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HISTORY 
 
 OF THE *y >» •<if» 
 
 If I iJ: 
 
 FIGHT AT CONCORD, 
 
 19TH OP iLPTlIL, 1775, 
 
 WITH A PARTICULAR ACCOUNT OF THE MILITARY OPERATIONS 
 
 AND INTERESTING EVENTS OF THAT EVER MEMORABLE 
 
 DAY ; SHOWING THAT THEN AND THERE THE 
 
 FIRST REGULAR AND FORCIBLE RESISTANCE 
 
 WAS MADE TO THE BRITISH SOLDIERY, AND THE FIRST BRITISH 
 
 BLOOD WAS SHED BY ARMED AMERICANS, AND THE 
 
 REVOLUTIOiVARY WAR THUS COMMENCED. 
 
 BY REV. EZRA RIPLEY, D. D., 
 
 WITH OTHER CITIZENS OF CONCORD. 
 
 2d - i^ 
 
 CONCORD : 
 
 PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY ALLSN & ATWILL. 
 
 1827. 
 

 s 
 
 DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, iow/r- 
 
 District Clerk's Office. 
 
 Be it remembered, That on the eighteenth day of August, A. D. 
 1827, in the fifty-second year of the Independence of the United States 
 of America, Jllen ^ Atwill, of the said District, have deposited in this 
 office the title of a book, the right whereof they claim as proprietors, in 
 the words following, to wit : 
 
 "A History of the Fight at Concord, on the 19th of April, 1775, 
 with a Particular Account of the Military Operations and Interesting 
 Events of that ever Memorable Day ; showing that then and there the 
 First Regular and Forcible Resistance was made to the British Sol- 
 diery,and the first British Blood was shed by armed Americans, and the 
 Revolutionary VVai thus commenced. By Rev. Ezra Ripley, D. D., 
 with other Citizens of Concord." 
 
 In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled 
 " An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the Copies 
 of Maps, Charts and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such 
 Copies, during the times thefein mentioned :" and also to an Act enti- 
 tled " An Act supplementary to an Act, entitled. An Act for the En- 
 couragement of Learning, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts and 
 Books to the Authors and Proprietors of such Copies during the times 
 therein mentioned ; and exiending the Benefits therfeof to the Arts of 
 Designing, Engraving and Etching Historical and other Prints." 
 
 JOHN W. DAVIS, 
 Clerk of the District of Massachusetts . 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It may be thought singular, that, at this late period, a particular 
 account of the Fight at Concord, on the memorable 19th of April, 
 1775, should now for the first time make its appearance. Some 
 apology may be thought due to the public for neglecting so lono- a 
 matter of acknowledged importance, which, we apprehend, will be 
 manifest in the following statement. 
 
 During nearly half a century, it was, as we supposed, the universal 
 belief that the first regular and forcible resistance to the invading 
 British soldiers was made at Concord North Bridge ; — that there 
 the fire of the British was first returned by the Americans j — that 
 there the first British blood was shed ; and of course that there com- 
 menced the war that terminated in the Independence of the United 
 States. We had no idea that any persons ever would or could seri- 
 ously entertain a different opinion. We had supposed that public rec- 
 ords, numerous historical sketches, and common consent were suffi- 
 cient to perpetuate material facts and prominent characters. When 
 therefore, the "History of the Battle of Lexington," appeared in 1825, 
 we were surprised. Nothing could have been more unexpected. 
 That pamphlet has made impressions on the minds of many, unfavor- 
 able, in some respects, as we believe, to the truth, and to some wor- 
 thy and patriotic characters. The same causes which originated those 
 errors, have given rise to opinions and publications in Great Britain 
 
IV 
 
 and the United States equally erroneous. A large portion of the peo- 
 ple do not possess the means of better information ; and those who do, 
 have been unwilling to come forward in a controversy very unpleasant 
 and attended with many difficulties. 
 
 A writer, however, over the signature of Middlesex, the last year, 
 took up the subject in the Yeoman's Gazette, and pointed out the fal- 
 lacy of the statements and claims of that history in respect to the 
 returning of the fire of the British. We thought he fairly settled 
 the question in favor of Concord. Yet nothing like retraction or con- 
 cession, on the part of the citizens of Lexington, has come to our 
 knowledge. We therefore feel ourselves obligated, and in a measure 
 pledged, to pursue the subject, and to publish the following history. 
 
 In the full belief that some of the statements in the history of Maj. 
 Phinney are erroneous and unjust, we deem it expedient, and doing 
 justice to ourselves, to our fathers, and to the community, to appeal to 
 the public, and to set forth a true history of facts, a faithful and minute 
 account of the events of that interesting day, and the conduct of the 
 military companies and volunteer citizens assembled on that trying 
 occasion. 
 
 W^e feel our obligations to the generations yet to come, to transmit 
 to them, as far as possible, a fair and correct statement of facts res- 
 pecting those events and transactions, the happy or unhappy conse- 
 quences of which will descend to them and their successors. 
 
 While we are desirous of discharging this duty to posterity, we 
 cannot but deeply regret, that in an affair of such magnitude and com- 
 mon interest, as is the commencement of the American revolutionary 
 war, such contradictory opinions and opposite claims should have 
 arisen as cannot be reconciled with the truth of facts, and which, if 
 permitted to continue unreclified, must render the pages of future his" 
 tory doubtful and erroneous. 
 
 Unhappy for us that effectual barriers against errors of this kind 
 were not earlier erected. We very much regret that accurate records 
 of the events and transactions of the 19th of April, '75, at Concord, 
 were not made at the time, and carefully preserved. This might have 
 
prevented those errors and misrepresentations of which we now com- 
 plain. Some minutes indeed were made in after years, — some facts 
 were noted, and many are remembered by living witnesses. We believe 
 therefore, it is yet in our power to vindicate and establish the truth on 
 the subject under consideration. 
 
 We have no objections to the historical account given by Major 
 • Phinney of the march of the British troops from Boston to Lexington, 
 their outrageous behavior while there, &c. except so far as relates to 
 the returning of the fire of the British. This we mean to controvert, 
 and to shew by testimony and evidence that cannot be resisted nor 
 rationally disputed, that the inhabitants of Lexington, very recently, 
 have made an unjust claim upon the public faith ; — that they have 
 appropriated to themselves facts and honors to which they had no 
 right, and have thereby attempted to wrest from the inhabitants of 
 Concord and adjacent towns, the legitimate honors which their brave 
 and patriotic iathers achieved and bequeathed to them. 
 
 Situated as we now are, at this late period, were we only concern- 
 ed, we might still be silent. But when we consider the importance of 
 a just representation of facts in a case of this kind, — the interests of 
 our common country in the matter at issue, — the memory and reputa- 
 tion of our revered and heroic fathers, we do not feel ourselves at 
 liberty to be inactive. The blood of our patriotic fathers, and the 
 voice of our beloved country, seem imperiously to demand of us a fair, 
 unvarnished statement of facts respecting the fight at Concord. And 
 this shall be our endeavor without evasion or false coloring. 
 
 It may be added, that the nations of the earth are interested in the 
 American revolution ; and they have a right to know from us the time, 
 place, and circumstances of the actual commencement of a war of such 
 vast consequences. It is our aim to give them correct information. 
 
 Those who may read the following narrative may be desirous of 
 finding in it a general and correct view of the progress of the British 
 from the time of their leaving Boston, till they returned to Charles- 
 town heights ; and also of the opposing and pursuing Americans. It 
 may be desirable also to know some of the previous measures of the 
 
Tl 
 
 Congress of the then colony of Massachusetts. Such a view we pur- 
 pose to give, and in doing this we shall avail ourselves of the history 
 of Maj. Phinney, where we find it correct, gratefully acknowledging 
 the saving of labor to ourselves, and giving credit for any assistance 
 that may thereby be afforded. 
 
HISTORY. 
 
 It is well known that the arbitrary and oppressive 
 acts and measures of the King and Parliament of 
 Great Britain, were the causes which led to the 
 revolutionary war, and to a final separation between 
 the United States and the mother country. There 
 are extant so many records and historical accounts of 
 this matter, which are accessible to all classes of 
 people, that it is deemed unnecessary, in this place, 
 to go into any detail of facts and proceedings of that 
 period, farther than simply to introduce the main ob- 
 jects of this publication. 
 
 We begin, therefore, with some account of the 
 Provincial Congress and their proceedings, which 
 will shew somewhat the state of public affairs at that 
 time, and the measures adopted by the Americans 
 and the British immediately preceding the bloody 
 conflict on the 19th of April, '75. 
 
 Public affairs wore so alarming an aspect in the 
 year 1774^ that before the dissolution of the General 
 Court in the spring, a Congress of Delegates from 
 
the several towns in the province was agreed upon. 
 To this Congress, the town of Concord sent three,* 
 the county of Middlesex seventy-four, and the rest 
 of the State, including what is now the state of 
 Maine, two hundred members. The first meeting of 
 the Congress took place at Salem, on the 12th of 
 Oct. 1774, when they chose the Hon. John Hancock, 
 chairman, and Mr. Benjamin Lincoln, clerk 5 and 
 immediately adjourned to Concord. On the 15tli 
 the Congress was organized by choosing the chair- 
 man and clerk, President and Secretary. They held 
 their meetings in the church. Two sessions, one at 
 9 o'clock, A. M. and the other at 3 o'clock, P. M. 
 were held each day. The Rev. Mr. Emerson, then 
 minister of Concord, officiated as Chaplain. The 
 Session was continued a great part of the time in se- 
 cret, till the 29th of the same month. Their pro- 
 ceedings were marked with great harmony, vigilance, 
 and energy. One of their first acts was, to address the 
 governor on the state of their grievances ; but not 
 receiving a satisfactory answer, a committee for the 
 safety and defence of the province, another to prepare 
 a plan for regulating the mihtia, and another to esti- 
 mate the munitions of war that were needed by the 
 province, were chosen. The militia w^as in part or- 
 ganized, and some general officers were appointed. 
 Capt. James Barrett, at that time, was promoted to 
 Colonel. On the 29th, Congress adjourned to the 
 23d of Nov. following. They met again according 
 
 *Col. James Barrett, Mr. Samuel Whitney, and Mr. Ephraim 
 Wood, Jr. At the two succeeding Congresses, Col. Barrett only 
 was chosen. 
 
9 
 
 to adjournment, and continued their spirited proceed- 
 ings till the 10th of December. 
 
 During this session, after repeated and fruitless 
 attempts to promote reconciliation, on fair terms with 
 governor Gage, a large quantity of military stores 
 and provisions was ordered to be collected and de- 
 posited at Concord. 
 
 On the 10th of Dec. the first Provincial Congress 
 recommended that a new Congress be chosen, to 
 assemble at Cambridge, on the first of Feb. 1775, 
 and dissolved. 
 
 The new Congress, which met at Cambridge on 
 the 1st. of Feb. was not as numerous as the one pre- 
 vious. There were forty from Middlesex, and from 
 other counties in proportion. They continued in 
 session until the 16th, and on that day adjourned to 
 meet at Concord on the 22d of March. 
 
 Congress met at Concord according to adjourn- 
 ment, and continued a laborious and important ses- 
 sion till the 15th of April, when they adjourned, to 
 meet at the same place on the 10th of May, unless 
 sooner called together. The Committee of Safety 
 chosen at the first Congress, were in session during 
 the recess, and it was made the duty of the members 
 in Cambridge and vicinity, to call an earher meeting, 
 if necessary. In consequence of the events of the 
 19th of April, notice was given by the members in 
 Cambridge, and a meeting of a few members was 
 suddenly called at Concord, on the 22d of April, 
 when Richard Devens Esq. of Charlestown was 
 2 
 
10 
 
 chosen chairman, and John Murray, clerk,* and im- 
 mediately adjourned to Watertown. At this session 
 a committee of nine persons was chosen to take depo- 
 sitions respecting the affair at Lexington on the 19th ; 
 of which committee were Col. James Barrett of 
 Concord, and Dea. Jonas Stone of Lexington, who 
 were also members of the Congress. There was also 
 another committee appointed to draw up a narrative 
 of the whole events of that day. Joseph Warren, 
 Esq. occasionally presided in this Congress, the Hon. 
 John Hancock having been previously chosen a rep- 
 resentative in the Continental Congress at Phila- 
 delphia.! 
 
 From the foregoing statements the reason is obvi- 
 ous why Concord was selected as a place of deposit 
 for the Provincial military stores, and why the ex- 
 pedition of the British troops to that place was un- 
 dertaken. 
 
 " In the afternoon of the 18th," says the history 
 of Major Phinney, " Gen. Gage sent out a number 
 of his officers, a part of them through Roxbury, and 
 a part over the ferry through Charlestown, to recon- 
 noitre and watch the movements of the people, and, 
 at a proper time, to seize and detain all persons on 
 
 * We believe this person to be the Rev. John Murray,a Presbyterian 
 minister of Ncwburyport, who was sent as a delegate to the Congress. 
 
 t Tlie above Congress, continuing in session but a short time, 
 dissolved, and a third and last Congress was chosen, composed princi- 
 pally of the members of the second Congress, and met at Watertown 
 on the 31st of May. Chose Joseph Warren, Esq. President, and Mr. 
 Samuel Freeman, Secretary, and continued the session to the 13th 
 July, when they dissolved. A " General Court," chosen according 
 to the colony charter, assembled in August. 
 
11 
 
 the road whom they might suspect of being engaged 
 in carrying intelhgence of the intended march of his 
 troops to Concord. Solomon Brown of Lexington, 
 who had been to market at Boston on the 18th, re- 
 turned late in the afternoon, and informed Col. Wm. 
 Munroe, then an orderly sergeant of the militia com- 
 pany, that he had seen nine British officers, dressed 
 in blue great coats, passing leisurely up the road, some- 
 times before and sometimes behind him, armed, as he 
 had discovered by the occasional blowing aside of 
 their great coats. Munroe, suspecting their intention 
 was to seize Hancock and Adams, immediately col- 
 lected a guard of eight men, well armed and equipped, 
 and placed them, with himself at their head, at the 
 house of Mr. Clark, which was about a quarter of a 
 mile from the main road leading to Concord. The 
 Committee of Safety, then in session in the westerly 
 part of Cambridge, also sent information to Hancock 
 and Adams of the approach of these officers. They 
 passed through town early in the evening on the 
 road to Concord, After some consultation, it was 
 concluded by the persons present, to send three 
 of their number, Saunders, Brown, and Loring 
 toward Concord, to watch the British officers, and 
 endeavor to ascertain and give information of their 
 movements. In the borders of Lincoln, the whole 
 three were taken prisoners by the British offi- 
 cers. During the time they held our men in custody, 
 they took two other prisoners, Col. Paul Revere, 
 and one Allen, a pedlar," whose hands were crippled 
 and distorted. " Shortly after, they released Allen. 
 They also attempted to stop a young man, by the 
 
name of Prescott, belonging to Concord ; but, being 
 well mounted, he turned from the road into the fieldj 
 and putting spurs to his horse, escaped. Several of 
 the officers pursued, but could not overtake him." 
 
 '' At about 10 o'clock in the evening of the 18th, 
 a detachment of British troops, consisting of grenadiers 
 and light infantry, in all about eight hundred, em- 
 barked from Boston in boats, and landed at Lech- 
 mere Point in Cambridge, just as the moon rose. To 
 prevent discovery, they took a by-path leading to the 
 main road, which obliged them to wade through 
 marshy places and water to a considerable depth." 
 
 Governor Gage, by posting sentinels, endeavored 
 to prevent the carrying intelhgence of the embarkation 
 of the troops into the country. But nothing of the 
 kind could escape the notice of the vigilant and active 
 Gen. Warren and his compatriots. Col. Revere and 
 a Mr. Lincoln had been seasonably sent out of Bos- 
 ton, to give information to Hancock and Adams, and 
 to others, of the movement of the British troops, and 
 what might be expected. Revere and Lincoln, one 
 through Charlestown, the other through Roxbury, 
 met at Lexington. " They both brought written 
 communications from Gen. Warren, that a large 
 body of the king's troops (supposed to be a brigade 
 of twelve or fifteen hundred men) had embarked in 
 boats, and gone over to Lechmere point, and it was 
 suspected they were ordered to seize and destroy 
 the stores belonging to the colony, then deposited at 
 Concord. The march of the British troops was si- 
 lent and rapid." A httle before 5 o'clock, A. M. 
 they arrived at Lexington, near the meeting-house, 
 
13 
 
 and in sight of the militia there collected. And there, 
 for the present, we leave them, and the horrid massa- 
 cre they perpetrated, and pass on to the entrance of 
 the British into Concord and the scenes that followed. 
 
 Nothing very interesting occurred in the march 
 of the British from Lexington to Concord. Intel- 
 ligence had been given by Mr. Samuel Prescott, 
 who had passed the evening at Lexington, and had 
 seen and escaped the British officers on the road, as 
 above n.entioned, that the British troops were on the 
 way, and supposed to be destined to this place, for 
 the purpose of destroying public and military stores ; 
 which intelligence was confirmed by others who were 
 passing the road, and particularly by Mr. Reuben 
 Brown of Concord, who had been sent to Lexington 
 on purpose to ascertain the truth of the case. 
 
 About 1 o'clock in the morning of the 19th, the 
 bell in Concord was rung, which was to be the signal 
 of alarm. The inhabitants of the town hastily col- 
 lected, and the minute companies and militia, with 
 patriotic ardor, expeditiously formed on the usual pa- 
 rade before the meeting-house. Several men now 
 living, -who were then in the military companies, 
 are of opinion that there were two hundred men* in 
 arms that day, belonging to Concord. A consider- 
 able number of them were ordered to assist the cit- 
 izens who were actively engaged in removmg and 
 secreting cannon, military stores, and provisions. The 
 cannon were nearly all conveyed to a distance, some 
 
 * We have the names of one hundred volunteer minute men who 
 were enrolled that day besides the militia. 
 
u 
 
 to adjacent towns, and some were buried in the ground, 
 and some under heaps of manure. 
 
 The minute company of Lincoln commanded by 
 Capt. William Smith and Lieut. Samuel Hoar, long 
 since the Hon. Samuel Hoar ; and the militia com- 
 pany commanded by Capt. Samuel Farrar, now liv- 
 ing, and many years a deacon, assembled on the com- 
 mon with those of Concord. With others from that 
 town was the late Col. Abijah Pierce, then a Major 
 in a regiment in that section of the county. These 
 companies of Concord and Lincoln marched down the 
 road towards Lexington, till they saw the British 
 advancing within two miles of the centre of the town. 
 Mr. James Baker, then of Lincoln, a minute man, 
 and engaged all day, still lives, and recollects the 
 events and transactions narrated. 
 
 One reason for the early assembling of the com- 
 panies of Lincoln was, they received the first infor- 
 mation of the British by Mr. Prescott, wlio, in es- 
 caping the British officers, turned his course through 
 Lincoln. It may not be amiss to observe that, in 
 every town where minute companies were organized, 
 they felt themselves specially obligated to be well 
 armed, and to appear on parade as soon as possible, at 
 the first notice of danger from the British soldiery ; 
 being voluntarily and by recommendation of the gen- 
 eral Committee of Safety formed into companies and 
 regiments for this purpose. On this accoimt, we 
 find these companies with their officers more forward 
 and conspicuous than the militia. This was their du- 
 ty; and their being in front, where danger was the 
 
15 
 
 greatest, implies no want of patriotism or zeal in the 
 militia officers or companies. 
 
 The officers of the regiment of minute men in and 
 about Concord, now remembered, were Col. James 
 Barrett, Lieut. Col. Ezekiel Howe of Sudbury, Ma- 
 jor John Buttrick and Captains David Brown and 
 Charles Miles of Concord, Capt. Isaac Davis and 
 Lieuts. J. Hay ward and John Heald of Acton, and 
 Adjutant Joseph Hosmer, late the Hon. Joseph Hos- 
 mer, who magnified his office by his activity and zeal, 
 and animated the spirits of his fellow soldiers by his 
 patriotic address. Other officers and private citizens 
 of influence, contributed by their exhortations and ex- 
 ample, to invigorate and direct the spirits and courage 
 of the people. Capt. Nathan Barrett, late Colonel, 
 commanded the militia company of Concord, and 
 marched next to the minute companies, when the fight 
 commenced. Several of this company are now living. 
 
 When the alarm bell was heard, the Rev. Mr. Em- 
 erson, the clergyman of the town, turned out with his 
 people. He was a zealous patriot, and entered warm- 
 ly into the cause of his country. He encouraged the 
 people collected, and administered counsel and com- 
 fort to the distressed and flying women and children. 
 The next year he went chaplain in the northern army, 
 and died of sickness on his way home. 
 
 That night was a time of great anxiety and big with 
 doubtful and interesting expectations. The novelty 
 of the scene, the distress of some, the ardor of others, 
 the uncertainty of the events, and the unknown conse- 
 quences that must follow, all conspired to render those 
 few hours extremely anxious and painful. 
 
16 
 
 Col. James Barrett had the command of the milita- 
 ry companies, and also of the superintendance of all the 
 public stores, by the appointment of Congress.* He 
 rode from place to place giving directions to soldiers 
 and citizens as circumstances required. Great confi- 
 dence was reposed in him, both by his fellow citizens 
 and the Provincial Congress. 
 . The mihtary companies which had marched east- 
 ward in sight of the approaching enemy, finding they 
 were in number far inferior to the British, returned, 
 most of them on the hill north of the road. And when 
 they came to the west end by the road leading to the 
 north bridge. Col. Barrett addressed them in a firm, 
 feeling, and serious manner. He reminded them of 
 the danger to which they were exposed, and cautioned 
 them not to be careless, or needlessly expose them- 
 selves ; but to be cool and firm, and to conduct like 
 considerate and judicious men and patriots. He charg- 
 ed them not to fire,' unless the British should first fire 
 on them. Perceiving that the British had entered the 
 village, and were very near them, and that his men were 
 too few to make a stand, he ordered them to march 
 over the north bridge, and take a position on a hill 
 about one mile to the north of the meeting-house, and 
 there to wait for accessions to their numbers, and for 
 further orders. Nor did they wait in vain. Armed 
 men from adjacent towns hastened to this place of gen- 
 eral rendezvous. A considerable number of the min- 
 
 * Here let it be noted, that in the numbers of Middlesex published 
 last year in the Yeoman's Gazette, there are several errors respecting 
 men and circumstances, which are here rectified. More accurate in- 
 formation having been obtained. 
 
17 
 
 ute and militia companies of Bedford were seasonably 
 on the ground. The former was commanded by Capt. 
 Jonathan Wilson, the latter by Capt. John Moore. 
 Capt. Wilson was killed in Lincoln, by the flank 
 guard of the enemy. Two of the company of Capt. 
 Wilson, who were with him, are now living, viz. 
 Captains Christopher Page and David Reed, and 
 retain a lively remembrance of the novel and tragical 
 scenes of that day. Numbers from Carlisle, Chelms- 
 ford, Westford, Littleton, and Acton augmented the 
 military force. A company from Westford had just 
 entered the bounds of Concord when the fight took 
 place. But individuals of that town were present and 
 engaged in the battle, among whom was the brave 
 Col. Robinson. A company from Sudbury com- 
 manded by Capt. Nixon, afterwards a General in the 
 continental army, were stopped about half a mile from 
 the south bridge,by a messenger, Mr. Stephen Barrett, 
 son of the colonel, and informed that the south bridge 
 was taken up and guarded by the British, and that 
 they must march round to the north bridge. In this 
 route they had to pass by Col. Barrett's, where the 
 British were then actually destroying public property. 
 The company halted near the British, and Lieut. Col. 
 Howe, anxious to join his regiment, concealed his 
 sword under his coat, and pretending business, obtain- 
 ed leave of the British officer commanding that party, 
 to pass unmolested. He had gone but a little way, 
 when the firing at the bridge was heard, on which he 
 turned back, offering a reason for not proceeding, 
 and receiving an angry threat from the ofiicer, re- 
 3 
 
18 
 
 Joined tlie Sudbury company,* and pursued the enemy 
 in their retreat from Concord. Col. Jonathan Rice 
 of Sudbury, now hving, then a heutenant in that 
 company, correctly remembers and relates these things. 
 A Mr. Plimpton of the same town, now alive, is a 
 witness to the same facts. Two companies from 
 Stow, commanded by Capts. Hapgood and Whit- 
 comb, marched for Concord at 12 o'clock, passed the 
 north bridge, and arrived at Cambridge at sunset. 
 
 We now advert to the British troops, who entered the 
 centre of the town in two divisions ; one in the main 
 road, and the other on the hill north of the road, and 
 from which the armed Americans had just retir- 
 ed. Their first act of violence was to cut down the 
 liberty pole, which afterwards they burnt with the 
 carriages of the cannon and other public property. 
 
 Immediately after entering the village, six compa- 
 nies, under captains Parsons and Lowrie, v^ere sent 
 to the north bridge, and a party to the south bridge 
 under Capt. Pole. Their object was, doubtless, to 
 prevent the entrance of people into the town, while 
 they were carrying on the work of destruction which 
 they had hastily commenced. Public stores and im- 
 plements of war being deposited at Col. Barrett's, three 
 companies commanded by Capt. Parsons, marched 
 over the bridge, and on to Col. Barrett's. It is high- 
 ly probable they meant to take the colonel and carry 
 
 * In thai company was a Dea. Josiah Haynes, 80 years of age. He 
 was urgent to attack the British at the south bridge, to dislodge them, 
 and march into the village. This is a specimen of the spirit and feel- 
 ings of the people. He pursued with ardor to Lexington, and ther« 
 was killed by a musket ball. 
 
19 
 
 liim a prisoner to Boston ; for he was known by Gov. 
 Gage and the royal party to be a pubhc officer and 
 an influential character in the cause of liberty. 
 
 After the military companies had taken a stand on 
 the hill, as above mentioned, Col. Barrett immediately 
 rode home, gave directions to his family, and left them 
 without telling them where he was going. Appre- 
 hensive that the British would seize him, if they had 
 an opportunity, he took a back way, and returned to 
 his brethren in arms. By this method he avoided 
 meeting the British, and his family could give them 
 no account of him. 
 
 The British troops were very expeditious in destroy- 
 ing all the public stores they could find. A consid- 
 erable quantity of flour was stored in the malt house 
 of Mr. Ebenezer Hubbard. They beat oflf the boards 
 of one end of the house, rolled down the barrels, 
 dashed them in pieces, and scattered the flour in the 
 street. At a store house of Capt. Timothy Wheeler, 
 there was also a quantity of flour, which was saved 
 by the following artifice. By the side of the barrels 
 two bags of meal were placed, which were the prop- 
 erty of Capt. Wheeler. The British were about to 
 break open the store, but Capt. W. readily produced 
 the key and opened the door. On being sternly inter- 
 rogated, whether that flour was pubhc property, Capt. 
 Wheeler, standing by the bags, replied, " Gentlemen, 
 I am a miller, and declare to you, that every gill of 
 this is mine," at the same instant striking his hand 
 on the bags of meal. Upon this they left him in 
 quiet possession of the whole quantity of flour. At 
 a grist mill near by, a number of barrels were found, 
 
20 
 
 which tliey threw into the mill-pond ; a part of which 
 was saved afterwards, though considerably damaged. 
 About this time, the British set fire to the court- 
 house, which was near to a number of builings, and 
 among them the house of widow Moulton. On see- 
 ing the fire, she ran out and remonstrated, and ob- 
 tained both a hearing and assistance to bring water and 
 extinguish the fire. 
 
 While in the village the British seized and abused 
 several persons, aged men, who were not armed. 
 Among them was Dea. Thomas Barrett, brother of 
 the Col. In his buildings there was a gun factory, 
 carried on by his son, Mr. Samuel Barrett, and men 
 employed by him. The Deacon was a man noted for 
 his piety and goodness, and for his mildness of dispo- 
 sition. Not appearing terrified or insulting, he began 
 seriously to remonstrate against their violence, and the 
 unkind treatment of the mother country against her 
 colonies. When they threatened to kill him as a 
 rebel, he calmly said, they would do better to save 
 themselves that trouble, for he was old and should soon 
 die of himself. Upon which they replied, " Well, old 
 dada, you may go in peace." 
 
 By the time the British had collected, burnt, and 
 otherwise destroyed the carriages of cannon, public 
 "stores, the liberty pole, and spiked several cannon 
 which they found, and thrown cannon balls into the 
 mill-pond, the firing took place at the north bridge, 
 which immediately drew their anxious attention to that 
 quarter. 
 
 The British troops, which went on to Col. Barrett's, 
 found and burnt a number of carriages for cannon, 
 
21 
 
 and other implements of war. The soldiers were 
 hungry and thirsty ; and here, as at other places in 
 town, when disbanded, they requested supplies. The 
 officers very pohtely offered to pay Mrs. Barrett for 
 victuals and drink, but she refused pay, saying, "we 
 are comaianded to feed our enemy, if he hunger." 
 They assured her of good treatment, but said they 
 must search her house and should destroy public stores. 
 Mrs. Barrett had concealed the small articles that 
 belong to cannon, with musket balls, flints, cutlasses, 
 &LC. in casks in the garrett, and had put over them 
 a quantity of feathers which prevented discovery. On 
 seeing a son of Col. Barrett, the officers demanded 
 his name. Being answered, Barrett, they called him 
 a rebel, and taking hold of him, said, " you must go 
 to Boston with us." Mrs. Barrett spoke and said, 
 "he is my son, and not the master of the house." — 
 Upon this they released him. Another son was there 
 viz. the late James Barrett Esq., but being lame and 
 inactive at that time, did not so much attract their at- 
 tention. They were about to burn the devoted arti- 
 cles, carriages, &,c. so near the barn as to endanger it. 
 Observing this, Mrs. Barrett went out to them, and re- 
 minded the officers of their promise not to injure private 
 property. They promptly ordered the articles to be 
 carried into the street, where they were consumed. 
 
 The party of regulars at the north bridge were, for 
 a little time, dispersed about ; and some of them went 
 into the houses that were near, and procured food and 
 drink, which were generally given them from fear, if 
 not from kindness. 
 
 In the mean time, the number of armed Americans 
 
22 
 
 was augmented, and they had marched to the high land 
 near the north bridge, at the north west of it. From 
 this station, the centre of the town was in fair view, 
 and the British at the bridge were before their eyes and 
 within gunshot. Here the military companies formed ; 
 and when in this position, Capt. Davis of Acton arri- 
 ved, and brought on his company ; and passing by the 
 other companies, took the right of the whole, which 
 placed him nearest to the bridge, and in front, when 
 they marched towards the enemy. 
 
 About four hundred and fifty armed men being col- 
 lected, the military officers then present, with some 
 respectable volunteers and citizens, having confidence 
 in the patriotism and courage of the men in arms, and 
 trusting in Divine Providence, there held a Council 
 of war — a council the most interesting and pregnant 
 with events, perhaps, that was ever held. It was not 
 indeed precisely according to the rules of a regular ar- 
 my 5 — it was a council composed of military officers, 
 volunteers and citizens, the proprietors of the soil, the 
 substantial yeomanry of the then province. That coun- 
 cil, with minds and hearts full of the great occasion of 
 assembling, having directly before them a body of Brit- 
 ish soldiers, at the bridge, stationed there to oppose 
 their entrance into their own village 5 knowing that a 
 detachment of regulars had gone over the bridge to 
 Col. Barrett's, where public stores were deposited ; 
 not having heard that blood was shed at Lexington, 
 but only that there had been firing ; seeing the smoke 
 rising in the centre of the town, and the proud banners 
 of the invading troops of the mother country there wav- 
 ing ; the women and children either flying, or in a 
 
state of terror and anguish not easily described ; feeling 
 that it was a case of extremity, a question of hfe or 
 death, of freedom or slavery 5 and conscious that the 
 halter would follow ineffectual resistance ; in that sol- 
 emn and appalling situation, enough to "try men's 
 souls 5" that council of sober, intelligent, high minded 
 patriots consulted, determined, and resolved to live 
 free or die — resolved " to march into the middle of 
 the toivn for its defence, or die in the attempt.^ ^* — 
 They resolved also, that they would do no violence, un- 
 less violently opposed ; that not a gun should be fired 
 by an American, unless fired upon by the British. — 
 They acted upon principle, and in the fear of God. — 
 C apt. Miles, afterwards, said to one of us, that "he 
 went to the services of the dny with the same serious- 
 ness and acknowledgment of God which he carried to 
 church." And we have no doubt, he expressed the 
 sentiments and feelings of many who were engaged in 
 the bloody scenes of that memorable day. Indeed it 
 was a sentiment that pervaded the great body of the 
 people. The happy effects and vast consequences of 
 their high and noble resolution, are beyond all calcula- 
 tion. There the sentiments and feelings of the people 
 were brought to a point, — the point of forcible resist- 
 ance. Their minds had been long agitated and then* 
 feelings insulted. They had marked the oppressive 
 measures of Great Britain, and now saw violence and 
 destruction actually begun by her troops. Forbear- 
 ance was no longer a virtue. The moment had arriv- 
 ed — the die must be cast — and they came to a glorious 
 
 * Major Euttrick and Capt. Davis used this expression, as numbers 
 testify ;— an expression wijich many thought and acted out. 
 
decision. To that result we may trace not only the 
 American revolution, but the existence and progress 
 of civil liberty and national freedom in various parts 
 of the world. Where that great council was held, 
 the spot, the site of ground, appears to us little less 
 than holy, and really consecrated by Heaven to the 
 cause of liberty and the rights of man. And, we 
 trust, it will never cease to remind succeeding gene- 
 rations of what their fathers bravely resolved and 
 achieved, and what the Almighty wonderfully per- 
 formed for them and their posterity. When the scenes 
 of that day, and the situation of the principal actors 
 are distinctly recollected, we admire and venerate the 
 character and conduct of those patriots, and we de- 
 light to honor and perpetuate their memory. 
 
 It is impossible, at this period, to do impartial jus- 
 tice to all the officers, soldiers, and citizens at that 
 time assembled.' The officers were of course the 
 most known and conspicuous, and their names are 
 transmitted to posterity with honor. But there were 
 subalterns, privates, and volunteer citizens, whose 
 patriotism and bravery, on that day of deep interest 
 and high consideration, covered them with honor, and 
 merit the unceasing gratitude of their country. 
 
 It may gratify the reader to know the geography 
 of the field of action before we describe the action 
 itself. From the station of the armed Americans on 
 the high land, the direction of the road was south- 
 wardly till it met the road leading over the bridge. 
 At this point, on the left bank of the river, the road 
 to the bridge turned northeasterly, so that the point, 
 or angle of the roads, the bridge and the high land 
 
25 
 ^' 
 form aA angle of nearly equal sides. The course of 
 the river through tlie town is serpentine. A few rods 
 above the bridge, the river turns to the north, and 
 soon again to the east, about one hundred rods below 
 the bridge. 
 
 The Americans being ready and determined to 
 move on towards the bridge, orders were renewed by 
 the officers not to fire nor give any needless provoca- 
 tion, unless fired upon by the British ; to which all 
 assented. Col. Barrett* then gave orders to march, 
 and directed Maj. John Buttrick to take the com- 
 mand and to lead the companies. He was accompan- 
 ied by the heroic Col. Robinson, who was a volunteer 
 and belonged to a regiment of which the gallant 
 Prescott of Pepperell was first colonel. Capt. Da- 
 vis followed them with his company, then Capt. 
 
 *The following is the deposition of Col. Barrettj given before the 
 Committee of the Provincial Congress : — 
 
 Lexington, April 23, 1775. 
 
 " I, James Barrett of Concord, Colonel of a regiment of militia in 
 the county of Middlesex, do testify and say, that on Wednesday morn- 
 ing last, about day-break, I was informed of the approach of a number 
 of the regular troops to the town of Concord, where were some mag- 
 azines belonging to the province, and where there was assembled some 
 of the militia of that and the neighboring towns, when I ordered them 
 to march to the north bridge and pass the same, but not to fire on the 
 king's troops unless they were fired upon. We advanced near said 
 bridge, when the said troops fired upon our militia and killed two men 
 upon the spot, and wounded several others, which was the first firing 
 of guns in the town of Concord. My detachment then returned the 
 fire, which killed and wounded several of tlie king's troops. 
 
 JAMES BARRETT." 
 
 Sworn to before WILLIAM REED, > 
 
 JOHN H ASTINGS, V Justices of the Peace." 
 DUNCAN INGRAM, ) 
 
 Col. Barrett died suddenly April 11, 1779, aged 69. 
 
 4 
 
26 
 
 David Brown, and Capt. Charles Miles with their 
 companies. Capt. Nathan Barrett next followed 
 with his militia company. The captains from Lin- 
 coln and Bedford above named, fell in under the 
 direction of Col. Barrett, who continued on horse- 
 back, in the rear, giving directions to the armed men 
 collecting and momently increasing in number. The 
 precise position of every officer and company, and 
 ))arts of companies, cannot now be perfectly known. 
 The forward companies became more noticeable. 
 
 It may not be amiss to remark, that the situation 
 of Maj. Buttrick, as it was more dangerous and im- 
 portant, has gained him distinguished celebrity and 
 honor. But this ought never to operate as an eclipse 
 upon any other officer on that occasion. There is 
 satisfactory evidence, that on the march to meet the 
 enemy, Maj. Buttrick requested Col. Robinson to 
 act as his superior, he being an older man, and of 
 higher rank in another regiment. But he modestly 
 declined, and consented to march at the right hand 
 and be considered a volunteer. The late Col. John '■ 
 Buttrick, then a fifer, repeatedly affirmed that he was 
 present and heard the conversation between his father 
 and Col. Robinson. This is here particularly men- 
 tioned, because there have been entertained erroneous 
 opinions on the subject. 
 
 The Americans commenced their march in double 
 file. The British observing their motions, hastily 
 formed on the east side of the river. When the 
 Americans passed the angle near the river, the Brit- 
 ish began to take up the planks of the bridge ; against 
 which Maj. Buttrick remonstrated in an elevated 
 
27 
 
 voice, and ordered a quicker step of his soldiers. On 
 this the British desisted from injury to the bridge, 
 convinced, no doubt, that the Americans were deter- 
 mined and able to pass the bridge. At that moment 
 two or three guns, in quick succession, w^ere fired into 
 the river on the right of the Americans, who considered 
 them as alarm guns, and not aimed at them. In a 
 minute or two, the Americans being in quick motion, 
 and within ten or fifteen rods of the bridge, a single 
 gun was fired by a British soldier, which marked its 
 way, passing under Col. Robinson's arm, slightly 
 wounding the side of Luther Blanchard, a fifer in 
 the Acton company. This gun was instantly follow- 
 ed by a volley, which killed Capt. Davis* and Mr. 
 Hosmer, both of the same company. On seeing this, 
 as quickly as possible, Maj. Buttrick leaped from 
 the ground, and partly turning to his men, exclaimed, 
 ^' Fire^ fellow-soldiers, for God? s sake fire. "^^ Mr. 
 Tilly Buttrick, a respectable man now living, stood near 
 the Major, and is positive that he distinctly heard the 
 words and saw the motions of the speaker. He was 
 in front of Capt. Brown's company. No sooner 
 were the words uttered, than the word fire ran like 
 electricity through the whole line of the Americans, 
 extending to the high land from whence they had 
 marched 5 and for a few seconds, the word fire, fire, 
 was heard from hundreds of mouths. The order of 
 Maj. Buttrick was instantly obeyed. Two of the 
 British were killed and several wounded. The firing 
 
 * Capt. Davis was 30 years old, and left a wife and five children. 
 His widow has since been twice married, and now lives a widow in 
 Acton ! 
 
2S 
 
 on each side lasted but a minute or two. The Brit- 
 ish immediately retreated. When the Americans 
 had fired, most of the forward companies leaped over 
 a wall on their left, and fired from behind it. Mil- 
 itary order and regularity of proceeding were soon 
 after broken up. A part of the Americans rushed 
 over the bridge, and pursued the British till they saw 
 a large reinforcement advancing, when they turned to 
 the left, and ascended a hill east of the main road 5 
 and a part returned to the high ground, conveying 
 and taking care of the dead. 
 
 While the Americans were retiring and scattered 
 on the heights, the Britisli troops which had gone 
 to Col. Barrett's, returned unmolested and joined 
 their main body. When they saw two of their fel- 
 low soldiers dead, near the bridge, they appeared to 
 be very much alarmed, and ran with great speed. 
 It was a sight evidently unexpected to them, and 
 led them to anticipate the danger and blood-shed that 
 followed. Their conduct was observed by the Rev. 
 Mr. Emerson and his family, who had witnessed the 
 whole tragical scene from the windows of his house 
 near the battle ground. 
 
 A few minutes after the fight at the bridge, a 
 guard of British troops, stationed near the place 
 where they first entered the village, saw a man riding 
 briskly towards them, whom they sharply eyed. This 
 man was Mr. Abel Prescott who had been to give 
 intelligence to the inhabitants of Sudbury, and was 
 returning to his father's, the late Doct. Abel Pres- 
 cott. Perceiving that he was watched, and that by 
 pressing forward he should be likely to fall into their 
 
29 
 
 hands, he turned his horse about, on which they 
 fired upon him, and wounded him in one arm. He 
 rode directly to the house of Mrs. Heywood, who 
 with her son-in-law, now the Hon. Abiel Heywood, 
 and Uving witness of this affair, quickly attended to 
 his wound. But observing the British advancing to 
 the house, Mrs. Heywood, an aged lady, and her son- 
 in-law left it, and sought a place of greater safety. — 
 Mr. Prescott ran up stairs and concealed himself in 
 a dark place, behind the chimney and a dry cask. He 
 heard them searching for him and uttering bitter 
 threats, but they did not find him. 
 
 While this party of the enemy were at this house, 
 they observed a number of Americans running across 
 lots towards a barn. At these men several guns were 
 fired, but without effect. 
 
 Some persons, it is quite possible, may judge these 
 things too trivial to be here recorded. But it appears 
 to us that scarcely any event or circumstance relating 
 to the conduct of the British or Americans, on that 
 day, can be viewed uninteresting. We wish to place 
 the scenes of the day before the present and future 
 generations precisely as they existed. 
 
 After the fight the British hastily collected their 
 scattered parties, and commenced their retreat nearly 
 •?t 12 o'clock. They took a horse and chaise and 
 some blankets from Mr. Reuben Brown, to convey, 
 as is beheved, a wounded officer, Lieut. Potter. The 
 horse and chaise were left at West Cambridge, where 
 the officer was left a prisoner, and received kind at- 
 tentions from a number of American gentlemen. 
 
 The bloody conflict at the bridge being over, and 
 
30 
 
 the Americans fatigued and hungry, having had no 
 regular, if any breakfast, many of them improved 
 this interval to take refreshment. Mr. Thaxter went 
 to the house of the Rev. Mr. Emerson. The for- 
 mer gentleman was then a candidate for the ministry, 
 and late the reverend and venerable pastor of a church 
 at Edgarton, Martha's Vineyard. He was then 
 preaching at Westford, and accompanied Col. Rob- 
 inson that morning, and was an eye witness of the 
 fight, and of the retreat and pursuit. He was an 
 ardent patriot, and he lived to realize the happy 
 fruits of patriotic zeal and love of hberty. 
 
 After a little respite. Col. Barrett and others rallied 
 and encouraged their armed brethren to pursue their 
 retreating enemy.* Being recovered from the shock 
 at first occasioned by the novel and bloody scene, 
 they engaged in this service with ardor and spirits 
 heightened by the 'violence and bloody action they 
 had witnessed. Most of the armed Americans took 
 a nearer route across the fields, and overtook the 
 enemy as they passed the road from Bedford. There 
 they met a body of minute men, commanded by Maj. 
 John Brooks, late governor, whose Col. was the late 
 Gen. Ebenezer Bridge of Chelmsford, and who had 
 previously joined the pursuing Americans. Col. 
 William Thompson of Billerica, with a body of mi- 
 litia from that town and vicinity, came up to the con- 
 test on the Bedford road, a few minutes after Maj. 
 
 * The two British soldiers killed at the bridge were buried near the 
 spot where tliey fell, both in one grave. Two rough stones mark the 
 spot were they were laid. Their names were unknown. Several 
 others were buried in the middle of the town, /i w //^ ^ M At t//^ 
 
 y f / 
 
31 
 
 Brooks, and was brave and efficient in pursuit. About 
 this period and place, the company from East Sudbu- 
 ry and individuals in that quarter, came up to the 
 attack on the south side of the road. A little below 
 the Bedford road, on Merriam's corner, so called, there 
 was a sharp action, and several of the British were 
 killed. The enemy faced about and made a stand, 
 but soon resumed their march of retreat. The late 
 Rev. Edmund Foster of Littleton was a volunteer 
 from Reading, and accompanied Maj. Brooks, and 
 was personally and warmly engaged in the conflicts 
 of the afternoon. His narrative is interesting, and 
 the principal part of it is in the following pages. 
 
 After the action above mentioned, little more was 
 done by fighting, until the enemy had reached the high 
 land in Lincoln. At that place there was a large bend 
 in the road towards the north, and a grove of great 
 trees on the west, and high bushes on the east, and 
 stone walls in every direction. The Americans had 
 run singly across the meadows and concealed them- 
 selves behind the walls and trees. On the east side of 
 the road there were many in ambush. In this situa- 
 tion the Americans poured a deadly fire upon the Brit- 
 'ish. Near the close of this action, and a little farther 
 on, Capt. Wilson and a number with him, w^ho had 
 taken a stand behind a barn, were killed by the flank 
 guard of the enemy. From this time, there was a gen- 
 eral though not entire cessation of firing, until the ene- 
 my had entered the bounds of Lexington, when Capt. 
 Parker's company attacked the British from the woods 
 on the south of the road. When the enemy were rising 
 Fiske's hill in the west part of Lexington, they w^ere 
 
32 
 
 veEj'iiardiy pressed, the Americans having run forward 
 and placed themselves advantageously behind trees and 
 fences. The British faced about, and a very spirited 
 and bloody contest ensued. Here Maj. Pitcairn was 
 wounded and unhorsed : his horse, pistols, &,c. were 
 taken.* At this place, a considerable number were 
 killed and wounded on both sides, but chielly on the 
 side of the British. They were more exposed and more 
 compact; and it is wonderful that a greater number 
 were not killed and wounded. Here we adduce the 
 account of the Rev. Mr. Foster, who was present at 
 the place, and personally engaged. This will confirm 
 the preceding narrative, and substantiate facts in the 
 further retreat of the enemy. In a letter to Col. Dan- 
 iel Shattuck of Concord, dated, Littleton March 10th 
 1825, he wrote as follows : 
 
 " On the morning of the 19th of April, 1775, just 
 at sunrise, Alarm .Guns were fired, which were quick- 
 ly followed by a Post bringing news, that the Regulars 
 as they expressed it, had gone to Concord. I ran di- 
 rectly to Maj. Brooks, late governor — asked if he 
 were going to Concord, and ivhen. Immediately, was 
 the answer. I borrowed accoutrements, and we set 
 off together for Concord. The militia company of 
 Reading marched on at the same time, under the com- 
 mand of Capt. Bachelder. We rendezvoused near the 
 middle of the town of Bedford ; left horses, and march- 
 .ed forward in pursuit of the enemy. A little before we 
 came to Merriam's hill, we discovered the enemy's 
 
 * The horse was taken to Concord and sold at Auction. Cajit. Na- 
 than Barrett bought the pistols, and afterwards offered them to Gen. 
 Washington, but he not acceptuig them, they were given to Gen. Put- 
 
33 
 
 flank guard, of about SO or 100 men, who, on tiic'r re- 
 treat from Concord, kept that height of land, the mam 
 body in the road. The British troops and the Ameri- 
 cans,* at that time, were equally distant from Merri- 
 am's corner. About twenty rods short of that place, 
 the Americans made a halt. The British marched 
 down the hill with very slow, but steady step, without 
 music, or a word being spoken that could be heard. 
 Silence reigned on both sides. As soon as the Brit- 
 ish had gained the main road,t and passed a small 
 bridge near that corner, they faced about suddenly, 
 and fired a volley of musketry upon us. They over- 
 shot 5 and no one, to my knowledge, was injured by 
 the fire. The fire was immediately returned by the 
 Americans, and two British soldiers fell dead at a 
 little distance from each other, in the road near the 
 brook. The battle now began, and was carried on with 
 little or no mihtary discipline and order, on the part 
 of the Americans, during the remainder of that day. • 
 Each one sought his own place and opportunity to 
 attack and annoy the enemy from behind trees, rocks, 
 fences, and buildings, as seemed most convenient. 
 
 ''The enemy retreated and were followed. We 
 saw a wood at a distance, which appeared to lie on 
 or near the road the enemy must pass. Many leaped 
 over the wall and made for that wood. We arrived 
 just in time to meet the enemy. There was then, on 
 the opposite side of the road, a young growth of wood 
 
 * Here he must mean those Americans with Maj. Brooks, and 
 perhaps, Col. Thompson. Those in the fight had scarcely arrived, and 
 were west of the enemy. 
 
 t When the large flank guard !iad joined the main body in the road. 
 
 K 
 
34 
 
 well filled with Americans. The enemy was now 
 completely between two fires, renewed and briskly 
 kept up. They ordered out a flank guard on the 
 left to dislodge the Americans from their posts behind 
 large trees : but they only became a better mark to 
 be shot at. A short but sharp contest ensued, at 
 which the enemy received more deadly injury, than 
 at any one place from Concord to Charlestown. 
 Eight or more of their number were killed on the 
 spot, and no doubt, many wounded.* 
 
 " The enemy soon retreated under a scattering fire, 
 in which one of their musicians fell. About mid-way 
 of the plain in Lincoln, they left in the road one of 
 their soldiers badly wounded. When we had advanc- 
 ed near to Benjamin's tavern, a man rode up on 
 horse back, but unarmed. The enemy were then 
 passing round the hill just below the tavern. They 
 had posted a small body of then* troops on the north 
 side of the hill, which fired upon us. The horse and 
 his rider fell instantly to the ground ; the horse died 
 immediately, but the man received no injury. We 
 were quickly at the spot, from which we returned the 
 fire. The enemy were then rising and passing over 
 Fiske's hill. An officer, mounted on an elegant 
 horse, and with a drawn sword in his hand, was rid- 
 ing backwards and forwards, commanding and urging 
 on the British troops. A number of Americans be- 
 hind a pile of rails, raised their guns and fired with 
 deadly effect. The officer fell, and the horse took 
 
 " This actionHook place on the old road north of the school-house 
 below Patch's tavern. Eight of these British soldiers were buried ia 
 Lincoln burying ground. 
 
35 
 
 fright, leaped the wall, and ran directly towards those 
 who had killed his rider.* The enemy discharged 
 their musketry in that direction, but their fire took 
 no effect. 
 
 '' At the next house, a British soldier and an Amer- 
 ican met each other suddenly face to face. Both 
 presented their guns and fired at the same instant. 
 The fire of both took a deadly effect.f In some old 
 buildings beyond Thaddeus Reed's, two or three 
 wounded British soldiers were lodged. The fire on 
 the enemy now came from all directions. At the 
 bottom of the next hill, and near the Lexington alms- 
 house, a British soldier was wounded." By Mr. 
 Foster's account, he saved the life of this soldier, 
 and humanely assisted in conveying him and two 
 other Britons badly wounded, to Buckman's, now 
 Merriam's tavern, where proper care was taken of 
 them. " Now lord Percy came up with a reinforce- 
 ment of one thousand men and two pieces of artillery, 
 united with the troops from Concord, and took post 
 on the high grounds a little distant from Col. Mun- 
 roe's. Here for a while was a cessation of arms, 
 excepting that the British occasionally fired their 
 field pieces on us." The Rev. gentleman goes on 
 to mention a number of facts too well known to need 
 repeating ; such as the burning of several buildings 
 by the British — the Americans taking refreshment — 
 
 * We suppose Maj. Pitcairn was the ofi&cer, who was only wounded, 
 having his arm broken. 
 
 t The American was Mr. Hayward of Acton. The Britain had 
 been plundering, and had just left the house as Hayward came upon 
 him. 
 
36 
 
 the manner in which they were supphed by the citi- 
 zens in the several towns who did not bear arms — the 
 passing of a cannon ball through the Lexington church 
 — the beating to arms again — the renewal of the re- 
 treat of the British, and of the pursuit of the 
 Americans, &c. He relates a feat of his, with 
 two others, very mucli to his credit in taking a pris- 
 oner, who was shot through the body, but recovered. 
 He continues : " this transaction put me so far in 
 the rear, that though I pursued, I did not come up 
 with the main body. After the British forces left 
 Lexington, they were met and mostly opposed by 
 men from the lower towns, and some from the county 
 of Essex. The company from Danvers, unacquaint- 
 ed with military movements, was caught, somewhere 
 in West Cambridge, between the flank guard and the 
 main body of the enemy, and lost eight of their num- 
 ber, and several more were severely wounded. This 
 transaction I did not witness, but was correctly inform- 
 ed of it. At Snows', now Davenport's tavern in 
 Cambridge, one of the enemy lay dead by the road, 
 and directly opposite, one of our best men, Maj. Gard- 
 ner of Brookline, was killed, and his death much la- 
 mented. 
 
 " Being now sufficiently weary, I took shelter, (not 
 lodgings, for the furniture was all carried off) in 
 Snow's tavern for the night. 
 
 ''Though almost half a century has elapsed 
 since these events took place, yet my memory has 
 been refreshed with them as often as I have passed 
 by the places where the deeds were done, and there- 
 fore have now as perfect a knowledge of them as 
 though they had been the works of yesterday. 
 
37 
 
 " With the most ardent wishes for the prosperity 
 of the American Independence, which I have lived 
 to see estabhshed, and for many years have partici- 
 pated in 5 and with personal respect for yourself, 
 I subscribe, your friend and fellow-citizen, 
 
 EDMUND FOSTER." 
 
 None of the inhabitants of Concord were killed 
 in the pursuit of the enemy, and very few were 
 wounded. Capt. C. Miles was injured in one hand 
 by a musket ball, and Capt. Nathan Barrett slightly 
 wounded. 
 
 To substantiate the many facts and circumstances 
 brought to view in this narrative, we might adduce - 
 many living witnesses* ^it we deem it unnecessary^ V 
 ^% might also avail ourselves of this publication, 
 to take a conspicuous stand in respect to patriotic 
 spirit, services, and sacrifices 5 and we doubt not our 
 records would justify our pretensions. But this might 
 appear ostentatious in the view of many persons, and 
 like seeking pre-eminence among equals. All the 
 towns in the county deserved well of their country, 
 and exhibited their patriotism as occasion required. 
 Some old people believe that more hardships were 
 endured, more losses sustained, and more sacrifices 
 made in the revolutionary war, than the present and 
 succeeding generations will ever fully know and ap- 
 preciate. 
 
 But it is time to return to the distressing scene of 
 blood and massacre at Lexington, on the morning of 
 that day, the events of which we have been narrating. 
 The circumstances of that horrid scene will be fully 
 exhibited by numerous testimonies, while we shall 
 
^ 
 
 38 
 
 show that the firing of the British troops on the mili- 
 tia company of Lexington was not, that morning, 
 returned by said company 5 which is one object of this 
 pubhcation. 
 
 We have no hesitation in expressing our full belief, 
 that the inhabitants of Lexington, on that morning of 
 alarm and novel excitement, conducted as honorably 
 and bravely as any people would in like circumstances. 
 They enjoyed one singular advantage in a time so 
 trying, viz. the inspiring presence of two of the most 
 distinguished leaders and politicians of that period, 
 the Hon. John Hancock and Samuel Adams. The 
 militia company under Capt. Parker were" prompt, 
 •i •j^atriotic, and courageou%/to admiration. That a 
 single company should parade, in an opposing attituoe, 
 directly in the face of nearly one thousand of the 
 picked troops of Great Britain, places their courage 
 and firmness beyond all controversy. Some may 
 think they were not so wise in council, as fearless in 
 danger — not so prudent in action, as zealous in patri- 
 otism. But while we cheerfully give them the highest 
 praise for their courage and love of country and liberty, 
 we deny that they returned the fire of the British 
 at the time. We think it quite possible that the 
 firing on the British in their retreat from Concord, 
 and in the afternoon, in which the Lexington compa- 
 ny were active, may have been blended, in the minds 
 of some, with the scenes of the morning. This meth- 
 od and time of returning the fire of the British 
 has been so often narrated, perhaps, without needful 
 distinctions, that the present inhabitants may have 
 connected the two periods, and even been wrought 
 
39 
 
 into the belief that the British fire was actually re- 
 turned behind the church in the morning. 
 
 We will grant that after the British had formed at 
 the western extremity of the parade ground, and actu- 
 ally taken up their march towards Concord, a man, 
 behind the tavern of Mr. Buckman, did actually dis- 
 charge his gun towards the British. But this was at 
 such a distance as to have no effect, nor even to be 
 heard by the enemy. We will grant further that 
 '^ some very few''^ of the militia, being in a state of 
 high excitement and confusion, after the British had 
 gone on their ivay^ did fire off their guns from behind 
 the wall, in the places of their concealment. But in 
 our opinion this is nothing to the purpose, and does 
 not affect the question at issue, though it gives op- 
 portunity for perplexing it. In this way we account 
 for the testimonies, on oath, of a number of the inhab- 
 itants of Lexington, to a fact which, we believe, never 
 existed. The reasons of our unbelief shall be assigned. 
 To this confused and undefined state of things, we 
 may trace the reports and publications in England and 
 elsewhere, that the militia company of Lexington 
 fired upon the British, on the parade, in the morning. 
 Considering the disposition of the British, and of the 
 tories at that time, it is not wonderful that such re- 
 ports should have been circulated, and every advant- 
 age seized upon to criminate the Americans. It is 
 well known that Gen. Gage published an official ac- 
 count of the action soon after it occurred. In this 
 account he speaks of the Americans as the aggressors, 
 — as returning the fire, &,c. It was soon after pub- 
 lished in England, and English historians have receiv- 
 
40 
 
 ed his statements as correct. Many American writers 
 have been mere copyists of the Eaghsb, and are equal- 
 ly erroneous. No one in this vicinity, not even the 
 most strenuous advocate for the " battle of Lexing- 
 ton," beheves his official account, or those taken from 
 it, to be true.* 
 
 As to the blood said to have been seen in the 
 street, and adduced as evidence that a Briton was 
 wounded by the fire of an American ; if blood were 
 really seen, it is highly probable it was the blood of 
 the dead and wounded of Capt. Parker's company, 
 who were carried over that spot of ground into the 
 meeting-house or tavern immediately after the British 
 troops had marched toAvards Concord.f 
 
 But what trifles these are compared with the great 
 question m dispute ! Let us, however, suppose that 
 Capt. Parker had ordered his company to return the 
 British fire, and they had obeyed. Such a fire from 
 nearly forty men, into a compact body of at least eight 
 hundred, must have had great and fatal effect. Hap- 
 py for Lexington they did not attempt such an unequal 
 combat. Had the British officers supposed that guns 
 were fired at them, there can scarcely be a doubt, the 
 whole village would have been laid in ashes, and many 
 of the inhabitants put to death. At that time they 
 were haughty and self confident, and did not suppose 
 
 * Gov. Gage seems not to believe this official account himself, for 
 he subsequently transmitted a circumstantial account of the afifair to 
 Gov. Trumbull, in which it is said "there was no firing of the provin- 
 cials till they had jumped over the wall." Notwithstanding it was the 
 intention of the British to prove there was firing on the part of the 
 Americans. — Historical Collections. 
 
 t Sc6 Wood's deposition in the sequel. 
 
41 
 
 the Americans would really fight, as they soon witness- 
 ed to their cost and confusion. 
 
 We now proceed to adduce the reasons above prom- 
 ised. 
 
 The present pretensions and claims of the citizens 
 of Lexington, respecting the returning of the fire of 
 the British troops, on the morning of the 19th of 
 April, '75, were never made nor heard o/*, until about 
 forty-eight years after the events took place. Noth- 
 ing of the kind was thought of, till very lately, by any 
 persons in the neighbouring towns, who have lived in 
 the vicinity of Lexington ever since the 19th of April, 
 '75, and have heard the story often related by persons 
 best acquainted with the facts. Several men have in- 
 deed had the impression that there was some firing by 
 the Lexington militia ; but this impression was evi- 
 dently made by the facts above related, through the me- 
 dium of English writers. Not a word or suggestion 
 was heard of the returning of the fire of the British 
 troops by the militia. It is therefore incredible that 
 it was a fact. 
 
 This argument agamst the claims of Lexington ap- 
 pears to us invincible ; and it is confirmed by the neg- 
 ative testimony of the Rev. Messrs. Clark, Cooke, 
 Cushing, Woodward, Morrill, Cummings, and Adams, 
 in their anniversary sermons, preached at Lexington on 
 the occasion. They speak on the subject with high 
 feeling and interest, but do not intimate that the mili- 
 tia returned the fire.* It does not appear to us possi- 
 
 * The Rev. Mr. Clark has said something in his Narrative, that ap- 
 pears to militate with this assertion, which will be noticed in the se- 
 quel. We would that every thing should have its proper weight. 
 
 6 
 
42 
 
 ble, that such uniform and entire silence could have 
 been held, had they known or even believed it to be a 
 fact, that the militia company did return the fire of the 
 British on the spot v^^here the massacre was perpetra- 
 ted. And they must have known it, had it been a truth* 
 
 The oaths of Capt. Parker and others before the 
 Provincial Congress, a few days after the event, con- 
 tain the same negative testimony. They testify, that 
 they did not first fire upon the British. But why 
 not testify that they did return the British fire, as well 
 as testify that they did not fire first, if both were true 1 
 We are aware of the manner in which they are excus- 
 ed for not saying more, when under oath, on the sup- 
 position they knew more, as now it is pretended. 
 
 It is well known that the British officers endeavor- 
 ed to apologize for their violent conduct by affirming 
 that the Americans first fired upon them. To decide 
 the question, Capt Parker and others were called be- 
 fore the Provincial Congress, and there made oath that 
 they did not fire upon the British troops before the 
 British fired upon them. And they then knew perfect- 
 ly well, whether they returned the fire. Was it dan- 
 gerous, dishonorable, and criminal then to resist unto 
 blood ? And did this character attach to such conduct, 
 till the war was ended, and for nearly half a century 1 
 But the inhabitants of Lexington were willing the min- 
 ute men and militia of Concord and adjacent towns 
 should sustain all the terrifying consequences of return- 
 ing the fire of the British, and, for a long time, to let 
 this pass through the world for truth.* 
 
 * Col. Barrett testified, at the time, that the fire was returned at 
 Concord, and did not consider it " good policy to withhold the truth." 
 See his deposition, page 25. 
 
43 
 
 We shall now bring forward a number of testimo- 
 nies, which tend, directly or indirectly, to prove our 
 assertions and support our claims on the subject under 
 consideration. 
 
 The Rev. and venerable Joseph Thaxter, chaplain 
 • at the late Bunker Hill celebration, in a letter to the 
 Hon. John Keyes of Concord, dated Edgartown, Feb. 
 24, 1825, after giving an account of the battle, at the 
 north bridge in Concord, says, " As to fighting at Lex- 
 ington, when the British marched up, I never heard or 
 knew of any, until of late. I always understood that, 
 on the alarm, a few had collected on the north side of 
 the meeting-house. When the British came up and 
 fired on them, killed several, and the rest fled. It was 
 said at the time, that they did not return the fire. Much 
 pains was taken by the British to prove that the Amer- 
 icans fired first. But it was, I believe, fully proved, 
 that they did not fire a gun. At Concord Bridge the 
 first spark was struck. It kindled a flame that never 
 was extinguished, till the surrender of Cornwallis at 
 Yorktown, which completed the glory of the United 
 States. The present generation little know what we 
 went through to estabhsh our Independence. As to a 
 monument at Concord Bridge, I feel deeply interested. 
 Posterity ought to know the spot where tlie first British 
 blood was spilt."* 
 
 In the sentiments of this gentleman, we learn the 
 opinion and full belief of, perhaps, nine tenths of his 
 cotemporaries, who had any knowledge of the transac- 
 tions and events of the 19th of April. 
 
 * In all quotations we shall endeavour to follow the punctuation, 
 italics, capitals, &c, of the originals. — Editor. 
 
4i 
 
 We take this opportunity to notice and obviate an 
 objection that has been made to an expression in the 
 Circular of the Committee of the Bunker Hill Asso- 
 ciation. They say that the Jirst blood was shed at 
 Concord. Undoubtedly they meant British blood, 
 which Mr. Thaxter expressly mentions. To under- 
 stand them in this sense is rational and candid. Every 
 body knew that Jlmencan blood was shed at Lexing- 
 ton, early in the morning of the day on which, a few 
 hours after, British blood was shed at Concord. With 
 this construction, the expression of the Committee is 
 perfectly proper and correct. 
 
 The Rev. Joseph Estabrook of Athol, a native of 
 Lexington, in a letter to the minister of Concord, under 
 date of March 29th, 1826, writes as follows,— " After 
 more than half a century, to the best of my recollection, 
 I would inform you and others, that I stood in the ranks, 
 on the parade, till Capt. Parker ordered us to disperse, 
 and till the British came nigh to us, and began to fire 
 upon us, when I left the ranks. At that time all was 
 confusion and distress. I did not see any one of 
 the Lexington company fire upon the British, nor 
 was there any order for it, that 1 recollect, from our 
 Captain. But from the statement of the Committee 
 and the testimony of some worthy individuals, I be- 
 lieve, a few guns did return the fire on the British 
 troops, before they left the parade, where the com- 
 pany was placed, on that never to be forgotten morn- 
 ing." Here it is evident, the Rev. gentleman rests 
 his belief of the firing of the militia tvholly on the 
 statements and testimonies of other persons, and those 
 lately made, which we believe are not just. He 
 
45 
 
 neither saw nor heard of any firing on the British 
 that morning by any of the company of which he 
 was one, nor any orders for it. But he did hear his 
 captain order the company to disperse, and did see 
 the British fire upon them. Gentlemen who were 
 at College with him, and often heard him tell the 
 story, are ready to testify that he never gave them 
 the idea of returning the British fire. 
 
 In the narrative of the Rev. Mr. Clark, which 
 accompanies his anniversary sermon, April 19, 1776, 
 we find nothing that militates with our position, except 
 his opinion of the opening of the war between Great 
 Britain and America, and one paragraph concerning 
 the firing of the militia. He considers the violent and 
 murderous assault of the British troops on the militia 
 at Lexington, as " the commencement of hostilities 
 and the opening of the war." Taking into view the 
 events of the day, as he sometimes does, and especial- 
 ly those at Concord, there is evidently truth and pro- 
 priety in his opinion. But in limiting his ideas to 
 the massacre at Lexington, we think he is far from 
 being correct. Some persons may suppose that the 
 horrid massacre at Boston, on the 5th of March, 1770, 
 was the commencement of hostilities and the opening 
 of the war. Certainly that wound was never healed, 
 and that event very much accelerated the war. Be- 
 sides, there seems to be some difficulty in forming an 
 idea of hostility and battle, when one party only as- 
 saults ; it seems like one fighting alone. A violent at- 
 tack, however, may be an important step in bringing on 
 mutual conflict. And this was really the case. The mas- 
 sacre at Lexington, was followed, in a few hours, by a 
 
 ^ 
 
46 
 
 bloody battle at Concord. But had no outrage been 
 committed at Lexington, the British could not have 
 accomplished their object at Concord without meeting 
 resistance and fighting. This is proved by the facts, 
 that resistance unto blood was actually made, and the 
 armed men who made it had not then heard of the mur- 
 der and bloodshed at Lexington. 
 
 The paragraph in the narrative of the Rev. Mr. 
 Clark, to which we have referred, is in the following 
 words 5 "In short, so far from firing first upon the 
 king's troops, upon the most careful inquiry, it appears, 
 that but very few of our people fired at all; and 
 even they did not fire, till after being fired upon by the 
 troops, they were wounded themselves, or saw others 
 killed or wounded by them, and looked upon it as next 
 to impossible for them to escape." If we understand 
 the Rev. gentleman, he means to give this idea, that 
 some very few of the wounded of the militia, who 
 despaired of escape with life, did fire. But which way 
 they fired, and at what, and how long after the fire of 
 the assailants, or whether the British had any know- 
 ledge of their firing, all is left wholly in the dark. — 
 These unhappy suflferers were in a state of high excite- 
 ment and anguish : " at that time all was confusion 
 and distress;" audit is not probable they discharged 
 their guns, if they did fire, in a manner to irritate or 
 annoy the British. We will not inquire how Mr. 
 Clark, who was not on the spot, should know things, 
 of which Mr. Estabrook, who was one of the militia 
 company, had no knowledge. From this paragraph, 
 however, we believe, has chiefly grown the important 
 claim of returning the fire of the British, to the exclu- 
 sion of what was done at Concord bridge. 
 
47 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Clark goes on to say, '^ one circum- 
 stance more before the brigade quitted Lexington, I 
 beg leave to mention, as what may give a farther 
 specimen of the spirit and chai^acter of the officers 
 and men of this body of troops. After the militia com- 
 pany were dispersed and the firing ceased, the troops 
 drew up and formed in a body on the common, Jii^ed a 
 volley and gave three huzzas by way of triumph, 
 and as expressive of the joy of victory and the glory 
 of CONQUEST ! ! Of this transaction I was a witness, 
 having, at that time, a fair view of their motions, 
 and being at the distance of not more than 70 or 80 
 rods from them." Our author continues — "whether 
 this step was honorary to the detachment, or agree- 
 able to the rules of war — or how far it was expressive 
 of bravery, heroism, and true military glory, for 
 800 disciphned troops of Great Britain, without no- 
 tice or provocation, to fall upon 60 or 70 undisciplin- 
 ed Americans, who neither opposed nor molested them, 
 and murder some and disperse the rest, and then to 
 give the shout and make the triumph of victory, is 
 not for me to determine, but must be submitted to 
 the impartial world to judge. Having thus vanquish- 
 ed the party at Lexington, the troops marched on 
 for Concord," &c. A person reading such express- 
 ions and being unacquainted with the facts, might 
 be induced to believe that there was at Lexington, 
 that morning, a formal pitched battle. And yet some 
 of his own words, the whole current of testimony and 
 the substance of the narrative, give very different 
 ideas. In Mr. Clark's sermon in '76, on the occa- 
 sion he thus expresses himself 5 — " How shall I speak, 
 
48 
 
 or how describe the distress and horror of that aivful 
 morn^ that gloomy day ! Yonder field can witness 
 the innocent blood of our brethren slain ! And 
 from thence does their blood cry unto God for ven- 
 gence from the ground!" In his note on Jield^ he 
 says, "the field, not of battle, but o{ murder and blood-- 
 shedy where our men were fired upon by the troops." 
 From this sentence, no one would ever think of a 
 battle, or firing on both sides, but only of a cruel and 
 horrid massacre. We will not undertake to reconcile 
 expressions apparently so contradictory. 
 
 The monument in Lexington, erected " under the 
 patronage and at the expense of the government of 
 Massachusetts," expressly to commemorate the scenes 
 and the sufferers of the morning of the 19th of April, 
 '75, contains not a ivord of the returning of the fire 
 of the British troops. Had it been a truth, and 
 then believed, how ■ could it have been omitted ! 
 Nothing could have been recorded more to the honor 
 of the deceased in respect to their patriotism and 
 courage. This monument is without date, for what 
 reason we are unable to say. But so much is evident, 
 it had not then been discovered, that the fire of the 
 British was first returned at Lexington. 
 
 In confirmation of our statement and claim, we 
 adduce farther the Inscription on the brass cannon 
 given by the Legislature to the Artillery company 
 of Concord. " The Legislature of Massachusetts 
 consecrate the names of Major John Buttrick and 
 Captain Isaac Davis, whose valor and example 
 excited their fellow-citizens to a successful resistance 
 of a superior number of British troops at Concord 
 
49 
 
 Bridge on the 19th of April, 1775, which was the 
 beginning of a contest in arms, that ended in Amer- 
 ican Independence." This inscription, it is beheved 
 on good evidence, was written by a distinguished pa- 
 triot of that period, and approved by the Legislature. 
 Will any one pretend there was a design to misrepre- 
 sent facts ? 
 
 The inscription on the grave-stone of Col. John 
 Buttrick is also to our purpose. That part of it 
 w^hich was written by the late governor Sullivan 
 is thus; — "In memory of Col. John Buttrick, 
 who commanded the militia companies who made the 
 Jirst attack upon the British troops at Concord 
 JVorth Bridge, on the 19th of April, 1775. 
 Having with patriotic firmness shared in the dangers 
 which led to the American Independence, he lived 
 to enjoy the blessings of it, and died May 16th, 
 1791, aged 60 years." What could have induced 
 governor Sullivan to propose and prepare such an in- 
 scription, if he did not then fully believe that the Jirst 
 return of the British fire was at Concord Bridge ? 
 There appears to have been but one opinion on the 
 subject for almost half a century ; except those above 
 recognized, which were chiefly foreign, and for the 
 existence of which we have accounted. 
 
 As late as 1818, Worcester's United States Gaz- 
 etteer, under Concord, Mass. has these words ; — 
 "In this tovm (Concord) the Provincial Congress 
 met in 1774; and here was made the j^r^^ resistance 
 to the British, on the 19th of April, 1775." 
 
 Nathan Brooks, Esq. of Concord, affirms that, in 
 years past, he has repeatedly heard Col. William 
 7 
 
50 
 
 Muiiroe, of Lexington, relate the transactions of the 
 19th of April, '75, in that town 5 and that he never 
 gave him the idea of resistance and firing by the 
 militia. Had the colonel known at the time that 
 they did return the British fire, how is it possible that 
 it should have gone entirely from his mind for more 
 than forty-eight years, and then come to him clear 
 and plain, that some of the militia did return the fire 
 of the British troops ? 
 
 The Hon. Samuel Hoar, of Lincoln, who has lived 
 near Lexington all his days, and was at the fight in 
 Concord, has often said that he never heard of any 
 firing on the British, at Lexington, on the morning 
 of the 19th of April, '75, until within two or three 
 years. How could a man of his opportunities, informa- 
 tion, and character have been kept in ignorance so 
 long, had it been a fact that the British fire was re- 
 turned by the militia of Lexington, as is now pretended! 
 
 The present aged clergyman of Concord was, at 
 that time, a member of the University at Cambridge, 
 and was at Concord, while the College was there, 
 and has had the charge of that people since Nov. 1778, 
 and often heard related the interesting events, at Con- 
 cord and Lexington, by persons who were actors and 
 witnesses of them ; and he affirms " that he never 
 heard of the returning of the British fire at Lexing- 
 ton, or the firing of any guns by the militia, when 
 the British troops came up in the morning, until of 
 late ; but he always understood that the first return 
 of the British fire was at Concord north bridge." 
 And this is the light in which the late secretary Brad- 
 ford views the subject in his history of Massashu- 
 
51 
 
 setts, who, doubtless, obtained his information from 
 records and documents in his office. 
 
 The affidavits of a number of respectable gentlemen 
 are as follows, viz. 
 
 " I, John Richardson, of Newton, in the county of Middlesex and 
 Commonwealth of Massachusetts, of lawful age, do testify and say, 
 that I was at Lexington on the 19th of April, 1775; that no mention 
 was then made, in my hearing, of the Americans having fired upon the 
 British, on the morning of that day, at Lexington ; — that I have been 
 personally acquainted with the people of Lexington from that day to 
 the present time ; — that the events of the morning of that day at Lex- 
 ington were the constant topic of conversation for a long time after ; — 
 that I frequently heard individuals who were of Capt. Parker's compa- 
 ny relate the events of that morning, and never heard that Capt. Par- 
 ker's company, or any individual in it, fired upon the British on the 
 morning of that day, until the visit of General Lafayette to this coun- 
 try in 1825, with the exception of one gun, which was said to have 
 been fired by Solomon Brown, while standing in the back kitchen of 
 the tavern, then owned by Buckman, now Meriam, as the British were 
 passing on towards Concord. JOHN RICHARDSON." 
 
 Middlesex ss. June25th, 1827. Then personally appeared the above 
 named John Richardson and made oath that the above affidavit by him 
 subscribed is true. 
 
 Before me, NATHAN BROOKS, Justice of the Peace. 
 
 " I, Samuel Hartwell, of Lincoln, in the county of Middlesex and 
 Commonwealth of Massachusetts, of lawful age, do testify and say, that 
 I have been acquainted with the inhabitants of Lexington, and partic- 
 ularly with many who were of Capt. Parker's company on the 19th of 
 April, 1775, to the present time, and for many years from said time 
 had frequent conversations with people of Lexington concerning the 
 events of the morning of that day at Lexington, and do not recollect 
 that any of the people of Lexington ever stated or pretended, that there 
 was any firing by Capt. Parker's company on the British, on the morn- 
 ing of that day, until within a few years since, except the firing of one 
 gun, after the British had turned and were passing off the common. 
 
 SAMUEL HARTWELL." 
 
 Middlesex ss. July 19th, 1827. Then the abovenamed Samuel 
 Hartwell personally appeared and made oath, that the above affidavit 
 by him subscribed is true. 
 
 Before me, NATHAN BROOKS, Justice of the Peace 
 
52 
 
 " I, Robert Douglass, of Portland, in the county of Cumberland 
 in the State of Maine, aged sixty eight years, — do testify and say, that 
 on the morning of the 19th of April, 1775, I was at my father's house 
 in Woburn, in the county of Middlesex and colony of Masacbusetts 
 Bay. On that morning, about one hour before day-break, a man rode 
 up to my father's door, knocked loudly, and said " 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." Who 
 that man was I never knew. I immediately arose, took my gun and 
 equipments, and started for Lexington. In going by Deacon Obediah 
 Kendall's house, (about half a mile from my father's) I saw a light* 
 and went into the house ; I there found a Mr. Sylvanus Wood nearly 
 ready to go ; we then went to Lexington together, where we arrived 
 about half an hour before sun rise ; we went into Buckman's tavern 
 and inquired the news about the alarm. Some said the British were 
 coming, others said they were not coming. In about fifteen minutes 
 after we entered the tavern, a person came to the door, and said the 
 British were within half a mile. I then heard an oflScer (who I af- 
 terwards learned was Capt. Parker) call his drummer and order him 
 to beat to arms. I paraded with the Lexington company between the 
 meeting house and the tavern, and then marched to the common, near 
 the road that leads to Bedford, there we were ordered to load our guns. 
 Some of the company observed, " there are so few of us, it would be 
 folly to stand here." Capt. Parker replied, " the first man who offers 
 to run shall be shot down." The British soon came in sight, with a 
 field officer in front, having his sword drawn ; — the British troops then 
 gave three cheers and ran towards us. The Lexington company be- 
 gan to break off on the left wing, and soon all dispersed. I think no 
 American was killed or wounded by the first fire of the British, unless 
 Capt. Parker might have been. No one of Capt. Parker's company 
 fired on the British, to my knowledge, that morning, and I think I 
 should have known it, had they fired. I knew but two men of Lex- 
 ington company, and I never heard any person say that the Americans 
 fired on the British that morning at Lexington. 
 
 After the British marched toward Concord, I saw eight men who 
 had been killed, among whom were Capt. Parker* and a Mr. Porter 
 of Woburn. ROBERT DOUGLASS." 
 
 Cumberland ss. May 3d, 1S27. Then the above named Robert 
 Douglass personally appeared, and subscribed and made oath to the 
 truth of the above written affidavit. 
 
 Before me, JOSIAH PIERCE, Jr. Justice of the Peace. 
 
 * It is presumed the witness meant Jonas Parker, as the Captain 
 was not killed. 
 
53 
 
 Mr. Douglass was a major in the regiment to which Woburn belong- 
 ed in 1791, and is now a respectable and intelligent citizen of Portland. 
 
 " I, Sylvanus Wood, of Woburn, in the county of Middlesex, and 
 Commonwealth of Massachusetts, aged seventy-four years, do testify 
 and say, that on the morning of the 19th of April, 1775, I was an in- 
 habitant oi Woburn, living with Deacon Obediah Kendall ; that about 
 an hour before the break of day on said morning, I heard the Lexing- 
 ton bell ring, and fearing there was difficulty there, I immediately arose, 
 took my gun, and with Robert Douglass went in haste to Lexington, 
 which was about three miles distant. When I arrived there, I inqui- 
 red of Capt. Parker, the commander of (he Lexington company, what 
 was ihe news. Parker told me he did not know what to believe, for a 
 man had come up about half an hour before, and informed him that the 
 British troops were not on the road. But while we were talking, a 
 messenger came up and told the Captain that the British troops were 
 within half a mile. Parker immediately turned to his drummer, Wil- 
 liam Diman, and ordered him to beat to arms, — which was done. Capt. 
 Parker then asked me if I would parade with his company. I told him 
 I would. Parker then asked me if the young man with me would pa- 
 rade. I spoke to Douglass, and he said he would follow the captain 
 and me. By this time many of the company had gathered around the 
 captain at the hearing of the drum, where we stood, which was about 
 half way^between the meeting-house and Buckman's tavern. Parker 
 says to his men, ' 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 com- 
 pany.' Parker led those of us who were equipped to the north end of 
 Lexington Common, near the Bedford road, and formed us in single 
 file. I was stationed about in the centre of the company. While we 
 were standing, I left my place, and went from one end of the company 
 to the other, and counted every man who was paraded, and the whole 
 number was thirty-eight and no more.* Just as I had finished and got 
 back to my place, I perceived the British troops had arrived on the 
 spot, between the meeting-house and Buckman's, near where Capt. 
 Parker stood when he first led oflf his men. The British troops imme- 
 diately wheeled so as to cut off those, who had gone into the meeting- 
 house. The British troops approached us rapidly in platoons, with a 
 General officer on horse-back at their head. The officer came up to 
 
 * This does not include those who went into the meeting-house and 
 were "cut oif." 
 
51 
 
 within about Ivvo rods ol' the centre of the company, where 1 stood.- - 
 The first phitoon being about three rods distant. They there lialted. 
 'J'he officer then swung his sword, and said, " Lay down your arms 
 you damn'd rebels, or you are all dead men— fire." Some guns were 
 fired by the British at us from the first platoon, but no person was kil- 
 led or hurt, being probably charged only with powder. Just at this 
 lime, Capt. Parker ordered every man to take care of himself. The 
 company immediately dispersed ; and while the company was dispers- 
 ing and leaping over the wall, the second platoon of the British fired, 
 and killed some of our men. There was not a gun fired by any ol 
 Capt. Parker's company within my knowledge. I was so situated that 
 1 must have known it, had any thing of the kind taken place, before a 
 total dispersion of our company. I have been intimately acquainted 
 with the inhabitants of Lexington, and particularly with those of Capt. 
 Parker's company, and with one exception, I have never heard any of 
 them say or pretend that there was any firing at the British from Par- 
 ker's company, or any individual in it, until within a year or two. — 
 One member of the company told me, many years since, that after 
 Parker's company had dispersed, and he was at some distance, he gave 
 them " the guts of his gun." 
 
 " After the British had begun their march to Concord, I returned 
 to the common, and found Robert Roe and Jonas Parker lying dead at 
 the north corner of the common, near the Bedford road, and others 
 dead and wounded. I assisted in carrying the dead into the meeting- 
 house. I then proceeded towaids Concord with my gun, and when I 
 came near the tavern in Lexington, now kept by Mr. Viles, I saw a 
 British soldier seated on the bank by the road. I went to him with my 
 gun in readiness to fire, if he should offer to resist. I took his gun, 
 cutlass, and equipments from him. I then proceeded with him towards 
 Lexington — and meeting a Mr. Welch and another person, I delivered 
 the prisoner to them. 
 
 " After Welch arrived in Lexington with the prisoner, I understood 
 that another prisoner was taken by Mr. John Flagg, and that they 
 were conducted to Burlington, and put under the care of Capt. James 
 Reed. I believe that the soldier who surrendered his gun to me was 
 the first prisoner taken by the Americans on that day. 
 
 SYLVANUS WOOD." 
 
 Middlesex, ss. June Ytth, 1826. Then the above named Sylvanus 
 Wood personally appeared, and subscribed and made oath to the fore- 
 going affidavit. 
 
 Before me, NATHAN BROOKS, Justice of the Peace. 
 
55 
 
 The taking of British prisoners has been mentioned 
 by some as evidence of a battle at Lexington in the 
 morning. We firmly beheve that not one was captu- 
 red, that morning, when fighting or making any resis- 
 tance. All who were taken at Lexington, in the 
 morning, were willing captives. They designedly sep- 
 arated themselves from their companions, in order to 
 be taken. They preferred this method to desertion, 
 which would be attended with danger. One of the 
 prisoners, who lived and died in Concord, informed one 
 of us, that he got away from the British, that day, in 
 such a manner. 
 
 We come now to the affidavits and depositions of 
 a large number of men before the Provincial Con- 
 gress, then sittmg in Watertown, relative to the events 
 and circumstances of the morning of the 19th of April, 
 '75. These depositions were all given under oath. 
 
 We first adduce Capt. Parker's testimony, the 
 whole of it, which is very concise. Of the other testi- 
 monies we shall cite only such parts as affect the ques- 
 tion at issue. 
 
 " I, John Parker, of lawful age, and Commander of the Militia in 
 Lexington, do testify and declare, that on the 19lh instant, in the Morn- 
 ing, about One of the Clock, being informed that there were a number 
 ot Regular Officers riding up and down the Road, stopping and insult- 
 ing the People as they passed the Road ; and also was informed, that 
 a Number of Regular Troops were on their March fro?n Boston, in or- 
 der to take the Province Stores at Concord ; ordered our Militia to 
 meet on the Common in said Lexington, to consult what to do, and 
 concluded not to be discovered, nor meddle or make with said Regular 
 Troops (if they should approach) unless they should insult or molest 
 us, and upon their sudden approach, I immediately ordered our Militia 
 to disperse and not to fire ; immediately said troops made their ap- 
 pearance and rushed furiously, fired upon and killed Eight of our party, 
 without receiving any Provocation therdbr from us." 
 Lexington, April 25, 1775. 
 
56 
 
 Elijah Saunderson testifies, "That after ordftrs were given to 
 fire by the British officers, immediately the Regulars shouted aloud, 
 ran and fired on the Lexington company, which did not fire a Gun be- 
 fore the Regulars discharged on them. Eight of the Lexington com- 
 pany were killed, while they were dispersing, and at a considerable 
 distance from each other, and many wounded, — and although a Spec- 
 tator, I narrowly escaped with my life." 
 
 Lexington, April 25, 1775. 
 
 Thomas Price WiLLARD testifies, "that the Regulars ran till 
 they came within about eight or nine rods of about an Hundred of the 
 Militia of said Lexington, who were collected on said Common, at 
 which Time the Militia of said Lexington dispersed, then the Officers 
 made a Huzza, and the private Soldiers succeeded them : Directly af- 
 ter this an Officer rode before the Regulars to the other Side of the 
 body and hallooed after the Militia of said Lexington, and said, ' lay 
 down your Arms, damn you, why don't you lay down your Arms :' — 
 And that there was not a Gun fired till the Militia of said Lexington 
 were dispersed ; and further saith not." 
 
 Lexington, April 23, 1775. 
 
 " We Levi Mead and Levi Harrington, both of Lexington, in 
 the county of Middlesex, and colony of Massachusetts Bay in New 
 England, and of lawful age, do testify and declare, that on the 19th of 
 April, being on Lexington common as spectators, we saw a large body 
 of regular troops marching up towards the Lexington company; and 
 some of the regulars on horses, whom we took to be officers, fired a pis- 
 tol or two on the Lexington company which loere then dispersing. 
 These were the first guns that were fired, and they were immediately 
 followed by several vollies from the regulars, by which eight of our 
 men, belonging to said company were killed, and several wounded. 
 
 Sworn to by < LEVI MEAD. 
 
 I LEVI HARRINGTON." 
 Lexington, April 23, 1775. 
 
 Nathaniel Mulliken and thirly-three others. — " We further tes- 
 tify and declare, that about 5 o'clock in the morning, hearing our drum 
 beat, we proceeded towards the Parade, and soon found that a large 
 body of troops were marching towards us, some of our company com- 
 ing up to the Parade, and others had reached it ; at which Time the 
 company began to disperse, whilst our Backs were turned on the 
 Troops, we were fired on by them, and a number of our Men were 
 instantly killed and wounded — not a Gun was fired by any Person in 
 our company on the Regulars, to our knowledge, before they fired on 
 us, and they continued firing until we had all made made our escape." 
 
 Lexington, April, 1775. 
 
57 
 
 The next deposition is by fourteen persons, and as follows ; — " We 
 further testify and say, that about 5 o'clock in the morning we attend- 
 ed the beat of our drum, and were formed on the Parade — we were 
 faced towards the regulars, then marching up towards us, and some of 
 our company were coming to the Parade with their backs towards the 
 troops ; and others on the parade began to disperse, when the regulars 
 fired on the company, before a gun was fired by any of our company, 
 on them ; they killed eight of our company, and wounded several, and 
 continued their fire until we had all made our escape." 
 Lexington, April 25, 1775. 
 
 Timothy Smith, at the same date, testifies ; — " I saw a large body 
 of troops marching up towards the Lexington company tlien dispersing, 
 and likewise saw the regular troops fire on the Lexington company 
 before the latter fired a gun ; I immediately ran, and a volley was dis- 
 charged at me, and put me in imminent danger of losing my life. I soon 
 returned to the common, and saw eight of the men who were killed, 
 and lay bleeding at a considerable distance from each other, and sev- 
 eral wounded ; and further saith not." 
 
 The following deposition is from a British soldier 
 taken like those before mentioned. 
 
 " I, John Bateman , belonging to the fifty-second regiment, com- 
 manded by Col. Jones, on Wednesday morning, on the 19th of April, 
 was in the party marching for Concord, being at Lexington, in the 
 county of Middlesex, being nigh the meeting-house in said Lexington, 
 there was a small party of men gathered together in that place, when 
 our said troops marched by ; and I testify and declare that I heard the 
 word of command given to fire, and some of the said troops did fire, 
 and I saw one of the said party lie dead on the ground nigh the said 
 meeting-house ; and I testify that I never heard any of the inhabitants 
 so much as fire a gun on said troops. 
 
 (Signed) JOHN BATEMAN." 
 
 In reference to this and the preceding witnesses of 
 Lexington, it appears to us very reasonable, to inquire 
 why they did not '^ say further ^^^ if truth required or 
 permitted it ? Why not say, we saw and heard seve- 
 ral guns fired on the British after they had fired on us?* 
 
 * See Col. Barrett's deposition before referred to for a different man- 
 ner of testifying. 
 
 8 
 
58 
 
 If this were then a known fact, we know not how they 
 could consistently stop at saying they did not fire on the 
 British Jir'st. If any other persons, not of the militia 
 company returned the fire of the British troops, these 
 witnesses, it seems to us, must have known it. There 
 was no danger in testifying that they fired after the 
 British had fired upon them, and killed a number. 
 It would have been considered brave and patriotic, 
 and they would have been applauded and honored, 
 though it might have been thought rash in so small 
 a company. JS'oiv the inhabitants of Lexington, and 
 many of the witnesses living, are of this opinion, and 
 appear to think highly of returning the fire of the 
 British troops, on the morning of the 19th of April, 
 '75 5 and they have endeavored to represent this to the 
 world as a fact. We have a right to presume that the 
 witnesses could not in truth swear to it at that time. 
 How they have acquired additional evidence, in a long 
 course of years, is not for us to say. 
 
 We shall close our evidence in support of our 
 claim by an extract from the address of the Provincial 
 Congress to the inhabitants of Great Britain, ground- 
 ed on the above testimonies. 
 
 " Wateriown, April 26, 1775. By the clearest Depositions rela- 
 tive to this Transaction it will appear, that on the Night preceding the 
 19th of April instant, a Body of the King's Troops, under command 
 of Col. Smith, were secretly landed at Cambridge, with an apparent 
 Design to take or destroy the Military and other Stores provided for 
 the Defence of the Colony, and deposited at Concord— that some In- 
 habitants of the Colony, on the Night aforesaid, whilst travelling peace- 
 ably on the Road between Boston and Concord, were seized and great- 
 ly abused by armed Men, who appeared to be Officers of General 
 Gage's Army— that the town of Lexington by these means was alarm- 
 ed, and a company of the Inhabitants mustered on the Occasion— that 
 
59 
 
 the regular Troops on their way to Concord marched into said Town 
 of Lexington, and the said company, on their approach, began to dis- 
 perse — that notwithstanding this the Regulars rushed on with great Vi- 
 olence, and first began Hostilities by firing on said Lexington compa- 
 ny, whereby they killed Eight and wounded several others — that the 
 Regulars continued their fire until those of said company, who were 
 neither killed nor wounded, had made their escape — that Col. Smith 
 with the detachment, then marched to Concord, where a number of 
 Provincials were again fired on by the Troops, two of them killed and 
 several wounded, before the Provincials fired on them — and that these 
 hostile measures of the Troops produced an Engagement that lasted 
 through the Day ; — in which many of the Provincials and more of the 
 regular Troops were killed and wounded." 
 
 It is evident from this address, that the Provincial 
 Congress did not consider the war commenced, or 
 that any battle or engagement had taken place, until 
 the fire of the British troops was returned at Concord. 
 And from all the testimony it seems certain, that if 
 there was a battle at Lexington on the 19th of April, 
 1775, Col. Monroe, the only surviving officer of the 
 company engaged in it. Rev. Joseph Estabrook, 
 Maj. Robert Douglass, Mr. Sylvanus Wood, and 
 others of the company, were wholly ignorant of it, until 
 more than forty years afterwards, they were informed 
 of it by others. 
 
 From the preceding extract, depositions, and testi- 
 monies, we are convinced that Capt. Parker ordered 
 his company to disperse, on the near approach of the 
 British troops, that they might not be in a situation 
 exposed and provoking to the British ; — that though 
 they did not obey promptly and expeditiously, as was 
 their duty, they ivere actually disjjersing, when the 
 British troops first fired upon them 5 — and that then 
 those who were able made their escape as quickly as 
 possible. It appears to us highly probable, that, had the 
 
60 
 
 order of Capt. Parker been instantly obeyed, there 
 would have been no blood shed at that time and place. 
 We leave it to the public to trace and mark the 
 discrepancies in the testimonies given in 1775, and 
 those given in 1824 and 5. We will retain a chari- 
 table opinion of the integrity of the witnesses at both 
 periods. But we are full in the opinion that there is 
 error somewhere. There are inconsistencies, if not 
 contradictions, which we cannot reconcile. We still 
 firmly believe, as the conclusion from the whole, and 
 what seems to us too plain to be seriously denied, 
 that in truth and all propriety of language, the militia 
 company of Lexington did not return the fire of 
 the British troops, on the morning of the 19th of 
 April, 1775, and that the military companies at Con- 
 cord, commanded by Col. James Barrett, and led on 
 by Maj. John Buttrick, did immediately return the 
 fire of the British .troops, that day, at the North 
 Bridge.* This conclusion appears to us just and fair ; 
 and this is the result at which we have aimed. It 
 will not be henceforth denied, we trust, that at that 
 time and place the first British blood was shed at the 
 commencement of the American Revolution. 
 
 * Some years after the 19th of April, '75, the north bridge was mov- 
 ed lower down the river, and the road discontinued. There is now 
 no open road to the spot where the fight commenced. 
 
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