See also J. L. Bell's excellent Web site covering this period at blogspot: Boston 1775
By the way, there will be a quiz:
1) Hancock and Adams missed out on their planned salmon dinner that day. What did Hancock eventually pay for the meal he did receive?
2) Capt. Isaac Davis made the famous statement "No, I am not and I haven't a man that is!" in response to what question?
3) What was special about Davis' Acton Minutemen?
4) How many eventually responded to the alarm that day? Which group traveled the most distance?
5) Who was Mother Batherick and what did she do that day?
6) Who was the "White Horseman?"
7) Why would some think AlGore was present in Lexington & Concord on April 16th of this year?
8) In which Massachusetts town was the fighting the fiercest that day? (Extra credit for its name both then and now).
And double extra credit if you can source all of the answers within the confines of FreeRepublic.com
ping
follow up ping
People armed were vital to this nation gaining freedom. Now, it's vital to KEEPING it.
You should get some US Constitution History/Studies threads going also.
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Thanks for the post and ping, NonValueAdded.
Indeed, a great day to remember that those men who stood up that day did it for LIBERTY.
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 which seaward creeps.
On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set to-day a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.
Spirit, that made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.
It was unseasonably cold that day?
7) Because the weather was unseasonably cold and awful. This made the water extra high at Lechmere's Point, so the lobsterbacks would be extra soaked as they started their forced march.
8) The Village of Menotomy, which is known today as Arlington. That's where Samuel Whittemore made his famous stand.
Click for much bigger image.
Molon Labe
i will share this with my US History students... i teach in a homeschool co-op (my class consists of four boys)... we just finished studying the American Revolution last quarter... this quarter we are touching on The Bill of Rights...
2) Capt. Isaac Davis made the famous statement "No, I am not and I haven't a man that is!" in response to what question?
"Are you afraid to go?"
3) What was special about Davis' Acton Minutemen?
They were well equipped for irregulars, even having bayonets, and had trained extensively (paid for it, too).
6. Percy, later to be Duke of Northumberland
5. Mother Batherick was working in the field had her gun ..saw the battle and took British Redcoats prisoner...then delivered her prisoners to a minute man captain and told them, “If you ever live to get back, you tell King George that an old woman took six of his grenadiers prisoners.”
We women ROCK!!
2. When asked if he was afraid to advance.
3.Concord Action men....The Acton’s company was the only one present that was entirely outfitted with bayonets, perhaps because Isaac Davis himself was a blacksmith and a gunsmith. Isaac Davis became the first commissioned officer to die in the Revolutionary War. The British were turned back at the bridge, in large part due to Acton’s stand. April 19th, 1775 was the day it truly all began, and the turning point at the old North Bridge was the first time the British had been forced to retreat in the face of colonial opposition.
I knew Davis was the first officer down, but does this mean that the Acton Minutemen were the first to fire a shot at the British?
(maybe next time the guys in concord can get their asses out of bed and get to their own bridge... before guys from another town ;)
And a few things for you all to consider …
Imagine if Capt. Isaac Davis survived the battle and was able to serve General Washington in the role eventually filled by von Steuben, and train Washington’s men as well as he, Capt. Davis, trained the Acton Minutemen?
Further, what impact did the general lack of training and equipment of the April 19th militia (save Isaac Davis’ men) have on the crafting of the 2nd Amendment? Did the founding fathers aim to a) justify April 19th and b) ensure the militia would be ready for the task within Jefferson’s 25-year rinse & repeat timeframe?
To Paige’s point “we women Rock!” in telling us about Mother Batherick, let me add “all the elders rocked” that day. Consider that the militia that captured Percy’s resupply train and chased off the lobsterbacks into Mother Batherick’s custody were too old to keep up with the youngin’s answering the alarm. The same held true for The White Horseman. But look at the pivotal role those seasoned citizens played from that day forward.
Now think about this … there is an age cutoff in the current United States Code that defines what is the militia. And what if by some change in the Supreme Court the 2nd Amendment is re-interpreted to be a collective right, arming the militia with a grudging nod towards Isaac Davis’ preparation regimin? Would that disarm Mother Batherick? Hezikiah Wyman? The others who captured Percy’s supply wagons? Would the Founding Fathers throw that all away or did they rightly consider the individual contributions of the citizen Patriots that day, young and old, spry and slow-moving, male and female?
Interesting stuff that I hope to explore further.
On March 23 Patrick Henry, speaking in Virginia’s Convention (a revolutionary body), had said “The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms!”. He was right.