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Thursday, April 17, 1975
University Daily Kansan
SPECIAL FOCUS
Bicentennial hoopla
This weekend marks the 200th anniversaries of Paul Revere's ride and the battles of Lexington and Concord. The hoopla of the Bicentennial is gathering steam and will be going full tilt.
This is all well and good. The American Revolution was marked by heroic deeds by great men. These men were celebrated, even celebrated, commemorated,
But along with the celebration, there ought to be some reflection. The Revolution wasn't a glorious adventure with flags waving and bands marching while the colonists cheered. A considerable segment of the population was also well aware of revolutionaryaries. Even those who fought in the Revolution weren't always sure of the cause.
About one-third of the troops under General Washington that spent the winter of 1777-78 at Valley Forge, Pa., deserted. This is a higher percentage of deserters than in any other war in our history.
There were a good many ugly acts perpetrated by the revolutionaries—burning of Tories' houses, taring
and feathering and even some scabbing.
Another aspect to reflect upon is the change in our nation since those revolutionary days. Radicals like Sam Adams, John Hancock and Tom Jefferson would be mighty uncomfortable in modern-day America. Indeed, they might be in prison.
We've all read stories about how modern Americans refuse to sign a copy of the Declaration of Independence. And it has been said that the 51st Amendment would be defeated by the American people.
So beware during the next few years. Look beyond the hoopla. Watch out for propaganda from right and left. The Revolution should be put in a perspective that I'm afraid we'll lose while we're being used to comply with its urging us to buy the beer Ben Franklin would have liked or the paint used to protect Paul Revere's home.
The Revolution was a great story that doesn't promote or soak. — Craig Stock
History inspires literature
Bv KATHLEEN PICKETT
Entertainment Editor
Tomorrow is the 18th of April,
75. Does that ring a bell? If not,
it should, for that is a date that
is important in infamy but in lore
and legend.
Two hundred years ago tomorrow was the night of the celebrated ride of Paul Revere, who broke out in Lexington and Concord and later Boston. Some historians have called April 18th the day that marked the introduction of intellectual to armed rebellion.
IF NOTHING else, this date should be remembered because of the treasured place it has in our literature, especially poetry. What school child has never heard Henry Wadsworth longfellow's "Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year."
That poem seemed so real to me as a small child that I sincerely believed there were still friends who wished it was witnessed for famous day.
Just as dear to our hearts is Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Concord Hymn," commonly occurring the next day's
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled.
"By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Here once the embattled farmers stood.
And fired the shot heard round the world.
'THE FOE long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.
We set to-day a votive stone; That memory may their deed redeem.
Heroic Revere ride well plotted
BY TOM BILLIAM Contributing Writer
By TOM BILLAM
Paul Revere's midnight rise of April 19, 1775, wasn't as sudden and spur-of-the-moment as Longfellow's poem would have you believe. Though heroic and dangerous, Revere's ride was planned several days before.
By the middle of April, Paul Revere and Joseph Warren, the only rebel leaders remaining in Boston, were becoming conspirators under commander of the British troops, was planning to try to szeize John Hancock and Sam Adams, who were staying with Adam and Sarah Huckleberry Lexington, and the stores of arms and powder in Concord.
Having been a bell ringer there in his youth, Revere knew that one could see from there to that one who had no liberty of Liberty there would have no trouble seeing "the one if by land, two if by sea" signal. This was the necessary, but Revere and Conant planned it as a failsafe
ON SUNDAY, APRIL, 16,
Revere reed to Lexington and warned Hancock and Adams of the possibility. On his way back to Boston Revere went to Charleston to talk with William Conant, a son of Liberty who commanded the militia there. Revere arranged with Conant to lead them from the steeple of the "North Church," for which the correct name is Christ Church.
in case Revere couldn't make it to Charlestown and Cambridge himself to warn of the British attack.
Revere and Warren knew from British preparations that the attack was to come from across the river, thus Revere
Revere also arranged with Robert Newman, a young sexton of the church, to hang the sails when notified by Reverge.
DAWES' ROUTE TOOK him across the Boston Neck, the isthmus connecting Boston to Boston and New York, and the one lantern signal. Although longer by about four miles, this route proved safer. Dawes had trouble only in getting through the streets at the center of the Boston.
About 10 the night of April 18, Warren and Revere decided, from reports given them through their spy system and from the military activity in Boston, that the British sortie was planned for the next morning. Revere and William had arranged plans to proceed by different routes in hopes that one of them would reach Lexington and warn Adams and Hancock.
Revere's route was much more dangerous. It involved crossing the Charles River to Charlestown by boat, thence to Cambridge and Lexington by船 to Charlestown in the river; it was the British warship Somerset, complete with 64 guns.
The 'bate船 across the Charles had to be done in view of the warship Somerset, maker of the Regulars. Revere and his two companion, if seen from the ship. However, most of the ship's crew was watching ustream, where the British Regulars was occurring.
Revere probably was just setting out from Boston in a row boat when Newman hung pre-arranged signal fire. Revere not to Revere "on the opposite bank," as longFellow wrote.
Revere led the officer, with his heavier horse, towards a pond that he knew had slippery clay banks. He skirted the clay, the officer didn't and lost his mount.
As he rode to Cambridge, the shorter route to Lexington, he saw two British officers on the side of the road ahead of him, spying them by the moonlight and their highly polished accouments. He immediately struck country to another road. One officer rode ahead to try to cut him off, the other gave chase
went to the church and told Newman to hang two lanterns. Newman did only briefly so as Newman was being British aboard the Somerset.
Just outside of Lexington Dawes and Revere were joined by Samuel Prescott, a young doctor from Concord who had been courting a young lady in Lexington. Together they rode towards Concord, each waking every third house.
Revere rode on to Melford, there waking the captain of the militia, and sending out riders in the whole of Middless County.
Revere was immediately recaptured. Dawes rode back towards Lexington impersonating a Lexington impersonator a Regular, that he needed help to surround the rebels that he had caught up with. The British were reluctant to ride into what they thought was an ambush and Dawes escaped, though he somehow retreated to Lexington, failing to make it to Concord that night.
Reaching Lexington about midnight, Revere warned Adams and Hancock about the impending attack. As Revere dawes, arrived and the two resolved to ride on to Concord to make sure the store of arms had been well hidden.
THE THREE WERE MET and captured by a squad of British officers who had been sent the day before to guard the road from messengers such as Revere and Dawne. At a signal from Prescott, all three bolted in an attempt to escape.
Prescott did reach Concord, however, by jumping a low
stone wall and riding cross country, easily eluding the Regulators, and warned the men, then about the Regulators' approach.
After being recaptured by the Regulars' officers, Revere began telling them that forces of 500 and 1500 rebels were converging on Lexington and Concord and that the planned surprise attack was well-known by the revolutionaries.
THE OFFICERS BECAME convinced Revere was telling the truth as guns began sounding, and the ringer, warning of the British approach. Desiring to hasten to their troops, the officers released Revere but took his saving he left outside Lexington.
He traveled quickly to Lexington and to the house where Hancock and Adams dispatched him and John Lowell, Hancock's clerk, to a tavern near the Commons to retrieve a trunk full of the commons papers of Hancock's.
As he and Lowell hugged the trunk towards a waiting carriage, Revere walked through the Minute Men Room where he met the dawn's light. He saw the British Regards march up.
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.
Spirit, that made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free.
What followed was the "shot heard 'round the world," and that is another story. Paul Revere's ride was done.
Big Time and Nature gently spare
I don't know. Maybe those poems seem silly and sentimental today. They could be put in the same categories as The British are coming! The British are coming!" jokes.
The shaft we raise to them and thee.
ONE DEFINITE symptom of today's society is the inherent tendency to analyze the poems, literature and unending battles to determine who fired that first shot, and everyone eagerly points out Emerson's error in placing the poem Concord instead of Lexington.
Longlengel and Revere are similarly under attack. But does it really matter that race matters or will William Dawdle did?
What does matter is the beauty of the ideal, the inspiration of the moment. We should appreciate the quality that has made the Old North Church, the rude bridge and the Sons of Liberty names that burn in our heritage.
This heritage is shown by the quotation on the stone marker in Lexington: "Stand your ground . . . don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to begin here. Those words were uttered by Captain Jonas Parker of the Minutemen."
TODAY SOCIETY is too cynical. After the trauma of the war in Vietnam and two world wars it is hard to even sympathize with much less see romance in, a war of independence.
The legacy of the 18th of April is more than just a couple of poems and some patriotic markers. It's a spirit that must be felt, not just talked about. Just go visit the Old North property called the Christ Church in Chicago church in Boston. From that church was hung the signal for Dawes and Revere.
I think more kindly on that time when I contrast it with the tone. Consider, for instance, post-poetry, a first battle as a newspaper today might do this. Example is from Sylvan Hoffman and C. Creatian's book "News of the Nation" in U.S. history in newspaper style.
be once destroyed, farewell the remainder of our invaluable rights and privileges! We may next expect padlocks on our lips, fetters on our legs, and only our hands left at liberty to us. Our NASSERIAN WASHER AND EGYPTIAN WASHER OR-FIGHT OUR WAY TO CONSTITUTIONAL FREE-DOM."
"LEXINGTON, MASS., April 19, 1775—Severe fighting took place today between American patriot and British troops.
"Four hundred were killed in a series of clashes, the first bloodshed in what appears to be undeclared war between the mother country and her American colonies.
THE FIRST SHOT was fired at Lexington, and subsequent actions occurred at Concord and along the Charlestown Road when American irregular men met and severely injured a British officer out from Boston early last night to destroy arms and ammunition stored by the colonials at Concord.
That account makes me long for the inflammatory propaganda of patriot newspaper nasieman iiah Thomas. Thomas was the printer of the book, and he had a special feeling for freewriting because his right to print news was sincerely threatened.
WHAT BETTER WAY to commemorate the spirit of liberty during the Revolution and the ending and ending of Thomas's newspaper account of the battle of Lexington. That account ran under the streamer: liberty or Death! Join or Die!"
He warned the authorities: "Should the liberty of the press
mind the BATTLE OF LEXINGTON!—where British troops, unmolested and unarmed, most inhuman manner, fired upon and killed a number of our countrymen, then robbed, ransacked, and burnt their houses! nor could the tears of children apprise their thirst whom were in the pains of childbirth, the cries of helpless babes, nor the prayers of old age, confined to beds of sickness; appease their thrust blood!—what from their DESIGN of MURDER and ROBBERY!"
THOMAS CONCLUDED by writing this tribute to the fallen colonists.
"The public most sincerely sympathizes with the friends and relations of our deceased brethren, who sacrificed their lives in fighting for the liberties of their country. By their noble inregret conduct, in helping to save the family from tyrant, they have redeemed their memories to the present generation, who will transmit their names to posterity with the highest honor."
Colonial battles mark Bicentennial Saturday
Rv ROV CLEVENGER
Today, we regard those battles as a great victory for the Colonials and a display of strength and events of that Wednesday morning 200 years ago were seen as little more than the most heated incident of a five-year series of acts of harassment.
BY ROY CLEVENGER
Saleen's centennial anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord, the two skirmishes that attempt at reconciliation between aaint and her rebellious Colonies.
THE BRITISH MARCHED through the town and on to Concord, which they reached about 7 a.m. They stationed guards on the bridges at the edges of town and searched for the supplies, but they had been wounded by some of the supplies had already been hidden, the British confiscated only two cannons, several dozen
THE BRITISH, camped in Boston, had been quiet most of the winter, and it was Sam Adams and John Hancock—invertebrate hotheads—who were among those arrested on March 5 a rally asking the fifth anniversary of the Boston Massacre.
In early April, General Gale, the British commander, received orders to imprison the Colonels Seeking that and the capture of supplies hidden by the Colonials in nearby Concord, he ordered late on the night of the 18th of April when his encampment in Boston.
ORDERS FOR THE march were kept secret, but by the time the 800 British troops reached Lexington at dawn, the 130 Colonials and the 130 Colonials retreated before the superior British force, but most held their ground. Maj. John Pitcairn, leading the British, ordered his men bestablished. After he ordered for a second time to fire, they shot one volley, killing eight Colonials and wounding 10. Return fire slightly injured one British soldier. The British men saw Adams or Hancock.
barrels of fluset, 500 pounds of musket bullets, a few gun carriages and some trenching tools.
The British then burned several buildings, including the courthouse, but they soon extinguished the flames themselves and headed for the town's taverns.
Word of the British maneuver had spread, and companies of Minutemen from throughout the area began to arrive. The sight of approaching Colonials forced the British to retreat from the North Bridge, and in the confrontation Again the skirmish was a brief one: The Colonials lost two men, and three British soldiers were killed. A dozen more on both sides were inured.
THE BRITISH GATHERED their forces and left town about noon. That afternoon saw one of the British men chased as the Minuteman chased the British 16 miles back toward their camp. Minuteman units continued to arrive and began moving the British from groves of trees.
The past two centuries have generated the myth of the heroic Concord farmer sniping at Redcocks. Actually, most of the Colonials came from other towns whose names are nearly history--Menotomy, Acton, Lincoln and is more.
By sunset—20 hours and 36 miles after the operation began—the British managed to colonize the colonialists and reach their camp.
The day's casualties were astonishingly light, considering the number of men involved and the amount of firing. The 3,783 gunmen were fighting at different times during the day, 49 were killed, 41 were injured and 5 were missing. The 1,800 British troops lost only a few more—73打了 74 injured and 28 missed.
INDEED, THE COLONIALS' poor firing that day was a source of laughter for the British, who considered the skies a show of patriot awarches and tactical ineptitude.
The Colonials saw the day's fighting a little differently. The apparent victory fed the flames of independence, and at least one state—Pennsylvania—among them began assembling a militia.
NO ONE REALLY WON the battles of Lexington and Concord. There were too few troops and too little steady fighting to make a real victory possible for either side.
Probably the greatest effect of the battles was that the British became convinced that reconciliation with the Colonies was impossible. It would be more than a year before the Colonies declared independence and began the war in earnest, but the course was now set. The freedom for Americans could not in the halls of Parliament, but on countless greens like those blooded that April 19 in Lexington and Concord.
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