Lenoir Rhyne College - Hacawa Yearbook (Hickory, NC)

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Perhaps I do not go too far when I say that next to the introduction of Christianity among mankind, the American Revolution may prove the most important step in the progressive course of Human improvement. Richard Price 1770 aroused by the large troop movements being made outside Boston, and arrangements were made with patriots to warn the Committee if at any time more than 500 British troops left the city ' s garrison. On the night of April 18, 1775, Paul Revere, was awakened and warned of British activities. While being rowed across Charles Harbor, Revere looked for and found his signal — two lanterns in the spire of Old North Church, the sign that the British were moving in force, by water. Revere ' s main objective was to warn John Hancock and Sam Adams, who were staying in the Hancock-Clarke House in Lexington. After doing so he joined William Dawes and Samuel Prescott; soon they were ambushed by a British patrol and Revere was captured. He was later released without his horse. By that time, how- ever, others had warned every Middlesex village and farm. General Gage ' s men wer e not in the best of moods: being aroused soon after going to bed, rowing across the Charles river, disembarking into knee deep water and standing for two hours in the cold night before marching off to Lex- ington-Concord had made them anxious, to say ig Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. — That whenever any form oi

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distress. Each unit of men had a few who were subject to instant call. They were designated Minutemen. The Committee set about pro- curing arms and provisions for up to 15,000 militiamen, choosing Concord as a suitable depot because of its distance from the British troops in Boston. The spring of 1775 brought British retaliation with new acts forbidding the colonies to trade anywhere except with England or the British West Indies. New England fishing boats were forbidden to fish the North Atlantic waters. General Gage now faced the difficult task of enforcing these new acts of Parliament while at the same time trying to pacify the Massachu- setts colony — an obviously impossible task. The concern of the Committee of Safety was soon Infantry Soldier From 1775 Training Manual For Continental Army iberty and the pursuit of Happiness — That to secure these rights. Governments are instituted am

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The Minutemen waiting in the grey dawn along the road into Concord had just received the news of Lexington Green when they saw the approach of the scarlet-coated British troops. The Ameri- cans withdrew to a hill to watch the British move into Concord. Major Pitcairn ordered the troops to secure the town and search for hidden arms. Three companies were sent to hold the North Bridge. From the hill the Americans saw smoke and presumed the town was being put to the torch. They marched on to North Bridge. This time there was no doubt who fired the first shot. In defense of the bridge, the British fired a charge of volleys; the first American to be killed at Concord was Issac Davis. The fire was most accurately returned, and soon the British were routed. As they began falling back, fresh patriots were arriving from distant places to replace others who ran out of powder and went home. Considering the number of shots fired, the casu- alties were relatively few; only 72 soldiers were killed of the more than 2,000 men who had been fired upon. Old North Church the least. All night long the sounds of bells ringing in the distance and men running through the woods kept them on edge. Arriving in the early morning on Lexington Green under the com- mand of Captain John Pitcairn, the British troops faced two companies of Minutemen commanded by Captain John Parker. The situation was not promising for the Ameri- cans, so Captain Parker ordered his troops to disband. Major Pitcairn, meanwhile, ordered his men to form a line but on no account to fire or even attempt it without orders. Who fired the first shot will never be known, but after the skirmish was over, 8 American patriots lay dead. The remaining militia scattered and the British marched on to Concord. Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish i