Histories of military units
The British army
The American militia
Naval history
Weapons and equipment
Histories of events
The coming of the Revolution
The Powder Alarms
The Midnight Ride
The Battles of Lexington and Concord
The aftermath
Historiographic Studies
Bibliographies
The most comprehensive general bibliography of the American Revolution is Ronald Gephart, Revolutionary America, 1763-1789: A Bibliography. 2 vols. (Washington, D.C., 1984). Dwight L. Smith and Terry A. Simmerman, Era of the American Revolution: A Bibliography (Santa Barbara, 1975), is a helpful compilation of 1400 abstracts from America, History and Life. A remarkably comprehensive work is Lawrence H. Gipson, A Bibliographical Guide to the History of the British Empire, 1748-1776, published as Volume 14 in his History of the British Empire Before the American Revolution (New York, 1968).
W. J. Koenig and S. L. Mayer, European Manuscript Sources of the American Revolution (London and New York, 1974), surveys primary materials in foreign archives.
On the coming of the Revolution: a helpful work is Thomas R. Adams, American Independence, The Growth of an Idea: A Bibliographical Study of the American Political Pamphlets Printed Between 1764 and 1776 Dealing with the Dispute Between Great Britain and Her Colonies (Providence, 1965); and idem, The American Controversy: A Bibliographical Study of the British Pamphlets About the American Disputes, 1764-1783. 2 vols. (Providence, R.I., 1980).
J. Todd White and Charles H. Lesser (eds.), Fighters for Independence: A Guide to Sources of Biographical Information on Soldiers and Sailors of the American Revolution (Chicago, 1977), lists 538 narratives, diaries, journals, and autobiographies by men and a few women who fought for American independence. Many of these works refer to events at Lexington and Concord.
In 1959 Arthur Tourtellot printed privately A Bibliography of the Battles of Lexington and Concord (New York, 1959). A much abridged version was appended to his own popular history of these events, first published as William Diamond’s Drum (New York, 1959) and then reissued as Lexington and Concord; The Beginning of the War of the American Revolution (New York, 1963).
The Paul Revere Memorial Association maintains an unpublished bibliography, “Research Papers on File in the PRMA Library” (revised to Sept, 1992), which lists the studies of Paul Revere in its holdings at the Revere House in Boston.
Depositions: American Militia and Minutemen
Among the richest source material for this inquiry are American depositions taken a few days after the fighting on April 19, 1775. They were recorded for the specific purpose of proving that British soldiers fired the first shots at Lexington Green and Concord’s North Bridge. Depositions that supported this case were published as A Narrative of the Excursion and Ravages of the King’s Troops (Worcester, 1775). This pamphlet has often been reissued: in print by Peter Force (ed.), American Archives, 4th ser., II, 487-501; on microprint in the Readex microprint edition of Early American Imprints, Evans 14269; and on microfiche in Kinvin Wroth et al. (eds.), Province in Rebellion, document 591, pp. 1804-29. Depositions not clearly supportive of the American position were revised before publication, or not published at all.
The manuscript depositions themselves are scattered through several repositories. Many are at the University of Virginia and Harvard University. John Parker’s deposition is in the Lexington Historical Society. Paul Revere’s depositions (not published by the Provincial Congress) are in the Revere Family Papers, in the Massachusetts Historical Society. Early transcripts of Lexington depositions are in WCL.
American signers from Lexington include: James Adams, Joseph Abbott, Ebenezer Bowman, John Bridge, Jr., James Brown, Solomon Brown, John Chandler, John Chandler, Jr., Isaac Durant, Thomas Fessenden, Isaac Green, William Grimer, Micah Hagar, Daniel Harrington, John Harrington, Levi Harrington, Moses Harrington, Moses Harrington III, Thaddeus Harrington, Thomas Harrington, Isaac Hastings, Samuel Hastings, Thomas Headley, Jr., John Hosmer, Benjamin Lock, Reuben Lock, Jonathan Loring, Abner Mead, Levi Mead, John Monroe, Jr., William Munroe, William Munroe III, Nathaniel Mullekin, John Muzzy, Ebenezer Parker, John Parker, Jonas Parker, Nathaniel Parkhurst, Solomon Pierce, Joshua Reed, Joshua Reed, Jr., Nathan Reed, John Robbins, Philip Russel, Elijah Sanderson (2 documents), Samuel Sanderson, Joseph Simonds, John Smith, Phineas Smith, Timothy Smith, Simon Snow, Phineas Stearns, Jonas Stone, Jr., Benjamin Tidd, Samuel Tidd, William Tidd, Joel Viles, Thomas Price Willard, Enoch Willington, John Winship, Simon Winship, Thomas Winship, and James Wyman.
From the town of Lincoln: John Adams, Abraham Garfield, John Hoar, William Hosmer, Benjamin Munroe, Isaac Parks, Gregory Stone, John Whitehead.
From the town of Concord: Thaddeus Bancroft, James Barrett, John Barrett, Nathaniel Barrett, Samuel Barrett, John Brown, Joseph Butler, Nathaniel Buttrick, Joseph Chandler, Jonathan Farrer, Stephen Hosmer, Jr., Thomas Jones, Ephraim Melvin, Timothy Minot Jr., Nathan Peirce, Edward Richardson, Bradbury Robinson, Samuel Spring, Silas Walker, Francis Wheeler, and Peter Wheeler.
From other towns: Paul Revere (2 drafts).
More depositions were collected through the next half-century for other purposes, mainly by local historians in various controversies that arose among the towns. These materials were recorded long after the event, and are sometimes inaccurate in matters of detail, but they tend to be more full and comprehensive than the earlier depositions.
Elias Phinney, History of the Battle at Lexington (Boston, 1825), printed depositions by Abijah Harrington, Amos Lock, Ebenezer Munroe, John Munroe, Nathan Munroe, William Munroe, James Reed, Elijah Sanderson, William Tidd, and Joseph Underwood.
Ezra Ripley, History of the Fight at Concord (Concord, 1827, 2nd ed., 1832), a reply to Phinney, included four new depositions from five participants: Robert Douglass (May 3, 1827), John Harwell (July 19, 1827), John Richardson (June 25, 1827), Joseph Thaxter (Feb. 24, 1825), and Sylvanus Wood (June 17, 1826).
Josiah Adams, Centennial Address on Acton (Boston, 1835), and Letter to Lemuel Shattuck, Esq., of Boston … in Vindication of the Claims of Capt. Isaac Davis, of Acton … (Boston, 1850), published eight new depositions from six participants: Charles Handley, Hannah Davis Leighton, Solomon Smith (2 depositions), Thomas Thorp (2 depositions), all sworn in 1835; plus Bradley Stone (sworn Aug. 16, 1845) and Amos Baker (sworn April 22, 1850).
For another history of Concord, Lemuel Shattuck interviewed eyewitnesses including Mrs. Peter Barrett (Nov. 3, 1831); Abel Conant (Nov. 8, 1832), Reuben Brown, and others. His manuscript notes are in the New England Historic and Genealogical Society, Boston.
A deposition by Tilly Buttrick, at the age of 78, is in Letterfile 7, B6, CFPL.
The last deposition from a participant was recorded seventy-five years after the battle. It was taken from Amos Baker of Lincoln in 1850, when he was ninety-four years old and was thought to be the last survivor of the American militia at the North Bridge. The document was sworn as an affadvit before three witnesses. Baker’s memory misled him in a few details, but was still crystal clear and can be confirmed by other accounts. It was published in Robert Rantoul, Jr., Oration and Account of the Union Celebration at Concord, Nineteenth of April, 1850 (Boston, 1850), 133-35.
Depositions of British Troops
Nothing as full as the systematic collection of sworn testimony from the American side is available from British participants. But there are several bodies of depositional materials that have yet to be used extensively by historians. Among them are depositions by British soldiers stationed in Boston during 1769-70. They were taken with particular attention to the Boston Massacre, and also contained much information about conditions of British troops in Boston and the repeated violence of the inhabitants toward them, all of which help to explain hostile attitudes of British regulars toward Americans in general and New Englanders in particular. These documen
ts were not used in the Massacre trial, and have not been published in any study or compilation. They are in manuscript in the Public Record Office (CO 5/88). Transcripts are in the author’s possession.
They include depositions from Lt. Alexander Ross, Capt. Charles Fordyce, Sgt. John Phillips, Cpl. Samuel Heale, Pvt. Jonathan Stevenson, Ens. John Ness, Sgt. Samuel Hickman, Pvt. William Fowler, Pvt. John Kirk, Lt. Daniel Mather, Ens. Cornelius Smelt, Cpl. Thomas McFarland, Pvt. Samuel Bish, Pvt. Stephen Cheslett, Sgt. Thomas Light, Pvt. Samuel Unwin, Pvt. Jessey Lindley, Pvt. John Park, Pvt. Thomas Sherwood, Pvt. Robert Holbrook, Pvt. William Morburn, Pvt. Richard Ratcliff, Pvt. John Woolhouse, Cpl. William Lake, Sgt. Thomas Hood, Drummer John Gregory (2 depositions), Pvt. Thomas Smith, Sgt. Hardress Gray, Pvt. Roger McMullen, Sgt. John Norfolk, Pvt. William McCracken, Pvt. William Browne, Pvt. Joseph Whitehorse, Cpl. Robert Balfour, Pvt. David Young, Pvt. William Banks, Cpl. William Halam, Pvt. Thomas Lodger, Pvt. Richard Henley, Cpl. John Arnold, Pvt. John Shelley, Pvt. Dennis Towers, Pvt. Jacob Brown, Sgt. Thomas Thornby, Cpl. John Shelton, Pvt. James Botham, Pvt. William Mabbot, Pvt. William Wilson, Pvt. William Barker, Pvt. Gavin Thompson, Sgt. John Ridings, Sgt. John Eyley, Pvt. George Smith, Pvt. John Care, Sgt. William Henderson, Pvt. William Leeming, Pvt. Eustace Many-weather, Pvt. Edward Osbaldistan, Pvt. Jacob Moor, and Pvt. George Barnet all of the 14th Foot.
Also Ens. Alexander Mall, Pvt. William Godson, Pvt. Henry Malone, Pvt. William Normanton, Pvt. Cornelius Murphy, Sgt. Thomas Smilie, Cpl. Alexander McCartney, Pvt. Patrick Donally, Pvt. John Rodgers, Sgt. Hugh Broughton, Pvt. John Dumphy, Pvt. James McKaan, Pvt. John Croker, Cpl. John Fitzpatrick, Cpl. Hugh McCann, Pvt. James Corkrin, Cpl. Thomas Burgess, Pvt. Joshua Williams, Sgt. William James, Sgt. Richard Pearsall, Pvt. John Timmons, Cpl. Henry Cullin, Pvt. Patrick Walker, Cpl. William Murray, Pvt. Richard Johnson, Pvt. Robert Ward, Pvt. John Addicott, Pvt. George Irwin, Surgeon’s Mate Henry Dougan, Ens. Gilbert Carter, Capt. Jeremiah French, Cpl. John Eustace, and Drummer Thomas Walker of the 29th Foot.
Depositions were also taken after the fighting at Lexington and Concord from British troops who bore witness to the American atrocity committed on a wounded British soldier near Concord’s North Bridge. Deponents included Cpl. Gordon, Pvt. Thomas Lugg, Pvt. William Lewis, Pvt. Charles Carrier, and Pvt. Richard Grimshaw of the 5th Foot; all sworn on April 20, 1775, and witnessed by Capt. John G. Battier, 5th Foot. They are published in part by Allen French in General Gage’s Informers, 111.
Pension Applications
A large body of sworn testimony by veterans of the War of Independence also appears in records of Federal pension applications submitted under U.S. pension acts of 1818 and 1832. These acts required veterans to submit a narrative of Revolutionary service, sworn in a court of law, and supported by two character witnesses, one of whom had to be a clergyman. Pension agents played an active role in this process. Many accounts were dictated to court stenographers, sometimes in front of a large crowds. John Dann writes, “The pension application process was one of the largest oral history projects ever undertaken.” Altogether, under all the pension acts, as many as 80,000 narratives were processed. They are available on microfilm from the National Archives, in a collection of 898 reels. The author used the set at the New England Regional Center of the National Archives, in Waltham, Mass. The records are indexed by name (not, unhappily, by subject, date, or place of service), in Index of Revolutionary War Pension Applications in the National Archives (Washington, D.C., 1976). These materials must be used with caution. Problems of evidence are complex, but not more or less than for other historical sources. Among the narratives used for this study were those of Jonathan Brigham (Marlborough, Mass.), Richard Durfee (Tiverton, R.I.), Nathan Fisk (Northfield, Mass.), Robert Fisk, Abel Haynes (Barre, Mass.), Robert Nimblet (Marblehead, Mass.), John Nixon (Sudbury, Mass.), Abel Prescott (West-field, Mass.), Jesse Prescott (Kensington, N.H.), Richard Vining (East Windsor, Conn.), Ammi White (Concord, Mass.), Cuff Whittemore, Sylvanus Wood (Woburn, now Burlington, Mass., 1830), and Hannah Davis Leighton, the widow of Captain Isaac Davis (Acton, Mass).
Claims for Damages, April 18-19, 1775
Many householders who lived along the Battle Road submitted claims for losses. These records also document some of the events of the day. They are in the Massachusetts Archives, Columbia Point, Boston. Some are published in the Journals of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts: Joseph Loring, Jonathan Harrington, Lydia Winship, John Mason, Matthew Mead, Benjamin Merriam, Nathaniel Farmer, Thomas Fessenden, Benjamin Fiske, Jeremiah Harrington, Robert Harrington, Joshua Bond, Benjamin Brown, Hepzibah Davis, Benjamin Estabrook, Samuel Bemis, Nathan Blodget, Elizabeth Samson, Jonathan Smith Jr., John Williams, John Winship, Margaret Winship, Marrett Monroe, William Munroe, Amos Muzzy, Lydia Mulliken.
Another file of damage claims by Concord residents, including Ezekiel Brown, Reuben Brown, William Emerson, Abel Fisk, Timothy Minot, and others, is in the 1775 Folder, Concord Archives, CFPL
Personal Records: The Papers of Paul Revere
The Revere Family Papers in the Massachusetts Historical Society include a large quantity of business records, but less in the way of materials of a personal or political nature. They are stronger for Revere’s life after the American Revolution than for the period before 1776. The collection is available on microfilm, with a calendar. Many scholars since Elbridge Goss have worked through the Revere Papers, but much remains to be gleaned from them. Of particular value are Paul Revere’s letters to and from his relatives abroad, and his correspondence with public figures in the early republic. This collection also includes some business records before 1776, and Paul Revere’s three accounts of the midnight ride, which have been published many times. The standard edition is Edmund S. Morgan (ed.), Paul Revere’s Three Accounts of His Famous Ride (Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1968). Serious students should read these works in manuscript (or in the facsimiles published by Morgan), for Revere deleted important passages that do not appear in printed texts.
Many other American repositories have a few Revere manuscripts in autograph collections and vertical files. Scattered items are also to be found in the Massachusetts Archives, which has bills and receipts by Paul Revere for courier service, 1774-75. The Paul Revere Memorial Association holds a pass signed by James Otis for Revere to ride express to the Continental Congress, November 12, 1775.
Much Revere material also appears in the papers of other American Whig leaders. The manuscripts that survive in these collections were carefully pruned by American leaders. Benjamin Edes kept the records of the Boston Tea Party under lock and key for many years, and deliberately destroyed them before he died. In Samuel Adams’s house it was said that “trunks and boxes were filled, and shelves around the walls of the garret piled high with letters and documents” (William Wells, Samuel Adams. 3 vols. [Boston, 1865], I, xi). Many were destroyed by Adams himself, who was observed by others in his late years reading through his papers and throwing them one by one onto the fire. After his death, an “ignorant servant” was discovered using much of what survived for kindling. The remnant found its way to the New York Public Library, and includes correspondence to and from Paul Revere, with many references to his activities.
Also in the New York Public Library (among the papers of the historian George Bancroft) are the records of the Boston Committee of Correspondence, which were specially helpful to this inquiry for letters from other towns, and for material on the Powder Alarm. A small but very important set of letters to and from Revere and about him is in the John Lamb Papers at the New-York Historical Society.
Other relevant materials are in the Sparks Papers and the Palfrey Family Papers in the Houghton Library at Harvard University. Also useful are the papers of William Heath, John Thomas, Henry Knox, Thomas Young, and various members of the Warren family in the Massachusetts Historical Society, and the papers of John Hancock and Isaiah Thomas at the American Antiquarian Society.
Personal Records: Thomas Gage
One of the best documented public careers in the old British Empire was that of General Thomas Gage. Every year during his tenure as commander in chief he sent home a large wooden chest full of papers—twelve chests altogether. That collection was bought by American collector William L. Clements and moved to the United States, where it was sumptuously bound in leather folios, and housed in the William L. Clements Library on the campus of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Gage’s official correspondence is at the Public Record Office in Kew, outside London. Much (but not all) of his correspondence with the Secretaries of State, the War Office, and the Treasury has been published in a generally accurate but idiosyncratic work by Clarence E. Carter (ed.), The Correspondence of General Thomas Gage. 2 vols. (New Haven, 1933; rpt. 1969). Unofficial documents in the Gage Papers relevant to Paul Revere, and to the battles of Lexington and Concord, have also been published in whole or part in Allen French, General Gage’s Informers: New Material Upon Lexington and Concord … (Ann Arbor, 1932).
Gage himself also published his own short account of Lexington and Concord as “A Circumstantial Account of an Attack that happened on the 19th of April, 1775.” A copy of the first edition, with Joseph Warren’s pungent marginalia, is in the Massachusetts Historical Society. Reprints have appeared in Peter Force (ed.), American Archives, 4th ser., II, 435; and MHSC II, 224. Also of much interest are Gage’s “Replies to Queries by Historian George Chalmers,” MHSC, 4th ser., 4 (1858): 369-70, and his letters on the battle to colonial governors: Trumbull of Connecticut, Colden of New York, and Dunmore of Virginia, also in AA4, II, 434-37, 482-83, and in Letters and Papers of Cadwallader Colden, vol. VIII, N-YHS Collections 66 (1923): 283-87. Many other letters from Gage are published in the Colden Papers. Others appear in Sylvester Stevens et al., The Papers of Col. Henry Bouquet (Harrisburg, 1940-42), and James Sullivan et al., The Papers of Sir William Johnson (Albany, 1921). Gage’s papers concerning the Boston Massacre have been published in Randolph G. Adams (ed.), New Light on the Boston Massacre (Worcester, 1938).
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