Concord
Concord, MA
The Battle of Concord stands as the first rebel victory of the American Revolution. Smarting from the defeat at Lexington, the rebels retreated and regrouped at neighboring Concord. Major Pitcairn and the 700 British soldiers under his command undoubtedly rode/marched to Concord with an air of confidence. Jeff Shaara’s attempt to pierce the Major’s mind was undoubtedly quite accurate,
He had learned the name of the rebel commander, Captain John Parker, a veteran of the French and Indian War. So now he betrays all he fought for, leads a ridiculous band of rebels who stand up in defiance of the crown.
From Rise to Rebellion
Their loyalist spies informed them that the rebels had an arsenal in the town. They did not know that 400 rebel soldiers were waiting for them. The militia no doubt felt security in numbers. This battle showed that the British had a long history of intelligence failures.
Lawrence James, was very apt when he said,
On the way to Concord, one is quite struck by the Englishness of the countryside .
From The Rise and Fall of the British Empire
Volleys of rebel musket fire drove the British off the bridge. The rebels advanced; this time, it was the British that panicked.
The musket fire had stopped, and now there was a new sound, coming from the bridge, the sound of men cheering, the rebels suddenly erupting in a wild celebration of their victory.
From Rise to Rebellion
They came three thousand miles and died
To keep the past upon the throne
Heard beyond the ocean tied
Their English mother made her moan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, a native of Concord, immortalized the battle in his poem:
Concord Hymn
Sung at the Completion of the Battle Monument, July 4, 1837
By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.
The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.
On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set today a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.
Spirit, that made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.
The Battle of Concord was the first rebel victory of the American Revolution. It shattered the myth of British invincibility. It was also eerily familiar to Bradock’s defeat in the French and Indian War. The militiamen, what would eventually become the Continental Army, and then the US Army, become only the third army in the 18th Century to defeat the British in open-battle. Cavalry/Dragoons and artillery would probably have turned the battle in the British favor. Fortunately, for what would become the United States of America, they did not bring it.
