Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-01
COLONISTS FIRED FIRST
IN IT'S, PITCAIRN SAID
Battle of Lexington Traced to Amer
lean Shots in Report to
Gen. Gage.

appear much fatigued you may halt
| them at Lexington or Cambridge and
let them rest in Barns or other out
houses and may hire wagons at Lex
ington for weak and fatigued Men. If
any Body of Men dares to oppose you
with arms you will warn them to dis
perse or attack them.
Some Men from the Artillery are or
dered to attend you and will carry
! sledge hammer and other instruments
to destroy the Guns.
Hidden Cannon Listed.
Cannon hid in wood mile & half
from the center Of the village between
the River and Maiden Pond The wood
thick good deal of underwood. The
ground a little wet, but not marsh.
Three Guns still mounted, the rest dis
mounted and carefully hid and even
buried. In the same Place some Boxes
Of Arms hid like the Cannon"
'The Medicine Chests g. Powder Bar
rells, Tents 6Sca distributed in the chief
houses particularly Mr.. Barrett's, Capt
Wheeler's, Mr.. Hubbard'S Stores and
the two Bonds"
1.-The three Guns in the Prison Court
remain there besides many different
articles"
Not much here about capturing Han
cock and Adams at Lexington. The
| town is not even mentioned except as
q place to halt on the way back. What
took place at Lexington in the early
hours of April 10 was not on the sched-
ule at all,
Who Fired First Shot?
The detachment went out according
to orders. The advance guard met the
Minute Men of Capt. John Parker on
Lexington Green. Some one fred a
shot, and then both sides started firing.
The result was the killing and wound
ing of American citizens in the opening
fight of the American Revolution. But
who fired that first shot? For years 1t
was a tradition among Americans to
blame the oficer in command OF the Brit
ish advance guard, Maj John Pitcairn.
AS late as 1912 a Massachusetts, his
torian wrote q book about the battle,
with frontispiece portrait of Maj.
Pitcairn. Beneath the majors picture
are the words by whose orders the
opening volley of the American Revo-
luton was fired"
At that time, and until last year,
the major was not allowed to speak for
himself, and give his own version to
historians. Among Gen. Cages papers
was bUG IOlIOWllB ICpOAb VI N1dJ. E1L-
cairn to the commander in chief.
Forbade Fire. Said Pitcairn.
MAI. PITCAIRN'S REPORT TO GEN.
GAGE.
"Sir,
"As you are anxious to know the
particulars that happened near and at
Lexington on the 18th Inst.-agreeable
to your desire, will in as concise
manner as possible state the facts, for
my time at present is so much employ'd
as to prevent a more particular Mar
rative of the occurrences of that day.
six companies of Light Infantry were
detached by 1t. Col. Smith to take
possession of the Two BrigadeS on the
other side of Concord. Near Three in
the morning when we were advanced
within about Two Miles of Lexington,
Intelligence was received that about 500
men in arms were assembled, deter
mined to oppose the Kings Troops, and
retard them in their March. On this
intelligence mounted my horse, and
Galloped up to the Six Light Companies
when arrived at the head of the adj
vanced Company, Two Officers came and
informed me that a man Of the Rebels
advanced from those that were there
assembled had presented a MusQuet and
attempted to shoot them, but the piece
flashed In the Pan. On this gave di-
rection to the Troops to move forward,
but on no account Fire, or even at
tempt 1t without Orders: when I ar
rived at the end of the Village, OBJ
served drawn UP on Green nearly 200
Of the Rebels; when I came within
about One Hundred Yards Of them,
they began to File of towards some
stone Walls on our Right F1ank-the
Light infantry observing this ran after
them
Ordered "RebeIs" Disarmed.
'T instantly called to the Soldiers
not to Fire, but to surround and dis
arm them, and after several repetitions
&ca-some Of the Rebels who had
jumped over the Wall Fired Four or
Five Shot at the Soldiers, which
wounded Man in the Tenth, and my
Horse was wounded in two places. From
some quarter or other, and at the same
time several Shot were fired from a
Meeting House on our Left-upon this
without any Order or Regularity the
Light Infantry began a scattered Fire
some little contrary to the repeated
Orders both of me and the officers that
were present 1t will be needless to
mention what happened after as I sup
pose Colo. Smith hath given a par
ticular account Of it. am Sir, Your
most Obedt. humble servant,
JOHN PITCAIRN.
Boston Camp, 26th April, IT'S"
So says the major-that he did not
fire first, but on the contrary did every
thing in his power to stop the firing.
Most of the British accounts circum-
stantially agree with hiS-as many OF
the ATaerfraTa aacOlIpfR ara Hiannatrir-
ally opposed to 1t. Maj Pitcairn did
not live to give us a more detailed ac-
count-he was killed at the battle Of
Bunker HILL less than two months
later. The opinions Of scholars who
have had access to these British ac-
counts are inclined to give greater
weight to them.
Gage Long in America.
1t is needless to say that the two
documents above quoted are not the
most important in Gen. Cages col
lection That, officer was In America
from 1854 to ITS. Gage 1t was who
led the advance guard of Braddock's
army on that July day Of 1855, when
the French and Indians ambushed the
British and Colonial forces at Fort
Duquesne. AS the successor to Sir
Jeffery Amherst, 1t was Gage who re-
ceived and kept the letters of Maj.
Glsdwn of Detroit, letters which Park
man needed, but did not have for
the central theme Of his History Of
the Conspiracy of Pontiac"
AS commander in chief in North
America from 1894 to ITS, Gage was
virtually the viceroy Certainly his
Office was the focal point of the Brit
ish Empire in North America. To him
went the letters from the colonial gov
ernors, officials, agents, merchants, Of
f1cers at frontiers posts-any one who
had ofIicial business with the mother
country. At the same time ne received
the letters from the various admins
strative departments in England, the