WILLIAM DRUM The Beginning of the War of the American Revolution DOUBLEDAY COMPANY, INC., GARDEN CITY, NEW YORK FOR Jonathan Bernon AND Christopher Trayne 6112685 Contents PREFACE 13 PROLOGUE THE BEAT OF THE DRUM 15 1 CAPTAIN PARKERS LEXINGTON 25 2 THE VISITORS 53 3 THE MIDNIGHT RIDERS 81 4 THE BATTLE LEXINGTON 119 5 THE BATTLE CONCORD 145 6 THE BATTLE RETREAT 169 7 THE USES OF ADVERSITY 205 8 BIRTH OF AN ARMY 243 NOTES 271 BIBLIOGRAPHY 285 INDEX 303 Illustrations FOLLOWING PAGE 1. Silhouette of Jonas Clarke 62 2. Portrait of Samuel Adams 62 3. Portrait of John Hancock 62 4. Portrait of Paul Revere 62 5. Portrait of General Thomas Gage 124 6. Portrait of Major Pitcairn 124 7. Doolittle print the Battle at Lexington Common 124 8. Doolittle print the British army in the center of Concord 124 9 . Doolittle print the Battle of North Bridge in Concord J 88 i o. Portrait of Lord Percy 1 88 1 1 . Doolittle print the meeting of Percys forces with Smiths at Lexington 1 88 1 2 . Portrait of Dr. Warren 1 88 1 3. Salem Gazette broadside, dramatizing the Battle of Lexington 250 9 ILLUSTRATIONS 14. Portrait of John Adams 250 15. Cartoon broadside, The Retreat, published in London 250 1 6. Print of Boston Common 250 10 Maps 1 . The routes of Revere, Dawes, and Dr. Prescott Front End Sheet 2. The route of the British on the night Facing Page of April 1 8th from Boston to Concord 48 3. The Battle of Lexington Common 96 4. The battle in Concord at the bridge 216 5. The route of the British relief force under Percy on the morning of April i gth 2 64 6. The retreat to Boston Back End Sheet Preface Every student of the beginnings of hostilities in the War of the American Revolution must acknowledge theextraordinarily per ceptive work of the late Allen French of Concord and the sharply speculative essays of the late Harold Murdock, read before the Massachusetts Historical Society and the Colonial Society. In the case of this book, I owe a more special debt to each. Mr. French completed his invaluable inquiries into the events of April nineteenth, 1775, some thirty-three years ago, before all the documentary evidence was known, and concentrated there after on his major work. The First Year of the American Revo lution, which does not treat of Lexington and Concord. However, he was later the first American scholar to make a careful examina tion of the papers of General Thomas Gage, acquired by William L. Clements and now at the University of Michigan his comments in the informal report, General Gages Informers are still a pro vocative guide to later inquirers. Mr. Frenchs wise scholarship was equaled by his generosity. Shortly after I had dealt, necessarily briefly, with the opening of the Revolution in The Charles, he offered to lend me his copious factual notes for use in my further investigations into the happenings of April nineteenth. The incongruity of the decision made in the early morning on Lexington Common was first noted, incidentally and with his char acteristic wit, by Mr. Murdock in a paper called Historic Doubts on the Battle at Lexington, read before the Massachusetts His torical Society. It was this passing reflection that led me to a re