Legends of Liberty June 2022 - The Courageous Captain

[Mrs. Smith]

Good evening, and welcome to the June edition of Legends of Liberty. This month, we bring to you the story of the Courageous Captain, John Parker.

Parker was born in Lexington, Massachusetts to Josiah Parker and Anna Stone. His experience as a soldier in the French and Indian War (Seven Years' War) at the Siege of Louisbourg and the conquest of Quebec most likely led to his election as militia captain by the men of the town. He suffered from advanced tuberculosis on the morning of April 19, 1775.

Late on April 18th, 1775 the British commander in Boston Thomas Gage dispatched an expedition of around 700 regulars under Colonel Francis Smith to search the town of Concord for hidden supplies and weapons. Lexington lay directly on the road that Smith's men took to reach Concord. When reports of the approach of a sizeable force of British soldiers reached Lexington overnight, men from the town and the surrounding area began to gather on the Common. Parker's Lexington company were not minutemen, as sometimes stated, but from the main body of Massachusetts Militia.



Parker was initially uncertain as to exactly what was happening. Conflicting stories arrived, and as the British regulars had spent much of the winter engaged in harmless route marches through the Massachusetts countryside, their exact intention was far from certain. When Smith became aware that the countryside had been alarmed and that resistance might be encountered, he sent a detachment of light infantry under Major John Pitcairn ahead of the main column. Pitcairn's advance guard reached Lexington at about dawn on April 19th, and drew up on the Common opposite Parker's men. Parker ordered his men to disperse to avoid a confrontation. Shortly afterwards firing broke out despite the fact that both sides had orders not to shoot.



In the following fight eight militia were killed and ten wounded, while one British soldier was wounded. The lopsided casualty list led to initial reports of a massacre, stories of which spread rapidly around the colony further inflaming the situation. There remains considerable doubt as to exactly what occurred during the fight at Lexington, and a variety of different accounts emerged as to what had taken place and who had fired first. By the time Smith arrived with his main body of troops ten minutes later, he had trouble restoring order amongst his troop. Smith then decided, in spite of the fighting, to continue the march to Concord.

One of Parker's company, many years later, recalled Parker's order at Lexington Green to have been, "Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here."  During the skirmish Parker witnessed his cousin Jonas Parker killed by a British bayonet. Later that day he rallied his men to attack the regulars returning to Boston in an ambush known as "Parker's Revenge".

Appleseeders showing their respects to a pivotal moment in American History


Parker and his men participated in the subsequent Siege of Boston. He was unable to serve in the Battle of Bunker Hill in June, and died of tuberculosis on September 17, 1775; aged 46, not quite 5 months after that fateful April day.

John Parker and his wife, Lydia (Moore) Parker had seven children: Lydia, Anna, John, Isaac, Ruth, Rebecca and Robert. The Parker homestead formerly stood on Spring Street in Lexington. A tablet marks the spot as the birthplace of a grandson, Theodore Parker, a Unitarian minister, transcendentalist and abolitionist who also donated two of Captain Parker's muskets to the state of Massachusetts; one the light fowling-piece which he carried at Quebec and Lexington and one that he captured. They hang today in the Senate Chamber of the Massachusetts State House.



The statue known as The Lexington Minuteman was originally meant to represent the common Minuteman, but has now commonly become accepted as symbolizing Captain John Parker. It is by Henry Hudson Kitson and it stands at the town green of Lexington, Massachusetts. It was not based on Parker's appearance, as no known likenesses of him survive today and the figure is of a younger, healthy man, which Parker at that point was not. Perhaps we can think of it as a young, robust Parker, as he would have been upon his return from the Seven Years War.

Appleseeders A-Lister, his wife Jaye Lynn, Ghostring, GenX Minuteman, and Eevee on the Battle Road, Lexington, Massachusetts

[Mrs. Smith]

I KNOW other Appleseed folks have made the pilgrimage to Battle Road    let's see those pictures!

[OldDominionIron]

[JustKim]

Thank you!  I have not yet made the trip, but it is definitely on my bucket list -- high on my bucket list!