tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29780672740994131412024-03-14T06:40:19.840-04:00Historical NerderyAlexander R. Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08258218418111297609noreply@blogger.comBlogger223125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978067274099413141.post-4356368920721195302024-03-10T20:33:00.002-04:002024-03-10T20:33:32.432-04:00"Each Man is Supplied Even to a Knapsack" - Did they Really Wear Knapsacks at Lexington and Concord?Recently, the Nerds were alerted to a discussion on the official Facebook page of the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1766694783583881">Massachusetts chapters of the Sons of the American Revolution</a>. Specifically, there was a debate over the appropriateness of reenactors portraying Massachusetts militia and minute men wearing knapsacks at the annual Battles of Lexington and Concord reenactment.<br /><br />Several organization members surprisingly scoffed at the notion of Middlesex County militia men wearing packs during the battle, particularly those who hailed from towns that saw combat: Concord, Lincoln, Lexington, Menotomy, and Cambridge. One person declared that requiring participants to wear knapsacks was part of a money-making scheme. Another declared that the National Park Service needed to be more flexible in its authenticity standards, especially regarding knapsacks. A third argued, without evidence, that his “relatives from Lexington and Concord didn’t dress like that on April 19th!”<br /><br />We’d like to take a moment to address this so-called argument, particularly the claim that the militia companies that hailed from towns along the combat route never carried packs because the fight was literally outside their doors.<br /><br />As a preliminary matter, the argument ignores militia laws, Massachusetts Provincial Congress resolves, and town resolutions of the period.<br /><br />According to Massachusetts colonial militia laws between 1690 and 1773, when a company was alarmed, they were also required to rally fully armed and equipped for a military campaign. This included fielding with packs and blankets.<div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWnbnG35qtAvLQ6bY_EA9P2dc1My9DfpoMMQIcTrsr2fVC9hdmbx16zI9XiSpSxweZp56iktNVxnO8J6-9n95-UhITjEfGkf1lLnApdqEIfjKWne6Kp9MnZGCW4ROlCo4EN4KA2Gf8WMrfpcOCpgR3hyEB7I7-gruv335zrllPG56cy7CPGnWaoV7NTLw/s2048/packs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWnbnG35qtAvLQ6bY_EA9P2dc1My9DfpoMMQIcTrsr2fVC9hdmbx16zI9XiSpSxweZp56iktNVxnO8J6-9n95-UhITjEfGkf1lLnApdqEIfjKWne6Kp9MnZGCW4ROlCo4EN4KA2Gf8WMrfpcOCpgR3hyEB7I7-gruv335zrllPG56cy7CPGnWaoV7NTLw/w300-h400/packs.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Photo credit: Minute Man National Historical Park</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br />Similarly, on December 10, 1774, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress passed a resolution declaring that “each of the minute men, not already provided therewith, should be immediately equipped with an effective firearm, bayonet, pouch, knapsack, thirty rounds of cartridges and balls.”<br /><br />During the buildup for war with England in 1774 and 1775, countless towns adopted existing Massachusetts militia laws and instructions from the Provincial Congress to pass local resolutions requiring its minute and militiamen to field with knapsacks if required to mobilize for war. For example, on November 21, 1774, the Town of Danvers resolved its minute companies would be equipped with “an effective fire-arm, bayonet, pouch, knapsack, thirty rounds of cartridges and balls.” On December 26, 1774, Roxbury ordered “Militia minutemen [to] hold themselves in readiness at a minutes warning, compleat in arms and ammunition; that is to say a good and sufficient firelock, bayonet, thirty rounds of powder and ball, pouch and knapsack.” In January 1775, Braintree required each soldier furnish himself with “a good fire lock, bayonett, cartouch box, one pound of powder, twenty-four balls to fitt their guns, twelve flints and a knapsack.” <br /><br />Even General Gage took note of Massachusetts’ wartime preparations. According to one such report dispatched to his superiors, the general described “each man is supplied even to a knapsack, canteen and blanket and directed to bring a week’s provisions with him when called to the field.”<br /><br />Of course, the Nerds suspect certain naysayers may argue that although there is evidence of laws and resolutions of knapsacks being required, there is no evidence of them actually being carried on April 19, 1775. Again, this argument is without merit.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9k257ZpvU0uNrYbx8NyS7uKryG0W9prkAFpT9uSw0X_3H2tqDTuRiM7UBWX7Pq9Gc9o6n2nl4BBx08K2BswZI91ky4b5PVZ6hObO_pRLsdhNBGfne8FJSrh2JkoJSrBs85uINv-oqlQk2_ERHUZzAJMJGNWQAjiV1sJPUCdRuNZaN5ycgvwMjAy_jCJE/s875/Screenshot%202024-03-10%20155636.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="875" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9k257ZpvU0uNrYbx8NyS7uKryG0W9prkAFpT9uSw0X_3H2tqDTuRiM7UBWX7Pq9Gc9o6n2nl4BBx08K2BswZI91ky4b5PVZ6hObO_pRLsdhNBGfne8FJSrh2JkoJSrBs85uINv-oqlQk2_ERHUZzAJMJGNWQAjiV1sJPUCdRuNZaN5ycgvwMjAy_jCJE/w400-h345/Screenshot%202024-03-10%20155636.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Israel Litchfield of Scituate, Massachusetts notes in his journal that when he and others mobilized for war, “Daniel, and I and Lot and Amos and John Whitcom Came home and got our guns, Catoos boxes, knapsack & c. & went down to Cohasset". Similarly, as a Massachusetts militia company advanced towards Boston after Lexington and Concord, a pair of knapsacks were misplaced or fell off a support wagon. According to the subsequent advertisement, ““Lost out of a Waggon in Westborough, two Packs and a great Coat, also a Cartridge-Box, and powder Horn. The Packs contained two white Shirts, a check Shirt, 2 Pair of Stockings, some Provision, &c. &c. Whoever shall take up the above, and send them to Capt. Steadman’s of Cambridge, shall be handsomely rewarded. April 24, 1775. Lemuel Pomeroy. N.B. It is very likely the Packs was by Mistake put into a wrong Waggon”<br /><br />But what about the towns that were either along the path of the fighting or nearby? Did militia and minute men leave their packs behind when they entered combat? The Nerds would point to three separate accounts that support the proposition that men who lived along the “Battle Road” also fielded with packs. The first two statements are attributable to Captain John Parker’s Lexington Company. The third is related to the Menotomy Fight.<br /><br />According to the 1776 anniversary sermon of the Reverend Jonas Clarke, the minister discussed how Parker’s Company was prepared to respond to any military emergency, regardless of the location. According to Clarke, “Upon this intelligence, as also upon information of the conduct of the officers as above-mentioned, the militia of the town were alarmed, and ordered to meet on the usual place of parade; not with any design of commencing hostilities upon the king’s troops but to consult what might be done for our own and the people’s safety; And also to be ready for whatever service providence might call us out to, upon this alarming occasion in case overt acts of violence or open hostilities be committed by this mercenary hand of armed and blood thirsty oppressors.”<br /><br />The term “alarmed” coupled with “And also to be ready for whatever service providence might call us out to” suggests that Parker’s Company fielded the morning of April 19th with packs in accordance to existing militia laws and was prepared to enter a military campaign against His Majesty’s forces regardless of where it took them. As recent research findings have revealed, Parker’s Company did not cease combat operations once it reached the Menotomy town line later that day and continued to pursue the enemy. Parker and his men remained in Cambridge for approximately one week. To undertake such a campaign without packs would defy logistical expectations and undermine the unit's efficiency in the early days of the Siege of Boston.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEionhCxBs4c1wYxRl6HAeLzGf-40SwK_oQqwZvtT8lM1P0ZsHRKvJhnSDKX-n7AGcFgz28bxANOmnUWt7aKR8S7uOJftgw4o91I9ynClakGd2toApfTFs9NToYnyKbQ_AAYu57cOZ7vCeHT8VWnMsLupyaWaB46tkMSEMj8TR-iVuj5CnJrTGk9QigMoYw/s767/waggon.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="767" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEionhCxBs4c1wYxRl6HAeLzGf-40SwK_oQqwZvtT8lM1P0ZsHRKvJhnSDKX-n7AGcFgz28bxANOmnUWt7aKR8S7uOJftgw4o91I9ynClakGd2toApfTFs9NToYnyKbQ_AAYu57cOZ7vCeHT8VWnMsLupyaWaB46tkMSEMj8TR-iVuj5CnJrTGk9QigMoYw/w400-h146/waggon.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br />A second statement from a British officer at the Battle of Lexington directly notes Parker and his men were armed and equipped for a military campaign.<br /><br />As the unit was formed on the Lexington Common, Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith reported: “ I understand, from the report of Major Pitcairn, who was with them, and from many officers, that they found on a green close to the road a body of the country people drawn up in military order, with arms and accoutrement, and, as appeared after, loaded.”<br /><br />However, the Nerds have a piece of even stronger evidence proving that militiamen wore packs while in the field on April 19, 1775. <br /><br />In 1847, a mass grave that contained militiamen killed during the fighting around the Jason Russell House during the Menotomy fight was opened. According to an eyewitness who recorded his observations while the bodies were exhumed, he described how the men “were all buried … with their Clothes, Knapsacks, &c. On.”<br /><br />Of course, the Nerds do not believe in absolutes, and it is possible that a few militiamen would have fielded without packs. However, we also adopt the National Park’s position on the issue. As the organization appropriately stated, “Can we say with absolute certainty that EVERY militiaman and minute man who answered the Lexington Alarm carried with him a knapsack and blanket? Of course not. However, this documentation shows that [knapsacks were] very common and in the vast majority.”</div>Alexander R. Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08258218418111297609noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978067274099413141.post-26247483705690796582024-02-27T16:18:00.000-05:002024-02-27T16:18:09.276-05:00"Wholly Worthless for History" - Josiah Austin and His Alleged Role on April 19, 1775<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Nerds were minding our business today when our faithful servant, Kip Winger, suddenly crashed through the front door and stumbled into our well-decorated and fine-smelling parlor. Despite his impressive hair, silky voice, and ballerina-like moves, something troubled him.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Master Winger,” we asked. “What is it?”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">After a moment of stammering, he excitedly blurted out, “The beacons are lit! Minute Man National Park calls for aid!”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Naturally, we assumed Historian </span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/joel-bohy-939ba510/" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Joel Bohy</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> would handle this one. But then we remembered aliens had abducted him and was still missing. But what about </span><a href="https://boston1775.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">J.L. Bell</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">? Certainly, he could address the matter. Unfortunately, Mr. Bell was unavailable and was competing in the next “Survivor” reality series. What about </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@KatieTurnerGetty" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Katy Turner Getty</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">?!? Yes … Katy can handle this issue!! Sadly, she was filming a Dunkin' Donuts commercial with Ben Affleck. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Thus, we lept up from our red pleather couch (yes, we meant to say “pleather”), pushed Master Winger aside, donned our leopard print spandex, walked briskly to our 1987 Trans Am, and cried out, “To Concord!” as Europe’s “The Final Countdown” was chosen as our soundtrack.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And it is good that we answered the call, as today’s blog post addresses the questionable claim from a digital magazine </span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">that it had recently examined and transcribed a previously unknown written account of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIFQ2Ygy6rSxlhKVZemchSbcRLl3AfftgC3080twbJcXicMIp5xpvExj0luUQtguuoA7O-VClAcffewSQSnuUc0cPYRAD_v_cc9OjCIp7aW74sJpJY1BqUkLOuZi8TF4v_wQm55P5aC6r3P-2_3o3GBu5SFce42pgK4BGauocHODrURKh7Pc5-DZsehb0/s800/cartridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="527" data-original-width="800" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIFQ2Ygy6rSxlhKVZemchSbcRLl3AfftgC3080twbJcXicMIp5xpvExj0luUQtguuoA7O-VClAcffewSQSnuUc0cPYRAD_v_cc9OjCIp7aW74sJpJY1BqUkLOuZi8TF4v_wQm55P5aC6r3P-2_3o3GBu5SFce42pgK4BGauocHODrURKh7Pc5-DZsehb0/w400-h264/cartridge.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The magazine “Spared and Shared” asserts that the letter is in the hands of a private collector and that the document was allegedly written on or about 1800. The transcription of the document can be found </span><a href="https://sparedcreative21.art.blog/2020/02/08/battle-of-concord-bridge-josiah-austin-saves-ammunition/?fbclid=IwAR1jLh5_4_98YsMf0k2p_co7-LvUrUK-PJwzs_ikTLbJkYTnrHnFAqdJQsU" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">here</span></a><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. Still, in a nutshell, the document is purported to have been written </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">by Josiah Austin, “formerly of Charlestown, now of Salem, Massachusetts.” According to his account, Austin helped Colonel James Barrett of Concord remove ammunition, namely musket cartridges, from the town as the British approached. According to the account, Austin and Barrett’s son loaded the ammunition into a wagon and drove toward the advancing British column.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">You read that correctly. He and the young lad drove their wagon toward the enemy. At some point, it became disabled and was stuck on or near the road. As the column passed the wagon, several “pioneers” allegedly pushed the wagon off the road, oblivious of the wagon’s contents or Austin’s role. The soldiers continued on their march to Concord.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sometime later, Austin asserts that he encountered Major John Buttrick, who “ordered some of our men with saddle bags to the wagon, and Mr. Austin served out the cartridges in that manner to our soldiers.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">While this account would make a fantastic tale for a movie, it is the Nerds' opinion that this document is likely a late 19th-century or early 20th-century forgery. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This wouldn’t be the first time we’ve encountered such questionable documents. About two years ago, we were asked to examine what was believed to be a period journal detailing a 1780 British raid against a Maine coastal town. After extensive research, we discovered it was a fictionalized account, likely written after the American Civil War. Similarly, the “Lucy Hosmer Diary,” which purports to contain first-hand accounts of the events of April 19th, has also been debunked as a late 19th or early 20th-century fabrication.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">There is simply too much wrong with Austin’s account, and very little of the story makes sense. No supporting primary documentation or accounts place Josiah Austin in Concord on April 18-19, 1775. Bohy notes that a “John Austin” was sent to Concord in March 1775 with a team of 7 men to roll cartridges and be kept in secrecy from others, and he was in charge of preparing ammunition with his men for the Committee of Supplies. There is no reference to a “Josiah Austin” ever assisting with preparing or transporting ammunition.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Remember that the goal of the Massachusetts Provincials was to keep its supplies, including ammunition, out of the hands of the British. For Austin to drive a wagon filled with ammunition **towards** the British column defies the logic of the day. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It should also be noted that Colonel Smith’s vanguard actively intercepted and arrested any Middlesex County men it encountered on the Bay Road that night. Austin did not meet such a fate. Instead, “pioneers” stop and help move Austin’s cart off to the side of the road the column can pass. If anything, this segment of the account was likely fabricated for dramatic flair and little more.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">As an aside, Head Interpretive Ranger Jim Hollister of Minute Man National Historical Park has correctly pointed out that only light infantry, grenadiers, Loyalist scouts, and a smattering of soldiers from the Royal Artillery accompanied the column to Concord. There were no pioneers with the column.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPRwuPjjWAIJLD_WZVXPGFOt2f0DpfuFdNZJqzEz7tz72m2CruDnLKx64K7PjI5hfrhaP5KckMzJ1X7uajvyOWoJouDGH4n-gMifwxgdROMhwfEd3Cu3py8DJdVGnwiuFdn8Vu3KD3ensSD-CIw1knDw-cI1qhTkGQVftMQyHyZ6UW8QofL0Hczu9KuOM/s1600/Virginia_Road,_Minuteman_National_Park.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPRwuPjjWAIJLD_WZVXPGFOt2f0DpfuFdNZJqzEz7tz72m2CruDnLKx64K7PjI5hfrhaP5KckMzJ1X7uajvyOWoJouDGH4n-gMifwxgdROMhwfEd3Cu3py8DJdVGnwiuFdn8Vu3KD3ensSD-CIw1knDw-cI1qhTkGQVftMQyHyZ6UW8QofL0Hczu9KuOM/w300-h400/Virginia_Road,_Minuteman_National_Park.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p>Finally, Austin notes cartridges are distributed from the wagon to “saddle bags.” In turn, the ammunition was distributed to militia and minute men in the field. This is completely contrary to how Massachusetts forces were supplied in 1775. The supplies stored in Concord, including ammunition cartridges, were earmarked for the future Massachusetts Grand Army if and when war broke out with England. The minute and militia companies that mobilized on April 19th had either supplied themselves with ammunition or drew it from town supplies. For example, Lexington’s Ensign Harrington was “reimbursed £2.12.10 in full” for providing for 104 lbs. of bullets to Captain John Parker’s Company after “going to Walthame for powdere & to Bostone for leads.” Joshua Read, also of Lexington, also provided gunpowder and ammunition to Parker’s men after purchasing lead in Boston and “running the bullets”. Before its minute company marched off to war on April 19, 1775, the men of Westborough drew gunpowder and ammunition from its town supply.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">When contemplating assessing the veracity of the Austin account, the Nerds would like to highlight the words of 19th-century Massachusetts historian George E. Ellis who noted, that many veterans and witnesses who claimed to have participated in Lexington and Concord or the Battle of Bunker Hill, "Their contents were most extraordinary; many of the testimonies extravagant, boastful, inconsistent, and utterly untrue; mixtures of old men's broken memories and fond imaginings with the love of the marvellous. Some of those who gave in affidavits about the battle could not have been in it, nor even in its neighborhood. They had got so used to telling the story for the wonderment of village listeners as grandfathers' tales, and as petted representatives of 'the spirit of '76’, that they did not distinguish between what they had seen and done, and what they had read, heard, or dreamed. The decision of the committee was that much of the contents of the volumes was wholly worthless for history, and some of it discreditable, as misleading and false."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">So, did Josiah Austin even exist? According to our research, he did. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Josiah Austin was born in Charlestown in 1750. Before his teenage years, he became an apprentice to a Charlestown silversmith. He continued his apprenticeship until 1770, when he opened his own shop. According to town records, he resided in Charlestown until 1772 but split his business operations (silver and gold smithing) between Boston, Charlestown, and Watertown. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">By 1775, Austin had relocated to Watertown, although the Nerds came across a secondary source that suggested he may have briefly resided in Medford. He remained in Watertown until 1785, when he relocated to Salem and partnered with several very successful merchants and artisans, including a cabinet maker. The group undertook several business ventures and became quite wealthy. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Why do we mention a cabinet maker? Because he was none other than Lexington's Elijah Sanderson. Of course, Sanderson signed an affidavit in 1824 describing his role at the Battle of Lexington. Curiously, Austin, who allegedly lived until 1825, never provided a similar affidavit. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Austin was well-known for his gold and silversmith work. According to the Colonial Society of History of Massachusetts, Austin may have been hired to produce communion silver to Concord before the American Revolution. If true, this may be his only connection to the community. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0BvpuCLYkLvVKdClAsqMWnKRx6_02iPjl78-RRrpmKO9U31hmWXVrNzf1iXlZEbhG3WIZIMAbyLwI8_ZFqPn5awy01gLYpcl2a2GK9bWoFtjX9CNZLRecQJJUFLku6mUIPHcTkviQRC6vxKtKmwxvoADi5rgzsCkCtT0DOEJ4MgC_cAb4Umblb5lSDvQ/s1200/main-image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0BvpuCLYkLvVKdClAsqMWnKRx6_02iPjl78-RRrpmKO9U31hmWXVrNzf1iXlZEbhG3WIZIMAbyLwI8_ZFqPn5awy01gLYpcl2a2GK9bWoFtjX9CNZLRecQJJUFLku6mUIPHcTkviQRC6vxKtKmwxvoADi5rgzsCkCtT0DOEJ4MgC_cAb4Umblb5lSDvQ/w400-h300/main-image.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A few examples of Austin’s silversmith work still survive and are in the custody of the </span><a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/8359" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.</span></a></p>Alexander R. Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08258218418111297609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978067274099413141.post-91277931558596822162024-02-19T16:30:00.038-05:002024-02-19T16:36:24.245-05:00"Keeping a Very Bad House" - A Snapshot of 18th and Early 19th Century Prostitution in Massachusetts Seaports<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">From time to time, the Nerds receive requests to discuss prostitution and its connection to Colonial and Federalist-era Massachusetts seaports. While some research has been conducted on the topic, surprisingly, there isn’t as much as expected when it comes to prostitution in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.<br /><br />Most available research focuses on activities in London, Philadelphia, and New York-based brothels. However, some surviving documentation, particularly newspaper accounts and petitions to local selectmen, suggests the activities of Massachusetts prostitutes mirrored their counterparts.<br /><br />Prostitution was a common part of life in 18th and 19th-century New England seaports, and Boston, Salem, Portsmouth (NH), and Newburyport were no exception.<br /><br />For some, prostitution was treated as a transitional meant to support themselves during difficult economic times in their lives. Some eventually married or found another occupation. For many others, theft rather than sex was the main object of their trade.<br /><br />Many Massachusetts prostitutes, especially those who operated from the streets, picked the pockets of the men they solicited. Prostitutes kept an eye out for inebriated customers stumbling out of taverns, whom they could easily rob. They usually plied their trade in pairs, partly for the company and for mutual protection and partly so they could overpower and rob men.<br /><br />18th and 19th Century prostitutes faced many dangers attached to their professions. Pregnancy and contracting venereal disease were common risks. Similarly, their health and personal grooming were often failing. According to the English reformer Francis Place, he observed many English prostitutes in the 1780s who "had ragged dirty shoes and stockings and some no stockings at all…many of that time wore no stays, their gowns were low round the neck and open in front. Those who wore handkerchiefs had them always open in front to expose their breasts….and the breasts of many hung down in a most disgusting manner, their hair among the generality was straight and hung in rats tails over their eyes and was filled with lice.”</span><span id="docs-internal-guid-6eb20a0c-7fff-e96f-2420-d75b2d2fda72"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p></span><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkeo2c6ZZXtHzdUgI0Se4W7JlkNLZIlhT1BxFQOLreClmHV3ca4MehjhoDePJs0gybsv8Q_-YQ5nN-4iE72x4r09e5b_iKwH9GH_prQNV83YEkCT2CHxBSNZwY5y-Jpp3r-1p_ncSvSGUJEmR7SfHAAm9Zo8dPBEbzufesLEcB1jAPPZZcuEdQdNEeg_Y/s1042/sailor's%20pleasure.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1042" data-original-width="750" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkeo2c6ZZXtHzdUgI0Se4W7JlkNLZIlhT1BxFQOLreClmHV3ca4MehjhoDePJs0gybsv8Q_-YQ5nN-4iE72x4r09e5b_iKwH9GH_prQNV83YEkCT2CHxBSNZwY5y-Jpp3r-1p_ncSvSGUJEmR7SfHAAm9Zo8dPBEbzufesLEcB1jAPPZZcuEdQdNEeg_Y/w288-h400/sailor's%20pleasure.jpg" width="288" /></span></a></div></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Worse, there was the risk of being robbed, assaulted, kidnapped, raped or even killed. Mr. Place described many of the prostitutes he encountered as being drunk and with black eyes, as they fought regularly with each other and unknown men who defended themselves during attempted robberies. They were also regularly raped and beaten by clients.<br /><br />For this reason, many girls would choose to work in a bawdy house or brothel, which an older prostitute typically ran. Some 18th- and 19th-Century New England brothels were also organized by tavern or coffee house owners. <br /><br />In a basic sense, brothels were inhabited by from two to possibly twenty prostitutes whom the older prostitute managed in a communal or family-type arrangement. The advantages of working from a brothel were that prostitutes had stable shelter, food, the support of the other prostitutes, and security, often in the form of a man employed by the bawd to control both unruly clients and disobedient women.<br /><br />Still, it also had its disadvantages, the most obvious one being that the bawd rather than the prostitute took most of the money the client paid.<br /><br />Bawd prostitutes often operated in small groups to lure their customers into the establishment. Similar to their street counterparts, once inside, prostitutes would ply their intended victims with alcohol and then rob them of money and personal valuables. Thus, bawds earned most of their money not from the sexual activities of the women working there but by fencing their stolen goods. <br /><br />Colonial bawdy houses came in many different types, from the cheap ones in poorer areas of seaport towns, where the prostitutes were often diseased and dirty, to the more exclusive brothels in the richer parts of the community. </span><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7kPyN_8nCV5UaKw5ZyskHkYQUvY5yh79mT02gpnmPwWMabes1pqUIavYs6iOSEq9om1Mpgeq7YSpPppbfg5a151sFjwrQPn_ZlhddU_Qz7m43kIubJhLfUVONLWLXhfoCKoaWheanIa0lFpJUMW8jDW-XyJYXtTHT1KwJiS1cI9l8PpT5AoOMreQRHuE/s1157/sailors%20glee.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1157" data-original-width="858" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7kPyN_8nCV5UaKw5ZyskHkYQUvY5yh79mT02gpnmPwWMabes1pqUIavYs6iOSEq9om1Mpgeq7YSpPppbfg5a151sFjwrQPn_ZlhddU_Qz7m43kIubJhLfUVONLWLXhfoCKoaWheanIa0lFpJUMW8jDW-XyJYXtTHT1KwJiS1cI9l8PpT5AoOMreQRHuE/w296-h400/sailors%20glee.jpg" width="296" /></span></a></div></span><div><br /></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Blind eyes were often turned away from the “higher-end” bawds. As for the poorer brothels, local authorities often kept a close watch on these because these houses were known as places where criminals would congregate or were locations of considerable disorder. <br /><br />An early 19th-century description of a Boston North End bawd house noted, “The whole street is in a blaze of light from their windows. To put them down, without a military force seems impossible. A man’s life would not be safe who should attempt it. The company consists of highbinders, jail-birds, known thieves, and miscreants, with women of the worst description. Murders, it is well known, have been committed there, and more have been suspected.”<br /><br />In 1753, Bostonian Hannah Dilley was arrested for running a bawd with her husband. She pled guilty to permitting men “to resort to her husband’s house, and carnally to lie with whores.” She was sentenced to stand on a stool “at least five feet in height” outside the courthouse and holding a sign detailing her crime.<br /><br />Another example was found in Newburyport. On the eve of the American Revolution, the seaport community had several bawds in full operation. On August 1, 1774, residents submitted a petition for the town to take action against the “widow Mace,”her two daughters and “Moses Davis his wife and two daughters” for “keeping a continual disturbance in the neighborhood where they live, & keeping a very bad House, in the Night Season & that the house is to much out of repair that the Neighborhood is in danger of being set on Fier by the said house if is not put in Better Repair therefore we the subscribers Desire you take the matter in to your Consideration & act in the affair as the Law Directs.”<br /><br />It should be noted “Keeping a very bad house in the Night Season” was a period colloquialism referring to a bawd or brothel. <br /><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCyXoyOG1kTHKlvSH7kBuTHPIT_VZhUWjlKKIfbyZz9UzKgWc1aoyG8LjHkUCI6s3_uIfxaxZhIJg7z_FNHXKViJfbMETEdAivQMRKCB2rM9ipHb7WC3XvbTRfvWgSB4O2F76RONj2BfEWKhSlhrLKCior4FYLnyUeZ8BXjLv0kNkGcCbvVNI-vEFpE0A/s752/British%20Plenty.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="752" data-original-width="564" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCyXoyOG1kTHKlvSH7kBuTHPIT_VZhUWjlKKIfbyZz9UzKgWc1aoyG8LjHkUCI6s3_uIfxaxZhIJg7z_FNHXKViJfbMETEdAivQMRKCB2rM9ipHb7WC3XvbTRfvWgSB4O2F76RONj2BfEWKhSlhrLKCior4FYLnyUeZ8BXjLv0kNkGcCbvVNI-vEFpE0A/w300-h400/British%20Plenty.png" width="300" /></span></a></div><div><br /></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Victims of bawd-related thefts occasionally attacked bawdy houses in retaliation. In 1734 and 1737, Boston residents rioted and destroyed a pair of bawd houses that had been a continuous source of aggravation and disruption for the neighborhood.<br /><br />Prostitution continued to thrive in Massachusetts seaports after the Revolution.<br /><br />By the 1790s, the presence of prostitutes increased as Massachusetts seaports economically prospered. As a young child, Newburyport’s Sarah Smith Emery recalled how militia musters in the 1790s not only attracted local militia units but "drew a motley crowd, vendors of all sorts of wares, mountebanks and lewd women; a promiscuous assemblage, bent upon pleasure."<br /><br />A warning in the August 16, 1799 edition of the “Newburyport Herald And Country Gazette” warned sailors and young, impressionable men to avoid “lewd women” and the consequences of “lying ingloriously in the lap of a Harlot.” An anonymous letter that appeared in the November 10, 1801 edition of the same newspaper openly complained about the many “lewd women” of the community. It warned that unless they became “respectable,” they must “yield to that infamy which well regulated societies universally throw upon impure females.” <br /><br />By 1802, many seaport communities pressured the Massachusetts Legislature to pass laws to punish “the rogues … and lewd persons” that frequented their communities.</span><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih1iyJ7QyINysxCN7f-7Bphb_eYIdyTD1h8151BYbyE3vimLXpGsl5wqZLSgFRtS73LgpN7RAM9kDG_jA1iWEWR-3WOwe4N2Wa1SeeS0IkUrWjVBYTIgvbO8D0YcVGyiK3P3SBlzyxvyiVFn3UNNtzbTqFcHgBz-h7_4PTWcPsFJ-Ornn0ilz4eMGmGko/s442/Newburyport%20article.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="178" data-original-width="442" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih1iyJ7QyINysxCN7f-7Bphb_eYIdyTD1h8151BYbyE3vimLXpGsl5wqZLSgFRtS73LgpN7RAM9kDG_jA1iWEWR-3WOwe4N2Wa1SeeS0IkUrWjVBYTIgvbO8D0YcVGyiK3P3SBlzyxvyiVFn3UNNtzbTqFcHgBz-h7_4PTWcPsFJ-Ornn0ilz4eMGmGko/w400-h161/Newburyport%20article.png" width="400" /></span></a></div></span><div><br /></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Reform efforts were undertaken in the 1820s through the American Civil War to curb the presence of prostitution in Massachusetts communities. Unfortunately, the efforts failed, and the “oldest profession” continued to thrive in Massachusetts seaports well into the 20th Century.<br /><br />New Bedford’s Reverend Francis Wayland, recognized that not just sailors, but whalemen spent time with prostitutes. In the 1830s, he lamented, “these heroes of a three year campaign…come home to fall into the hands of harpies, to be stripped in grog shops…they land, and are adrift.”</span><span><br /></span>Alexander R. Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08258218418111297609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978067274099413141.post-45051907019150374102024-02-13T10:30:00.033-05:002024-02-13T11:31:47.610-05:00"A Pair of Drums for the Use of the Military Company in Towne" - The Second Drummer of Captain John Parker's Lexington Company<p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Over the past few months, the Nerds have been fielding more questions about Captain John Parker’s Lexington Company and the men who engaged the British on April 19, 1775. </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-e3c5b4d1-7fff-6ee1-4219-098f8f0cde5b"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A growing topic of curiosity has been whether the militia unit had not one but two drummers.</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">As a preliminary matter, military drummers were "field musicians" who played a vital role in their company's tactical employment and camp life. They were also used as signal instruments for the infantry, relaying the commander's orders to soldiers. Many Massachusetts minute and militia companies had at least one drummer within their ranks on the eve of the American Revolution.</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Lexington was no different. </span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">On the eve of the American Revolution, the town’s militia company included a drummer named Willaim Diamond. According to research by Steve Cole of the Lexington Minute Men, the musician initially worked in a Cambridge tavern at an early age. According to local tradition, a British soldier from Boston took an interest in the boy and allegedly taught him to play the drum. Lexington's Abijah Fessenden took the teenage Diamond in as a wheelwright apprentice. In the hours before the Battle of Lexington, the nineteen-year-old Diamond carried out Parker’s command to beat a call to arms and summon the Lexington militiamen to assemble on the village common.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPBRX2HjgtGHkb5JBA2AQ2c_jpYKWFdxcG9UqRWFX_EqfbG6P7ZbaOusU_lQExPNccJodgcv3KZOqy4dMM02NSKVJoEiQNjrIxuYP_HQNMFDKQyjNUftsL7NLQPGlLoYaxvJVYiQkeHQpGdvEtTaxPbgd7GvLwtRROhA7jThilLj3z6y0Hd99V2fJqWm0/s913/drummer.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="913" data-original-width="514" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPBRX2HjgtGHkb5JBA2AQ2c_jpYKWFdxcG9UqRWFX_EqfbG6P7ZbaOusU_lQExPNccJodgcv3KZOqy4dMM02NSKVJoEiQNjrIxuYP_HQNMFDKQyjNUftsL7NLQPGlLoYaxvJVYiQkeHQpGdvEtTaxPbgd7GvLwtRROhA7jThilLj3z6y0Hd99V2fJqWm0/w225-h400/drummer.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In the aftermath of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, Diamond enlisted as a drummer in Captain John Woods’ Company, Gerrish’s 25th Massachusetts Regiment of the Massachusetts Grand Army. He would serve with Baldwin’s 26th Continental Regiment during the New York and New Jersey Campaigns of 1776. He returned to active military service as part of various militia regiments in 1778, 1780, and 1781. Following the war, Diamond remained in Lexington until approximately 1795, when he relocated to Peterborough, New Hampshire.</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Understandably, Diamond is one of the more easily recognized 1775 drummers and, until approximately fifteen years ago, was believed to be the Lexington Company’s only drummer. However, recent research revealed that Captain John Parker’s Company most likely had a second drummer.</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The presence of a second Lexington drummer is within the realm of possibility, as the town actively encouraged two drummers for its overly large militia company. As early as September 26, 1774, Lexington voted to form committees whose responsibilities included “ to provide a pair of drums for the use of the military company in town.” On November 10, 1774, Lexington reiterated its desire to acquire a pair of military drums when it resolved, “Votede. That the Towne provide a pair of Drums for the use of the Military Company in Towne.” </span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In early March 1775, Lexington purchased and took custody of two drums. On March 14th, the pair were sent to Parker, who signed a document acknowledging receipt.</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A continuing theory is that Levi Harrington or Samuel Bowman was Parker’s Company's second drummer at the Battle of Lexington. On April 25, 1775, Harrington signed a deposition stating he and Levi Mead were present at the battle but not part of Parker’s Company. “On the morning of the Nineteenth of April, being on Lexington Common as spectators, we saw a Large body of Regular Troops marching up towards the Lexington Company.” The first time Harrington was listed as a drummer was as part of a March 4, 1776 muster roll where a company of Lexington men were dispatched to Dorchester to support the Siege of Boston.</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Likewise, there is no evidence of Samuel Bowman ever serving as a company drummer either. In fact, according to research conducted by Historian William Poole, Bowman moved away from Lexington in the early 1770s.</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">So, who was this mysterious second drummer? Based on limited evidence, the Nerds initially believed it was Lexington teenager James Brown. However, we're not entirely convinced he's our guy.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcb5ohOv8OSLyLT6E7fVRCyPfGiq_94b-O2qiCmstVroSV8kIa79Zn8zZwezw1Qe6NMW7BD8zG7TDpt7Hz5N7OPCTcKn-YnGXIHPbbsgI3IqdP7DJ-4-4VJRxK4cpl_gSMLm2i-jhFyBPYrMT7bpDjJhLxleNIjp2e2ejAI3ygJ_weEYNfbsbOT3ZwUP4/s2048/Diamond.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1367" data-original-width="2048" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcb5ohOv8OSLyLT6E7fVRCyPfGiq_94b-O2qiCmstVroSV8kIa79Zn8zZwezw1Qe6NMW7BD8zG7TDpt7Hz5N7OPCTcKn-YnGXIHPbbsgI3IqdP7DJ-4-4VJRxK4cpl_gSMLm2i-jhFyBPYrMT7bpDjJhLxleNIjp2e2ejAI3ygJ_weEYNfbsbOT3ZwUP4/w400-h268/Diamond.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p>J<span style="font-family: arial;">ames’ parents were Benjamin Brown and Sarah Reed. He was the seventh of eleven children and resided between modern-day Marrett and Maple Avenues in Lexington. </span></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sadly, James’ mother died four months before the Battle of Lexington. </span></span><div><span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial;">On April 19, 1775, James Brown was only sixteen years of age. Present with him on the Lexington Common were his brother, Solomon, and his first cousins, John Brown and Sergeant Francis Brown. John was killed in the subsequent skirmish. In the aftermath of the battle, James was one of fourteen Lexington militiamen who signed a joint deposition describing the one-sided fight.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“We (fourteen names) of Lexington, in the County of Middlesex, and colony of Massachusetts -Bay, in New England, and all of lawful age, do testify and say, that on the morning of the nineteenth of April instant, about one or two o’clock, being informed that a number of Regular Officers had been riding up and down the road, the evening and night preceding, and that some of the inhabitants as they were passing had been insulted by the officers, and stopped by them;and being also informed that the Regular Troops were on their march from Boston, in order as it was said, to take the Colony Stores then deposited at Concord, we met on the parade of our Company in this Town; and after the Company had collected we were ordered by Captain John Parker, who commanded us, to disperse for the present, and to be ready to attend to the beat of the drum: and accordingly the company went into houses near the place of parade. We further testify and say, that about five oclock in the morning, we attended the beat of the drum, and were formed on the parade. We were faced toward the Regulars, then marching up to us, and some of our Company were coming to the parade with their backs toward the Troops,and others on the parade began to disperse when the Regulars fired on the Company before a gun was fired by any of our Company on them; they killed eight of our Company, and wounded several, and continued their fire until we had all made our escape.”</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Brown’s possible identity as the unknown second drummer is based on his service record after the Battle of Lexington. </span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A few weeks after the engagement, the teenager enlisted in Captain John Woods’ Company, Gerrish’s 25th Massachusetts Regiment of the Massachusetts Grand Army. He is listed on a surviving muster roll as a “drummer.” Two months later, a subsequent muster roll identifies Brown as a “Drummer, Capt. John Wood’s (5th) co., Col. Baldwin’s regt.” Two more documents from the Fall of 1775 also identify Brown as a “drummer.”</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A review of the service records of other Lexington militiamen from the 1774 - 1775 period does not reveal any other drummers except for William Diamond. It also appears Brown did not serve in any other military capacity for the duration of the war. As a result, he was replaced by Levi Harrington as a company drummer in 1776. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaeKHBUjzpGdSCxAu1ZQg0Hv0-bGZZJLIqgE7nDl2KaFf7KjuHhz2jI9_jgUGGNQCKMS0wR9eBIy5R8PcwuaGIh3eDiXiREkYu30in7qqVbQBCIvOwWLA2My-HixyI7lOegYcfpoyJxt16ZMSTr8sRNvOyEuhvNwXrjvDGk0SSlfpX5eqSDxxHCanrIdk/s760/William%20Diamond%20Drum.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><i><img border="0" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="486" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaeKHBUjzpGdSCxAu1ZQg0Hv0-bGZZJLIqgE7nDl2KaFf7KjuHhz2jI9_jgUGGNQCKMS0wR9eBIy5R8PcwuaGIh3eDiXiREkYu30in7qqVbQBCIvOwWLA2My-HixyI7lOegYcfpoyJxt16ZMSTr8sRNvOyEuhvNwXrjvDGk0SSlfpX5eqSDxxHCanrIdk/w256-h400/William%20Diamond%20Drum.jpg" width="256" /></i></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>William Diamond's Drum, Currently in the Possession of the Lexington Historical Society</i></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The problem with this assumption is a May 1775 statement by Brown where he describes his role as a combatant, not a drummer at the battle. As Historian Miike DaRu noted in "An Account of the Commencement of Hostilities between Great Britain and America, in the Province of Massachusetts-Bay.</span></span> By the Reverend William Gordon of Roxbury, in a letter to a Gentleman in England, dated May 17, 1775", Gordon asserts, “James Brown, one of the Lexington Militia, informed me, that he was upon the common; that two pistols were fired from the party of soldiers towards the Militia-men as they were getting over the wall to be out of the way, and that immediately upon it the soldiers began to fire their guns; that being got over the wall, and seeing the soldiers fire pretty freely, he fired upon them, and some others did the same.<span style="font-size: 16px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">”</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 16px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 16px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Unfortunately, while the Nerds are firmly convinced a second drummer was present, we may never know who it is.</span></span></p><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Regardless, where would William Diamond and other musicians have been located as the British column approached? </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">When Captain Parker’s Company initially formed on the town common the morning of April 19, 1775, they were in some semblance of a military parade formation. In an official report to London, General Thomas Gage noted, “On these companies' arrival at Lexington, I understand, from the report of Major Pitcairn, who was with them, and from many officers, that they found on a green close to the road a body of the country people drawn up in military order, with arms and accouterment, and, as appeared after, loaded.” Ensign Jeremy Lister recalled, “It was at Lexington when we saw one of their Comps drawn up in regular order.” Finally, Ensign Henry De Berniere of the 10th Foot described the Lexington men drawn up in two “divisions,” with a company-wide space between the two.</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">According to the 1775 Boston edition of the Crown Manual, the drill manual most likely utilized by the Lexington Company, drummers and fifers were to be formed “on the right of [the] company” during a parade formation. Thus, William Diamond, John Brown, and Fifer Jonathan Harrington would have been in single rank on the extreme right of Captain Parker’s Company, next to a company sergeant and “dressing with the front rank.” Finally, given the instruction outlined in the Crown Manual, the likely order from left to right would have been drummer - drummer - fifer.</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Diamond’s drum still exists and is in the custody of the Lexington Historical Society. Brown’s drum's fate is unknown. The Lexington Historical Society has a fragment adorned with French roosters and purported to be from a drum. The Nerds believe this fragment may be part of the drum carried by Brown and Harrington.</span></p></span></div>Alexander R. Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08258218418111297609noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978067274099413141.post-4596147536686600902024-02-05T20:43:00.029-05:002024-02-05T20:48:28.043-05:00"Destroying the Slave Trade, Would Stop the Wheels of New England Industry" - Newburyport and the Institution of Slavery<p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Last month, the Nerds came across a blog posting and a related series of social media postings discussing Newburyport's “Golden Age” from the eve of the American Revolution through the early 1800s. The blog post was exceptionally well-written and focused on many of Newburyport’s prominent families and the seaport town's economic and cultural accomplishments.</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-df40bda5-7fff-3f56-66b8-52f51288df89"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">While the blog post generally touched upon slavery in 18th-century Newburyport, it did not address the question of to what extent the seaport community benefitted from the institution. As a result, the Nerds decided to take a deep dive and share some of the research findings we’ve come across on the topic.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Historian </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Susan Harvey noted in her 2011 master’s thesis, </span><a href="https://www.academia.edu/6190048/Susan_M_Harvey_The_Slave_Trade_and_Massachusetts" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Slavery in Massachusetts: A Descendent of Early Settlers Investigates the Connections in Newburyport, Massachusetts</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">,</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> “[M]any individuals and families in Newburyport and Newbury did profit directly and indirectly from the transatlantic slave trade, some handsomely and some in small ways, but profit they did. Only the ports in Rhode Island out-built Newbury in terms of the number of ships constructed for the slave trade. The currency used to purchase the slaves was rum, made in more distilleries in Newburyport than in any other town in Massachusetts except Boston. Even those who died with little wealth but had sugar bowls and silver sugar tongs among their last possessions benefited from the labor of the enslaved by using the sugar they harvested.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Massachusetts Bay Colony was the first American colony to legalize slavery in 1641, and enslaved peoples were still considered property at the outbreak of the American Revolution. Newbury and Newburyport were no exception. In 1754, Newbury, including the “Waterside District” (which would later become Newburyport), could account for fifty slaves, of whom sixteen were female and thirty-four male. Only two other Essex County towns, Salem and Gloucester, had more slaves.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7KrY_EbwrhW56k4cxGwvI645S1Bu2TW8rirHvxT8EPzfXWJm0Z3SU_2HNq1dSk1vbytwq6_M5JaJCZNSoJeg11-kPL2v_BJjzG8is3Fum7wooOcJNA-cClYIoZ-fGfsTl9vv_BJ3iLVj4ylU1u5psdU2pfJK3KXhFLkjUq07aDQj9I26mpHKehq-o080/s3648/slave%20shakles.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7KrY_EbwrhW56k4cxGwvI645S1Bu2TW8rirHvxT8EPzfXWJm0Z3SU_2HNq1dSk1vbytwq6_M5JaJCZNSoJeg11-kPL2v_BJjzG8is3Fum7wooOcJNA-cClYIoZ-fGfsTl9vv_BJ3iLVj4ylU1u5psdU2pfJK3KXhFLkjUq07aDQj9I26mpHKehq-o080/w400-h300/slave%20shakles.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>18th Century Slave Shackles, International Slavery Museum, London, England</i></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p>18</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: 0.6em; vertical-align: super;">th</span></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Century Massachusetts slave owners, particularly those in Middlesex and Essex Counties, purchased their slaves one of two ways. The first involved traveling to Boston, Salem, or Newburyport to purchase imported slaves from the West Indies or “domestic” slaves. For example, on February 16, 1774, the Newburyport newspaper, the Essex Journal, and Merrimack Packet published an advertisement for the sale of a “Healthy Negro girl, about twenty-three years old, born in this country - likewise a serviceable mare.”</span></span><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-family: arial; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Massachusetts enslaved peoples were often exchanged as gifts or bequeathed as part of a deceased’s estate. Harvey’s thesis paper is replete with Newburyport-specific examples of enslaved peoples being gifted as part of a decedent’s estate. </span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In many Newburyport households that owned enslaved peoples, male slaves worked side by side with their masters as coopers, blacksmiths, shoemakers, and wheelwrights. In other homes, they ran errands, functioned as valets, and performed heavy work for their masters. Some Newburyport slaves worked in the community’s shipyards along the Merrimack River. </span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Newburyport female slaves were required to carry out the various household tasks their mistresses demanded, most notably laundry. Female slaves were also set to scrub floors and walls, soap-making, garden work, and fieldwork.</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">However, the mere presence of enslaved peoples in Newburyport did not lead to the town’s economic success. Instead, the town created its wealth by supporting the institution of slavery itself through shipbuilding and rum making.</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In the 18th century, shipbuilding was Newburyport’s economic staple. By 1717, Newbury-built ships accounted for almost 9 percent of all Massachusetts-built ships. In 1727, there were nearly thirty shipyards along the Merrimack River, with most centered in the Waterside District (Newburyport). By the middle of the 18th Century, Newbury shipyards were launching approximately fifty ships a decade or five ships per year. By the French and Indian War, The Royal Navy was contracting with Newbury shipyards to construct military vessels to help combat the French Navy.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimhNTfQ4PZTcV8rOP7oR-l6xFCuRMi8e1j34Q-ZO4fAlbJu_eoIumbIanlFr_sL6BFtLC4p-4LAC5yiVBK8nx-8T3zwoxKUJq1_zWz1OfS2oyyGI66ArbLPxynAEy_nrGPNEp6IBmDOhL-yatq0iWUXbAp7SmWowxQUK2W4k8kiwplRCsMBEEDVi3eTHY/s650/ad%201.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="650" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimhNTfQ4PZTcV8rOP7oR-l6xFCuRMi8e1j34Q-ZO4fAlbJu_eoIumbIanlFr_sL6BFtLC4p-4LAC5yiVBK8nx-8T3zwoxKUJq1_zWz1OfS2oyyGI66ArbLPxynAEy_nrGPNEp6IBmDOhL-yatq0iWUXbAp7SmWowxQUK2W4k8kiwplRCsMBEEDVi3eTHY/w400-h195/ad%201.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Essex Journal and Merrimack Packet, February 16, 1774</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">When a ship was contracted to be built, the ship owner and merchants (often the same) sought investors to help finance the venture. While they understandably secured financing from the Newbury and </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Newburyport elite also accepted smaller investment funds from the town's middle- and lower-class residents. As a result, it was not uncommon for shopkeepers, ministers, doctors, lawyers, and yeomen to have a financial interest in constructing a ship, regardless of its purpose. </span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">For example, Newbury farmer Jonathan Woodman owned “one Eight part of the Sloop Eagle, …one quarter part of the Sloop Speedwell,…(and) one eight part of the Sloop Hannah” at the time of his death. When Deacon Joshua Beck died in 1747, his probate inventory included “a sixteenth part of a Sloop about Eighty Tuns.” </span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Economic opportunity also existed for those who could not invest in ship construction. </span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Many Newbury and Newburyport shipyards would employ local artisans and skilled tradesmen. According to Joseph Goldenberg’s </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Shipbuilding in Colonial America, </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It would not be uncommon to see in a Newburyport shipyard, “Joiners smoothed the outside planking, built rails and did interior cabin work. Caulkers filled seams with oakum to make the ship watertight. With iron more plentiful in the colonies than in England, colonial builders used more iron on masts, blocks, and deckware than British shipwrights did; . . . Responsible for all the iron work on the vessel, smiths also had the task of forging anchors. A mason laid bricks to support the galley, a tinman lined the scuppers, and a glazier installed glass ports. Mast-makers, sailmakers, blockmakers, and ropemakers supplied their respective products. Other tradesmen included painters, riggers, boatmakers, coopers, tanners, and carvers. Before sailing, the ship required the services of instrument makers, chairmakers and upholsterers to complete the officers’ quarters, and brewers, bakers, and butchers to supply provisions.”</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The type of ships built in Newburyport and Newbury shipyards included barks, sloops, snows, schooners, and brigantines. These ships served various purposes, including serving as fishing vessels, shipping mercantile goods, and, sadly, transporting enslaved peoples. </span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">According to Harvey’s thesis, between 1734 and 1800, Newburyport and Newbury shipyards constructed forty-five ships that were used explicitly for the slave trade. If we expand the scope to include neighboring communities along the Merrimack River, 9 additional slave ships were constructed in Amesbury and Salisbury shipyards, brining the total to fifty-four slave ships constructed along the Merrimack River.</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Despite the onset of the American Revolution, five Newburyport registered ships departed from the port between 1775 and 1777 to help transport enslaved peoples across the Atlantic to the West Indies. Even after slavery was abolished in Massachusetts in 1783, Newburyport continued to profit from the construction of these ships. According to one late 18th-century account, Newburyport and other American and English seaport communities experienced an economic boom between 1797 and 1806 due to increased export and transport of enslaved people. </span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Construction of Newburyport slave ships seemed to halt by 1810, but two more vessels, the </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Ardennes</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> and the </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Marquitta</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> were built in the town on the eve of the American Civil War. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Harvey’s research findings suggest that the forty-seven Newburyport-built ships were responsible for the transport of 22,000 enslaved peoples to the New World. Of those, 3582 died while crossing the Atlantic.</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Shipbuilding was not Newburyport’s only means of supporting the institution of slavery; rum production was a close second. Rum's origin can be traced back to the 17th-century sugar plantations where it was determined that molasses, a byproduct of the sugar refining process, could be fermented into alcohol. By the early 18th century, rum was one of New England’s primary exports, often called “the currency of the seas.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx-oUYxdX6PlswOjFYxMohrqmSyFXisFmAwij77UvmAgsrUa20PFNPXIucPNOTk5lJ2NCbhuBTLLRQtwP3Vq2jpeeQM49P9reEzxbVY_7e6XDXVUhWGvFSl4w5iXGMuNR99zC1qF-CYP9MSFPZ0viLiXaw91Cyz1PTqgG7IvNhcDWtxzUBjaSmlU6jJXY/s1500/rum%20barrels.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1038" data-original-width="1500" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx-oUYxdX6PlswOjFYxMohrqmSyFXisFmAwij77UvmAgsrUa20PFNPXIucPNOTk5lJ2NCbhuBTLLRQtwP3Vq2jpeeQM49P9reEzxbVY_7e6XDXVUhWGvFSl4w5iXGMuNR99zC1qF-CYP9MSFPZ0viLiXaw91Cyz1PTqgG7IvNhcDWtxzUBjaSmlU6jJXY/w400-h276/rum%20barrels.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p>By 1774, Massachusetts Bay Colony boasted 51 rum distilleries, ten of which were located in Newburyport. </span><span style="font-size: 16px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">During the Revolutionary Era, Massachusetts rum distilleries produced over two million gallons worth of rum per year, of which almost half was exported overseas. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The only town with more rum distilleries operating at this time was Boston, with thirty-six. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial;">By 1790, the number of rum distilleries in Newburyport had exploded to over 50; collectively, Massachusetts distilleries increased their production to over six million gallons per year. </span></span></div><div><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And that is where Newburyport’s connection to the institution of slavery was further solidified. </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A Newburyport ship filled with rum would sail to the coast of Africa, where its cargo of rum was traded for captured Africans. Sometimes the captives were alone; other times, they were entire families. From Africa, the ships usually went to the West Indies or South America, where they sold most of the captive Africans into slavery and took on new cargoes of sugar and molasses. The sugar, molasses, and remaining captives were brought back to Newburyport, where the sugar and molasses were used to make rum, and any remaining captives were sold into slavery. The rum manufactured in Newburyport was then sent to Africa to begin the cycle again.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Slavery in the West Indies was critical to the success of the New England economy. </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=N3QECwAAQBAJ&rdid=book-N3QECwAAQBAJ&rdot=1&source=gbs_vpt_read&pcampaignid=books_booksearch_viewport&pli=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Professor Lorenzo Greene</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> noted, “The</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> effects of this slave trade were manifold. On the eve of the American Revolution, it formed the very basis of the economic life of New England; about it revolved, and on it depended most of her industries. The vast sugar, molasses, rum trade, shipbuilding, distilleries, many fisheries, the employment of artisans and seamen, and even agriculture depended on the slave traffic.”</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The African slaves transported to the West Indies by Newburyport vessels were doomed from the start. According to Hayes, the life span of a male slave working cane might reach seventeen years, but it averaged about seven years. Because the turnover of workers was so great, as was the increase in planting sugarcane, more and more Africans were transported to the West Indies each year as a part of the growing Triangle Trade. </span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In 1764, England passed the Sugar Act. This economic reform law directly threatened Massachusetts’ rum and slave trades. In response to Parliament’s action, a coalition of merchants, including many from Newburyport, drafted a letter of opposition. Entitled “A Statement of the Massachusetts Trade and Fisheries,” they argued “that any duty imposed upon these articles would ruin the fisheries, cause the destruction of the rum distilleries, and destroy the slave trade. Destruction of the Negro commerce would throw 5,000 seamen out of employment and would cause almost 700 ships to rot in idleness at their wharves. It would affect those immediately engaged in these industries, and its blighting effects would topple the dependent economic structure. Coopers, tanners, barrel makers, and even farmers would be reduced to poverty and misery if the Act were enforced. In short, the Sugar Act, by destroying the slave trade, would stop the wheels of New England industry.”</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In short, Newburyport needed the slave trade to remain economically successful.</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">To read </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Susan Harvey's master’s thesis, which formed the basis for this blog post, please click on this link: </span><a href="https://www.academia.edu/6190048/Susan_M_Harvey_The_Slave_Trade_and_Massachusetts" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Slavery in Massachusetts: A Descendent of Early Settlers Investigates the Connections in Newburyport, Massachusetts</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">.</span></i></span></div>Alexander R. Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08258218418111297609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978067274099413141.post-79218782441890215712024-01-31T21:32:00.004-05:002024-01-31T21:32:32.303-05:00"Tyed Upon the Knapsack" - How Did Massachusetts Militia and Minute Men Carry Hatchets at the Battles of Lexington and Concord?<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Last week, the Nerds were asked to return to the topic of hatchets and their use by militia and minute men. Specifically, we were recently asked to share our opinion on how militiamen carried hatchets when they mobilized in response to the British expedition to Concord.<br /><br />As a preliminary matter, we posted our updated findings on the use of hatchets <a href="https://historicalnerdery01.blogspot.com/2022/05/receivd-30-bullets-3-flints-and-hatchet.html">here</a>. <br /><br />Hatchets served a dual purpose of being a camp item and a weapon. With that said, from limited town resolutions, colonial militia laws, and period publications we reviewed, it appears hatchets were an edged weapon of “last resort” to be carried when a militia man could not acquire a bayonet or sword.<br /><br />Of course, there is evidence Massachusetts militia and minute companies utilized hatchets as sidearms on the eve of the American Revolution. Following a company inspection on March 22, 1775, Sudbury militia captain Aaron Haynes reported, “To the gentlmen field officers of This Rijament these are in complyance to advise of Congress and your request a Return of the Numbr and aquiptnets of the Company of militia under my Care viz. men = 60 – well Provided with fire arms, most of them have either Sword Bajonets or hatchets. about one third with Catridge Boxes. &c.” When the town of Westborough mobilized in response to news of the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775, it first issued hatchets to those minute men who did not have a bayonet or sword. <br /><br />The current confusion centers on how they were carried in the field. Understandably, many assert, perhaps correctly, that these weapons were carried in the same manner as swords and bayonets: suspended from some form of belting. The Nerds do not necessarily disagree. <br /><br />British light infantrymen followed this method. Historian Rory Nolan of the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/52lights/">52nd Regiment Light Company</a> shared documentation from the Public Record Office in London, England. </span><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">According to a “Report of a Committee of the Board of General Officers dated 4th March 1771, convened to consider the Cloathing & Accoutrements best adapted for the use of the Light Company belonging to each of the Marching Regiments of Foot on the British Establishment. It is agreed … That the accouterments be conformable to Col Howe’s pattern, with a small cartridge box to contain 9 rounds in one row, to be worn before with a belt of tanned leather round the waist – The Belt to be furnished with 2 frogs, one for the bayonet, the other for the hatchet occasionally, which at other times will be tyed upon the knapsack.”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_OIGr5sS98m68CItLSuGZZeN6uRhWSJsjlz9_HnTJrGst58rvom6zQXm3566imNaVgt7zTNgL4Wjisa9P-Z4cRlW9aK6ox4yDNCOmnURsdpu6MfwktLW1kwU_ZM40kZX9td8OmZhbTBX3T8jN8Qz1ADtPxzMXyQt_msDFWHn4b22Wbz0UPzqqojd3Dbw/s800/hatchet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="800" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_OIGr5sS98m68CItLSuGZZeN6uRhWSJsjlz9_HnTJrGst58rvom6zQXm3566imNaVgt7zTNgL4Wjisa9P-Z4cRlW9aK6ox4yDNCOmnURsdpu6MfwktLW1kwU_ZM40kZX9td8OmZhbTBX3T8jN8Qz1ADtPxzMXyQt_msDFWHn4b22Wbz0UPzqqojd3Dbw/w400-h261/hatchet.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">But what about Massachusetts forces in 1774 and 1775? Did they follow the same method employed by the British military?<br /><br />Unfortunately, no direct evidence exists for this practice on the American side. A review of town and legislative records from 1774 to 1776 reveals an ample supply of accounts where local Massachusetts men, many of them saddlers, were making “belting for bayonets” or “belting and scabbards for bayonets.” We have not encountered anyone making belting or frogs for “hatchets” or “tomahawks.”<br /><br />For example, three men were hired and paid to make belts and scabbards for bayonets in Bradford, Massachusetts. “Voted, To Phineas Carlton, for 22 Bayonets fitted with Scabbards and Belts, 8l. 5s. 0d. Voted, To Phineas Carlton, for Scowering the old Bayonets, and fitting with Belts, 4l. 4s. 0d. For 2 Scabbards and Belts, 0l. 3s. 0d. Wm. Greenough, for fitting one Bayonet and one belt, 0l. 2s. 8d.” None of the men were hired to make belting for hatchets.<br /><br />In October 1775, Dighton resident Jabez Pierce submitted claims for payment for “belts for bayonets” he had made before the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Absent is any request for payment for the production of belts or frogs for hatchets.<br /><br />Inspectional returns of Chelmsford’s militia and alarm lists also suggest hatchets were not hung from belting. According to the June 15, 1775 inspection, “The whole number of Equipments in the Training Band and Alarm List Present... 83 Good Fire Arms...31 Steel Ram-rods...58 worms...74 Priming — wire and Brushes...74 Belt and Scabboard Bayonets...3043 Bulletts...63 Cartridge-Boxes of 15 Rounds...83 Blanket...5339 Buck-Shott...72 Canteen.” All but 9 men had bayonets. Of those without them, there is no reference to carrying hatchets via belting.<br /><br />We can also look to the Israel Litchfield Diary for guidance, as that journal includes multiple references to equipment made on behalf of a minute-man company from Scituate, Massachusetts. <br /><br />For example, throughout February and March 1775, Litchfield recorded his role in producing leather equipment for his minute company. “11[Feb] In the forenoon I went over to ISI' Willcuts Shop and he & I made a Centre bitt to bore a Cartridge box. I Bored off one Box 14 I made me a Cartridge-box, I Covered it with a Coltskin it will Carry 19 Rounds. 25th I wrought with Cap' Sam’ Stockhridge a makeing cartridge boxes … I wrought with Cap’ Stockbridge a Stamping Covers for Catoos boxes Iray Bryand was at work Leathering them.”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUc2ZX-EMkK-CCKoE2IWu8kR1hZM2BJN8z7dptYBKWmudB3r_zud35q7E0rDa8rf4EyaQZrG-0PfT7eK_wuhYg-_Y-FjLq4g01hflfP11M5bqKYEmMaUraaEIqfGLfnYtSmDt7rRePRrCo3BZ_3L8F4DKiskobXmHhHlOkUtT8_C97QDxZxYUMdQnhFf8/s1456/Ben.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1456" data-original-width="843" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUc2ZX-EMkK-CCKoE2IWu8kR1hZM2BJN8z7dptYBKWmudB3r_zud35q7E0rDa8rf4EyaQZrG-0PfT7eK_wuhYg-_Y-FjLq4g01hflfP11M5bqKYEmMaUraaEIqfGLfnYtSmDt7rRePRrCo3BZ_3L8F4DKiskobXmHhHlOkUtT8_C97QDxZxYUMdQnhFf8/w231-h400/Ben.jpg" width="231" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Photo used with permission of RB Bartgis</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">On February 27th, he noted, “I bought me a Back Sword or Cutlefs [cutlass] it Coft me ten Shillings Lawfull money Cap' Stockbridge bought a hide and an half of Moose skin for Catoos box Straps it Cost him 16.10.0' old tennor.” <br /><br />On March 13th, Litchfield recorded that he “made my Sword Belt and Bayonet belt. In the afternoon, We went to training We met at Lieutenant Cushings.” <br /><br />Throughout his journal, Litchfield goes to great lengths to document the equipment made for himself or his minute company, including an effort to make matching leather caps. However, his journal is silent on making belts or frogs for hatchets.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br />So, how were militiamen carrying hatchets if they did not have belting and frogs available? <br /><br />The Nerds suspect they were likely either tying them to their packs or blankets or storing them inside packs. This would be consistent with the British recommendation that light infantrymen tie their hatchets “upon the knapsack.”<br /><br />Understandably, there is much work to be done on this topic. We’ll keep researching the matter, and if we find anything new, we’ll update this post.</span></div>Alexander R. Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08258218418111297609noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978067274099413141.post-85153832168592772322023-12-24T19:50:00.001-05:002023-12-24T21:43:32.028-05:00"A Witness of the First Revolutionary Conflict" - Lexington's Mary Munroe SandersonRecently, the Nerds were contacted by Ruth Hodges, one of the founding members of the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/lara18thc">Ladies Association of Revolutionary America</a> (LARA). LARA is a progressive, researched-based 18th-century living history group that encourages, supports, and promotes increased women’s voices and stories at historical sites and events. We’ll be honest - the Nerds are super fans of the organization and everything they do.<br /><br />Ruth brought a surviving mid-19th-century photograph of Mary Munroe Sanderson of Lexington to our attention. The picture was taken in 1852 when Mary was 103 years old. As far as the Nerds know, this is the only surviving image of a female participant of the Civilian Evacuation of April 19, 1775, and eyewitness to the day's horrors.<br /><br />Mary Munroe Sanderson was born to William and Rebecca Munroe in Lexington on October 10, 1748. Genealogical research suggests she was unrelated to the Munroe clan that owned Munroe Tavern. Instead, she belonged to a family far lower on the town’s social ladder. According to Lexington’s 1771 tax valuation, Mary’s family was part of the 7th decline, with the 1st decline being the wealthiest of residents and the 10th being the poorest.<br /><br />Like most Lexington girls, Mary would have attended a “female” or “dame” school to receive instruction on reading and writing. In 1747, the town voted to allow girls to enroll in its “grammar” school, which focused on Latin, Greek grammar, and other advanced subjects. (Massachusetts grammar schools were created to help boys prepare for possible admission to Harvard or another educational institution.) It is possible Mary also enrolled in the town’s grammar school, but realistically, by age twelve, her primary education was housekeeping skills. Her mother or another female role model would have taught her to utilize raw materials and transform them into the goods the family needed to thrive. They turned their hands to carding and spinning fibers, sewing, mending, and embroidery; cooking and preserving; doing laundry; nursing and producing home medicines; gardening and making candles and soap.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJfBEN4WBQ4RhbywU41wlL5LwykAYhEK74cbR4OrlD5rq03r46nu4wASEpUo1pu6GmEt1mttTOqSPqznklHJsNwzd3QTMjTvTjrgDMe-71iG7si9B_idpdaTjhx9zcVIdOd1FClMnfSm7B85NCzBXrtCTmxEoQJQcl_HA2uLMqrwJzpQ643aPG-RPUxfU/s640/Mary%20Munroe%20Sanderson%201748%20-%201852.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="522" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJfBEN4WBQ4RhbywU41wlL5LwykAYhEK74cbR4OrlD5rq03r46nu4wASEpUo1pu6GmEt1mttTOqSPqznklHJsNwzd3QTMjTvTjrgDMe-71iG7si9B_idpdaTjhx9zcVIdOd1FClMnfSm7B85NCzBXrtCTmxEoQJQcl_HA2uLMqrwJzpQ643aPG-RPUxfU/w326-h400/Mary%20Munroe%20Sanderson%201748%20-%201852.jpg" width="326" /></a></div><br /><div>Growing up, she would have engaged in or witnessed youthful and mischievous activities like her Lexington counterparts. At age 9, Mary likely witnessed the older teenage boys and girls who engaged in wild behavior outside the town’s meeting house during Sunday meetings. The conduct was so bad that residents held a special town meeting and resolved that “strict and special care be taken to prevent all disorders among the children and youth in and about the Meeting House, as well as to prevent their doing damage upon the grass and fruits of those who live nigh the Meeting House.”<br /><br />As a teenage girl and young woman, Mary would have participated in tavern dances or “frolics” and frequented Buckman, Munroe, and other Lexington taverns to consume alcohol and socialize with members of the opposite sex. Of course, the “sinful behavior” of Mary and other teens in the early 1760s caught the attention of both parents and the Reverend Jonas Clarke, who warned the younger members of his congregation to avoid “patterns of youthful behavior: night-walking, frolicking, company-keeping, carousing, merry meeting, dancing, and singing.” <br /><br />In February 1768, a poor Waltham carpenter named Samuel Sanderson arrived and occupied Lexington. Almost immediately, the town’s selectmen warned Sanderson out. “Warning out” was a practice of notifying non-resident poor that if they could not support themselves, the town would not support them, forcing the poor to return to their town of origin.<br /><br />By 1771, Sanderson was still among the landless poor. Because he owned no real estate or personal property, such as livestock, or furniture, he did not appear on the town’s 1771 tax valuation.<br /><br />However, Sanderson’s fortune appears to have changed after he began to court Mary Munroe. On October 22, 1772, the pair married and purchased a simple one-story home located along the Bay Road adjacent to the Munroe Tavern. Sanderson continued his work as a carpenter and was often called upon to make coffins for those Lexington residents. According to both family tradition and historian Michael J. Canavan, “Her husband using the basement for a workshop … Mrs. Sanderson related that many a night she had held the candle while her husband stained the 'narrow house' of some departed neighbor or townsman."<br /><br />In July 1774, Mary gave birth to the couple's first child, a boy named Amos. Between 1776 and 1782, she had five more children - three girls and two boys.<br /><br />In late 1774 or early 1775, Samuel was elected a corporal of Captain John Parker’s Lexington Company of Militia. Given his skills as a carpenter, it is possible Sanderson was assisting Jonas Parker (also a carpenter) in cutting down the stocks of fowling pieces so the weapons could accept socket bayonets.<br /><br />Yet, despite these accomplishments, Mary and Samuel were still economically below the “middling sorts” of Lexington society. A 1774 tax valuation placed the couple firmly in the 7th decile, slightly above the poor of the town.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJonEBu7EQ1xCqyCiCwgwYtOLv_NAYVXTLuHqyQjuxEanHWng65Jo-OeAmoWTP0h2FywUIEq6HfFjmSqJbtUeN3YsgxdMQi1V26DuBvYCxflMCq-3V0FbedQQOPf2rh7bnYJx07ZXFlUlej0csB_PU3iOoAmbVyu_-TazVyT2X0FOMqb7Gxp08vDuktNw/s1037/image_access_800.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1037" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJonEBu7EQ1xCqyCiCwgwYtOLv_NAYVXTLuHqyQjuxEanHWng65Jo-OeAmoWTP0h2FywUIEq6HfFjmSqJbtUeN3YsgxdMQi1V26DuBvYCxflMCq-3V0FbedQQOPf2rh7bnYJx07ZXFlUlej0csB_PU3iOoAmbVyu_-TazVyT2X0FOMqb7Gxp08vDuktNw/w400-h309/image_access_800.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Samuel Sanderson House, Massachusetts Ave, Lexington, c. 1900</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br />Sometime after 11 PM on April 18, 1775, the Sandersons received word of a British expedition advancing from Boston toward Concord. Realizing that their home was located along the path of the regulars, Mary began to prepare to evacuate her family to safety. According to early to mid-19th-century accounts, as Samuel prepared for war, Mary, her infant child and a pre-teen girl, who likely was a neighbor's daughter who served as a “helper,” gathered family valuables and “by the light of a lantern piloted their way to a refuge, the home of her father in new Scotland.” (New Scotland was a section of Lexington, along the Woburn line and occupied by Scottish immigrants.)<br /><br />Mary, her son, and the young helper remained at her father’s residence until the afternoon fighting had cleared. Given the proximity of her home to the Munroe Tavern and Percy’s relief force, one would expect that the Sanderson home would have been plundered, torched, or vandalized. However, neither Mary nor Samuel submitted any claims to the Massachusetts Provincial Congress or Legislature seeking compensation for theft or property damage.<br /><br /><a href="https://boston1775.blogspot.com/2015/04/mary-sanderson-and-man-in-her-bed.html">However, according to Canavan</a>, Mary’s home was, in fact, damaged by the regulars. “After the British retreated Mary returned home and found a good many things had been stolen. Her cow (which was a good part of her marriage portion) had been killed.” worse, “a wounded British soldier was stowed away in her bed.” Furious, Mary allegedly cried out, “I won’t have him there,” and asked her husband, “Why didn’t you knock him on the head?”<br /><br />A late 19th-century account by a Lexington resident who interviewed her before her death asserts Mary stated “'The Satanish critters,' she said, 'stole and destroyed everything in the house, and didn't leave rags enough to dress the wounds of their own man … over one hundred years of age, Mrs. Sanderson described with minuteness many articles of her wardrobe and household goods which were destroyed or missing, rarely failing to mention the cow, and that she was part of her marriage portion.”<br /><br />Both accounts claim Mary refused to care for the wounded soldier and demanded he be removed from her home. Ultimately, the selectmen ordered Mary to care for the man.<br /><br />Again, there is no direct evidence of Mary or Samuel caring for a wounded soldier. However, a review of Massachusetts legislative records from 1775 and 1776 revealed wounded British regulars treated by Lexington's residents, including a marine who received extended care before defecting to the American cause.<br /><br />Mary and her husband remained in town for a few more years before moving to Lancaster, Massachusetts. According to the deed of sale, “In 1783, Samuel Sanderson in the town of Lexington, County of Middlesex, joiner, sold to Samuel Downing, wheelwright, once piece of property with a dwelling house, shop, and barn and one and one half acres.”<br /><br />Mary and her family remained in Lancaster until Samuel passed in 1803. Afterward, she returned to Lexington. Sadly, it appears she may have outlived most, if not all, of her children. <a href="https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2023/03/a-photo-of-mary-munroe-sanderson-1748.html?fbclid=IwAR1VZU8Nms4pCQgkOHoDuJVYmf5eHtY8eRunF_Swy1NxfIszP9damZK-ZLw">According to historian Heather Wilkinson Rojo, </a>Mary suffered from acute arthritis in her later life. </div><div><br /></div><div>On September 23, 1852, the women of Lexington organized a fundraising party and successfully gathered over $300 in funds for her.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkVee-S1V663no2C-hU5J-C8AL_5Kf_w4vsl7DNmVFTYfTW6oTDdphSZhCRY1UQa9TIzAvQRtptdNJjr1o30Ukbs9JsSjl7MLkXW76HDpw4Si7cBbfn35VQn7R_5rbnw-XloIR0uevjr_RrVr_CIF-M0bfQUNoRtyF2DWhfsY5T3I3Mj2ucEMdwNUiRL8/s1280/lexington-ma_old-burying-ground-1.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="769" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkVee-S1V663no2C-hU5J-C8AL_5Kf_w4vsl7DNmVFTYfTW6oTDdphSZhCRY1UQa9TIzAvQRtptdNJjr1o30Ukbs9JsSjl7MLkXW76HDpw4Si7cBbfn35VQn7R_5rbnw-XloIR0uevjr_RrVr_CIF-M0bfQUNoRtyF2DWhfsY5T3I3Mj2ucEMdwNUiRL8/w400-h240/lexington-ma_old-burying-ground-1.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br />That same year, Mary Sanderson sat for the photograph that is the subject of this blog post.<br /><br />On October 15, 1852, Mary passed at the age of 104 and was buried in the “Old Burying Ground” in Lexington. The engraving on her tombstone aptly describes her contributions to Lexington and the events of April 19, 1775:<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Mary Munroe relict of Samuel Sanderson</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Born in Lexington Oct 10, 1748</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Died in East Lexington Oct 15, 1852</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Age 104 years 5 days</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>A witness of the first revolutionary conflict, she recounted its trying scenes to the last. The vitality of her Christian faith was envinced by cheerfulness under severy bodily infirmity for more than twenty years.</i></div></div>Alexander R. Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08258218418111297609noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978067274099413141.post-14794009542140253772023-12-08T20:15:00.000-05:002023-12-08T20:15:36.766-05:00"They Brought Together Every Ounce Contained in the Town, and Committed it to One Common Bonfire" - The Lexington Tea Burning<div class="separator"><span style="font-family: arial;">This Sunday, the </span><a href="https://www.lexingtonhistory.org/" style="font-family: arial;">Lexington Historical Society</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> will commemorate the 250th anniversary of the town's tea protest. So what exactly happened that caused the residents of this dairy community to rise up and openly protest English economic policies?</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />In 1773, Parliament passed the Tea Act to refinance the shaky economic base of the British East India Company. Established in 1709, the East India Company derived over ninety percent of its profits from selling tea. However, by 1772, the company desperately needed a bailout due to severe mismanagement. The company directors looked to Parliament for relief. Parliament’s response was the Tea Act, through which the East India Company was given exclusive rights to ship tea to America without paying import duties and to sell it through their agents to American retailers. American merchants who had for years purchased tea from non-British sources (Dutch tea was a particular favorite of New Englanders) faced the prospect of financial ruin.<br /><br />Massachusetts immediately opposed the act and began to organize resistance. On November 29, 1773, the tea ship Dartmouth arrived at Griffin’s Wharf in Boston. The Beaver and the Eleanor arrived at the same wharf three days later. Bostonians demanded that Governor Hutchinson order the three ships back to England. On December 16, 1773, the owner of the Dartmouth apparently agreed and went to Hutchinson to beg him to let the ships return to England. Hutchinson refused, and at approximately six o’clock that evening, some 150 men and boys disguised as Indians marched to the three ships, boarded them, and dumped 340 chests of tea into Boston Harbor.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFMogQPmfLHs4ihJAMysUBWlBL5Ep-0HwY9Z19B3i-lmAlFXI9vfR9XRcKKr_eImQ7NpKK3urb0oHnoQWnr-DhKa6gY71lcijTLlS0Xlx726W43agxZr5LDb9ap7eA_7r0qIt0xLRWx05OjfvYF4J_wC_9mnb0QDLNSbPW9i1EG5X8srarexTNXN0fzzc/s1200/Boston_Tea_Party_w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="688" data-original-width="1200" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFMogQPmfLHs4ihJAMysUBWlBL5Ep-0HwY9Z19B3i-lmAlFXI9vfR9XRcKKr_eImQ7NpKK3urb0oHnoQWnr-DhKa6gY71lcijTLlS0Xlx726W43agxZr5LDb9ap7eA_7r0qIt0xLRWx05OjfvYF4J_wC_9mnb0QDLNSbPW9i1EG5X8srarexTNXN0fzzc/w400-h229/Boston_Tea_Party_w.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>Meanwhile, as tempers boiled over in Boston, the citizens of Lexington assembled three days before the Boston Tea Party to discuss the unfolding events. The matter was referred to the town’s committee of correspondence, which quickly drafted an emotional and stinging condemnation of the Tea Act.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />"[It] appears that the Enemies of the Rights & Liberties of Americans, greatly disappointed in the Success of the Revenue Act, are seeking to Avail themselves of New, & if possible, Yet more detestable Measures to distress, Enslave & destroy us. Not enough that a Tax was laid Upon Teas, which should be Imported by Us, for the Sole Purpose of Raising a revenue to support Taskmasters, Pensioners, &c., in Idleness and Luxury; But by a late Act of Parliament, to Appease the wrath of the East India Company, whose Trade to America had been greatly clogged by the operation of the Revenue Acts, Provision is made for said Company to export their teas to America free and discharged from all Duties and Customs in England, but liable to all the same Rules, Regulations, Penalties & Forfeitures in America, as are Provided by the Revenue Act . . . Not to say anything of the Gross Partiality herein discovered in favour of the East India Company, and to the Injury & oppression of Americans; . . . we are most especially alarmed, as by these Crafty Measures of the Revenue Act is to be Established, and the Rights and Liberties of Americans forever Sapped & destroyed. These appear to Us to be Sacrifices we must make, and these the costly Pledges that must be given Up into the hands of the Oppressor. The moment we receive this detested Article, the Tribute will be established upon Us . . . Once admit this subtle, wicked Ministerial Plan to take place, once permit this Tea . . . to be landed, received and vended . . . the Badge of our slavery is fixed, the Foundation of ruin is surely laid."<br /><br />The committee also issued six resolves pledging to preserve and protect the constitutional rights that Parliament had put into jeopardy, to boycott any teas "sent out by the East India Company, or that shall be imported subject to a duty imposed by Act of Parliament," to treat as enemies anyone found aiding in the landing, selling or using of tea from the East India Company, and to treat the merchants of the East India Company with contempt. Finally, the town expressed its gratitude to Boston for its undertaking in the name of liberty and pledged<br /><br />"We are ready and resolved to concur with them in every rationale Measure that may be Necessary for the Preservation or Recovery of our Rights and Liberties as Englishmen and Christians; and we trust in God That, should the State of Our Affairs require it, We shall be ready to Sacrifice our Estates and everything dear in Life, Yea and Life itself, in support of the common Cause."<br /><br />Upon completion, the Town of Lexington unanimously adopted the resolutions. Immediately afterward, an additional resolve was passed, warning the residents "That if any Head of a Family in this Town, or any Person, shall from this time forward; & until the Duty taken off, purchase any Tea, Use or consume any Tea in their Famelies [sic], such person shall be looked upon as an Enemy to this town & to this Country, and shall by this Town be treated with Neglect & Contempt."<br /><br /><br />That evening, the residents of Lexington gathered all tea supplies and burned them. According to the December 16, 1773 edition of the Massachusetts Spy "We are positively informed that the patriotic inhabitants of Lexington unanimously resolved against against the use of Bohea tea of all sorts, Dutch or English importation; and to manifest the sincerity of their resolution, they brought together every ounce contained in the town, and committed it to one common bonfire."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGAM6OhIWmswfS-D6noQ2s54ttUAOojyB026QA3Oj5tE-ukNPeU0xkgWuacfHOJuw7IW8k8l1a0tqR7oDw2bUm6ZTslyzC1xqNT8BVTpfMX6xvJRKGDC1_dpS0v6r1cWIfGyqx_zYIHtJ_zBqIwnOSeK05V82r3mBTQ1PB_PbkMyi9B44_rNzFbJnOXso/s612/bonfire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="612" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGAM6OhIWmswfS-D6noQ2s54ttUAOojyB026QA3Oj5tE-ukNPeU0xkgWuacfHOJuw7IW8k8l1a0tqR7oDw2bUm6ZTslyzC1xqNT8BVTpfMX6xvJRKGDC1_dpS0v6r1cWIfGyqx_zYIHtJ_zBqIwnOSeK05V82r3mBTQ1PB_PbkMyi9B44_rNzFbJnOXso/w400-h266/bonfire.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />The resolves of Lexington reflected the general political mood throughout the American colonies on the eve of the revolution. Many colonists believed a set of corrupt and mysterious men had been able to assert control over George the Third, his ministers, and his favorites through bribery and deceit. Most Americans were certain that powerful men were plotting to make the colonists slaves by curtailing their liberties as Englishmen.<br /><br />The common belief emerged that an immoral British government, having exhausted opportunities for plunder and profit in England and Ireland, was now seeking a dispute with the American colonies as an excuse to enslave and deprive them of their wealth and liberties. Parliament had hoped to accomplish this goal quietly, but the furor aroused in the colonies by England’s economic policies had given the government a temporary setback. Now, these mysterious men, who controlled Parliament and the king’s ministers, were undertaking to openly incite a war, declare American rebels, and enslave them. As early as 1772, Lexington was expressing apprehension that "[Our] Charter Rights & Liberties are in danger, are infringed and upon a most careful, Serious & mature Consideration of them . . . and are comparing them with Acts of the British Parliament, & Measures adopted by the British Court, Ministry & Government . . .some of which have been carried into Execution amongst us, We are clearly of opinion that . . . the Plan of Oppression is begun, & so far carried on that, if our Enemies are still Successful, and no Means can be found to put a Stop to their Career, . . . we have just Reason to fear That the Eyes of the Head of Government being blinded, the Sources of Justice poisoned and Hands of administration bribed with interest, the system of slavery will soon be complete."<br /><br />The colonists' concerns and fears, evident in letters, journals, and diaries of the period, increased following the Boston Tea Party. <br /><br />That action was viewed in England as so rebellious an act of defiance that it could not be ignored. As a result, the English Parliament adopted several harsh and restrictive measures aimed at punishing Massachusetts, but particularly Boston. On March 31, 1774, King George the Third signed the Boston Port Bill, intended to reprimand rebellious Boston severely. The port was closed to all seagoing traffic until damages for the destroyed tea were paid in full. The Massachusetts Provincial Charter of 1691, which residents viewed as a sacred guarantee of their liberties, was revoked. Additional regiments of regulars were dispatched to Boston and Major General Thomas Gage replaced Thomas Hutchinson as governor. Gage moved the seat of government from Boston to Salem and the customs office from Boston to Plymouth. The Governor’s Council was replaced with a non-elective Mandamus Council, town meetings were prohibited without the consent of the governor and jury trials were abolished.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX-Rn9uKvtybZrocAUSLFtPgCs8rczT80Bie-qANwcgDgQMgKtLbPOo1mdDxV5dJnxmxuGSYmSfIgubgt26ZRHVJRvu7by8_o4YHBe2crOBRUpXkqTV4R7Hywh39nR2e2QykPW0dzgfCuyA-i0aJAAeOcUUzDwBB8RY4JSKo5yzhhd7T59oUJ_pfOB7YY/s1246/Screenshot%202023-12-08%20200526.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="787" data-original-width="1246" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX-Rn9uKvtybZrocAUSLFtPgCs8rczT80Bie-qANwcgDgQMgKtLbPOo1mdDxV5dJnxmxuGSYmSfIgubgt26ZRHVJRvu7by8_o4YHBe2crOBRUpXkqTV4R7Hywh39nR2e2QykPW0dzgfCuyA-i0aJAAeOcUUzDwBB8RY4JSKo5yzhhd7T59oUJ_pfOB7YY/w400-h253/Screenshot%202023-12-08%20200526.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />To the citizens of Massachusetts, it was clear that the British government had thrown down the gauntlet. The passage of these “Intolerable Acts,” as they became known, was seen as the most blatant of England's attempts to provoke a war with her American colonies. Throughout the colonies, committees of correspondence toiled to spread this message and increase opposition to Parliament. Towns adopted covenants asserting their opposition to the British attempt to crush their rights, while Middlesex and Essex counties ordered its courts to refrain from conducting business.<br /><br /> On September 26, 1774, Lexington voted to form committees whose responsibilities were “to bring two pieces of cannon from Watertown and mount them, to provide a pair of drums for the use of the military company in town . . . [and] to have the militia and alarm list meet for a view of their arms.” On October 5, 1774, Lexington’s Deacon Stone was in Salem along with his fellow representatives to the General Court. There, when General Gage acted to adjourn the General Court arbitrarily, the representatives voted to make the Massachusetts Provincial Congress the governing body of the colony “to promote the true interests of his Majesty, in the peace, welfare and prosperity of the Province.”<br /><br />Any hope of avoiding a civil war now seemed dashed. <br /><br />In Boston, Hugh Earl Percy correctly surmised the state of affairs in Massachusetts on the eve of the American Revolution. “Things here are now drawing to a crisis every day. The people here openly oppose the New Acts. They have taken up arms in almost every part of this Province, & have drove in the Gov’t & most of the Council . . . A few days ago, they mustered about 7,000 men at Worcester . . . In short, this country is now in an open state of rebellion.” </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div>Alexander R. Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08258218418111297609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978067274099413141.post-21112958884584584052023-11-25T18:37:00.002-05:002023-11-25T18:37:37.524-05:00"My Heart Became More Relieved of its Apprehensions" - Five Bada** Women from April 19, 1775 that the Lexington Minute Men Need to HonorOn November 16, 2023, the <a href="https://www.lexingtonminutemen.com/">Lexington Minute Men </a>amended its by-laws to admit women into the organization. The vote wasn’t even close. The membership expressed a sincere interest in sharing the stories of Lexington women who rose and met the challenges of April 19, 1775. As a result, the group resolved via a super-majority vote to open up the organization’s membership to women 18 years and older.<br /><br />Every member of the Lexington Minute Men researches and portrays a male counterpart who fought at the Battle of Lexington. With the organization opening up its ranks to women, the membership now has the unique opportunity to honor every Lexington woman and girl who courageously faced the threats of the day, put their fears and misgivings aside, and helped ensure infants, children, the elderly, the bedridden, the infirm and the sick were safely evacuated from the storm of war.<br /><br />The Nerds recognize that every Lexington woman caught in the storm of war on April 19, 1775, was a heroine in her own right. But that said, the Nerds secretly hope the following five bada** women of Lexington are the first to be honored for their actions of that day.<br /><br /><b><a href="https://allthingsliberty.com/2017/06/april-19-1775-civilian-evacuation-lexington/#:~:text=When%20Lexington's%20alarm%20bell%20began,Boston%20Road%20prepared%20to%20evacuate.">Abigail Harrington.</a></b> After waking her husband and son so that they could gather their arms and equipment and join Captain John Parker’s Company on the Lexington Common, Abigail gathered her remaining children, all under the age of five, and personally led them to safety “down a lane back of the house across a meadow to the old place on Smock farm.”<br /><br /><b><a href="https://www.nps.gov/places/jacob-whittemore-house-1716.htm">Sarah Reed Whittemore.</a> </b>Sarah lived with her husband and her in-law parents along the Bay Road. On April 19, 1775, the young Lexington woman was still recovering from the birth of her third child 18 days earlier. With the British column approaching her home, she and her immediate family successfully gathered her children, carried Sarah and her newborn infant out of the house on a mattress, and retreated to the relative safety of a nearby woodlot just before the battle reached their home.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2u6Y2G5-Y8-wraBbnn7q-sz95gyzEZnMi9p4JHvuw_Tb3GWpZhQ_Kv4mKVDsZX0qzSkIkh9JPWjKuOdwa24cDrY0MbB8Ae0ELlDWSgQoAYXaqaL0EXIE2qkxCuEdqR_rvy61U8rP80c0O3msjggAJDqGOq8waQAfRnVim2N6PC6DQ27AZtiPjfX8zK40/s959/Jenn%20H%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="959" data-original-width="958" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2u6Y2G5-Y8-wraBbnn7q-sz95gyzEZnMi9p4JHvuw_Tb3GWpZhQ_Kv4mKVDsZX0qzSkIkh9JPWjKuOdwa24cDrY0MbB8Ae0ELlDWSgQoAYXaqaL0EXIE2qkxCuEdqR_rvy61U8rP80c0O3msjggAJDqGOq8waQAfRnVim2N6PC6DQ27AZtiPjfX8zK40/w400-h400/Jenn%20H%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><b><a href="https://allthingsliberty.com/2017/06/april-19-1775-civilian-evacuation-lexington/#:~:text=When%20Lexington's%20alarm%20bell%20began,Boston%20Road%20prepared%20to%20evacuate.">The Widow Lydia Mulliken.</a> </b>Lydia’s husband, a respected clockmaker, had died on the eve of the American Revolution. Her daughter, Lydia, was in a romantic relationship with Dr. Samuel Prescott of Concord. When word reached the Widow Mulliken and her daughters that Lieutenant Colonel Smith was leading a military expedition towards Lexington, they hurriedly buried the family’s silver and other valuables by a stone wall near their clock shop, then fled to distant safety. Later in the day, the Mulliken home would be plundered for valuables and burned to the ground.<br /><br /><b><a href="https://historicalnerdery01.blogspot.com/2017/04/this-is-my-little-girl-that-i-was-so.html">Rebekah Fiske.</a> </b> In the early morning of April 19th, word reached the Fiske family that His Majesty’s forces were advancing on Concord. As many of her neighbors fled for safety, Rebekah was in a difficult situation. Her 83-year-old father-in-law, Lieutenant Ebenezer Fiske, was seriously ill and bedridden. At the same time, her husband was also suffering from some unknown impairment and was excused from militia service. As a result, she made the difficult choice of staying in her home.<br /><br />According to a 19th-century narrative she shared with the Harvard Register, Fiske recalled, “I heard the guns … at about day-break, but being unapprehensive of danger, did not, like most of our neighbors move off for fear of the enemy; especially as my father was confined to his bed of a severe sickness so that in fleeing from the house we must leave him behind, which I could not consent to. Our domestics had already absconded, we knew not whither. I, therefore, and my husband, who on account of a certain indisposition, was incapacitated for military service, remained in the house with our father, while the enemy passed; which they did without offering us any injury. I remember well, their exact order, red coats, glittering arms, and appalling numbers.”<br /><br />As previous research has suggested, many women and children who fled their homes earlier in the day returned mid-morning. According to Fiske, once word reached their location that the British were marching from Concord back to their location, a panic set in, and many civilians started to flee again. As the regulars approached, Fiske describes how she, her family, enslaved persons, and many of her neighbors made a mad dash across fields to escape the coming firefight.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyGL3lGb3X2u-V3APADMt25MfiN6Y_wKMi0TGKc1ZQlvS54aYzwjIbIMdvahBsDjSrlXzekHPHhh4W6XJzec_gqcOZCA4t54ObOBRrjxfq8JNx79feMI9IePgU9h4h9HEFPoZ1r3Z_rvMDyMnxJSjFdf67YxbOIkXtWXMo_QQzQjsUSrzxVYoqTmanAnk/s831/siftingthepast_detail-from-country-scene-figures-by-a-cottage-door-and-cattle-in-a-stream_wheatly_1795.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="747" data-original-width="831" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyGL3lGb3X2u-V3APADMt25MfiN6Y_wKMi0TGKc1ZQlvS54aYzwjIbIMdvahBsDjSrlXzekHPHhh4W6XJzec_gqcOZCA4t54ObOBRrjxfq8JNx79feMI9IePgU9h4h9HEFPoZ1r3Z_rvMDyMnxJSjFdf67YxbOIkXtWXMo_QQzQjsUSrzxVYoqTmanAnk/w400-h360/siftingthepast_detail-from-country-scene-figures-by-a-cottage-door-and-cattle-in-a-stream_wheatly_1795.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <br /><br />"Sometime after, on their arrival at Concord, a report of musketry was once more heard, and in broken and incessant volleys. It was a sound of death to us. All now was trepidation, fever, and rushing to arms; women and children bewildered and scouring across the fields. With much ado we succeeded in yoking our oxen and getting father on his bed into an ox-cart, and thus moving him off as carefully as we could to a neighbor’s house, at some distance from the highway, on which we expected the enemy to return. Before leaving our house, I secured some of the most valuable of my effects, putting my large looking glass between two featherbeds, and fastening all the windows and doors. The house we carried farther to, had been already vacated, and here I was left alone with him. The dreadful sound of approaching guns was still ringing in my ears. Bewildered and affrighted, I betook myself into the house-cellar there to await my fate. Occasionally, I ventured to peep out to discover the approach of the enemy. After remaining some time in this dreadful state of fear and suspense, I at last discovered the enemy coming down a long hill on the highway partly upon a run and in some confusion, being closely beset by ‘our men’ in flank and rear. The terrific array of war soon came fully into view, and as soon passed off again from before my eyes, like a horrid vision, leaving only a cloud of smoke behind and the groans of the dying, who were strewed in its wake.”<br /><br />Once the retreating army had passed her homestead, Rebekah returned to survey the damage. Upon arrival, she discovered a horrific scene. Not only had her home and surrounding property been vandalized and pillaged (both capital crimes in 18th Century Massachusetts), but she also discovered multiple casualties on the doorstep and inside her home. One of the dying was Acton minute man and school teacher James Haywood, mortally wounded earlier while exchanging musket fire with a British soldier at the Fiske’s water well.<br /><br />As Rebekah graphically recalled in her 1827 statement, “After the rattle of musketry had grown somewhat weaker from distance, and my heart became more relieved of its apprehensions, I resolved to return home. But what an altered scene began to present itself, as I approached the house—garden walls thrown down—my flowers trampled upon—earth and herbage covered with the marks of hurried footsteps. The house had been broken open, and on the door-step—awful spectacle—there lay a British soldier dead, on his face, though yet warm, in his blood, which was still trickling from a bullet-hole through his vitals. His bosom and his pockets were stuffed with my effects, which he had been pillaging, having broken into the house through a window. On entering my front room, I was horror-struck. Three mangled soldiers lay groaning on the floor and weltering in their blood which had gathered in large puddles about them. “Beat out my brains, I beg of you,” cried one of them, a young Briton, who was dreadfully pierced with bullets, through almost every part of his body, “and relieve me from this agony.” You will die soon enough, said I, with a revengeful pique. A grim Irishman, shot through the jaws, lay beside him, who mingled his groans of desperation with curses on the villain who had so horridly wounded him. The third was a young American employing his dying breath in prayer. A bullet had passed through his body, taking off in its course the lower part of his powder-horn. The name of this youthful patriot was J. Haywood of Acton. His father came and carried his body home; it no lies in Acton graveyard. These were the circumstances of his death: being ardent and close in the pursuit, he stopped a moment at our well to slake his thirst. Turning from the well, his eye unexpectedly caught that of the Briton, whom I saw lying dead on the door-step, just coming from the house with his plunder. They were about a rod from each other. The Briton know it was death for him to turn, and the American scorned to shrink. A moment of awful suspense ensued—when both simultaneously levelled their muskets at each other’s heart, fired, and fell on their faces together. My husband drew the two Britons off on a sled, and buried them in one of our pastures, where they now lie, beneath a pine tree which has grown up out of their grave. The Irishman was the only one of the three that survived.”</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcMWSzy_qbIzIDc4JVdC1ynHVj3KCvlxwiBf16fmO-JQ16_MiXTphm6HRkdoGI177B_NpQIe9vRZF-TaJbhHF3NsfRxasFFzxrwXDluCaGaVSeIPQqTTaMcCeFs9eBllb5fpvTKzNnLuvXg3fbrvnfX3nlZ5Akdehe_ZIVzW7syWaO10-zrormi0hZEfs/s2048/john%20collins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1241" data-original-width="2048" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcMWSzy_qbIzIDc4JVdC1ynHVj3KCvlxwiBf16fmO-JQ16_MiXTphm6HRkdoGI177B_NpQIe9vRZF-TaJbhHF3NsfRxasFFzxrwXDluCaGaVSeIPQqTTaMcCeFs9eBllb5fpvTKzNnLuvXg3fbrvnfX3nlZ5Akdehe_ZIVzW7syWaO10-zrormi0hZEfs/w400-h243/john%20collins.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Photo Credit John Collins Photography</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div><b><br /><a href="https://historicalnerdery01.blogspot.com/2017/04/this-is-my-little-girl-that-i-was-so.html">Anna Munroe.</a> </b>Personally, the Nerds rank Anna Munroe as the most bad** of Lexington bada** women. Not only did Mrs. Munroe watch over Munroe Tavern while her husband was off fighting British forces, but Anna personally carried her three children to safety while exposed to British relief troops who were torching her neighbor’s homes and unleashing an artillery barrage on Massachusetts forces.<br /><br />According to her daughter, she “could remember seeing the men in red coats coming toward the house and how frightened her mother was when they ran from the house. That was all she could remember, but her mother told her of her very unhappy afternoon. She held Anna by the hand, brother William by her side and baby Sally in her arms . . . She could hear the cannon firing over her head on the hill. She could smell the smoke of the three buildings which the British burned between here and the center of Lexington. And she did not know what was happening to her husband, who was fighting, or what was happening within her house. . . Anna’s mother used to talk to her of what happened on April 19th and she remembered that her mother used to take her on her lap and say: ‘This is my little girl that I was so afraid the Red coats would get.’”<br /><br />Any woman 18 years or older who is interested in joining the Lexington Minute Men may contact the organization <a href="https://www.lexingtonminutemen.com/join.html">here.</a></div>Alexander R. Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08258218418111297609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978067274099413141.post-31390147001872661092023-11-05T14:35:00.022-05:002023-11-05T23:05:05.234-05:00“In Every Other Busines of the Adjutant, To Whom He Is An Assistant” - The Role of the Sergeant Major in the Continental Army<p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Recently, a question was posed on the Facebook group “<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/217402738422205">Progressive Rev War Reenactors</a>” about the appropriateness of the rank of “sergeant major” and whether the position existed during the Revolutionary War era. There was also some confusion over where the rank fell within the command structure. Some assumed the position was a senior officer rank equal to that of a brigade command officer, while others asserted the position was an administrative role with little to no authority above a clerk.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-697e7a83-7fff-2fc9-199b-9ed5a505e6ad"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">So, what was a sergeant major of the American forces during the Revolutionary War, particularly for Massachusetts forces?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">As a preliminary matter, the Nerds did serve as a sergeant major during many of the 225th commemoration events. We had the benefit of having mentors who took the time to carefully train us to ensure the interpretation of the role was accurate given the available research at the time. Finally, the Nerds were fortunate during the 225th to have a wonderful and very positive relationship with the British Brigade’s sergeant major, who always made himself available for questions, advice, and guidance on how the British army addressed the administrative and supervisory responsibilities of non-commissioned officers.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Nerds' memories of being a sergeant major during the 225th were that of heavy administrative work - assisting the battalion adjutant, compiling returns, relaying brigade and company orders to sergeants, overseeing the formation of the regiment on the parade ground, and posting guards. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">We did not command the battalion, a company, or a platoon.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">When the question was posed to “Progressive Rev War Reenactors”, fortunately, several leading historians on the Continental and British armies, including John U. Rees, Don Hagist, and Eric Chetwynd, shared their research and knowledge on the position. This, in turn, spurred the Nerds to earn their keep and do a little digging of their own. This is what we found.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The position of “sergeant major” did exist in the 18th Century and was referenced in many pre-Revolutionary War drill manuals, including Bland’s <i>Military Discipline</i> (c. 1759 edition) and Cumberland’s <i>A New Exercise</i>. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbM3AqDst9wnkmUcn4oP-zwsLpMpxj_1uXxkY-i0UrqeKOa-9Bc0hYYqgfC3BgzBmBEgcpouhKkvyIQM_s-E9qiSi83c-IZxKaAcCiXZm4D1kmbrbfUOjViAv8uYLM2Mp2aNLPxSkjS_rKjv8sERl2a-NwvOu5NePtAnVt9zb5OCE_DhGqhb7S1u4OFiA/s2048/397397799_678047447418571_1432230728797267366_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><i><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="945" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbM3AqDst9wnkmUcn4oP-zwsLpMpxj_1uXxkY-i0UrqeKOa-9Bc0hYYqgfC3BgzBmBEgcpouhKkvyIQM_s-E9qiSi83c-IZxKaAcCiXZm4D1kmbrbfUOjViAv8uYLM2Mp2aNLPxSkjS_rKjv8sERl2a-NwvOu5NePtAnVt9zb5OCE_DhGqhb7S1u4OFiA/w185-h400/397397799_678047447418571_1432230728797267366_n.jpg" width="185" /></i></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Photo Credit Rob Hoogs, Bidwell House</i></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">However, not all treatises were equal, and many pre and early Revolutionary War manuals and resolutions surprisingly did not reference the rank. For example, the Norfolk Drill, the Boston and New York Editions of the 1764 Crown Manual, and the Pickering Drill lacks any reference the position. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Similarly, a review of the minutes of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress reveals twenty-seven instances when the rank of “sergeant” or “serjeant” was discussed/ there are no findings within the minutes for the rank of sergeant major. Early pay scales for the Massachusetts militia and minute companies and regiments, as established by various towns, did not list sergeants major. Finally, the 1775 “Rules and Regulations of the Massachusetts Army” did not differentiate between sergeants major and other non-commissioned officers.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">However, as historian John U. Rees noted, the position did exist within the Continental Army. A cursory review of Continental muster rolls confirms his position. For example, John Flowers of the 15th Massachusetts, John Hawkins of the 2nd Canadian Regiment and JohnChampe of Lee’s Legion all held the rank of sergeant major during the Revolutionary War. As discussed below, Baron Von Steuben even addressed the rank and responsibilities of a regimental sergeant major.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixNYw0JyAiAXfPXGyL5Dt4yCc8u_TgMqXDUJixkBXfcKyxAqdagtRDlBJT2x0VxPuFyqMvbaK61VrF2advtVpXoNKyPSWRtTaFFdOc-RX6Dlgw9oqGdqG23u5eBkGOE5kwvNzDaYbqflPz78jN19_IgoMkZPEtv_xPyx5FfQ-wjUoa0Qa536aW-WT7H6s/s927/368386844_1038137574279189_6165299092005351425_n%20(2).png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="495" data-original-width="927" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixNYw0JyAiAXfPXGyL5Dt4yCc8u_TgMqXDUJixkBXfcKyxAqdagtRDlBJT2x0VxPuFyqMvbaK61VrF2advtVpXoNKyPSWRtTaFFdOc-RX6Dlgw9oqGdqG23u5eBkGOE5kwvNzDaYbqflPz78jN19_IgoMkZPEtv_xPyx5FfQ-wjUoa0Qa536aW-WT7H6s/w400-h214/368386844_1038137574279189_6165299092005351425_n%20(2).png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Excerpt from Cumberland's "A New Exercise"</i></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Historian Don Hagist has indicated that a sergeant major was a </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">regimental</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> non-commissioned officer and was not part of a brigade, division, or army command staff. As such, a sergeant major held no authority over regimental or staff officers. Even a lowly ensign outranked a sergeant major.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Likewise, sergeants major did not wear any unique rank insignias or trappings of an officer to distinguish themselves from other sergeants. During the American Revolution, non-commissioned officers were merely identified by colored epaulets or strips of cloth. According to General Washington’s 1775 order, “corporals may be distinguished by an epaulet or stripe of green cloth sewed upon the right shoulder, the sergeants by one of red.” In June 1780, Washington issued a second order regarding NCO rank insignias. The order mimicked the 1775 instructions and required NCOs to wear a green or red epaulet on their right shoulder. At no point during the war did Washington or any other general issue orders regarding the wearing of unique clothing </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">When a regiment paraded, a sergeant major did not field at the head of the regiment or with field officers. Instead, he was stationed at the rear of the regiment behind the center of the line. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">So with all this said, how was a sergeant major chosen, and what were their responsibilities in a regiment? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Historian Eric Chetwynd shared the recommendations of Bennet Cuthbertson regarding sergeants major within the British army. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In his work, </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">System For The Complete Interior Management and Oeconomy of A Battalion of Infantry</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, Cuthbertson outlines the expectations and duties of a sergeant major. Specifically, “The choice of a Serjeant-major must never be influenced by any other consideration, than that of real merit; besides his being a compleat Serjeant in every respect, he ought to be sensible, sedate, and have a good address: in particular, he must be above conniving at the least irregularities committed by the Non-commission officers or Soldiers whom, he is to observe a becoming distance: he should be a perfect master of every branch in the interior management and discipline of a Regiment; be expert at Calculations, keeping Rosters, and forming Details: in his temper, he must have a certain degree of coolness, to give instructions in the Exercise, and to bear with patience the stupidity of Recruits, and often of the older Soldiers; at the same time that he possesses a necessary smartness, to enforce, when requisite, a strict attention to his directions: and as he has frequent opportunities, of closely attending to the morals and behavior of the Serjeants and Corporals, he should be quick in discovering their faults; and as ready in communicating them to the Adjutant, whose authority, he must, on every occasion endevor to promote.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The United States Army’s Office of the Historian noted a sergeant major of the Continental Army was “required … to be well acquainted with the management structure, disciplining the Soldiers and overseeing rosters and forming unit details.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT6CU8mpnTX2jqLBrEZ3hoQBemT9bie1ChvcCT19N4vvyfassh6Nsu9TzjEFiJgKl2JbrfE0TKM-VeSqorvH0423HJgk7QjssxhAYakkO3xQV2cR2ybMXJ4l17mETOqRuWVixWWPkJTA7lSMq2wAxVgv-QDDVBiMWO7r1oV9LNTgTyzy1T33F7uk-OjRA/s726/Screenshot%202023-11-05%20143421.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="726" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT6CU8mpnTX2jqLBrEZ3hoQBemT9bie1ChvcCT19N4vvyfassh6Nsu9TzjEFiJgKl2JbrfE0TKM-VeSqorvH0423HJgk7QjssxhAYakkO3xQV2cR2ybMXJ4l17mETOqRuWVixWWPkJTA7lSMq2wAxVgv-QDDVBiMWO7r1oV9LNTgTyzy1T33F7uk-OjRA/w400-h334/Screenshot%202023-11-05%20143421.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Excerpt from Von Steuben's "Blue Book"</i></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Baron Von Steuben followed the recommendations of Cuthbertson. In his famed “Blue Book,” he suggested a sergeant major should be “well acquainted with the interior management and discipline of the regiment and the manner of keeping rosters and forming details. He must always attend the parade, be very expert in counting off the battalion, and in every other business of the adjutant, to whom he is an assistant.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In short, a sergeant major was an administrative position that assisted the adjutant in managing the regiment. His other duties centered on supervising other sergeants, carrying out discipline, and assisting in guard and forage details.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The role of sergeants major has evolved over the past two centuries.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In 1820, the Massachusetts militia system and the United States Army expanded the role of the sergeant major to include offering practical and theoretical instruction to sergeants and corporals under their command. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In 1920, the sergeant major position was eliminated by an act of Congress. However, in 1958, the rank was restored. By 1965, the Army had issued a policy statement declaring sergeants major “represent and uphold the image of “The Backbone of the Army” mentality. This position [is] tasked with answering to the Chief of Staff for enlisted affairs and acting as a personal advisor.”</span></p></span>Alexander R. Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08258218418111297609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978067274099413141.post-43011014026995027302023-09-30T13:33:00.001-04:002023-09-30T13:33:32.667-04:00A Call to Arms! - The Nerds Need Your Help<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRhGpI_2S4hzmPJTSBOQzetq-h4zFEEeeSjhVHn-Hzpi0WAfVbg1fUEQ65RMMEG9W8GWodTIH1VeU1R_m2zFs3vCyj1R-bT7wrnMM6_yS4aI7TyHqtwAdywWEEOuB2-i8KiXVZWyRcB3Sp4JhvdUs-ufluuX_XRbP5kKW60m6__W21qCyGZAeScQu15f4/s1364/371364601_611337544522020_8525765635846406404_n.jpg"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRhGpI_2S4hzmPJTSBOQzetq-h4zFEEeeSjhVHn-Hzpi0WAfVbg1fUEQ65RMMEG9W8GWodTIH1VeU1R_m2zFs3vCyj1R-bT7wrnMM6_yS4aI7TyHqtwAdywWEEOuB2-i8KiXVZWyRcB3Sp4JhvdUs-ufluuX_XRbP5kKW60m6__W21qCyGZAeScQu15f4/w400-h400/371364601_611337544522020_8525765635846406404_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>“The news reached us about nine o’clock A.M. The east company in Needham met at my house as part of the Military stores were deposited with me, they there supplied themselves, and by ten o’clock all marched for the place of action with as much spirit and resolution as the most zealous friends of the cause could have wished for. We could easily trace the march of troops from the smoke which arose over them, and could hear from my house the report of the cannon and the Platoons fired by the British.” - </i><i>Excerpt from Memoirs of the Rev. Samuel West, Pastor (1764 – 1788), First Parish, Needham Massachusetts</i></div> <div>Whelp, the Nerds have gone and done it. <br /><br />Admittedly, we must have been consuming hard cider or flip when we came up with this so-called brilliant idea. Nevertheless, we’re ready to take this challenge on.<br /><br />In anticipation of the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution, we plan to create an online database of eyewitness accounts of the buildup to war in New England (1774-1775) and the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The database will be available to all and found on our website historicalnerdery.com<br /><br />It is our hope that this database will serve as a central clearinghouse for students, teachers, historians, and researchers who wish to access primary and some secondary accounts detailing the events of April 19, 1775.<br /><br />With that said, we need your help. </div><div><br /></div><div>While we are aware of most of the period accounts, there are so many accounts that we have either overlooked or missed. Maybe we missed an account from Portsmouth, New Hampshire or a minister’s diary from Wenham, Massachusetts.<br /><br />In short, it doesn’t matter if it is from Lexington, Concord, Boston, Worcester or Springfield. We would like to ensure all known online accounts and transcriptions are part of this database.<br /><br />Please consider directing us to any online period accounts you know by completing this brief form. We’ll take care of the rest!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://forms.gle/FHCJKvAXzoP5VHcu9">https://forms.gle/FHCJKvAXzoP5VHcu9</a></b></div><br /><br />Oh, and a brief disclaimer… The Nerds intend to offer all visitors access to this database free of charge. We will not profit from sharing vital historical records that should be readily accessible to the public at no cost.<br /></div>Alexander R. Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08258218418111297609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978067274099413141.post-53798589227896039612023-08-27T15:38:00.003-04:002023-08-27T16:17:11.477-04:00"No Person Above Sixty Years of Age" - The Massachusetts Alarm Lists of Lexington and Concord<span style="font-family: arial;">About two weeks ago, a question was posed on the Facebook discussion page “<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/217402738422205">Progressive Rev War Reenactors</a>” regarding what Massachusetts alarm lists were and what their role was on the eve of Lexington and Concord.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />But what are alarm lists, and what were their contributions to the wartime buildup on the eve of the American Revolution? <br /><br />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”.<br /><br />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 <i>hints</i> that some Middlesex and Essex County communities transferred men as young as fifty-five into the alarm list.<br /><br />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.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisipZTyNJEq_H5v3ciJopE4Jx_kgXjfLrrgrexW1CkUgEtOwbEBcKwmzE4IZGCpSc-WVXTHj2oa4kjohU7OytWTzwfnr4cYeELzh3QP6Z3xYQT9ZoZTWlvUJnKeIvn8DUa6n0UUhzJmcqo07g5N-mlhe5X4gRYUgf778myyE05aqFPns5XvBcODZEBwPo/s997/Alarm%20List%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="831" data-original-width="997" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisipZTyNJEq_H5v3ciJopE4Jx_kgXjfLrrgrexW1CkUgEtOwbEBcKwmzE4IZGCpSc-WVXTHj2oa4kjohU7OytWTzwfnr4cYeELzh3QP6Z3xYQT9ZoZTWlvUJnKeIvn8DUa6n0UUhzJmcqo07g5N-mlhe5X4gRYUgf778myyE05aqFPns5XvBcODZEBwPo/w400-h334/Alarm%20List%201.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;">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 <a href="https://archives.lib.state.ma.us/handle/2452/118749">1697 Militia Act</a> do not reference Alarm Lists. In fact, the first official reference to such a reserve force appears to be in the <a href="https://archives.lib.state.ma.us/handle/2452/116441">1757 Massachusetts Militia Act</a>. 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. <br /><br />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.” <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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 <a href="https://archives.lib.state.ma.us/handle/2452/117005">1776 Massachusetts militia act </a>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”.<br /><br />However, there were some exceptions and limitations with alarm lists that militia companies did not have. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrperzgmNxBj8Mc1662laSdEeQVACd4udjjETEqCNMLb7zau215w26pMggcXNBQe8tsFgbwWUdxY-A3I7vuJtt6HZxnLlz4cweRStH-yA7au5oRk32X8P-VAIUywnajPhwKOazc4uFLedN69B661mkCEeq5RDljauWkH5uXiq6x953wiPH6jQOVmX_HNY/s2048/alarm%20lsit%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrperzgmNxBj8Mc1662laSdEeQVACd4udjjETEqCNMLb7zau215w26pMggcXNBQe8tsFgbwWUdxY-A3I7vuJtt6HZxnLlz4cweRStH-yA7au5oRk32X8P-VAIUywnajPhwKOazc4uFLedN69B661mkCEeq5RDljauWkH5uXiq6x953wiPH6jQOVmX_HNY/w400-h300/alarm%20lsit%202.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">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.”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />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.”<br /><br />The January 1776 Massachusetts militia law, entitled<i> <a href="https://archives.lib.state.ma.us/handle/2452/117005">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</a></i>, 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.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig4Tgw0OYANxletNRPp63WN4ches9tOaQsnyut6xRYjUkqHbwP48jaq1fquWjmdXSFmFDvvGdjdZvKi71OsqJ_CDlFQVgFJwVSmCYXTJVDEIcAz3lCQuKBQ_g6rwv1zRsnXpVEOQc3mErlQDhq9UpJ624wFiqGVxY_KoCJGWH5x6YRgCW5oM7LBgduduY/s1117/Alarm%20Lsit%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="786" data-original-width="1117" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig4Tgw0OYANxletNRPp63WN4ches9tOaQsnyut6xRYjUkqHbwP48jaq1fquWjmdXSFmFDvvGdjdZvKi71OsqJ_CDlFQVgFJwVSmCYXTJVDEIcAz3lCQuKBQ_g6rwv1zRsnXpVEOQc3mErlQDhq9UpJ624wFiqGVxY_KoCJGWH5x6YRgCW5oM7LBgduduY/w400-h281/Alarm%20Lsit%203.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;">With all that said, what role did alarm lists play during the buildup to war or the Battles of Lexington and Concord? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">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. <br /><br />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.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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 <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DanversAlarmListCompany">Danvers Alarm List</a>. 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.<br /><br />But that said, we will also ask the obvious … why aren’t there more older reenactors organizing and portraying Massachusetts alarm lists?</span><p></p></div></div>Alexander R. Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08258218418111297609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978067274099413141.post-79809670302407513042023-08-05T14:13:00.006-04:002023-08-05T14:16:12.886-04:00"Found Dead Within A Few Rods Of The House" - The Non-Combatant Casualties of April 19, 1775<span style="font-family: arial;">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.<br /><br />We became interested in this topic after journalist and entrepreneur<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rasheed-walters-06260957/"> Rasheed Walters</a> 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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br /></span><span id="docs-internal-guid-a2930acf-7fff-ce92-bba9-2f994a93c37e"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The day's first civilian casualty was Asahel Porter of Woburn. </span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br />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.”<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.”</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVDKSQgR445sWuQyXTPA4wima4I_kx8Yve7CR2yPeG3bew-F5jJsmEYb2Jy8bDYmxRjilaQEM6iqwNC2b2G7NH8uG59VE6iyvzWeAH0l-t2BEebCrcHjVcuxEb08MliYbmNdtWtvnsX6wgF1p77yTnOmDJfEQEVG5x-vOA509LSKW4hognvhx2WbF-nhI/s990/Screenshot%202023-08-05%20141217.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="990" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVDKSQgR445sWuQyXTPA4wima4I_kx8Yve7CR2yPeG3bew-F5jJsmEYb2Jy8bDYmxRjilaQEM6iqwNC2b2G7NH8uG59VE6iyvzWeAH0l-t2BEebCrcHjVcuxEb08MliYbmNdtWtvnsX6wgF1p77yTnOmDJfEQEVG5x-vOA509LSKW4hognvhx2WbF-nhI/w400-h175/Screenshot%202023-08-05%20141217.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">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.</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />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.<br /><br /> 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.”<br /><br />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.”<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA5gtIVD4Kv1bAbxa0a8fRGaLIHRwtE2vOEjkEl082kiv-g5cXgZVytMLcCJCnnSpbEMVxB5g4ePD9Sba21BC6hSajZptmKeO5IEWCgn1veS4mTPpRvQWkKCBkzMoyBbpKtOAOf_3KFvqtzr0BgIw90h5hsumtxWQJLroxvYl4H3vx166xFdtkd7BV9q0/s1536/357751872_582684697387305_2715399631806908109_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA5gtIVD4Kv1bAbxa0a8fRGaLIHRwtE2vOEjkEl082kiv-g5cXgZVytMLcCJCnnSpbEMVxB5g4ePD9Sba21BC6hSajZptmKeO5IEWCgn1veS4mTPpRvQWkKCBkzMoyBbpKtOAOf_3KFvqtzr0BgIw90h5hsumtxWQJLroxvYl4H3vx166xFdtkd7BV9q0/w400-h400/357751872_582684697387305_2715399631806908109_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Image Source: Minute Man National Park</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">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.”<br /><br />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.”<br /><br />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. </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">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.”<br /><br />Sadly, the famed broadside entitled <i>Bloody Butchery by the British Troops</i> only identified Edward as “Capt. William Barber's son, aged 14”.</span></div></div>Alexander R. Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08258218418111297609noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978067274099413141.post-41486126127013299602023-06-10T22:11:00.000-04:002023-06-10T22:11:03.727-04:00“Went Hallooing and Frolicking Through the Streets” - New England's Day of Darkness<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">With much of the Northeast United States enveloped in a weird, thick yellow smoke from the wildfires of Canada, the Nerds thought they would share an example of a similar event that struck Massachusetts and most of the northern colonies on May 19, 1780.<br /><br />The sun rose, as usual, that day, but then the skies over New England quickly darkened. According to a 19th century account, “a dark dense cloud gradually rose out of the West and spread itself until the heavens were entirely covered, except at the horizon, where a narrow rim of light remained.”<br /><br />In Weston, Massachusetts, merchant Samuel Phillips Savage marveled that a veil the color of cider had descended “over the whole visible heavens.” <br /><br />George Washington, stationed in Connecticut with the Continental Army, reported the "Dark Day" in his diary. He wrote "Heavy & uncommon kind of Clouds--dark & at the same time a bright and reddish kind of light intermixed with them--brightning & darkning alternately. This continued till afternoon when the sun began to appear. The Wind in the Morning was Easterly. After that it got to the Westward."<br /><br />The darkness was so complete that candles were required from noon onward. Connecticut’s Joseph Joslin was forced to abandon work on a stone wall for want of light. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPhxLVLVSLkkdBZntp77NfZoaKjxXZmoymNNBiBD7gSo0RNQ7hpkTk57EnAYG_kZAWgkyV4hq8-Qj9UNsWWXYBhVZPyX6bm_u4Jbjm17rEAIUxxcHDF4kh4VY8X1-CMmoKsDtlDAga9q3-_BNxZ3zYdz_z-gDSTxGk_qGCEa8P0OqUDxMDY06ka4do/s1200/ted.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1200" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPhxLVLVSLkkdBZntp77NfZoaKjxXZmoymNNBiBD7gSo0RNQ7hpkTk57EnAYG_kZAWgkyV4hq8-Qj9UNsWWXYBhVZPyX6bm_u4Jbjm17rEAIUxxcHDF4kh4VY8X1-CMmoKsDtlDAga9q3-_BNxZ3zYdz_z-gDSTxGk_qGCEa8P0OqUDxMDY06ka4do/w400-h210/ted.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Could your thunder buddy have saved you during the 1780 Day of Darkness?</span></i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Samuel Phillips Savage noted that a neighbor stopped shoveling manure when he realized he couldn’t “discern the difference between the ground and the dung.” <br /><br />“The fowls retired to roost,” Harvard professor Samuel Williams wrote, “the cocks were crowing all around, as at break of day; objects could not be distinguished but at a very little distance; and everything bore the appearance of gloom of night.”<br /><br />Panic, confusion, and terror quickly spread among the residents of many New England communities. Men prayed, and women wept. Many waited in great fear for the arrival of the Four Horsemen. <br /><br />Schools were closed, and hundreds of colonists left off work to seek refuge in taverns or churches. In Salem, the Rev. Nathaniel Whitaker warned that the Dark Day was the Almighty's wrath for the congregation's sins. Lawyer William Pynchon noted that a group of booze-soaked sailors “went hallooing and frolicking through the streets” of Salem and encouraged the town’s ladies to strip off their clothes and join them in morbid celebration. “Now you may take off your rolls and high caps,” they said, “and be damned.”<br /><br />At some point, a rainstorm passed through the Merrimack Valley region of Massachusetts. Period accounts described the rain giving off a strong soot smell while the Merrimack River near Amesbury and Newburyport was coated in a black oily film. <br /><br />One eyewitness described Boston as smelling like a coal kiln. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqOWUdM7I-Xpg6d-zPTFn84vSvBILkdzSKe7aWvxbNeIGXozJBTlNFAfJ2HMPyGGcw6j4GNTek7b3d5howSppYKCHPM5Ibz5AlSmfW9ZDbUwgWDTFnwCaBsw_0pdEq9DMBd2V1M9WAJ9a_sMs0pGNJEceSD_W2oBPoY8IFki4WpD8P741od6DFetkV/s900/a-young-woman-shucking-oysters-by-lamplight-henry-robert-morland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="754" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqOWUdM7I-Xpg6d-zPTFn84vSvBILkdzSKe7aWvxbNeIGXozJBTlNFAfJ2HMPyGGcw6j4GNTek7b3d5howSppYKCHPM5Ibz5AlSmfW9ZDbUwgWDTFnwCaBsw_0pdEq9DMBd2V1M9WAJ9a_sMs0pGNJEceSD_W2oBPoY8IFki4WpD8P741od6DFetkV/w335-h400/a-young-woman-shucking-oysters-by-lamplight-henry-robert-morland.jpg" width="335" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">A Young Woman Shucking Oysters by Lamplight by Robert Morland</span><br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Save for a few peeks of sunlight in the afternoon, the shade lingered over the Northeast for the rest of the day. The night that followed was remembered as one of the darkest on record. New Hampshire’s Samuel Tenney deemed it “as gross as ever has been observed since the Almighty fiat gave birth to light…A sheet of white paper held within a few inches of the eyes was equally invisible with the blackest velvet.” </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">People slept fitfully, and many worried they would never see daylight. Much to the relief of New England, the shroud of darkness had lifted by the following morning.<br /><br />What caused this unusual event? A scientific study of old trees in the Algonquin Highlands, Ontario, confirmed what many historians suspected - a massive wildfire in Canadian forests. <br /><br />After careful examination, scientists found ‘fire scars’, (the presence of charcoal and resin) in the growth rings of the trees. These scars were dated to the same period as the so-called “Day of Darkness”.</span><br /><br /></span> </p>Alexander R. Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08258218418111297609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978067274099413141.post-28133944491314720082023-05-20T14:42:00.001-04:002023-05-20T14:48:00.323-04:00"I Got My Chaise, Took My Wife and Children" - A Male Evacuee's Eyewitness Account of April 19, 1775<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Over the past few months. The Nerds have discussed five known accounts of civilians, exclusively of women, who came in direct contact with His Majesty’s forces on April 19, 1775.<br /><br />First up was <a href="https://historicalnerdery01.blogspot.com/2018/07/fear-and-flight-civilian-evacuations-of.html" target="_blank">Lincoln’s Mary Hartwell</a>, who remembered coming in close contact with retreating British forces just as they were about to enter the Bloody Curve. “I saw an occasional horseman dashing by, going up and down, but heard nothing more until I saw them coming back in the afternoon all in confusion, wild with rage and loud with threats. I knew there had been trouble and that it had not resulted favorably for their retreating army. I heard musket shots just below by the old Brooks Tavern and trembled, believing that our folks were killed.”<br /><br />As they fled the family tavern, <a href="https://historicalnerdery01.blogspot.com/2018/07/fear-and-flight-civilian-evacuations-of.html" target="_blank">Anna Munroe</a>, wife of Lexington’s Sergeant William Munroe, and her 5-year-old daughter Anna nearly collided with the Royal Artillery and Percy's Relief Column. According to her 19th Century account, the child witness recalled she “could remember seeing the men in redcoats coming toward the house and how frightened her mother was when they ran from the house. That was all she could remember, but her mother told her of her very unhappy afternoon. She held Anna by the hand, brother William by her side and baby Sally in her arms . . . She could hear the cannon firing over her head on the hill. She could smell the smoke of the three buildings which the British burned between here and the center of Lexington. And she did not know what was happening to her husband, who was fighting, or what was happening within her house.”<br /><br />The most notable female non-combatant who came into direct contact with the retreating British column was <a href="https://historicalnerdery01.blogspot.com/2022/12/two-hannahs-two-annas-and-mary-five.html">Hannah Adams of Menotomy</a>. As previously discussed, the<a href="https://historicalnerdery01.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-bloody-field-at-menotomy-brutality.html"> Menotomy Fight of April 19, 1775</a> was a vicious engagement that devolved into a bloody house-to-house and room-to-room fight for survival. Unfortunately, as this fight raged on, Hannah Adams, who had recently given birth and was bedridden, was trapped between Massachusetts militiamen and British regulars.<br /><br />Like Hannah Adams, <a href="https://historicalnerdery01.blogspot.com/2022/12/two-hannahs-two-annas-and-mary-five.html">Hannah Bradish</a> of Menotomy was also bedridden on April 19, 1775, having given birth to a child eight days earlier. As the regulars entered Menotomy, Hannah slept in bed with her infant. The sound of gunshots woke her up, and she quickly gathered her children and fled to the family kitchen at the back of the house. According to her statement submitted to the Massachusetts Provincial Congress on May 11, 1775, as she and her family hid behind furniture, bullets peppered her house and nearly struck her.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">In a 19th Century newspaper interview, <a href="https://historicalnerdery01.blogspot.com/2023/03/i-was-horror-struck-lexingtons-rebekah.html" target="_blank">Lexington’s Rebekah Fiske</a> described how she came in contact with His Majesty’s troops on more than one occasion and how she and other women and children were forced to flee from their homes to avoid the running fight between Massachusetts provincials and British regulars.<br /><br />Recently, historian <a href="http://www.katieturnergetty.com/" target="_blank">Katie Turner Getty</a> brought to my attention an account of a male civilian, possibly a loyalist, who came in contact with the retreating column. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOp5zLzGEaD5ApI_jwN9P3IIDoL9sHqkd5qrST3LnwoVY1H4_zkQ1ow5ThaM7sSS5LtCENMlpI03l7OWvXMtFO51_8kj2_nid41I6F56KCSm34OIS40Yh74NirUBDtEwm41syxHe-lwGTNAXdU79Hh83TaHj07bwsny4npBemnoU-Hn5wDs5X7msiv/s1623/BR1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="827" data-original-width="1623" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOp5zLzGEaD5ApI_jwN9P3IIDoL9sHqkd5qrST3LnwoVY1H4_zkQ1ow5ThaM7sSS5LtCENMlpI03l7OWvXMtFO51_8kj2_nid41I6F56KCSm34OIS40Yh74NirUBDtEwm41syxHe-lwGTNAXdU79Hh83TaHj07bwsny4npBemnoU-Hn5wDs5X7msiv/w400-h204/BR1.jpg" title="Photo Credit: Nadia Peatie, MMNHP" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Photo Credit: Nadia Peatie, MMNHP</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">As a preliminary matter, if you are not following Katie Turner Getty’s research efforts, you should. While the Nerds tend to focus on the events of April 19th between Lexington and Concord and the impact of the war in Essex County, Katie has taken a deep dive into Menotomy, Cambridge, and Charlestown’s contributions during the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the impact of the Siege of Boston. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Two weeks ago, Katie and the Nerds attended the Saratoga 250th's "Women in War Symposium" in New York as presenters. During her lecture, Katie mentioned the exploits of Jacob Rogers and how he and his family came in direct contact with the retiring British forces as they tried to flee Charlestown, Massachusetts. Unbeknownst to the Nerds, <a href="https://boston1775.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">J.L. Bell of Boston 1775 </a>has also blogged about the incident.<br /><br />As discussed in previous blog postings, there are numerous examples of Middlesex County men who qualified for service in the militia yet saw little or no combat on April 19th. Many could be classified as "evacuees" because they cared for their wives, mothers or daughters and assisted in helping them escape from the fight. Others did not fight because of “special circumstances”, including temporary injuries that prevented mobilization with the militia, an inability to secure arms and equipment, or the undertaking of specific duties, such as guarding captured British troops.<br /><br />It appears Rogers fell under the “evacuee” category.<br /><br />Jacob Rogers was a lieutenant in the Royal Navy. In 1774, he retired from service on board the <i>HMS Halifax</i> and settled, with his family, in Charlestown. <br /><br />According to an October 1775 petition to the Massachusetts Legislature, Rogers became aware of the British expedition to Concord early in the morning of April 19th. “We were alarmed with various reports concerning the<a href="https://boston1775.blogspot.com/search/label/British%20soldiers"> </a>king’s troops, which put everybody in confusion About ten in the morning I met Doctor [Joseph] Warren riding hastily out of town and asked him if the news was true of the men’s being killed at Lexington; he assured me it was. I replied I was very glad our people had not fired first, as it would have given the king’s troops a handle to execute their project of desolation. He rode on.”<br /><br />As an aside, the Charlestown militia did not mobilize on April 19, 1775. According to Jacob’s account, the reason why is obvious. “In the afternoon Mr. James Russell … received a letter from General [Thomas] Gage, importing that he was informed the people of Charlestown had gone out armed to oppose his majesty's troops, and that if one single man more went out armed, we might expect the most disagreeable consequences.”<br /><br />As the afternoon wore on, it became clear that His Majesty’s troops were quickly approaching Charlestown. In response, many residents, including Rogers and his family, chose to flee. “A line-of-battle ship lying before the town; a report that<a href="https://boston1775.blogspot.com/search/label/Cambridge"> </a>Cambridge bridge was taken up … no other retreat but through Charlestown: numbers of men, women, and children, in this confusion, getting out of town. Among the rest, I got my chaise, took my wife and children; and as I live near the school-house, in a back street, drove into the main street, put my children in a cart with others then driving out of town, who were fired at several times on the common, and followed after. Just abreast of Captain Fenton’s, on the neck of land, Mr. David Waitt, leather-dresser, of Charlestown, came riding in full speed from Cambridge, took hold of my reins, and assisted me to turn up on Bunker’s Hill, as he said the troops were then entering the common.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Shortly after that, it appears Rogers, his family, Mr. Waitt, and another unknown family came in direct contact with the regulars and were fired upon. “I had just reached the summit of the hill, dismounted from the chaise, and tied it fast in my father-in-law’s pasture, when we saw the troops within about forty rods of us, on the hill. One … Hayley, a tailor, now of Cambridge, with his wife, and a gun on his shoulder, going towards them, drew a whole volley of shot on himself and us, that I expected my wife, or one of her sisters, who were with us, to drop every moment.”<br /> </span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQKFK3Bxxokc-7BOvbhfbSeqocxmibTWPElmTVC6OwFVtbutoHKLCBgjUDIdolJlDQ1DKhz09_5gugmYrNlYoLbbyyxSK6DazgT--PiYeqWLB6k69OwkeCCWQBPTaY2S_yU4tlZ7JiudVLY8t2fLr4zg_yP7xmvX4MzJJDsjHfzeNuMCBOfEXVUa-2/s2000/BR2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1333" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQKFK3Bxxokc-7BOvbhfbSeqocxmibTWPElmTVC6OwFVtbutoHKLCBgjUDIdolJlDQ1DKhz09_5gugmYrNlYoLbbyyxSK6DazgT--PiYeqWLB6k69OwkeCCWQBPTaY2S_yU4tlZ7JiudVLY8t2fLr4zg_yP7xmvX4MzJJDsjHfzeNuMCBOfEXVUa-2/w266-h400/BR2.jpg" title="Photo Credit: John Collins" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Photo Credit: John Collins</i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Rogers and his family continued to flee, apparently changing course and hiding in different locations to avoid the retreating regulars. Eventually, he and his family took refuge in a home near the Charlestown training field. While there, Rogers noted he found the “house full of women and children, in the greatest terror, afraid to go to their own habitations.”<br /><br />After dark, the former naval officer and a few other Charlestown men walked about the town to determine if it was safe to return home. According to Rogers, “On our way, met a Mr. Hutchinson, who informed us all was then pretty quiet; that when the soldiers came through the street, the officers desired the women and children to keep in doors for their safety; that they begged for drink, which the people were glad to bring them, for fear of their being ill-treated.”<br /><br />Sadly, upon returning home, Rogers and his wife received news that His Majesty’s troops had killed his fourteen-year-old brother-in-law as they crossed Charlestown Neck. “On our arrival at home, we found that her brother 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, and went into the main street to see if all was quiet, and found an officer and guard under arms by Mr. David Wood’s, baker, who continued, it seems, all night; from thence, seeing everything quiet, came home and went to bed.”<br /><br />To add to Roger’s misfortune, he attempted to reclaim his chaise the next day. To his chagrin, he discovered “my cushion stole, and many other things I had in the box.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">In the aftermath of Lexington and Concord, Lieutenant Rogers was quickly suspected of rendering aid to the enemy on April 19th. Of course, Rogers denied providing such assistance and ultimately submitted an account of his actions as detailed above.<br /><br />Rogers and his family eventually moved to the Stoneham and Reading, Massachusetts areas, where they were treated with open hostility by the local residents. Eventually, he and his family were forced to flee to England.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPvQS9zswxXnKwkd06Ayq7xDl3fLi4-I662E2zElLqDq-dpbEQJ-tF3_LtHHpDvYs_oZUW9svUucoLqlbW0pVldBauQgI3LcIEnfKD3dAVpDBo-z62rS7pBkM8OeKWfAZvU-LDzHVpHnsSs8HKV7fey8t-slPVysmKJt7D2Zi6yL-7dhj8f9jI2mg-/s984/image_access_800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="984" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPvQS9zswxXnKwkd06Ayq7xDl3fLi4-I662E2zElLqDq-dpbEQJ-tF3_LtHHpDvYs_oZUW9svUucoLqlbW0pVldBauQgI3LcIEnfKD3dAVpDBo-z62rS7pBkM8OeKWfAZvU-LDzHVpHnsSs8HKV7fey8t-slPVysmKJt7D2Zi6yL-7dhj8f9jI2mg-/w400-h325/image_access_800.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Plan of Charlestown Peninsula in the State of Massachusetts", c. 1818, Digital Commonwealth<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><i><br /></i></span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Ms. Turner Getty provided a footnote about Lieutenant Rogers’ fate in a research article for the <i><a href="https://allthingsliberty.com/2017/09/unfriendly-america-two-sides-jacob-rogers/" target="_blank">Journal of the American Revolution</a></i>. In the aftermath of the American Revolution, he submitted a loyalist claim for compensation and openly proclaimed that he rendered material aid to the British troops in the aftermath of Lexington and Concord. Specifically, he asserted, “gave every relief and assistance in his power…to his Majesties’ troops on their retreat to Charles Town in refreshing the Officers and Men [and] procuring<a href="https://boston1775.blogspot.com/search/label/medicine"> </a>surgeons to dress the wounded.” </span><br /></p>Alexander R. Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08258218418111297609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978067274099413141.post-6310477735721475962023-04-27T22:29:00.004-04:002023-04-28T21:51:21.769-04:00"We Support the Site" - Why Criticism of Minute Man National Park's Authenticity Standards Are Misguided<div>Rarely do the Nerds issue an editorial or commentary on controversial topics or issues within the hobby. Since this blog debuted in 2015, we have only published two editorials. The first was criticizing the awful television production known as “The Sons of Liberty”. The <a href="https://historicalnerdery01.blogspot.com/2021/05/but-is-rather-burden-upon-them-is.html">second was criticizing</a> a living history event that made light of the suffering of the wounded and dying in battle.<br /><br /> Today, the Nerds are going against our standard practice and issuing a third editorial. This time we are responding to the criticism of the Battle Road event at <a href="https://www.nps.gov/mima/index.htm">Minute Man National Historical Park</a>.<br /><br />To be fully transparent, our readers should know that the Nerds routinely volunteer our time and effort at Minute Man National Historical Park (MMNHP or the "Park"). We have continuously shared our research findings with the Park. We also contribute to the Battle Road Planning Committee and are members of the site’s Authenticity Committee.</div><div> </div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi36z7NAqfCz87juxsSDkuE0FSvbe4XGzkPbyVlF9Y-f6aQ0ltSN-IrtSDkrOqiR4MAaZjeNIytyo6qPYyGfCWyG290HDvwzw8U6ekDPfKZhs7lahoySiOqCcA9A1k7ndIDmsQ38IO7TrHvm2kCOA8L4oM_Iiu6nd_ysk-WGwZq5EDqhNhX7h3-Dnkx/s2048/341508643_1268114590804787_7306596817972622947_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi36z7NAqfCz87juxsSDkuE0FSvbe4XGzkPbyVlF9Y-f6aQ0ltSN-IrtSDkrOqiR4MAaZjeNIytyo6qPYyGfCWyG290HDvwzw8U6ekDPfKZhs7lahoySiOqCcA9A1k7ndIDmsQ38IO7TrHvm2kCOA8L4oM_Iiu6nd_ysk-WGwZq5EDqhNhX7h3-Dnkx/w400-h300/341508643_1268114590804787_7306596817972622947_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> </div><div></div><div></div><div>Over the past two years, we have heard complaints about the new and revised Battle Road tactical demonstrations. Most objections have fallen into one of the following categories: <br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The Massachusetts provincial forces appear too uniform.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i> </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The Massachusetts provincial forces appear too clean and wear clothing never worn on April 19, 1775.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i> </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Many Massachusetts men rushed from their homes into battle. They never intended to travel that far and likely would have returned home after a few hours of fighting. As a result, they never would have fielded with packs and blankets.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i> </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The guidelines are simply too strict and inflexible. The public doesn’t know any better and many reenactors are being unfairly excluded from participating—a couple of preliminary points in response to these arguments. </i><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">First, most objections seem to be coming from the older established units who, for some reason, are resistant to newer research findings. We will be upfront and say we are both surprised and disappointed. Many of these organizations were considered “cutting edge” regarding evolving standards and portrayals during the Bicentennial and 225th celebrations. However, these same units rested on their laurels over the past decade or actively tried to reverse their progress. Honestly, we are curious why!<br /><br />Second, and more importantly, Minute Man National Park notified all Battle Road participants in 2018 of its intent to revise and upgrade its clothing and equipment standards. The Park also released a timetable for implementing the new standards. Before and during the drafting of the guidelines, every unit that participated in Battle Road was allowed to provide commentary and suggestions. <br /><br />Very few of those who are currently disparaging the event provided input. Instead, most derided the effort, threatened to boycott, or simply ignored requests for input. A few organizations outright believed, “We’re unit X; they have to accommodate us regardless of whether or not the rules are enforced!” <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Predictably, none of these approaches worked well. <br /><br />From the Nerds' perspective, units that refused or neglected to work with the Park waived their rights to object and are now sitting on the sidelines thanks to their inaction</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtkIs4STobHfjBbQmELGj38solLXk7mRXSskiHDTPoWkgzaTc83F84rakRXMqTgtY55f_Oizy2OYzA_28Rr2pET7wkWACAlwlsBs-H8avkXgq-6n9Di-4bITo--Tj0ufwxY1RGZdd-_9K6ZitEjVFQJQby0gPv2SvQW_mc_X4O44PgKTvRPDCxevgB/s822/Screenshot%202023-04-27%20231336.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="695" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtkIs4STobHfjBbQmELGj38solLXk7mRXSskiHDTPoWkgzaTc83F84rakRXMqTgtY55f_Oizy2OYzA_28Rr2pET7wkWACAlwlsBs-H8avkXgq-6n9Di-4bITo--Tj0ufwxY1RGZdd-_9K6ZitEjVFQJQby0gPv2SvQW_mc_X4O44PgKTvRPDCxevgB/w339-h400/Screenshot%202023-04-27%20231336.jpg" width="339" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> With that said, we won’t provide a rundown of documentation countering each argument listed above … we’ve already done that for over the past eight years. There is ample documentation between this blog, <a href="https://www.nps.gov/mima/index.htm">Minute Man National Historical Park’s official website</a>, the <a href="https://materialculture18t.wixsite.com/18thcmcrc">18th Century Material Culture Resource Center</a>, <a href="https://www.revwar75.com/">RevWar ‘75</a>, and other sites to refute the above mentioned claims. <br /><br />Similarly, for those who argue the current Battle Road standards defy historical notions and logic, our response is simple… prove the standards wrong. If you claim the material culture of April 19, 1775, is incorrect, it is YOUR responsibility…not ours … to provide documentation supporting your claim. <br /><br />You cannot simply make a claim, sit back, and demand others disprove your position. Similarly, you cannot ignore requests for documentation. It just doesn’t work that way. <br /><br />At the end of the day, we respectfully suggest that this all comes down to ego. Participants who object to the new standards are upset because they now have to operate outside their comfort zone or conform to acceptable historical standards.<br /><br />In short, it comes down to a simple standard recently highlighted by a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=226031446768110&set=a.189413687096553">progressive American Civil War chat board</a> - What should your goals be when you attend a quality living history event at a reputable site? In short, the event is not about YOU…it’s about the objectives and goals of the site.<br /><br />As a reenactor, you should adhere to two common standards… your personal expectations and the site's expectations.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxqmVClPcs99zIU12CNqD3m69qbfVkXE07k7TyZvSI8pVQKTGzpeaR9mKlsBzuvMLKi6tptmMBpECGtLFGyom8PgAAI-RC8WSe7Wn__-b6UgPasx6N1jyvPkjmqa99QsHPxtJbnRncI0XvqDJ37i0aq6T_seDSXq2sw5wA0Jutv84DJ1gZW88yxV4e/s2048/342035577_1014710676180480_7682357242298225279_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxqmVClPcs99zIU12CNqD3m69qbfVkXE07k7TyZvSI8pVQKTGzpeaR9mKlsBzuvMLKi6tptmMBpECGtLFGyom8PgAAI-RC8WSe7Wn__-b6UgPasx6N1jyvPkjmqa99QsHPxtJbnRncI0XvqDJ37i0aq6T_seDSXq2sw5wA0Jutv84DJ1gZW88yxV4e/w400-h225/342035577_1014710676180480_7682357242298225279_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Regarding personal expectations, you must be physically ready for the effort required Your kit must meet site standards, and you be mentally ready to do what is required. This includes knowing the drill, understanding the history behind the event, and being prepared to educate the public on the event's purpose. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">If your position is “the public doesn’t know any better,” and you intend to mislead guests, you must step aside and find a new hobby.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Regarding the site expectations, please remember their goals and objectives supersede ours. We must, without question, hold our wants, desires, and comforts as subservient to the event organizers' goals and objectives. If the event organizers wish to set high standards, we must strive to support them. A site does not exist to serve us…we support the site.<br /><br /> So in summary…naysayers of Battle Road remember three things: objections, grumblings, and complaining will get you nowhere. Either support progress and evolving standards or step aside. Second, if you object…and we encourage you to do so …be prepared to support your claim with documentation. Finally, our personal needs are subservient to those of the site.<br /><br /> And with that, we hope this will be the last editorial from the Nerds in a long, long time.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The views of this editorial reflect those of Historical Nerdery only and do not incorporate or reflect any official position of Minute Man National Historical Park or it's employees.</i> <br /></div><br />Alexander R. Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08258218418111297609noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978067274099413141.post-48226012509363605602023-03-31T14:56:00.005-04:002023-04-01T17:45:19.434-04:00"I Was Horror-Struck" - Lexington's Rebekah Fiske's Eye Witness Account of April 19, 1775<div><p><span style="font-size: medium;">A couple of months ago, we <a href="http://historicalnerdery01.blogspot.com/2022/12/two-hannahs-two-annas-and-mary-five.html" target="_blank">discussed four known accounts of women</a> who came in direct contact with His Majesty’s forces on April 19, 1775.<br /><br />Thanks to the research efforts of <a href="https://www.nps.gov/mima/index.htm" target="_blank">Minute Man National Historical Park</a>, we now know of a 5th account from a civilian trapped between hostile forces during the Battles of Lexington and Concord.<br /><br />Before we discuss Ms. Rebekah Fiske of Lexington, let’s quickly review the other four accounts.<br /><br />First up is Lincoln’s Mary Hartwell, who remembered coming in close contact with retreating British forces just as they were about to enter the Bloody Curve. “I saw an occasional horseman dashing by, going up and down, but heard nothing more until I saw them coming back in the afternoon all in confusion, wild with rage and loud with threats. I knew there had been trouble and that it had not resulted favorably for their retreating army. I heard musket shots just below by the old Brooks Tavern and trembled, believing that our folks were killed.”</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br />As they fled the family tavern, Anna Munroe's wife of Lexington’s Sergeant William Munroe and her 5-year-old daughter Anna nearly collided with the Royal Artillery and Percy's Relief Column. According to her 19th Century account, the child witness recalled she “could remember seeing the men in redcoats coming toward the house and how frightened her mother was when they ran from the house. That was all she could remember, but her mother told her of her very unhappy afternoon. She held Anna by the hand, brother William by her side and baby Sally in her arms . . . She could hear the cannon firing over her head on the hill. She could smell the smoke of the three buildings which the British burned between here and the center of Lexington. And she did not know what was happening to her husband, who was fighting, or what was happening within her house.”<br /><br />Perhaps the most notable female non-combatant who came into direct contact with the retreating British column was Hannah Adams of Menotomy. As previously discussed, the<a href="https://historicalnerdery01.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-bloody-field-at-menotomy-brutality.html"> Menotomy Fight of April 19, 1775</a> was a vicious engagement that devolved into a bloody house-to-house and room-to-room fight for survival. Unfortunately, as this fight raged on, Hannah Adams was trapped between Massachusetts militiamen and British regulars.<br /><br />Like Hannah Adams, Hannah Bradish of Menotomy was also bedridden on April 19, 1775, having given birth to a child eight days earlier. As the regulars entered Menotomy, Hannah slept in bed with her infant. The fighting noise woke her up, and she quickly gathered her children and fled to the family kitchen at the back of the house.<br /><br />According to her statement submitted to the Massachusetts Provincial Congress on May 11, 1775, “Hannah Bradish, of that part of Cambridge, called Menotomy, and daughter of timothy Paine, of Worcester, in the county of Worcester, esq. of lawful age, testifies and says, that about five o'clock on Wednesday last, afternoon, being in her bed-chamber, with her infant child, about eight days old, she was surprised by the firing of the king's troops and our people, on their return from Concord. She being weak and unable to go out of her house, in order to secure herself and family, they all retired into the kitchen, in the back part of the house. She soon found the house surrounded with the king's troops; that upon observation made, at least seventy bullets were shot into the front part of the house; several bullets lodged in the kitchen where she was, and one passed through an easy chair she had just gone from. The door of the front part of the house was broken open; she did not see any soldiers in the house, but supposed, by the noise, they were in the front. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfwc95Nj2O_SRkeTpDciRmqW5biyjpp9XUh9uzyGoYqkuoROrw_t2Q6WZvdeJtAyFaTk3azuvlkLUmiHVMggB-nBot-UpWXXbUCLUiqwRYgWfO2odnHumf1XZ63duj4qvxB-BKrJXAdkYIDM30oUVztFmeeKXeXwUHoJ-NYlrsE5ND8qiuam_Fvi1L/s700/29342654_10214650158230622_7799218368755426571_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="700" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfwc95Nj2O_SRkeTpDciRmqW5biyjpp9XUh9uzyGoYqkuoROrw_t2Q6WZvdeJtAyFaTk3azuvlkLUmiHVMggB-nBot-UpWXXbUCLUiqwRYgWfO2odnHumf1XZ63duj4qvxB-BKrJXAdkYIDM30oUVztFmeeKXeXwUHoJ-NYlrsE5ND8qiuam_Fvi1L/w400-h343/29342654_10214650158230622_7799218368755426571_n.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Artwork by Don Troiani</span></i> <br /></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">Recently Minute Man National Historical Park <a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/rebekah-fiske-account-of-april-19-1775.htm?fbclid=IwAR27wzkawPh16pDtMP6HEPKGN6p79KnpHweYHpGjECSbvMULtI1EYivZKZY" target="_blank">published an article</a> on Lexington’s Rebekah Fiske. Admittedly, like Hannah Bradish, the Nerds were unaware of this account as well. We apologize, and moving forward, we promise we won’t be distracted by jars of frosting while researching the civilian experience of April 19th.<br /><br />Rebekah Howe was born in Concord, Massachusetts. On May 14, 1767, she married Benjamin Fiske and moved to his family’s homestead in Lexington, near the Lincoln line. She was twenty-six years old in 1775. <br /><br />In the early morning of April 19th, word reached the Fiske family that His Majesty’s forces were advancing on Concord. As many of her neighbors fled for safety, Rebekah was in a difficult situation. Her 83-year-old father-in-law, Lieutenant Ebenezer Fiske, was seriously ill and bedridden. At the same time, her husband was also suffering from some unknown impairment and was excused from militia service. As a result, she made the difficult choice of staying in her home.<br /><br />While there, she heard the echo of gunshots from the Battle of Lexington and, soon thereafter, observed British troops pass her home. According to a 19th century narrative she shared with the <i>Harvard Register</i>, Fiske recalled, “I heard the guns … at about day-break, but being unapprehensive of danger, did not, like most of our neighbors move off for fear of the enemy; especially as my father was confined to his bed of a severe sickness so that in fleeing from the house we must leave him behind, which I could not consent to. Our domestics had already absconded, we knew not whither. I, therefore, and my husband, who on account of a certain indisposition, was incapacitated for military service, remained in the house with our father, while the enemy passed; which they did without offering us any injury. I remember well, their exact order, red coats, glittering arms, and appalling numbers.”<br /><br />As previous research has suggested, many women and children who fled their homes earlier in the day returned mid-morning. According to Fiske, once word reached their location that the British were marching from Concord back to their location, a panic set in, and many civilians started to flee again.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1363" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD9H5wtY4mgR03jeTHDcheAARXIQVX4KS55YDJGbI4ucup0RNJh7kLKpUK1aZ_7ytE1zY2ryWjpc2d8OqWvHQhzRyc7YDxUPIu4PRkD8xy2NTQ3UHISGO5YJj1w_X6QuAnA_wlwMIhtmaH9H7BkoVd1qkj_yid8ohhI-wDL5ntmgMElZh1-Gj1bLSy/w400-h266/278425136_10223271907918647_7000328267118305917_n.jpg" width="400" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo Credit John Collins</span></i> <br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As the regulars approached, Fiske describes how she, her family, enslaved persons and many of her neighbors made a mad dash across fields to escape the coming firefight. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"Sometime after, on their arrival at Concord, a report of musketry was once more heard, and in broken and incessant volleys. It was a sound of death to us. All now was trepidation, fever, and rushing to arms; women and children bewildered and scouring across the fields. With much ado we succeeded in yoking our oxen and getting father on his bed into an ox-cart, and thus moving him off as carefully as we could to a neighbor’s house, at some distance from the highway, on which we expected the enemy to return. Before leaving our house, I secured some of the most valuable of my effects, putting my large looking glass between two featherbeds, and fastening all the windows and doors. The house we carried farther to, had been already vacated, and here I was left alone with him. The dreadful sound of approaching guns was still ringing min my ears. Bewildered and affrighted, I betook myself into the house-cellar there to await my fate. Occasionally, I ventured to peep out to discover the approach of the enemy. After remaining some time in this dreadful state of fear and suspense, I at last discovered the enemy coming down a long hill on the highway partly upon a run and in some confusion, being closely beset by ‘our men’ in flank and rear. The terrific array of war soon came fully into view, and as soon passed off again from before my eyes, like a horrid vision, leaving only a cloud of smoke behind and the groans of the dying, who were strewed in its wake.”</span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />Once the retreating army had passed her homestead, Rebekah returned to survey the damage. Upon arrival, she discovered a horrific scene. Not only had her home and surrounding property been vandalized and pillaged (both capital crimes in 18th Century Massachusetts), but she also discovered multiple casualties on the doorstep and inside her home. One of the dying was Acton minute man and school teacher James Haywood, mortally wounded earlier while exchanging musket fire with a British soldier at the Fiske’s water well.<br /><br />As Rebekah graphically recalled in her 1827 statement “After the rattle of musketry had grown somewhat weaker from distance, and my heart became more relieved of its apprehensions, I resolved to return home. But what an altered scene began to present itself, as I approached the house—garden walls thrown down—my flowers trampled upon—earth and herbage covered with the marks of hurried footsteps. The house had been broken open, and on the door-step—awful spectacle—there lay a British soldier dead, on his face, though yet warm, in his blood, which was still trickling from a bullet-hole through his vitals. His bosom and his pockets were stuffed with my effects, which he had been pillaging, having broken into the house through a window. On entering my front room, I was horror-struck. Three mangled soldiers lay groaning on the floor and weltering in their blood which had gathered in large puddles about them. “Beat out my brains, I beg of you,” cried one of them, a young Briton, who was dreadfully pierced with bullets, through almost every part of his body, “and relieve me from this agony.” You will die soon enough, said I, with a revengeful pique. A grim Irishman, shot through the jaws, lay beside him, who mingled his groans of desperation with curses on the villain who had so horridly wounded him. The third was a young American employing his dying breath in prayer. A bullet had passed through his body, taking off in its course the lower part of his powder-horn. The name of this youthful patriot was J. Haywood of Acton. His father came and carried his body home; it no lies in Acton graveyard. These were the circumstances of his death: being ardent and close in the pursuit, he stopped a moment at our well to slake his thirst. Turning from the well, his eye unexpectedly caught that of the Briton, whom I saw lying dead on the door-step, just coming from the house with his plunder. They were about a rod from each other. The Briton know it was death for him to turn, and the American scorned to shrink. A moment of awful suspense ensued—when both simultaneously levelled their muskets at each other’s heart, fired, and fell on their faces together. My husband drew the two Britons off on a sled, and buried them in one of our pastures, where they now lie, beneath a pine tree which has grown up out of their grave. The Irishman was the only one of the three that survived.”</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"> <br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1620" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9gxailKR-3DIm74q_GNhuYCD7xcxFz5F5Yak8u8CE6sNnhAnaIKOQmYzFYGdtvB4CT6DCBtMph67yXJJ01jZA3pefnunSduq7sy7isfxYSo8RAJHqWudzNdAhma9gBxyGpxV99vZgVVODybbBxLfmSJScZjNwLwgid2TXIn1a17FNGg7hxDDEiDKA/w266-h400/278908071_10115093048037629_5536879135907150859_n.jpg" width="266" /></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo Credit Asher Lurie</span></i></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"> <br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Rebekah's father-in-law died December 1775. She remained in Lexington until her husband died in 1785. The next year, she married again and moved to Bedford with her husband, William Merriam. <br /><br />The Nerds will continue to collect period civilian accounts of April 19th. If you are aware of any depositions, claims or interviews that we overlooked, please do not hesitate to let us know!</span></p></div>Alexander R. Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08258218418111297609noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978067274099413141.post-77969056053862992462023-03-12T20:59:00.001-04:002023-03-12T21:04:30.311-04:00"At the Request of the Officers ... I Prayed With Them" - The Role of Ministers on April 19, 1775<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Recently, the Nerds received an inquiry from a Ladies Association of Revolutionary America (LARA) member asking about ministers' roles during the Battles of Lexington and Concord. </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br />We did some digging and found several accounts describing various roles that ministers undertook on April 19, 1775 and the days afterward. Please keep in mind this is merely an overview and a deeper dive is certainly needed.<br /><br />As a preliminary matter, let’s quickly review the role of ministers in 18th Century New England society. The clergy stood at the pinnacle of 18th-century society. Due to their considerable talents and bolstered by the religious doctrines of the 17th and 18th centuries, ministers were considered the essential individual in a community’s social hierarchy. They were viewed as the community’s spiritual and moral leaders, the political commentators, the arbitrators of disputes and, when the town was without a schoolteacher, the educators as well. In short, they played a critical role in 18th Century New England society.<br /><br />When His Majesty’s troops left Boston and marched towards Concord, a panic spread throughout Middlesex County. How did the spiritual leaders of Massachusetts respond?<br /><br />In Lexington, the Reverend Jonas Clarke assumed an advisory and leadership role. Throughout the evening of April 18, 1775, he hosted John Hancock and Samuel Adams at his parsonage. When alarm riders Paul Revere and William Dawes arrived to alert the pair that a military expedition was advancing towards Lexington, Clarke immediately assumed a leadership role. According to the minister, he met with the town’s militia officers and men to “consult what might be done for our own and the people's safety; and also, to be ready for whatever service Providence might call us out to upon this alarming occasion, in case--just in case--overt acts of violence or open hostilities should be committed by this mercenary band of armed and blood-thirsty oppressors.”<br /><br />Once it was determined that Captain John Parker’s company would remain in the vicinity to protect the town, the Reverend Clarke returned home to help his wife and children hide valuables. Afterward, he likely led several Lexington families to an area of safety away from the British line of march.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin9DidByTQr_XlhG9zsL-49z3Ajse1SSZFJj38UYk8uDymHehV090pPVYdB4gESVnxV4iCIbpItA2Z1PRV59CEC-Bmn2F4FGZ-fCtCFmYTLmECVo-dbrZvvNHiX3Z5FTvZF2qdHtDODbzJBFg4uhWNDZxYlS54mxa1ThkBxJ8mvTiC3_uip_bmOHGe/s960/170511738_127592022714467_1758690239534588764_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Photo Credit: John Collins" border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin9DidByTQr_XlhG9zsL-49z3Ajse1SSZFJj38UYk8uDymHehV090pPVYdB4gESVnxV4iCIbpItA2Z1PRV59CEC-Bmn2F4FGZ-fCtCFmYTLmECVo-dbrZvvNHiX3Z5FTvZF2qdHtDODbzJBFg4uhWNDZxYlS54mxa1ThkBxJ8mvTiC3_uip_bmOHGe/w266-h400/170511738_127592022714467_1758690239534588764_n.jpg" title="Photo Caption: John Collins" width="266" /> </a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo Credit: John Collins </span><br /></i></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">In the aftermath of the Battle of Lexington, Clarke assumed the role of a spiritual leader. According to a 19th-century account from his daughter, the Reverend Clarke“sent Jonas down to Grandfather Cook's to see who was killed and what their condition was and, in the afternoon, Father, Mother with me and the baby went to the Meeting House. There was the eight men that was killed, seven of them my Father's parishioners, one from Woburn, all in Boxes made of four large boards nailed up and, after Pa had prayed, they were put into two horse carts and took into the graveyard where some of the neighbors had made a large trench, as near the woods as possible and there we followed the bodies of those first slain, Father, Mother, I and the baby, there I stood and there I saw them let down into the ground, it was a little rainy but we waited to see them covered up with clods and then for fear the British should find them, my Father thought some of the men had best cut some pine or oak bows and spread them on their place of burial so that it looked like a heap of brush.” <br /><br />According to local tradition, Clarke and John Parker then rallied the Lexington men and convinced them to re-enter the fight against His Majesty’s forces. <br /><br />According to Minute Man National Historical Park, the Reverend William Emerson played an active role in the formation and spiritual guidance of the Concord minute companies. In March, 1775, the minister gave a sermon to the town’s minute companies proclaiming "Arise! my injured countrymen! and plead even with the sword, the firelock and the bayonet, plead with your arms the birthright of Englishmen, the dearly-purchased legacy left you by your never-to-be-forgotten Ancestors..."<br /><br />On April 19th, Emerson joined the town’s minute companies when they first mustered at approximately one or two in the morning and was with them later that morning as they climbed the "eminence" north of town to watch the British troops approaching. According to family tradition, Emerson then retired to his home to watch over his family. According to other local historians, the minister rejoined the Concord minute companies and fought side by side with them.<br /><br />When word of the Battle of Lexington reached Needham, Massachusetts, the Reverend Samuel West elected to follow the town’s militia company into battle as its spiritual leader. According to West, ““The news reached us about nine o’clock A.M. The east company in Needham met at my house as part of the Military stores were deposited with me, they there supplied themselves, and by ten o’clock all marched for the place of action with as much spirit and resolution as the most zealous friends of the cause could have wished for. We could easily trace the march of troops from the smoke which arose over them, and could hear from my house the report of the cannon and the Platoons fired by the British. The Needham company was soon on the ground, but unhappily being ignorant of what are called flank-guards they inserted themselves between them and the main body of the British troops. In consequence of which they suffered more severely than their Neighbors who kept to a greater distance.”<br /><br />Later that evening, the Reverend West received word that several of the men from his community were among the day’s casualties. As a result, he immediately assumed the role of grief counselor and spiritual advisor. “In the evening we had intelligence that several of the Needham inhabitants were among the slain, and the next morning it was confirmed that five had fallen in the action and several others had been wounded. It is remarkable that the five who fell all of them had families, and several of them very numerous families so that there were about forty widows and fatherless children made in consequence of their death … I visited these families immediately, and with a sympathetic sense of their affliction I gave to some the first intelligence they had of the dreadful event, the death of a Husband and a Parent. The very different manner in which the tidings were received, discovered the very different disposition of the suffers. While some were almost frantic in their grief others received the news with profound silence as if in a consternation of grief they were incapable of shedding tears or uttering sighs or groans.”<br /><br />The Reverend Andrew Elliott remained in Boston on the eve of the Revolution to watch over his remaining congregation. As news trickled about the engagement in Lexington, the minister noted many Bostonians were in an utter state of panic. “Such a Sabbath of melancholy and darkness I never knew … every face gathering paleness – all hurry & confusion – one going this way & another that – others not knowing where to go.” Elliott would be called upon to offer emotional and spiritual support to those who were now trapped behind enemy lines.</span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0M_9b0rHKGk2YDa_Kzw3nL9wBESPVougKDbpGlt_YoSIt5ICJUJfKor6F849ErfHlCxO95sWFne31osXKiLD8D9_h_nBf_N0GICC_OQ7cyboFF5YO_-g9ZqyG7oA6b6sTsy0sgIJUGpmOhtx__JMp941wjlteofQAkzzN0ttBU7_52yeGhwzMm_OC/s1759/Henry%20Cooke.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Photo Credit: John Collins" border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1759" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0M_9b0rHKGk2YDa_Kzw3nL9wBESPVougKDbpGlt_YoSIt5ICJUJfKor6F849ErfHlCxO95sWFne31osXKiLD8D9_h_nBf_N0GICC_OQ7cyboFF5YO_-g9ZqyG7oA6b6sTsy0sgIJUGpmOhtx__JMp941wjlteofQAkzzN0ttBU7_52yeGhwzMm_OC/w400-h219/Henry%20Cooke.jpg" title="Photo Credit: John Collins" width="400" /> </a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo Credit: John Collins </span></i></span><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">In some communities, especially those outside the path of the fight, ministers often remained behind to tend to the flock and provide spiritual encouragement to those provincial units passing through the town en route to Boston. <br /><br />In the days after Lexington and Concord, Newburyport ministers offered religious guidance to New Hampshire and Maine troops who passed through their community. <br /><br />In Westborough, the Reverend Ebenezer Parkman offered sermons to those militia and minute companies that passed through his town. According to one passage, Parkman noted “The said Soldiers, having eat Breakfast here, left us; and two more came, viz. Appleton Osgood and Joseph Bowman from the Same Town, and had Breakfast among us. I rode to Northborough. At the Widow Martyns a multitude from South Hadley marching to Cambridge. I gave them (the soldiers) a Serious Exhortation and Caution.” <br /><br />A few days later, Parkman noted “At the Request of the Officers of the Mansfield and Coventry Companys I prayed with them.”<br /><br />Several ministers served either as eyewitnesses to the horrors of war and recorded the observations of others. According to the Reverend Parkman, he interviewed a Mr. Thomas Whitney, who had rid down as far as Charleston. He has Seen the Sad Effects of hot Assaults and Skirmishes. The Account that the Roads for a great way were strowed with dead Men, is confirmed.”<br /><br />The Reverend David McCulure noted as he toured the aftermath of the Menotomy fight ““Dreadful were the vestiges of war on the road. I saw several dead bodies, principally British, on & near the road. They were all naked, having been stripped, principally, by their own soldiers. They lay on their faces. Several were killed who stopped to plunder & were suddenly surprised by our people pressing upon their rear.... The houses on the road of the march of the British, were all perforated with balls, & the windows broken. Horses, cattle & swine lay dead around. Such were the dreadful trophies of war, for about 20 Miles!”<br /><br />Finally, the Reverend William Gordon, “you would have been shocked at the destruction which has been made by the Regulars, as they are miscalled, had you been present with me to have beheld it. Many houses were plundered of everything valuable that could be taken away, and what could not be carried off was destroyed.”<br /><br />Obviously the Nerds need to take a closer look at this topic. So, if you have any leads or suggestions we should review, let us know!</span></span><p></p>Alexander R. Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08258218418111297609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978067274099413141.post-91329571402036098872023-01-15T23:35:00.007-05:002023-01-16T14:22:44.514-05:00“In the Late Action, Many of the Soldiers Lost Their Blankets" - The Use of Blankets by Massachusetts Forces in the Spring of 1775<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">So today the Nerds want to talk about blankets. <br /><br />Maybe it’s because we watched too many “Charlie Brown" specials growing up and secretly wished we could be as cool as Linus. Or perhaps we’ve developed a secret love of blankets because we typically hide under a pile of them every time the Bride puts on a Hallmark movie. But we digress…<br /><br />Recently, there has been a discussion amongst a few research circles as to what extent blankets were part of a militiaman's equipment between the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the Battle of Bunker Hill. <br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Some
historians have correctly pointed out that blankets were not listed in Massachusetts militia
laws or most of the 1774 and 1775 town resolutions outlining the requisite
arms and equipment of minute and militia men should carry when alarmed. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A few haves
highlight the limited accounts and claims for compensation for blankets
lost at the Battles of Lexington and Concord.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, there is other ample evidence that Massachusetts forces carried blankets into the field. </span></span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">So, were blankets carried by Massachusetts forces in the Spring and early Summer of 1775? </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Before we take a deep dive into the question, let’s take a brief look at how blankets were utilized during the French Wars of the 1740s and 1750s. <br /><br />Prior to the American Revolution, blankets rarely appeared in militia laws or similar regulations outlining the arms and equipment of Massachusetts provincial troops. Instead, blankets were typically categorized under legislative recruitment bounties. Potential recruits who agreed to enlist for a term of service (typically a year or less), would receive pay, clothing, arms, equipment and ... blankets. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For example, in 1740, Massachusetts Bay Colony called for the raising of troops to assist in the invasion of Spanish West Indies. As part of its recruitment effort, the colony offered “Five pounds to be pd to each Able bodyed Effective Soldier that shall Enlist himself for that service on or before the first day of March next, and to each of them a good blanket.” </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuT2-Au6ik_jQddg_hsl3ONPI3KMdFfbSMp0MeNdi_eMRS-hDOco4au84GEasVyw4gJx5hCSNbmxp4wWCQ3nu-67DQCfwmSa227bL6TbGA_K_Ly21mPiLuuGr5VfmEXZswZRsmWleWORQ0iO5A96ZA0xQpdGp3PB_FFAIDeAmKFvUVSn69O0TJoEmt/s2048/HN%204.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuT2-Au6ik_jQddg_hsl3ONPI3KMdFfbSMp0MeNdi_eMRS-hDOco4au84GEasVyw4gJx5hCSNbmxp4wWCQ3nu-67DQCfwmSa227bL6TbGA_K_Ly21mPiLuuGr5VfmEXZswZRsmWleWORQ0iO5A96ZA0xQpdGp3PB_FFAIDeAmKFvUVSn69O0TJoEmt/w400-h266/HN%204.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">In October of that same year Massachusetts considered raising troops for a military strike against Canada. As part of its legislative resolution, the government declared “Voted' that there be granted as an Encouragement to a number of good and effective men not exceeding Three Thousand to enlist Voluntiers into His Majestys service in the said Expedition against Canada, as a Bounty, Thirty Pounds in Bills of Credit of the Old Tenour, and a Blanket;, for each man, and a bed for every two men, the money to be paid upon Enlistment and the Blankets & Beds delivered on embarkation.”<br /><br />In 1745, Massachusetts set its sights on capturing Fortress Louisbourg in Canada. As part of a recruitment effort, the colonial government declared “That His Excellency the Captain General be desired to give forth his proclamation to encourage the Enlistment of Three thousand Voluntiers under such Officers as he shall appoint; that each person so enlisting be allowed Twenty five shillings per month, and that there be delivered to each man a blanket;, that one months pay be advanced, and that' be entitled to all the plunder.”<br /><br />During the French and Indian War, blankets were again considered part of enlistment bounties. In 1754, Massachusetts was in the midst of preparing for the invasion of Nova Scotia. It recommended that “the Blankets, Knapsacks & Bandileers provided for the Use of the Soldiers in the said Expedition, are many of them almost worn out, by Reason of the Hardness of the Service, praying that those Things may not be charged to the Soldiers but given to them gratis.” <br /><br />In a 1757 legislative resolution, Massachusetts men who enlisted into a provincial regiment were to receive “shall be intitled to Thirty shillings and upon his passing Muster shall receive a good Blanket; and Fifty shillings more for furnishing himself with Cloaths.” In 1759, Massachusetts provincial soldiers were authorized to receive recruitment pay plus a “Blanket, Knapsack, Canteen or Wood Bottle and other Articles in the like.” </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">As an aside, blankets for recruits were typically acquired on behalf of the colony through a military contractor who billed the colony for his services. In turn, any expenses incurred were typically reimbursed by His Majesty’s treasury.</span></span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI4UIS-Wh5PQPW1NL8W-A0BJmYLfeCBmXqBWrrBHFC471J5YJgM4TdptCRxmwdzhk7QZG5K0LkRFX1OuedYEecdcr64gyAMPrl5gsiF2sbzW2xCtqyXlmg5JkMEBIxkYkJYoKbEVOvQOhciTZoxr2gvG5KRQB7yWanfXcpQR5zQNDMr8z3uOKhkydd/s960/HN%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="554" data-original-width="960" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI4UIS-Wh5PQPW1NL8W-A0BJmYLfeCBmXqBWrrBHFC471J5YJgM4TdptCRxmwdzhk7QZG5K0LkRFX1OuedYEecdcr64gyAMPrl5gsiF2sbzW2xCtqyXlmg5JkMEBIxkYkJYoKbEVOvQOhciTZoxr2gvG5KRQB7yWanfXcpQR5zQNDMr8z3uOKhkydd/w400-h231/HN%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Understandably, when Massachusetts was on the brink of war with England, the colonial government did not have the luxury of offering blanket bounties in exchange for service in minute and militia companies. Instead, the responsibility shifted to local towns and communities to provide blankets for their men. <br /><br />There is evidence that Massachusetts towns were encouraging soldiers from their communities to provide their own blankets. For example, in Bridgwater, men were required to field with “a good fire arm, a steel or iron ram rod and a spring for same, a worm, a priming wire and brush, a bayonet fitted to his gun, a scabbard and belt thereof, a cutting sword or tomahawk or hatchet, a . . .cartridge box holding fifteen rounds . . . at least, a hundred buckshot, six flints, one pound of powder, forty leaden balls fitted to the gun, a knapsack and blanket, [and] a canteen or wooden bottle to hold one quart [of water]". <br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Many towns across the Colony, including Newburyport, Ipswich, Cambridge, Lexington, Haverhill, and Concord, also provided blankets to those poor militia men who could not afford their own. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span>The effort to supply Massachusetts men with blankets apparently was quite successful, and, as a result, caught the attention of General Thomas Gage. In a March 4, 1775 report to his superiors, the general noted that </span></span><span>"</span><span>each
man is supplied even to a knapsack, canteen and blanket and directed to
bring a week’s provisions with him when called to the field." </span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />In the aftermath of the Battles of Lexington and Concord,the expectation that towns would provide blankets to the men of their community was further codified when the Massachusetts Provincial Congress called for the raising of additional troops in support of the Siege of Boston. According to the April 23, 1775 order, “RESOLVED, That the Selectmen of the several Towns and Districts within this Colony, be desired to furnish the Soldiers who shall inlist from their respective Towns and Districts with good and sufficient Blankets, and render their Accounts to the Committee of Supplies, who are hearby directed to draw on the Colony Treasurer for Payment of the same.”<br /><br />With all that said, did the minute and militia men of 1775 carry blankets? <br /><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAx0BONZSMjzbXfLM1vJwCtZ3F65kEMOjuWlpHHk__Sb3G5tIbxJiNYtVcyjCRTMg6UWzUNArngsj-WmBHbjBxtFQwqbRKbT9xJQgqzHx0yH72HwwbgJh40dnSuU3BSlbFXkzEvenhzRwfE8hBGZlJbgomShqfgbZKHBtZ7wb5BIH03ar4smf-nOPy/s1616/HN%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1616" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAx0BONZSMjzbXfLM1vJwCtZ3F65kEMOjuWlpHHk__Sb3G5tIbxJiNYtVcyjCRTMg6UWzUNArngsj-WmBHbjBxtFQwqbRKbT9xJQgqzHx0yH72HwwbgJh40dnSuU3BSlbFXkzEvenhzRwfE8hBGZlJbgomShqfgbZKHBtZ7wb5BIH03ar4smf-nOPy/w268-h400/HN%201.jpg" width="268" /></a></span></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">There is certainly ample evidence militiamen did field with blankets when they mobilized for war between April 19, 1775 and July 1, 1775 . For example, Springfield’s minute company mobilized in response to the Lexington Alarm, the town quickly collected and distributed several blankets to those militiamen too poor to acquire their own. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A British officer's description of Captain John Parker's Lexington Company included a reference to the company being fully "</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-698f1923-7fff-5231-cb91-d4f5a9c1c7bd" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">drawn up in military order, with arms and accoutrement</span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">." Some historians have argued this reference when paired with the Reverend Jonas Clarke's subsequent comment that Parker's Company was prepared for "whatever service providence might call us out to" is strong circumstantial evidence that Lexington was fully equipped for a military campaign and was likely carrying blankets at the Battle of Lexington.<br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">There is also a description of a Chelmsford militia company fielding on the town common for inspection in the weeks after Lexington and Concord. All eighty-three men appeared for inspection carrying blankets.<br /><br />Perhaps the strongest evidence that many minute and militia men fielded with blankets was the Battle of Bunker Hill. Many of the troops who fought that day had been outside of Boston since Lexington and Concord. Two such units were Frye’s and Prescott’s Battalions, both of who arrived to support the siege on April 20th. When American forces were dispatched to the battlefield, they were ordered to bring with them blankets. <br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">As British forces stormed the American redoubt at the height of the bloody engagement,the rebel forces retreated. During the withdrawal, hundreds of blankets were abandoned. In the months after the battle, countless petitions were submitted by soldiers or their families seeking compensation for the lost blankets. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In fact, so many blankets were lost that Joesph Ward, General Artemas Ward’s secretary, would later bitterly complained to the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, “in the late action, many of the soldiers lost their blankets … they are now in a very suffering condition.” <br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">How bad was this shortage in the aftermath of the Battle of Bunker Hill? For the remainder of 1775 and into 1776, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress was continuously begging towns to provide blankets for the troops surrounding Boston. Furthermore, in order to stem the shortage, the Massachusetts legislature revised its militia laws in 1776 to include blankets as a legally required item. By undertaking this action, individual militiamen and their home town now formally bore the responsibility of providing blankets <br /></span></span></p><p></p>Alexander R. Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08258218418111297609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978067274099413141.post-70767702427737859322022-12-30T15:36:00.001-05:002022-12-30T16:56:27.436-05:00Two Hannahs, Two Annas and a Mary - Five Massachusetts Women Who Came in Direct Contact With His Majesty's Troops on April 19, 1775<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Recently the Nerds were asked to look into an unusual and likely false claim about a group of Native Americans who allegedly trained the minute companies from the Menotomy District of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to conduct underwater warfare operations against His Majesty’s forces. It’s a pretty wild claim and rest assured, we’ll be blogging about that and other fantastically false April 19th facts in 2023.<br /><br />However, while looking into this matter, we came across yet another petition from a civilian who found herself trapped between hostile forces on April 19, 1775. Before this discovery, we were only aware of three accounts from civilians who found themselves in similar circumstances.<br /><br />First up is Lincoln’s Mary Hartwell, who remembered coming in close contact with retreating British forces just as they were about to enter the Bloody Curve. “I saw an occasional horseman dashing by, going up and down, but heard nothing more until I saw them coming back in the afternoon all in confusion, wild with rage and loud with threats. I knew there had been trouble and that it had not resulted favorably for their retreating army. I heard musket shots just below by the old Brooks Tavern, and trembled, believing that our folks were killed.”</span></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5AsdX9NJ9Hv0XPyrQGcvUppxlu8IzaP0qcxb5Ozu1s93rIrbYJCM9TmvBvVqiPc_AmlUpdJxMK0jkVJZ5_e4gicKD4arfFI_LhjWGVQVLhXwaeEXE0XimPqQUw4AWoMluGWeUepfKRaxj9zZa3c2VlQQc0wN60DBtwAOpwEVo3nHhdvGBYpiD1v45/s1825/Joh%20Collins.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1395" data-original-width="1825" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5AsdX9NJ9Hv0XPyrQGcvUppxlu8IzaP0qcxb5Ozu1s93rIrbYJCM9TmvBvVqiPc_AmlUpdJxMK0jkVJZ5_e4gicKD4arfFI_LhjWGVQVLhXwaeEXE0XimPqQUw4AWoMluGWeUepfKRaxj9zZa3c2VlQQc0wN60DBtwAOpwEVo3nHhdvGBYpiD1v45/w400-h306/Joh%20Collins.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Photo Credit: John Collins</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Anna Munroe, wife of Lexington’s Sergeant William Munroe, and her 5-year-old daughter Anna nearly the Royal Artillery and Percy's Relief Column as they fled the family tavern. According to her 19th Century account, the child witness recalled she “could remember seeing the men in redcoats coming toward the house and how frightened her mother was when they ran from the house. That was all she could remember, but her mother told her of her very unhappy afternoon. She held Anna by the hand, brother William by her side and baby Sally in her arms . . . She could hear the cannon firing over her head on the hill. She could smell the smoke of the three buildings which the British burned between here and the center of Lexington. And she did not know what was happening to her husband, who was fighting, or what was happening within her house. . . Anna’s mother used to talk to her of what happened on April 19th and she remembered that her mother used to take her on her lap and say: ‘This is my little girl that I was so afraid the Red coats would get.’”<br /><br />Perhaps the most notable female non-combatant who came into direct contact with the retreating British column was Hannah Adams of Menotomy. As we have previously discussed, the <a href="https://historicalnerdery01.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-bloody-field-at-menotomy-brutality.html" target="_blank">Menotomy Fight of April 19, 1775</a> was a vicious engagement that devolved into a bloody house-to-house and room-to-room fight for survival. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Unfortunately, as this fight raged on, Hannah Adams found herself trapped between Massachusetts militiamen and British regulars.<br /><br />Hannah had given birth to a daughter approximately ten days before the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The pregnancy and subsequent delivery were particularly difficult; as a result, she was still bedridden on April 19th. As the British column retreated towards her village, her husband, Deacon Joseph Adams, allegedly panicked, abandoned his wife and family, and hid in a nearby hayloft. Three regulars burst into her bedroom at the height of the Menotomy Fight. One threatened to kill her with his bayonet. <br /><br />According to Hannah Adams, “[Upon] the return of the Kings Troops from Concord, divers of them entered our house by bursting open the doors, & three of the soldiers, broke into the room, in which I then was, laid on my bed; being Scarcely able to walk, from my bed to the fire, & not having been to my chamber-door, from my being delivered in Child-birth to that time -One of the soldiers, immediately opened my Curtains with his Bayonet, fixed, pointing the same to my breast. I immediately cried out –For the Lords Sake, don’t kill me-He replied Damn you-One that stood, near, Said We will not hurt the Woman if she will go out of the house, for we will surely burn it-I immediately arose, threw, a Blanket, over me, went out & crawled into a Corn House, near the door with my infant in my arms, where I remained until they were gone They immediately Set the house on fire, in which I had left five Children, & no other person,-but the fire was happily extinguished.”</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXkCz_GcE3JcNbRrTHZg4_ZJx5rlybucNuzZWHb2v0QOoJ2XSusqBh0CqhnxoI4g9S1PO1lEfqjvk9ejc1xE_rLAmVdlb4uuT9TtZ5ozX61KbZXeVmXCX_654RzCnDcbP8l33pAu9GXW2vqylFOTeAIEHSYHo1EGVZNZOEMYsVVX3T5PZoMDm8QeHS/s593/Hanah%20Adams.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="593" data-original-width="494" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXkCz_GcE3JcNbRrTHZg4_ZJx5rlybucNuzZWHb2v0QOoJ2XSusqBh0CqhnxoI4g9S1PO1lEfqjvk9ejc1xE_rLAmVdlb4uuT9TtZ5ozX61KbZXeVmXCX_654RzCnDcbP8l33pAu9GXW2vqylFOTeAIEHSYHo1EGVZNZOEMYsVVX3T5PZoMDm8QeHS/w334-h400/Hanah%20Adams.jpg" width="334" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Petition of Hannah Adams, Massachusetts Historical Society</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Adams submitted her account of the encounter to Massachusetts officials, who quickly published it. To say it became a public relations disaster for the Crown in the aftermath of Lexington and Concord is an understatement. <br /><br />In addition to the account of Hannah Adams, The Nerds recently encountered a description of the Menotomy Fight from a second Hannah - Hannah Bradish of Menotomy. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">How we missed her detailed and graphic account is on us. Bad Nerds … Bad Nerds indeed.<br /><br />Like Hannah Adams, Hannah Bradish was also bedridden on April 19, 1775, having given birth to a child eight days earlier. Her husband, Ebenezer Bradish Jr., was a tavern keeper and part-time attorney. However, unlike Deacon Adams, it appears Bradish’s husband was with his militia company that day. <br /><br />As the regulars entered Menotomy, Hannah was asleep in bed with her infant. The noise of the fighting woke her up ad she quickly gathered her children and fled to the family kitchen located at the back of the house.<br /><br />According to her statement submitted to the Massachusetts Provincial Congress on May 11, 1775, “Hannah Bradish, of that part of Cambridge, called Menotomy, and daughter of timothy Paine, of Worcester, in the county of Worcester, esq. of lawful age, testifies and says, that about five o'clock on Wednesday last, afternoon, being in her bed-chamber, with her infant child, about eight days old, she was surprised by the firing of the king's troops and our people, on their return from Concord. She being weak and unable to go out of her house, in order to secure herself and family, they all retired into the kitchen, in the back part of the house. She soon found the house surrounded with the king's troops; that upon observation made, at least seventy bullets were shot into the front part of the house; several bullets lodged in the kitchen where she was, and one passed through an easy chair she had just gone from. The door of the front part of the house was broken open; she did not see any soldiers in the house, but supposed, by the noise, they were in the front. After the troops had gone off, she missed the following things, which, she verily believes, were taken out of the house by the king's troops, viz: one rich brocade gown, called a negligée, one lutestring gown, one white quilt, one pair of brocade shoes, three shifts, eight white aprons, three caps, one case of ivory knives and forks, and several other small articles.” <br /><br /> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpbDLjqqUtCjIJFeHW3G74yXvug5CIt64hXPtvR-Ciwsi9ZUYHFaIFZPAuLuAiMwRmsCurQrFAnfIpGXL2za9C066zrK3qeoRACrnK-cq7q0orujonSXwikQhGzo5lmbgTWoq-5OEMGLRmqR5bivyvfZxf6Ih6uzbWF9-wHro7Vhe76_rfeEN8GRKv/s1773/Rory%20BR.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="723" data-original-width="1773" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpbDLjqqUtCjIJFeHW3G74yXvug5CIt64hXPtvR-Ciwsi9ZUYHFaIFZPAuLuAiMwRmsCurQrFAnfIpGXL2za9C066zrK3qeoRACrnK-cq7q0orujonSXwikQhGzo5lmbgTWoq-5OEMGLRmqR5bivyvfZxf6Ih6uzbWF9-wHro7Vhe76_rfeEN8GRKv/w400-h163/Rory%20BR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Photo Credit: John Collins</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Of course, the sheer number of bullet strikes into Bradish’s home is corroborated by the Revered David McClure. On April 20, 1775, the minister visited Menotomy and was horrified at the extent of damage he witnessed. “Dreadful were the vestiges of war on the road. I saw several dead bodies, principally British, on & near the road. They were all naked, having been stripped, principally, by their own soldiers. They lay on their faces. Several were killed who stopped to plunder & were suddenly surprised by our people pressing upon their rear…. The houses on the road of the march of the British, were all perforated with balls, & the windows broken. Horses, cattle & swine lay dead around. Such were the dreadful trophies of war, for about 20 miles!”</span></span></p>Alexander R. Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08258218418111297609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978067274099413141.post-55495366057054889492022-12-03T22:04:00.003-05:002022-12-03T23:24:50.524-05:00"Drinking a Number of Loyal and Patriotic Toasts" - What Did Massachusetts Minute and Militia Companies Do Once the Drills Ended?<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">With the debut of Christmas Hell 2022 … aka the arrival of the latest Hallmark Christmas specials … the Nerds realized we had to keep busy or risk being forced to watch Winnie Cooper’s latest effort to wed a royal fop from some unknown fairy tale country.<br /><br />So with that said, the Nerds decided to take a fresh look at the military activities of Massachusetts minute and militia companies on the eve of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. As we reviewed period accounts and documentation, we had to ask ourselves, “what the heck happened when the drills ended for the day? Were there any social gatherings?”<br /><br />As many historians have previously noted, once the French threat in North America was suppressed in 1763, Massachusetts militia rarely assembled to drill and, as a result, were of little military value. By the eve of the Boston Tea Party, a militia muster was not viewed as a military gathering but rather as a sort of town holiday offering an opportunity for families and friends to socialize. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6VRffzeAkSyjKLY506H66q94Kj01yHJ5QROTQyCR_ZKSlXEB_gpUOxNKIst_Z-7sOqstO7tDsg3_y1yzbVlHPenY22c1tBX28hsAisSdbqJWi6awWIc-gVd3DxMHfqPNK-BkCw0dRaOjXYllZGnDFW0K8YDBFwWQ-xvm9J5NaUqfiAs7_bmGdaiKg/s618/Tavern.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="618" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6VRffzeAkSyjKLY506H66q94Kj01yHJ5QROTQyCR_ZKSlXEB_gpUOxNKIst_Z-7sOqstO7tDsg3_y1yzbVlHPenY22c1tBX28hsAisSdbqJWi6awWIc-gVd3DxMHfqPNK-BkCw0dRaOjXYllZGnDFW0K8YDBFwWQ-xvm9J5NaUqfiAs7_bmGdaiKg/w400-h251/Tavern.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, by 1774, many American colonists were gravely concerned that an immoral British government, having exhausted opportunities for plunder and profit in England and Ireland, was now seeking a dispute with the American colonies as an excuse to enslave and deprive them of their wealth and liberties. In response, the people of Massachusetts saw the coming conflict with England as inevitable and, thus, approached military preparations with a sense of importance and urgency. <br /><br />Yet, despite the looming threat of war, many militia companies still found time after hosting drills to host social gatherings and celebrations. <br /><br />In 1774, Newburyport’s Marine Society, a charitable organization composed of merchants, ship owners and captains, formed an independent military company known as the “Independent Marines”. On September 21, 1774, the unit assembled for a drill. According to the September 21st edition of the Essex Journal and Merrimack Packet, “Wednesday last the independent military society in this town met at the town-house compleat in arms and ammunition : After having been reviewed by their officers chosen by the society, they performed the manual exercise and filings, after which they marched to the Mason's arms tavern, and there performed the evolutions; and from thence marched to Mr. William Tell's (a gentleman that has always not only talked, but acted upon the genuine principles of patriotism), who had prepared an elegant entertainment for the society; after spending a few very agreeable hours with a number of gentlemen (whom Mr. 'Feel had invited) in conversation, repast, and drinking a number of loyal and patriotic toasts, the society again rally, march to the town-house, and after firing three vollies lodged their arms. All was conducted with the greatest order and good humour.”<br /><br />Approximately a month later, the Newburyport Company of Artillery assembled to drill. Once finished, “they then marched to General Wolf’s tavern where an elegant supper was provided at the expense of the company, and a few agreeable hours were spent with drinking forty-five loyal and patriotic toasts.”</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQCDZXL8l6ysOCPo7qMeEps30I81JJOIvWcbm2UAqSjwYe7YoyleQK46LKI5fx_B1_3KgDWchTHPMjqvsNEFC5U4O2Q3CPInCCTP7k48fOqrmxqv0vt1YSAhOHEobLahOAvfIOYAUs4BwTE7queRt8_bsLOmPHXQnjIzq71dmp1VrmxluxBQbQ0jmr/s552/newburyport%201.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="220" data-original-width="552" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQCDZXL8l6ysOCPo7qMeEps30I81JJOIvWcbm2UAqSjwYe7YoyleQK46LKI5fx_B1_3KgDWchTHPMjqvsNEFC5U4O2Q3CPInCCTP7k48fOqrmxqv0vt1YSAhOHEobLahOAvfIOYAUs4BwTE7queRt8_bsLOmPHXQnjIzq71dmp1VrmxluxBQbQ0jmr/w400-h160/newburyport%201.png" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A January 5, 1775 account in the Essex Journal and Merrimack Packet reported that the minute company of Lunenburgh (MA) spent the morning drilling and then “marched to a public house where the officers had prepared an elegant dinner for the company.” <br /><br />Period accounts from Andover, Methuen, Boxford, and Haverhill also describe militia, minute and independent companies assembling to drill, and perform a variety of military maneuvers before retiring to their respective “public house” for meals and libations.<br /><br />The diary of the Reverend Ebenezer Parkman of Westborough, Massachusetts, highlights several instances of militia, minute and alarm list companies socializing after the completion of military exercises.<br /><br />On March 8, 1775, the minister recalled, “I rode to Shrewsbury to Mr. Sumners Lecture to the Minute-Men under the Command of Capt. Job Cushing. Dined at Mr. Sumners.”</span></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGaf-ReeIMYua6eG-IrESFsg-wRCzee7U_R-vRQzndfOMy1YfXHR6TOr18MCS13NjPWCbTI5FRys1rwxVudRvBFpbc1yVlflUGEbcE1CnOejUFhflQACrlGMIH9tIu1xrxJZ3KZo7kgMyLrTmPsZScHqIoO_-GOcqZPXvzg7Lb4RYMCPPsrEKpaAMt/s486/lunenburg.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="486" data-original-width="401" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGaf-ReeIMYua6eG-IrESFsg-wRCzee7U_R-vRQzndfOMy1YfXHR6TOr18MCS13NjPWCbTI5FRys1rwxVudRvBFpbc1yVlflUGEbcE1CnOejUFhflQACrlGMIH9tIu1xrxJZ3KZo7kgMyLrTmPsZScHqIoO_-GOcqZPXvzg7Lb4RYMCPPsrEKpaAMt/w330-h400/lunenburg.png" width="330" /></a></span></div><p><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>A month later, Parkman noted, “This Day was designed to be Lecture Day at Southborough and Mr. Fitch to preach to the Minute Men. Our Minute Men were invited, and Mr. Barnabas Newton and Joseph Harrington joining together propose to give them an early Dinner.” Unfortunately, the event was canceled due to inclement weather. <br /><br />Parkman notes that two days before the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Westborough minute company was invited to drill with the Brookfield minute company. Afterward, “[the] Minute Men were entertained at Mr. Barnabas Newtons. By his Invitation I was there with them.”</span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span><span><span>Accounts of social gatherings were not limited to Provincial accounts. As <a href="https://www.nps.gov/mima/index.htm">Head Interpretive Ranger Jim Hollister</a> noted "</span></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en">Ensign
DeBerniere’s account from March of 1775 mentions watching a militia
company at drill while he and Capt. Brown were sitting in a tavern
adjacent to the training field. He said that after their exercise they
filed into the tavern and drank until 9:00 then went home 'full of pot
valour.'" </span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en">Historian John Mills also chipped in and shared Ensign DeBerniere's full account. "</span></span></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en">We arrived at Buckminster's tavern [still there near the old training
field which now has Blacksmith Minuteman statue in Framingham, MA] about
six o'clock that evening. The company of militia were exercising near
the house, and an hour after they came and performed they came and
performed their feats before the windows of the rooms we were in; we did
not feel easy at seeing such a number so very near to us; however, they
did not know who we were, and took little or notice of us. After they
had done their exercise, one of their commanders spoke a very eloquent
speech. recommending patience, coolness and bravery (which indeed they
very much wanted); particularly told them they would always conquer if
they did not break; and recommended them to charge us cooly, and wait
for our fire, and everything would succeed with them - quotes Caesar and
Pompey, brigadiers Putnam and Ward and all such great men; put them in
mind of Cape Breton, and all the battles they had gained for his majesty
in the last war, and observed that the regulars must have been ruined
but for them. After so learned and spirited harangue, he dismissed the
parade, and the whole company came into the house and drank until nine
o'clock, and the returned to their respective homes full of pot-valor."</span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><span><span><br />The Nerds will continue to look for period accounts of militia and minute companies socializing after military drills. If you’re aware of any other accounts, be sure to let us know!</span></span></span></span></p><p></p>Alexander R. Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08258218418111297609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978067274099413141.post-52618187989721323082022-10-30T20:07:00.001-04:002022-10-30T20:07:18.466-04:00"Their Little Popes, Dressed Up in the Most Grotesque and Fantastic Manner" - Halloween 18th Century New England Style?<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Last evening the Nerds had the opportunity to attend <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MinuteManNPS">Minute Man National Historical Park</a>’s Hartwell Halloween open house. What a fun and engaging event and we encourage our readers to check out the 2023 open house.<br /><br />Of course, this got the Nerds thinking…did 18th Century New England have its own version of Halloween?<br /><br />Almanacs of the late 18th and early 19th century do not indicate that Halloween was widely celebrated in North America. It was not until after mass Irish and Scottish immigration in the 19th century that Halloween became a major holiday in the United States. However, New Englanders did observe Pope’s Night, a holiday that included Halloween-like traditions such as costumes, shaking down neighbors for treats (i.e., cash), and random acts of violence. <br /><br />Wait…did you say violence?<br /><br />Each year in 18th Century England, November 5th was celebrated as Guy Fawkes' Day. The holiday commemorated the thwarting of the “Gunpowder Plot” to overthrow King James I in 1605. In New England, during colonial times, the annual commemoration became known as Pope's Day, and had quickly evolved into an anti-Catholic celebration. Effigies of the Devil, Pope, and government officials were fought over by rival mobs and eventually burned in a huge bonfire at Copp's Hill in Boston.<br /><br />Violence was commonplace and death a possibility during Boston celebrations. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">John Boyle noted in his journal that on November 5,1764 “a Child of Mr. Brown's at the North-End was run over by one of the Wheels of the North-End Pope and Killed on the Spot. Many others were wounded in the evening.” John Rowe also recorded the violence of the 1764 celebrations. “1764 Nov. 5. A sorrowful accident happened this forenoon at the North End — the wheel of the carriage that the Pope was fixed on run over a Boy's head & he died instantly. The Sheriff, Justices, Officers of the Militia were ordered to destroy both S° & North End Popes. In the afternoon they got the North End Pope pulled to pieces, they went to the S° End but could not Conquer upon which the South End people brought out their pope & went in Triumph to the Northward and at the Mill Bridge a Battle begun between the people of Both Parts of the Town. The North End people having repaired their pope, but the South End people got the Battle (many were hurt & bruised on both sides) & Brought away the North End pope & burnt Both of them at the Gallows on the Neck. Several thousand people following them, hallowing &ct.”</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigANFDJcU9BLm4wpuVFc3ZYPHFxTRqK_N6on_yASZ81rao39PGzl_0KUqAuVqiV_l6akCTnw9xS7r4xvmFBWzV8nzJmbIj71D-rEeywnf4wHUHG4Zl9o4cwiJTbaJFA3P3Zawwnc8rdy5ktw5HlO4QvjfNKlCe_3l8RdB0hFt6X2l0Z4J0W3mKw67D/s2048/Popes%20night%201.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigANFDJcU9BLm4wpuVFc3ZYPHFxTRqK_N6on_yASZ81rao39PGzl_0KUqAuVqiV_l6akCTnw9xS7r4xvmFBWzV8nzJmbIj71D-rEeywnf4wHUHG4Zl9o4cwiJTbaJFA3P3Zawwnc8rdy5ktw5HlO4QvjfNKlCe_3l8RdB0hFt6X2l0Z4J0W3mKw67D/w400-h225/Popes%20night%201.jpg" /></a><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, not all Pope Day celebrations ended in gang brawls, death or destruction. According to an account published in the November 7, 1765 edition of the <i>Massachusetts Gazette</i>.<br /><br />“Tuesday last being the Anniversary of the Commemoration of the happy Deliverance of the English Nation from the Popish Plot, commonly called The Powder Plot, the Guns at Castle William and at the Batteries in Town were fired at one o’clock; as also on board the Men of War in the Harbour. It has long been the Custom in this Town on the Fifth of November for Numbers of Persons to exhibit on Stages some Pageantry, denoting their Abhorrence of POPERY and the horrid Plot which was to have been executed on that Day in the Year 1605; these Shews of late Years has been continued in the Evening, and we have often seen the bad Effects attending them at such a time; the Servants and Negroes would disguise themselves, and being armed with clubs would engage each other with great Violence, whereby many came off badly wounded; in short they carried it to such Lengths that two Parties were created in the Town, under the Apellation of North-End and South-End: But the Disorders that had been committed from Time to Time induced several Gentlemen to try a Reconciliation between the two Parties; accordingly the Chiefs met on the First of this Instant, and conducted that Affair in a very orderly Manner; in the Evening the Commander of the South entered into a Treaty with the Commander of the North, and after making several Overtures they reciprocally engaged on a UNION, and the former Distinctions to subside; at the same Time the Chiefs with their Assistants engaged upon their Honor no Mischiefs should arise by their Means, and that they would prevent and Disorders, on the 4th. When the Day arrived the Morning was all Quietness, about Noon the Pageantry, representing the Pope, Devil, and several other Effigies signifying Tyranny, Oppression, Slavery, were brought on Stages from the North and South, and met in King [State] Street, where the Union was established in a very ceremonial Manner, and having given three Huzzas, they interchanged Ground, the South marched to the North, and the North to the South, parading thro' the Streets until they again met near the Court House: The whole then proceeded to the Tree of Liberty, under the Shadow of which they refreshed themselves for a while, and then retreated to the Northward, agreeable to their Plan; – they reached Copp's Hill before 6 o’clock, where they halted, and having enkindled a Fire, the whole Pageantry was committed to the Flames and consumed: This being finished every person was requested to retire to their respective Homes – It must be noticed to the Honor of all those concerned in this business that every thing was conducted in a most regular manner, and such Order observed as could hardly be expected among a concourse of several thousand people – all seemed to be joined, agreeable to their principal Motto Levely Unity – The Leaders, Mr. McIntoth form the South, and Mr. Swift from the North, appeared in Military Habits, with small canes resting on their left arms, having music in Front and Flank; their assistants appeared also distinguished with small reeds, then the respective Corps followed, among whom were a great Number of Persons in Rank: These with the Spectators filled the Streets; not a Club was seen among the whole, nor was any Negro allowed to approach near the Stages; - after the Conflagration the Populace retired, and the Town remained the whole Night in better Order than it had ever been on this Occasion. – Many Gentlemen feeing the Affair so well conducted, contributed to make up a handsome Purse to entertain those that carried it on - This Union, and one other more extensive, may be look'd upon as the (perhaps the only) happy Effects arising from the S-p A-t."<br /><br />The celebrations were not confined to Boston. Pope's Day was popular in several seaports of New England. <br /><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_FClO6-e4RRvwkNYCx3CkwVqLNCmkSriTg11fMiv3Ymr3Ff6aeOHDre7ICDRoJ6ErOQGeaVHDZKyzNO6cex6i_fWark-pc-hVVJsm30Z2mHXggYeYAn_Awi3GNMv4YSswtAPzXm8Xuudet6Vkhine1t0Qc-UfToxKSZYd9HXNuXENdQLuwgMyjttQ/s1416/Popes%20Night%203.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_FClO6-e4RRvwkNYCx3CkwVqLNCmkSriTg11fMiv3Ymr3Ff6aeOHDre7ICDRoJ6ErOQGeaVHDZKyzNO6cex6i_fWark-pc-hVVJsm30Z2mHXggYeYAn_Awi3GNMv4YSswtAPzXm8Xuudet6Vkhine1t0Qc-UfToxKSZYd9HXNuXENdQLuwgMyjttQ/w400-h235/Popes%20Night%203.jpg" /></a> <br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Prominent celebrations were held in Marblehead, Newburyport, Salem, Newport and Portsmouth. In 1702, Marbleheaders met the Fifth of November with a bull baiting. The meat was then distributed to the poor. The Rev. Ezra Stiles described Newport’s Pope Day in 1771. "Powder Plot, — Pope &ct carried about;" and again on November 5, 1774, he says, "This Afternoon three popes &ct. paraded thro' the streets, & in the Evening they were consumed in a Bonfire as usual — among others were Ld. North, Gov. Hutchinson & Gen. Gage." John Adams described November 5th activities in Salem. “Spent the evening at Mr. Pynchon's, with Farnham, Sewall, Sargeant, Col. Saltonstall &ct. very agreeably. Punch, wine, bread and cheese, apples, pipes and tobacco. Popes and bonfires this evening at Salem, and a swarm of tumultuous people attending.”<br /><br />Newburyport appears to have had its own elaborate celebration. As outlined in Joshua Coffin's <i>A Sketch of the History of Newbury, Newburyport, and West Newbury (1835)</i>, “In the day time, companies of little boys might be seen, in various parts of the town, with their little popes, dressed up in the most grotesque and fantastic manner, which they carried about, some on boards, and some on little carriages, for their own and others' amusement. But the great exhibition was reserved for the night, in which young men, as well as boys, participated. They first constructed a huge vehicle, varying at times, from twenty to forty feet long, eight or ten wide, and five or six high, from the lower to the upper platform, on the front of which, they erected a paper lantern, capacious enough to hold, in addition to the lights, five or six persons. Behind that, as large as life, sat the mimic pope, and several other personages, monks, friars and so forth. Last, but not least, stood an image of what was designed to be a representation of old Nick himself, furnished with a pair of huge horns, holding in his hand a pitchfork, and otherwise accoutred, with all the frightful ugliness that their ingenuity could desire. Their next step, after they had mounted their ponderous vehicle on four wheels, chosen their officers, captain, first and second lieutenant, purser and so forth, placed a boy under the platform, to elevate and move round, at proper intervals, the moveable head of the pope, and attached ropes to the front part of the machine, was, to take up their line of march through the principal streets of the town. Some times in addition to the images of the pope and his company, there might be found, on the same platform, half a dozen dancers and a fiddler, whose together with a large crowd who made up a long procession. Their custom was, to call at the principal houses in various parts of the town, ring their bell, cause the pope to elevate his head, and look round upon the audience, and repeat the following lines . . . After the verses were repeated, the purser stepped forward and took up his collection. Nearly all on whom they called, gave something. Esquire Atkins and Esquire Dalton, always gave a dollar apiece. After peram bulating the town, and finishing their collections, they concluded their evening's entertainment with a splendid supper; after making with the exception of the wheels and the heads of the effigies, a bonfire of the whole concern, to which were added, all the wash tubs, tar barrels, and stray lumber, that they could lay their hands on. With them the custom was, to steal all the stuff.”<br /><br />Interestingly enough, Newburyport clamped down on effigies and displays during the Pope’s Night celebrations of 1774. That year, the town voted “that no effigies be carried about or exhibited on the fifth of November only in the day time.” <br /><br />When France entered the American Revolution, Newburyport and other seaport communities either scaled back or did away completely with the anti-Catholic celebration. Portsmouth, New Hampshire, curiously continued the tradition well into the mid-19th Century.</span></span></p>Alexander R. Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08258218418111297609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978067274099413141.post-25458995577228190182022-08-28T12:51:00.001-04:002022-08-28T15:15:14.100-04:00"Many Leaped Over the Wall and Made for That Wood" - Manuevers of Massachusetts Forces on April 19, 1775<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span>This past April, the Nerds participated in Minute Man National Historical Park’s Battle Road activities. During some downtime, we chatted with one of the Park’s interpretive rangers about the operational maneuvers of Massachusetts militia and minute companies as they attempted to engage His Majesty’s forces during the Battles of Lexington and Concord. <br /><br />That discussion got the Nerds thinking. With the help of two of the Park’s rangers (Cool Rangers Jim and Jarrad), we collected several accounts describing the maneuvers of Massachusetts militia and minute men on April 19, 1775. Generally, we placed the movements into two categories: units not within striking distance that shifted course to intercept the retreating column and units that adjusted their march route to gain a tactical advantage over the enemy immediately before engagement. <br /><br />Regarding units attempting to intercept the retreating column, these companies typically hailed from Essex and Norfolk Counties, as well as the southern and western regions of Middlesex County. These units were alarmed later in the morning or early afternoon and initially took a path towards Concord. However, as they advanced, alarm riders and others shared conflicting reports of the location of His Majesty’s forces as they retired back towards Boston. For some units, including militiamen from Salem, the constant information caused significant confusion…resulting in repeated changes in course and unnecessary halting to determine the best route to follow. As Timothy Pickering noted, “The confusions of yesterday, testified by every officer I could talk with, fully justify these assertions. In general, I am told, every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”<br /><br />Upon entering Bedford, the minute companies of <a href="https://historicalnerdery01.blogspot.com/2017/01/we-stopt-to-polords-eat-some-bisket.html" target="_blank">Andover </a>constantly had to shift direction in a desperate yet failed effort to intercept the retreating column. According to Lieutenant Benjamin Farnum,“April 19, 1775. This day, the Mittel men of Colonel Frye's regiment were Alarmed with the Nuse of the Troops marching from Boston to Concord, at which Nuse they marched very quick from Andover, and marched within about 5 miles of Concord, then meeting with the Nuse of their retreat for Boston again with which Nuse we turned our corse in order to catch them. We retreated that Day to Notme [Menotomy] but we could not come up with them. The nit coming on, we stopped; the next day we marched to Cambridge.” </span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span>Andover minute man Thomas Boynton expressed frustration as his unit shifted course twice to reach the regulars. “Andover, April 19, 1775. This morning, being Wednesday, about the sun's rising the town was alarmed with the news that the Regulars was on their march to Concord. Upon which the town mustered and about 10 o'clock marched onward for Concord. In Tewksbury news came that the Regulars had fired on our men in Lexington, and had killed 8. In Bilricke news came that the enemy were killing and slaying our men in Concord. Bedford we had the news that the enemy had killed 2 of our men and had retreated back; we shifted our course and persued after them as fast as possible, but all in vain; the enemy had the start 3 or 4 miles.”<br /></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWLo1Q25qBO92xZbkBz03_aDRAiBdorPipjxVEPTP9XjSjS4mZbdzUqmicB3Y6gnIraiaoZXX7NWB-0I-47g4pqji675gWbJYo8qW6olf9Tdd3hXDfQCeO2Mm31RkC74C9nz35JvMamJnLCICUPNolmMYBw25SJ7FX-Qa8XFHpfq4XYQ5MzrLsOPm/s3123/Ambush%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1342" data-original-width="3123" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWLo1Q25qBO92xZbkBz03_aDRAiBdorPipjxVEPTP9XjSjS4mZbdzUqmicB3Y6gnIraiaoZXX7NWB-0I-47g4pqji675gWbJYo8qW6olf9Tdd3hXDfQCeO2Mm31RkC74C9nz35JvMamJnLCICUPNolmMYBw25SJ7FX-Qa8XFHpfq4XYQ5MzrLsOPm/w400-h173/Ambush%202.jpg" title="Photo Credit John Collins" width="400" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><span>Militia and minute companies from Newbury, Rowley and Ipswich were alarmed late in the day thanks to Newburyport treating initial reports of the Battle of Lexington as a false rumor. It wasn’t until the Town of Danvers sent a message back to the seaport community confirming the morning events that alarm riders were dispatched towards Cape Ann. Throughout the afternoon, men from the three towns zigzagged down the coastline in an effort to get ahead of the column before it reached the safety of Boston. By the time the exhausted units reached Lynn, they were forced to halt and encamp for the night. <br /><br />The Reverend Samuel West, pastor of the First Parish of Needham, Massachusetts accompanied the town’s militia company to war after it had mustered at his home. As West and his men advanced north towards East Lexington and Menotomy, they continuously shifted their intercept course based upon the smoke wafting above the regulars and the thunder of artillery. As the minister recalled “The news reached us about nine o’clock A.M. The east company in Needham met at my house as part of the Military stores were deposited with me, they there supplied themselves, and by ten o’clock all marched for the place of action with as much spirit and resolution as the most zealous friends of the cause could have wished for. We could easily trace the march of troops from the smoke which arose over them, and could hear from my house the report of the cannon and the Platoons fired by the British.”<br /><br />Of course, the shifting of direction was not limited to efforts of catching up and intercepting the regulars. Many units that were within striking distance of Lieutenant Colonel Smith’s forces adjusted their routes so as to gain a tactical advantage over their enemy. <br /></span></span></span><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSi3HqQR-tYsCaC-TRydIdkUUT1k5TmLMdRS8B_CHddaLUnw1JUT1AXs4yGFBFnPOWdRML7J2_D4LwuoDLNOiRwKeGsAB0whAnq1zFtZCmCy7PPBVkAF9j30vazG5lDmRUyeh2rYvGE4dVWcb2zA4tG2t5f-I1PeVZJQrqBO-9pTsIUlvWGRk9pFxT/s960/AMbush%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="503" data-original-width="960" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSi3HqQR-tYsCaC-TRydIdkUUT1k5TmLMdRS8B_CHddaLUnw1JUT1AXs4yGFBFnPOWdRML7J2_D4LwuoDLNOiRwKeGsAB0whAnq1zFtZCmCy7PPBVkAF9j30vazG5lDmRUyeh2rYvGE4dVWcb2zA4tG2t5f-I1PeVZJQrqBO-9pTsIUlvWGRk9pFxT/w400-h210/AMbush%201.jpg" title="Photo by Nadia Peattie" width="400" /></a></span></span></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><span>When the Town of Sudbury was alarmed, multiple minute and militia companies mobilized independent of each other. In fact, most of the Sudbury units followed different routes to reach Concord. At least two, perhaps three, of the Sudbury companies changed direction to avoid Smith’s advance forces who were searching the Barrett House and pressed on to augment the provincial forces gathering above the North Bridge. They were rerouted again by a local Concord guide and directed to advance on the town’s South Bridge.<br /><br />Captain Joseph Smith’s Company from East Sudbury bypassed the North Bridge and took a longer route through Lincoln to attack the regulars near Brook’s Hill. A second Sudbury company, under the command of Captain Nathaniel Cudworth followed suit.<br /><br />After stumbling upon the aftermath of the Battle of Lexington,the men of Woburn took a wide path through Lincoln to avoid detection by His Majesty’s forces. Specifically, Loammi Baldwin led his men off of the Bay Road and marched them towards Lincoln’s meeting house. Afterward, he turned towards Concord and advanced towards Brook’s Hill. As he later noted. “We proceeded to Concord by way of Lincoln meeting-house, . . . ascended the hill, and pitched and refreshed ourselves a little. . . . The people under my command and also some others came running off the East end of the hill while I was at a house, and we proceeded down the road, and could see behind us the Regulars following.” <br /><br />The rangers at Minute Man National Historical Park, as well as the Nerds, agree that Baldwin may have considered moving towards Meriam’s Corner but upon seeing the column, </span><span><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4">pulled back off the east end of Brooks Hill and set up an ambuscade at Elm Brook Hill.</span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4"> </span><br />Reading appears to have undertaken a very sudden and radical change of course in order to attack the retreating regulars at Elm Brooks Hill. According to the Reverend Edmund Foster, he joined the men of Reading as they advanced towards Concord. After engaging the “flank guard , of about 80 or 100 men” at Meriam’s Corner, the men of Reading pulled back, swung wide and sought an opportunity to reengage. That opportunity presented itself at Elm Brooks Hill. <br /><br />According to the minister, “We saw a wood at a distance, which appeared to be in or near the road the enemy must pass. Many leaped over the wall and made for that wood. We arrived in time to meet the enemy. There was then, on the opposite side of the road, a young growth of wood well filled with Americans. The enemy was completely between two fires, renewed and briskly kept up. They ordered out a flank guard on the left to dislodge the Americans from their posts behind large trees but they only became a better mark to be shot at. A short but sharp contest ensued, at which the enemy received more deadly injury, than at any one place from Concord to Charlestown. Eight or more of their number were killed on the spot, and no doubt, many wounded.”<br /></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV3e08lGzFfr0ItNn38rZnIHalj_gAWvkNKL8aDA9IdRT5H2xfjqHdKDXaVnIiFbFkmClHUybXgs7TQFY8eXEzePkC8oJ7LlqTFiEhYwgiqOyTd6g2mLe_t7aHkEwW1OHLsrBxLtcJKZzT5rvfkO-VeCrVb9D5Hy3iHRqeYmcw1pMwG1IzZsPfIjxp/s2048/Ambush%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1364" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV3e08lGzFfr0ItNn38rZnIHalj_gAWvkNKL8aDA9IdRT5H2xfjqHdKDXaVnIiFbFkmClHUybXgs7TQFY8eXEzePkC8oJ7LlqTFiEhYwgiqOyTd6g2mLe_t7aHkEwW1OHLsrBxLtcJKZzT5rvfkO-VeCrVb9D5Hy3iHRqeYmcw1pMwG1IzZsPfIjxp/w400-h266/Ambush%203.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><span>John Parker’s Lexington Company likely executed a tactical maneuver after his company withdrew from Parker’s Revenge. After discharging a single volley, the Lexington militiamen quickly retired up an access path to the top of the hill and then moved down the east side. Once at the bottom, the company cut across a series of fields, and moved to a new position further down the road to attack the column again.<br /><br />So in short, there is ample evidence that Massachusetts provincial forces were not individually chasing His Majesty’s forces and taking “pop shots” when the opportunity presented itself. Instead, many militia commanders made intentional tactical decisions as to how best intercept or engage the enemy so as to either block their retreat or cause significant damage.<br /><br />Of course, the Nerds will continue to research this topic and will update you when we uncover additional accounts!! </span><br /></span></span><p></p>Alexander R. Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08258218418111297609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978067274099413141.post-5864208885580915392022-08-14T21:22:00.001-04:002022-08-14T21:41:54.716-04:00"The Number of Days Each Man Trained According to the Voat of the Town" - How Often Were Massachusetts Minute and MIlitia Companies Training in Preparation for War with England?<div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Recently, the Nerds once again encountered on social media several instances where individuals asserted the age-old yet understandably false claim that Massachusetts militia and minute men lacked sufficient military training on the eve of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Instead, some have argued, these men relied on upon their individualistic skills as huntsmen to stalk and harass the retiring British column as it returned to Boston.<br /><br />Although countless historians have debunked this claim, it raises a question … How often were minute and militia companies drilling in preparation for war with England?<br /><br />Following the October 1774 orders of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, provincial towns scrambled to put themselves onto a wartime footing. As part of the effort, many militia and minute companies passed resolutions or entered into covenants clearly outlining the expectations of military service. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Gic_53sGcOGsKaCJv304rmbZNipL8qsLbBSPFodPhfYoAeyDsSR8L9hSZLdidlEdOc4Sh8dBEorhDDhXdQYcXd7h_oZ9zknc24evwb6ubGDeIDAy8C4hiJlN7lUp2pbZoxn6KlaekMNjS1sOtvtolxmysnglwDsSP9g_ntxYWtc0wcs4jchZcJg6/s3600/BP%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1164" data-original-width="3600" height="129" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Gic_53sGcOGsKaCJv304rmbZNipL8qsLbBSPFodPhfYoAeyDsSR8L9hSZLdidlEdOc4Sh8dBEorhDDhXdQYcXd7h_oZ9zknc24evwb6ubGDeIDAy8C4hiJlN7lUp2pbZoxn6KlaekMNjS1sOtvtolxmysnglwDsSP9g_ntxYWtc0wcs4jchZcJg6/w400-h129/BP%201.jpg" title="Photo Credit: John Collins" width="400" /></a></div><br />For example, in Lexington, the men of Captain John Parker’s Company resolved to fine those men who did not treat military preparation seriously, were disruptive or engaged in “indecent behavior … two shillings”. Militiamen from the Town of West Brookfield declared, “That we will exert our best abilities to acquire the art military: That we will yield a ready obedience to the commands of our officers, and hold ourselves in readiness to march upon the earliest notice from our Commanding officers, and hazard our lives in resisting any armed force that shall attempt by force to put in execution the late revenue Acts.” Finally, residents of Ipswich voted “We whose names are hereunto subscribed, do voluntarily Inlist ourselves, as minute men, to be ready for military operation, upon the shortest notice ... And that we may obtain the skill of compleat Soldiers, We promise to Convene for exercise in the Art of Military."<br /><br />By late 1774 and early 1775, many Massachusetts towns had placed a strong emphasis on military drilling and training. Following the recommendations of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, Andover ordered: “[Soldiers] on the said first said day of December meet together and chuse such person only for leading or instructing as shall appear to them to be most skillful in Military Discipline and that they be well equipped with good guns, and other necessary warlike armour in order for their performing of all military maneuvers.” </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />In fact, Andover, along with the Towns of Haverhill and Bradford even went as far as to hire a British deserter to train their men for war. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Amesbury resolved that its minute men would engage in “exercising four hours in a fortnight.” Two weeks later, the town modified its order and instructed its minute men to “[exercise] four hours in a week.” The residents of Boxford voted on March 14, 1775, “that the minute-men shall train one-half day in a week, for four weeks after this week is ended.” <br /><br />According to the diary of the Reverend Ebenezer Parkman of Westborough, as early as October 24, 1774, both of the town’s militia companies had assembled and were actively drilling as often as possible. Even Westborough’s alarm list, a reserve force composed of a community’s elderly male residents, was practicing war-like maneuvers. Parkman notes, “1774 October 31 (Monday) … P.M. Training of Alarm men at Lt. Bakers, their present Captain."</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFq6MVibSPBOE-4L3k4nnsFH9xVbxLkNHtbi3kWWpRMDUJvtWmOViXo8An-0lp3Sd-1WEB9sysD5mJYJwV7lCWTeFgznuTUbEPKDVYzc-zya26BC4RyMLXojLYM9jSsFz8e_MZz1RoAxaH2v4sBB87QzFwODvrewTf7jo9ywtm4aL_DYRNlyBP_YVX/s2048/BP%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1364" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFq6MVibSPBOE-4L3k4nnsFH9xVbxLkNHtbi3kWWpRMDUJvtWmOViXo8An-0lp3Sd-1WEB9sysD5mJYJwV7lCWTeFgznuTUbEPKDVYzc-zya26BC4RyMLXojLYM9jSsFz8e_MZz1RoAxaH2v4sBB87QzFwODvrewTf7jo9ywtm4aL_DYRNlyBP_YVX/w400-h266/BP%202.jpg" title="Photo Credit John Collins" width="400" /></a></div><br />The Reverend Jonas Clarke also noted Lexington's militia was continuously drilling and "showing arms." Likewise, Lieutenant William Tidd asserted John Parker’s Company met often and drilled regularly” “[That] said company frequently met for exercise, the better to be prepared for defense; that, on the evening previous to the 19th a number of the militia met at my house for the above purpose.” Lexington’s John Munroe noted “the company was frequently called out for exercise, and desired to furnish ourselves with arms and ammunition, and to be in constant readiness for action.”<br /><br />Some towns went as far as to coordinate multi-company or regimental level drills jointly. The men of Westborough routinely drilled with militia companies from neighboring communities, while minute companies in Plymouth County and the Merrimack Valley region of Essex County hosted battalion-level drills as early as the Spring of 1775.<br /><br />Now with this said, were Massachusetts men drilling every waking hour of each day? <br /><br />Of course not. Depending on the community, it appears military companies drilled as often as two to three times a week or as little as bi-weekly. <br /><br />An April 1775 document prepared by Sergeant Michael Whittier of Haverhill probably best captures the frequency of drills and attendance amongst minute and militia companies. The record created by Sergeant Whittier lists the names of the minute men belonging to Captain Sawyer’s Minute Company, and the number of days each soldier attended military drills for March and April:<br /><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>A Role of the Minuit Men in Capt James Sawyer's Company & the Number of days Each man Trained according to the Voat of the Town of Haverhill in March and Apirel 1775.</i></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><i>James Sawyer Capt 5 </i></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Samuel Mitchel -<br />Timothy Johnson Lieut 5 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Joshua Emory 6 <br />Nathaniel Eaton Lieut 5 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Jerimiah Stickney 5 <br />Mitchel Whiticher Sargt 6 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Joseph Webster 5 <br />Moses Heselton Sargt 5 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Isaiah Eaton 5 <br />Wm Rolf Sargt 5 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Ebenezer Grifen 4 <br />Charles Davis Sargt 5 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;"> Samuel Emerson 5 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Enook Eaton Coprel 4 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">John Silver -<br />Chas Sarjant Coprel 3 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Seth Wymon 4 <br />John Bery Coprel 6 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Daniel Lord 5 <br />Ruben Sargent 3 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Nathan Peabody 5 <br />Asa Currcr 5 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">James Whiticker 4 <br />Thomus Tiylor 5 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Samuel Sanders 3 <br />Daniel Colby 3 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Henerey Springer 1 <br />John Dow 6 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Ebenezer Webster - <br />John Eaton 4 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Johnathan Dusten 4 <br />Joseph Emorson 5 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Daniel Grifen 3 <br />Simon Picck 4 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Moses Emorson Juner 4 <br />Lewis George 5 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">John gipson 3 <br />'Wm Davis 2 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Nathan Ayre 4 <br />Mossc Emorson 5 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">James Townsand 4 <br />Job gage 4 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Stophen Runcls 4 <br />Peter Emorson 3 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">John Tiylor 3 <br />Samuel George - </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">James Wilson -<br />John Cheney 1 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Daniel Remock 3 <br />Nathaniel Cahaney - </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Stephen Jackson 3 <br />Samuel Ealy 2 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Joshua Moors 1 <br />Wm Sawyer 4 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Philip Bagley 4 <br />James Smiley 5 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Humpree Nicola 4 <br />Joel Harrimcn 5 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Dudley Dusten 3 <br />James Snow 5 </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Johnthan Lowger 4 <br />Mark Emorson - </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>John Sanders 4 <br /><br /><br />Atteset,<br />Mitchel Wittier Serjant<br /><br /></i><br /></span></span></div>Alexander R. Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08258218418111297609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978067274099413141.post-17027823232603246792022-08-07T16:27:00.002-04:002022-08-28T17:21:38.675-04:00"A musket cut as under &c.” - Did Lieutenant William Tidd Really Exclaim "You Won't Get My Gun!" at the Battle of Lexington?<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Shortly after the 2022 reenactment of the Battle of Lexington, members of the Lexington Minute Men and His Majesty’s 10th Regiment of Foot contacted the Nerds regarding the historical accuracy of the phrase “You won’t get my gun!”. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For those who may be unfamiliar with the reenactment, this statement is shouted out by a participant portraying Lieutenant William Tidd in response to a British officer’s demand to “lay down your arms!”<br /><br />But what is the origin of the defiant statement “You won’t get my gun”?<br /><br />As a preliminary matter, we have to remember that the annual Battle of Lexington reenactment is a slow-motion historical pageant. Although the script is based upon 18th and early 19th-century documentation, there is an element of drama and flair associated with the event. <br /><br />In reality, the actual Battle of Lexington was a quick and very bloody mess. The Nerds estimate that the engagement lasted, at most, between two and five minutes. Based upon available documentation, it appears British light infantry companies from the 4th and 10th Regiments of Foot surged forward and deployed into a battle line almost instantaneously. Meanwhile, British officers on horseback barked orders at Captain John Parker’s Company to disperse and get out of the way of the His Majesty’s forces. Suddenly, a single shot rang out… and the rest is history. <br /><br />So, was the phrase “You won’t get my gun!” shouted during the battle?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 5.05pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjuz35PSqjglE58Qh4VyD0nYL1H06AskftLF7-AFpuah0osll9pq1EQhUKfUPjGR3hqzjaGiUsziSd_EaNEzRWOStYLpyiGj9YDIi1y7Nxu5CedvLfvIzp4yXNKFYxLCcrBbN7MhBrVVHBfWfC0fQsMl4EtFvN7Ws7XZTYkRmvBicqdiO4uMkmf8Ca/s1280/Tidd%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="1280" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjuz35PSqjglE58Qh4VyD0nYL1H06AskftLF7-AFpuah0osll9pq1EQhUKfUPjGR3hqzjaGiUsziSd_EaNEzRWOStYLpyiGj9YDIi1y7Nxu5CedvLfvIzp4yXNKFYxLCcrBbN7MhBrVVHBfWfC0fQsMl4EtFvN7Ws7XZTYkRmvBicqdiO4uMkmf8Ca/w400-h141/Tidd%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The comment was allegedly made by Lieutenant William Tidd, who was second in command of the Lexington militia on April 19, 1775. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Curiously, Lieutenant Tidd provided two sworn statements regarding his role at the Battle of Lexington. Neither makes any reference to a defiant declaration to British authority.<br /><br />The first statement was submitted on April 25, 1775, as part of a sworn group affidavit. According to Tidd, “that on the 19th of April instant, about one or two o'Clock in the morning, being Informed that several officers of the Regulars had, the evening before, been riding up and down the Road, and had detained and Insulted the Inhabitants passing the same; and also understanding that a body of Regulars were marching from Boston towards Concord, with intent (as it was supposed) to take the Stores, belonging to the Colony, in that town, we were alarmed, and having met at the place of our Company's Parade, were dismissed by our Captain, John Parker, for the Present, with orders to be ready to attend at the beat of the drum. We further testify and declare, that about five o'Clock in the morning, hearing our drum beat, we proceeded towards the Parade, and soon found that a Large body of troops were marching towards us: Some of our Company were coming up to the Parade, and others had reached it; at which time the Company began to disperse: Whilst our backs were Turned on the Troops, we were fired on by them, and a number of our men were Instantly killed and wounded. Not a Gun was fired, by any Person in our Company, on the Regulars, to our knowledge, before they fired on us, and they continued Firing until we had all made our Escape.”<br /><br />Years later, in 1824, Tidd submitted a second sworn statement. Again, he does not refer to shouting, “You won’t get my gun!”. According to his 1824 deposition, “I, William Tidd, of Lexington, in the county of Middlesex, do testify and declare, that I was a Lieutenant in the company of Lexington militia, commanded by Capt. John Parker, in the year 1775; that, previous to the 19th of April of that year, it was expected the British would soon commence hostilities upon the then Provincials; that said company frequently met for exercise, the better to be prepared for defense; that, on the evening previous to the 19th a number of the militia met at my house for the above purpose; that, about two o'clock on the morning of the 19th, I was notified that, the evening previous, several of the British officers had been discovered riding up and down the road leading to Concord; that they had detained and insulted the passing inhabitants; and that a body of the regulars were then on the march from Boston towards Lexington; -- I then immediately repaired to the parade ground of said company, where, after its assemblage and roll call, we were dismissed by Capt. Parker, with orders to assemble at the beat of the drum; -- that, at about five o’clock of said morning, intelligence was received that the British were within a short distance; and, on the beat to arms, I immediately repaired to where our company were fast assembling; that when about sixty or seventy of them had taken post, the British had arrived within sight, and were advancing on a quick march towards us, when I distinctly heard one of their officers say, “Lay down your arms and disperse, ye rebels!” They then fired upon us. I then retreated up the north road, and was pursued about thirty rods by an officer on horseback (supposed to be Maj. Pitcairn.) calling out to me, “Damn you, stop, or you are a dead man!” – I found I could not escape him, unless I left the road. Therefore I sprang over a pair of bars, made a stand and discharged my gun at him; upon which he immediately turned to the main body, which shortly after took up their march for Concord. William Tidd.”<br /><br /> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpX2xYX_j9iOwLf3ZYsF3iKQFWlAzvXcIF6s7jjJgbZGSmGxR_kwYKbKQX8McV2TbB7GR7ewpD0qA6Y4jyBxjSjAAcw1pfyJdx9_LeVqVpOvAw69sB3av-_48TwX6KtbZ839ayCqsMO43B8WtGLu56hyU4RfFW0b7lPTZp6hXvNozNWwSQfvPZKrrQ/s1200/Battle%20of%20LExington%20Doolittle.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpX2xYX_j9iOwLf3ZYsF3iKQFWlAzvXcIF6s7jjJgbZGSmGxR_kwYKbKQX8McV2TbB7GR7ewpD0qA6Y4jyBxjSjAAcw1pfyJdx9_LeVqVpOvAw69sB3av-_48TwX6KtbZ839ayCqsMO43B8WtGLu56hyU4RfFW0b7lPTZp6hXvNozNWwSQfvPZKrrQ/w400-h400/Battle%20of%20LExington%20Doolittle.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">So, where does this phrase come from? <br /><br />On the <a href="https://www.lexingtonminutemen.com/lt-william-tidd.html" target="_blank">Lexington Minute Men website</a>, a research article drafted by Carmin F. Calabrese concedes that Tidd most likely did not utter the statement. According to historian and author <a href="https://twitter.com/drsamforman" target="_blank">Dr. Samuel Forman</a>, the origin of the defiant declaration can be traced back to the script of the 150th-anniversary reenactment of the Battle of Lexington (1925). The script, which can be found at the Lexington Public Library, does contain the phrase “You won’t get my gun!” Dr. Forman also noted that the 1925 script served as the foundation for the 1975 Bicentennial reenactment script, which is still in use today.<br /><br />Ironically, regardless of whether or not Lieutenant Tidd uttered the phrase, it should be noted that His Majesty’s forces did not truly seize his firelock that day. A 1775 petition to the Massachusetts legislature for financial restitution from damages suffered at the Battle of Lexington, asserts that Tidd's “losses by the Kings troops on the 19th of April 1775 … [included] ... a musket cut as under &c.” <br /><br />Tidd noted in his 19th-century deposition that he was chased off the field by a mounted officer. It is possible but unconfirmed that Tidd’s gun was damaged after deflecting a slash by a saber or sword. On the other hand, the gun could have been damaged later in the day. Obviously, further research needs to be conducted to determine the fate of his weapon.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>The Nerds, as well as the very talented and informative Dr. Samuel Forman, will be at <a href="https://historycamp.org/archive/history-camp-boston/history-camp-boston-2022/" target="_blank">History Camp Boston 2022</a> next weekend. Be sure to stop by Suffolk University and say hi!</i><br /></span></span></p>Alexander R. Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08258218418111297609noreply@blogger.com1