Salem, MA - Lobsterbacks & Doodles

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.

The foe long since in silence slept;

Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;

And Time the ruined bridge has swept

Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,

We set today a votive stone;

That memory may their deed redeem,

When, like our sires, our sons are gone.

Spirit, that made those heroes dare

To die, and leave their children free,

Bid Time and Nature gently spare

The shaft we raise to them and thee.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

It was late at night on April 19, 1775 and British soldiers were on a ‘secret’ journey from Boston to Concord, MA where they planned to destroy the stores of munitions that they heard the colonists were storing in a farmer’s barn. They had slept 1 hour before they set out, their generals chose walking through chest-deep wetlands instead of tramping loudly on a wooden bridge to preserve secrecy. Most of them were raw recruits and had never been in battle. Their journey was 18 miles along a dusty road through fields lined with boulders.

Meanwhile, a sexton hangs two lanterns in the belfry of North Church. Paul Revere sets off along a northerly route, William Dawes along a southerly route to warn the villages that the British were on the move.

As the British march along, they heard church bells ring, they heard shots fired and they knew that their mission was no longer a secret and that the colonists knew they were on the march.
Meanwhile the colonists, alerted by the ringing bells, grab their guns, kiss their wives or mothers good-bye and rush out the door to confront the British Regulars wherever they might. They rush in from surrounding villages, and from nearby colonies such as Connecticut, New Hampshire and Rhode Island to make a stand for their rights as British citizens.

By the time the Regulars got to Lexington, they were tired, wet, dirty, hungry and a bit anxious about their mission. Then, they rounded a corner and saw about 75 militiamen gathered in the village green waiting cautiously for them, their muskets in their arms. They neared them, guns at the ready, both sides eyed each other. A tense standoff then - a shot rang out and both sides began to fire. Smoke filled the air, and 8 colonists lay dieing on the green. The colonists scatter and the British continue down the road they had been on towards Concord where the munitions are.
Meanwhile Revere is captured, but Dawes and Prescott continue to spread the word that the British are coming. By the time the British near Concord, there are 700 colonists ready for them. They meet at North Bridge, the British fire and kill two colonists, the militia officer orders his men to shoot, an act of treason against the British government, that would become known as the ‘shot heard round the world.’

Several British soldiers die, the rest regroup and begin their march back to Boston. The colonists follow, keeping hidden behind boulders, trees and small hillocks, firing when they have a good chance. They harry the British all the way back and in the end, the colonists have lost 49 dead and 41 wounded while the British have lost 73 dead and 174 wounded. But mostly wounded is their pride while the colonists have learned that they can fight off the best army in the world. Little did either side know that it wouldn’t be until 1783 that the war which began in Lexington and Concord this day would end.

OK, the boring history part is done and now for our ‘exciting’ journey to trace the events of that fateful day. We left early for a big day and got to Lexington about 8:30. We got a cup of coffee and began to walk the village green when a young woman in period dress came up and gave us a tour and the details about the events on Lexington Green.

The militia lined up between the white obelisk on the left and the two people sitting on the bench on the right under the trees. Long line facing the incoming British. The obelisk is a memorial for those who died on the green that day.

At the other end of the Green was this memorial to the Minutemen who fought that day.

We also toured Buckman Tavern on the north side of the green, a popular gathering place for townspeople and Sam Adams and John Hancock who were there at that time.

Here are some of the original boards in the kitchen area. All of these are less than 23” wide since the king got all boards that were 24” wide.

Here’s where Hancock and Sam Adams were right before the British came looking for them - they skedaddled out of here just in time.

But when he skedaddles, Hancock forgot his trunk which had a list of all the people in the patriot movement. When the British let Revere go, he rushed to the tavern, grabbed that trunk and got it out of the tavern in time. Whew.

Next was Concord. In the VC we saw a marvelous multi-media movie about the events of that day, April 19, when the Colonists met the British on North Bridge and forced them to retreat. This is the British side.

And,this is the colonist side with a minuteman statue.

At North Bridge we met a ‘Lobsterback’ who was guarding the graves of the two British soldiers who had died there. He told us about how the ‘Doodles’ (the Yankee Doodles or colonists) were lined up right across the bridge and ready for a fight. After a short battle, the British retreated, gathered themselves and marched back to Boston and their barracks.

However, as they marched down this road, this very road,

the colonists followed and sniped at them all the way back - from behind stone walls, trees and large rocks barns and houses.

The British never knew which way the shots would come from and, in the end, when they got back to their barracks, they had lost 73 dead and 174 wounded while the colonists had lost only 49 dead and 41 wounded, considerably fewer. Nightfall found the British crossing Charleston to safety in Boston. The Battle of Bunker Hill will be fought in June.

By the time it was all over, most realized that this ‘skirmish’ had ignited the American Revolution. There would be no going back. The Battle of Bunker Hill would follow in 2 months. The colonists realized that they could stand up to British Regulars while the British Regulars realized that they had a foe that would not back down.

We also visited a house that Hawthorne had lived in while he was in the area. It was closed but we got to climb the hill next to the house that Hawthorne climbed every day as he was thinking about his plots. Nice steep hill, no switch backs.

We went to Lexington and Concord many years ago with Gary’s parents and younger sister, Dawn, so this was not our first time. However, we are older and appreciate it all more now. Exploring the very places where American history was actually made is so much more exciting that reading about it in books. We’ve learned so much more.