"No Person Above Sixty Years of Age" - The Massachusetts Alarm Lists of Lexington and Concord

About two weeks ago, a question was posed on the Facebook discussion page “Progressive Rev War Reenactors” regarding what Massachusetts alarm lists were and what their role was on the eve of Lexington and Concord.

The Nerds, as well as several far more qualified (and admittedly better-looking) historians, chimed in on the topic. The result was a cursory overview of the Massachusetts militia system alarm lists.

But what are alarm lists, and what were their contributions to the wartime buildup on the eve of the American Revolution?

As a preliminary matter, Massachusetts colonial laws required men between the ages of sixteen and sixty to serve in their local militia company. Every town maintained at least one militia company and the units were organized into county-level regiments based upon location within the geographic jurisdiction. For example, the militia companies of the Merrimack Valley region of Essex County, Massachusetts, were organized into a regiment known as the “4th Essex Regiment of Foot”.

Within this militia system were the alarm lists. Alarm lists were essentially the "home guard" or the last line of defense for a community. Generally speaking, most alarm list members were over sixty. However, we have seen hints that some Middlesex and Essex County communities transferred men as young as fifty-five into the alarm list.

In addition to “older” males, alarm lists often included male residents between the ages of sixteen and sixty who did not serve in the town’s militia system. Most likely, these would have included males who were temporarily infirm or disabled or men ordered by the selectmen to serve in the alarm lists.

Alarm lists appear to be an 18th-century construct, as 17th-century Massachusetts colonial militia laws do not reference the term or concept. Similarly, early and mid-18th century amendments to the 1697 Militia Act do not reference Alarm Lists. In fact, the first official reference to such a reserve force appears to be in the 1757 Massachusetts Militia Act. However, based on the law's language and the lack of instructions on establishing and organizing alarm lists, the Nerds suspect the 1757 law was most likely a codification of an ongoing practice already in place rather than creating a whole new system. Admittedly, further research is needed, but It is suspected that the alarm list system developed in conjunction with the French Wars moving further west and north away from Massachusetts.

In the late 17th and 18th Centuries, the Massachusetts Colonial Legislature also passed a series of laws dictating how militia and non-commissioned officers were chosen, what arms and equipment militiamen should carry, and how often they should train. For example, the 1697 Militia Act required “That every listed souldier and other householder (except ' troopers) shall be alwayes provided with a well fixt firelock musket, of) musket or bastard musket bore, the barrel not less then three foot and a half long, or other good firearms to the satisfaction of the commission officers of the company, a snapsack, a coller with twelve bandeleers or cartouch-box, one pound of good powder, twenty bullets fit for his gun, and twelve flints, a good sword or cutlace, a worm and priming-wire fit for his gun ; on penalty of six shillings for want of such arms as is hereby required, and two shillings for each other defect, and the like "sum for every four weeks he shall remain unprovided, the fine to be paid by parents for their sons under age and under their command, and by masters or heads of families for their servants, other than servants upon wages.”

Similarly, before the Massachusetts wartime buildup of 1774/1775, militia companies were legally required to hold four training days per year plus two additional days for military “instruction” and “inspection” of arms and equipment.

The laws governing alarm lists generally mirrored those of militia companies. Members of alarm lists were required to hold elections to choose their officers, non-commissioned officers and clerks. They were also expected to acquire the same arms and equipment that a militia company was required to have. For example, a 1776 Massachusetts militia act declared that the men of alarm lists “shall, respectively, provide for, and equip themselves with, such arms and accoutrements as by this act is directed for those of the training- band in the militia, aforesaid”.

However, there were some exceptions and limitations with alarm lists that militia companies did not have. 

Alarm lists were not required to meet four times a year to drill and only had to assemble twice annually to inspect arms and equipment. As the 1757 militia law declared, “Every person borne on the alarm list, and not on the train band, shall, on the first Monday in May, and the last training day in the year, annually, between three and five of the clock in the afternoon, and while the trained bands shall be under arms, carry or send his arms and ammunition into the field to be viewed; and in case any person shall neglect or refuse to carry or send his arms and ammunition into the field as aforesaid, unless unavoidably prevented, he shall be liable to the same penalty for each day's neglect, as if he had not such arms and ammunition.”

Furthermore, in times of emergency or threats, such as the Lexington Alarm of 1775, alarm lists could mobilize, leaving the confines of a community to serve side by side with its sister militia company in the field. When such a scenario occurred, Massachusetts militia laws implied that the officers of alarm lists were subordinate to their fellow officers from their community’s militia company. Curiously, the requirement to mobilize with a sister militia unit became voluntary once an alarm list member reached sixty years of age. According to the 1776 Massachusetts Militia Act, “no person above sixty years of age … shall be compelled to march out of the town wherein they have their usual place of abode.”

The January 1776 Massachusetts militia law, entitled An Act For Forming And Regulating The Militia Within The Colony Of The Massachusetts Bay, In New England, And For Repealing All The Laws Heretofore Made For That Purpose, made the most significant change to the alarm list system during the American Revolution by restructuring age requirements of both organizations. Specifically, it restructured the service eligibility of militia and alarm lists. Unless excused by law, those between sixteen and fifty were required to serve in the militia. Men between the ages of fifty and sixty-five were assigned to the alarm lists. Those over sixty-five were outright excused from any service.

With all that said, what role did alarm lists play during the buildup to war or the Battles of Lexington and Concord? 

The short answer is that the alarm's "older men" significantly contributed to the war effort. On September 26, 1774, Lexington selectmen ordered the “alarm list meet for a view of their arms” as part of its wartime effort. On March 6, 1775, the Town of Westborough ordered that men from the alarm list be attached to Captain Brigham’s Minute Company and train on an artillery piece Westborough acquired in the Fall of 1774. By April 3rd, the Reverend Ebenezer Parkman noted the two units were frequently drilling together. Chelmsford ordered in March 1775 that its alarm list be “be equipt with fire arms and ammunition” in preparation for war. Haverhill, Andover and Newburyport’s alarm list companies were routinely “exercising” and “showing arms” with its sister militia and minute man units.

Although most alarm list companies remained behind to protect their communities during the Battles of Lexington and Concord, several alarm lists did mobilize to meet the British threat. As Lexington militiaman Daniel Harrington recounted during the early hours of April 19th, “the train band or Militia, and the alarm men (consisting of the aged and others exempted from turning out, excepting upon alarm) repaired in general to the common, close in with the meeting-house, the usual place of parade; and there were present when the roll was called over about one hundred and thirty of both.” When the Lexington men reformed later in the morning, elements of the alarm list were present with Parker’s men.

it is almost certain that alarm list companies from Cambridge, Lincoln, Concord and other communities mobilized in response to the British incursion into the Middlesex countryside as well.

According to various accounts, Mentomy’s alarm list successfully intercepted a supply wagon meant for the British expedition en route to Concord. Danver’s alarm list quickly mobilized and engaged in a forced march to intercept the British column as it retired towards Boston. Period accounts suggest the age men of Danvers fought side by side with their younger relatives and neighbors during a brutal hand-to-hand fight with His Majesty’s forces in Menotomy.

More research needs to be conducted regarding the contribution of alarm lists during the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The Nerds would like to direct our readers to the only known organization in the New England area portraying an alarm list … the Danvers Alarm List. This organization does a great job memorializing Danvers's contributions to the American Revolution, and they are all-around amazing people. Be sure to follow them on social media.

But that said, we will also ask the obvious … why aren’t there more older reenactors organizing and portraying Massachusetts alarm lists?

"Found Dead Within A Few Rods Of The House" - The Non-Combatant Casualties of April 19, 1775

The Nerds are once again returning to the Battles of Lexington and Concord and taking a deep dive into the civilian experiences of that fateful day. Today, we will discuss male non-combatants killed by British forces on April 19, 1775.

We became interested in this topic after journalist and entrepreneur Rasheed Walters contacted us to inquire if we knew of any civilians killed that day. The Nerds are aware of five individuals killed by British forces either during their advance on Concord or their retreat back to Boston. Four were adult males, and one was a child. The victims hailed from Woburn, Lexington, Menotomy (present-day Arlington, Massachusetts), and Charlestown.

As a preliminary matter, the Nerds have traditionally defined civilians (or non-combatants) of the Battles of Lexington and Concord as men, women, and children who did not serve in a combat or support role nor carried arms and accouterments in opposition to the British incursion into Middlesex County.

The day's first civilian casualty was Asahel Porter of Woburn.

Well before dawn on April 19, 1775, Porter and Josiah Richardson left Woburn on horseback, allegedly to travel to the Boston market. As the pair entered the Menotomy District of Cambridge, they collided with Colonel Francis Smith’s military expedition bound for Concord. Suspecting the pair were alarm riders, an officer and loyalist guide arrested the pair. According to Lieutenant Jesse Adair of the Marines, “here are 2 fellows galloping express to Alarm the Country, on which I immediately rode up to them, Seized one of them & our guide the other, [and] dismounted them.”

Porter and Richardson were quickly ushered towards the back of the column and placed under guard. However, as the British forces approached the Lexington common, Porter’s captors determined there was no longer a need to detain the pair and the two were released.

At some point after the skirmish commenced, Porter was retreating from his captors and was shot and killed. According to an 1824 deposition of Lexington militia man John Munroe, Porter “attempted to make his escape, and was shot within a few rods of the common.” Another eyewitness, Amos Locke, declared in his 1824 deposition he and his cousin Ebenezer found “Asahel Porter of Woburn shot through the body.”

Lexington's John Raymond was a neighbor of William and Anna Munroe and was employed by the family as a general laborer. Many 19th-century historians have argued Raymond was a “simple man,” and “a cripple”. However, recent research has suggested that he only suffered from a short-term, temporary disability that prevented him from fielding on April 19th.

Following the Battle of Lexington, Raymond watched over the family tavern while Anna Munroe and her children fled the property. That afternoon, British soldiers under the command of Lord Hugh Earle Percy shot and killed Raymond.

William Munroe’s 1825 deposition sheds some light on the circumstances of Raymond’s fate. According to the account, “On the return of the British troops from Concord, they stopped at my tavern house in Lexington and dressed their wounded. I had left my house in the care of a lame man, by the name of Raymond, who supplied them with whatever the house afforded, and afterward, when he was leaving the house, he was shot by the regulars, and found dead within a few rods of the house.”

Munroe’s 1827 obituary also refers to Raymond, noting the militia sergeant “participated with his company in the events of the day, leaving the care of his public house in the superintendance of a neighbor, whom the British killed on their retreat.”

The Menottomy Fight of April 19, 1775, was a brutal and vicious close-quarters fight between British regulars and Massachusetts provincials along the Bay Road. As the fight neared Cooper’s Tavern, Jabez Wyman and his brother-in-law Jason Winship were seated inside, each consuming several pints of alcohol. The ages of both men are unknown, but a period account does suggest the two men were elderly.

As the innkeeper, Benjamin Cooper, and his wife, Rachel, prepared to flee to safety, the pair pleaded for the two men to leave with them. They refused and continued drinking. Moments later, His Majesty’s army attacked Cooper’s Tavern.

Image Source: Minute Man National Park

A month after the Battles of Lexington and Concord, Rachel Cooper would provide a grim and terrifying account of Wyman and Winship’s fate. “The King’s regular troops under the command of General Gage, upon their return from blood and slaughter, which they had made at Lexington and Concord, fired more than one hundred bullets into the house where we dwell, through doors, and windows,…The two aged gentlemen [Winship and Wyman] were immediately most barbarously and inhumanly murdered by them, being stabbed through in many places, their heads mangled, skulls broke, and their brains out on the floor and walls of the house.”

The Rev John Marrett of Woburn’s Second Parish would later discuss the two men in a letter to his uncle, Rev Isaiah Dunster. In his correspondence, he noted the pair “died as a fool dieth.”

As the afternoon wore on, it became clear that His Majesty’s troops were quickly approaching Charlestown. In response, many residents of that community chose to flee. However, a fourteen-year-old child named Edward Barber remained behind. Little is known about the exact circumstances of his death, but a period account suggests his curiosity got the better of him. Barber was fired upon as while inside a house watching the British retreat. 

That evening, Jacob Rogers of Charlestown received news that his brother-in-law, “a youth of fourteen, was shot dead on the neck of land by the soldiers, as he was looking out of a window. I stayed a little while to console them.”

Sadly, the famed broadside entitled Bloody Butchery by the British Troops only identified Edward as “Capt. William Barber's son, aged 14”.