Road, note,
125
Anna, 66
Ebenezer, Jr., 65; 70; 71; 158
Jedediah, 70; 130; 158
John, 65
Marrett, house of, 67
Nathan, 37; 38
Ensign Robert, 66; 68; 158
Sergt. William, 18; 25; 35; 36; note, 37; 62; 72; 127

Munroe Tavern, 122; 126

Musket balls thrown into the river, 94

Muzzy, Isaac, 68; 158

Needham, killed and wounded, 158
Men of, 134

Nelson, Josiah, 38; 103

Newhall, Capt. Ezra, 134

Newman, Robert, 23

Newton, alarm in, 45
Men of, 130
Wounded, 158

Nichols, John, 157

Nixon, Capt. John, 45; 96; 112

North Bridge, Concord, 75
Battle at, 78; 80
Occupied by the British, 76

North Church, Old North, or Christ Church, in Boston, 23

North End Caucus, 15

North, Lord, 4

Old Belfry, in Lexington, 61

Old Manse, in Concord, 89

Orne, Col. Azor, 18; 51; 52; 53

Page, Capt. Jeremiah, 134

Parker, Capt. David, 134
Elizabeth S., 60
Capt. John, 18; 31; 37; 38; 58; 60; 61; 62; 63; 64; 66; 67; 71;
82; 101; 104; 105; 110; 124; 127
Jonas, 65; 70; 158
Jonathan, 144; 158
Capt. Joshua, 97
Capt. Moses, 43; 96
Rev. Theodore, 60

Palmer, Col. Joseph, 51

Parliament, 1; 163

Parsons, Capt. Lawrence, of the 10th Regt., 76; 86; 87; 89; 159; 161

Paterson, Col., 11

Payson, Rev. Phillips, A.M., 119

Peirce, Benjamin, 144

Pelham's map of Boston and vicinity, note, 48

Pepperell, alarm in, 44

Percy, Earl, Acting Brigadier-General, 94; 111; 114; 115; 116; 117;
119; 120; 121; 122; 123; 124; 125; 126; 128; 129; 130; 132;
133; 135; 137; 138; 140; 143; 145; 146; 147; 149; 150; 152;
153; 154; 155; 156; 161

"Percy Road," note, 125; 126
Change to Munroe Avenue suggested, note, 125

Phip's Farm, 19

Pickering, Col. Timothy, 155

Pierce, Benjamin, 158
Solomon, 70; 158

Pigeon, John, 11; 45; 51

Piper's Tavern, 48

Pistols of Major John Pitcairn, note, 107

Pitcairn, Major John, 13; 19; 54; 58; 63; 64; 67; 69; 75; 104; 107;
114; 115

Plympton, Thomas, 45

Pole, Capt. Mundy, of the 10th Regt., 76; 91; 92; 94; 161

Pole, William, 143; 158

Pomeroy, Col. Seth, 11

Porter, Asahel, 56; 57; 68; 70; 158

Potter, Second Lieut. Isaac, 113; 128; 160

Powder, thrown into the river, 94

Preble, Jedidiah, 10; 11

Prentiss, George, 139

Prescott, Abel, Jr., 99; 157
Gen., 44
Dr. Samuel, 25; 26; 27; 39

Price Plain, 87

Prince, Capt. Asa, 134

Prisoners, first Americans that were captured, 50

Pulling, Capt. John, Jr., 22; 23

Punkatasset Hill, 40; 43; 75; 80

Putnam, Capt. Edm., 134
Henry, 143; 158
Capt. John, 134
Mrs. John P., presents Pitcairn's pistols to the town of Lexington,
note 107
Nathan, 144; 157
Perley, 143; 157

Quincy, Dorothy, 30

Ramsdell, Abednego, 143; 158

Rand, the widow, 49

Raymond, John, 125; 127; 130; 132; 158

Reading, alarm in, 33
Men of, 96

Reed, Asahel, 158
George, 158
James, 71; 72
Joshua, 71
Mr., 30
Thaddeus, 110

Revere, Paul, 15; 19; 20; 21; 22; 24; 25; 26; 27; 28; 29; 30; 31;
32; 37; 39; 52; 60

Richardson, Josiah, 56; 57; 68
Moses, 148; 149; 157
Thomas, 22

Robbins home, 136
John, 70; 158

Robins, Capt. Joseph, 81
Thomas, 50

Robinson, Lieut.-Col. John, 82

Roxbury, alarm in, 44
Men of, 134
Missing, 158

Russell, Anna, 144

Russell House, Lexington, 36; 124
James, 155
Jason, 139;
home looted, 140; 143; 157
Seth, 157
Capt. Stephen, 44

Salem, killed, 158
Men of, 155

Sanderson, Elijah, 18; 28; 36
Samuel, 127;
killing of his cow, 127

Sandwich, Earl of, 5

Scalping, charged to the Americans, 89

Seaver, Elijah, 158

Sentinels, first posting of American, 156

Shaw, Capt. Peter, 134

Shed, Abigal, widow of, 154
Ebenezer, 154
Samuel, house of, 152

Shattuck, Col. Daniel, 33

Sibley, Rev. J. L., 48

Silver Tankard of the Communion Service belonging to the Church in
Menotomy, stolen, 138

Simonds, Joshua, 62; 66; 71

Smith, Capt. Aaron, 134
Lieut.-Col. Francis, 19; 47; 48; 50; 51; 57; 69; 72; 73; 75; 76;
85; 91; 92; 93; 94; 95; 99; 105;
wounded, 106; 109; 110; 113; 115; 117; 121; 123; 126; 128; 129;
146; 159; 161
Isaac, 117
Capt. Joseph, 97; 103
Capt. Robert, 134
Solomon, 84
Capt. William, 81; 83

Somerset, man-of-war, 17; 22; 23

Somerville, battle of, 150
Council of war in, 156
Killed, 158
Percy's retreat through, 150
Smith's advance through, 48

Sons of Liberty, 15; 20

Souter, Capt., of the Marines, 113; 128; 160

South Bridge, Concord, 76; 91; 92

South End Caucus, 15

Southwick, George, 143; 157

Spring Valley, 119; 120

Spy Pond, 119; 120

Stamp Act, 1;
repealed, 2

Stedman, Capt., 11; 33

Stickney, Capt. Jonathan, 96

Stone, Capt. Moses, 97

Stow, men of, 97
Wounded, 158

Sudbury, alarm in, 45
Killed and wounded, 158
Men of, 96

Sutherland, Lieut., of the 38th Regt., 85; 99; 159

Sword of slain British officer found, 106

Tanner's brook, 99

Tea, tax on, 2

Tewksbury, alarm in, 40

Thatcher, Capt. Samuel, 105; 146

Thompson, Daniel, 101; 105; 158

Thorndike, Capt. Larkin, 134

Thorning, William, 103

Tidd, Benjamin, 37; 38
John, 158
Lieut. William, 66; 67; 70

Tolman, son of Dr. Tolman, 144; 158

Tooke, John Horne, 162

Townsend, Daniel, 143; 158

Treaty of Peace, Feb. 10, 1763, 1

Trenchers destroyed, 92

Trull, Capt. John, 40; 43

Tufts, Dr., 142
John, 136
Mr., 55
Mrs. Rebecca, 136
Samuel, 49

Tufts Tavern, 55; 136;
looted and set on fire, 137

Tufts, Timothy, 50; 150
Mrs. Timothy, 50

Varnum, Gen., 40; 43

Viles Tavern, 72; 106

Walker, Capt. Joshua, 97

Wallace, Dennison, 144; 157

Walton, Capt. John, 96

Ward, Artemas, 10; 11

Warren, Dr. Joseph, 17; 20; 21; 22; 118; 128; 135; 136

Washington, George, 3

Waters, Col., 17

Watertown, killed, 158
Men of, 134

Watson, Abraham, 51
Jacob, home of, 147

Webb, Jotham, 143; 157

Wellington, Benjamin, 58

Welsh, E., 72
Mr., 72
Dr. Thomas, 118

Westford, men of, 97

Wetherby's Tavern, 18; 51
(See also Black Horse Tavern.)

Wheeler, Timothy, 77

Whitcomb, Capt. William, 97

White, Capt. Benjamin, 51
Capt. Thomas, 133

"White Cockade," 42; 83

Whiting, Capt. Moses, 44; 134

Whittemore, Samuel, 51; 141; 142; 144; 147; 157
Mrs. Samuel, 141; 142

Wilkes, Lord Mayor of London, 3

Willard, Thomas R., 72

Willis Creek, 47; 48

Willson, Capt. Jonathan, 38; 81; 101; 105; 157

Winship, Jason; 142; 143; 147; 157
Son of Jason, 144
Simon, 57
Thomas, 70; 158

Wiswell, Capt. Jeremiah, 130
Noah, 158

Woburn, alarm in, 33
Killed and wounded, 158
Men of, 97

Wood, Amos, 77; 91
Ephraim, 77; 91
Sylvanus, 33; 61; 62; 71

Woodbury, Samuel, 144; 157

Wooden spoons destroyed, 92

Worcester, alarm in, 45

Worcester County convention, 14

Wyman, Amos, 31
Jabez, 142; 143; 147; 157
Nathaniel, 101; 105; 158

Wright's Tavern, 75; 93

"Yankee Doodle," 115

MUSTER ROLLS

OF THE PARTICIPATING COMPANIES

AMERICAN MILITIA AND MINUTE-MEN

THE BATTLE OF APRIL 19, 1775,

MOSTLY FROM THE

ARCHIVES OF THE COMMONWEALTH
OF MASSACHUSETTS,

BUT A FEW FROM OTHER SOURCES.

COMPILED BY

FRANK WARREN COBURN.

LEXINGTON, MASS., U. S. A.,

PUBLISHED BY FRANK WARREN COBURN.

1912.

THE FOLLOWING MATTER, INCLUDING THE MUSTER ROLLS, IS NOT COPYRIGHTED.

FRANK WARREN COBURN.

PREFACE.

I have copied the greater part of these patriotic names from the
original Rolls in the Archives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
where they were filed soon after the battle of April 19, 1775, as
claims against the State for services on that and succeeding days.

These Companies were all participants, with the exception of those
of Dracut, Stow and Westford. I have given them, as they came so
nearly into the contest. We know there were scores of others also,
who started with the same patriotic fervor, but who were too many
miles away. Their records of time and distances are also in the State
Archives.

Of all the participating Companies, as I have given them, there were
but ten that filed no claims for services rendered, and they were:
two from Acton, the one from Arlington, two from Brookline, the four
from Concord, and the one from Lexington. I am able to give the Rolls
of four of those (perhaps imperfectly), but cannot give the two of
Acton, two of Brookline, and two of Concord.

I have made no attempt to correct the spelling of names, believing
such a task to be beyond my ability, and I imagine the interested
reader would much prefer, himself or herself, to make any such change
in the family name as may be deemed necessary or fitting.

In most of the Rolls the names of the slain are omitted. I have not
attempted to restore them, as I am not sure in every case to which
Company they may have belonged. They will be found, however, in the
preceding part of this book as the "Americans Killed, Wounded, and
Missing."

FRANK WARREN COBURN.

Lexington, Mass., November 5, 1912.

THE BATTLE OF APRIL 19, 1775.

LEXINGTON.

CAPTAIN JOHN PARKER'S COMPANY.

ON LEXINGTON COMMON, AND THE FIRST COMPANY IN THE CONTEST.

As no claim for services on April 19 was filed with the Commonwealth,
I have no official Roll. Hudson, in his "History of Lexington," gives
the names of one hundred and twenty as constituting the Company, and
in the genealogical department of the same work gives several others.
In the depositions of participants published in the "Journals of Each
Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, 1774-5," are quite a number who
named themselves as of Parker's Company, one of them being Phillip
Russell; and Moses Harrington, in the same, places "Jr." after his
name. In this Company I have also included the two Woburn men, Robert
Douglass and Sylvanus Wood, who joined Parker on the Common at break
of day, and accepted his invitation to become members for that
occasion.

_Captain_, John Parker
_Lieutenant_, William Tidd
_Ensign_, Robert Munroe
_Ensign_, Joseph Simonds
_Clerk_, David Harrington
_Orderly_, _Sergeant_, William Munroe
_Sergeant_, Francis Brown
_Sergeant_, Ebenezer White
_Corporal_, Joel Viles
_Corporal_, Samuel Sanderson
_Corporal_, John Munroe
_Corporal_, Ebenezer Parker
_Drummer_, William Dimond
Isaac Blodgett
Ebenezer Bowman
Francis Bowman
John Bridge, Jr.
Joseph Bridge
James Brown
John Brown
Solomon Brown
John Buckman
Eli Burdoo
John Chandler
John Chandler, Jr.
Abijah Child
Joseph Comee
Thomas Cutler
Robert Douglass
Isaac Durant
Prince Estabrook
Nathaniel Farmer
Nathan Fessenden
Thomas Fessenden
Dr. John Fiske
Isaac Green
William Grimes
Benjamin Hadley
Ebenezer Hadley
Samuel Hadley
Thomas Hadley
Micah Hagar
Caleb Harrington
Jeremiah Harrington
John Harrington
Jonathan Harrington
Jonathan Harrington, Jr.
Jonathan Harrington, 3d
Moses Harrington
Moses Harrington, 3d
Moses Harrington, Jr.
Thaddeus Harrington
Thomas Harrington
William Harrington
Isaac Hastings
Samuel Hastings
Samuel Hastings, Jr.
Isaac Hastings
John Hosmer
Amos Locke
Benjamin Locke
Joseph Loring
Jonathan Loring
Amos Marrett
David Mason
Joseph Mason
Abner Mead
Benjamin Merriam
William Merriam
Asa Munroe
Ebenezer Munroe
Ebenezer Munroe, Jr.
Edmund Munroe
George Munroe
Jedidiah Munroe
John Munroe
John Munroe, 2d
Nathan Munroe
Philemon Munroe
Stephen Munroe
William Munroe, Jr.
William Munroe, 3d
Nathaniel Mulliken
Amos Muzzy
Isaac Muzzy
John Muzzy
Thaddeus Muzzy
Jonas Parker
Thaddeus Parker
John Parkhurst
Nathaniel Parkhurst
Solomon Pierce
Asahel Porter
Israel Porter
John Raymond
Hammon Reed
Joshua Reed
Joshua Reed, Jr.
Josiah Reed
Nathan Reed
Robert Reed
Thaddeus Reed
William Reed
John Robbins
Thomas Robbins
Joseph Robinson
Phillip Russell
Elijah Sanderson
Ebenezer Simonds
Joshua Simonds
Abraham Smith
David Smith
Ebenezer Smith
John Smith
Jonathan Smith
Josiah Smith
Joseph Smith
Phinehas Smith
Samuel Smith
Thaddeus Smith
William Smith
Simeon Snow
Asahel Stearns
Phineas Stearns
Jonas Stone
Benjamin Tidd
John Tidd
Samuel Tidd
Joseph Underwood
Joel Viles
Benjamin Wellington
Enoch Wellington
Timothy Wellington
John Williams
John Winship
Samuel Winship
Thomas Winship
Sylvanus Wood
James Wyman
Nathan Wyman

CONCORD.

In the vicinity of Concord were two regiments, one of militia under
Col. James Barrett of Concord, with Ezekiel How of Sudbury as
Lieutenant Colonel, and one of minute-men under Col. Abijah Pierce of
Lincoln, with Thomas Nixon of Framingham as Lieutenant Colonel, and
John Buttrick of Concord as Major. These two regiments did not appear
as such at the North Bridge, the entire force there at the opening
being under the command of Barrett, who directed the advance to be
led by Major Buttrick. Quite a number of the Companies of each were
in line, but not in regimental formation.

_Colonel_, James Barrett of Concord
_Lieut.-Colonel_, Ezekiel How of Sudbury
_Captain_, Nathan Barrett of Concord
_Captain_, George Minot of Concord
_Captain_, Joseph Robbins of Acton
_Captain_, John Moore of Bedford
_Captain_, Samuel Farrar of Lincoln
_Captain_, Moses Stone of Sudbury
_Captain_, Aaron Haynes of Sudbury
_Colonel_, Abijah Pierce of Lincoln
_Lieut.-Colonel_, Thomas Nixon of Framingham
_Major_, John Buttrick of Concord
_Second Major_, Jacob Miller of Holliston
_Adjutant_, Thomas Hurd of East Sudbury
_Captain_, David Brown of Concord
_Captain_, Charles Miles of Concord
_Captain_, Isaac Davis of Acton
_Captain_, William Smith of Lincoln
_Captain_, Jonathan Willson of Bedford
_Captain_, John Nixon of Sudbury
_Captain_, George Minot
_Captain_, Nathan Barrett

There were four Concord Companies present, commanded respectively
by Captains Brown, Miles, Minot, and Barrett. No claims for service
were filed with the Commonwealth in their behalf, therefore, I can
present no official Rolls. I found in Tolman's "Concord Minute Men" a
roster of Brown's Company, and for those constituting Miles's Company
I am indebted to the rare original manuscript belonging to the late
Dr. Charles E. Clark of Lynn, and which was sold at auction by C. F.
Libbie & Co., in Boston, Jan. 15, 1901, for $275.00.

CAPTAIN DAVID BROWN'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

_Captain_, David Brown
_Lieutenant_, David Wheeler
_Lieutenant_, Silas Man
_Sergeant_, Abishai Brown
_Sergeant_, Emerson Cogswell
_Sergeant_, Amos Wood
_Corporal_, Amos Barrett
_Corporal_, Stephen Barrett
_Corporal_, Reuben Hunt
_Corporal_, Stephen Jones
_Fifer_, John Buttrick, Jr.
Phineas Alin
Humphrey Barrett, Jr.
Elias Barron
Jonas Bateman
John Brown, Jr.
Jonas Brown
Purchase Brown
Abiel Buttrick
Daniel Buttrick
Oliver Buttrick
Tilly Buttrick
Willard Buttrick
William Buttrick
Daniel Cray
Amos Davis
Abraham Davis
Joseph Davis, Jr.
Joseph Dudley
Charles Flint
Edward Flint
Edward Flint, Jr.
Nathan Flint
Ezekiel Hagar
Isaac Hoar
David Hubbare
John Laughton
David Melvin, Jr.
William Mercer
John Minot, Jr.
Thomas Prescott
Bradbury Robinson
Ebenezer Stowe
Nathan Stowe
Thomas Thurston
Jotham Wheeler
Peter Wheeler
Zachary Wheeler
Ammi White
John White
Jonas Whitney
Aaron Wright

CAPTAIN CHARLES MILES'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

_Captain_, Charles Miles
_Lieutenant_, Jonathan Farrar
_Lieutenant_, Francis Wheeler
_Sergeant_, David Hartwell
_Sergeant_, Amos Hosmer
_Sergeant_, Silas Walker
_Sergeant_, Edward Richardson
_Drummer_, Daniel Brown
_Fifer_, Samuel Darby
_Corporal_, Simeon Hayward
_Corporal_, Nathan Peirce
_Corporal_, James Cogswell
Joseph Cleasby
Simeon Buridge
Israel Barratt
Daniel Hore
Ephraim Brooks
William Buridge
Joseph Stratton
Stephan Brooks
Simon Wheeler
Ebenezer Johnson
Stephan Starns
William Brown
Jeremiah Clark
Jacob Ames
Benjamin Hosmer
Joel Hosmer
Samuel Wheeler
Warham Wheeler
Oliver Wheeler
Jesse Hosmer
Amos Darby
John Corneall
Levi Hosmer
Solomon Rice
Thaddeas Bancraft
Amos Melven
Samuel Melven
Nathan Dudley
Oliver Parlin
John Flagg
Samuel Emery
John Cole
Daniel Cole
Barnabas Davis
Major Raley
Edward Wilkens
Daniel Farrar
Oliver Harris
Samuel Jewet
Daniel Wheat

CAPTAIN GEORGE MINOT'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

Names and number of men unknown.

CAPTAIN NATHAN BARRETT'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

Names and number of men unknown.

ACTON.

CAPTAIN ISAAC DAVIS'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

Davis was killed and the command fell to his Lieutenant, John
Hayward, who became Captain. The following official Roll does not
include Acton's slain:

"A list of the names of a minute-Company under the Command of
Captain John Hayward in Colonel Abijah Pierce's Regiment, who
entered the Service nineteenth of April One Thousand Seven
Hundred and Seventy Five."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 116_

(_Captain_, Isaac Davis, killed)
(_Succeeding_) _Captain_, John Hayward
_Lieutenant_, John Heald
_Second Lieutenant_, David Forbush
_Sergeant_, William Macksfield
_Sergeant_, Oliver Emerson
_Corporal_, John Davis
_Corporal_, David Davis
_Corporal_, John Barker
Thomas Darby
John Harris
Ebenezer Heald
James Davis
Phillip Piper
Reuben Low
Benjn. Hayward
Simon Hunt, Jur.
Elijah Davice
Ephraim Forbush
Abraham Hapgood
Ezekiel Davis
Ebenezer Edwards
John Robbins
Joseph Barker
William Johnson
Reuben Davis
Joseph Reed
Stephen Shepherd
Thomas Thorp
Solomon Smith
Jonas Hunt
Moses Wood
Ephraim Billings
Joseph Chaffin
Samuel Tempel
Abraham Young
Francis Barker, _Drummer_
Luther Blanchard, _Fifer_

ACTING CAPTAIN LIEUTENANT SIMON HUNT'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

Names and number of men unknown.

CAPTAIN JOSEPH ROBIN'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

Names and number of men unknown.

_Captain_, Joseph Robins
(_Officer_) Israel Heald
(_Officer_) Robert Chaffin
_Acting Captain_, Simon Hunt
_Ensign_, Thomas Noyes

BEDFORD.

CAPTAIN JOHN MOORE'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

"The Account of Capt. John Moore, Commander of the Military
Company, in Bedford, for himself & those of his Company numbered
in the following Roll for time & Travel Spent in the Service
& Defence of the Colony, on & Directly after the alarm on the
Nineteenth Day of April last: Exhibiting, in Destinct Columns
against Each mans name, the number of miles he Travelled, The
allowance thereof, The number of Days he was in the Service, and
the wages thereof; with the Sum total of the Whole; agreeable to
the Resolve of the Honl. Court published in the news-papers and a
vacant Column for Deductions, if any shall be made."

_Lexington Alarms, XIII, 9._

_Captain_, John Moore
_First Lieutenant_, John Meriam
_Second Lieutenant_, Eleazer Davis
_Sergeant_, Joseph Convars
_Sergeant_, James Wright
_Sergeant_, Jeremiah Fitch, Jnr.
_Fifer_, David Lane
James Lane, 3rd
Oliver Reed, Junr.
Samuel Lane
Israel Putnam, Jur.
Samuel Bacon
Samuel Davis
Ebenezer Page
Thaddeus Davis
Edward Stearns
Solomon Stearns
William Page
William Maxwell
Samuel Meeds
Josiah Upton
Samuel Meriam
Abel Bowman
David Fitch
Abijah Bacon
Joseph Hartwell
Thomas Bacon
John Fitch
Samuel Lane
John Lane, Junr.
Solomon Lane
Matthew Pollard
Ziba Lane
Stephen Lane
Samson Hardy
Job Lane, Junr.
Lemuel Blanchard
Oliver Pollard, Junr.
Edward Stevens
Jeremiah Blood
Josiah Davis
John Reed, Junr.
Reuben Bacon
Simon Parker
Ebenezer Johnson
Joseph Ross
Malachi Allen
Jabez Carter
Abraham Merriam
John Lane, 3rd
Timothy Page

CAPTAIN JONATHAN WILLSON'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

Willson was killed and the command fell to his Lieutenant, Moses
Abbott.

"the Account of the Time that Eatch man who belonged to the minit
men of the Town of Bedford Spent at Cambridge in defence of the
County together with Nineteenth of April last & also of their
travil Receoned from the middle of the town according to the mind
of the Company."

_Lexington Alarms, XI, 192._

(_Captain_, Joseph Willson, killed)
_First Lieutenant_, Moses Abbott
_Second Lieutenant_, Timothy Jones
_Sergeant_, Christopher Page
_Sergeant_, Seth Saultmarsh
_Sergeant_, Ebenezer Fitch
_Sergeant_, Asa Fassett
_Drummer_, Olover Bacon
_Fifer_, Jonas Welch
Jabez Russell
Jonas Gleason
Nathan Bacon
Nathaniel Page, Jun.
Joseph Meeds, Jun.
Ruben Duren
Elijah Bacon
Benjamin Bacon
Timothy Johnson
Moses Fitch
David Bacon
David Reed
Nathan Bomar (or Boman)
Ephram Smith
Asa Duren
Obediah Johnson
Benjamin Winship
Ruben Bacon
William Merriam

LINCOLN.

CAPTAIN WILLIAM SMITH'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

"A List of a Company of Minute Men, under the Command of Capt.
William Smith in Colo. Abijah Pierces Regt. who entered the
Service April ye 19th 1775."

_Lexington Alarms, XIII, 97._

_Captain_ William Smith
_Lieutenant_ Samuel Farrar
_Second Lieutenant_, Samuel Hoar
_Sergeant_ Saml Hartwell
_Sergeant_ David Fisk
_Sergeant_ John Hartwell
_Sergeant_ Jonas Mason
_Corporal_ Abijah Mead
_Corporal_ Elijah Willington
_Corporal_ Ebenezer Brown
_Corporal_ Joseph Abbot
_Fifer_ Joseph Mason
_Fifer_ Elijah Mason
_Drummer_ Danl Brown
Nehemiah Abbot
Daniel Child
Abel Adams
Daniel Hosmer
Abijah Munroe
Joseph Peirce
Abra Peirce
Artemas Reed
Jesse Smith
Nathan Tidd
Willm Thorning
Solomon Whitney
Jonathan Gage
Isaac Gage
John Parks
Ebenezer Parks
Jonas Parks
Aaron Parks
Nathan Billings
Timothy Billings
Nathl. Baker
James Baker
Nathan Brown, Jr.
Saml Dakin, Jr.
Humphry Farrar
James Parks
Jona. Smith z
John Wesson, Junr.
Enos Wheeler
Jacob Baker, Jr.
John Garfield
Joel Adams
Joshua Brooks, Jr.
Benja. Brooks
Thomas Blodget
Joshua Child, Junr.
Jacob Foster
Nathl. Gove
Daniel Harrington
Isaac Hartwell
Gregory Stone, Jr.
John Thorning
John Wesson
Joseph Wheet
Danl Billings
William Parks
Willard Parks
Willm. Hosmer

BILLERICA.

LIEUTENANT OLIVER CROSBY'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

"A Muster Roll of a Number of men belonging To Billerica in Coll
green's Regt under the Command of Lieut Oliver Crosby being the
Remainder of the Thurd Company in said Town after the Inlisting
the minet men Who were in the Concord Battle & after ward in the
army at Cambridge the Time after mentioned."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 16._

_Lieutenant_, Oliver Crosby
_Sergeant_, Josiah Bowen
Josiah Crosby
Ebnr. Richardson
Joseph Farmer
Reuben Kendal, Jun.
Benja. Beard
Edward Farmer
Josiah Richardson
Ezekiel Wallker
Joseph Richardson
Abijah Beard

EDWARD FARMER'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

"A Muster roll of the Company, under the Command of Capt. Edwd.
Farmer, of Billerica in Colo. Green's Regt. of Melitia, which
march'd on the Alarm April 19th 1775."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 73._

_Captain_, Edwd. Farmer
_Lieutenant_, John Farmer
Imas Sanders
Thos. Baldwin
Stephen Bassett
Nathl. Blanchard
Sears Cook
Timo. Davis
Oliver Farmer
Samuel Trull
John Patten, Jun.
Wm. Gleason
Reuben Kendle
Benja. Pollard
Asa Patten
Jerh. Allen
Jona. Richardson
Oliver Richardson
Isaac Holt
John Ross
Oliver Stearns
Benja. Sanders
Solo Sanders
John Sanders
Benja. Sanders, Jr.
Saml. Trull, Junr.
Benja. Davis
Ebenr. Sanders
John Tolman
Jacob Cory
Isaac Beard
Justice Blanchard
Benja. Baldwin
Benja. Dutten
John Bell

CAPTAIN JONATHAN STICKNEY'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

"A Muster Role of the Company under the Command of Capt. Jona
Stickney in Coll Bridges Regt of Minet men wich marched on the
alarm April 19th 1775."

_Lexington Alarms, XIII, 118._

_Captain_, Jona. Stickney
_Lieutenant_, James Lewis
_Lieutenant_, John Lewis
_Sergeant_, Timo. Whiting
Jacob Richardson
Josiah Bowars
Wm. Stickney
_Private_, Wm Baldwin
John Blanchard
Saml. Blanchard
Timo. Blanchard
Timo. Whiting, jun.
Solomon Pollard
Joseph Willson
Isaac White
Benja. Davis
Joseph Foster
John Foster
Simo Stevens
Thomas Richardson
Joseph Mace
Josiah Damforth
Daniel Killam
John Willson
Saml. Walker
Joel Walker
Wm. Tarbel
Saml. Hill
John Parker
Nicholas French
Saml. Russ
Saml. Core
Saml. Kidder
Benja. Lewis, Jun.
Asa Spaldwin
Thomas Ditson
Saml. Ditson
Benja. Needham
John Whiting
Joseph Fox
Abijah Blanchard
John Colton
Elijah Danforth
Samuel Richardson
Peter Hill
Solo. Maning
Jeremiah Reed
Jacob Marshall
Jeremiah Hill
Benja. Bowers
Saml. Roggers
Isaac Lewiston
Josiah Bard
Benja. Dows

CHELMSFORD.

CAPTAIN OLIVER BARRON'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

"A list of the Travil and Service of Capt. Oliver Barron of
Chelmsford in the County of Middlesex and the men under him,
belonging to the Regiment of Militia whereof David Green Esqr is
Colonel. We in Consequence of the Alarm made on ye 19th of April
1775 marched from home for the Defence of This Colloney against
the ministerial Troops."

_Lexington Alarms, XI, 210._

_Captain_, Oliver Barron
_Lieutenant_, Samuel Stevens
_Sergeant_, John Ford
_Sergeant_, Benjamin Warren
_Sergeant_, Silos Spaulding
_Corporal_, Jonas Peirce
_Drummer_, John Spaulding
Jacob Howard
Benjamin Spaulding
David Burge
Ephrain Parkhurst
Oliver Richardson
Daniel Dammon
Daniel Sillaway
Willard Howard
William Bowers
Josiah Richardson
John Dunn
John Twiss
Henry Spaulding, Junr.
Joseph Marshall
Stephen Peirce, Junr.
Samuel Fletcher
Joshua Davis
Oliver Fletcher
Jonathan Peirce
Nathaniel Farrar
Joseph Tylor
Thomas Marshall, Junr.
William Mears
John Roby
Benjamin Parkhurst
Moses Barron
John Mears
Jeremiah Abbott
Reuben Parker
David Danforth
Benjamin Parker
Amos Mastes
Isaac Hunt, Junr.
David Marshall
Benjamin Melvin
Samuel Marshall
Daniel Keyes
John Keyes
William Dunn
Benjamin Barrit
James Dunn, Junr.
Francis Daverson
Moses Esterbrooks
William Cambel
Daniel Chambers
John Chambers
Jonathan Sprague
Isaiah Foster, Junr.
Samuel Britton
William Chambers
Benjamin Parker, Junr.
Benjamin Peirce
Josiah Fletcher, Junr.
Joseph Spaulding

ACTING CAPTAIN COL. MOSES PARKER'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

"A Muster Roll of Col. Moses Parker Company, year 1775."

_Lexington Alarms, XIII, 153_

(_Acting Captain_) _Colonel_ Moses Parker
_Lieutenant_, Benjamin Walker
_Lieutenant_, Isaac Parker
_Sergeant_, John Freland
_Sergeant_, Wm. Parker
_Sergeant_, Azariah Procter
_Sergeant_, Villard Parker
Simeon Barritt
Wm. Abbot
Saml. Perham
Wm. Parkes
Isaac Foster
David Spaulding
Aaron Chamberling
Henry Fletcher
Wm. Fletcher 3d
Ieptha Spauling
Mica Spaulding
Robert Adams
(?) ly Reed
Leui Peirce
Isaac Marshal
John Bates
Nathaniel Foster
Benj'n Farley
Enah Cleaueland
Benja Butterfield
Reuben Foster
Joseph Spaulding, Jr.
Solomon Keys
John Parker
John Adams
Ebenezer Goold
Josiah Blood
Zacheous Fletcher
Robert Peirce
Saml. Marshal
Joseph Ausgood
Charles Fletcher
Thomas Adams
Benjn Ausgood
Josharny Durant
David Walker

FRAMINGHAM.

CAPTAIN SIMON EDGET'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

"A Muster Roll of A Minute Company Belonging to Framingham Under
the Command of Capt. Simon Edget, In the Conty of Middlesex who
marched on the alarm on the 19th of april 1775 to Concord &
Cambridge."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 84._

_Captain_, Simon Edget
_First Lieutenant_, James Dvrury (?)
_Second Lieutenant_, Jon Buckmnster
_First Sergeant_, William Mayner
_Second Sergeant_, Joseph Bigelow
_Third Sergeant_, Noah Eaton
_Fourth Sergeant_, (?) Bent
_First Corporal_, (?) rd Manson
_Second Corporal_, Samll Forest
_Fourth Corporal_, (?) d Morse
_Third Corporal_, Joseph Temple
_Drummer_, (?) eh Atkinson
_Fifer_, Moses Edget
(?) Fisk
(?) njn Eaton
Joseph Nickle
Joseph Bennet
(?) Clerki
(?) Dadomon
(?) nj Eaton
(?) m Auerton
(?) s Gates
Ioh Hill
(?) Heminway
(?) Holden
(?) Larned
Samll Ordway
Simon Pratt
Josiah Bant
John Trowbridge
George Gates
David Peterson
Timothy Bollard
Solenas Ballard
Joshua Furlong
Cyrus Minger
Asa Pike
Abrm. Belknap
Joseph Mixter
Isaace Goodman
Joshua Trowbrig
Joseph Tenning
David Senger
Jesse Hoden
James Clayas
Charles Gates
John Eaton
Malkih Eaton
James Morse
Daniel Hemenway
William Cushing
Silas Pike
Abel Stone
Abner Stone
Luther Stone
Asa Morse
Nathan Dvrury
Samll Abbott
(?) sh Haven
Jothan Morse
John Mixter
Simon Rogers
Nennuh Write
Samll Underwood
John Stone
Silas Eaton
Isaace Hevven
Increase Claflin
Peter Salem
Jacob Heminway
Jonas Underwood
Noah Eaton, Jor.
Janers Greenwood
Andra Allord
Nathan Dodmon
Phinhas Green (?)

CAPTAIN JESSE EMES'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

"an Abstract of melitia Compny Belonging to Framingham."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 79._

_Captain_, Jesse Emes
_Lieutenant_, John Shattuck
_Lieutenant_, John Eames
_Sergeant_, (?) Hemenway
_Sergeant_, John Clayes
_Sergeant_, James Glover
_Corporal_, Richard Rice
_Corporal_, Thos. Bent
_Corporal_, Thads. Hager
_Corporal_, John Jones, Joner
Abner Prat
Hennry Emes
Gershom Emes
Jotham Emes
Seth Harden
Nathl. Emes, Joner
Silas Winch
Asa Nvrs
John Nvrs
Jam Mellen
Isace Gibbs
Daniel Jones
Wm. Hemenway
Ebenr. Boolwell

CAPTAIN MICAJAH GLEASON'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

"A Role of the minute men Under the Command of Capt. Micajah
Gleason at Concord April ye 19th, 1775."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 94._

_Captain_, Micajah Gleason
_Lieutenant_, John Eames
_Lieutenant_, Samuel Gleason
_Sergeant_, John Gleason
_Sergeant_, Thomas Buckminster
_Clerk_, Ebenezer Hemenway
_Sergeant_, Shubeb Sever
_Sergeant_, Jonathan Hill
_Corporal_, Gideon Rider
_Corporal_, Alphais Nichols
_Corporal_, Ebenezer Winch
_Corporal_, Roger Brown
_Drummer_, Isaac Heminway
_Fifer_, Thomas Nixon
Jonathan Temple
Silas Hemenway
Elisha Drury
Moses Fisk
Nathan Emes
Zaccaus Fairbanks
John Hemenway
Nathan Hemenway
Perley How
John Mahew
David Rice, Junr.
Samuel Stone
Joseph Tower
Joseph Winch
Andrew Brown
Jonathan Adams
John Maynard
Nedham Maynard
Abel Child
Josiah Weight
David Weight
Francis How
Charles Dority
Micah Dority
Jonathan Hemenway
Daniel Bridge
Joseph How
Ezekiel Rice
Joseph Webb
Simon How
Azariah Walker
Joseph Emes
Moses Rice
Chever Kindell
Joseph Brown

READING.

CAPTAIN JOHN BACHELLER'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

"A Muster Roll of Cap John Bachellers Company of Minute men in
Colo Ebenezer Bridges Regt."

_Lexington Alarms, XI, 245._

_Captain_, John Bacheller
_First Lieutenant_, Ebenr. Damon
_Second Lieutenant_, James Bancroft
_Sergeant_, Thomas Hartsons
_Sergeant_, Abraham Foster
_Sergeant_, Edm Eaton
_Sergeant_, John Green
_Corporal_, Wm. Redding
_Corporal_, Nathl. Cowdry
_Corporal_, Joseph Burnap
_Corporal_, Jona. Flint
_Fifer_, Wm. Wilson
_Fifer_, Charles Eaton
Benja. Badger
Thos. Brown
James Bryant
Amos Bryant
Cleveland Bird
John Burnap
Stephen Buxton
Benja. Buxton
Eben Buxton
Tho Damon
Dan Damon
Eben Damon
Ezra Damon
Joseph Emerson
Kendall Emerson
Thomas Eaton
Joshua Eaton
Wm. Eaton
Samuel Eaton
Edm Foster
Levi Flint
Sam Felt
Nat Graves
Wm. Hartshorn
John Hartshorn
Joseph Holt
Joseph Hill
James Hill
Robert Homer
Wm. Johnson
Thos. Nichols
Simon Nichols
Edw. Prat
Ephm Pratt
Danl. Pratt
David Parker
Nathan Parker
Joseph Parker
Ionas Parker
Thos. Richardson
Luke Richardson
Elijah Upton
Isaac Upton
Benja. Walton
Isaac Watson
Benja. Williams
Timo. Wiley
Timo. Wakefield

CAPTAIN THOMAS EATON'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

"A Muster roll of Capt. Eaton's Compy. in Col.^o Green's Regt."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 93._

_Captain_, Thomas Eaton
_Lieutenant_, Jonas Parker
_Ensign_, John Emerson
_Sergeant_, Amos Parson
_Sergeant_, Jos. Bancroft
_Sergeant_, Wm. Parker
_Sergeant_, John Boutell
_Corporal_, John Temple
_Corporal_, Asa Parker
_Corporal_, Isaac Pratt
_Drummer_, Wm. Nichols
Edmd. Bancroft
Saml. Emerson
(?) nl Damon
(?) bra Eaton
John Nichols
Danl. Parker, Jr.
Benja. Parker
John Pratt
Richd. Nichalls
Thomas Symonds
Jethro Richardson
Wm. Foster
(?) r Richardson
(?) l Weston
(?) a Pool
(?) n Emerson
(?) h Parker
(?) F (?) de
Wm. Beard
(?) Pratt
(?) Nicholls
James Boutell
James Eaton
Jonas Eaton
Edmd. Parker
Saml. Pratt
Ephm. Parker, 2d
Abijah Weston
Aaron Parker
Isaac Parker
John Hartson
Timo. Wakefield
John Farmer
John Buxton
Joseph Boutell
Richd. Mason
Reuben Weston
Benja. Young
Wm. Thompson
Queduthn Buxton
Jona. Nichols
Jona. Weston, Jr.
John Stimson
Jacob Townshend
Andrew Beard
Danl Parker
(?) ahm Parker
Joseph Hill
(?) ona Weston
(John?) Weston
Jabez Damon
Ebenr Emerson

CAPTAIN JOHN FLINT'S COMPANY.

"A Roll of Capt. John Flint's Company in Colo. David Greens
Regiment."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 68._

_Captain_, John Flint
_First Lieutenant_, John Dix
_Second Lieutenant_, Ephm. Pratt
(_Sergeant?_) Timo Russell
(_Sergeant?_) George Flint
(_Sergeant?_) Benja. Upton
(_Sergeant?_) Jabez Upton
Jona Batchellor
Job Bancroft
John Burnap
John Bragg
John Clammons
Stephn Curtis
Ezra Dammon
David Dammon
Deacn Jereh. Eaton
Timo. Eaton
Israel Eaton
Nathl Eaton, Jun
Nathl Evans
Saml Elenwood
Lieutenant, Eleazr Flint
Lieutenant, Benja. Flint
Jona. Flint
James Flint
Ebenr Flint, jun.
Benja. Flint, jun.
Benj. Flint, 3d
Benja. Flint, 4th
Jona. Flint, Junr.
Willm Flint
James Foster
Benja. Foster
Nathan Foster
Abra. Foster
Martin Herrick
Samuel Herrick
(Jacob?) Herrick
Benja. Holt
John Hayward
Danl. Hart
Asa Hart
Ensign, Jos. Lewis
Benja. McIntyer
Benja. McIntyer, Jr.
(?) McIntyer
Hezekh McIntyer
Ebenr McIntyer
Ephm. McIntyer
Solo McIntyer
(Mc?) Jacob McIntyer
Wm. Nichols
Henry Putnam
Jos. Phelps
David Parker
Saml Parker
Isaac Tinckcom
Wm. Russell
Sergeant, Abra. Sheldon
_Ensign_, Wm. Sawyer
John Stack
Nathl. Sheldon, Jr.
Zacha. Sheldon
Wm. Stone
Thos. Taylor, Jr.
Saml. Taylor
Joseph Upton
Jacob Upton
Amos Upton, Jr.
Amos Upton, 3d
Ebenr Upton
Wm. Upton
Nathl Upton, Jr.
John Upton
David Upton
Wm. Whitridge
David Wright
Doct. Amos Upton
_Corporal_, Hezh. Upton

CAPTAIN JOHN WALTON'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

"A Muster roll of Capt. John Walton's Compy in Colo. David Greens
Regiment April 19th, 1775."

_Lexington Alarms, XIII, 166._

_Captain_, John Walton
_Lieutenant_, John Pratt
_Ensign_, Thomas Green
_Sergeant_, John Brown
_Sergeant_, John Vinton
_Sergeant_, Wm. Green
_Sergeant_, Saml Gould
_Corporal_, James Smith
_Corporal_, James Bennett
_Drummer_, Thomas Pool
_Fifer_, Thomas Hudson
Aaron Green
John Fowl
Isaac Smith
Michael Sweetser
Nathl Wiley
David Smith
Benja. Bordman
Reuben Eaton
(?) n Gould
Wm Gould, Junr.
James Wiley
Amos Bordman
Nathan Green
Wm Tarbox
James Johnson
John Pratt
Nathl Gary
Isaac Green
(?) omas Green
Josiah Briant
(?) h Briant
Jona. Evans
Thos Evans
Jonas Evans
Ebenezer Smith
Saml Feltch
(? Catei) Feltch
Nathan Feltch
John Farrier
Nathan Wolley
Cornelius Sweetser
Danl. Lewis
Timo. Briant
Saml Evans
Ebenr. Parker
John Colman
John Lambert
Ebenr. Williams
Thos. Damon
Benja. Hartshorn
Jona. Hartshorn
Ebenr. Stimpson
Ebenr. Hopkins
Wm Bennett
John Goodwin
Benja. Emerson
Jacob Walton
Benja. Butters
Saml. Hitchens
S (?) r Emerson
Thos Davis
Jona. Eaton
Benja. Brown
Wm Brown
Jos. Emerson
Elias Bordman
Thos Parker
Jacob Emerson
Joseph Gould
Thos Parker, Jr.
Thos Emerson
Thos Emerson, Jr.
John Pike
Aaron Nirs
(?) Eaton
Jona. Foster
Jereh. Brown
Wm. Walton
Ebenr. Walton
Oliver Walton
John Hawks
Brown Emerson
Jabex Carter
(Uriah or Josiah) Green, of Stoneham
Thomas Hay, do
Saml Hartshorn
John Green

SUDBURY.

CAPTAIN NATHANIEL CUDWORTH'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

"A Muster Roll of the Minute Compy. under the Command of Capt
Nathl. Cudworth, in Col. Abijah Peirce's Regiment."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 8._

_Captain_, Nathl. Cudworth
_Lieutenant_, Thadeus Russell
_Ensign_, Nathl. Maynard
_Sergeant_, Nathl. Reeves
_Sergeant_, Jona. Hoar
_Sergeant_, Caleb Moulton
_Sergeant_, Thoms. Rutter
_Corporal_, Josih. Willington
_Corporal_, Thads. Bond
_Corporal_, David Clough
_Corporal_, Josha. Kendell
_Drummer_, John Trask
Phins. Gleason
Ebenr. Dudley
John Noyes. Jr.
Timothy Underwood, Jr.
Peter Brintnal
Zebr. Farrar
Jona Parmenter, Jr.
Jona. Wesson
Saml. Pollard
Danl Rice
Leml. Whitney
Benjn. Adams
Saml. Curtis
Richd. Heard, Jr.
Saml Bent
Saml. Haynes
Joseph Nichols
Willm Grout
Saml Merriam
David Underwood
Naum Dudley
James Phillips
Edmd. Rice, Jr.
Nathl. Parmentor
David Damon
David Rice
Edward How
Timothy Sherman

CAPTAIN AARON HAYNES'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

"A Muster Role of Millitia Company a part of an Alarm Company
that Marched to Cambrdg by Concord on the Alarum on the ninteth
of April last the Comand of Capt. Aaron Haynes of Sudbury and
Returning home."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 123._

_Captain_, Aaron Haynes
_Lieutenant_, Daniel Bowker
_Second Lieutenant_, James Puffer
_Sergeant_, Joshua Haynes
_Sergeant_, Samll. Dakin
_Sergeant_, Samll. Puffer
_Sergeant_, Jona. Haynes
_Corporal_, Benja. Smith
_Corporal_, Asahel Balcom
_Corporal_, Hope Brown
_Corporal_, Ithamar Rice
_Clerk_, Phinehas Puffer
_Fifer_, Aaron Haynes
Abel Maynard
Silas Tower
Thomas Puffer
Rufus Parmenter
James Parmenter
Ebenr. Plymton
Abel Tower
Francis Grean
Jason Haynes
Joseph Haynes
Joel Brigham
Abel Willis
Isaac Rice
John Beamis
Moses Noyes
David Moore
Micah Howard
John Maynard
James Haynes
Isaac Puffer
_Lieutenant_, Oliver Dakin
_Sergeant_, Abijah Brigham
Israel Haynes
Edmund Parmenter
Henry Smith
Dean Thos. Plymton
(And possibly Silas How, not given in official roll.--F. W. C.)

CAPTAIN ISAAC LOCKER'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

"Province of the Massachusetts Dr To Isaac Locker & the men under
me by name, in ye Colony for service done in defence of the
Country on ye 19th day of April to ye 21st of the same when the
alarm at Concord agreeable to the General Courts Order made up
this accot."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 178._

_Captain_, Isaac Locker
_Lieutenant_, Oliver Noyes
_Quartermaster_, Jas. Ruffer
_Corporal_, Jas. Noyes
_Corporal_, Jesse Gibbs
_Corporal_, Abel Smith
(Da?) Wood Moore
Ephm Moore
Jonas Wheeler
Jesse Mostman
Rufus Bent
Jason Bent
Wm Wyman
Jos. Butler
Wm. Noyes
Timo. Sharmon
Danl. Moore, Jr.
David Curtis
Zachh. Heard
Jacob Jones
Nathl. Knowlton
Jonas Rice
Nathan Stearns
Micah Greaves
Nathl. Jenison
Stephn Locker
Asaph Travis
Jonas Locker
Simon Newton
David Heard

CAPTAIN JOHN NIXON'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

"A List of a Company of Minute men under the command of Capt
John Nixon in Colonel Abijah Pierce's Regiment who entered the
Service April Nineteenth One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy
Five."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 26._

_Captain_ John Nixon
_Lieutenant_ David Moor
_Second Lieutenant_ Asahel Wheeler
_Sergeant_ Micah Goodenow
_Sergeant_ Elijah Willis
_Sergeant_ Jeremiah Robins
_Sergeant_ Abel Holden
_Corporal_ Hopstill Brown
_Corporal_ Jesse Moor
_Corporal_ Uriah Wheelr
_Corporal_ William Moor
Joseph Baleum
Phillmon Brown
Samll. Brigham
Samll. Cuting
Asher Cutler
William Dun
Aaron Ames
Robert Ames
Saml. Gleason
Thomas Goodenow
Jesse Goodenow
William Goodenow
Reuben Haynes
Joshua Haynes
Caleb Wheeler
John Weighton
Elishai Wheeler
Israel Willis
Hopestill Willis
Ebenezer Wood
Jonas Holden
Simeon Hingerson
Daniel Looring
Thaddeus Moor
William Maynard
Daniel Maynard
Eliale Moor
Uriah Moor
Isaac Moor
John Moor
Josiah Richardson
Nathan Reed
Charles Rice
Oliver Rice
Jonas Rice
Ezra Smith
John Shirley
Peter Smith
Abraham Thompson
Daniel Wright
Nathaniel Rice
Daniel Putnam
Micah Grout

CAPTAIN JOSEPH SMITH'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

"A Muster roll of the Company under the Command of Capt Joseph
Smith, in Colo James Barrett's Regiment from Sudbury on April
19th 1775, in pursuit of the Ministerial Troops."

_Lexington Alarms, XIII, 94._

_Captain_ Jos. Smith
_Lieutenant_ Josiah Farrar
_Lieutenant_ Ephm. Smith
_Ensign_ Timo. Underwood
_Sergeant_ Wm. Bent
_Sergeant_ Saml. Griffen
_Sergeant_ Robt. Cutting
_Sergeant_ John Bruce
_Corporal_ Saml. Tilton
_Corporal_ Nathn. Smith
_Corporal_ Peter Johnson
_Corporal_ John Meriam
_Drummer_ Thos. Trask
Edwd. Sherman
Timo. Bent
Micah Rice
Isaac Gould
John Barnay
Joel Stone
Isaac Daman
John Tilton, Junr.
John Cutting
Sami. Tilton, Junr.
Amos Oddaway
(?) Travis
Roland Bennett
Isaac Stone
John Stone
Isaac Rice, Junr.
Wm. Dudley
John Peton
Frances Jones
(James) Sharman
[?] Thomas
Joseph Goodenow
Josiah Allen
Elisha Cutting
Jacob Gould
Benja. Dudly
Zachh. Briant
Ebenr. Johnson
Jona. Bent
Sarion Belcher
John Dean
James Sanderson
Ephm. Barker
Jona Cutting
James Davis
Jason Parmenter
(And possibly Samuel Sharmon, not given in official list. F. W. C.)

CAPTAIN MOSES STONE'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

"These certify that the men's names hereafter annex'd march'd on
ye 19th of April last, to Head Qrs we being under Command of Lt
Colo Ezekiel How of Sudbury and Moses Stone Capt."

_Lexington Alarms, XIII, 86._

_Captain_ Moses Stone
_Lieutenant_ Jona. Rice
_Second Lieutenant_ Joseph Goodnow
_Sergeant_ Joseph Moore
_Corporal_ Ephm Carter
David How
Benja. Berry
Ion Carter
Elijah Goodnow
David How
Ezekl How, Jr.
Jonas Wheeler
Isaac Lincoln
Thos Ames
Thos Burbank
Nathl Bryant
Israel Maynard
Thos Carr, Junr.
Isaac Moore
Uriah Moore
Abner Walker
Wm. Walker
Abel Parmenter
Danl Asburn
Thos Derumple

"These Certify that the Names hereafter annex'd march'd on the
19th of April last to Hd Qrs we being under the Command of Lt.
Col^o Ezekiel How of Sudbury and Moses Stone Capt.---- I would
inform all well wishers to North America, those hereafter nam'd
are the men that went off without a proper Dismission.

"Attest Moses Stone Capt."

_Lexington Alarms, XIII, 86._

Peter Haynes
_Lieutenant_ Elisha Wheeler
Aaron Good'now
Thomas Walker
Ebenr Burbank
Thos Derumple
Nathl Brown
Uriah Hayden
[Is?]rael Willis
Calvin Clark

WOBURN.

CAPTAIN SAMUEL BELKNAP'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

"A List of the names of the Men who Marched from Woburn [torn
off] Concord and from thence to Cambridge on the nineteenth day
of April 1775 under the Command of Capt. Samuel Belknap together
with their after Services untill the Army was form'd."

_Lexington Alarms, XI, 194._

_Captain_ Samuel Belknap
_Lieutenant_ Joseph Winn
_Lieutenant_ Nathaniel Brooks
_Sergeant_ Joshua Tay
_Sergeant_ Samuel Person
_Sergeant_ William Fox
_Clerk_ Abijah Tompson
_Drummer_ Jonathan Wright
_Drummer_ Jesse Russell, Junr.
_Fifer_ Jonathan Kendol
Israel Reed
Jesse Russell
Jona. Brooks
John Bruce
William Abbit
Jona. Tottingham
Ephram. Tottingham
William Breuster
Samuel Winn
Cyrus Bruce
John Flagg
Robert Convers
James Foyle, 3
James Fowle, 4
Seth Johnson
Thos. Deen, Junr.
Jonathan Laurence
Daniel Reed
Josiah Walker, Junr.
Nathan Kendol
Zeb Simonds
Cotton Center
Asael Simonds
Robert Douglass
John Cutter, Junr.
Francis Johnson, Junr.
Samuel Simms
Nathaniel Kendol
Jabez Thompson
Samuel Peirce
Hiram Thompson
Josiah Parker
Thos. Bruce
Peter Wyman, Junr.
Joseph Laurence
Jacob Peirce
Isaac Reed
Nathaniel Wyman
Silas Simonds
Benjamin Parker
Joseph Bruce
James Baldwin
David Johnson
James Wright
George Bruce
Ruben Johnson
James Convers
Ichobod Richardson
Thomas Wright, Junr.
Dudley Porter
Samuel Russell
George Reed
William Simms
John Burnam
Jeames Snow
Samuel Wyman, Junr.

CAPTAIN JONATHAN FOX'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

"A Roll of the Trauel and Seruice of the men that went under my
command on the alaram on 19 of Aprel 1775 Last for the Defences
of thes Coloney and the Rites of America we went from Woburn to
Concord we went to Cambrege With the number of miles each man
went and the Dayes he was in the servieces."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 70._

_Captain_ Jona. Fox
_Lieutenant_ James Wymon
_Lieutenant_ John Richardson
_(Quartermaster?_) Judothon Richardson
_Sergeant_ Gosse Richardson
_Sergeant_ Samll. Tay
_Sergeant_ Gasse Wymon
_Doctor_ Aaron Mason
_Sergeant_ John Fowle
Josiah Richardson
(Lanrd?) Richardson
Abraham Skens
Abel Richardson
John Skens
Josiah Fowle
Josepht Skens
Ben. Richardson
Josiah Right
Admon Richardson
Zack Brooks
Joshuay Reed
Will Tay
John Tay
Joshuay Wymon
John Fox
Elezr Poole
Thomas Parmer
Nathan Wymon
John Duglesh
Ruben Richardson
Hare Richardson
Thomos Muthes
Andro Evens
Archebl Tay
Will Wats
Josiah Brown
Silas Richardson
Ase Richardson
Samll. Richardson
Silos Wymon
Tim. Brooks
Gasse Right
David Richardson
David Richardson, Jur.
Noah Eighten
Jona. Smeth
Zack. Richardson
Tomas Wymon
Bart. Richardson
Joshuay Parse
Ben Richardson, Jur.
Jacob Eames, Jun.
Silos Richardson
John Right
Jona. Richardson
John Richrdson
Aaron Tay
Pall Wymon
Stuen Richards
Nathenl Wats
Barny Richrdson
Ebrz Richrdson
Zack. Richrdson
Will Brooks
Zablon Richrdson
Ebnr Richrdson, Jur.
Nathan Richardson
Samll. Thompson
Lanrd Fowle
Joseph Fowle
Jacob Eames
Josephel Brown

CAPTAIN JOSHUA WALKER'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT CONCORD.

"A muster Roll of Capt. Joshua Walker's Company under the Command
of Colonel David Greene of the 2d Regiment of Foot in the County
of Middlesix."

_Lexington Alarms, XIII, 155._

_Captain_ Joshua Walker
_First Lieutenant_, Jona. Tidd
_Second Lieutenant_ John Wood
_Ensign_, Jos. Johnson, 3d
_Sergeant_ Saml. Dean
_Sergeant_ Jacob Caldwell
_Sergeant_ Nathl. Cutler
_Sergeant_ Ezra Wyman
_Corporal_ Isaac Buxton
_Corporal_ Ruben Kimbal
_Corporal_ James Read
_Drummer_ Jacob Winn
Abraham Andrews
John Alexander
Giles Alexander
David Blanchard
David Blanchard, Junr.
James Tomson, Junr.
_Corporal_ John Cal (?) h
Ebenzr. Cummings
David Cummings
William Carter, Jr.
Nathl. Cutler, Junr.
Saml. Cutler
Andrew Dodge
(?) Dean
Alexander Ross
(?) Reed
(?) Read
(?) Read
( ? )
Tho Skilton, Jun.
Dayz Skilton
Luther Simonds
Jona. Simonds
Calvin Simonds
Abijah Smith
Timothy Twist
David Tweed
Increas Winn
Timothy Wilson
Abel Wyman
Eliaphaz Wyman
Edward Wilk (?)
Saml. Johnson
Timothy Winn, Junr.
Amos Blodget
Solomon Wood
John Cheever
Nehh. Wyman
Amos Read
James Twist
John Gleason
Thos. Gleason
David Daniels
Elkanah Welsh
(?) na. Proctor
Nathl. Wyman
Benja. Stratton
Benj. (?) yel
Joseph Giddens
Joshua Jones
William Johnson
Wm. Johnson, Junr.
James Johnson
Azel Johnson
Shuball Johnson
Abiather Johnson
Isaac Jaquwith
Jona. Jones
Jona. Johnson
Jona. Johnson, Junr.
Joatham Johnson
John Kembal
Josh. Kembal
Wm. Lock
Amos Lock
Thos. Lock, Junr.
Thos. Larrabe
Isaac Men(?)
Ina (?)t
Saml. Nevers
Saml. Nevers, Junr.
Joshua Read
Micah Read
Nathan Dix
Stephen Bennet
Tho Bennett
James Bennett
Ebenr. Ne (arman?)
Cate Simonds
Nathl. Trask
David Trask
Benja. Kendal
Selverus Wood
Abram. Alexander
Benja. Blanchard
Thos. Dean
Robt. Fisk
Benja. Gloyd
Abijah Johnson
Ebenzr Merion
Thos. Phillips
Newhall Read
John Read
Sephen Twist
Solomon Twist
Jona. Tidd, Junr.
Isaac Pierce
Jonas Wyman
Abel Winship
James Walker
Edw Wood
Edw. Twist, Junr.
John Bruce
Joel Read
Ebenr. (Lorty?)

STOW.

The men from Stow did not reach Concord in time to enter the
engagement, but pursued the British so closely as to deserve especial
mention.

CAPTAIN WILLIAM WHITCOM'S COMPANY.

"A list of the travel of Cap William Whitcom's company of Stow
in the County of Middlesex and the men under him belonging to the
Regiment of Malitia whereof James Prescott Esq. is Colonel, we
in consequence of the Alarm made on the 19 of April 1775 for the
defence of this Colony against the Ministerial troops &c."

_Lexington Alarms, XIII, 168._

_Captain_, Wm. Whitcom
_Lieutenant_, Joseph Taylor
_Sergeant_, Benj. Munro
_Sergeant_, Sam. Osborn
_Sergeant_, Ephm Tailor
_Corporal_, Dan Hapgood
_Corporal_, Sam Barnard
Jos. Skinner
Wm. Graves
Thos. Wetherbe
Jonas Hale
Stephen Strow(?)
Isaac Whitney
Phinehas Stevens
Nat. Sergant
Arrington Gibson
Eph. Conant
Wm. Hoit
Jona. Puffer
John Eveleth
Philemon Allen
Daniel Gates
Fras. Hemenway
Dan Barker
Jonas Adams
Simon Puffer
Morris McClarg
Stephen Hale
Jona. Piper
Iude Wetherbe
Solomon Taylor
Jona. Robins
(?) as Loring
(illegible)
Chas Whitney
Israel Robbins
Chas. Brown
John P. (?) ting
Jona. Hall
Willm. Walcot
Benja. Pool
Joseph Ellet
Ezra Jewell
Jason Whitney
Abra. Randall
Jacob Stevens
(?) Taylor
Luke Brooks
Stephen Brooks
Stephen Gibson
Thomas Brown
Daniel Jewett
Noah Gates
Phinehas Gates, jr.
Josiah Piper
Oliver Gates
Josiah Gilbert
Jonah Cho (?)
Sam Gates
(?) Gates
(?) Ray
Phinehas Taylor, jr.
John Taylor
John Davison
James Davison
Sam Hapgood
Asahel Smith
Jacob Hale
Jas (?) Wetherbe
Sam. Randall, jr.
Fras. Everleth, jr.
Silas Wetherbe
Levi Wheeler
Nehe. Bachelor
Ben. Brown
Josiah Randall
Oliver Wyman
Robert Coolidge
Ruben Wetherbe
John Burgess
Asa Parmenter

WESTFORD.

The men from Westford did not reach Concord in time to enter the
engagement, but pursued the British so closely as to deserve especial
mention.

CAPTAIN OLIVER BATES'S COMPANY.

"A List of the Travels & Service of Capt Oliver Bates of Westford
In the County of Middlesex and the Men under him belonging to the
Regiment of Militia where of James Prescott Esq. is Coll We in
Consequence of the Alarm made on the 19th of April 1775 Marched
from home For the Defence of this Collony against the Ministerial
Troops."

_Lexington Alarms, XI, 216._

_Captain_, Oliver Bates
_Lieutenant_, David Goodhoe
_Second Lieutenant_, John Abbot
_Sergeant_, Thomas Rogers
_Sergeant_, Solomon Spaulding
_Corporal_, Joseph Prescot
_Corporal_, Daniel Goodhoe
_Corporal_, John Prescot
_Drummer_, Timothy Cummings
William Nichols
John Hadley
Ephraim Bixbe
Levi Bixby
Jacob Bixbe
Nathaniel Cummings
Abel Read
David Dutton
Amos Fletcher, Jor.
Joseph Fletcher
Peletiah Wright
Timothy Prescot
Jonas Prescot 3d
Ephraim Wright
Joseph Wright, Jor.
Jonas Holding
David Bixbe
Abel Boynton
Ephraim Dutton
Benjamin Eastabrook
Josiah Fletcher
Ephraim Haild
Nathaniel Prentice
Stephen Read
Silas Spaulding
Jonathan Hadley
John Barrot

CAPTAIN JONATHAN MINOT'S COMPANY.

"A list of the Travil and Servis of Capt Jonathan Minot of wesord
In the County of Middlesex and the men under him belonging to
the Regement of Melitia where of James Prescott Esq. is Colonel
We in Consequence of the alarm made on the 19th of April 1775
marched from home for the defence of this Colloney against the
Minesterial Troops &c."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 194._

_Captain_, Jonathan Minot
_First Lieutenant_, Zaceheus Wright
_Second Lieutenant_, Leonard Proctor
_Sergeant_, Aaron Parker, jun.
_Sergeant_, Gershom Fletcher
_Sergeant_, William Hildreth
_Sergeant_, Samuel White
_Corporal_, Nehemiah Green
_Corporal_, Amos Wright
_Corporal_, Hosea Hildreth
_Drummer_, Jonathan Minot, Junr.
John Robins
Thomas Meads
John Robins, Junr.
Peter Robins
David Parker
Job Dodge
Benjamin Osgood
James Wright
Ebenezer Parker
Francis Kidder
Thomas Kidder
Rogers King
Amos Parlin
Francis Laughton
Joshua Reed
Elijah Hildreth
John Pushee
Peter Brown
Zechariah Robins, Junr.
Abijah Mason
Nathaniel Holmes
Francis Smith
Charles Proctor
Ceasor Bason
Aaron Blood

CAPTAIN JOSHUA PARKER'S COMPANY.

"A Return of the mens Names & When entered the Service."

_Lexington Alarms, XIII, 56._

_Captain_, Joshua Parker
_Lieutenant_, Thomas Rogers
_Sergeant_, Solomon Spaulding
_Sergeant_, Nehemiah Green
_Sergeant_, Silas Proctor
_Sergeant_, Jonathan Minott
_Corporal_, Peter Brown
_Corporal_, Levi Temple
_Corporal_, Jonas Harding
_Fifer_, Ephrm. Spaulding
_Drummer_, Isaac Parker
Calvin Blanchard
Aaron Blood
Ebenezar Chandler
Samuel Craft
Ephraim Dutton
Ephraim Chamberlin
Benjamin Easter Brooks
Levi Fletcher
Joshua Fassitt
Josiah Fletcher
Isaac Green
Ephraim Heald
Edward Haws
Samuel Keyes
John Parker
John Pushee
Oliver Read
Stephen Read
Francis Smith
Silas Spaulding
Joseph Underwood
Jacob Wendol
James Parry
George Deal
Jonas Blogget
Nathaniel Holmes
Joseph Minott
Jonathan Hadley
John Gordon
_Lieutenant_, Ameziah Fassett

DRACUT.

The men of Dracut did not reach the scene of actual conflict but
tried to, and came so near the British rear guard as to deserve a
place in this record.

CAPTAIN PETER COBURN'S COMPANY.

"Muster roll of Capt Peter Coburn Company of minute men under the
Command of Colo. Bridge."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 25._

_Captain_ Peter Coburn
_Lieutenant_ Josiah Foster
_Lieutenant_ Ebenr Varnum
_Sergeant_ Miles Flint
_Sergeant_ Isaac Bradly
_Sergeant_ Parker Varnum
_Drummer_ Wm. Webster
Josiah Hildrick
Samuel Barron
John Bowers
Edwd. Wyman
Saml. Coburn
Wm. Hildrick
Leonard Coburn
Hezh. Coburn
Bradly Varnum
Peter Hezeltine
Jona. Parkhurst
Isaac Merrill
Solo. Hill
Hencksn. Richardsn
Hencksn Richardsn
Zebh. Jones
Micah Heldreth
James Varnum
Jos. Hunt
Phineas Coburn
Jona. Hamlet
John Varnum
Benja. Barron
Jonas Varnum
John Bradly
Jonas Whiting
Josiah Fox
Abijah Fox
Solo. Wood
Jona. Richardson
Abijah Hill
Benja. Crosby
Jona. Jones

CAPTAIN STEPHEN RUSSELL'S COMPANY.

"A Muster Roll of the Company of Militia under the Command of
Capt. Stephen Russell of Dracutt in Colo. Greens Regt. that
march'd on ye 19th of April A.D. 1775, against the Ministerial
Troops &c."

_Lexington Alarms, XIII, 79._

_Captain_ Stephn. Russell
_First Lieutenant_ Ephm. Coburn
_Second Lieutenant_ Abra. Coburn
_Sergeant_ Matthew Parker
_Sergeant_ Benja. French
_Sergeant_ Timo. Barker
Reuben Sawyer
David Jones
Saml. Brown
Moses Goodhue
John Austin
Jos. Hebberd
Jas. (y ? y)
(?) Crosby, Junr.
Obadh. Richardson
Zachr. Goodhue, Jr.
Wm. Hildreth
Robert Nicklas
Caleb Austin
Ezra Coburn
Saml. Piper
Ephrm. Wright
David Austin
Wm. Farnum
Hincher Parker
John Harvey
James Manser
Wm. Lyndsey
Wm. Coburn
Francis Sawyer
Jeshua Pilsbery
James Harvey
Wm. Taylor
David Trull
Thomas Taylor
David Jones, Jr.
Ephraim Hall
Ephraim Parker
Ezekiel Cheever
Timothy Fry
John Wood
Stephen Wood
Elipha. Fox
Caleb Sawyer
Job Coburn
Wm. Clough
Nehh. Flint
Hugh Jones
Jesse Adams
George Burns
Kindal Parker
James Davis
Mitchell Calley
Green Parker
James Sprague
Moses Davies
David Blood
Joseph B. Varnum
Abijah Wood
Jacob Coburn
Thomas Varnum
James Reed
Jona. Coburn
Jona. Taylor
Wm. Wood
Jonas Richarson
Simon Fox
John Gilcrest
Bartho. Massey
David Fox
Uriah Coburn
David Adams
John Bowers
John Taylor
Wm. Harvey
John Hancock
Danl. Clough
Solo. Jones
Moses Barker
David Clement
David Lyndsey
Timo. Davis
John Barron
John Thissell
John Roper
Thomas Wright
Timo. Brown, Jr.

CAMBRIDGE.

CAPTAIN SAMUEL THATCHER'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT LINCOLN.

"A Muster Roll of the Company under the Command of Capt. Saml
Thatcher in Colo Gardner's Regiment of Militia which Marched on
the Alarm April 19 1775."

_Lexington Alarms, XIII, 143._

_Captain_ Samuel Thatcher
_Lieutenant_ John Walton
_Second Lieutenant_ Jotham Walton
_Sergeant_ Josiah Moore
_Sergeant_ Joseph Bates
_Sergeant_ Saml. Butterfield
_Sergeant_ James Kittle
_Corporal_ Thomas Fillebrown
_Corporal_ Belcher Hancock
_Drummer_ Joshua Gammage
_Drummer_ Will Bradish
Joseph Ayres
John Batherick
Will Bordman, Junr.
Oliver Brown
Benja. Butterfield
Edmund Bowman
Will Brewer
John Caldwell
Walter Coxs
Sam Coxs
Joseph Coxs
Solomon Cooper
Henry Dickson
Isaiah Dickson
John Dickson
John Euers
Ebenr. Fisher
Stephen Frost
Jonathan Frost
David Frost
John Frost
Ebenr. Fessenden
Stephen Goddard
Benj Goddard
Thos. Goddard
Nathaniel Goddard
Torry Hancock
Philemon Hastings, 2d
Thomas Hastings
Stephen Hastings
Will Manning
Abel Moore
Alexander Nelson
John Phillips, Junr.
Thomas Prentice
Nathll. Prentice
Daniel Prentice
Samll. Prentice
Israiel Porter
Stephen Palmer, Junr.
Joseph Palmer
James Stone
Robert Treadwell
Josiah Temple
Ebenr. Wyeth
Jonas Wyeth
Jonas Wyeth, Junr.
Noah Wyeth
Joseph Wyeth
John Wyman
Nathan Watson
Joshua Walker
John Warland
Thomas Warland
Nathll. Wait
Thomas Barrett
James (Reed ?)
John Butterfield
Edward Fillebrown
John Prentice
Parson Smith
John Haven
(Blank) Bangs
(Blank) Killam
Cato Stedman, a negro
Cato Bordman, Do

FOR CAPTAIN LOCKE'S COMPANY SEE UNDER ARLINGTON.

NEWTON.

CAPTAIN PHINEHAS COOK'S COMPANY, UNDER COMMAND OF JOHN MAREAN,
CAPTAIN-LIEUTENANT.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT LEXINGTON.

"A Muster Role of the Several persons that Marched from Newton to
head Quarters at Cambridge on the nineteenth Day of April 1775 on
the Alarem under the Command of John Marean, Capt. Lieut."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 20._

_Captain_ Phinehas Cook
_Captain Lieutenant_ John Marean
_First Lieutenant_ Joseph Craft
_Second Lieutenant_ Caleb Kenrick
_Sergeant_ Samuel Jackson
_Sergeant_ John Thwing
_Sergeant_ Aaron Richerdson
_Sergeant_ Semuel Giuld
Michael Jackson
Elisha Barker
Elisha Fuller
Joshua Jackson
John Barber
John Healy
John Brown
Joseph White
Daniel Richards
Eliphalet Lyon
John Jarvice
Luke Bartlett
Joshua Jackson, Junr.
Jonathan Clark
Robert Prentice
Edward Hall, Junr.
Thomas Hammond
Charles Winchester
Moses Fuller
Samuel Clark
Joshua Murdock
Benjamin Dana
Norman Clark, Junr.
Moses Craft
Timothy Jackson
Solomon Richards
Amos Stone
Moses Hide
Edward Jackson

CAPTAIN AMARIAH FULLER'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT LEXINGTON.

"A Muster Roll of the Several persons that Marched from Newton to
head Quarters at Cambridge on the Nineteenth Day of April A.D.
1775 on the Alarm under the Command of Amariah Fuller Capt (Viz)"

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 57._

_Captain_ Amariah Fuller
_First Lieutenant_ Isaac Jackson
_Second Lieutenant_ Edward Fuller
_Orderly Sergeant_ Aaron Murdock
_Sergeant_ Samuel Woodward
_Sergeant_ Joshua Fuller
_Sergeant_ Daniel Hide
_Corporal_ Noah Hide
_Corporal_ Edmund Trowbridge
_Corporal_ Daniel White
Corporal Samuel Murdock
_Drummer_ Ebenezer Woodward
Ephraim Burridge
Daniel Fuller
Richard Fuller
Joseph Bullow
Jonathan Bixby
Jonathan Shepard
Aaron Childs
Robert Bull
Benjn. Prentice
Franchis Marghil
Jonathan Cook
Amos Hide
Jonathan Williams
Elisha Saverns
William Mackintosh
Josiah Barker
Jonathan Bartlett
Daniel Cheney
John Greenwood
Joseph Adams, Junr.
William Cheney, Junr.
Richard Parks
John Shepard
(?) ah Hide, Junr.
Roger Adams
John Parker, Junr.
Moses Bartlett
Smith Adams
Samuel Miller
(Joseph Jackson), Junr.
(Above name scratched out. F. W. C.)
John Hastings
George Bacon
Elisha Murdock
Joshua Greenwood
Silas Chubb
Nathel. Jackson
Jonathan Winchester
Phinehas Bond, Junr.
Peter Durall (Jr ?)
Samuel Trowbridge
Ebenezer Tolman
Joseph Davenport
Moses Child
Josiah Jackson
William Park, Junr.
Thomas Bogale
Aaron Hastings
John Savige
Silas Barbur
Samuel Parker
Nathaniey Seger
Jonathen Howard
(Daniel Jackson)
(Robert Dalrimple)
(Above two names scratched out. F. W. C.)
Elisha Bartlett
Francis Blandin, Jun.
Thos. Jackn. Greenwood
Jonathan Brown
Samuel Sege
(Joseph Hide, Junr.)
(Above name scratched out. F. W. C.)

THE ALARM LIST

Joshua Fuller
Abrm. Fuller, Esq.
John Brown
Norman Clark
John Woodward
John Fuller
Samuel Crafts
Ephriam Jackson
Joseph Ward
William Clark
Stephen White
Thomas Miller
Benjamin Eddy
Peter Duval
Joseph Adams
John Margret
Alex Shepard
Henry Seger
Thomas Beal
Phineas Bond
Joshua Murdock
Isaac Williams
Nathen Morse
Jeseph Jackson
Thomas Tolman
Francis Blandin
Josiah Knap
Jesiah Cook
John Bogel
John Murdock
Gideon Park
Enoch Hammond
Benjamin Parker
Benjm. Adams
William Hide
Josiah Child
Daniel Hammond

CAPTAIN JEREMIAH WISWALL'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT LEXINGTON.

"A Muster Roll of the Company in the American Service upon the
Alarm in Newton to Lexington under the Command of Capt. Jeremiah
Wiswall."

_Lexington Alarms, XIII, 171._

_Captain_ Jeremiah Wiswall
_First Lieutenant_ Joseph Fuller
_Second Lieutenant_ Sam Richardson
_Sergeant_ Sam Hide
_Sergeant_ William Hamond
_Sergeant_ John Stone
_Sergeant_ James Stone
_Corporal_ Benj Eddy
_Corporal_ Nath Robins
_Corporal_ Thos Durant
John Beal
David Bartlett
Edw Converse
Caleb Whitney
Saml. Coggin
Abner Whitney
Jona. Livermore
Phinehas Robins
Thad. Whitney
Sam Draper
John Rogers
Timo. Whitney
John Adams
Jonas Stone
Daniel Hastings
Aaron Richards
Amos Stone
John Wood, Jr.
Phins. Jackson
Ezra Dana
Sam Wiswall
Henry Parker
Eph Whitney
Abra. Parker
John Kendrick
Eben Greenwood
Gershom Hide
Andw. Whitney
Caleb Wheaton
Elisha Cheney
Oliver Fenno
Elias Fuller
Asa Fuller
Allen Durant
Aaron Fuller
Caleb Parker
Nathan Dana
Aaron Jackson
Elisha Hide
Elisha Robins
John Fillebrown
David Jackson
John Wiswall
Thads. Jackson
Jonas Jackson
Simeon Pond
Saml. Newell
Mr. Noah Wiswall
Eben Parker
Deacon Jonas Stone
Deacon David Stone
Deacon Wm. Bowles
Mr. John Eddy
Dr. Jno. King
Joshua Hamond
Joshua Flagg
Jona. Mirick
Thos. Wilson
John Ward, Jr.
Jesse Jackson
Solomon Robins
Simeon Chamberlain
John Wilson
Jona. Jackson
(Ebenr. ?) Wiswall
Geo. (Teacham ?)

BROOKLINE.

CAPTAIN THOMAS WHITE'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"1775 A Muster Roll of The Militia Company in Brookline Who
Marched against the Ministerial Troops on ye 19th April Under ye
Command of Capn Thos. White in Col. Wm. Heath's Regiment and the
Time of Servis to ye 12th Day of may."

_Lexington Alarms, XIII, 176._

_Captain_ Thos. White
_First Lieutenant_ Caleb Croft
_Second Lieutenant_ Daniel White
_Sergeant_ Moses White
_Sergeant_ Abijah Child
_Sergeant_ Samuel Griggs
_Corporal_ John Harris, Ju.
_Corporal_ Daniel Dana, Ju.
_Fifer_ Isaac Gardner
_Drummer_ Benjn. Larnard
James Coledge
Joseph Dana
Solon. Child
Daail Child
Phinehas Child
Michael Harris
Royal Wood
(?)os Hide
Natha(?) Winchester
Joshua Boylston
Samuel White
Benjn. White, Jur.
Ebenr. Davis, Jur.
John Heath
David Whitcomb
Elisha Gardner
Benjn. Gardner
Saml. Clarke
Gideon Tower
Saml. Coburn
John Coburn
Thaddeus Dean
Edward White
Saml. Croft
Justis Harrington
David (? anton)
Enoch Fish
Saml. Winchester
Joshua Winship
Aaron Child
John Griggs
Joseph Griggs
Robert Sharpe
Aachabald Wares
Jacob Sharpe
James Winchester
John Baly
Barnabas Manard
Moses Johnson
Thaddeous Hide
Jona. Marbel
Phinehas Hammond
Joel Hagar
Benja. Cox
Wilm. Cox
Jonn. Worner
Nathal. Meariam
Nathl. Seaver
Amos Winship
Isaac Child
Abrm. Jackson
Jona. Jones
Ebenr. Bartlet
Thads. Jackson
Stephen Sharpe
Josha. Woodward
David Winchester
Joseph Brown
Benjn. Brown
Benjn. Stratton
Esq White's Peter
Esq Gardner's Adam
Josha. Boylstons' Prince
John Samson

BROOKLINE. (_Additional._)

PART OF CAPTAIN THOMAS WHITE'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"A Muster Roll of Part of the Militia Company in Brookline Who
marched against ye Ministerial Troops ye 19th of April. Under
ye Command of Capn. Thos. White in Col Wm Heaths Regiment. They
Being in the Servis until Properly Inlisted in the Army."

_Lexington Alarms, XIII, 176._

_Sergeant_ Timothy Cory
_Corporal_ Caleb Gardner
Jonas Johnson
Ezekiel Crane
John Blandin
John Alger
John Broodrick
Thos. Champny
Wm Davis
Saml Davis
George Dunlap
John Feneey
Abner Hoit
William King
John McAlvain
Elijah Mills
Saml Merian
David Nutting
Ephraim Payson
John Spear
Silas Winchester

CAPTAIN THOMAS ASPINWALL'S COMPANY.

PROBABLY ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

No claim for service and no muster roll filed with the Commonwealth.
Names and number of men unknown.

MAJOR ISAAC GARDNER'S COMPANY.

PROBABLY ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

No claim for service and no muster roll filed with the Commonwealth.
Names and number of men unknown.

WATERTOWN.

CAPTAIN SAMUEL BARNARD'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"Muster Roll of the Company under the Command of Capt Samuel
Barnard in the Late Col Thomas Gardners Regiment of Militia which
Marched on the Alarm April 19 1775."

_Lexington Alarms, XI, 214._

_Captain_ Saml. Barnard
_Lieutenant_ John Stratton
_Second Lieutenant_ Phinehas Stearns
_Ensign_ Edward Harrington
_Sergeant_ Saml. Sanger
_Sergeant_ Christopher Grant
_Sergeant_ Josiah Capen
_Sergeant_ Stephen Whitney
_Corporal_ Isaac Saunderson
_Corporal_ Moses Stone
_Corporal_ Nathl. Bright
_Corporal_ Willm. Harrington
Nathan Coolidge
Willm. Leathe
Nathl. Benjamin
Thos. Learnard
Stephen Cook
Daniel Coollidge
Josiah Saunderson
Moses Cooidge
Sith Saunderson
Francis Brown
John Sanger
Isaac Prentice
Tilley Read
Thos Hastings
Abram. Whitney
Amos Tainter
John Whitney
Josiah Norcross
David Whitney
Danl. Whitney
John Villa
Zechariah Sheed
Danl. Mason
Jonathan Whitney
Spencer Gooding
David Stone
Jona. Coolidge Gooding
Willm. Chenery
Thos. Stafford
Richard Everitt
Edwd. Harrington Sen.
Thos. Coollidge
Saml. Sodin
John Fowle
David Capen
Peter Harrington
Saml. White, Jur.
Saml. Barnard, Jur.
Jona. Bright
Danl. Sawin, Jur.
Phinehas Childs
Joshua Stratton
Jonas Bond, Jur.
Thos. Clark
Richard Clark
Saml. White
John Remmington
John Chennery
Simon Coollidge, Jr.
Danl. Cook
Jona. Stone
(Illegible, may be Phineas Coolidge or Phineas Esel. F. W. C.)
Benja. Capen
John Hunt, Jur.
Bezaleel Larnard
Amos Bond
John Bullman
Elias Tuffts
Penuel Parks
James Austin
Phinehas Jenneson
Henry Bradshaw
David Beamis, Jr.
Elkanah Wales
Jedediah Learnard
Benja. Learnard
Saml. Bond
Jonas White
Joel White
Ebenr. Everitt
Thos. Prentice
James Mallard
Elnathan Whitney
Zechariah Hicks
John Cook
Nathl. Harris, Jur.
John Randall
Sam Benjamin, Jur.
Elisha Tolmon
Jonas Barnard, Jur.
John Crane
Willm. White
Willm. Jennison
Leonard Bond
Danl. Learnard
Peter Richardson
Jacob Saunderson
Oliver Learnard
Jonas Learnard
Jona. Benjamin
Moses Souter
Samuel Warirn, Jur.
Willm. Learnard
Elijah Feizie
Oliver Munroe
Willm. McCurtain
Phinehas Harrington
Moses Hagar
Willm. Walton
Elisha Brewer
Jonas Coollidge
Jona. Childs
Edmond Fowle
Thos. Hunt
Stephen Harris
Simon Hastings
Henry Gypson
Danl. Jackson
Ephraim Jones
Richard Leathe
Willm. Parks
James Tufts
John Wellington
Ezekiel Whitney
Cornelius Stone
Cornelius Parks
Jedediah Leathe
Willm. Sanger
David Parker
Thos. Wellington
Saml. Warrin
Converse Spring

MEDFORD.

CAPTAIN ISAAC HALL'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"A True Return of the Travel and Time of Service of the Company
at Medford, under the Command of Capt. Isaac Hall in the late
Colo Thomas Gardners Regiment assembled April ye 19th 1775."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 114._

_Captain_ Isaac Hall
_Lieutenant_ Caleb Brooks
_Ensign_ Stephen Hall 4th
_Sergeant_ Thomas Pritchard
_Sergeant_ Isaac Tufts
_Sergeant_ Moses Hall
_Corporal_ John Tufts
_Corporal_ Gershom Teel
_Corporal_ Jona. Greenleaf
_Drummer_ Timo. Hall
_Fifer_ Willm. Farrington
David Vinton
John Buckman
Isaac Watson
Jona. Lawrance
Jona. Davis
Abel Richardson
James Tufts, Junr.
Saml. Tufts 3d
Andrew Floyd
Benja. Floyd
Andrew Blanchard
(?) l Tufts
(?) hn Francis, Jr.
(?) ul Dexter
(?) hn Smith
(?) Butterfield
(?) h Cutter
(?) hn Kemp
Eleazr. Putnam
James Buckman, Jr.
Aaron Crowell
Jona. Tufts
(?) Peirce
(Name torn off)
Aaron Blanchd, Jr.
Richd. Cole
Wm. Binford
Thos. Bradshaw
Daniel Tufts
Peter Tufts, Jr.
Ebnr. Tufts
Isaac Cooch
Danl. Conery
Richd. Pain
Wm. Polley
Peter Conery
David Hadley
Jacob Beden
Joseph Clefton
Saml. Hadley, Jr.
Moses Hadley
John Hadley
John Callender
John Clarke
Andrew Bradshaw
Thos. Savels
Francis Hall
Benja. Savels

MALDEN.

CAPTAIN BENJAMIN BLANEY'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"A Role of the Company of the Militia that Went to Watertown By
order of the Late Colo. Gardner upon the alarm on the 19 Day of
April 1775 and from there to resist the Ministerial troops under
the Command of Capt Benja Blaney."

_Lexington Alarms, XI, 209._

_Captain_ Benja. Blaney
_Lieutenant_ Nathan Lyndes
_Second Lieutenant_ William Wait
_Sergeant_ Amos Shute
_Sergeant_ Nehemiah Oakes
_Sergeant_ Jabez Lyndes
_Corporal_ Micah Wait
_Corporal_ Bernard Green
_Corporal_ Jacob Parker
_Corporal_ Nathan Eaton
_Drummer_ Winslow Sargeant
John Ramsdel
Joseph Lyndes, Ju.
Ezra Howard
John Vinton
Jacob Sargeant
William Sprague
Benja. Lyndes
John Prett
Eben Payne
John Grover ye 3
John Wait, Ju.
David Wait
William Dexter
Jonathan Gardner
Stephen Tufts
Samuel Wait
Unite Cox
Benja. Grover
Ebenr. Wait
Joseph Barret, Ju.
David Howard
Ezra Sargeant
Ezra Hawks
James Wade
Robert Burdit
Gidion Williams
Jacob Pratt
Daniel Chadwick
Thomas Wait ye 3
William Upham
Ezra Upham
Ezekiel Jenkins, Ju.
Joseph Floyd
William Low
Joseph Hollowell
John Jenkins
Frances Phillips
Barnard Newhall
Nathan Parker
Richard Dexter
Timothy Tufts
Samuel Hallowell
Daniel Breeding
Elnathan Breeding
Benja. Brown
Peter Brown
Charles Hill
Phinehas Sprague, Ju.
Edward Newhall
James Green
Silas Sargeant
Ezekiel Jenkins
John Green, Ju.
John Gould
Naler Hatch
Daniel Waters
Joseph Jenkins
Phinehas Sprague
David Bucknam
William Gill
John Grover ye 4
Stephen Pain, Ju.
Benja. Sprague, Ju.
Joseph Lyndes

ROXBURY.

CAPTAIN LEMUEL CHILD'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"Roxbury Decemr 16, 1775. A true and just Roll of the third
Company in Roxbury commanded by Captn Lemuel Child in Colo. Wm.
Heath's Regiment the 19th day of April then called to the 3d day
of May and then dismissed."

_Lexington Alarms, XI, 253._

_Captain_ Lem Child
_Lieutenant_ Lemuel May
_Lieutenant_ Isaac Williams
_Ensign_ Sam White _as a Serjant_
_Sergeant_, Eben Weld
_Sergeant_, Step. Payson
_Sergeant_, Ezra Davis
_Sergeant_, Isaac Sturtevant
_Corporal_, Payson Williams
_Corporal_, John Lowder
_Corporal_, Jos. Weld
_Corporal_, Joseph Brewer
William Wood
Aaron Draper
Ichd. Draper
Jason Wench
Sam Star
Elijah Weld
Eben Goodenough
Abra Clarke
Eben Pond
John Adams
Elijah Child
Peter Everet
John Foster
Peter Walker
David White
Wm. Gould
Asa Morse
John Child
Tho Parker
Tho Dudley
Paul Dudley
John Foster
Job Weld

CAPTAIN WILLIAM DRAPER'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"Roxbury 7th Decem 1775. A true and just roll of the Second
Company in Roxbury by Captn. William Draper in Colo William
Heaths Regiment the 19th day of April then called to the 3d day
of May and then dismissed."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 50._

_Captain_, Wm. Draper
_Lieutenant_, Thomas Mayo
_Lieutenant_, John Davis
_Sergeant_, Noah Davis
_Sergeant_, Paul Draper
_Sergeant_, Davd. Richards
_Corporal_, Danl. Lyon
_Corporal_, Davd. Baker
_Drummer_, William Warren
Nat Davis
Sam French
Timo. Crehore
Thad Hide
Steph Whitney
Sam Mayo
Jere Bacon
Ezra Kimball
James Keith
Wm. Weld
Eben Talbot
Vam Lauchlin, jr.
Nat Perry
Thos. Gates
Benj. Corey
Moses Griggs
Benj. Weld
Rufus Whiting
Josiah Kenny
Roland Clark
Jno. Kneeland
Timo. Lewis
Lewis Jones
Jona. Bird
(?) Fuller
Isaac Whitney
Sam Gay
Jona. Draper
Nat Draper
Jere McIntosh
Steph McIntosh
Joshua Pond
Sam Richards
John Dinsdell
Wm. Dinsdell
Moses Blackman
Sam Lewis
Jacob Whitney
Moses Wilson
Jacob Parker
Eph Wilson

CAPTAIN MOSES WHITING'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"A Muster Roll of the Company under the Command of Capt. Moses
Whiting, in Colo. John Greaton's Minuts Regiment."

_Lexington Alarms, XIII, 198._

_Captain_, Moses Whiting
_First Lieutenant_, Jacob Davis
_Second Lieutenant_, Moses Draper
_Sergeant_, James Herring
_Sergeant_, Joseph Smith
_Sergeant_, Samuel Foster
_Sergeant_, John Chiley Jones
_Corporal_, Gershom Jackson
_Corporal_, Jacob Whitemore
_Corporal_, Noah Parker
_Fifer_, William Dorr
_Drummer_, John Gore
Soloman Munroe
John Eayres
Nathaniel Scott
Jedediah Munroe
Joseph Gore
Stephen Mills
Ebenezer Whitney
Frances Wood
Samuel Bowman
John Dowse, Jr.
Benjamin Knower
Moses Richardson
James Griggs, Jr.
Joseph Baley
John Parker
William Bosson, Jr.
Lemuel Tucker
Joseph Richards, Jr.
Ebenezer Casey, Jr.
Jeames Coggen
John Mather
Thomas Williams
Benjamin West
Joseph Hunt
Nathaniel Talbut
James Lewis
Jonathan Brintnell
John Henshaw
James (Burreb?), Jr.
Jeremiah Masher, Jr.
Moses Davis
Jonathan Dorr
Michal Smith
Thomas Weld
Stephen Clapp
Jacob Weld
John Kneeland
Nehemiah Davis
Ebenezer Webb
George Geyer
David How
Joshua Lewis
David Richard

DEDHAM.

CAPTAIN EBEN BATTLE'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"In the province of the Massachusetts bay County of Suffolk A
Roll made up by Capt Ebenezer Battle of Dedham fourth parish from
19 April 1775 to the 20th of Decemr 1775."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 241._

_Captain_, Eben Battle
_First Lieutenant_, Daniel Whiting
_Second Lieutenant_, John Battle
_Sergeant_, Sam Cheney
Joseph Fisher
John Knap
Jabez Baker
Theodore Newell, _Corp_
John Chickering
Eben Richards
Moses Richards
Hez Baute (or Bank?), _Fifer_
Samuel Richards, jun.
David Cleveland
Thomas Gardner
Henry (Tiodal?)
Nathan Metcalf
Aaron Fairbanks
Jeremiah Bacon
Asa Mason
Wm. Fisher
James Man
Eben Haven
Eben Battle, Jr.
John Cheney
Jabez Whiting
Luke Dean
Joseph Chickering
Daniel Chickering, jr.
Elias Thomson, jr.
Moses Bacon
Frank Battle
(?) he Ellis
Josiah Bacon, Junr.
Seth Wright, Junr.
Ephm. Bacon, Junr.
Moses Mason
John Mason
Wm. Mansfield
Sam Fisher
(?) Richards
Tho Burridge
Joseph Draper, Jr.
Timo. Allen
Bariah Smith
Thos. Ferret
Davd. (Farmer?)
Eph Wilson
Sam Wilson
Joseph Parker
Peter Taft
Oliver Kendrick
Moses Draper
Aaron Whiting
Eleazer Allen
Tho Morse
Hezk. Allen
Nat. Chickering
James Draper
John Fisher
Asa Richards
Sola Richards
Ralph Day
David Chickering
John Draper
Eben Smith

CAPTAIN WILLIAM BULLARD'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"Dedham Decem the 15 1775. A true list of the Soldiers names
in the militia company in the south parish in Dedham under the
Command of Captn. William Bullard and of the days they have Spent
in the public Service upon the Alarm on the 19th of April, said
Company belonging to Col^o Heaths Regt."

_Lexington Alarms, XI, 246._

_Captain_, Wm. Bullard
_First Lieutenant_, John Morse
_Second Lieutenant_, Nat Lewis
_Ensign_, Eben Everet
_Sergeant_, Asa (?) eret
_Sergeant_, J (?) bery
_Sergeant_, Icha. Gay
_Sergeant_, John Andrews
_Corporal_, David Andrews
_Corporal_, Ben Dean
_Fifer_, Elip Reade
Ben Fisher
Nath Bean
Jnoa. Dean
Jacob Jeniman
Seth Fuller
Robert Little
Josiah Everet
Sam Farington
Philip Cobbet
Wm. Pavet
Eleaz Roads, Jr.
Silas Man
Jesse Gay
Wm. Coney
Daved Colburn
Luther Bullard
Jos Turner
Jabez Holmes
Moses Guild, Jr.
(Uep?) Fuller
Ebel Everet
Abner Fisher
Jason Fuller
Nat Sumner, Jr.
Davd. Fairbanks
Nathan Clarke
Seth Morse
Enoch Talbot
Seth Farington, Jr.
Wm. Everett
Moses Fisher
Benj Herring
Wm. Kendall
Jacob Cleveland
John Dean, Jr.
Timo. Lewis
Jere Kingsbery, Jr.
Thos. White
Benj Lewis
Auhelaus Clarke
John Smith
Benj Felt
Jam Clarke
Ithamar Farington
Wm. Everett, Jr.
Robert Little, jr.
Edw Bullard, jr.
Jacob Smith

CAPTAIN DANIEL DRAPER'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"A list of a company that marched from the third parish in Dedham
in the Alarms occasioned by the Lexington battle on April 19,
1775, under the command of Capt Daniel Draper in Colo. Davis
Regiment."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 33._

_Captain_, Daniel Draper
_Sergeant_, Nathan Ellis
_Sergeant_, Timo. Draper
Job Buckminster
David Ellis
Amasa Farington
Ezra Gay
Jerem Baker
Enoch Kinsbury
Jona. Omon
Aaron Ellis
Saml. Colburn, Jr.
William Gay
Jona. Whiting
Simion Colburn
John Colburn
Joseph Dean
Andw. Lewis
Fisher Whiting
Daniel Guy
Seth Gay
Jona. Ellis
Isaac Whiting
Nath Colburn

CAPTAIN WILLIAM ELLIS'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"A Muster Roll of the Company under the command of Cap William
Ellis of Col^o Heaths Regiment 1775."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 91._

_Captain_, William Ellis
_Lieutenant_, Jona. Colborne
_Sergeant_, Joseph Ellis
_Sergeant_, Benj Fairbanks
_Sergeant_, Eben Fisher
_Corporal_, Eliph Baker
_Corporal_, Oliver Ottis
_Corporal_, William Gay
Timo. Baker
Timo. Smith
David Smith
Abner Smith
Iona. Whiting
Eben (?) ing
Ichd. Colburn
Simeon Colbon
Abel Richards
John Richards
Nath Gay
Saml. Baker
Ezra Gay
John Farington
Nat Whiting
Fisher Whiting
Isaac Everet
Sam Pettee
Saml. Gay
David Dean
Nat Baker
Jona. Omon
Isaac Comecher

CAPTAIN DAVID FAIRBANKS'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"A List of a Party of Soldiers in a Militia Company in Dedham
under the Command of David Fairbanks, and in Colo Heaths Regt.
that was in the Service on ye Alarm ye 19th April 1775."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 35._

_Captain_, David Fairbanks
_Lieutenant_, Jona. Colburn
_Sergeant_, Joseph Draper
_Corporal_, Joseph Dean
_Corporal_, Oliver Ellis
Abel Richards
Danl. Smith
Ezray Gay
Saml. Colburn
John Farrington
Timo. Baker
Saml. Baker
Abner Smith
Lemuel Herring

CAPTAIN AARON FULLER'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"A List of the Officers and Men who march'd from Dedham first
Parish on the 19th day of April 1775, on the Alarm then made,
with the No. of Miles and days in Service."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 71._

_Captain_, Aaron Fuller
_Lieutenant_, Joseph Lewis
_Ensign_, (?)a Avery
_Sergeant_, John Gay
(?) lipha Fuller
Willm. Whiting
Nathl. Kingsbury
Saml. Fales
William Richards
Nehemiah Fales
John Wilson
Ebenr. Hunting
Benjn. Davenport
Joseph Billing
Thomas Eaton
(?) ne Lewis
John Dean
John Crowser
(?) Whiting, jun.
Ebenezer Paul
Benj Farrington
Moses Davis
(?) na. Star, jun.
(?) obert Man, Junr.
(?) seph Onion
(?) on Whiting
(?) zekiah Metcalf
(?) b Earle
(?) n Avery
(?) han Man
(?) hl. Bill
(?) oses Whiting
(?) benr Gay
(?) nja. Haws
(?) m. Flears
(?) l Everet, Junr.
(?) a Sheperd
Calven Dana
Willm. Gay, Junr.
John Metcalf
Joshua (Fales?)
David Bracket
Boswill Woodard
Joshua Kingsbury, Jr.
Timothy Gay
Abiathar Richards, Jr.
Henry Wight
Joseph Wight
Ebenr. Farbanks, Jr.
Joseph Dean, Junr.
Timothy Richards, Jr.
Jona. D (?)
David Smith
Isaac Eaton
Josiah Fisher
Daniel Baker
Jesse Brown
Timo. Whiting, Junr.
Nathl. Gay
Nathl. Weatherbe
Saml. Dogget, Junr.
Nathl. Everett
Richd. Woodard, Jur.
Israel Farbanks, Jr.
Saml. Adams
Saml. Lyon
Thomas Perry

CAPTAIN GEORGE GOULD'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"A List of the men that Marched From Dedham at the Allarum on the
Nineteenth of Last April under the Command of Capt George Gould."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 108._

_Captain_, George Gould
_Lieutenant_, Richard Woodward
_Sergeant_, Israel Everet
_Sergeant_, Joseph Whiting
_Sergeant_, William Gay
_Corporal_, Israel Fairbanks
Abel Ellis
Samuel Whiting
Stephen Whiting
Oliver Smith
Daniel Gay, Jur.
Jonas Humphrey
Joseph Metcalf
Benjamin Wetherbey
Samuel Bill
Isaac Stowel
Nathaniel Gay

CAPTAIN JOSEPH GUILD'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"A true Return of the travel and time of Service of the Minute
Company and the Command of Capt. Joseph Guild of Dedham in Col
Greatons Regt. Assembled on the 19th of April 1775."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 105._

_Captain_, Joseph Guild
_Lieutenant_, John Ellis
_Lieutenant_, Ebenr. Newel
_Lieutenant_, John Gay
_Sergeant_, Isaac Bullard
_Sergeant_, Lews Colburn
_Sergeant_, Nathle. Chickering
_Sergeant_, Elipht. Thorp
_Corporal_, Amasa Farrington
_Corporal_, Asa Richards
_Corporal_, Ambrose Davenport
_Corporal_, Ebenr. Sumner
_Drummer_, John Colburn
Saml. Adams
Thomas Akley
Joseph Baker
Joseph Bullard
Richard Belcher
Nathan Cook
Saml. Chickering
Oliver Chickering
John Carbee
Thomas Colburn
John Cardey
Nathan Colburn
Willm. Dean
Jeremiah Dean
Andrew Everet
Seth Fuller
Benjan. Fisher
Saml. Fales
Daniel Fishar
Hezekiah Farrington
David Fairbank
James Gay
Ebenr. Gay
Aaron Guild
Nathl. Gay
Oliver Guild
Jonas Humfry
David Humfry
Andrew Lewis
Jonathan Metcalf
John Morse
Abner Pittee
Danll. Pittee
Joseah Richards
Thadeus Richards
John Rugglis
Ebenr. Smith
Thomas Shepard
Elijah Scabury
James Stevens
Lemuel Stowel
Timothy Stow
Adam Thorp
Thomas Wight
Samuel Wight
Nathl. Wight

NEEDHAM.

CAPTAIN AARON SMITH'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"A Rool of Capt Aaron Smith's Company of Militia who marched in
Consequence of the Alarum Made on the 19th of April last in the
Regiment where of William Heath Esqr was the Col. as Follows viz."

_Lexington Alarms, XIII, 98._

_Captain_, Aaron Smith
_Lieutenant_, Moses Bullard
_Ensign_, Josiah Upham
_Sergeant_, John Bacon
_Sergeant_, William Fuller
_Sergeant_, Samuel Kilton
_Sergeant_, Joseph Daniell
_Corporal_, Enock Kingsbery
_Corporal_, Jonathan Smith
_Corporal_, Joseph Drury
_Corporal_, Jeremiah Daniell
_Drummer_, Joseph Mudy
Jonathan Whittemore, Junr.
Stephen Bacon, Junr.
Isaac Bacon
Moses Fuller
David Trull
Samuel Bracket
Lemuel Bracket
Zebadiah Pratt
John Slack
Samuel Baley
John Smith, Junr.
Daniel Huntting, Junr.
Joseph Haws
Moses Daggett
William Kingsbery
Daniel Ware
Timothy Huntting
Samuel Daggett, Junr.
Seth Broad
Benjamin Mills, Junr.
Jonathan Kingsbery
Samuel Pratt
Joseph Kingsbery, Junr.
Samuel Woodcock
Jonathan Dunn
Jeremiah Smith
Issachar Pratt
Abner Felt
Philip Floyd
Timothy Bacon
Samuel McIntire
Solomon Flagg
Peter Jenison
Joseph Kingsbery, Jun.
John Bullard
Jeremiah Gay
Eliphelet Kingsbery, Junr.
Jonathan Huntting
Joseph Haws, Jun.
Aaron Smith, Junr.
Ebenezer Huntting
Amos Edes
Jeremiah Edes
Samuel Smith
Moses Huntting
Collins Edes
John Smith the 3d
Ithamar Smith, Junr.
John Fuller
Luke Mills
Uriah Coller, Junr.
Seth Pratt
Moses Bacon
Israel Huntting
William Huntting
Samuel Ward
Noah Millard, Resident in Needham
Abel Smith, Natick

CAPTAIN ROBERT SMITH'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"A Muster Roll of The Company under the Command of Capt Robert
Smith in Colonel William Heaths Regiment Needham January 2 1776."

_Lexington Alarms, XIII, 92._

_Captain_, Robert Smith
_Lieutenant_, Oliver Mills
_Ensign_, Silas Alden
_Sergeant_, Elisha Mills, killed
_Sergeant_, Jona. Gay
_Sergeant_, Tho Fuller
_Sergeant_, Elias Fuller
_Corporal_, Sam Alden
_Corporal_, Sam Fisher
_Corporal_, Euahim Cooke
_Corporal_, Eben Day
_Drummer_, Eben Clark
_Fifer_, Josiah Fisher
John McIntosh
Jona. Parker, killed
Isaac Shepard
Josiah Eaton, Jun.
Sam Ware, Jun.
Nath Willson
Richard Blincome
Moses Bacon
Jeum Eaton
Elmon Tolmon
Eben Wilkenson
Sam Edes
Timo. Dewing
Benj Ware
Amos Fuller, Jr.
Benjamin Mills, Jun.
Joseph Stowell
Aaron Paine
Josiah Lyon, Jun.
Daniel Wright
Joseph Ware
Eben Richardson
Thomas Fisher
David Nowell
Simeon Fisher
Elijah Fuller
John Tolman
Jonathan Ware
Jona. Kingsbery
Sam Paine
Theop Richardson, Jr.
Solomon Fuller
Nath Fisher, Jr.
Ezra Mills
Aaron Ayers
Philip Mills
William Eaton
Lem Eaton
Aaron Fisher
Lemu. Mills
Timo. Fisher
Robt. Fuller, Jr.
Joseph Colburn
Jos Colburn, Jr.
Jou Woodcock
Nathan Newell
John Bird
Wm. Smith
Eben Clark
Sam Wight
Timo. Broad
Josiah Newell, Jr.
Josiah Dewing
Aaron Smith, Jr.
David Mills
Uriah Cotter
Phinehas Cotter
John Clark
Theop Richardson
Richd. Obrian
John Kelley
Richd. Richardson

CAPTAIN CALEB KINGSBERY'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"A Muster Roll of the Travel & Service of a Company of Alarm Men
in Needham under the Command of Caleb Kingsbery in Colon Aaron
Davis's Regiment That March'd in Consequence of the Alarum Made
on the 19th of April 1775, Which is as Followeth Vizt."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 164._

_Captain_, Caleb Kingsbery
_First Lieutenant_, John Bacon, killed
_Second Lieutenant_, Eleazer Kingsbery
_Sergeant_, Daniel Gould
_Sergeant_, Samuel Daggett
_Sergeant_, Isaac Underwood
_Sergeant_, Ephraim Stevens
_Corporal_, Samuel Brown
_Corporal_, Samuel Daniell
_Corporal_, Thomas Hall
_Drummer_, Ephraim Bullard
John Fuller
Ezekiel Richardson
Jesse Kingsberry
Joseph Mudy
Henry Dewing
Josiah Ware
Stephen Huntting
David Hall
Jonathan Smith
Jacob Parker
Moses Felt
David Smith
Thomas Discomb
Isaac Goodenow, Jr.
Abijah Mills
Samuel Greenwood
Josiah Lyon
Theodore Broad
John Edes, Junr.
Nathan Kingsbery
Nathanl. Chamberlain, killed
Amos Mills, killed
Seth Willson
Ithamar Smith
Henry Gale
Nehemiah Mills, Jur.
David Hogas
Jonas Mills
Elijah Houghton

LYNN.

CAPTAIN NATHANIEL BANCROFT'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"Lynn, Muster roll of Capt Nath. Bancroft's Compy on defence of
this Colony upon April 19th 1775."

_Lexington Alarms, XI, 243._

_Captain_, Nathl. Bancroft
_Lieutenant_, Jos. Gowing
_Lieutenant_, Nathl. Sherman
_Sergeant_, Thos. Townsend
(?) Timo. Munroe
_Drummer_, Benja. Adams
James Bancroft
Timo. Wolton
Jas. Gowing, by order went to Ipswich Goal wth a number of
Prisoners, 67 miles
John Berry
Jesse Wellman
Ezekiel Newhall
Jona. Wellman
Jos Brown
Wm. Mansfield
Andrew Mansfield
John Swone
Jos. Jeffery, Junr.
Nathan Wotton
Onisimus Newhall
David Norhood
Wm. Norhood
Saml. Mansfield
Danl. Townsend
John Upton
John Harte
Drubbabel Hart
Thaddeus Perry
Ephraim Sheldin, Jr.
Josiah Braze
John Peloue
Jas. Brown
Abra. Upton
Aaron Aborn
Thos Wellman
Andrew Foster
Francis Shelden
Amos Smith

CAPTAIN WILLIAM FARRINGTON'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"Roll of the Second Foot company of Militia in Lynn who Marched
toward Concord April 19, 1775."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 77._

_Captain_, Willm. Farrington
_First Lieutenant_, Benj Tohmon
_Sergeant_, John Burrell
_Sergeant_, John Mansfield
_Sergeant_, Jacob Ingalls, Jun.
_Sergeant_, William Newhall
Edward Johnson
Nehem Ramsdell
Wm. Richards
Phinehas Sweetser
Richd. Hill
Abner Alley
Aaron Newhall
Benja. Parrott
William Whitemore
Abednego Ramsdell, who was killed, and lost his arms and
accoutrements and left a poor widow.
Eben Burrell
Jedidiah Newhall
Theops. Hollowell
Benj Burrell
Robert Mansfield, Jr.
Joseph Richards
James Richards
Edm Lewis, Jr.
Edward Treson
Amos Breed
Enoch Mudge
Stephen Larrabee
James Bachelor
John Coats
John Farrington, Jr.
Jacob Ingalls
Sam Ingalls
John Treson
Daniel Ingalls
Daniel Parrott
Wm. Richards, Jr.
Benj B. Burchsted
Jacob C. Graves
Nath Ingalls
John Richards
Eleaz Collins Ingalls
Theop. Burrell
Neh Ramsdell, Jr.
John Flagg
Fred Breed
Joseph Ingalls
Thos. Chittenden
Edw. Johnson, Jur.
John Baker
Marston Parrot
Ambrose Talbut
Errors excepted

CAPTAIN RUFUS MANSFIELD'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"A Roll of the fourth foot Company of Militia in Lynn who marched
to Concord on the 19th April 1775."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 190._

_Captain_, Rufus Mansfield
_First Lieutenant_, Joseph Ballard
_Second Lieutenant_, Dan Newhall
_Sergeant_, Joseph Hart
_Sergeant_, Edmund Clark
_Sergeant_, Henry Burchsted
_Sergeant_, Nathan Atwell
_Corporal_, Ebenr. Newhall
_Corporal_, Charles Newhall
_Corporal_, Joel Newhall
_Corporal_, John Burrill
John Burrage
Richard Mansfield
John Roads
Thos. Roads
Meshec Ramsdell
Joel Breed
Ephraim Breed
Wm. Roads
Nathan Newall
Zacha. Atwell
Benja. Hudson
John Newhall
Daniel Tarbox
John Farrington
Isaac Meachem
Nat Ramsdell
Joseph Williams
Thomas Newhall
John Burrill
Andw. Newhall
Wm. Newhall
James Green
Edw. Turner
Ezekiel Molton
James Newhall
Allen Newhall
(illegible)
Solomon Newhall
Jona. Fuller
James Newhall
Nat Tarbox
Nat Tarbox, Jr.
James Robinson
Silas Randall
Josiah Breed, taken prisoner, confined 33 days, lost his arms &
equipments wh. we refer to the honble Court

CAPTAIN EZRA NEWHALL'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"a muster Roll of the minit Company commanded by Ezra Newhall of
the Town of Lynn Aprel the 19th 1775."

_Lexington Alarms, XIII, 27._

_Captain_ Ezra Newhall
_Lieutenant_ Thomas Cocks
_Ensign_ John Upton
_Sergeant_ John Botts
_Sergeant_ Grimes Tufts
_Sergeant_ John Watts
_Sergeant_ John Gowen
_Corporal_ James Edmonds
_Corporal_ Ebenezer Mansfield
_Corporal_ Increase Newhall
_Corporal_ Ebenezer Stocker
_Fifer_ Samuel Berry
_Drummer_ William Newhall
Joseph Alley
Rufus Brown
John Bancroft
Ezra Waitt
Jonathan Briant
Timothy Burnham
Ralph Lynsdie
Joshua Burnham
Stephen Coats
William Coats
Ebenezer Laith
Israel Cheever
John Cutler
Daniel Lynsdie
Joshua Danforth
Joseph Farington
Thomas Florance
John Farington
Thomas Hall
James Bancraft
Timothy Johnston
William Johnston
Daniel Lewis
Benja. Meads
John Meads
Jonathan Newhall
Nathaniel Newhall
Martin Parrot
Hatharn Ramsdiel
Jacob Ramsdiel
Elezar Richardson
Nehemiah Ramsdiel
Joseph Stocker
Epheraim Stocker
Andrew Foster
Jonathan Fuller

CAPTAIN DAVID PARKER'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"A Muster roll of the first Company in ye Town of Lynn, that
marched to Concord."

_Lexington Alarms, XIII, 45._

_Captain_ David Parker
_Lieutenant_ John Poole
_Ensign_ Nathan Hawks
_Sergeant_ Thomas Hawks
_Sergeant_ Lemuel Allen
_Sergeant_ Benja. B. Redden
_Sergeant_ Nathl. Hutchinson
_Corporal_ Jabez Newhall
_Corporal_ Abner Cheever, Jr.
_Corporal_ Saml. Mansfield
_Corporal_ Amos Leeds
_Fifer_ Willm. Hill
_Drummer_ Thos. Barrey
Ephm. Brown
Danl. Hitchings
Jos. Edmund
Willm. Bordman
Aaron Bordman
David Fuller
Saml. Bordman
John Bordman
Francis Smith
Francis Smith, Jr.
Abijah Hitchings
Amos Pratt
Benja. Wilson
Saml. Wilson, Jr.
Jona. Brown
Adam Hawke
Amos Bordman
Ezra Brown
James Marble
Joseph Eaton
Thos. Hutchinson
Jacob Newhall
Willm. Hitchings
John Hitchings
John Burrell
Amos Porter
(Tesreel?) Burrell
Benja. Twist
Thomas Mansfield
Benja. Mansfield
Peter Fuller
Nathan Newhall
Nathan Hitchings
Nathl. Byanton
Calven Newhall
Saml. Sweetser
James Lelax
John Symes
Ebenr. Stoker
David Newman
Alehony Hawks
Saml. Rhoads
Benja. Goldthwaite
Ebenr. Stacey
Iveney Bordman
Thos. Stoker
Elijah Stoker
Joshua Felt, wounded
Thos. Hadley, killed
Willm. Flint, killed

BEVERLY.

CAPTAIN DAVID DODGE'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

_Captain_ Caleb Dodge
_First Lieutenant_ Jona. Batchelder
_Second Lieutenant_ Nathan Smith
_Ensign_ Benja. Shaw
_Sergeant_ Jona. Batchelder
_Sergeant_ Saml. Woodbury
_Sergeant_ Peter Woodbury
_Sergeant_ Benja. Jones
_Sergeant_ Jona. Perkins
Jacob Dodge
Benja. Cressy, Jr.
Nathl. Cressy
Wm. Cammel
Jos. Raymond
Elisha Woodbery
Stephen Felton
D. Wm. Dodge
Wm. Woodbery 3d
Ebenr. Trask
Mark Dodge. Jr.
Charles Dodge
Joshua Dodge
Saml. Conant
Israel Green
Bartho. Trask
John Creesy
Nathan Creesy
Aaron Salley
Robt. Dodge
Joshua Cleaver
Jona. Dodge
Nathan Wyman

No general heading for this Roll, but the following descriptive
matter at the end:

"These may certify that this list above is a true list of the
Commission officers, non Commission Officers & Privates in ye
alarm list under my Command in ye second Parish in Beverly wch
went to assist at ye alarm at Lexington & Concord on ye 19th &
20th day of April last. Beverly Dec ye 16th 1775 Caleb Dodge
Capt.

"A True Copy. G Tailer."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 34._

CAPTAIN LARKIN THORNDIKE'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

No introductory heading over this muster roll.

_Various Service Muster Rolls, XX, 199._

_Captain_ Larkin Thorndike
_First Lieutenant_ Joseph Wood
_Second Lieutenant_ John Dyson
_Ensign_ Theophelus Herrick
_Sergeant_ Moses Brown
_Sergeant_ Henry Herrick
_Sergeant_ Benjamin Leech
_Sergeant_ John Low
_Corporal_ Sewal Tack
Robert Roundy
Benjamin Lovett
Solomon Loufkin
Benjamin Corning
Joseph Larken
Henry Standly
William Herrick
Benjamin Parsons
Andrew Smith
Elisha Woodberry
Josiah Woodberry, Jr.
Josiah Oleear
Joseph Lovett, 2d
Joseph Herrick
Stephen Cabott
William Tayler
Joseph Boker
Nathaniel Lamson
Ezra Trask Foster
Joseph Goodridge
Robert Stone
James Smith
Timothy Leech
John Picket
Henry Thorndike
Benja. Briant
John Low, 2nd
Samuel Dane
Richard Olear, 2d
John Morgan, 2d
Benja. Beckford
Benja. Adams
William Trask
Henry Herrick, 3d
Joseph Myer
Benj. Balch Lovet
Hasadiah Smith
Benjamin Beckford, Jr.
George Stephens

CAPTAIN PETER SHAW'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

No introductory heading over this muster roll.

_Lexington Alarms, XIII, 128._

Men's Names
_Lieutenant_ Peter Shaw
_Second Lieutenant_ Caleb Balch
_Clerk_ Jona. Conant
_Sergeant_ Saml. Dodge
Joshua Corning
Simeon Dodge
Jos. Poland
Israel Woodbury
James Dodge
John Creesy
Abner Smith
Phineas Hovey
Benja. Woodbury
John Conant
Gideon Rea
Jona. Leach
Saml. Conant, Jr.
Ebenr. Worldorn
Nathl. Raymond
Barnabas Trask
Nathan Raymond
Robert Baker
Robert Cambel
Aaron Putnam
ask, Jr.
(?) Conant
Wm. Trask, 2d
(?) Dodge
Cornelius Dodge
Andrew Eliot
Israel Perkins
Ebenr. Raymond
Benja. Raymond, 2d
Wm. Syms
Joseph Serbs
Timo Batchelor
Sam Nun
Neheh Dodge
Benja. Shaw, Jr.
Edwd. Dodge
Joseph Foster
Wm. Pearce

DANVERS.

CAPTAIN SAMUEL EPES'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"A Muster Roll of the officers & Soldiers which marched on the
19th [part of a line illegible] Samuel Epes Coln Pickering's
Regiment."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 82._

_Captain_ Samuel Epes
_First Lieutenant_ Benja. Jacobs
_Second Lieutenant_ Gideon Foster
_Second Lieutenant_ Iras Symonds
_Sergeant_ James Osborn
_Sergeant_ Jona. Tarbel, Jun.
_Sergeant_ Benj. Doughty
_Corporal_ Aaron Osborn
_Corporal_ John Epes
_Corporal_ Andrew Curtis
_Corporal_ Isaac Twiss
_Drummer_ Wm. Tarbel
_Drummer_ Abra Reddington
Israel Osborn
Nathan Upton
Rob Stone, Junr.
Abel McIntier, Jr.
Richd. Phililps
Joseph Whitemore
John Wilson, Junr.
Saml. Small
Benja. Epes
Joseph Epes
James Epes
Wm. Southwick
John Southwick, 3d
George Twiss
John Southwick, 4
John Curtis
Job Willson
Robert Willson, 3d
Isaac Willson, 3d
Joshua Motton
Nat Goldthwait
Daniel Motton
John Reed
Daniel Marsh, Jr.
Wm Goldthwait
Marble Osborn
Joseph Osborn, 3d
John Jacobs
Thomas Gardner, Jr.
Sylvester Osborn
Amos King
Jonathan Nurse
Jona. Felton
Jona. Proctor
Timo. Felton
Ebenr. Felton
Asa Felton
Thos. Andrew
Joseph Osborn, 4th
Daniel Reed
Jona. Southwick
Thomas Day
James Goldthwait
Joseph Ingles
David Newhall
Nath Fitts
Wm. Frost
Newhall Wilson
Jona. Wilson, 3d
Bartho. Motton
Hab Lynse
Eben Motton
Jona. Ridney
John Collins
Jacob Reed
Abijah Reed
Thos. Bond
John Setchel
Solomon Wyman
Saml. Stone
James Stone
Joseph Twist
Heph Twist
Wm. Perkins
Benj Dealand, Jr.
Henry Jacob, Jr.
Geo. Southwick, Jr.
Saml. Cook, Jr.
Eben Goldthwait

CAPTAIN SAMUEL FLINT'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"A muster roll of Capt. Saml. Flints of ye Militia in the
Regiment whereof Timothy Pick'ring Junr Esqr was Colo. and who
marched on the Nineteenth Day April last past, in Consequence of
the Alarm made on said day, dated at Danvers Decr 20th 1775."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 7._

_Captain_ Samuel Flint
_Lieutenant_ Danl. Putnam
_Second Lieutenant_ Joseph Putnam, Jr.
_Ensign_ Israel Putnam
_Sergeant_ Asa Upton
_Sergeant_ Abel Nichols
_Sergeant_ Thomas Andsaw
_Sergeant_ Amos Tapley
_Corporal_ Wm. Putnam, Jr.
Joseph Dwinel
Joshua Dodge
Jona. Shelden
William Goodell
Benja. Russell ye 3d
Matthew Putnam
John Hutchinson, Jr.
Aaron Tapley
Lea Preston
Aaron Gilbert
Nathl. Smith, w.t to Iph. wth. pris. 60 m.
Jonathan Russell
Danl. Russell
John Hutchinson
Jethro Russell
Stephen Russell
George Small, Junr.
Nathl. Pope, Junr.
Joseph Tapley
Simon Mudge
Willm. Whittredge
Ebenr. McIntyer
Josiah Whittredge
John Kittle
Benjamin Nurs
Eleazer Goodall
Amos Buxton, Junr.
Peter Putnam
Reuben Barthirck
John Preston
James Burch
Daniel Lakman
Michael Cross
Israel Cheevers
Israel Smith
Eleazer Pope, Junr.

CAPTAIN ISRAEL HUTCHINSON'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"A Muster Roll of a Minute Company under the Command of Captn
Israel Hutchinson."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 118._

_Captain_ Israel Hutchinson
_Lieutenant_ Eben Francis, Beverly
_Second Lieutenant_ Enoch Putnam
_Ensign_ John Woodbury, Bev.
_Sergeant_ Aaron Cheever
_Sergeant_ Job Whipple
_Sergeant_ Asa Brown, Bev.
_Sergeant_ Thomas Francis, do
_Corporal_ James French, do
_Corporal_ Sam Goodridge
_Corporal_ Eliph Perley
_Corporal_ Francis Smith, Bev.
_Clerk_ Nath Oliver
Eben Andrews
James Barley
Sam Chase
Nat Dunton
Henry Dunnett
John Francis
Wm. Freetoe
Nathan Putnam
James Porter
(?) Putnam, Jr.
Thomas White, Jr.
Sam Baker
Sam Fairfield
Benj. Porter 3d.
Jona. Sawyer
Wm. Towns
Wm. Warner
Perley Putnam
Benj Shaw
Wm. Batchelor, Jr.
Jotham Webb
Elisha Dodge Beverly
John Dodge do
Asa Herrick do
John Jones do
Jona Perkins do
Sam Woodbury, Jr. do
Wm. Dodge, Jun. do
John Bachellor, Jr do
Reuben Keneston do
Benj Shalo, Jr. do
Gideon Woodbury do
Gideon Batchelor do
Nath. Dodge do
John Smith Beverly
W Woodbury do
Nathan Cleves do
Joseph Raymond do
Daniel Twist do
Andw. Eliot do

CAPTAIN DAVID LOWE'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"A roll of Captn Caleb Lowes Company belonging to Danvers who
marched on the 19th of April last against the British troops."

_Lexington Alarms, XII, 171._

_Captain_ Caleb Lowe
_Lieutenant_ Ezekiel Marsh, Jr.
_Second Lieutenant_ John Dodge
Thomas Gardner
Stephen Needham
Benja. Needham
Hezek Dunklee
Ezra Trask
Benja. Morton
Abel McIntier
John Brown
John Upton
John Marsh
Jona. King
Jona. Trask
Ebenr. Sprague
Doctr. Jos Osgood
Joseph Stacey
Ezekr. Marsh
Robert Shillaber
John Motton
Thomas Whiterage
Zacha. King

CAPTAIN JEREMIAH PAGE'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

No introductory heading but endorsed on back.

"Danvers
"Capt Jeremiah Pages
"Muster-roll
"Militia-Men"

_Lexington Alarms, XIII, 49._

_Captain_ Jerh. Page
_First Lieutenant_ Jos. Porter
_Sergeant_ Henry Putnam
_Sergeant_ Richd. Skidmore
_Corporal_ Saml. Stickney
James Putnam
Benja. Putnam, Junr.
Daniel Bootman
David Bootman
John Nichols, Junr.
John Brown
Jethro Putnam
Jerh. Putnam
Willm. Fenno
John Wood
Michael Webb
Benja. Kimball
Elisha Hutchinson
Asa Stickney
Mathew Whipple
Enoch Thurston
Phillip Nurs
Rob Endacott
David Felton
Daniel Verry
David Verry
Archl. Rea, Junr.
James Goddy
Nathan Porter
Saml. Whittemore
Nathl. Putnam
Peter Putnam
Saml. Fowler
Saml. Dutch
Benja. Kent
Ebenr. Jacobs, Junr.
Saml. Page
Stephen Putnam
Joseph Smith

CAPTAIN ASA PRINCE'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"A Muster roll of the Men who march'd under the Command of Capt
Asa Prince on ye 19th April 1775 in defence of ye Country."

_Lexington Alarms, XIII, 50._

_Captain_ Asa Prince
_Lieutenant_ Ezra Putnam
_Ensign_ Jerh. Hutchinson
_Sergeant_ Benja. Gardner
_Sergeant_ Archa. Bachelor
_Sergeant_ Ezekl. Cooper
_Sergeant_ (? P ja P b dy)
_Corporal_ Elijah Wilkins
_Corporal_ Moses Prince
_Corporal_ Jas. Putnam
_Corporal_ Aguilla Wilkins
Benja. Gilford
Israel Putnam
Saml. Whipple
Wm. Berry
Saml. Wiot
Amos Dwinell
Jas. Johnson
Peter Porter
Abra. Dempsey
Phinea. Putnam
Andrew Gray
Jas. Buxton
Levi Howard
John White
Joshua Wiot
Asa Brown
Jos. Brown
Israel Curtis, Jr.
Stephn. Nickols, Jr.
Enos Wilkins
Arche. Kinney
Richd. Thomas
John Flint, Jr.
John Fuller
Francis Peabody, Jr.
John Wright

CAPTAIN EDMUND PUTNAM'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"A Muster Roll of alarm Company in Danvers command by Captn
Edmund Putnam who marched in defence of the Country on the 19th
April 1775."

_Lexington Alarms, XIII, 48._

_Captain_ Edm. Putnam
_Lieutenant_ Benj. Balch
_Ensign_ Tarrant Putnam
_Sergeant_ Benj. Putnam
_Sergeant_ Benj. Porter
_Sergeant_ Sam Clarke
_Sergeant_ Joseph Jackson
John Nichols
Archelaus Date
Archelaus R(?)
John Shelden
Sam Andrews
Patrick Canell
Aaron Putnam
Nath. Webb
Benj. Porter, Jr.
Wm. Hibbord

CAPTAIN JOHN PUTNAM'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON.

"A Muster roll of Alarm Company in Danvers commanded by Captn
John Putnam who marched in defence of the Country on the 19th
April 1775."

_Lexington Alarms, XIII, 46._

_Captain_ John Putnam
_Lieutenant_ Gilbert Tapley
_Ensign_ George Small
_Sergeant_ Francis Nurss
_Sergeant_ Cornelius Tarbet
_Sergeant_ Shelton Sheldon
_Corporal_ John Walcut
_Clerk_ Asi Putnam
Sam Cheever
Caleb Clarke
Peter Cross
Jona Cutler
Saml Marble
Nathl Pope
Eleazer Pope
(? nos) Putnam
Phinehas Putnam
James Prince, Jr.
Daniel Prince
Jona. Russell
John Russell
John Rea
John Swinerton
George Wiat
Sam White
Job Holt
George Kelly
(?) Buxton
Israel Cheever
James Swinerton
Benj. Russell, Jr.
(Eros, or) Enos Putnam
James Phelps Putnam
John Oaks
Joseph Putnam

ARLINGTON,

THEN MENOTOMY PRECINCT OF CAMBRIDGE.

CAPTAIN BENJAMIN LOCKE'S COMPANY.

ENTERED THE CONTEST AT ARLINGTON, THOUGH UNDOUBTEDLY SOME OF THE MEN
WERE ENGAGED EARLIER IN THE DAY.

No official roll filed as a claim against the Commonwealth for
service on that day. For these names I am indebted to Lucius R.
Paige's "History of Cambridge," and Samuel A. Smith's "West
Cambridge on the Nineteenth of April, 1775."

_Captain_ Benjamin Locke
_Lieutenant_ Solomon Bowman
_Ensign_ Stephen Frost
_Sergeant_ John Cutter
_Sergeant_ Moses Hovey
_Corporal_ Thomas Cutter, (Jr?)
_Corporal_ John Tidd
_Corporal_ James Fowl
_Corporal_ Seth Stone
Jonathan Perry
Joseph Frost
Daniel Cutter, Charlestown
Abraham Hill
Job Potamea, Stoneham
Josiah Williams
Miles Greenwood
Matthew Cox
Peter Stearns
Ephraim Mullet, Charlestown
John Fowle
John Shelden Senter, Charlestown
John Locke
Israel Blackinton, Jr.
William Dickson, Charlestown
Andrew Cutter
Elisha Hastings
Joseph Cox
Isaac Fillebrown, Charlestown
Joseph Trask, Boston
William Pradax, Boston
John Stuart
Samuel Pierce, Jr., Boston
John Grimes, Boston
William Hopkins, Charlestown
Richard Loring, Charlestown
Ebenezer Cox, Boston
William Adams
Zachariah Hill
Samuel Peirce, Charlestown
Andrew Mallet, Charlestown
Israel Blackinton
William Winship
David Blodget, Stoneham
Joseph Robinson, Lexington
Charles Cutter
Samuel Seger, Newtown
Isaiah Berjanah, Stoneham
Ebenezer Bowman, Lexington
Richard Ketel, Boston
Cuff Whittemore, negro
William Ellery, Charlestown
Cato Wood, negro, Charlestown
Jonathan Clarke, Boston

INDEX TO THE MUSTER ROLLS.

==> _For Index to the Narrative, see page 165 of the first part._

ACTON MEN, 10
Davis's Company, 11
Hunt's Company, 11
Robins's Company, 11

ARLINGTON MEN, 75
Locke's Company, 75

BEDFORD MEN, 11
Moore's Company, 11
Willson's Company, 13

BEVERLY MEN, 67
Dodge's Company, 67
Thorndike's Company, 68
Shaw's Company, 68

BILLERICA MEN, 14
Crosby's Company, 14
Farmer's Company, 15
Stickney's Company, 16

BROOKLINE MEN, 45
White's Company, 45
Aspinwall's Company, 46
Gardner's Company, 47

CAMBRIDGE MEN, 40, 75
Locke's Company, 75
Thatcher's Company, 40

CHELMSFORD MEN, 16
Barron's Company, 16
Parker's Company, 18

CONCORD MEN, 7
Brown's Company, 8
Miles's Company, 9
Minot's Company, 10
Barrett's Company, 10

DANVERS MEN, 69
Epes's Company, 69
Flint's Company, 70
Hutchinson's Company, 71
Lowe's Company, 72
Page's Company, 73
Prince's Company, 73
Edmund Putnam's Company, 74
John Putnam's Company, 75

DEDHAM MEN, 53
Battle's Company, 53
Bullard's Company, 55
Draper's Company, 56
Ellis's Company, 56
Fairbanks's Company, 57
Fuller's Company, 57
Gould's Company, 58
Guild's Company, 59

DRACUT MEN, 38
Coburn's Company, 38
Russell's Company, 39

FRAMINGHAM MEN, 18
Edget's Company, 18
Emes's Company, 20
Gleason's Company, 20

LEXINGTON MEN, 5
Parker's Company, 5

LINCOLN MEN, 13
Smith's Company, 13

LYNN MEN, 63
Bancroft's Company, 63
Farrington's Company, 63
Mansfield's Company, 64
Newhall's Company, 65
Parker's Company, 66

MALDEN MEN, 50
Blaney's Company, 50

MEDFORD MEN, 49
Hall's Company, 49

NEEDHAM MEN, 60
Aaron Smith's Company, 60
Robert Smith's Company, 61
Kingsbery's Company, 62

NEWTON MEN, 42
Cook's or Marean's Company, 42
Fuller's Company, 42
Wiswall's Company, 44

READING MEN, 21
Bacheller's Company, 21
Eaton's Company, 22
Flint's Company, 23
Walton's Company, 24

ROXBURY MEN, 51
Child's Company, 51
Draper's Company, 52
Whiting's Company, 53

STOW MEN, 34
Whitcom's Company, 34

SUDBURY MEN, 25
Cudworth's Company, 25
Haynes's Company, 26
Locker's Company, 27
Nixon's Company, 27
Smith's Company, 28
Stone's Company, 29

WATERTOWN MEN, 47
Barnard's Company, 47

WESTFORD MEN, 36
Bates's Company, 36
Minot's Company, 37
Parker's Company, 38

WOBURN MEN, 30
Belknap's Company, 30
Fox's Company, 31
Walker's Company, 33

This book is a preservation facsimile.
It is made in compliance with copyright law
and produced on acid-free archival
60# book weight paper
which meets the requirements of
ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (permanence of paper)

Preservation facsimile printing and binding
by
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Charlestown, Massachusetts

[Illustration: (Publisher's colophon)]

2005

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE

Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.

Superscripts are represented by ^, for example 19^{th}.

All changes in the Errata, found at the end of the narrative and
before the main Index, have been applied to the etext.

Other obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within
the text and consultation of external sources.

Several shilling and pence amounts in the form "13 s" or "13 s."
or "13 s," have been changed to the form "13s." for consistency.

All instances of 'Lieut. Col.' have been replaced by 'Lieut.-Col.'
for consistency.

Except for those changes noted below, all misspelling in the text,
and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. For example:
farmhouse, farm-house, farm house; a while, awhile; today, to-day;
dismission; bowlder; loth.

Pg x. 'Americans Killed' replaced by 'American Killed', to match
TOC with chapter heading.
Pg 1. 'treasure and bood' replaced by 'treasure and blood'.
Pg 16. "D'Bernicre" replaced by "De Bernicre".
Pg 23. 'soliders' replaced by 'soldiers'.
Pg 35 FN [65]. 'In a article' replaced by 'In an article'.
Pg 70. There are two valid anchors for FN [149].
Pg 111. 'three o'clcok' replaced by 'three o'clock'.
Pg 128. The currency amount '£1761, 1, 5;' has been replaced by
'£1761, 1s. 5d.;'.
Pg 133. 'had be known' replaced by 'had he known'.

Index:
Faulkner ... 'Fraucis' replaced by 'Francis'.
Flour ... entry moved from before Flint to after Flint.
Mason ... '198' replaced by '128'.
Prisoners ... 'American' replaced by 'Americans'.
White ... 'Begjamin' replaced by 'Benjamin'.

The second part of this book contains the Muster Rolls of the
companies which participated in the battle. The page numbering
begins again with Page 1.

Except for those changes noted below, the spelling of names in the
Muster Rolls has been left unchanged, including the use of (?) for
partial or missing names as in the original text. ( ? ) has been
contracted to (?).

The inconsistent use of Jr. Jun. Junr. Jur. Jor. Joner. Jnr. as
abbreviations for Junior, has been left unchanged. A period has
been added when missing (Jr to Jr. etc).

Pg 9. 'Coporal Stephen Barrett' replaced by 'Corporal Stephen
Barrett'.
Pg 13. 'Joseph Meeds, June' replaced by 'Joseph Meeds, Jun.'.
Pg 14. 'Abra Peirec' replaced by 'Abra Peirce'.
Pg 28. 'Ninteenth' replaced by 'Nineteenth'.
Pg 39. 'Ar D.' replaced by 'April A.D.'.
Pg 43. 'Slias Chubb' replaced by 'Silas Chubb'.
Pg 46. Due to the printer's insertion of page 46a, the last three
lines of this page have been moved to the top of page 47.
Pg 54. '20th th of' replaced by '20th of'.
Pg 57. "Fuller's Compamy" replaced by "Fuller's Company".
Pg 72. Ditto, on one line represented by ", replaced by 'do' for
consistency.

Index to Muster Rolls:
Pg 77. The right-pointing hand symbol has been replaced by ==> .

*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Battle of April 19, 1775 - in Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Arlington, Cambridge, - Somerville and Charlestown, Massachusetts" ***

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