Rome Free Academy - De O Wain Sta Yearbook (Rome, NY)

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THE SENIOR ANNUAL. 23 galloped in hot haste through Medford to Lexington, rousing every farmhouse and vil- lage as he passed. Arrived at Lexington, he awakened Hancock and Adams, and was soon joined by Dawes and Dr. Samuel Prescott. The three started out together for Concord, but, encountering British officers, Revere and Dawes were captured, while Dr. Prescott succeeded in carrying the alarm to Concord. The Lexington Minute Men promptly as- sembled at the summons of the bell in the meeting house belfry, but seeing no signs of the British, soon dispersed. Later, hearing that the John Parker again assembled his Minute Men and drew them up in battle array on As they awaited, in enemy were advancing, Captain Lexington common. the dim light of the early morning, the at- tack of the Redcoats, Captain Parker gave his famous command: “Stand your ground. Don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.” Major Pitcairn, the British leader, who had marched on with ever-increasing sur- prise and dismay, at the apparent wakeful- ness of the countryside, at length reached Lexington green, at about half-past four o’clock,and found sixty or seventy men as- sembled to greet him. He rode forward with a threatening air and shouted: “Dis- Ye rebels, disperse.” No response from the Americans. ‘Lay down your arms, I say. Why don’t you lay down your arms and disperse.” Still no reply from the “‘rebels.’’ At length an ex- cited Minute Man, disregarding Parker's or- der, raised his gun and discharged it. It was an old-fashioned flint-lock musket and did not go off, but the flint struck the steel, and the powder flashed in the pan. A Brit- ish soldier, seeing the flash, raised his gun also and fired. perse, ye villains. The British spirit was now aroused, and with a shout, they fired a general discharge. Several rebels fell. Another discharge, and Then more brave Americans dropped. sounded the tramp of more British soldiers, coming to the assistance of their comrades. The Americans fired a few scattering shots They had made their pro- The British, with a ringing cheer, sent a parting shot, and and dispersed. test, and could do no more. marched on to Concord. Concord had, as we have said, been warned by Dr. Prescott, and the Minute Men of Concord and Seton, a near action on the square. and deter- mined, until the gleam of red coats appeared on the Lexington road, and eight hundred British soldiers advanced at a double quick march. The American commander, Colonel Barrett, withdrew to the slope beyond the There they were joined by Minute men from several towns in the vicin- ity, making about four hundred in all, to face the whole of the British forces. A part of the British had formed in line of battle on the opposite side of the bridge, but those left in the village were doing their utmost to destroy all they could. The smoke from their little fire led the Americans to believe that they were burning the town. In dismay they asked each other: ‘Shall we remain idle and let them burn our homes be- fore our very eyes? Let us march to their defense.’ And so the order ‘““March’’ was shouted, and they rushed down the hill to the bridge. When the British saw them coming they began to rip up the bridge planking. The Americans broke into a run. For a mo- ment the opposing forces faced each other in silence, then ‘““Bang! Crack” and several Minute Men fell. Major Buttrick, the leader of the Minute Men, wild with ex- citement, shouted: “‘Fire, fellow soldiers ! For God's sake fire!’ and leading the dis- charge himself, the first guns were fired in defiance to the king. It was the “shot heard round the world.’ Again and again the bul- Samuel neighbor, had reported for They awaited, silent river bridge.

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SENIOR ANNUAL. The real High School Sport. O piteous spectacle! THE SHOT HEARD ROUND THE WORLD. “By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled, Here once the embattled farmers stood, And fired the shot heard round the world.” As one approaches the battlefield of Con- cord, and sees through an avenue of tall pines, the gleaming statue of the Minute Man, an overpowering feeling comes over one, of the glory of that famous battle. One approaches with ground once stained with the blood of patri- ots, and the river calmly flowing along, as if it had never beheld such stirring scenes. We look with awe at the stone set in the wall, which marks the grave of the British soldiers. The rugged statue of the Min- ute Man, with his gun and plow, the elo- quent memorial of the battle, calls up en- thusiastic bursts of patriotism. And yet— to look at the peace and tranquillity and rural beauty of the scene makes the idea of bloodshed and warfare seem almost im- almost reverence the possible. It is only when we examine the true history of the battle that we awake to the realization that there, there, it all hap- pened, there our ancestors fought and died for American freedom. Let us retrace the course of those events a little, to the time when the first shots were fired for Amer- ican liberty. For a long time the people around Kos- ton had been collecting arms and ammuni- tion and quietly preparing for the struggle which they. felt was sure to come, if the English government persisted in refusing to hear their appeals for justice. In several cases the British soldiers had been called out to stop these preparations, but had with- drawn, without coming into conflict. the British officers determined to make a final effort. They secured the that John Hancock and Samuel Adams were in hiding in Lexington, and that munitions of war Finally, growing desperate, information were stored at Concord, a few miles farther on. They secretly made arrangements for capturing both the rebel leaders and their and thus effectually stopping all movements. But Paul Revere and a few mechanics who had organized themselves to watch the British, detected their plot, and, giving no- tice to their chiefs in Boston, they resolved to thwart the plans of the enemy by rousing stores the whole countryside. . Accordingly, on the night of April 18, 1775, it was agreed that William Dawes and Paul Revere should go by different routes to Lexington and Concord, bearing the news. Dawes went by way of the Neck and through Roxbury. Paul Revere ar- ranged to have lanterns “one if by land, two if by sea,” hung in the belfry of the old North Church. still, moonlight night, and as he rowed across to Charleston, where he was to secure his horse, he almost forgot, in the charm of the scene, his all-important mission. It was a beautiful, He had not long to wait. Soon two gleaming lights appeared, informing him that the British were coming by water to Cambridge. He leaped upon his horse, and

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24 THE SENIOR ANNUAL. lets flew. The British turned and ran down Monument street, leaving the victorious farmers in possession of the bridge. The rebels pursued them hotly in their retreat, until as some of them expressed it, it seemed to fairly rain rebels From behind every stone wall, fence, bush and tree came missiles, until the retreat became a run and the run a wildly disordered flight. They would whirl about to drive away one band of pursuers, only to be peppered on another side. At length they reached Boston, hot, dusty, wounded and wrathful, but thor- oughly whipped. Such were the battles of Lexington and Concord, the beginning of the American revolution, and the forerunners of American Although they but skirmishes, in comparison to other great bat- freedom. were small tles of the world’s history, the principle of the affair—the spirit of a brave people rising in defense of their rights and liberty, has sent its echoes ringing through the world. Ruth Ellis. Senior Class Committee looking for snow A ONE ACT COMEDY. Date of action: 2:30 p. m. Tuesday, February 27, 1906. Scene of action: Rome Free Academy. Principal actors: Florence Waldo and a fairly decent hard wood chair. Softly the mel- low sunlight followsO-rd wol dawod rawa It is a calm, serene day. low sunlight falls on every man within the circumference of its gentle rays. Those ra- diant solar beams penetrate even the thick darkness and gloom of the Rome Free Academy. How blessed, yea, celestial, is the beneficent smile that old ‘ upon the school. ‘Sol’ bestows But which hark! breaks What jarring noise is that the monotonous quietude? Ah! it is the bell announcing to the dear children that it is time for the next recita- tion. Again! Again! that jarring, grating noise. “It has no uncertain sound’ (bor- rowed from one of Mr. Harris’s eloquent appeals for order.) Slowly, and with somewhat of the ap- pearance of dignity, a group of girls (beg your pardon, they are young ladies) wend Just back of them, and in no wise abashed, are sev- their way to the science room. eral little fellows who leok peaceful enough, but within their frail, tender bodies is lodged