11/20/25 Dreadful were the Vestages of war:’ Three Human Stories of April 19

[BluegrassColonel]

On November 20 the Lexington History Museums will be hosting an address by Joel Bohy, author of the amazing book, "Bullet Strikes From the First Day of the American Revolution."

The address is entitled: "'Dreadful were the Vestages of war:' Three Human Stories of April 19, 1775." Mr. Bohy will discuss "three individuals involved in the beginning of the war: John Robbins of Lexington who was badly wounded on April 19, James Hayward of Acton who was mortally wounded at Fiske Hill in Lexington, and a British soldier who was wounded in Lexington on April 19 and went on to join the Lexington militia and the Continental Army."

The lecture will be live at the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library at 33 Marrett Road, Lexington, MA.

$10 LHM/SRMML Members
$15 Nonmembers
Tickets are for in-person lecture and book signing.

Link to the Lexington History Museum page:  https://www.lexingtonhistory.org/events#calendar-73cd8540-5406-466b-b86b-a8793c3cb73c-event-6dce52bd-d672-456c-b9e0-f2cf92a7ae66

The lecture will also be streamed by https://www.lexmedia.org/, a local community access channel and on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/live/wKFe-rg9h3Q.

6:00*: Doors open for viewing of special exhibition Protest & Promise: The American Revolution in Lexington
7:00*: Lecture
8:00*: Book Signing
*Note that all times are the eastern time zone

For more information on the fascinating work of Joel Bohy, visit the following webpage for more information about him:  https://www.revolution250.org/speakers-bureau/joel-bohy/

A description of Mr. Bohy's book, "Bullet Strikes From the First Day of the American Revolution" from Amazon:

Using forensic techniques straight out of CSI, the authors have located the surviving bullet holes and bullet-struck artifacts from the battle that started the American Revolution. Learn what these violent scars of conflict and patriotism can tell us about what really happened on that fateful day when the redcoats marched on Lexington and Concord. The whole route back to Boston, as the British fled their defeat at North Bridge, was riddled with musket fire. Dramatic scenes unfolded in places like Concord, Lincoln, Lexington, and Arlington that can still be visited today. The fighting turns out to have been much more fierce than had previously been thought, and this colorful new book tells the whole exciting story.

Several years ago I stumbled across the story of James Hayward while researching Isaac Davis and Abner Hosmer.  James is the third person memorialized at the Isaac Davis Monument in Acton, Massachusetts.  To me, James' story is one of the most fascinating of the day and has a special importance to our family.  I worked up my own "Dangerous Old Man" story from what I found and am happy to share it.  Just send a message and I will reply with a PDF of my version of the story.  (As is the case with most of the "Dangerous Old Men" stories we tell, there are conflicting positions by historians regarding the "facts" of what occurred in each.)

About the Isaac Davis Monument:  https://freedomsway.org/place/isaac-davis-monument/