Friday/Saturday morning is our last day in Boston.Friday was a mixed bag. The Tea Party Museum had no tickets for a public tour due to so many private tours. That plan got axed and we’ll go on Saturday. After the Tea Party Museum, we venture back to Oklahoma. The first stop is Saratoga!But on Friday we chose to go to Lexington-Concord in the morning followed by the King’s Chapel Cemetery and the inside tours of the Old South Meeting House and Old State House.
The battles of Lexington-Concord started the Revolutionary War on April 19, 1775. It’s the home of the shot heard around the world.The Redcoats started marching to Concord from Boston to pick up ammunition. Paul Revere and others rode ahead of the Redcoats to warn the colonists THE REDCOATS ARE COMING!The Redcoats didn’t expect a bunch of farmers to come out fighting.Minute Man National Historical Park is a huge national park, which is no surprise. But a hot day meant not a lot of walking, so I didn’t go to every spot of the 20 spots on the auto self-guided tour.The driving tour of the battle road should last 3-5 hours.The first stop is the Nathan Meriam House. It is the spot where the militia opened fire on the Redcoats as they retreated to Boston. The house is the beginning of what is known as Battle Road.Nathan and his wife Abigail lived at the house with seven children. The family oral tradition about the day says (and it has hints of the 3rd Amendment): “when the alarm was given in Concord that the British soldiers were coming, Josiah Meriam, with his sons, Josiah, Jr., and Timothy, went to the village, and later were among the forces at the North Bridge, and probably crossed the meadows and appeared again at the encounter near the house. Joseph, Josiah’s youngest son, then seven years old, remained at home, as he always said, ‘to take care of the women’ and soon went with them to a place of refuge behind the hill. The British soldiers entered the house, helped themselves to whatever breakfast they could find, taking the unbaked pies from the oven…”There is also a gravestone marking the burial of Redcoats killed on the lawn.
Rev. Edmund Foster with the Reading militia near the Tavern recalled,
“a man rode up on horse back unarmed. The enemy were then passing round the hill just below the tavern. They had posted a small body of their troops on the north side of the hill, which fired upon us. The horse and his rider fell instantly to the ground; the horse died immediately, but the man received no injury. We were quick at the spot, from which we returned the fire.”
Dramatically outnumbered and flanked the British detachment atop the bluff withdrew. As the regulars descended the rocky hillside into the low area behind, more colonial militia hidden behind trees, rocks and fence rails on Fiske Hill opened fire. Desperately attempting to protect the column and cover the retreat, a mounted British officer galloped to the front. Edmund Foster continued,
“An officer, mounted on an elegant horse, and with drawn sword in his hand, was riding backwards and forwards, commanding and urging on the British troops. A number of Americans behind a pile of rails, raised their guns and fired with deadly effect. The officer fell, and the horse took fright, leaped the wall, and ran directly towards those who had killed his rider. The enemy discharged their musketry in that direction, but their fire took no effect.”
The last three spots are Fiske Hill, British Grave on Fiske Hill, and Ebenezer Fiske House Site.
The battle grew near to the Fiske house. Benjamin Fiske and his wife Rebecca loaded his ill father Ebenezer into a cart and rolled away to a safer spot. The battle ensued in the open field, covered with dead militiamen and Redcoats.
A tale says militiaman James Hayward found himself in front of a Brit exiting the abandoned Fiske house. The Brit said, “You’re a dead man.” Hayward said, “And so are you.”
Hayward killed the Brit. The Brit mortally wounded Hayward.
Rebecca came home and found a dead Redcoat on her front step. Three soldiers were in a pool of blood inside her house.
Unfortunately the Fiske house no longer exists.
I decided to explore a few places on the Freedom Trail. On the tour, I did not go into the King’s Chapel Cemetery, Old South Meeting House, and the Old State House.
You can read about the history of those places in my previous post.
The King’s Chapel Cemetery is older than the Granary Cemetery. It houses the famous Tudor family. No, not THAT Tudor family. We have Frederic Tudor known as the “Ice King.” No, not that Ice King. He founded the Tudor Ice Company and shipped New England pond ice around the world.
Again you can read the history of the Old South Meeting House in my previous post. I went inside today. SO COOL to stand where our Founders stood and made the decision to become independent from tyranny.
The Sons of Liberty left this room, marched to the harbor, and threw the tea overboard. LOVE IT.
Where did we go wrong in this country? The headline: New Taxes Provoke Violence. Now no one blinks an eye at a new tax. But inside this building, they read aloud the Declaration of Independence for the first time on July 18, 1776.
Fascinating building. The Boston Massacre also took place out front. An exhibit has some of the tea from the Tea Party.
What a spectacular week in the northeast! So much American history and a great time with friends.
I cannot wait to come back!
But on the way to Oklahoma, we will hit Saratoga, Gettysburg, Antietam, and Chattanooga.
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