Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1875-04-20

. uONDtE llltk Time, the QlSl 7 tllluE iaf- /.
ward and ordering the rebels, ~ lie /.
/ termed them, 10 disperse. O.herC rCtliesTs (
/ echoed his words rs they advanced, /
"Disperse, ye yillainsw Lay down .
your arms, ye rebels, and dispsrseP .
! The orders were disTecarded. \ scene .
OF confusion ensued, with firing on both /
sides; which party commenced it has
been matter Of dispute. Pitcairn al
ways malntsiued that, finding the
militia would not dispsrse, he turned to
order his men to draw cut and surround
them, when he saw flash in the pan
from the gun Of 3 country man posted
behind a wall, and almost instantly the
report Of two or three muskets. These
he supposed to be from the Americans,
as his horse was wounded, as was also p
soldier close by him. His troops rushed /
| on and q prOmiscuOus fire took place,
though, as he declared, he made re-
peated signals with his sword for his
men to fOrDear. The firing OF the AmeTi-
cans was irregular and without much
effect; that of the British was more
fatal; eight Of the patrOits were killed
and ten wounded, and the whole put tC
flight. The victOrs formed on the COM
mon, fired q vOlley, and gave three
cheers for one Of the most inglOriOus and
disastrous triumphs ever achieved by
| British arms.
In BancrOtt's History of the United .
States, vol. vii, PIP. 292-293, the follow
ing version OF the same affair is given:
'The last stars were vanishing from
night when the foremost party, led by
Pitcairn, major of marines, was dis
covered advancing quickly and in 81
lence. Alarm guns were fired, and the
drums beat, not a call to village hus-
bandmen only, but the reveille TO hu-
manity. Less than seventy, perhaps
less than sixty obeyed the summons,
and in sight of half as many boys and
unarmed men were parsded in two
ranks few rods north of the meeting
house. . - The British van, hear
ing the gun and the alarm guns, halted
to load; the remaining companies came
in, and at half an hour before sunrise
the advance party hurried forward at
double-quick time, and almost upon
run, closely followed by the grenadiers.
Pitcairn rode in front, and when within
five or six rods Of the minute man cried
out, 'Disperse, ye villains; ye rebels, dis
perse; lay down your arms why don'tyOu
lay down your arms and disperse? The
main part of the countrymen stood mo-
tionless in the ranks, witnesses against
aggression, too few to resist, too brave
to fly. At this Pitcairn discharged
pl5IOls anu Will u lOuu NOlC0 CIl6us |
'Firev The order was instantly fol-
lowed, first by few guns, which did no
execution, and then by a heavy, close
and deadly discharge Of musketry. In
the disparsity Of numbers the common
was field of murder, not of battle.
Parker, therefore, ordered his men to
disperse. Then, and not till then, did 3
few of them, on their own impulse, re-
turn the British fire. These random shots
OF fugitives or dying men did no harm,
except that Pitcairn's horse was, per
haps, grazed, and private in the tenth
light infantry was touched slightly in
the leg"
New York Herald Concord Correspondence.l
WHAT CONCORD CLAIMS.
It will be remembered that there were
massacres by the British troops before
the massacre at Lexington, though none
were so effective in arOusing the Ameri-
can people. What Concord claims is,
that the first armed resistance was made
in that town; that the fight at Concord
North Bridge was the first time the
Americans met the British grenadiers in
arms, and, consequently, that the battle,
as glorious in itself almost as in its con-
sequences, was the actual beginning of
the war of the revolution.
WHAT LITERARY MEN SAY.
Mr.. Hudson said that upon one point
viz, that of the first blood shed on the
nineteenth Of April, 1T5, was in Lex
ingtOn-there was no dispute. He said
he believed, however, that Concord
claimed that the vOlleY fired ny the
British on Lexington common was not
returned. This was a mistake. There
is ample testimony to show that the fire
on that day was returned.
ferr L
spoke to Mr.. Muzzy, one of the encyclO-
pedias Of the town, who merely laughed
very heartily at the idea that there
could be any dispute in regard to the
point. He said the first blood shed be-
tween the British and the armed Amer
leans was shed at Lexington.
Mr.. Melvin drew very funny picture
OF the devices of the Lexington people
to secure for themselves the chief glory
of the nineteenth of April, and said that
Concord never claimed that the first
blood shed in the revolution was spilled
in that town. Undoubtedly eight pa
triots were killed by the British in Lex
ingtOn before Davis and HOsmer lost
their lives at Concord bridge.
Mr.. Frederic Hudson says: There is
no doubt that the first American blood
was shed in Lexington. There was
massacre there sin the gray Of the morn
ing" but the first British blood was shed
in Concord, and the first effeetu8l resist
ance to England was made in that town. \
Mr.. Curtis has been selected to deliv-
er the centennial Grafton in Concord on
Monday next, and would undoubtedly
devote particular attention to the sOlu-
ton Of this vexing questiOn-veXing be-
cause it has kindled q spirit of rivalry
and jealousy which the American pa
IL. n, kkuVEa 10
the light in which the great savant
looks at it. At the same time his Opin-
ion is one calculated to restore peace
and concord to Concord and Lexington
by distributing the glory between both
claimants. He says in letter: "At
Lexington the militia, sixty or seventy
in number, were drawn up in line, and,
refusing to disperse at the British sum-
mons, were fired upon by the British, at
least six hundred strong. Then the
Americans were ordered to retire, and
| as they did so few returned the British
fire. At Concord the Americans TesOlV-
ed to Cross the Old North Bridge, which
was held by the British, and were ad-
vanciDg for that purpose when the Brit
ish fired. Then the Americans were
ordered to return the fire, which they
did, and the British retreated. The af-
fair at Concord was deliberate, inten.
tional, organized resistance. At Lex
ingtOn it was q massacre, at Concord
battle, and the Americans were as wise
in retiring at Lexington as they were in
advancing at Concord"
| Subsequently in an interview, he said |
| that tat Lexington the Americans did |
not fire as line, but simply as individ- /.
| uals, while dispensing"
but as far as the hOnOrs of the first |
| shot are concerned you award them to |
| LexingtOnY
'Oh, it was practically one affair.""
| Mr.. Curtis replied, with a deprecstiDg /.
| smile; 1.-THE British troops only tarried |
| twenty minutes at Lexington, and then /
| marched Oh to Concord, where they |
| found it was quite different affair.
/ Had it not been for Concord the day
would have marked a massacre II not
! defeat of the Americans"
! And thus Mr.. Curtis, who was evil
| IDENTIFY born to be diplOmatist, distrib-
! uted isurels equally between both rivals,
adding, in a tone Of gOOd-nstured regret,
"Its really very disagreeable thSt there
/ should be this friction"
"And do you not think the cOntrO-
| versy will be settled one of these days"
"Oh, ne," Mr.. Curtis returned with a
laugh; "seven cities claimed Homer,
and why should not two claim the first