Harringtons at Lexington – 1775

Eighty men stood on one side of the grassy common. Facing them was an army of 800. ”Stand your ground, don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war let it begin here,” called out Captain John Parker to his men. It was  April 19, 1775, in Lexington, Massachusetts.

The British army, stationed in Boston, had marched out the evening before to seize colonial military supplies. Paul Revere and William Dawes had warned the Massachusetts countryside. Militiamen gathered at Buckman’s Tavern for instructions and to wait. As the British marched into Lexington about dawn, men poured out of the tavern and formed two lines to face the Regulars.

Amos Doolittle’s engraving, Battle at Lexington

Historians aren’t sure who fired first. Each side claimed the other did. What happened next is not in dispute, the colonials began to fall back and disperse as the Redcoats fired. Eight Americans lay dead with ten wounded and one or two British also wounded.

The dead on Lexington Common were Robert Munroe, Isaac Muzzy, Samuel Hadley, John Brown, Jonas Parker, Jonathan Harrington, Caleb Harrington and Asahel Porter.

Jonathan Harrington’s home faced the Common and after being shot he managed to

Postcard of Harrington House and Minutemen Memorial

crawl to his doorstep before dying. His cousin, Caleb Harrington died that day, too.  In fact, of the 80 militiamen on the Common on April 19, nine of them were named Harrington. 

The British marched on to Concord. In Lexington neighbors poured out of homes and taverns to look for family members and see to the wounded.  They knew that the British would have to return through Lexington to get back to Boston. Afraid they would revenge themselves on the bodies of the rebels, a long trench was dug in the Old Burying Ground and the eight militia dead were hastily buried and the ground covered with brush.

It had not been much of a battle, more of a skirmish lasting about 20 minutes. But it was the first battle of the Revolution, the first blood spilt in the fight.

Connection: Both Caleb and Jonathan Harrington were my husband’s 3rd cousins 6  times removed.

Lexington Plaque, Arlington National Cemetery