With the upcoming semiquincentennial (250-year) anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the American Colonies from Imperial British rule, I decided I should start a series of geocaches highlighting well known and lesser known parts of history regarding the American War of Independence.
Battle of Lexington & Concord
By April 1775, Massachusetts Royal Governor Thomas Gage was facing the threat of outright rebellion. He hoped to prevent violence by ordering the seizure of weapons and powder being stored in Concord, Massachusetts, but he underestimated the courage and determination of the colonists. Patriot spies got wind of Gage’s plan.
On the evening of April 18, Paul Revere and other riders raised the alarm that British regulars were on their way to Concord. Minute Men and militias rushed to confront them early on April 19.
British troops marched into the town of Lexington at about 5:00 a.m. to find themselves faced by a militia company of more 70 men. When the vanguard of the British force rushes toward them across the town green, the militia dispersed, but at some point a shot rings out—historians still debate who fired it—and the nervous British soldiers fire a volley, killing seven and mortally wounding one of the retreating militiamen. The British column moves on toward Concord, leaving the dead, wounded, and dying in their wake.
Arriving in Concord at approximately 8:00 a.m., order about 220 troops to secure the North Bridge across the Concord River and then continue on another mile to where a cache of arms and powder is presumably located.
A growing assembly of close to 400 militia from Concord and the surrounding towns gather on the high ground, where they see smoke rising from Concord. Mistakenly assuming the Redcoats are torching the town, the militia companies advance.
As the Minute Men march down the hill, the British soldiers, intimidated by their numbers and orderly advance, retreat to the opposite shore and prepare to defend themselves. When the militia comes within range, the Redcoats open fire, and the Minute Men respond, killing three British soldiers and wounding nine others. This volley is called “the shot heard round the world” by poet Ralph Waldo Emmerson in later years, and sends the British troops retreating back to town and return to Boston.
The march back to Boston devolves into a rout as the British are attacked from all sides by swarms of angry Minute Men along what is now known as Battle Road. For the next 12 miles, the British are continually ambushed by Minute Men shooting from behind trees, rock walls, and buildings.
Concord, Massachusetts was one of the centers of a philosophical/literary movement in the mid-1800s. What was the name of this influencial movement?
- Realism = N 41° 21.481′ W 88° 30.998′
- Romanticism = N 41° 20.723′ W 88° 33.357′
- Transcendentalism = N 41° 21.106′ W 88° 31.577′