Lenoir Rhyne College - Hacawa Yearbook (Hickory, NC)

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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

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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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The events of April 19, 1775, ushered a new order into America. The cautious, the moderate, the conservative elementsjoined with the extreme and the liberal to form acommon bond. They promised to defend each other with their lives and their fortunes. The War had begun! Soon the colonies of North and South Carolina were raising money and troops to join the cause. The most immediate action, however, came from Massachusetts ' northern neighbors: from Con- necticut, Israel Putnam brought 3,000 men, in- cluding the Governor ' s own foot guards led by Benedict Arnold: Rhode Island sent troops com- manded by handsome Nathaniel Green; New Hampshire sent the old Indian fighter Colonel John Stark with a force of rugged men. By mid-May these new troops formed the New England Army. In Boston General Gage waited patiently and passively for the hour of conflict. It came on May 10, 1775, with an assault on old Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain. Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys, assisted by Benedict Arnold and some Connecticut troops, quickly overran the small British garrison; al- though the fort itself was situated on a useless piece of land, within lay a vast array of artillery. June 17, 1775, the first major encounter between British and American forces occurred above Charlestown, across the river from Boston. The Americans intended to entrench on Bunker Hill, but, in the dark, they mistakenly dug into Breed ' s Hill, a position closer to the water and therefore to the British gunboats. Later it was called The Battle of Bunker Hill, even though little fighting took place there. 13m nd to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing itspowe