I was privileged to attend the Emerging Revolutionary War tour this past week that was hosted by the authors of "A Single Blow," Rob Orrison & Phillip Greenwalt. The book includes some self-guided tour directions.
Another member of ERW was on the tour, Mark Maloy, who is an archeologist and author of "To the Last Extremity: The Battles for Charleston, 1776-1782" and "Victory or Death: The Battles of Trenton and Princeton, December 25, 1776 - January 3, 1777."
The tour was well worth the price and additional expenses (room, board, and travel) to attend. This is the first tour by ERW of Battle Road. The prior 4 tours have been of other locations of interest regarding the War of Independence. Next year is a tour of Brandywine and Gilbert Courthouse.
The ERW tour included an hour-long orientation presentation at the host hotel Friday night which was similar to our Three Strikes of the Match, so the people on the tour would have some context of what they were going to see. There were people on the tour who had very little understanding of April 19, and some who have obviously studied it extensively.
Saturday, the tour started at Lexington Green. One major highlight of the tour of Lexington was led by Alexander Cain. Mr. Cain is the author of the books, "We Stood Our Ground," and "I See Nothing But the Horrors of a Civil War." Mr. Cain is also host of the webpage & podcast "Historical Nerdery," which deal almost exclusively with subjects related to Lexington and April 19, 1775. He constantly researches those subjects and incorporates updated information in his podcasts and books. A third edition of "We Stood Our Ground" is scheduled to be released around the first of the year (2025) with updated material.
Mr. Cain's presentations at various locations on and around the Green were extremely detailed and included information that lent historical and social context to the Lexington residents at the time and individuals who participated in the events of April 19, 1775.
(I will say here that there are some details included in the present versions of our Three Strikes of the Match and Dangerous Old Men / Dangerous Dames that are contradicted by more recent research by Mr. Cain and others. For example, while Jonathan Harrington did crawl to his house and died after being shot on Lexington Green, he did not die in his wife's arms. Circumstances did not allow me to ask Mr. Cain for an elaboration of his statement.)
Saturday the ERW tour also visited Paul Revere's capture site, Concord and the Battle at North Bridge, did a drive-by description of Meriam's Corner (which is under construction), and visited and walked Parker's Revenge. The Parker's Revenge visit began with a discussion of the relatively recent archeological dig that led to an adjustment of the identification of the location of that conflict.
Sunday was a visit to the Minuteman Visitors Center, Fiske's Hill (where James Hayward was shot), and a tour of the Jason Russell House. Due to weather, a tour of the Old Burying Ground in Arlington (Menotomy) was cancelled. That cemetery is the site of a monument to the Patriots that died at the Jason Russell House, Jason Russell's gravesite, and the mass gravesite and a monument for 40 British Regulars.
I wore Project Appleseed gear all three days and was asked about them many times by individuals on the tour and by volunteers at the various sites of interest. The item for which I received the most comments by location tour guides was the Samuel Whittemore hoodie. I was asked by 4 different volunteers at the Jason Russell house where they could buy one. (The Samuel Whittemore monument is a fairly short walk from the Jason Russell House.) Over the time I was in the Boston area taking in the sights (all War of Independence-related), I handed out a lot of AS business cards.
The amount of time a person had to visit Battle Road would determine the places I would recommend seeing. Two days would allow a good, but not extensive, visit to most of the major points of interest. To really dive into the events and sites on Battle Road and related to it would require several days - perhaps a week. Be aware that next year (2025) is the 250th anniversary of April 19, 1775 and there are very substantial renovations and construction projects going on to accommodate what is expected to be a huge turnout for the reenactments and other events. The area immediately around North Bridge, for example, is currently closed for construction work, although it can be seen from the overlook at the visitor area. I would also encourage looking up the days and times locations are open as they vary (several places were closed for Columbus Day, and some are closed on Tuesdays). To visit the Concord Historical Society an appointment is required.
In Liberty,
Greg Seneff, Sr.
"Bluegrass Colonel"
Here is an article about the tour by the organization that hosted it.
ERW Tour of Lexington and Concord (https://emergingrevolutionarywar.org/2024/10/19/touring-the-sites-of-lexington-and-concord/)
Greg