The Kanzas news., 1858-06-26

enemies." In December they distributed
to ''the train band and alarm list" arms
and ammunition, and resolved s'to supply
the training soldiers with bayonets.''
AT two IN the morning, under the eye of
the minister, and of Hancock and Adams,
Lexington Common was alive with the min
ute-men; and not with them only, but the
!old men also, who we're exempt In case of
Immediate danger to the town. The roll
was called, and of militia and alarm men
about one hundred and thirty answered to
their names. The captain, John Parker,
ordered every one to load with powder and
ball, but to take care not to be the first to
fire. Messengers, sent to look for British
regulars reported that there were no signs
of their approach. a watch was therefore
set and the company dismissed with orders
to come together at the beat of the drum
Some went to their own homes; some went
to the tavern, near the southeast corner of
the Common.
The last stars were vanishing in the skies
when the foremost party, led by Pitcairn,
major of marines, was discovered advancing
quickly and in silence; alarm guns were
fired and the drums beat, not call to vii
lage her husbandmen, but the reyeille of
humanity. Less than seyenty-perhaps
less than sixty-obeyed the summons, and.
in sight of half as many boys and unarmed
men, were paraded in two ranks, few rods
north of the meeting house.
How often in that building had they,
with renewed professions of their faith, look
ed up to God as the stay of their fathers and
the protector of their liberties! How often
on that village green, hard by the burial
place of their forefathers, had they. pledged
themselves to each other to combat manful
ly for their birthright inheritance to free
doml There they now stood side by side,
under the provincial banner, with arms in
their hands, silent and fearless, willing to
fight for their privilege, scrupulous not to
begin civil war, and as yet unsuspicious of
immediate danger. The ground on which
they trod was the altar of freedom, and they
were to furnish its victims.
! The British van, hearing the drum and
the alarm guns, halted to load; the remain
ling companies came up; and at half an hour
before sunrise, the advance party hurried
: forward at double quick time, almost upon
a run, closely followed by the grenadiers.-
Pitcairn rode in front, and, when within
five or six rods of the minute-men, cried out:
; "Disperse ye villains; ye rebels, disperse;
lay down your arms; why don't you lay
down your arms and disperse?" The main
part of the countrymen stood motionless in
the ranks, witnesses against aggression, too
few to resist, too brave to fly. At this Pit
cairn discharged pistol, and with loud
voice cried, ssFirsl'' The order was instant
ly followed, first by few guns, which did
no execution, and then by heavy, close
and deadly discharge of musketry.
In the disparity of numbers, the Com
mon was field of murder, not of battle;
Parker therefore ordered his men to dis
perse. Then, and not till then, did few of
them, on their own impulse, return the Brit
ish fire. These random shots of fugitive
or dying men did no harm except that Pit
cairns horse was perhaps grazed and pri-
vate of the 10th Light Infantry was touch
ed slightly in the leg.
Jonas Parker, the strongest and best
wrestler in Lexington, had promised never
to run from British troops; and he kept his
VOW. a wound brought him on his knees.
Having discharged his gun, he was prepar
ing to load again, when as sound heart as
ever throbbed for freedom was stilled by
bayonet, and he lay on the post which he
took at the mornings drum beat. So fell
Isaac Muzzy, and so died the aged Robert
Munroe, the same who, In 1853, had been
an ensign at Louisburg. Jonatnan Harring
ton, Jr., was struck in front of his own
house on the north of the Common. His
wife was at the window as he fell. With
the blood gushing from his breast, he rose
in her sight, tottered, fell again, then crawl
ed on his hands and knees towards his dwell
ling; she ran to meet him, but only reached
him as he expired on their threshold. Ca
leb Harrington, who had gone into the meet
ling house for powder, was shot as he came
out. Samuel Hadley and John Brown were
pursued and killed, after they had left the
green. Asahel Porter, of Woburn, who
had been taken prisoner by the British on
the march, endeavored to escape, but was
shot within few rods of the Common.
!, Day came in all the beauty of any early
; spring. The trees were budding; the grass
J growing rankly full mouth before the time
ial season, and calling forth the beams of
the sun which on that morning shone with
the warmth of summer; but distress and
horror gathered over the inhabitants of the
peaceful town. There on the green, lay in
death the gray-haired and dying young; the
grassy field was red with the innocent
blood of their brethren slain,'' crying unto
God for vengeance from the ground.
i Seven of the men of Lexington were kill
ed; nine wounded; quarter part of those
who stood in arms on the green. These are
the village heroes, who were more than of
noble blood, proving by their spirit that they
were of a race divine. They gave their
lives in testimony to the rights of mankind.
bequeathing to their country an assurance
of success in the mighty struggle which
they began. Their names are held in CRATE
full remembrance, and the expanding mill
/ ions of their countrymen renew and multi
ply their praise from generation to genera