PATRIOTS RESPOND AT CONCORD

FRAMINGHAM,MA -- According to most historians, during the 1760s, the term "Patriot" was a common expression for those members of the American Patriot Party in the 13 colonies. After 1768 the party also called itself the Whig party (after the radicals in the Whig Party in Britain.

The Patriot (Whig) Party philosophy spawned many of the "rabble" rousers like Samuel Adams, whose voices raised a public outcry against the Crown's Intolerable Acts of taxation without representation. Their political philosophy was republicanism as expounded in pamphlets written by Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Paine.

Wikipedia, the free web based encyclopedia, states that "as a group, Patriots came from all kinds of social, economic, and political backgrounds and included students like Alexander Hamilton, planters like Thomas Jefferson, merchants like Alexander McDougall, and plain farmers like Daniel Shays and Joseph Plum Martin".

Historians are divided on how many men from the 13 colonies openly joined the revolution but most of them believed that 35 to 40 percent were Patriots, 30 percent were neutral and 25 to 30 percent were Loyalists.

Fortunately, although some of the latter joined with the British Army they were ineffectual in influencing the outcome of the Revolution. In a spirit of forgiveness and
national unity after the war our Founding Fathers did not punish them for their association with the British Regulars.

The soldiers that we honor as "Patriots" every April 19th were basically local townsmen who were required by British colonial law as early as 1643 to serve part time in the Militia. Their mission was to defend their towns from any outside threat, especially from the French and Indians, and, ironically, later in 1775 from the British soldiers from coastal cities like Boston.

In 1645 the Minutemen were organized into a subset of the Militia made up from younger volunteers, average age 25, to defend their towns in a "Minute" according to historian Alfred Hudson in his book, HISTORY OF SUDBURY, published by the Town of Sudbury in 1889.

Mr. Hudson tells us that on that fateful day of April 19, 1775, a messenger arrived on horseback from Concord between 3 and 4 am, crying "up! up ! the Redcoats are as far as Concord"! Consequently, church bells rung and muskets were fired in the air as pre-arranged warning signals. In addition, a volunteer Alarm Company went house to house to wake-up everyone.

Lt. Colonel Ezekiel Howe of the Middlesex Regiment (and Innkeeper of what is now the Wayside Inn) commanded the six Sudbury Militia and Minuteman Companies. The West Side and South Side Companies made the eight miles to Concord in five hours doing double time, too fast for the beat of the drummers.

The two East Side Companies and Horse Troop probably went by way of Lincoln eventually meeting up with the West Side Companies at Hardy Hill. Alfred Hudson wrote that the West Side Companies arrived too late for the initial skirmish at the North Bridge (the South Bridge was their original destination but they were ordered to march on to the North Bridge because the British Regulars had already secured the South Bridge). However, they were in time at the North Bridge to join with other Militias from the surrounding towns of Stow, Concord, Lincoln, Acton, and Westford and reportedly fought bravely at Merriam's Corner and Hardy Hill.

Other Militia and Minutemen from Framingham, Marlborough (including Hudson- then a suburb), Needham West (now Natick and Wellesley) as well many other nearby towns are believed to have joined the battle at locations between Concord(Battle Road) and Watertown.

(Look for this Patriot story of April 19,1775 to be continued in the next Veterans article.)