Authors: Steve Sheinkin
King George (5 page)
N
ow it was a few minutes after four a.m. You know that cold, gray light that comes just before sunrise? That's how it was in Lexington when the British army was finally spotted on the road outside town. They were a mile away, and coming on fast. Captain Parker told sixteen-year-old William Diamond to start beating his drum.
ow it was a few minutes after four a.m. You know that cold, gray light that comes just before sunrise? That's how it was in Lexington when the British army was finally spotted on the road outside town. They were a mile away, and coming on fast. Captain Parker told sixteen-year-old William Diamond to start beating his drum.
The Lexington minutemen grabbed their guns and ran into town.
As their wagon rattled out of Lexington on the morning of April 19, Samuel Adams and John Hancock could only guess at what was going on back in town. They heard William Diamond's drum beating, and they knew what that meant. A few minutes later they heard a gunshot. Then a huge burst of gunfire.
W
hen Samuel Adams heard the explosion of gunfire from Lexington, he had a pretty good idea of what had just happened.
hen Samuel Adams heard the explosion of gunfire from Lexington, he had a pretty good idea of what had just happened.
“Oh, what a glorious morning is this,” he said.
John Hancock thought Adams was talking about the weather, which was not bad, but not glorious. Adams clarified: “I mean, what a glorious morning
for America
.”
for America
.”
What was so glorious about it? Adams must have been thinking that those early-morning shots would be the start of a long, hard fight for American independence.
Hancock must have been thinking about lunch. He sent a messenger back to Lexington, instructing Dorothy and Aunt Lydia to meet him in Woburn (where Adams and Hancock were now headed). He told them to “bring the fine salmon” that they had planned to eat that day.
Wait a minute. The American Revolution just started, and we're talking about salmon. What just happened back there on Lexington Common?
W
e're not exactly sure. British and American witnesses tell different versions of the story. You'll have to listen to some of the evidence and come to your own conclusions.
e're not exactly sure. British and American witnesses tell different versions of the story. You'll have to listen to some of the evidence and come to your own conclusions.
Just after sunrise on April 19, 1775, Major John Pitcairn led the first group of British troops into Lexington. This guy was itching for a fight, as he had recently written:
“I am satisfied that one active campaign, a smart action, and burning two or three of their towns, will set everything to rights. Nothing now, I'm afraid, but this will ever convince those foolish bad people that England is in earnest.”
John Pitcairn
Nice guy, huh? But Pitcairn wasn't supposed to stop in Lexington on April 19. He and his men were out in front of the other British soldiers because they were rushing on to Concord. Their mission: get to Concord as quickly as possible and take control of the bridges in town. Remember, the British were already hours behind schedule. So Pitcairn was hoping to march right through Lexington.
Then he saw the Lexington minutemen lined up on the town common. There were about seventy of them, ranging in age from sixteen to sixty-five. There were eight father-and-son combinations. There was at least one African American, a thirty-four-year-old man named Prince Estabrook.
John Parker
When Captain John Parker saw the British approaching, he told his nervous minutemen:
“Let the troops pass by and don't molest them without they begin first.”
The minutemen really weren't there to fight, anyway. They mostly wanted to send the British a message: We're here, we have guns, we don't appreciate your visit.
Pitcairn and his soldiers marched right up to the minutemen. No one knew what was about to happen.
O
ne interesting thing about this moment is that both commanders told their men not to fire. Pitcairn gave very clear orders to the British soldiers: “I instantly called to the soldiers not to fire but to surround and disarm them.”
ne interesting thing about this moment is that both commanders told their men not to fire. Pitcairn gave very clear orders to the British soldiers: “I instantly called to the soldiers not to fire but to surround and disarm them.”
John Parker gave similar orders to the minutemen: “I immediately ordered our troops to disperse and not to fire.”
So while the British tried to surround the minutemen, the minutemen started slowly walking off in different directions. It was a confusing scene. The key point was this: the minutemen did not drop their guns. This angered the excitable
Major Pitcairn, who started shouting, “You villains, you rebels! Lay down your arms! Why don't you lay down your arms?”
Major Pitcairn, who started shouting, “You villains, you rebels! Lay down your arms! Why don't you lay down your arms?”
And now, in the middle of all this chaos, someone fired. Who? According to minuteman Sylvanus Wood: “There was not a gun fired by any of Captain Parker's company, within my knowledge. I was so situated that I must have known it.”
But British lieutenant John Barker told a different story: “On our coming near them they fired one or two shots.”
So no one takes credit for “the shot heard 'round the world”âthe first shot of the American Revolution. It might have been a minuteman, or it might have been a British soldier. It might even have come from one of the houses in town. What we do know is that when the British soldiers heard the shot, they lost control. They started charging, screaming, and firing their guns. “Our men without any orders rushed in upon them, fired and put 'em to flight,” said Lieutenant Barker. “The men were so wild, they could hear no orders.”
Some of the minutemen stood and fired back. Others ran for their lives, blasting away as they retreated through town.
T
he shooting on Lexington Common lasted about ten minutes. It finally ended when Colonel Francis Smith (he's in charge of this mission, remember?) rode into town. Smith found a British drummer and ordered him to beat the “cease fire” signal. This worked.
he shooting on Lexington Common lasted about ten minutes. It finally ended when Colonel Francis Smith (he's in charge of this mission, remember?) rode into town. Smith found a British drummer and ordered him to beat the “cease fire” signal. This worked.
Eight minutemen had been killed and nine more were wounded (including Prince Estabrook, who was shot in the shoulder). The wounded men crawled to nearby houses for help. Only one British soldier had been shot and slightly hurt.
It took Smith about half an hour to get the seven hundred British boys calmed down and organized. He spent a little time yelling at the men for losing control. He warned them to follow orders next time. Then he let them give three cheers for their “victory,” and they marched on to Concord.
D
orothy Quincy and Aunt Lydia watched the whole thing from the window of the Clarkes' house. When the shooting started, Lydia leaned out the window to get a closer look. A bullet whistled past her head and crashed into the barn next door. She pulled her head in.
orothy Quincy and Aunt Lydia watched the whole thing from the window of the Clarkes' house. When the shooting started, Lydia leaned out the window to get a closer look. A bullet whistled past her head and crashed into the barn next door. She pulled her head in.
After the British left town, the two women set off in a carriage to meet up with Hancock and Adams. Yes, they remembered to bring Hancock's “fine salmon.” The salmon was cooked at a house in Woburn, and everyone was sitting down to lunch when a man ran in and started shouting that the British were on their way. So the fish was left behind and Adams and Hancock rode farther from the fighting. Later that day, they ate some cold pork and potatoes.
N
ow the action shifted down the road to Concord, where the Concord minutemen were ready and waiting. How did they know the British were coming?
ow the action shifted down the road to Concord, where the Concord minutemen were ready and waiting. How did they know the British were coming?
“This morning, between one and two o'clock, we were alarmed by the ringing of the bell,” explained Reverend William Emerson of Concord.
Who brought you the warning, Reverend?
“The intelligence was brought to us first by Dr. Samuel Prescott,” Emerson said.
Prescott was the one who had escaped from the British patrol the night before. He raced into Concord and started spreading the news.
By seven in the morning, about 250 Concord minutemen were gathered in town. They weren't sure what to do, though. They talked it over. They decided to march out to meet the British.
A Concord minuteman named Amos Barrett remembered parading out of town with the group, a few of the men proudly playing their drums and fifes (small flutes). Then, out on the narrow road, they saw the seven hundred British soldiers coming toward them. They stopped. They realized they hadn't really thought this plan through very well. They turned around and marched back into Concord, with the British right behind. Both armies had their drummers and fifers going strong. “We had grand music,” said Amos Barrett.
Barrett and the minutemen marched up into the hills above the town and waited to see what the British were going to do. The Americans had time on their side. The alarm had been spreading from town to town all morning, and more minutemen were pouring in from the towns around Concord. Soon there were 300 minutemen in the hills. Then 350, then 400.
There were also lots of people from town, mostly kids who were up there to watch. It was getting crowded. The minutemen had to ask the spectators to go somewhere else.
Josiah Haynes was the oldest man to fight that day. This seventy-nine-year-old minuteman had gotten up at dawn, grabbed his musket, and marched eight miles to Concord. Now he was glaring down at the North Bridge, and at the British soldiers guarding the bridge. He told the captain of his town's militia:
“If you don't go and drive them British from that bridge, I shall call you a coward.”
Hold on there, Josiah. Everyone was still hoping this day would end without more bloodshed.
D
own in town, British soldiers started looking for weapons. That was the whole idea of this mission, as Gage's secret orders to Colonel Smith explained: “You will seize and destroy all the artillery, ammunition, provisions, tents, small arms and all military stores whatever. But you will take care that the soldiers do not plunder the inhabitants or hurt private property.”
own in town, British soldiers started looking for weapons. That was the whole idea of this mission, as Gage's secret orders to Colonel Smith explained: “You will seize and destroy all the artillery, ammunition, provisions, tents, small arms and all military stores whatever. But you will take care that the soldiers do not plunder the inhabitants or hurt private property.”
Josiah Haynes
Unfortunately for Gage, the people of Concord had been expecting something like this for days. By now nearly all of the military supplies were hidden in attics or buried in fields.
At the Wood family home, for example, a pile of guns had been hastily shoved into a bedroom. When the British came to search this house, the Wood women welcomed the soldiers. They told the men they could search anywhere they wishedâexcept for one small bedroom where a sick woman was sleeping. The British officers considered themselves gentlemen, and they would never disturb a sick woman. So they ordered their men to leave that room alone.
Needless to say, no weapons were found in the Wood house. Meanwhile, Colonel Smith and some of the other British officers set up chairs on people's lawns and started ordering breakfast. These guys were used to being served. Women in Concord grumbled and gave a few lectures on the rights of Americans. But they were willing to make a little money. They sold the officers meals of meat, potatoes, and milk.
All the while, the soldiers kept up their search for supplies. They found a few barrels of flour and some musket balls. They tossed it all into a pond. (A few days later the people fished everything out. Most of the flour was still good.) They found a few cannons, and they destroyed them. They smashed up the wooden carriages that were used to haul the cannons around. Then they set the broken wood on fire. That fire changed a lot of lives.
Just ask Hannah Davis.
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