04-18-2011, 10:29 AM
it's Patriots Day here, (only in Mass.) a battle reenactment and the Boston Marathon, traditions~~Paul Revere rides again!
British Major Pitcairn, at the front of his column, shouted to the Colonists: "Lay down your arms, you damned rebels and disperse!" during the re-enactment.
Minuteman Captain John Parker said: "Stand your ground! Don't fire unless fired upon! But if they mean to have a war, let it begin here!"
Boston Globe
LEXINGTON -- Under the glow of a full moon, several thousand people gathered along the ropes around Lexington Green early this morning to await the re-enactment of the Battle of Lexington.
Arriving with the sunrise, Thaddeus Bowman -- re-enactor Chip Daigle -- galloped in on horseback at 5:55 a.m. "Captain! Captain Parker!" he shouted, calling for the captain of the Lexington Minute Men, to warn him that the King's troops were headed their way.
With that, Parker -- retired Lexington businessman William Mix -- emerged from Buckman Tavern and ordered three members of his militia to fire the alarm guns. With that, the soon-to-be outnumbered minutemen gathered on the Green, much as they had early in the morning of April 19, 1775.
British Major John Pitcairn ordered the nearly 80 colonists to disburse. "Lay down your arms!" called Pitcairn, portrayed by Paul O'Shaugnessy, an imposing column of 150 redcoats behind him.
Parker ordered his men to back away.
A shot rang out.
Men on both sides fired, smoke cloaking the battlefield, the scent of sulfur in the air, shells on the ground. Eight colonists lay dead; nine more were wounded. All around, spectators captured photos and on cellphones and pocket cameras.
That skirmish would be the first in a daylong series of fights involving more than 3,500 colonial militia men and 1,500 redcoats, up and down the country road, that would leave more British than American casualties and spark the Revolution.
British Major Pitcairn, at the front of his column, shouted to the Colonists: "Lay down your arms, you damned rebels and disperse!" during the re-enactment.
Minuteman Captain John Parker said: "Stand your ground! Don't fire unless fired upon! But if they mean to have a war, let it begin here!"
Boston Globe
LEXINGTON -- Under the glow of a full moon, several thousand people gathered along the ropes around Lexington Green early this morning to await the re-enactment of the Battle of Lexington.
Arriving with the sunrise, Thaddeus Bowman -- re-enactor Chip Daigle -- galloped in on horseback at 5:55 a.m. "Captain! Captain Parker!" he shouted, calling for the captain of the Lexington Minute Men, to warn him that the King's troops were headed their way.
With that, Parker -- retired Lexington businessman William Mix -- emerged from Buckman Tavern and ordered three members of his militia to fire the alarm guns. With that, the soon-to-be outnumbered minutemen gathered on the Green, much as they had early in the morning of April 19, 1775.
British Major John Pitcairn ordered the nearly 80 colonists to disburse. "Lay down your arms!" called Pitcairn, portrayed by Paul O'Shaugnessy, an imposing column of 150 redcoats behind him.
Parker ordered his men to back away.
A shot rang out.
Men on both sides fired, smoke cloaking the battlefield, the scent of sulfur in the air, shells on the ground. Eight colonists lay dead; nine more were wounded. All around, spectators captured photos and on cellphones and pocket cameras.
That skirmish would be the first in a daylong series of fights involving more than 3,500 colonial militia men and 1,500 redcoats, up and down the country road, that would leave more British than American casualties and spark the Revolution.
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