St. Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861, 1861-03-21
NUMBER II.

selves to hill within few rods Of
the village Westinghouse. In very
few moments firing was begun on
both sides The deadly aim of the
British soldiers, in an affair which
was much more a massacre than it
was battle, left seven of the seven
hundred inhabitants of the the little
town Of LcXingtOn-sevcn Of the sew
cnty men who had been recalled to-
gethcr by the drum beat at the gray
of that immortal mUrning--blccdnm
! and dead upon the church grccnsward;
and nine more were wounded, unable
to pursue the fight. Out-numlcrcd
by an overwhelming force Capt PAY
kcr gave the order to his men to &c
treat as best they could, and for each
man TO look out for his own personal
safety. Immediately all were dis
pcrscd The British soldiers having
been summoned to their breakfasts
(having each brought his supply of
provisions about his person, halted
perhaps half an hour, gave three
cheers, and pursued their march for
Concord. The company of Capt. Par
kcr rallied again, took up their dead
and wounded, and with pious care re-
stored them to their houses, from
whence they had sailed in the night,
full Of hope and the high resolve of
patriotic hearts. And that torn and
tattcrcd fragment Of the Lexington
vcOman sOldicrv, returned 10 the ranks
again, and pursued the retiring Brit
ish force, in order to have voice in
| that great transaction about to tako
! place that day upon the banks of the
peaceful Concord river. The signals
and the alarms which had spread
throughout the neighboring towns had
gathered together on the banks of the
Concord river ycoman soldiers, like
the men of Lexington, from Dcdham
on the one hand all around to Salem
and Danvers on the other. The men
| of Lexington arrived Just after the
soldiers of the Province had repulscd
and driven back the British foe, in
season to have a hand themselves in
| the constant and worrying attacks
made on either side during the British
retreat One hero, Jedcdiah Mnnroc,
fell that afternoon lifeless corpse.
who had been wounded that morning
on Lexington Common.
The affair at Lexington has been
recited, Mr.. President and gentlemen
of the Convention, so many times, and
by such eloquent lips, that | would
not dare to trust myself, in this pres
p.ith r,nptittAn of do
tails. have venturcd thus to give
you cursory glimpse of the transac-
tions of the day in order to recall to
your minds the historic events and
circumstances which surrounded and
| attended them-connectcd with which
are these precious relics of our revo-
/ lutionary history, which in a moment
shall have the honor to present.
I through its special committee, to tho
! honorable Senate. | ought not, how
ever, to fail to remind you of the
names Of those yc0man heroes who
, tasted death or gave their blood in
/ that morning hour Of the American
! Revolutionary Causc--to the cause
of God and their country Samuel
/ lEadlcy, Caleb Harrington, Jonathan
Harrington, Jr., Robert Munroc, Isaac
Musscy, Jonas Parker and John
! Brown fell on Lexington Common and
/ brcathCd no more. Joseph Gomez,
/ Nathaniel Farmer, Ebcnezcr Munroc,
/ lr, Solomon Pierce, John Robbins,
John Tidd and Prince Estabrook, "a
negro man." participated in the fight
on Lexington Common, and gave their
blood--howing together in 4 common
Stroam-au oblation upon the altar OF
all our libitics. Jcdcdiah Munroe fell
that day. He was the man who,
wounded in the morning at the affair
Of Lexington, bearing his wound, the
pain of which could not weaken tho
ardor Of his patriotic purpose, marched
! with his company to Concord on the
. afternoon Of that very day, and there
/ tasted death among the men whose
valor and whose sullerings have made
the name of Concord-linked with
that Of LcXington--as immortal as
those of Marathon and Platca.
Allow me. gentlemen, to remind
You that an historic reflection reveals
to us that in the little town of Lex
ington, with only seven hundred in
habitants, there was contained an cpi-
tome of all our New England life.
There was the yeoman there was the
/ soldier-many of them doubtless had
fought at Louisburg, at Montreal, and
under the walls of Quebec there
was the village mechanic there, too.
was Adams, whose strong sense and
burning eloqucnce had shaken the
walls of Faneuil Hall and there, too,
was Hancock, the merchant prince,
and ardent patriot, who gave the
largest fortune, as well as one of the
warmest hearts in all New England
to the common cause there, also,
was Jonas Clark the pious, learned,
devout and faithful pastor. And they
were all linked together by the ties Of
a common purpose, common histo-
ry, a common danger, and a common
future for themselves and their pos
terity.
The affair at Lexington having been
ended, so far as concerned the active
duties of the day, by the retreat of
the Lexington company and by the
departure of the British troops, Capt.
John Parker followed after the retir-
inc forces, and overlook soldier
who had Jagged behind his associates
of the Forty-third Regiment Of British
Infantry, equipped with an old Kings
arm, cartouch box with sixty rounds
of ball cartridges, his knapsack and
blankets. Capt. Parker captured from
the soldier his musket, all his accou
trements, and kept them always dur
ing his life. The Kings arm, as also
a small muskct which he bore both at
Lexington and Concord on that 10th
day of April 1855, were preserved
with pious care and patriotic interest
by his son, Deacon John Parker, and
! - ftorunrl L.: Liz .rra naSnn the RpN