On April 19, 1775, the first armed conflict of the American Revolutionary War took place on the village green in Lexington, Massachusetts. I picture the tension in those early morning hours—Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott had just alerted the local militia, and two of my 5th great-grandfathers, Joseph Simonds and Joel Viles, stood among the seventy-seven men of Captain John Parker’s Company. Together, they faced roughly 800 British soldiers at dawn, prepared to resist. The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere and Some Other Guys.
As the standoff unfolded, a shot suddenly rang out—its origin remains a mystery—and the British troops opened fire. Eight colonists were killed, and several others wounded, marking the beginning of open revolution. I feel immense pride knowing that my ancestors were there, part of that “shot heard round the world.”
Joshua Simonds, another of my relatives, recounted a striking moment: when the British arrived in front of the meeting house, Joshua was in the upper gallery with an open cask of powder. He cocked his gun, placed the muzzle close to the cask, and determined he would “touch it off” if the troops entered the gallery—a remarkable act of resolve and defiance. Joshua Simonds – Boston 1775 Blog.
Reflecting on the spirit of those times, I’m reminded of James Madison’s warning, “Accumulation of all powers…in the same hands…may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” And Thomas Paine’s words echo: “In absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be king.”
For my blog’s header, I gratefully feature the painting “Lexington Green 19th of April 1775” by Don Troiani, whose American Revolution and Civil War works capture these historic moments so powerfully.
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