British arrogance - The Battle Road by Dr Charles H. Bradford

[dwarven1]

I'd picked up this pamphlet - The Battle Road by Dr Charles H. Bradford -  a few years back but never got around to reading it. I was sitting on the couch tonight (YES!! I admit it!!!) reading a bit of history (while my wife watched TV ) I came across the following paragraphs describing General Gage's meeting with his officers on the 18th.

Lt. Col. Smith, of course, would have appeared for his regiment, the 10th Foot, he being senior to all the other colonels; and the 2nd Marine Regiment was represented by Maj. Pitcairn. This downright and outspoken officer probably voiced the opinion of all others present when he wrote home condemning the Patriot leaders and regretting that "we have no orders to do what I wish to do.... I mean, to seize there and send them to England." English rule, and the English military viewpoint, were not quite as benign as some of our modern, American historians pretend to believe. Pitcairn had also written home, "I am satisfied that one active campaign, a smart action, and burning of one or two of their towns, will set everything right. Nothing now, I am afraid, but this will ever convince those foolish, bad people that England is in earnest." Gage himself had expressed the same thought, warning some of the Patriot leaders that "if there was a single man of the King's troops killed in any of their towns, he would burn it to the ground."

Finally, among these officers, it is probable that Earl Percy, Col. of the 5th Rgt. and serving now as a Brigadier, would have been present. He was a young nobleman of great charm, much refinement, and superb military skill and courage. His father, the Duke of Northumberland, sympathized strongly with the American cause, and had tried to prevent his son from taking this assignment. Although Hugh shared some of his father's liberal sentiments, he too was influenced, we might say contaminated, by the autocratic, English viewpoint, feeling that American patriots were merely braggarts, lacking resolution, and incapable of resistance to armed force. This, of course, was a totally unrealistic estimate, counter to everything the colonists had demonstrated in the past century and a half of nearly perpetual war on their frontiers; but it was an estimate that dominated English thinking, and more than any other one factor, it explained the blunders of the British Colonial policy.

Whoa... I hadn't quite realized the depth of the contempt that the British held towards their colonists! I have a feeling that this will be a very interesting read - I'm only on page 17 so far!

[crak]

Yup, I always mention Pitcairn's solution.  And don't think they wouldn't have done it April 20th if there hadn't been a ring of 16,000 armed New England men surrounding Boston.

And that is a heck of a pamphlet.  I like it in some ways more than Fischer's.

[Old Dog]

Remember "what" the British officers were and where they came from.

They were not "common" people.  In those days the large majority of British officers were second and third sons of British nobility/lords.  The first born stepped into their father's shoes upon his death and inherited both title and property.  The younger son's left home.  Many had their rank purchased (yes, money bought you promotion as noble birth alone was not enough) by their father/family money and that also helped in further advancement up through the officer ranks.

Remember what England (the English Armies and English nobility) did in Scotland and Ireland.  The colonists were no different in the eyes of English officers.  The lives and property of "common" folks were inconsequential to the noble born of England.

Anytime a group of people get used to the idea that they can do whatever they want with no consequences their actions will, over time, become worse and worse, as the only important thing in their minds is to have whatever they want when they want it.  The "need" for more money, more authority, more influence continues to grow.

[dond]

I borrowed the booklet, read it, and was very impressed with it. I went to eparks.com to order it, as suggested in the book, and couldn't find it. Does anyone know how to buy a copy?

[dwarven1]

The link in the first post shows 10 used copies available through Amazon.com. I bought it last year, it turns out (found the receipt in the book!) at Minuteman National Park, but they didn't have any copies when we were there a couple of weeks ago.

If Amazon doesn't pan out, you might try contacting Minuteman and see if they're going to get them back in stock. It was originally published in 1975, and it looks like it was reprinted in '96.

[nyrasgt]

Arrogance and superiority that targets others go hand in hand, and have, consistently, from 1775 to date.

Ref. King George's military attache's "geld all the colonists" remark...  ironic today with Great Britain's current situation as regards the personal safety of the inhabitants of the realm.  Unsuccessful with us, they did better with their own people (nearly all of them) because of one deranged murderer.  Wait until they realize that people die in automobile crashes...and falls on stairs...and bathtubs...ban 'em all.

John Ross got it right at the beginning of Unintended Consequences, when he said, "Stripping motivated people of their dignity and rubbing their noses in it is a very bad idea."  True in 1775, 1914, 1939, and...2010.

There's Robert A. Heinlein, Naval Academy graduate and sage, in Beyond This Horizon:  "An armed society is a polite society."  Candidates for most impolite places in U.S.:  New York City and, again, mostly, Washington, D.C. 

Finally, Tom Paxton, 60s political folk singer said:  "Some people you don't have to satirize.  You just quote 'em."
Tell the history - win the hearts and minds.
Excelsior

[hawkhavn]

Nine copies, mine is on it's way here.
Reccommend y'all snap 'em up.

HH

[Xeyed]

Seven copies left.

Got Mine.

Never fails to amaze me the number of good books that pop up on this event.

Have found some excellent reads recommended by forum members.

[Kratos]

Xeyed, can you post a link to where you found it?  I can't find it on the Minuteman National Park web site, google doesn't find it, amazon.com doesn't have it.

[hawkhavn]

The link is in the first line of the first post:
http://www.amazon.com/Battle-Road-Expedition-Lexington-Concord/dp/B000728IMI

HH

[Kratos]

Somehow I didn't see the link -- thanks for the polite head slap   

[gunville]

I think the English nobles contempt was for all common people - not just those in the colonies.

Reflect that Boston itself had a reputation - well deserved reputation at that - for riots and looting and general lawlessness. It was a town disposed to occasions of mob rule (all democracy leads to mob rule) that included burning and looting.

A certain contempt existed toward Boston not only in Britain, but within the other colonies as well.

It was through the artful work of Sam Adams, funded by John Hancock, that tethered these mobs and worked to assuaged the fears of the other colonies that the "hotheads" in Boston would get out of control and start something.

It's common in the AS history to refer to the orders of Mass. militia - "don't fire unless fired upon" as an attempt to seek moral high ground either in an appeal to heaven, (or an appeal for support of Whigs in Britain) by putting the regulars in the wrong. That may be an effect but it wasn't the reason; the point of the order was to assure that Massachusetts could demonstrate itself as a victim to the other colonies, assuring they would be on board with the bay colony when it finally came to arms.

[Castle Mountain]

Here are some facts FYI that are available through the Gutenberg Project which is serious repository for history in ebook format.
No doubt the excess of government and it's minions working amongst the colonies were far too much to bear.
The consensus of the people were expressed and felt in such terms....

"We believe it may be truly said that no one in Great Britain pays so great a tax as some do in this province in proportion to their estates. Let this act but take place, liberty will be no more, trade will languish and die; our money will be sent into his Majesty's exchequer, and poverty come upon us as an armed man."

Moreover, the words of Benjamin Franklin were not exclusive to Mass. but representative of all the provinces. The province of MASS. was hurting big time.
The city of Boston's population fell from 17,000 to but 7000 within but a year. German Hessian mercs placed in Christian homes and turning them into
common bawdy houses was infuriating. British regulars watching over every move people made, economic depression in the city. This was too much.
The so called hot heads had been at war with a government that would not listen, committed atrocities (Boston Massacure) and had tried to enforce regulation
of town hall meetings and the right to choosing their own government.

I do not subscribe to the belief that the choice "not to fire unless fired upon" was the product of putting the regulars in the wrong just to make the provincials look good.
The regulars were already in the wrong when they commenced with their invasions plans for which the several colonies had been preparing for
for more than a year in advance. And I seem to recall somewhere that Captain Parker was under specific orders not to fire first. General Gages secret assault
on the military supplies in Concord was the last straw. It was an overt invasion which was intended to produce a cause and effect by General Gage that
produced unintended consequences initiated by his troops.

It stands to reason the tyrannical restraints upon freedom, liberty and the  peoples labor (the expenditure of their life's energy for free) was too  much.

There is some good background material here: Hope you enjoy it.

CM

    *  http://ebooks.gutenberg.us/WorldeBookLibrary.com/campfires.htm


PART V. GETTING READY FOR THE REVOLUTION
45. A Furious Mob

BY THOMAS HUTCHINSON (1765) BOSTON, Aug. 30, 1765.

I CAME from my house at Milton, on the 26th in the morning. After dinner it was whispered in town there would be a mob at night, and that the custom-house and admiralty officers' houses would be attacked; but my friends assured me that the rabble were satisfied with the insult I had received and that I was become rather popular.114

In the evening, whilst I was at supper and my children round me, somebody ran in and said the mob were coming. I directed my children to fly to a secure place, and shut up my house as I had done before, intending not to quit it; but my eldest daughter repented her leaving me, hastened back, and protested she would not quit the house unless I did.

I couldn't stand against this, and withdrew with her to a neighboring house, where I had been but a few minutes before the hellish crew fell upon my house with the rage of devils, and in a moment with axes split down the doors and entered. My son being in the great entry heard them cry, with an oath, "He is upstairs, we'll have him" Some ran immediately as high as the top of the house, others filled the rooms below and cellars, and others remained outside the house to be employed there.

Messages soon came one after another to the house where I was, to inform me the mob were coming in pursuit of me, and I was obliged to retire through yards and gardens to a house more remote, where I remained until four o'clock, by which time one of the best finished houses in the Province had nothing remaining but the bare walls and floors.

Not contented with tearing off all the wainscot and hangings, and splitting the doors to pieces, they beat down the partition walls; and although that alone cost them near two hours, they cut down the cupola or lanthorn. They began to take the slate and boards from the roof, and were prevented only by the approaching daylight from a total demolition of the building. The garden-house was laid flat, and all my trees, etc., broken down to the ground.

Such ruin was never seen in America. Besides my plate115 and family pictures, household furniture of every kind, my own, my children's, and servants' apparel, they carried off about £900 sterling116 in money, and emptied the house of everything whatsoever, except a part of the kitchen furniture. They did not leave a single book or paper in it, and have scattered or destroyed all the manuscripts and other papers I had been collecting for thirty years together, besides a great number of public papers in my custody. The evening being warm, I had undressed, and put on a thin camlet117 surtout over my waistcoat. The next morning, the weather had changed, and I had not clothes enough in my possession to defend me from the cold, and was obliged to borrow from my friends. Many articles of clothing and a good part of my plate have since been picked up in different quarters of the

GOVERNOR HUTCHINSON'S HOUSE. town, but the furniture in general was cut to pieces before it was thrown out of the house, and most of the beds cut open, and the feathers thrown out of the windows.

The next evening, I intended going with my children to Milton, but meeting two or three small parties of the ruffians, who I suppose had concealed themselves in the country, and my coachman hearing one of them say, "There he is!" My daughters were terrified and said they should never be safe, and I was forced to shelter them that night at the Castle.

The encouragers of the first mob never intended matters should go this length, and the people in general expressed the utmost detestation of this unparalleled outrage. I wish they could be convinced what infinite danger there is of the most terrible consequences from such demons, when they are let loose in a government where there is not constant authority at hand sufficient to suppress them.

I am told the government here will make me a compensation for my own and my family's loss, which I think cannot be much less than £3,000 sterling118. I am not sure that they will. If they should not, it will be too heavy for me, and I must humbly apply to his majesty in whose service I am a sufferer. But this, and a much greater sum, would be an insufficient compensation for the constant distress and anxiety of mind I have felt for some time past, and must feel for months to come.119

Such is the resentment of the people against the Stamp-Duty, that there can be no dependence upon the General Court to take any steps to enforce, or rather advise, to the payment of it. On the other hand, such will be the effects of not submitting to it, that all trade must cease, all courts fall, and all authority be at an end.

Must not the ministry be excessively embarrassed? On the one hand, it will be said, if concessions are made, the Parliament endanger the loss of their authority over the Colony: on the other hand, if external force should be used, there seems to be danger of a total lasting alienation of affection. Is there no alternative? May the infinitely wise God direct you. [114] It was supposed that Governor Hutchinson had asked the British government to levy a stamp duty: it was for that reason that his house was sacked. In reality Hutchinson was opposed to the duty. [115] Plate = gold and silver table ware and utensils, spoons, etc. [116] Nearly $5000. [117] Camlet = mohair. [118] $15,000. [119] Eventually the British government made good these losses.
46. What our Ancestors did for Us

BY THE TOWN MEETING OF CAMBRIDGE (1765)

AT a legal meeting of the freeholders and other inhabitants of the Town of Cambridge this 14 day of October 1765.

The Honorable William Brattle Esq. chosen Moderator:

Voted (that with all humility) It is the opinion of the town that the inhabitants of this province have a legal claim to all the natural inherent constitutional rights of Englishmen notwithstanding their distance from Great Britain; that the Stamp Act is an Infraction upon these Rights.120

One instance out of many in our opinion is this: The distributor of stamps will have a Sovereignty over everything but the lives of the people, since it is in his power to summon everyone he pleases to Quebec, Montreal, or Newfoundland, to answer for the pretended or real breaches of this act. And when the faithful subject arrives there, by whom is he to be tried? Not by his peers (the birthright of every Englishman), no, but by the Judge of Admiralty without a jury, and it is possible without law.

Under these circumstances the stamp master may unrighteously get more than his Majesty will by the stamps, for who would not rather pay the fine than be thus harassed, thus tried? Why are not his Majesty's subjects in Great Britain treated in this manner?

Why must we in America, who have in every instance showed as much loyalty for his Majesty and obedience to his laws as any of his British subjects, and whose exertions in some of the provinces during the last War have been greater, be thus discriminated against; at this time, especially, while we are under an almost unsupportable load of debt, the consequence of this exertion?

We believe it may be truly said that no one in Great Britain pays so great a tax as some do in this province in proportion to their estates. Let this act but take place, liberty will be no more, trade will languish and die; our money will be sent into his Majesty's exchequer, and poverty come upon us as an armed man.

The town therefore hereby advise and direct their representatives by no means whatsoever to do any one thing that may aid said act in its operation, but that in conjunction with the friends of liberty they use their utmost endeavours that the same might be repealed.

That this vote be recorded in the town book, that the children yet unborn may see the desire their ancestors had for their freedom and happiness. [120] The Stamp Act laid duties on the paper necessary for business and for legal proceedings. The proceeds were to go to the defence of the colonies.
47. Do not Tax the Colonies

BY BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (1766)121

Q. WHAT is your name, and place of abode?

A. Franklin, of Philadelphia.

Q. Do the Americans pay any considerable taxes among themselves?

A. Certainly, many, and very heavy taxes.

Q. For what purposes are those taxes laid?

A. For the support of the civil and military establishments of the country, and to discharge the heavy debt contracted in the last war.

Q. Are not all the people very able to pay those taxes?

A. No. The frontier counties, all along the continent, having been frequently ravaged by the enemy and greatly impoverished, are able to pay very little tax. And therefore, in consideration of their distresses, our122 late tax laws do expressly favor those counties, excusing the sufferers; and I suppose the same is done in other governments.

Q. What was the temper of America toward Great Britain before the year 1763?

A. The best in the world. They submitted willingly to the government of the crown, and paid, in their courts, obedience to the acts of Parliament. Numerous as the people are in the several old provinces, they cost you nothing in forts, citadels, garrisons, or armies, to keep them in subjection. They were governed by this country at the expense only of a little pen, ink, and paper; they were led by a thread.

They had not only a respect, but an affection for Great Britain; for its laws, its customs and manners, and even a fondness for its fashions, that greatly increased the commerce. Natives of Britain were always treated with particular regard; to be an Old England man was of itself a character of some respect, and gave a kind of rank among us.

Q. What is their temper now?

A. O, very much altered.

Q. In what light did the people of America use to consider the Parliament of Great Britain?

A. They considered the Parliament as the great bulwark and security of their liberties and privileges, and always spoke of it with the utmost respect and veneration. Arbitrary ministers, they thought, might possibly, at times, attempt to oppress them; but they relied on it that the Parliament, on application, would

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. always give redress. They remembered, with gratitude, a strong instance of this, when a bill was brought into Parliament, with a clause to make royal instructions laws in the colonies, which the House of Commons would not pass, and it was thrown out.

Q. And have they not still the same respect for Parliament?

A. No, it is greatly lessened.

Q. To what cause is that owing?

A. To a concurrence of causes; the restraints lately laid on their trade by which the bringing of foreign gold and silver into the colonies was prevented; the prohibition of making paper money among themselves, and then demanding a new and heavy tax by stamps, taking away, at the same time, trials by juries, and refusing to receive and hear their humble petitions.

Q. Don't you think they would submit to the Stamp Act, if it was modified, the obnoxious parts taken out, and the duty reduced to some particulars of small moment?

A. No, they will never submit to it.

Q. If the Stamp Act should be repealed, would it induce the assemblies of America to acknowledge the rights of Parliament to tax them, and would they erase their resolutions?

A. No, never.

Q. Are there no means of obliging them to erase those resolutions?

A. None that I know of; they will never do it, unless compelled by force of arms.

Q. Is there a power on earth that can force them to erase them?

A. No power, how great soever, can force men to change their opinions.

Q. Do they consider the post-office as a tax, or as a regulation?

A. Not as a tax, but as a regulation and conveniency; every assembly encouraged it, and supported it in its infancy by grants of money, which they would not otherwise have done; and the people have always paid the postage.

Q. When did you receive the instructions you mentioned?

A. I brought them with me, when I came to England, about fifteen months since.

Q. When did you communicate that instruction to the minister?

A. Soon after my arrival, while the stamping of America was under consideration, and before the bill was brought in.

Q. Would it be most for the interest of Great Britain to employ the hands of Virginia in tobacco, or in manufactures?

A. In tobacco, to be sure.

Q. What used to be the pride of the Americans?

A. To indulge in the fashions and manufactures of Great Britain.

Q. What is now their pride?

A. To wear their old clothes over again, till they can make new ones. [121] When the British government found that the Stamp Tax was very much resented in America, a committee asked Benjamin Franklin to tell what he thought about the circumstance. [122] "Our," i.e., Pennsylvania.
48. The Boston Tea Party

FROM THE MASSACHUSETTS GAZETTE (1773)123

WHILE a public meeting was being held, to protest against the tea ships, a number of brave and resolute men, dressed in the Indian manner, approached near the door of the assembly. They gave a war whoop, which rang through the house and was answered by some in the galleries; but silence was commanded and a peaceable behaviour until the end of the meeting.

The Indians, as they were then called, repaired to the wharf, where the ships lay that had the tea on board. They were followed by hundreds of people to see the event of the transactions of those who made so grotesque an appearance.

The Indians immediately repaired on board Captain Hall's ship, where they hoisted out the chests of tea. When on deck they stove them and emptied the tea overboard.

Having cleared this ship they proceeded to Captain Bruce's, and then to Captain Coffin's brig. They applied themselves so dexterously to the destruction of this commodity, that in the space of three hours they broke up three hundred and forty-two chests, which was the whole number of these vessels, and poured their contents into the harbor.

When the tide rose it floated the broken chests and the tea. The surface of the water was filled therewith a considerable way from the south part of the town to Dorchester Neck and lodged on the shores.

The greatest care was taken to prevent the tea from being purloined by the populace. One or two who were detected trying to pocket a small quantity were stripped of their plunder and very roughly handled.

It is worthy of remark that although a considerable quantity of other goods were still remaining on board the vessel, no injury was sustained.

Such attention to private property was observed that when a small padlock belonging to the captain of one of the ships was broken, another was procured and sent to him.

The town was very quiet during the whole evening and the night following. Those who were from the country went home with a merry heart, and the next day joy appeared in almost every countenance, some on account of the destruction of the tea, others on account of the quietness with which it was done. One of the Monday's papers says that the masters and owners are well pleased that their ships are thus cleared, without their being responsible. [123] Great Britain had laid a tax on tea, which the colonists thought unjust. When ships loaded with tea attempted to land their cargoes in Boston, the tea was used as described in this story.
49. Another Account of the Tea Party

BY JOHN ANDREWS (1773)

THE house was so crowded that I could get no further than the porch. I found the moderator was just declaring the meeting to be dissolved. This caused another general shout out-doors and inside, and three cheers.

What with that and the consequent noise of breaking up the meeting, you'd have thought the inhabitants of the infernal regions had broken loose. For my part I went contentedly home and finished my tea, but was soon informed what was going forward.

As I could not believe it without seeing for myself, I went out and was satisfied. The Indians mustered, I'm told, upon Fort Hill, to the number of about two hundred, and proceeded, two by two, to Griffin's wharf, where Hall, Bruce, and Coffin's vessels lay.

Coffin's ship had arrived at the wharf only the day before, and was freighted with a large quantity of

A COLONIAL TEA-SET.

other goods, which they took the greatest care not to injure in the least.

Before nine o'clock in the evening every chest on board the three vessels was knocked to pieces and flung over the sides. They say the actors were Indians from Narragansett. Whether they were or not, to a transient observer they appeared such.

They were clothed in blankets, with their heads muffled and copper colored faces. Each was armed with a hatchet or axe or pair of pistols. Nor was their dialect different from what I imagine the real Indians to speak, as their jargon was nonsense to all but themselves.

Not the least insult was offered to any person, except to Captain Connor, a livery-stable keeper in this place, who came across the ocean not many years since. He ripped up the lining of his coat and waistcoat under the arms, and, watching his opportunity, he nearly filled them with tea.

When detected he was handled pretty roughly. The people not only stripped him of his clothes, but gave him a coat of mud, with a severe bruising into the bargain. Nothing but their utter aversion to making any disturbance prevented his being tarred and feathered.
50. Free America

BY JOSEPH WARREN (1774)124


THAT seat of science, Athens,
And earth's proud mistress, Rome;
Where now are all their glories?
We scarce can find a tomb. 
Then guard your rights, Americans,
Nor stoop to lawless sway;
Oppose, oppose, oppose, oppose,
For North America.125

We led fair Freedom hither,
And lo, the desert smiled!
A paradise of pleasure
Was opened in the wild!
Your harvest, bold Americans,
No power shall snatch away!
Huzza, huzza, huzza, huzza,
For free America.

Torn from a world of tyrants,
Beneath this western sky,
We formed a new dominion,
A land of liberty:
The world shall own we're masters here;
Then hasten on the day:
Huzza, huzza, huzza, huzza,
For free America.

Proud Albion126 bowed to Caesar,
And numerous lords before;
To Picts, to Danes, to Normans,
And many masters more:
But we can boast, Americans,
We've never fallen a prey;
Huzza, huzza, huzza, huzza,
For free America.

God bless this maiden climate,
And through its vast domain
May hosts of heroes cluster,
Who scorn to wear a chain: 
And blast the venal sycophant
That dares our rights betray;
Huzza, huzza, huzza, huzza,
For free America.

Lift up your hands, ye heroes,
And swear with proud disdain,
The wretch that would ensnare you,
Shall lay his snares in vain:
Should Europe empty all her force,
We'll meet her in array,
And fight and shout, and shout and fight
For North America.

Some future day shall crown us,
The masters of the main,127
Our fleets shall speak in thunder
To England, France, and Spain;128
And the nations over the ocean spread
Shall tremble and obey
The sons, the sons, the sons, the sons
Of brave America.


[124] Supposed to have been written by Joseph Warren, who was killed at the battle of Bunker Hill two years later.

[125] Warren seems to have pronounced the word "Amerikay."

[126] Albion = England.

[127] Main = ocean.

[128] A prophecy: France, 1798; England, 1812; Spain, 1898.
51. Inside the Continental Congress

BY JOHN ADAMS (1774)

THIS day Mr. Chase introduced to us a Mr. Carroll,129 of Annapolis, a very sensible gentleman, a Roman Catholic and of the first fortune in America. His income is ten thousand pounds130 sterling a year now, will be fourteen in two or three years they say. Besides, his father has a vast estate which will some day be his.

Sunday. -- Spent the evening at home; wrote many letters to go by Mr. Paul Revere.131

Wednesday. -- Dined with Mr. R. Penn; a magnificent house, a most splendid feast, and a very large company.

Young Ned Rutledge132 is a perfect Bob-o-Lincoln, -- a swallow, a sparrow, a peacock; excessively vain, excessively weak, and excessively variable and unsteady. Mr. Dickinson is very modest, delicate, and timid.

Friday. -- Took our departure, in a very great rain from the happy, the peaceful, the elegant, the hospitable and polite city of Philadelphia. [129] The celebrated Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, signer of the Declaration of Independence. [130] £10,000 = $50,000 [131] To go to Massachusetts. [132] Edward Rutledge, member of Congress from South Carolina.
52. Yankee Doodle133


FATHER and I went down to camp,
Along with Captain Gooding,
And there we see the men and boys,
As thick as hasty pudding.

Chorus -- Yankee Doodle, keep it up,
Yankee Doodle, dandy,
Mind the music and the step,
And with the girls be handy.

And there we see a thousand men,
As rich as 'Squire David;
And what they wasted every day
I wish it could be saved.


The 'lasses they eat every day
Would keep an house a winter;
They have as much that, I'll be bound,
They eat it when they're a mind to.

And there we see a swamping gun,134
Large as a log of maple,
Upon a deuced little cart,
A load for father's cattle.

And every time they shoot it off,
It takes a horn of powder,
And makes a noise like father's gun,
Only a nation louder.

I went as nigh to one myself
As Siah's underpinning;
And father went as nigh again,
I thought the deuce was in him.

Cousin Simon grew so bold,
I thought he would have cocked it;
It scared me so, I shrinked it off,135
And hung by father's pocket

And Captain Davis had a gun,
He kind of claps his hand on's,
And stuck a crooked stabbing iron
Upon the little end on't.136

And there I see a pumpkin shell137
As big as mother's bason;
And every time they touched it off,
They scampered like the nation.


I see a little barrel too,
The heads were made of leather,138
They knocked upon's with little clubs
And called the folks together.

And there was Captain Washington,
And gentlefolks about him,
They say he's grown so tarnal proud
He will not ride without 'em.

He got him on his meeting clothes,
Upon a slapping stallion,
He set the world along in rows,
In hundreds and in millions.

The flaming ribbons in his hat,
They looked so tearing fine ah,
I wanted pockily to get,
To give to my Jemimah.

I see another snarl of men
A digging graves, they told me,139
So tarnal long, so tarnal deep,
They 'tended they should hold me.

It scared me so, I hooked it off,
Nor stopped, as I remember,
Nor turned about, till I got home,
Locked up in mother's chamber.


[133] This is the full text of the first published version of Yankee Doodle. It is in Yankee dialect, and must not be followed as a model of good grammar. The tune was first used by the British and then taken up by the Americans.

[134] A cannon.

[135] Run away.

[136] Musket with a bayonet.

[137] Bomb-shells.

[138] Drums.

[139] Intrenchments.
53. Birth of Independence

BY JOHN ADAMS (1776)140

YESTERDAY, the greatest question was decided, which ever was debated in America, and a greater, perhaps, never was nor will be decided among men. A resolution was passed without one dissenting colony, "that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, and as such they have, and of right ought to have, full power to make war, conclude peace, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which other States may rightfully do."

You will see in a few days a Declaration setting forth the causes which have impelled us to this mighty revolution, and the reasons which will justify it in the sight of God and man. A plan of confederation will be taken up in a few days.

When I look back to the year 1761, and recollect the argument concerning writs of assistance in the superior court, which I have hitherto considered as the commencement of this controversy between Great Britain and America, and run through the whole period, from that time to this, and recollect the series of political events, the chain of causes and effects, I am surprised at the suddenness as well as greatness of this revolution.

Britain has been filled with folly, and America with wisdom. At least, this is my judgment. Time must determine. It is the will of Heaven that the two countries should be sundered forever. It may be the will of Heaven that America shall suffer calamities still more wasting, and distresses yet more dreadful. If this is to be the case, it will have this good effect at least. It will inspire us with many virtues, which we have not, and correct many errors, follies and vices which threaten to disturb, dishonor, and destroy us. The furnace of affliction produces refinement, in States as well as individuals. And the new governments we are assuming in every part will require a purification from our vices, and an augmentation of our virtues, or they will be no blessings.

Had a Declaration of Independency been made seven months ago, it would have been attended with

LIBERTY BELL. many great and glorious effects. We might, before this hour, have formed alliances with foreign States. We should have mastered Quebec, and been in possession of Canada. You will perhaps wonder how such a declaration would have influenced our affairs in Canada, but if I could write with freedom, I could easily convince you that it would, and explain to you the manner how. On the other hand, the delay of this declaration to this time has many great advantages attending it. The hopes of reconciliation, which were fondly entertained by multitudes of honest and well-meaning, though weak and mistaken people, have been gradually and, at last, totally extinguished.

Time has been given for the whole people maturely to consider the great question of independence, and to ripen their judgment, dissipate their fears, and allure their hopes, by discussing it in newspapers and pamphlets, by debating it in assemblies, conventions, committees of safety and inspection, in town and county meetings, as well as in private conversations, so that the whole people, in every colony of the thirteen, have now adopted it as their own act.

This will cement the union, and avoid those heats, and perhaps convulsions, which might have been occasioned by such a declaration six months ago.

But the day is past. The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival.141 It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward, forevermore.

You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of the toil, and blood, and treasure, that it will cost us to maintain this declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet, through all the gloom, I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end is more than worth all the means, and that posterity will triumph in that day's transaction, even although we should rue it, which I trust in God we shall not. [140] From a letter written July 3, 1776, by John Adams to his wife the day after the vote to accept independence, the day before the signing of the Declaration. [141] This belief has been justified, though the precise day selected is July 4.
54. A Ballad on Taxation

BY PETER ST. JOHN (1778)

WHILE I relate my story, Americans give ear; Of Britain's fading glory You presently shall hear; I'll give a true relation, Attend to what I say Concerning the taxation Of North America.142 The cruel lords of Britain, Who glory in their shame, The project they have hit on They joyfully proclaim; 'Tis what they're striving after Our right to take away, And rob us of our charter In North America. There are two mighty speakers, Who rule in Parliament,143 Who ever have been seeking Some mischief to invent: 'Twas North, and Bute his father The horrid plan did lay A mighty tax to gather In North America. These subtle arch-combiners Addressed the British court, And both were undersigners Of this obscure report -- 144 There is a pleasant landscape That lieth far away Beyond the wide Atlantic, In North America. There is a wealthy people, Who sojourn in that land, Their churches all with steeples Most delicately stand; Their houses like the gilly,145 Are painted red and gay: They flourish like the lily In North America. Their land with milk and honey Continually doth flow, The want of food or money They seldom ever know: They heap up golden treasure, They have no debts to pay, They spend their time in pleasure In North America. On turkeys, fowls and fishes, Most frequently they dine, With gold and silver dishes Their tables always shine. They crown their feasts with butter, They eat, and rise to play; In silks their ladies flutter, In North America. With gold and silver laces They do themselves adorn, The rubies deck their faces, Refulgent as the morn! Wine sparkles in their glasses, They spend each happy day In merriment and dances In North America. Let not our suit affront you, When we address your throne; O King, this wealthy country And subjects are your own, And you, their rightful sovereign, They truly must obey, You have a right to govern This North America. O King, you've heard the sequel Of what we now subscribe: Is it not just and equal To tax this wealthy tribe? This question being asked, His majesty did say,146 My subjects shall be taxed In North America. The laws I have enacted I never will revoke, Although they are neglected, My fury to provoke. I will forbear to flatter, I'll rule the mighty sway, I'll take away the charter From North America. O George! you are distracted,147 You'll by experience find The laws you have enacted Are of the blackest kind. I'll make a short digression, And tell you by the way, We fear not your oppression In North America. Our fathers were distressed, While in their native land; By tyrants were oppressed As we do understand; For freedom and religion They were resolved to stray, And trace the desert regions Of North America. We are their bold descendants, For liberty we'll fight, The claim to independence We challenge as our right; 'Tis what kind Heaven gave us, Who can take it away? O, Heaven sure will save us In North America. We never will knock under, O, George! we do not fear The rattling of your thunder, Nor lightning of your spear: Though rebels you declare us, We're strangers to dismay; Therefore you cannot scare us In North America. To what you have commanded We never will consent, Although your troops are landed Upon our continent; We'll take our swords and muskets, And march in dread array, And drive the British red-coats From North America. We have a bold commander, Who fears not sword or gun, The second Alexander, His name is Washington. His men are all collected, And ready for the fray, To fight they are directed For North America. We've Greene and Gates and Putnam To manage in the field, A gallant train of footmen, Who'd rather die than yield; A stately troop of horsemen Trained in a martial way, For to augment our forces148 In North America. A health to our brave footmen, Who handle sword and gun, To Greene and Gates and Putnam And conquering Washington; Their names be wrote149 in letters Which never will decay, While sun and moon do glitter On North America. Success unto our allies In Holland, France and Spain, Who man their ships and galleys, Our freedom to maintain; May they subdue the rangers Of proud Britannia, And drive them from their anchors In North America. Success unto the Congress Of these United States, Who glory in the conquests Of Washington and Gates; To all, both land and seamen, Who glory in the day When we shall all be free In North America. Success to legislation, That rules with gentle hand, To trade and navigation By water and by land. May all with one opinion Our wholesome laws obey, Throughout this vast dominion Of North America.

[142] Here again people seem to have said "Amerikay."

[143] The Earl of Bute and Lord North were in succession the prime ministers of George IV., and advised co'rcion of America.

[144] From this point the poet is supposed to quote North and Bute.

[145] Gilliflower.

[146] Here the King speaks.

[147] The poet now returns to the statement of his own opinions.

[148] He puts in an ungrammatical "for" to make out his line.

[149] "Wrote," then often used for "written."

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Some more from that book...

There more more riders than Dawes & Revere setting out from Boston:

Actually, it was Revere's arrival that brought the first definite word to Lexington that the Regulars were truly on their way; but we must not think he was the only midnight rider. In addition to William Dawse, Jr., Ebenezer Dorr had also gone over Boston Neck to spread the news through Roxbury and Brookline. Richard Devens had sent out another rider to Winchester and Tewksbury [wish he'd given the name - Ross] , while Martin Herrick carried the word to Stoneham and Lynn, then returned to join with the militia in the day's fighting.

And now on to the Minutemen...

History has given us a word that has become legendary, the MINUTEMEN, but how these farmer-soldiers came into being, how they were organized, and how they functioned seldom is told in any detail. Maj. John R. Galvin has made up for this deficiency with a book of fascinating interest bearing the name Minutemen for a title.* It seems that from the days of Myles Standish, the dangers of sudden Indian attack had obliged the white settlers to maintain standing companies of militia in continual readiness, year in and year out, over the previous century and a half. The laws required every able-bodied male citizen from sixteen to sixty to serve in these companies, and this was so much a matter of habit that youngsters simply regarded it as a part of the process of growing up. Unlike European traditions of relatively small, professional armies made up of mercenaries, the American system involved the whole community. Almost all New England homes had sent sons or brothers, husbands or fathers off to active fighting for the past five generations. With the growing political crisis, this automatic military organization simply intensified its activity, as the towns, more and more aware of the dangers of a coming conflict, held their militia companies on a constant alert. The men mustered twice a week, under newly-elected patriot officers, and drills lasted four hours at a time. Characteristically of the times and the people, these musters were often accompanied by sermons from the local clergy who brought a deep sense of righteousness to the cause: "For this is Armageddon, and we're battling for the Lord."

    Even such a universal service as the militia laws provided had not been fully adequate to meet the sudden emergencies of unexpected Indian war-parties. Therefore, from earliest days, the militia companies had singled out smaller groups of their fittest, sturdiest, and healthiest young men who constituted an elite corps, capable of instant response to alarms. Maj. Galvin points out that this concept went back as far as 1645 amongst the "Half-hour-men"; and that by 1711, orders had been provided for men "to be in readiness at a minute's warning to march." The first units actually adopting the term "Minutemen" served in the Crown Point expedition of 1756. Now, the Worcester County Convention, on September 21, '74, recommended that one-third of the men in each militia company should be separately officered and officially designated as Minutemen. The First Provincial Congress, seated at Concord and acting for Massachusetts as a whole, adopted this recommendation late in October 1774, and almost instantly, companies of Minutemen sprang up everywhere, the pride and the flower of each neighborhood. The oath administered to volunteers in these units gives a clear expression of their intent: "We will, to the utmost of our power and abilities, defend all and every of our charter rights, liberties, and privileges; and we will hold ourselves in readiness at a minutes warning with arms and ammunition, so to do."

    True enough, this constituted a potential fighting force of extreme readiness, and massive strength. Gen. Haldimand had estimated, for example, that New England could place 90,000 men in the field, and that 30,000 could serve without loss in agricultural production. The great weakness in such an army was its extremely individualistic and local character, unsuited to strategic coordination or maneuvering, and unaccustomed to rigid military discipline. How, then, would militia of this type stand up against the superbly trained British troops? This was the very question that the clear-visioned Patriot leader, Joseph Warren, had asked Israel Putnam, experienced beyond most men of his generation in frontier fighting, in prolonged campaigns, formal army maneuvers, and even in amphibious sieges. Putnam gave the answer with extraordinary precision, almost exactly forecasting the fate that would overtake Gage's expedition to Concord, though his prediction was made eight months in advance. Warren had asked, "If 10,000 British troops should march out of Boston, what number in your opinion would be competent to meet them?" Putnam replied, "Let me pick my officers, and I would not fear to meet them with half the number; not in pitched battle to stop them all at once, for no troops are better than the British; but I would fight them on the retreat, and every stone wall that we passed would be lined with their dead. Our men are lighter of the foot, they understand our grounds and how to take advantage of them; and besides, we should only fall back on our reserve, while every step they advanced the country would close on their flanks and rear." This was not eloquence; it was just hard, Yankee reasoning; but what a grim picture it drew--Every stone wall would be lined with the dead! Prophetic words.

* Maj. John R. Galvin, The Minute Men, Hawthorn Books, Inc., N.Y., 1967.

Don't go away... I've got a couple of more selections I need to scan in. Good stuff, too.

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Men of Acton...

6. Men of Acton
   If the British mood on reaching Lexington was one of dejected exhaustion, there is no doubt that the Yankees were bounding with confidence and elation. We should not forget that these farmers, most of whom had never seen battle before, had been called in the middle of the night from their peaceful homes to fight well-disciplined troops, fully equipped under experienced commanders, and now reinforced by artillery. The Patriots could not have escaped from some deep misgivings over the encounter. Much as they had drilled on their musterfields, nothing as yet had exposed them to the bitter taste of real combat: to the reverberating crash of musketry, to the zing of live bullets pelting past their ears, and to the sight of fresh blood pouring from fatal wounds. Now, by the time the Minutemen had fought their way back to Lexington, the novelty of battle had worn off, and the vaunted superiority of British regulars had vanished. Combat had become a routine. Shooting grenadiers, or shooting at them, which was all most of the militia were doing, was simply a knack, like felling a tree or shoeing a horse. In this unorthodox view of soldiership, the Yankee farmers were beginning to settle down like old hands; and however unorthodox their outlook might be, they had come to realize beyond all their previous hopes that it was they, not the British, who possessed combat-superiority under the local conditions where they were fighting.

   We do not need to speculate on the mood of the Yankees, for we happen to have a firsthand account of this from Francis Faulkner, Jr.,* a sixteen-year-old Acton boy who had come in the footsteps of his father's regiment, bringing food for the fighters. An interview with him years later tells us, "To the great surprise of the boy, he found the Acton men in the highest spirits. They had made the redcoats run for their lives. They had shot them down. They had seen them fall.... The minutemen were coming in from all sides. They ridiculed the cannon that hurt nobody, and the marksmanship of the soldiers who, they said, fired by guess. They only wished they had the powder and the ball the redcoats wasted. The boy wondered greatly to find his father and all the Acton men full of confidence and fight. The colonel was organizing his regiment to work on the flank of the enemy so soon as he should move again for Boston. The boys, having delivered the dinners, were all sent back to tell the anxious families the news, every one of them wishing he could get a shot at the murderous British. Indignation filled every heart." These farmers, it should be remembered, were fellow-townsmen of Isaac Davis, killed in the first firing at Concord Bridge.

   We should follow the narrative of young Francis Faulkner, Jr., a little farther, for in it we get a picturesque recapitulation of what might be called the "home side" of this battle, as it looked to an adolescent boy, suddenly thrust into the turmoils of war. This previous night, he had been slumbering in the quiet repose, the undiluted silence, the utter peace of the countryside. We, who live amidst interminable City noise, hardly know what silence means: but we would have found it here where no sound of any sort broke the stillness, but for rare calls of a screech owl, waking the shadows, or perhaps the soughing of wind, as poets have termed it back to the time of Beowulf, and the responsive murmur of pine trees. Subconciously, Francis became aware of the clatter of hooves reverberating far down the roadway. He woke with a start. Suddenly, he leaped from his bed, ran to his father's room, and cried out, 'Father, there's a horse coming on the full run, and he's bringing news.' His father, Col. Francis, already had on his pantaloons, and a gun in his hand. The fleet horseman wheeled across the bridge and up to the house and shouted: 'Rouse your minutemen, Mr. Faulkner, the British are marching on Lexington and Concord.' And away he went to speed on the news. Mr. Faulkner, without stopping to dress, fired three times as fast as he could load and fire, that being the preconcerted signal to call out the minutemen. As chairman of the Committee of Safety and Colonel of the Middlesex Regiment of Militia, the men were to assemble at his house. Almost immediately, a neighbor repeated the signal, and the boy Francis listened with breathless interest to hear the signal guns getting fainter and fainter in the distant farmhouses. Signal fires were also lighted and every farmhouse awoke from its slumbers to the terrors of war. By this time the families were all up in the greatest commotion, the younger children crying because the British would 'come and kill them all.'

   What a picturesque description this gives us of the Alarm; and equally so, had we space for it, of the minutemen gathering, "every one with his gun, powderhorn, pouch of bullets, and a piece of bread and cheese--the only breakfast he proposed to make before meeting the enemy." But it is the home scene we want to emphasize here, on this dark night of desperate defiance. "Some came hurrying in with their wives and children in the greatest excitement to get more certain news and to know what was to be done.... In the meantime, they were busy driving stakes down on the lawn, and hanging kettles for cooking the soldiers' dinner.... Every woman wanted to prepare the dinner complete and separate for her husband or sons. But after much discussion it was agreed to pack all the beef, pork, bread, and vegetables in quantity, each kind by itself, and let the men divide it. At length, after some hours of talking and boiling and packing the horses were loaded and the boys started off." Apparently the food was carried in saddlebags by various youngsters riding together, but not in a cart, as young Francis subsequently related to his nephew when in later years, he told the story. Individually, on horseback, they could avoid meeting the enemy. "If we saw a redcoat we were told to give him a wide berth or he might get us and our dinners. We could quickly topple over a stonewall or take down a few rails and escape through the fields." As soon as the boys reached Concord they learned that their neighbors, "Capt. Davis and Mr. Hosmer were killed, and Mr. Heywood mortally wounded, all of them Acton men, but the British were on the run and the minutemen were pressing them on both sides of the road and would kill or capture them all."
A strange adventure, it was for the boys, to ride across the deserted countryside, looking for their fathers. They found a dead Yankee propped against a wall, and poor Francis, who had never before seen "bloody and ghastly death," cried in alarm, thinking it might be his father; but fortunately for him, it was another.

   "Pursuing their way toward Lexington, they found the road deserted.... The women and children had run away and the men had gone after the British. Confusion, destruction, and signs of rapid flight everywhere. Again and again did they see a dead body with fear and trembling. As they approached Lexington they heard the report of cannon, and learned that British reinforcements had come out from Boston and stopped the flight. Here, after wandering to right and left and making many enquiries, they found the Acton men, who were glad of their dinner. They were watching the British, out of range of their muskets, and the cannon they had ceased to fear. The balls did no execution except upon the earth, and the minutemen avoided exposing themselves. . . "

   All of this gives us a dramatic picture of how a sixteen-year-old farm boy, overnight, became a man. Yes, and it also shows us how an unsophisticated countryside, peopled by neighborly farmers, overnight, became a nation.

* Rev. Cyrus Hamlin, Lexington Historical Society, May, 1886.

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And a brilliant couple of paragraphs on the colonist's mindset on April 19th.

It had been known that a large body of men would proceed to Concord, and that they would be obliged to return. Very active measures had been taken to remove the Provincial stores at Concord so that Gage would "miss his aim," and equally active steps were provided for alerting the countryside and mobilizing the militia; but no thought whatever was spent on waylaying the British during their return march. On the very eve of the battle, the Committee of Safety, which might be considered as a Board of Strategy, consisting of Heath and Warren, together with Orne, Lee, and Gerry, had met at the Black Horse Tavern right here in Menotomy, but not one of the members appears to have offered any plan for intercepting the retreat of the Regulars. All thought was spent on protecting the military stores: none on capturing the enemy.

We may perhaps explain this omission by analyzing the mental outlook of the Yankees at this stage. Previous to the fatalities at Lexington, the Patriots knew of no "enemies" in a military sense. They did not consider themselves as forming a Rebel army, nor did they want to provoke a battle. Joseph Warren himself had pointed out that "not fifty men" in New England considered war itself to be inevitable. Their whole thought was to preserve the stores, and to maintain their warlike posture and strength so that they could continue to reason and negotiate further with the Parliamentary Government. Almost a hundred years earlier, by maintaining firm resistance, they had overthrown the usurpations of Gov. Andros in the "bloodless revolution" of 1688. By firm resistance, they had obliged Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act of 1763. By boycotts and by organized smuggling, they had essentially overcome the mercantile acts that were strangling them; and now again they hoped to force the Ministry to give way. Unrealistic as such thinking may seem to us now, it nevertheless represented the thought of the Patriots at this time; and consequently, it prevented them from planning in advance for the destruction or capture of the royal army. In literal fact, the idea of any such objective had not entered their heads, and the heavy concentration of militia that gathered at Menotomy had simply been spontaneous--not predetermined.