The “Shot heard ’round the world”

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The phrase was first used in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s  Concord Hymn and refers to the first shots fired by the Patriots at  the North Bridge. 

 The first shots were actually fired at sunrise at Lexington. No one knows which side actually fired first. Some say it wasn’t the militiamen or the British, but rather a  spectator behind a hedge. Both sides generally agreed that it did not come from any of the men facing each other on the green that morning.  Still another theory was that there were multiple simultaneous shots. But whatever happened the militia was outnumbered and fell back. The British  proceeded on to Concord, where they searched for supplies. As the militia gathered at the North Bridge they saw wisps of smoke begin to rise over the village of Concord.

The Patriots at the bridge seeing the smoke thought that the Redcoats were burning the town. As they debated what to do, more and more men were streaming in from the surrounding towns, swelling the ranks of the militia. Captain Isaac Davis of Acton is credited with  saying “I’m not afraid to go, and I haven’t a man that’s afraid to go.”

The militia began to advance, 5 full companies from Acton, Concord, Bedford, and Lincoln, over 400 men, approaching a British force of  only 90-95 men. The militia had orders to load their guns but not to fire unless fired upon. The British were ordered to form up for street-firing but it was not an appropriate formation for the open path beyond the bridge. In the confusion a shot rang out, possibly a warning shot from British troops exhausted by the overnight march and early morning skirmish at Lexington. No matter, the damage was done and a volley of musket fire rang out.

At least 3 were killed and 9 wounded. the British regulars found themselves outnumbered and outmaneuvered. With their leaders wounded or dead, they broke ranks and retreated.

Meanwhile in the town, the accidental fire in the meeting-house was being extinguished by a bucket brigade that included  the British regulars. The routed British returned to Concord and instead of continuing their retreat stayed in town where they went back to searching for supplies and ate lunch. This allowed the patriots time to position themselves along the road back to Boston.

Through out the march back to Boston the British were harried and fired upon by the militia using what we would call today, guerrilla tactics. They shot from behind stone walls and fences and trees. they tracked through swamps and fields.  The ranks of the militia swelling as more and more men arrived from all over New England.

In the morning the British, now safely back in Boston, found that they were surrounded by a huge militia of over 15,000. This was the beginning of the Continental Army. The war of Independence had begun.

Much has been written about the running battle along Battle Road, far too much for this post or this blog, but this is the history behind the reenactment that takes place each Patriot’s Day in Lexington. With any luck, I will be one of the many who will be gathering this Monday in the early morning hours to take a step back in time.

Lexington and Concord…The Backstory

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The story of the Battle of Lexington and Concord has always sent chills down my spine. As I sat in that theater listening to the Road to Revolution I found myself tearing up. From Paul Revere’s ride to the “Shot heard ’round the World” there is something in this story that strikes a very deep chord.

On April 14, 1775 General Thomas Gage received the fateful instructions that would lead to the first blood being spilled in what would become the revolutionary war. The orders were to disarm the rebels and imprison their leaders, especially Samuel Adams and John Hancock. The orders gave a great deal of leeway to General Gage in executing these orders. This was to be handled with utmost secrecy so as not to alert the rebels.

On April 18, a contingent of 20 horsemen was sent out into the countryside in an attempt to intercept rebel messengers who might be traveling on horseback. The patrol was not as discrete as they might have been. They acted differently than patrols in the past. They stayed out late and openly questioned travelers about the whereabouts of Adams and Hancock with the unintended result of raising the alarm and alerting many of the residents thereby increasing the rebels’ preparedness.

The Lexington Militia started to muster that evening without any word from Boston.

On the afternoon of April 18, the British regulars aka “Redcoats” received the orders “to proceed from Boston “with utmost expedition and secrecy to Concord, where you will  seize and destroy… all Military stores… But you will take care that the soldiers do not plunder the inhabitants or hurt private property.” No written orders were issued for any arrests for fear of sparking an uprising.

The rebellion’s ringleaders with the exception of Paul Revere and  Joseph Warren had all left Boston by April 8 having received word from London that orders for their arrest were imminent. Adams and Hancock were staying in Lexington with relatives of Hancock where they thought they would be safe. Some weapons had indeed been stashed in Concord but the largest stores were much farther west in Worcester.

On the evening of April 18 the news finally came that the Redcoats were on the move. Joseph Warren told William Dawes and Paul Revere to ride to Lexington to warn Hancock and Adams of the troop movements, spreading the word along the way.

I’m sure everyone has heard of the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere…One if by land and two if by sea while I on the opposite shore will be, Ready to ride and spread the alarm, through every Middlesex Village and Town…. poetic yes, actual truth, well perhaps a bit exaggerated. In actual fact, Paul Revere was detained by a British Patrol. William Dawes and Samuel prescott were the riders that made it through. Revere was released serveral hours later but without his horse.

As the British marched through the night and the colonial militia began to gather on the green at Lexington, the stage was now set for the first skirmish of what would prove to be a long and bloody conflict before a new country would emerge, the United States of America.

My history teacher would be proud. Just proves I didn’t always sleep in class! In tormorrow’s post I’ll summarize the events of that morning. All in the hopes of setting the stage for my trip to Lexington on Monday.

Minute Man National Historical Park

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Boy when it rains around here it pours…buckets…and it was a cold rain. I wore my hoodie and brought my winter jacket plus a rain poncho. I still got cold and soaked but it’s a good thing I came up or I’d be in big trouble on Monday!

It’s easy to find the park but not so easy to find the Visitor Center. I made 3 stops before I found it and even then it’s quite a walk from the parking lot. On a nice day I am sure it’s beautiful but in the cold rain, not so much. It didn’t seem to stop the visitors. I saw quite a few with umbrellas and there were school buses of kids  at every stop I made.

Even so when I got to the Visitor Center it was quiet.

 I chatted with the rangers and took come pictures of the life-size cut-outs on exhibit.

 One of the rangers was asking me questions about my camera because I was taking pictures without the flash. As much as possible I prefer to use ambient light. (Of course that may change when I upgrade the flash) I demonstrated it to him by taking one shot with a flash and one without. Then I asked him which he liked better. He picked the one without the flash.

There was a woman dressed in period dress carrying ing a gun. I think they called them flint locks.

 I asked her if I could take her picture and if it was ok for me to post it. She said sure as long as I told everyone that she was a Park Ranger, not a volunteer.  So here’s the picture of the Park Ranger in period attire. 🙂

I found the National Park cancellation stamp and got my Passbook verified. Then I started asking questions. Turns out that the National Park does all of their events for Patriot’s Day on this weekend and it’s only done this time of year. They had a list of events on the desk and I asked them why it showed a whole list of things including a craft fair for Monday. The rangers explained that those events were by the town of Lexington and were not connected to the Park. With the ranger’s blessing I took a schedule of events for Monday. He told me that if I had never seen the reenactment that I should see it at least once because it is quite impressive.

They suggested I stick around and watch the movie The Road to Revolution. I was the only one in the theatre and one of the rangers remarked that I might be getting private showing. It was not to be. A group of kids came in. They were pretty rowdy at first but I have to give the chaperone’s credit. Once the movie started they quieted the kids down  right away.The movie was really good. I found it very moving as they explained the events that led up to the bloody battle and the start of the Revolutionary War. It story was presented in a multi media format. A holographic type figure narrated and comments came from invisible men in the tavern. The battle was shown in a movie to the right of the central figure. It’s hard to explain but it was very well done.

After the movie I headed back to the car and went in search of the places on the agenda in Lexington.  I found the Stop and Shop which is where the ranger suggested I park. I found the Green where the reenactment takes place. There is a sloping hill to the right of the green. I hope I can set up there because I should be able to shoot over the heads of the crowd.

I stopped for gas in Lexington and asked the attendant about the events. He wasn’t too enthusiastic at first but then he kind of perked up and said that if I had never seen it, that it was worth the early morning wake-up call.

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With that I turned my car back south toward home. I was wet and cold and ready to call it a day.

Lexington and Concord

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The weather forecast is for rain all day. Not the best weather for exploring the Minuteman National Park but I really don’t have a choice.

This coming Monday is Patriot’s Day in Massachusetts, well-known for the day on which the Boston Marathon is run. To be honest, that seems to get far more press than the original reason for the state holiday. In fact I bet if I did a “Man in the Street ” interview most people would say that the holiday celebrates the running of the  Boston Marathon. Even worse, I was listening to the news last night and the newspeople kept referring to Monday as “Marathon Monday”…No mention of Patriots’s Day. I bet there’s even be some who would think Patriot’s Day has something to do with the New England Patriot’s Football team…Sad, very sad.

You and I know, of course, that the holiday really commemorates the start of the Revolutionary War, Paul Revere’s Ride, and the Battle of Lexington and Concord at the North Bridge or the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World”.

Well, I am seriously planning to get my “butt” and the rest of my body out of bed on Patriots Day and drive out to see the reenactments. They try to make it so authentic that they even hold it at 5:30am! Even so, I am told that thousands turn out to see this and that the roads are closed into Concord and parking is at a premium.

 Since I will have to be up so early just to get there, I don’t want to be wandering around wondering where to park and even worse, where to set up my camera to record the action. With my luck, it would be all over before I found it! So today I am going to take a drive down to the visitor center and ask a lot of questions. I will take my rain poncho and reconnoiter the area with  my camera. I will give you a full report in my next post.

Since I haven’t been there yet I don’t have any pictures but I can’t have a “naked” post so here’s a picture I just like. 🙂

Scout’s Travel tips~Long Flight?

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Scout

Hi, Scout here and I have to confess, this tip is verbatim from a weekly tip column Dusty receives. I don’t usually do this but this one was so good and covered so much that I just couldn’t think of anyway to improve on it or add to it. So I want to give credit to Ryan Davies who was sending  weekly tips up until the end of last year.  So Ryan, if you’re  reading this post, how ’bout sending us some more tips!

 

 

In-flight Tips for Long Flights

So are there any in-flight tips that help to make that long, long flight…. (in coach for most of us)…. more bearable?

When we talk to people about where we’ve been or where we’re going, we often hear something like, “I’d love to go there and see that, but I just can’t stand those long flights.”

….And sometimes they’re talking about flights that are only 4 to 5 hours long!

We have a friend in New York who worked for QANTAS for years…. She used to say that she didn’t like those “short flights”…. that they didn’t give you time to set up housekeeping! She had made up her mind that since she was going to be taking long flights…. and I’m talking about 10 to 15 hours long here… that she would enjoy them.

I think much of the time, whether you enjoy your flight or not depends on your state of mind. That goes for all of travel. If you look for the positive, that’s what you’ll find most of the time.

But let’s look at those long flights. What can you do, and what should you do to survive them.

The first in-flight tip you’ll read anywhere is drink lots of water and juices…. I know, then you have to fight the lines for the restrooms…. but drinking lots of water will keep you more hydrated in that dry aircraft cabin air… and you should be getting up and walking around every so often anyway.

Avoid drinking alcohol. I know, you’re on vacation, and maybe it helps you unwind. You may even think it helps you sleep… but the fact is it dehydrates you, and if you have too much, it disrupts your sleep. You may fall asleep at first, but then you’ll wake up and feel worse. If you want to celebrate your trip with a drink… limit it to one, and remember what we said about drinking lots of water!

Do exercises in your seat…. almost all the airlines give you tips on these. Try them out. The exercises and the walks to the restrooms will help prevent deep vein thrombosis…. you may have heard it called economy class syndrome. It’s rare, but you might as well do what you can to prevent it. Those exercises will make you feel better when you land anyway.

Try to sleep. Dress comfortably for your flight. Avoid tight fitting clothes. (I have to offer an opinion here… we think you can dress comfortably and still look nice.) Use a mask and earplugs if that helps. Take one of those neck pillows if it will help you get more comfortable. Some people take sleeping pills or melatonin. Others just take over-the counter sleeping aids. I’m lucky. I’ve never had a problem sleeping on a plane.

Take a book or something to entertain yourself. Even if you do sleep, you’re not going to sleep for 10 or 15 hours. Airlines offer movies and music on their long flights. More and more offer movies on demand, so you can find something you like.

One last in-flight tip… we try to avoid caffeine until the end of the flight… then we figure we’ll need a little boost to get us going through customs and get on with the trip. We’re always glad to get there too, but those long flights won’t keep us home!

Dusty likes those tips, especially the one about sleeping. That woman can fall asleep on any plane. The minute those engines begin to hum, Dusty’s eyes start to close!

For those brief times she’s awake a good novel or a Suduko book is all that she needs to keep her occupied.  So here’s to happy traveling and not letting those long flights keep you from seeing those places you’ve only dreamed about.