The Pink Flamingo :: Reflections for an April Morn

“…Lexington was located eleven miles from Boston. It was a community of about seven hundred and fifty people in 1775. Lexington had been founded in 1642, originally known as Cambridge Farms. In 1691, the town formed its own parish. In 1692, a meetinghouse was built. In 1693, Muzzy's Tavern (later Buchman's) was licensed as a public house. In 1698, Reverend John Hancock arrived would minister to Lexington until his death in 1752. In 1711, land was purchased for a Common at the junction of the Concord, Bedford and Boston roads. In 1713, Lexington was incorporated. In 1714, a new and larger meetinghouse was built. In 1715, a schoolhouse was built..

In his fifty-four years as pastor in Lexington, Reverend Hancock had handled disputes and political issues in a way that conditioned the town to look to its religious leader as a valued advisor in temporal matters. In 1755, Reverend Jonas Clarke arrived at the age of twenty-four. He built on the legacy that Reverend Hancock had established and soon established himself at the center of the town's affairs.In 1765, it was Clarke who authored the town's protest of the Stamp Act. In 1774, the town began to make preparations for rebellion, elected a delegate for the Massachusetts Provincial Congress. The town also organized all the men over sixteen into an alarm list, militia and minutemen. They drilled and made preparations during the Winter of 1774-1775.

John Parker, a forty-five year old veteran of Rogers' Rangers of the French and Indian Wars was elected Captain. Lieutenant William Tidd was his chief aide. Robert Munroe, sixty-eight year old veteran who had carried the standard at Louisbourg and father-in-law of Tidd, was elected third-in-command, Ensign. Thirty-five year old Joseph Simonds was elected second ensign. Daniel Harrington, another son-in-law of Munroe, was clerk of the company. Francis Brown, who would later succeed Parker as commander, William Munroe, who was the proprietor of Munroe's Tavern and Ebenezer White were the sergeants of the company. Sixteen year old William Diamond was the drummer. There were one hundred and four men in the company of which there were twelve father-son combinations, one slave and two slave owners….”

THE SHOT HEARD ROUND THE WORLD

”At 2 o’clock we began our march by wading through a very long ford up to the middles; after going a few miles we took three or four people who were going off to give intelligence; about five miles on this side of a town called Lexington, which lay in our road, we heard there were some hundreds of people collected together intending to oppose us and stop our going on; at 5 o’clock we arrived there, and saw a number of people, I believe between 200 and 300, formed in a common in the middle of town; we still continued advancing, keeping prepared against an attack through without intending to attack them; but on our coming near them they fired on us two shots, upon which our men without any orders, rushed upon them, fired and put them to flight; several of them were killed, we could not tell how many, because they were behind walls and into the woods. We had a man of the 10th light Infantry wounded, nobody else was hurt. We then formed on the Common, but with some difficulty, the men were so wild they could hear no orders; we waited a considerable time there, and at length proceeded our way to Concord.”

from: The British in Boston: Being the Diary of Lieutenant John Barker of the King’s Own Regiment from November 15, 1774 to May 31, 1776. Notes by Elizabeth Ellery Dana. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1924.

CONCORD HYMN

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.

The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps,
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream that seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set to-day a votive stone,
That memory may their deeds redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.

O Thou who made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free, --
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raised to them and Thee.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

THOSE WHO DIED

“…The dead on or near Lexington Common were Jonas Parker, Jonathan Harrington, Jr., Ensign Robert Munroe, Isaac Muzzy, John Brown,
Samuel Hadley, Caleb Harrington, and Asahei Porter. The wounded were John Robbins, so that he could not write his name or even make his mark;f Solomon Pierce; John Tidd, sabre cut on his head by a British officer; J Joseph Comee, on his arm;J Ebenezer Munroe, Jr., on his arm; **Thomas Winship; Nathaniel Farmer; Prince Estabrook (colored) and Jedediah Munroe (who was killed later in the day)…”

THOSE WHO DIED AT BATTLE ROAD

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

IN LINCOLN

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

“…The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War.[1] They were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy (present-day Arlington), and Cambridge, near Boston. The battles marked the outbreak of open armed conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and its thirteen colonies in the mainland of British North America.About 700 British Army regulars, under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, were ordered to capture and destroy military supplies that were reportedly stored by the Massachusetts militia at Concord. Dr. Joseph Warren alerted the colonists of this. The Patriot colonists had received intelligence weeks before the expedition which warned of an impending British search, and had moved much, but not all, of the supplies to safety. They had also received details about British plans on the night before the battle, and information was rapidly supplied to the militia.

The first shots were fired just as the sun was rising at Lexington. The militia were outnumbered and fell back. Other British colonists, hours later at the North Bridge in Concord, fought and defeated three companies of the king's troops. The outnumbered soldiers of the British Army fell back from the Minutemen after a pitched battle in open territory.

More Minutemen arrived soon thereafter and inflicted heavy damage on the British regulars as they marched back towards Boston. Upon returning to Lexington, Smith's expedition was rescued by reinforcements under Hugh, Earl Percy. A combined force of fewer than 1,700 men marched back to Boston under heavy fire in a tactical withdrawal and eventually reached the safety of Charlestown.

The British failed to maintain the secrecy and speed required to conduct a successful strike into hostile territory, yet they did destroy some weapons and supplies. Most British regulars returned to Boston. The occupation of surrounding areas by the Massachusetts Militia that evening marked the beginning of the Siege of Boston….”

Jules Crittendon

RELATIVES AT LEXINGTON CONCORD
Jonathan Dustin (brother of Paul)
I am descended from Paul Dustin, who fought at Bunker Hill. There is a possibility he was at Lexington-Concord. The way I read the records, he probably was.
Another half dozen siblings fought during the war.
They are all DAR Patriots.

If you read the Muster Rolls you will find it was not necessarily a matter of patriotism as to who answered the call to arms that day, but proximity. Don't think because someone was not on duty that day, or as they said "Marched" that day, they weren't Minutemen or Patriots. It was a matter of location, location, location.

THE REAL MINUTEMEN
A Muster Roll for the day is located here. I was going to list the men involved but there were too many. The importance of this day is to honor the man who were willing to give their lives at a moment’s notice to fight a battle they did not think they could win. They knew if captured they would be executed as traitors. They were committing treason against the Crown.

They were Patriots. If you suspect you are descended from one of these brave men, go through the list. Find someone who is in the DAR or SAR and they will assist you with your papers. If you don't know anyone, just let me know and I will put you in touch with someone who can assist you. The DAR is exclusively for women, but the SAR is for men. It is much easier to join the SAR than the DAR. They don't make you jump through as many hoops.

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