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, Concord Hymn (1837)
Earl Hugh Percy, Brigadier General in the British Army, saved the British troops from annihilation during their retreat from Concord, by commanding the relief column of a thousand troops which escorted the demoralized troops who had fought at Lexington and Concord back into the British lines at Boston. Percy had been extremely contemptuous of the colonists prior to April 19, 1775. His attitude changed by what he witnessed on the 19th. On the 20th he sent a letter to a fellow British general with these observations:
During the whole affair the Rebels attacked us in a very scattered, irregular manner, but with perseverance and resolution, nor did they ever dare to form into any regular body. Indeed they knew too well what was proper, to do so.
Whoever looks upon them as an irregular mob will find himself much mistaken. They have men amongst them who know very well what they are about, having been employed as Rangers against the Indians and Canadians; and this country, being much covered with wood, and hilly, is very advantageous for their method of fighting.
Nor are several of their men void of a spirit of enthusiasm, as we experienced yesterday, for many of them concealed themselves in houses and advanced within 10 yards to fire at me and other officers, though they were morally certain of being put to death themselves in an instant.
You may depend upon it that as the Rebels have now had time to prepare, they are determined to go through with it, nor will the insurrection turn out so despicable as it is perhaps imagined at home. For my part, I never believed, I confess, that they would have attacked the King‘s troops, or have had the perseverance I found in them yesterday.
There are few days that deserve the title turning point in history. April 19, 1775 was one of those few days.
Curious to know what film(s) the clips are from?
Guerilla tactics worked fairly well at the beginning. We did need a good bit of drill and training to fight as a single army later.
The John Adams miniseries and April Morning.
John Flaherty:
We fought as though our lives depended upon it because it did.