Chapter I

LEXINGTON _and_ CONCORD

A CAMERA IMPRESSION
_by SAMUEL CHAMBERLAIN_
Hastings House _Publishers_ New York

_Copyright, 1939, by Samuel Chamberlain. Printed in the United States of
America_
SET BY HAND IN GARAMOND TYPE BY ELAINE RUSHMORE AT THE GOLDEN HIND
PRESS, MADISON, N. J.

FOREWORD

Every American, since his early school days, has been definitely conscious of the two tranquil New England towns which share the distinction of being the birthplace of the American Revolution. Their story has been told so well and so often, in prose, poetry and historical writing, that this small volume would have scant _raison d'être_ if it were not for the fact that good pictures of Lexington and Concord are curiously rare.

Visual reminders of those stirring days still exist in surprising number all over this countryside. The scenes of the heroic stands made by the minutemen on Lexington Common and at Concord Bridge have been preserved virtually unchanged, thanks to the vigilance of patriotic citizens. The buildings most intimately associated with the epochal events of April 19, 1775 are still in place, to add their eloquent testimony to the story that every schoolchild knows so well. Even more personal are the homes of Concord's authors, which remain to give a graphic insight into the days of the 19th century when Concord was a significant center of American culture. Spared the unlovely intrusion of factories by their inland sites, these calm townships have kept their rural beauty. Their natural landscape remains unblemished, a pure joy today as it was in Thoreau's time.

Historical importance here is matched by physical beauty, a fact which strikes every visitor forcibly, and which this little book strives to prove by a series of photographic impressions. These have been taken in all seasons of the year, to portray the varied moods of the countryside. The pictures follow a path approximating the march of the British on that historic morning of April 19, 1775. Beginning in the neighborhood of East Lexington and the Munroe Tavern, on the eastern outskirts of Lexington, they progress to the Battle Green and the Hancock-Clarke house in Lexington, then along the Battle Road through Lincoln, and finally down Concord's legendary streets, ending at Concord Bridge where the British fired the "shot heard round the world."

Visitors who have had the enriching experience of following a similar path come away with an inspired picture of this epic moment in American history. These pages do not attempt to record the familiar written story of Lexington and Concord, but they do aspire to capture a fragment of this inspired picture, as it exists today.

The Munroe Tavern, built in 1695, was occupied by Earl Percy when he
reached Lexington with reinforcements on the afternoon of April 19,
1775. The old hostelry was used as a hospital and headquarters for the
British while the landlord, Sergeant William Munroe was playing his
part with the minutemen, and his wife and children were hiding
fearfully in the woods. Sergeant Munroe left the tavern in charge of a
crippled neighbor, John Raymond, who was shot.

The room above was originally the dining room, and is now dedicated to
Earl Percy and filled with a rich collection of Revolutionary relics.
The facade of the tavern was altered when it became a private
residence, and it has only recently been restored to its former
character, from data revealed in an old etching.]

The barroom of the Munroe Tavern contains, among other relics, the
remains of a British bullet hole in the ceiling and the original
tavern sign, cut out of one piece of hard white pine, which hung
outside the door.]

George Washington dined at the Munroe Tavern on November 5, 1789. The
landlord, then Colonel Munroe, cleared this bedchamber and arranged it
as a private dining room for the distinguished guest. Washington sat
in the chair at the left. The Sheraton table and the hat rack are the
same ones used by him. The dishes used for the occasion are also
preserved.]

East Lexington village was reached by the British at early dawn on the
19th of April. It was here that Benjamin Wellington was captured and
disarmed by British scouts, the first armed man to be taken in the
Revolution. Most of East Lexington's buildings now date from later
periods.]

Much of the architecture of modern Lexington reflects its
distinguished past. The railway station, for example, is in the chaste
Colonial tradition. So is the Cary Memorial Building (1928) which
serves as a Town Hall. Among other paintings it contains the famous
canvas of the Battle of Lexington, "The Dawn of Liberty," by Henry
Sandham.]

On this triangular village green, "Birthplace of American Liberty,"
the little group of embattled minutemen under Captain John Parker
faced an advance guard of four hundred British regulars in the pale
dawn of April 19, 1775.]

This house, built in 1729, was a mute witness of the stirring
resistance of the minutemen. Nathan Munroe was a member of Captain
Parker's company.]

At the left is the first Revolutionary monument to be erected,
dedicated to the memory of the men killed at the Battle of Lexington.
Their remains are still kept in a tomb at the rear of the granite
shaft. Washington and Lafayette both visited this spot.]

The view shows the location of the line where the minutemen made their
heroic stand. The First Parish Church, facing the Green, dates from
1847, the previous church having occupied a site on the Common itself.]

Jonathan Harrington, one of the minutemen wounded by British bullets,
dragged himself to the doorway of his house facing the Battle Green
and died there at his wife's feet.]

Marking the line established by the minutemen on the morning of April
19, 1775. On it are inscribed the words of Captain Parker's immortal
command: "Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they
mean to have a war let it begin here."]

To hold the town bell, a little wooden building was erected on a hill
overlooking the Common in 1761. A few years later it was moved to the
Common, where it sounded the alarm to the minutemen on the morning of
April 19th. An exact reproduction of the old belfry has now been
erected on the original site. The bell has long since vanished, but
its tongue is still preserved.]

This old tavern was the scene of great activity on that memorable
morning. Around the great fireplace in the tap room the minutemen
gathered to await word of the British advance. Paul Revere witnessed
the arrival of the British from a chamber window. In the afternoon of
April 19th two wounded British soldiers were given first aid here. One
of them died shortly after, and was buried in the old cemetery. The
Buckman Tavern, which was the oldest of Lexington's twelve inns, still
contains scars of British bullets. The first village store was located
here, and later, in 1812 it held Lexington's first Post Office. The
building contains many noteworthy exhibits besides the famous tap
room, and is now in the care of the Lexington Historical Society.]

Standing at the end of Lexington Common is this large frame building,
originally constructed for the short-lived Lexington Academy. In 1839
the first Normal School in America was opened here with an enrollment
of three pupils. The building now serves as the Masonic Temple.]

A wintry view of the gambrel-roofed ell of Lexington's most celebrated
dwelling. It was built as a parsonage in 1698 by the Reverend John
Hancock, grandfather of the governor. In its tiny rooms the parson's
five children were raised to maturity.]

The frame of the original wing is of hand hewn oak, still in fine
condition. Thomas Hancock, second son of the parson, who became a
prosperous Boston merchant, added the front portion to the house in
1734. John Hancock, the future Governor and signer of the Declaration
of Independence, spent several of his boyhood years with his
grandparents. The third pastor of the village was a much respected
man, Reverend Jonas Clarke. He occupied the house in 1755 and was
still its host on April 18, 1775 when John Hancock and Samuel Adams,
facing imprisonment if they were caught by the British, took refuge
there. John Hancock's aunt and his fiancee, Dorothy Quincy, were also
staying in the house. During the night the two patriots were roused
from their sleep by Paul Revere, and were conducted to Burlington for
their safety. Dorothy Quincy followed the party, bringing along a fine
salmon which had been sent in for their dinner.]

The Lexington Historical Society purchased the house in 1896, moved it
across the street from its original site and restored it to its
original condition. The larger part of the Society's extraordinary
collection of historic relics is exhibited in this house and in a
fireproof wing.]

The route of the British from Lexington to Concord led through the
town of Lincoln along a wooded highway. It was at a bend in this road,
about two o'clock in the morning, that the midnight ride of Paul
Revere ended. In company with William Dawes and Dr. Samuel Prescott,
Paul Revere was halted by a British patrol. Dawes escaped, as did Dr.
Prescott, who went on to give the alarm at Concord, but Revere was
arrested and taken back to Lexington. There he was released, and later
joined John Hancock and Samuel Adams.

The Samuel Hartwell house, now known as the Hartwell Farm, is one of
the survivors along the Battle Road. Past its front door the
red-coated Grenadiers matched with smart precision on the morning of
April 19th. They returned in the afternoon, with broken ranks and no
semblance of military order, harassed by the minutemen. One Grenadier
pushed his broken musket through a window of the house and left it
there, and several fired bullets into its boarded facade.]

The first point of interest encountered in Concord marks, not the
British approach but their retreat, after the rout at North Bridge.
Here, at Meriam's Corner, the minutemen who had fought at the bridge
were joined by embattled farmers from Sudbury, Framingham and other
neighboring towns. From all sides they poured fire on the retreating
Regulars, finally driving them all the way to Boston.]

Along Lexington Road in Concord begins a succession of interesting
buildings, the first of which is this cottage, the home of Captain
Ephraim Wales Bull, who bred and developed the Concord grape here in
the 1840's. A shoot from the root of the original Concord grapevine
still prospers under the trellis.]

A wintry view of the first of Concord's literary shrines along
Lexington Road. Bronson Alcott gave the house the name of "Hillside"
during his stay from 1845 to 1848. Louisa and her sisters spent a few
impressionable years of their girlhood here, and gave their plays in
the barn. Nathaniel Hawthorne bought the house from the Alcotts in
1852, renamed it "The Wayside" and lived here until his death in 1864.
As a refuge from visitors, Hawthorne built a tower, or "sky parlor,"
where he wrote "Tanglewood Tales" and "The Marble Faun." A later owner
was Mrs. Daniel Lothrop who, under the name of "Margaret Sidney,"
wrote many volumes of the "Five Little Peppers" during her forty
years' residence here. The house dates from the early 18th century.]

After leaving "The Wayside" the Alcott family moved into this old
house, at the time considered unfit to live in, and repaired and
painted it themselves. Louisa May Alcott affectionately referred to it
as "Apple Slump," and it was here that she wrote the first part of
"Little Women." Much of the Alcott furniture and many books, pictures,
and personal memorials are still to be seen in the house, among them
the sketches May drew on the walls of her room.]

On the grounds of Orchard House stands this small unpainted,
wooden-Gothic building, once known as Hillside Chapel, which served as
Bronson Alcott's summer school of philosophy for almost a decade. Many
notable men of letters came to this chapel, which occupies an
important place in the history of American thought.]

This building incorporates a noteworthy collection of period rooms,
beautifully furnished. The next four pages give glimpses of this
significant museum of early American decoration.]

Ralph Waldo Emerson, who built this square white house and planted the
pines around it, lived here from 1835 until his death in 1882. During
his European tour, Thoreau lived in the house. Emerson was a strong
influence in drawing other writers to Concord, and a long succession
of visitors to his doorstep. His study has been moved intact, with its
books and pictures and furniture, to the fireproof quarters of the
Antiquarian House across the way. The other rooms remain much as they
were in Emerson's day.]

Home of the minuteman and saddler who brought back the news of the
firing in Lexington. This is now the Old Mill Dam Inn.]

A four-chimneyed "brick-ender," an architectural style rare outside of
Concord.]

A glance backward at the houses just passed on the preceding pages.]

In the distance is the Old Chapter House of the D. A. R.]

Built in 1901 on the site of the old church where the first and second
Provincial Congresses sat, with John Hancock presiding.]

The tree in the foreground went down in the hurricane of September,
1938. Concord was a heavy sufferer in the catastrophe.]

Across the street is Wright's Tavern (built in 1747), the British
headquarters on April 19, 1775 where Colonel Smith boasted that he
would stir the blood of the Yankee rebels.]

The focal point in Concord where the Mill Dam, Concord Square and
Lexington Road meet.]

At the end of Monument Square is this historic inn, dating from 1770
and still thriving. It is composed of three old houses joined
together. The building on the extreme left was a Revolutionary
store-house, while the wing in the foreground was once a Thoreau
residence. The old tap room is still intact, and many relics of the
Revolution are still in evidence.]

The business heart of Concord received the name of the "Mill Dam" due
to the fact that it was the site of a dam for almost two centuries.
Some of its buildings still retain a fine old Colonial character.]

The Colonial tradition is reflected in many newer buildings, such as
the bank on the previous page.]

On this far ridge in Concord's burial ground are found the graves of
the literary great, Emerson, Hawthorne, the Alcotts, Thoreau, and
their respective families.]

The oldest portion of this house, overlooking North Bridge, dates from
1644, making it probably the oldest house in Concord. Elisha Jones,
Concord minuteman, was guarding military supplies in his house when
the British began their retreat. He imprudently showed himself at the
door of the left wing, and was promptly fired upon. The bullet missed
him, and the hole it made is still preserved under a pane of glass.]

This large gambrel-roofed homestead was built in 1769 by the Reverend
William Emerson, Concord's fighting minister. Its grounds border the
Concord River, and the minister is said to have viewed the battle at
North Bridge from the window of his study. His grandson, Ralph Waldo
Emerson, spent much time in the old house as a schoolboy, and later
lived here for a year, writing "Nature" during that period. Nathaniel
Hawthorne rented the house in 1842, and brought his bride there, to
occupy it for some four years. It was Hawthorne who named it "The Old
Manse," and it was his "Mosses from an Old Manse" that made it known
to the world. The house has undergone astonishingly little change
since it was built 170 years ago.]

The Battleground by North Bridge is marked by this monument, erected
in 1836. Nearby is a tablet marking the graves of two British soldiers
killed in the fight. The present bridge is a concrete copy of the
original wooden bridge, abandoned in 1794. Here was fired the "shot
that was heard round the world." Here is the setting of Longfellow's
immortal poem. Here was the turning point in America's struggle for
independence.]

"The Minuteman," first important Statue by Daniel Chester French,
stands guard over the Battleground. The spirited young farmer is
leaving his plow to answer the alarm, musket in hand. The sculptor,
unable to afford a living model, is said to have used a statue of
Apollo Belvedere dressed as a minuteman for the purpose. The scene of
this bloody and momentous battle is now the picture of calm repose,
and a shrine for innumerable visitors.

The Story of the battle is eloquently related by a tablet on the
scene:

CONCORD FIGHT

"On the morning of April Nineteenth, 1775, while the British held this
bridge, the minutemen and militia of Concord and neighboring towns
gathered on the hill across the river. There the Concord Adjutant,
Joseph Hosmer, demanded, 'Will you let them burn the town down?' There
the Lincoln captain, William Smith, offered to dislodge the British,
the Acton captain, Isaac Davis, said, 'I haven't a man that's afraid
to go!' and the Concord colonel, James Barrett, ordered the attack
upon the regulars.

The column was led by Major John Buttrick, marching from his own farm.
His aide was Lt. Colonel John Robinson of Westford. The minutemen of
Acton, Concord, Lincoln and Bedford followed, after them came the
militia. At the British volley, Isaac Davis fell. Buttrick cried,
'Fire, fellow-soldiers, for God's sake Fire!' and himself fired first.
The British fled; and here began the separation of two kindred
nations, now happily long united in peace."]

Transcriber's Notes

--Copyright notice provided as in the original--this e-text is public
domain in the country of publication.

--Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and
dialect unchanged.

--Moved some captions closer to the corresponding pictures.

--In the text versions, delimited italicized text by _underscores_.

End of Project Gutenberg's Lexington and Concord, by Samuel V. Chamberlain