Summoned by riders from Boston—William Dawes, Samuel Prescott, and the more-renowned Paul Revere—in the early morning hours of April 19, 1775, a motley crew of armed farmers and shopkeepers gathered on Lexington Green to face hundreds of British regulars marching out from Boston.
The British had come to confiscate or destroy the militia’s stores of arms and powder in nearby Concord. The 77 American colonials opposing them were intended more as a show of force than for combat, and they were under orders to disperse if a weapon was fired. To this day, no one knows who fired the first shot, but in the ensuing melee eight Americans died and nine others were wounded. One British soldier was slightly wounded.
The British continued their march to Concord, burned the few supplies they found—the Americans had already relocated most of their munitions to another hiding spot—and then engaged the colonials in a battle at Concord Bridge. As they withdrew back to Boston, the Americans pursued them, sniping at the Redcoats from behind trees, houses, and rock walls. That retreat turned into a debacle for the forces of King George III, and the British soon found themselves besieged in Boston.
And so was born the American Revolution.
Remembering the Day
Poets later celebrated the events of that April day, with Longfellow’s “Paul Revere’s Ride” and Emerson’s “Concord Hymn” being the best known of these verses. Generations of school children memorized or read these poems, depositing in their hearts and minds lines like these by Emerson:By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled, Here once the embattled farmers stood And fired the shot heard round the world.Though this momentous date was never forgotten, especially in Massachusetts, not until 1894 did Massachusetts Governor Frederic Greenhalge declare it a state holiday. In 1897, the Boston Marathon became a part of this celebration, and today it is the nation’s oldest and most revered race of its kind. Some 60 years later, the Boston Red Sox also became a part of the Patriots’ Day tradition. “I can hardly conceive of (the Red Sox) not playing on Patriots’ Day,” former Red Sox historian and sportswriter Gordon Edes once said. “It’s all about watching morning baseball before watching the marathon. That’s what makes this such a quirky holiday in New England.”
Such homage is right and just, but we should also remember and honor the men who fell at Lexington Green. Samuel Hadley, for example, was a farmer who left behind a wife and two young children. Issac Muzzey, age 31, was a descendent of one of New England’s oldest families. Asahel Porter, approximately 23, was married, had one child, and worked as a clothier. Legend has it that Jonathan Harrington, mortally wounded, dragged himself to his nearby home and died at his wife’s feet. Capt. John Parker, head of the militia on Lexington Green, was a veteran of the French and Indian War, but he made his living as a farmer. In short, these were ordinary men who answered a higher calling.
On Lexington Green stands an obelisk marking the militia’s line on that April day. Erected in 1799, it is the oldest war memorial in the United States. In 1835, seven of the dead from that battle were exhumed from their graves in the local cemetery and buried beneath this memorial. The inscription, which also contains the names of the dead, begins this way:
We cannot ascertain with any certainty the individual motives of these men and their compatriots who fought on this day. Some of these Minutemen, as they called themselves—meaning they were ready to fight at a minute’s notice—doubtless snatched up their muskets and fought for what they regarded as a just cause. Others may have joined these ranks on account of their friends or in search of some grand adventure.
Whatever their motives, the skirmish at Lexington and the Battle of Concord had enormous ramifications. The blood shed that day signaled the transition from negotiations with the British king and government to violent action, which in turn led to a Declaration of Independence, a document in many ways unique at that time in world history, and to a revolution for “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” which has since served around the globe as a banner for freedom.
This April, we might pause and remember those long ago events, honoring those early patriots and all other Americans who paid the price of liberty with their blood or who have devoted their lives to securing our independence and freedom. The majority of Americans living today have never stood with a weapon in hand facing an armed and determined enemy, and it is unlikely we shall do so. Nevertheless, we can defend those God-given liberties affirmed in our Declaration and Constitution by our words and deeds, as vigilant and courageous as those men who stood that April morning on Lexington Green.
