The Bay State Monthly, Volume 3, No. 4 | Page 4

same frame which was used for the present building
echoed with the stirring words of the patriots as well as with the
fearless utterances of the Rev. William Emerson, who, on the Sunday
before Concord fight, preached his famous sermon on the text
"Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God." The events which preceded
the Revolution need not be recorded here, nor any facts not intimately
connected with the history of the town, which had been quietly making
preparations for the grand event. Under Colonel James Barrett and
Major Buttrick, the militia and other soldiers were drilled and
organized, some of whom under the name of Minute-men were ordered
to be ready to parade at a moment's notice. Cannon and other munitions
of war were procured, which with flour and provisions were secreted in
various places.
Tidings of these preparations was carried to the British in Boston by the
spies and tories who abounded in the town, and on the evening of the
eighteenth of April, an expedition consisting of about eight hundred
men was sent out to counteract them. Paul Revere having been stopped
at Lexington, was able to spread the news of the attack by means of Dr.
Prescott who had been sitting up late with the lady whom he afterwards
married. Love overleaps all obstacles, and with cut bridle-rein the
Doctor leaped his gallant steed over walls and fences and reached
Concord very early in the morning. At the ringing of the bell the
Minute-men flocked to their standard on the crest of Burying Hill

where they were joined by Rev. William Emerson, whose marble tomb
stands near the very spot, and also marks the place where Pitcairn and
Smith controlled the operations of the British during the forenoon.
The Liberty-pole occupied the next eminence, a few rods farther east.
Here the little band of patriots awaited the coming of the
well-disciplined foe, ignorant that their country-men had fallen on
Lexington Common before the very muskets that now glittered in the
morning sun. Some proposed to go and meet the British, and some to
die holding their ground; but their wiser commanders led them to
Ponkawtassett Hill a mile away, where the worn and weary troops were
cheered by food and rest, and were reinforced by new arrivals from
Acton and other towns, until they numbered nearly three hundred men.
After destroying many stores in the village, and sending three
companies to Colonel Barrett's in vain search for the cannon, which
were buried in the furrows of a ploughed field, a detachment of British
soldiers took possession of the South Bridge, and three companies were
left to guard the old North Bridge under command of Captain Lawrie.
[Illustration: Henry D. Thoreau.]
Seeing this manoeuvre the Americans slowly advanced and took up
their position on the hill at the west of the bridge which the British now
began to destroy. Colonel Isaac Davis of Acton now offered to lead the
attack, saying, "I have not a man who is afraid to go," and he was given
the place in front of the advancing column, and fell at the first volley
from the British, who were posted on the other bank of the river. Major
Buttrick then ordered his troops to fire, and dashed on to the bridge,
driving the enemy back to the main road, down which they soon
retreated to the Common, to join the Grenadiers and Marines who there
awaited them. The Minute-men crossed over the hills and fields to
Merriam's corner when they again attacked the British, who were
marching back to Boston, and killed and wounded several of the enemy
without injury to themselves. Meanwhile the three companies had
returned from Colonel Barrett's and marched safely over the bridge
which had been abandoned by both sides, and joined the main force of
the British who had waited for them on the Common.

After the skirmish at Merriam's corner, the fighting was continued in
true Indian fashion from behind walls and buildings with such effect
that the British would have been captured had they not been
re-enforced at Lexington by a large force with field pieces.
In 1836, the spot on which the British stood was marked by a plain
monument, and in 1875 the place near which Captain Isaac Davis and
his companions fell was made forever memorable by the noble bronze
statue of the Minute-man by Daniel Chester French in which the artist
has carefully copied every detail of dress and implement, from the
ancient firelock, to the old plough on which he leans.
[Illustration: THE OLD BATTLE GROUND.]
In order to prove her claim to the peaceful name of Concord, this
village seems to have taken an active part in every warlike enterprise
which followed. Several of her men fought at Bunker Hill and