History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

18 HISWHY OF MIBBLESEX COUNTY.
The military stores deposited at Concord furnished
an occasion to test the spirit of the people.
The order of time and the succession of occur-
rences bring us to an event of the most interesting,
delicate, and important character, — to what the
country, ^vith great unanimity, has denominated
tlie "Battle of Lexington." \Yhile we cannot
claim that any haMe qt fight, in the broadest sense
of that term, occurred at any particular point ou
the 19th of April, 1775, since the battle, if such it
be called, extended from Concord to Charlestown
Neck, yet it becomes convenient and highly neces-
sary to give a local name to the skirmish of that
eventful day. And to no locality could it be given
with as much propriety as to Lexington. It was
here that the first encounter in arms occurred ; it
was here that the first organized opposition to the
King's troops was made; it was here that the
first blood on each side was shed, and here tiie
first martyrs to liberty fell ; and it was in Lexing-
ton that the first British prisoners were made ; it
was here that Percy met the fugitive forces of
Smith, and saved them from perfect ruin ; and it
was here that the British soldiers commenced their
system of vandalism, by firing the houses they had
plundered ; and it was from Lexington that the in-
telligence went forth which broke the spell of neu-
trality and called the nation to arms. And, besides,
Lexington made greater sacrifices of men and prop-
erty than any town in the province on that occa-
sion. To what place, then, could the events of
the day be ascribed with as much propriety as to
Lexington? While we would not detract from
the honors claimed by any other town, we will not
ignore the honors bestowed upon ours by the whole
country, as being the birtiiplace of American lib-
erty; and the praise bestowed upon our patriot
fathers whose acts have contributed to make our
town historic and our country free.
Hancock and Adams were stopping with their
friend Clarke, at Lexington, and from tiic position
they occupied they would naturally be possessed of
all the facts known, and the rumors afloat, relative
to the designs of the British; they must have
known that threats liad been thrown out by tiie
ministry of having them arrested and sent to Eng-
land for trial. Tiiey, of course, kept their friends
Clarke and Captain Parker well informed on all
these subjects. There was, therefore, in Lexington,
a perpetual watchfulness of the movements of tlie
British. Tliey knew tiiat tlic few stores deposited
Hancock knew that Colonel Barrett, to whose cus-
tody they were committed, had been apprised of the
danger, and had been directed to scatter and secrete
them. With a knowledge of these facts the people
of Lexington would have an eye to the safety of
Hancock and Adams, and of the stores at Concord.
There was, in fact, a general belief in the spring
of 1775 that some hostile movement would be
made by Gage ; it was known that his troops were
desirous of action, and that Gage himself was
anxious to make some demonstration before the
arrival of Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne, who were
on their way to Boston to supersede him. Every
known fact and reasonable suspicion kept the
patriots of Lexington on the watch. On the 18th
of April they saw a number of strangers on horse-
back pass up the road toward Concord. This
created a suspicion that they might be British offi-
cers sent on some hostile expedition. They had
seen British officers making excursions in the
country somewhat frequently, but tliey always re-
turned towards Boston as the day drew towards a
close, but in this particular case they passed up the
road as the shades of evening were gathering round
them. This circumstance went far to convince
them that these strangers were British officers, bent
on some hostile mission, ileanwhile, Solomon
Brown of Lexington, who had been to market at
Boston, returned late in the afternoon and informed
Colonel Munroe, then orderly sergeant of Captain
Parker's company, that he had seen nine British
officers, dressed in blue great-coats, passing leis-
urely up the roads, sometimes before and some-
times behind him, armed, as he discovered by the
occasional blowing aside of their great-coats.
Munroe, suspecting that their design was to seize
Hancock and Adams, immediately collected a
guard of eight men, well armed and erpiipped, and
placed them, himself at their head, at the iiouse of
Mr. Clarke, which was nearly a quarter of a mile
from the main road leading to Concord. After
some consultation, it was decided by the Jicxington
men to send three of their number, Sanderson,
BroM-n, and Loring, towards Concord, to watcli
the British officers, and endeavor to ascertain and
give information of their movements. In the borders
of Lincoln, these men were taken prisoners by the
British officers, who were paraded across tlic road.
Soon after, Mr. Devens, a jiatriot of Charles-
town, sent to Lexington intelligence tliat the l?rit-
isli in Boston were in motion, and were preparing
at Concord had attracted Gage's attention; and to leave town on some secret expedition, and tiia{