North Andover in the American Revolution (Patriot revolution, history is about to repeat itself)

wickedlocal.com ^ | May 22, 2009

[appleseed]

Memorial Day is that special day we set aside every year to honor those who fought and died in our country’s wars. This holiday was established shortly after the Civil War to reflect on the hundreds of thousands of Union soldiers who perished during the conflict. Today, we tend to focus on those soldiers from WW II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

But shouldn’t we also remember those patriots who fought in the American Revolution?

In 1775 North Andover and Andover were both part of the town called Andover. There was the North Parish, which later became North Andover, and the South Parish, which became what is now known as Andover. The old town of Andover was predominantly a farming community of about 2,900 residents.

By the early 1770s, the Stamp Act, the Boston Massacre and the heavy hand of the British government had turned many of the colonials against His Majesty’s rulers. At the time, for the common defense, Andover had established four “foot companies” as part of the 4th Essex County Regiment of the Massachusetts Bay Militia. Two were composed of men from the North Parish: 1st (1st Andover) Company — North District — commanded by Capt. Samuel Johnson and the 9th (3rd Andover) Company — East District — commanded by Capt. Nathaniel Lovejoy. Each company had about 50 men.

Then, in 1775, the tension with the British reached its peak. In February, now Col. Samuel Johnson asked for volunteers from the foot companies to form two new Minute Man companies for fast response should the British threaten the colonials. Fifty men from the North Parish immediately joined one of the companies. They subsequently selected Capt. Thomas Poor Jr. as their captain, Ensign Benjamin Farnum as first lieutenant and Samuel Johnson Jr. for second lieutenant. The two companies became part of the regiment under the direction of Col. James Frye, with the well-respected Dr. Thomas Kittredge as the regimental surgeon.

Also in February, town meeting assembled at the North Parish Meeting House and voted “that the enlisted soldiers be furnished with bayonets at the expense of the town.”

Now the stage was set. At around 7 a.m. on April 19th word came to the town that 700 British Regulars were marching toward Lexington and Concord, presumably to seize a cache of weapons and ammunition stockpiled by the colonials. The bell at the North Parish Meeting House was rung to sound the alarm. The two new companies of Col. Frye’s Andover Minute Men quickly assembled and started marching through Tewksbury, Billerica and into Bedford. There they learned that the British were retreating back to Boston. The Andover Minute Men turned southeast in pursuit. They eventually reached Cambridge where they camped overnight awaiting further instructions. Later, the four Andover foot companies also joined the Minute Men.

In all, six companies of about 350 Andover men answered the call to arms that fateful morning.

The Revolution now underway, Andover militias would also fight at Bunker Hill and later in the Continental Army at Bennington and Stillwater. They would share in the sufferings of the 1777 winter camp at Valley Forge with General George Washington.

It’s hard to estimate how many Andover men fought in the Revolution. The accompanying list of 775 names, put together almost 100 years ago, has what would appear to be numerous repetitions and spelling errors. Some may seem obvious to us now, but the committee that put this together could not sort out the old records well enough to determine which names truly represented Revolutionary War participants. So the committee included them all.

Col. James Frye, at the age of 66, died on January 8, 1776 “while in the Continental Service supporting the Independence of the United States of America.” He is buried at the cemetery on Academy Road, not too far from North Andover’s Old Center. At the bottom of his headstone are the words “Homo fuit” or “He was a man.”

This Memorial Day let’s remember Col. Frye and all the other patriots who gave their lives to help create this great country we call America.

[appleseed]

the Boston Massacre and the heavy hand of the British government had turned many of the colonials against His Majesty’s rulers.

California vote against taxes. Same thing happening in Indiana. Tea parties all across the country. We have had enough of government intrusion in our lives. It is time for government to back off or face the rath of the people. This is it folks, either they back off or history repeats itself.

[Gay State Conservative]

Say what you wish about the North Andover of the past but today it's just another nest of red diaper baby,trust funded Maoists.

[Who is John Galt?]

Say what you wish about the North Andover of the past but today it's just another nest of red diaper baby,trust funded Maoists.

I'm sure there is a minority population of republicans. But (as you note) the rest are koolaide-drinking Obamanites (at least for now - wait until reality sets in ;>)...

[2banana]

And now we are just a bunch of groveling socialists - trying to get something for nothing from the government...

[appleseed]

Self Reliant/Survivalist ping list

[Who is John Galt?]

And now we are just a bunch of groveling socialists - trying to get something for nothing from the government...

That's the 'new' meaning of "law abiding"...

;>)

[NonValueAdded]

Rev War ping. God Bless them for their gift to us and my apologies for what we’ve done with it.

[Texas Fossil]

I don’t know anything about the citizens of Andover today.

But I know many veterans who are 60, 70, 80+ years old who would step forward now. And would still be effective.

And a lot of younger patriotic Americans.

Approaching the 4th of July, I expect to see some of that sentiment expressed, in spite of the MSM.

It is almost time.

[Texas Fossil]

Adversity employs great talents; prosperity renders them useless and carries the inept, the corrupted wealthy and the wicked to the top

May they bear in mind that virtue often contains the seeds of tyranny

May they bear in mind that it is neither gold nor even a multitude of arms that sustains a state but its morals

May each of them keep in his house, in a corner of this field, next to his workbench, next to his plow, his gun, his sword, and his bayonet

May they all be soldiers

May they bear in mind that in circumstances where deliberation is possible, the advice of old men is good but that in moments of crisis youth is generally better informed that its elders

Denis Diderot

Apostrophe to the Insurgents, 1782

[Jabba the Nutt]

We're not Europeans, we're Americans. We've never had a tradition of collectivism. In Europe, both the conservatives and social democrats have been Statists. The Liberals (Free Markets, Free Minds folks) have been small minorities for a centurty.

Here, we have the tradition of rebellion against overweening government: Bacon's Rebellion 1676, the American Revolution 1776, Andrew Jackson 1828, Texas Independence 1836, the Confederacy 1861 and Ronald Reagan 1980.

Who knows who's going to rise in the new era of rebellion? We have the tradition of individual sovereignty. Americans are only going to put up with this crap for so long.

[William Tell]

From the article: "... the heavy hand of the British government ..."

It's good for our people to learn more of the details of our nation's founding.

But one detail needs clarification. The "British government" was the legitimate government of the day. It was not a foreign government.

One of the early slogans was "No taxation without representation!". Had Parliament and the King granted representation to the colonies, one of the major indignities would have been removed, and the colonial representatives in a later Parliament may well have been able to positively influence the course of events.

What I am pointing out is that the colonists were rebelling against THEIR OWN government and took up arms against THEIR OWN army. Our Founders, had the war been lost, would have been hanged for TREASON.

One major reason for the Second Amendment was to ensure that the people would always have arms in no way inferior to those controlled by the government.