"Delivered Bayonets in the Company" - Was Lexington's John Parker a Veteran of the French and Indian War?

Captain John Parker was the commanding officer of the American militia at the Battle of Lexington.  Family tradition credits John Parker with considerable military experience before the Revolution. It is claimed that he was present at the capture of Louisbourg, served during the French and Indian War, fought in Quebec in 1759, and was a member of  Roger’s Rangers.  

So, did John Parker have military combat experience before April 19, 1775?  The answer is a resounding NO.

The first time someone claimed John Parker was a veteran of the French wars was in 1893, one hundred and eighteen years after the Battle of Lexington.  That year, two separate publications asserted that Parker had combat experience.  The first was written by his grandson, the Reverend Theodore Parker.  In his work Genealogy and Biographical Notes of John Parker of Lexington and His Descendants: Showing His Earlier Ancestry in America from Dea. Thomas Parker of Reading, Mass., from 1635 to 1893, the Reverend Parker states, “John Parker was at the capture of Louisburg in 1758 . . .was at the taking of Quebec in 1759 . . . [and was] made a sergeant in this war.”  A second publication by Captain Parker’s great-granddaughter, Elizabeth S. Parker, alleged the militia captain “had served in the French and Indian War.”  

Neither account provided documentation supporting the argument John Parker served in the French Wars.  Nevertheless, historians quickly promoted these questionable claims over the next several decades.  Worse, many, including Historian David Hackett Fischer, expanded Parker’s service record to include being present at the 1745 Siege of Louisbourg and patrolling the New York frontier with Roger’s Rangers.

Unfortunately, no official records, journals, or surviving artifacts support the proposition John Parker enlisted in the war effort against the French, let alone saw combat.  

One argument occasionally advanced by 20th-century historians is that Parker’s father, Josiah, served as an officer at the 1745 Siege of Louisbourg.  He must have brought his then fifteen-year-old son John along as a servant.  This assertion is nothing more than bunk.  There are no records that Josiah Parker enlisted in the Louisbourg expedition.  Town records from the period establish that Josiah Parker was in Lexington and actively serving as a selectman in 1745.

Likewise, a review of marriage, baptismal, personal, town, and military records demonstrates that John Parker was also present in Lexington during the French and Indian War.  On May 25, 1755, Parker married Lydia Moore in Lexington.  In the early Spring of 1756, Lydia became pregnant.  She gave birth to a baby girl on November 8th.  According to Parker’s account book, he satisfied woodworking orders in Lexington during August 1757.  In the summer of 1758, Lydia became pregnant for the second time and gave birth to a baby girl on January 11, 1759.  

Each of these events occurred after the commencement of a seasonal military campaign.   If Parker had enlisted in a Massachusetts provincial regiment, he would have embarked to New York or Nova Scotia in April or May with his regiment.  He would not have returned to Lexington until late November.  Thus, John Parker could not have been in two places at once.

Of course, one of the more common claims of Parker’s alleged military service is he was present at the fall of Quebec in 1759.  This is simply not true.  While Provincial and Regular troops were laying siege to Quebec, Parker was in Lexington. In June 1759, Benjamin Reed noted that he assembled his militia company and issued bayonets to some of his men.  John Parker was one of them.  “The following names are a full and Just account of those to whom I the Subscriber delivered Bayonets in the company under my command in Lexington, Benjamin Reed, Captain, June 5, 1759… [49 militiamen listed including John Parker].”  

However, the fact that John Parker lacked military experience should not detract from his remarkable leadership immediately following his defeat at the Battle of Lexington.  Parker successfully rallied his company and mobilized them for war.  Less than twelve hours later, he successfully staged a devastating ambush against a retreating British column.  This action alone should put any doubt regarding John Parker's military skills to rest.