Posted by
Steve on Monday, April 21, 2008 4:30:02 PM
On Saturday, I was reminded that it was Patriot day by reading from Hugh Hewitt.com. Hugh then referred me to Powerline to read up on what Patriot day actually means.
Patriot day is the anniversary of the day the Revolutionary War started. On Lexington Green, the first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired by the British Soldiers who were marching to Concord to destroy the munitions that were stored there. There are conflicting stories on exactly what happened that April morning. The Americans say that the British fired without provocation. The volley from the British killed 8 Americans and wounded 10. The British say that an American separated himself from the main group of Americans and fired. He did not hit anyone as he probably only had powder in his gun, not shot. The British say they fired in response to that initial shot by an American.
There is no way that we will ever know which story is right. All of those involved have been dead for almost 200 years. There is no way we can ever recreate the forensic evidence to determine who was correct. All we can go on is our personal opinion. My opinion is that someone probably had their gun go off by mistake. In response to this initial shot, the British let go with a volley upon the Americans. This initial shot was not aimed at anyone but probably went harmlessly up in the air.
The events of the day actually started the evening before with the ride of Paul Revere. I did learn something from the reports that were reprinted. Paul Revere was captured by 10 British soldiers on horseback as he neared Concord. He escaped because they heard gunfire and when some went to investigate the others got confused and Paul Revere escaped.
After the British marched to Concord to blow up the munitions, they had to march back to Boston. That is where the Americans started firing on them and killing them. The British were losing a lot of men along the way. The officers gave an order that anyone in a house along the way should be killed. As a result, many women and children were killed on the British march back to Boston. The British were saved when a relief column with artillery came and engaged the Americans. The Americans had no artillery and had to withdraw.
My ancestors lived in the Boston area during that time period. I do not know if any of them were involved in the action that day. I would like to think that I had some of my ancestors involved in fighting the British, April 19, 1775. I most likely had ancestors involved in the blockade of Boston. I know that one of my direct ancestors, Jonathan Cheney, was a Lieutenant who served on the staff of George Washington during the war. He was primarily involved in getting messages from Washington to other Generals in the field. He served in that capacity for most of the war.
In the past, I had learned that the Revolutionary War started in April 1775. I may have even learned that it was on April 19, 1775. I must confess that I had forgotten that fact. When I read the first hand accounts of the events of that day from both sides, I was moved. The people that wrote the accounts of that day were actually there. They experienced what happened that day and it was forever a major event in their minds. When I read of the 8 Americans that were killed by the initial British volley, I was moved for their families. I was also moved by the compassion of the citizens of the area that buried the British dead. They gave the dead a headstone after the war. That showed that there was not a lot of hate involved on either side during the early stages of the war. After atrocities were committed, some became embittered. Early on the fighting was over ideas.