True to the Old Flag: A Tale of the American War of Independence

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER IV.

  THE FIGHT AT LEXINGTON.

  Harold remained for four months longer with his cousin. The Indianshad made several attacks upon settlements at other points of thefrontier, but they had not repeated their incursion in theneighborhood of the lake. The farming operations had gone onregularly, but the men always worked with their rifles ready to theirhand. Pearson had predicted that the Indians were not likely toreturn to that neighborhood. Mr. Welch's farm was the only one alongthe lake that had escaped, and the loss the Indians had sustained inattacking it had been so heavy that they were not likely to make anexpedition in that quarter, where the chances of booty were so smalland the certainty of a desperate resistance so great.

  Other matters occurred which rendered the renewal of the attackimprobable. The news was brought by a wandering hunter that a quarrelhad arisen between the Shawnees and the Iroquois, and that the latterhad recalled their braves from the frontier to defend their ownvillages in case of hostilities breaking out between them and therival tribe.

  There was no occasion for Harold to wait for news from home, for hisfather had, before starting, definitely fixed the day for his return,and when that time approached Harold started on his eastward journey,in order to be at home about the date of their arrival. Pearson tookhim in his canoe to the end of the lake and accompanied him to thesettlement, whence he was able to obtain a conveyance to Detroit.Here he took a passage in a trading boat and made his way by water toMontreal, thence down through Lake Champlain and the Hudson River toNew York, and thence to Boston.

  The journey had occupied him longer than he expected, and Mr. andMrs. Wilson were already in their home at Concord when he arrived.The meeting was a joyful one. His parents had upon their return homefound letters from Mr. Welch and his wife describing the events whichhad happened at the farm, speaking in the highest terms of thecourage and coolness in danger which Harold had displayed, and givinghim full credit for the saving of their daughter's life.

  Upon the day after Harold's return two gentlemen called upon CaptainWilson and asked him to sign the agreement which a number ofcolonists had entered into to resist the mother country to the last.This Captain Wilson positively refused to do.

  "I am an Englishman," he said, "and my sympathies are wholly with mycountry. I do not say that the whole of the demands of England arejustifiable. I think that Parliament has been deceived as to thespirit existing here. But I consider that it has done nothingwhatever to justify the attitude of the colonists. The soldiers ofEngland have fought for you against French and Indians and are stillstationed here to protect you. The colonists pay nothing for theirland; they pay nothing toward the expenses of the government of themother country; and it appears to me to be perfectly just that peoplehere, free as they are from all the burdens that bear so heavily onthose at home, should at least bear the expense of the army stationedhere. I grant that it would have been far better had the coloniststaxed themselves to pay the extra amount, instead of the mothercountry taxing them; but this they would not do. Some of thecolonists paid their quota, others refused to do so, and this beingthe case, it appears to me that England is perfectly justified inlaying on a tax. Nothing could have been fairer than the tax that sheproposed. The stamp-tax would in no way have affected the poorerclasses in the colonies. It would have been borne only by the richand by those engaged in such business transactions as requiredstamped documents. I regard the present rebellion as the work of aclique of ambitious men who have stirred up the people by incendiaryaddresses and writings. There are, of course, among them a largenumber of men--among them, gentlemen, I place you--whoconscientiously believe that they are justified in doing nothingwhatever for the land which gave them or their ancestors birth; whowould enjoy all the great natural wealth of this vast country withoutcontributing toward the expense of the troops to whom it is due thatthey enjoy peace and tranquility. Such, gentlemen, are not mysentiments. You consider it a gross hardship that the colonists arecompelled to trade only with the mother country. I grant that itwould be more profitable and better for us had we an open trade withthe whole world; but in this England only acts as do all othercountries toward their colonies. France, Spain, Portugal, and theNetherlands all monopolize the trade of their colonies; all, far morethan does England, regard their colonies as sources of revenue. Irepeat, I do not think that the course that England has pursuedtoward us has been always wise, but I am sure that nothing that shehas done justifies the spirit of disaffection and rebellion which isripe throughout these colonies."

  "The time will come, sir," one of the gentlemen said, "when you willhave reason to regret the line which you have now taken."

  "No, sir," Captain Wilson said haughtily. "The time may come when theline that I have taken may cost me my fortune, and even my life, butit will never cause me one moment's regret that I have chosen thepart of a loyal English gentleman."

  When the deputation had departed Harold, who had been a wonderinglistener to the conversation, asked his father to explain to him theexact position in which matters stood.

  It was indeed a serious one. The success of England, in her strugglewith France for the supremacy of North America had cost her a greatdeal of money. At home the burdens of the people were extremelyheavy. The expense of the army and navy was great, and the ministry,in striving to lighten the burdens of the people, turned their eyesto the colonies. They saw in America a population of over two millionpeople, subjects of the king, like themselves, living free from rentand taxes on their own land and paying nothing whatever to theexpenses of the country. They were, it is true, forced to trade withEngland, but this obligation was set wholly at naught. A giganticsystem of smuggling was carried on. The custom-house officials had noforce at their disposal which would have enabled them to check theseoperations, and the law enforcing a trade with England was virtuallya dead letter.

  Their first step was to strengthen the naval force on the Americancoast and by additional vigilance to put some sort of check on thewholesale smuggling which prevailed. This step caused extremediscontent among the trading classes of America, and these set towork vigorously to stir up a strong feeling of disaffection againstEngland. The revenue officers were prevented, sometimes by force,from carrying out their duties.

  After great consideration the English government came to theconclusion that a revenue sufficient to pay a considerable proportionof the cost of the army in America might be raised by means of astamp-tax imposed upon all legal documents, receipts, agreements, andlicenses--a tax, in fact, resembling that on stamps now in use inEngland. The colonists were furious at the imposition of this tax. ACongress, composed of deputies from each State, met, and it wasunanimously resolved that the stamp-tax should not be paid. Meetingswere everywhere held, at which the strongest and most treasonablelanguage was uttered, and such violent threats were used against thepersons employed as stamp-collectors that these, in fear of theirlives, resigned their posts.

  The stamp-tax remained uncollected and was treated by the colonistsas if it were not in existence.

  The whole of the States now began to prepare for war. The Congresswas made permanent, the militia drilled and prepared for fighting,and everywhere the position grew more and more strained.Massachusetts was the headquarters of disaffection, and here a totalbreak with the mother country was openly spoken of. At times the moremoderate spirits attempted to bring about a reconciliation betweenthe two parties. Petitions were sent to the Houses of Parliament, andeven at this time had any spirit of wisdom prevailed in England thefinal consequences might have been prevented. Unfortunately themajority in Parliament were unable to recognize that the colonistshad any rights upon their side. Taxation was so heavy at home thatmen felt indignant that they should be called upon to pay for thekeeping up of the army in America, to which the untaxed colonists,with their free farms and houses, would contribute nothing. The pleaof the colonists that they were taxed by a chamber in which they wereunrepresented was answered by the statement that such was also thecas
e with Manchester, Leeds, and many other large towns which wereunrepresented in Parliament.

  In England neither the spirit nor the strength of the colonists wasunderstood. Men could not bring themselves to believe that thesewould fight rather than submit, still less that if they did fight itwould be successfully. They ignored the fact that the population ofthe States was one-fourth as large as that of England; that by farthe greater proportion of that population were men trained, either inborder warfare or in the chase, to the use of the rifle; that theenormous extent of country offered almost insuperable obstacles tothe most able army composed of regular troops, and that the vastforests and thinly populated country were all in favor of apopulation fighting as guerrillas against trained troops. Had theyperceived these things the English people would have hesitated beforeembarking upon such a struggle, even if convinced, as assuredly thegreat majority were convinced, of the fairness of their demands. Itis true that even had England at this point abandoned altogether herdetermination to raise taxes in America the result would probablyhave been the same. The spirit of disaffection in the colony had goneso far that a retreat would have been considered as a confession ofweakness, and separation of the colonists from the mother countrywould have happened ere many years had elapsed. As it was, Parliamentagreed to let the stamp-tax drop, and in its place established someimport duties on goods entering the American ports.

  The colonists, however, were determined that they would submit to notaxation whatever. The English government, in its desire for peace,abandoned all the duties with the exception of that on tea; but eventhis concession was not sufficient to satisfy the colonists. Theseentered into a bond to use no English goods. A riot took place atBoston, and the revenue officers were forced to withdraw from theirposts. Troops were dispatched from England and the House of Commonsdeclared Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion.

  It must not be supposed that the colonists were by any meansunanimous in their resistance to England. There were throughout thecountry a large number of gentlemen, like Captain Wilson, whollyopposed to the general feeling. New York refused to send members tothe Congress, and in many other provinces the adhesion given to thedisaffected movement was but lukewarm. It was in the New Englandprovinces that the spirit of rebellion was hottest. These States hadbeen peopled for the most part by Puritans--men who had left Englandvoluntarily, exiling themselves rather than submit to the laws andreligion of the country, and among them, as among a portion of theIrish population of America at the present time, the feeling ofhatred against the government of England was, in a way, hereditary.

  So far but few acts of violence had taken place. Nothing could bemore virulent than the language of the newspapers of both partiesagainst their opponents, but beyond a few isolated tumults the peacehad not been broken. It was the lull before the storm. The greatmajority of the New England colonists were bent upon obtainingnothing short of absolute independence; the loyalists and the Englishwere as determined to put down any revolt by force.

  The Congress drilled, armed, and organized; the English brought overfresh troops and prepared for the struggle. It was December whenHarold returned home to his parents, and for the next three monthsthe lull before the storm continued.

  The disaffected of Massachusetts had collected a large quantity ofmilitary stores at Concord. These General Gage, who commanded thetroops at Boston, determined to seize and destroy, seeing that theycould be collected only for use against the Government, and on thenight of April 19 the grenadier and light infantry companies of thevarious regiments, 800 strong, under command of Lieutenant ColonelSmith of the Tenth Regiment, and Major Pitcairne of the Marines,embarked in boats and were conveyed up Charles River as far as aplace called Phipps' Farm. There they landed at midnight, having aday's provisions in their haversacks, and started on their march toConcord, twenty miles distant from Boston.

  The design had been discovered by some of the revolutionary party inthe town, and two of their number were dispatched on horseback torouse the whole country on the way to Concord, where the news arrivedat two o'clock in the morning.

  Captain Wilson and his household were startled from sleep by thesudden ringing of the alarm-bells, and a negro servant, Pompey, whohad been for many years in their service, was sent down into thetown, which lay a quarter of a mile from the house, to find out whatwas the news. He returned in half an hour.

  "Me tink all de people gone mad, massa. Dey swarming out of deirhouses and filling de streets, all wid guns on deir shoulders, all dewhile shouting and halloing 'Down wid de English! Down wid deredcoats! dey shan't have our guns; dey shan't take de cannon and depowder.' Dere were ole Massa Bill Emerson, the preacher, wid his gunin his hands, shouting to de people to stand firm and to fight tillde last; dey all shout, 'We will!' Dey bery desperate; me fear greatfight come on."

  "What are you going to do, father?" Harold asked.

  "Nothing, my boy. If, as it is only too likely, this is the beginningof a civil war, I have determined to offer my services to thegovernment. Great numbers of loyalists have sent in their namesoffering to serve if necessary, and from my knowledge of drill Ishall, of course, be useful. To-day I can take no active part in thefight, but I shall take my horse and ride forward to meet the troopsand warn the commanding officer that resistance will be attemptedhere."

  "May I go with you, father?"

  "Yes, if you like, my boy. Pompey, saddle two horses at once. You arenot afraid of being left alone, Mary?" he said, turning to his wife."There is no chance of any disturbance here. Our house lies beyondthe town, and whatever takes place will be in Concord. When thetroops have captured the guns and stores they will return."

  Mrs. Wilson said she was not frightened and had no fear whatever ofbeing left alone. The horses were soon brought round, and CaptainWilson and his son mounted and rode off at full speed. They made a_detour_ to avoid the town, and then, gaining the highroad, wentforward at full speed. The alarm had evidently been given all alongthe line. At every village the bells were ringing, the people wereassembling in the streets, all carrying arms, while numbers wereflocking in from the farmhouses around. Once or twice Captain Wilsonwas stopped and asked where he was going.

  "I am going to tell the commander of the British force, now marchinghither, that if he advances there will be bloodshed--that it will bethe beginning of civil war. If he has orders to come at all hazards,my words will not stop him; if it is left to his discretion, possiblyhe may pause before he brings on so dire a calamity."

  It was just dawn when Captain Wilson and Harold rode into Lexington,where the militia, 130 strong, had assembled. Their guns were loadedand they were ready to defend the place, which numbered about 700inhabitants.

  Just as Captain Wilson rode in a messenger ran up with the news thatthe head of the British column was close at hand. Some of the militiahad dispersed to lie down until the English arrived. John Parker, whocommanded them, ordered the drums to beat and the alarm-guns to befired, and his men drew up in two ranks across the road.

  "It is too late now, Harold," Captain Wilson said. "Let us get out ofthe line of fire."

  The British, hearing the drums and the alarm-guns, loaded, and theadvance company came on at the double. Major Pitcairne was at theirhead and shouted to the militia to lay down their arms.

  It is a matter of dispute, and will always remain one, as to whofired the first shot. The Americans assert that it was the English;the English say that as they advanced several shots were fired atthem from behind a stone wall and from some of the adjoining houses,which wounded one man and hit Major Pitcairne's horse in two places.

  The militia disregarded Major Pitcairne's orders to lay down theirarms. The English fired; several of the militia were killed, ninewounded, and the rest dispersed. There was no further fighting andthe English marched on, unopposed, to Concord.

  As they approached the town the militia retreated from it. TheEnglish took possession of a bridge behind the place and held thiswhile the troops were engaged in destroyin
g the ammunition andgun-carriages. Most of the guns had been removed and only twotwenty-four pounders were taken. In destroying the stores by fire thecourt-house took flames. At the sight of this fire the militia andarmed countrymen advanced down the hill toward the bridge. TheEnglish tried to pull up the planks, but the Americans ran forwardrapidly. The English guard fired; the colonists returned the fire.Some of the English were killed and wounded and the party fell backinto the town. Half an hour later Colonel Smith, having performed theduty that he was sent to do, resumed the homeward march with thewhole of his troops.

  Then the militiamen of Concord, with those from many villages aroundand every man in the district capable of bearing arms, fell upon theretiring English.

  The road led through several defiles, and every tree, every rock,every depression of ground was taken advantage of by the Americans.Scarcely a man was to be seen, but their deadly fire rained thickupon the tired troops. This they vainly attempted to return, but theycould do nothing against an invisible foe, every man of whompossessed a skill with his rifle far beyond that of the Britishsoldier. Very many fell and the retreat was fast becoming a rout,when, near Lexington, the column met a strong re-enforcement whichhad been sent out from Boston. This was commanded by Lord Percy, whoformed his detachment into square, in which Colonel Smith's party,now so utterly exhausted that they were obliged to lie down for sometime, took refuge. When they were rested the whole force movedforward again toward Boston, harassed the whole way by the Americans,who from behind stone walls and other places of shelter kept up anincessant fire upon both flanks, as well as in the front and rear,against which the troops could do nothing. At last the retreatingcolumn safely arrived at Boston, spent and worn out with fatigue.Their loss was 65 men killed, 136 wounded, 49 missing.

  Such was the beginning of the war of independence. Many Americanwriters have declared that previous to that battle there was nodesire for independence on the part of the colonists, but this isemphatically contradicted by the language used at the meetings and inthe newspapers which have come down to us. The leaders may not havewished to go so far--may not have intended to gain more than anentire immunity from taxation and an absolute power for the coloniststo manage their own affairs. But experience has shown that when thespark of revolution is once lighted, when resistance to the law hasonce commenced, things are carried to a point far beyond that dreamedof by the first leaders.

  Those who commenced the French Revolution were moderate men whodesired only that some slight check should be placed on the arbitrarypower of the king--that the people should be relieved in some slightdegree from the horrible tyranny of the nobles, from the misery andwretchedness in which they lived. These just demands increased stepby step until they culminated in the Reign of Terror and the mosthorrible scenes of bloodshed and massacre of modern times.

  Men like Washington and Franklin and Adams may have desired only thatthe colonists should be free from imperial taxation, but the popularvoice went far beyond this. Three years earlier wise counsels in theBritish Parliament might have averted a catastrophe and delayed formany years the separation of the colonies from their mother country.At the time the march began from Boston to Concord the Americancolonists stood virtually in armed rebellion. The militia throughoutNew England were ready to fight. Arms, ammunition, and militarystores were collected in Rhode Island and New Hampshire. The cannonand military stores belonging to the Crown had been carried off bythe people, forty cannon being seized in Rhode Island alone. Suchbeing the case, it is nonsense to speak of the fray at Lexington asthe cause of the Revolutionary War. It was but the spark in thepowder. The magazine was ready and primed, the explosion wasinevitable, and the fight at Lexington was the accidental incidentwhich set fire to it.

  The efforts of American writers to conceal the real facts of thecase, to minimize the rebellious language, the violent acts of thecolonists, and to make England responsible for the war because a bodyof troops were sent to seize cannon and military stores intended tobe used against them are so absurd, as well as so untrue, that it isastonishing how wide a credence such statements have received.

  From an eminence at some distance from the line of retreat CaptainWilson and his son watched sorrowfully the attack upon the Britishtroops. When at last the combatants disappeared from sight throughone of the defiles Captain Wilson turned his horse's head homeward.

  "The die is cast," he said to his wife as she met him at the door."The war has begun, and I fear it can have but one termination. Thecolonists can place forces in the field twenty times as numerous asany army that England can spare. They are inferior in drill and indiscipline, but these things, which are of such vast consequence in aEuropean battlefield, matter but little in such a country as this.Skill with the rifle and knowledge of forest warfare are far moreimportant. In these points the colonists are as superior to theEnglish soldiers as they are in point of numbers. Nevertheless, mydear, my duty is plain. I am an Englishman and have borne hisMajesty's commission, and I must fight for the king. Harold hasspoken to me as we rode home together, and he wishes to fight by myside. I have pointed out to him that as he was born here he canwithout dishonor remain neutral in the struggle. He, however, insiststhat as a royal subject of the king he is entitled to fight for him.He saw to-day many lads not older than himself in the rebel ranks,and he has pleaded strongly for permission to go with me. To this Ihave agreed. Which would you prefer, Mary--to stay quietly here,where I imagine you would not be molested on account of the part Itake, or will you move into Boston and stop with your relations thereuntil the struggle has ended one way or the other?"

  As Mrs. Wilson had frequently talked over with her husband the coursethat he would take in the event of civil war actually breaking out,the news that he would at once offer his services to the Britishauthorities did not come as a shock upon her. Even the question ofHarold accompanying his father had been talked over; and although herheart bled at the thought of husband and son being both engaged insuch a struggle, she agreed to acquiesce in any decision that Haroldmight arrive at. He was now nearly sixteen, and in the colonies a ladof this age is, in point of independence and self-reliance, olderthan an English boy. Harold, too, had already shown that he possesseddiscretion and coolness as well as courage, and although now that themoment had come Mrs. Wilson wept passionately at the thought of theirleaving her, she abstained from saying any word to dissuade them fromthe course they had determined upon. When she recovered from her fitof crying she said that she would accompany them at once to Boston,as in the first place their duties might for some time lie in thatcity, and that in any case she would obtain far more speedy newsthere of what was going on throughout the country than she would atConcord. She would, too, be living among her friends and would meetwith many of the same convictions and opinions as her husband's,whereas in Concord the whole population would be hostile.

  Captain Wilson said that there was no time to be lost, as the wholetown was in a tumult. He therefore advised her to pack up suchnecessary articles as could be carried in the valises, on the horses'backs.

  Pompey and the other servants were to pack up the most valuableeffects and to forward them to a relation of Mrs. Wilson's who livedabout three miles from Boston. There they would be in safety andcould be brought into the town, if necessary. Pompey and two otherold servants were to remain in charge of the house and its contents.Jake, an active young negro some twenty-three or twenty-four yearsold, who was much attached to Harold, whose personal attendant andcompanion he had always been, was to accompany them on horseback, aswas Judy, Mrs. Wilson's negro maid.

  As evening fell the five horses were brought round, and the partystarted by a long and circuitous route, by which, after riding fornearly forty miles, they reached Boston at two o'clock next morning.