OT: Tragic news from Boston....

[ABachelor6CR]

My Dear Friends,

A post rider from Boston appeared at the door of Governor Trumbull at about 12 of the clock this afternoon, bearing tragic news of fighting between the Kings regulars and the militia of Lexington. It is unknown at this time how many are killed or wounded but it is feared to be many.

The Governor has called a special session of the General Assembly to compose a Connecticut response to this crisis. Captain Arnold is calling out the militia of New Haven to gather at the town green as to be ready to march top Boston at soon as possible. I intend to go with him, against the protest of my wife, but as for me, my country cries loudest. I do not know what lays ahead of me, or if I am to survive, but I will always treasure your friendship. Until we meet again, I remain always,

Yr. dearest friend,

ABachelor

 

[bags27]

Thank you for this. Lexington was not the first (Rhode Island can lay claim to the Gaspee Affair as far back as 1772), nor was it the most compelling. After the engagement on Lexington Green, the British raced to its target: the ammunition dumps in Concord, to which the Mass. irregulars also withdrew to defend, "by the rude bridge that arched the flood...." Concord really became the flash point (and to this day Concordians lord that over Lexingtonians), because after the British retreated from Concord, your Minutemen arrived and inflicted so many casualties on the Red Coats along the escape route that there was effectively no turning back for either side. "Let the die be cast," Caesar allegedly said at the Rubicon, and it was the retreat from Concord that effectively cast the die for the Revolutionary War.

And so "the shot heard round the world" began the most influential war for human freedom in all of history.

 

[CTyankee]

Gives me goosebumps...

God bless these United States of America...

 

[Geno-ista]

Wow! Awesome post- thank you! Is being patriotic allowed? And God was mentioned! This may end up in the sesspool?

 

[RockyMTblue2]

2.5 mg is obviously not enough. Call your guy.

 

[CTyankee]

Wow! Awesome post- thank you! Is being patriotic allowed? And God was mentioned! This may end up in the sesspool?

Patriot Day comes but once a year, and we do need to remember... ABachelor is a true patriot right down to his britches. No doubt he would have been there at New Haven when they would have called the roll.

 

[ABachelor6CR]

Patriot Day comes but once a year, and we do need to remember... ABachelor is a true patriot right down to his britches. No doubt he would have been there at New Haven when they would have called the roll.

I like to think that Abel did indeed had the desire to go but he did not enlist until March 1, 1777

 

[Blueconn]

Best book about Lexington and Concord is Paul Revere's Ride by the incomparable David Hackett Fischer. His Washington's Crossing is even better. Fischer is that rare historian who can thrill and inform armchair readers at the same time he dazzles his fellow academics. Huzzah.

 

[ABachelor6CR]

Best book about Lexington and Concord is Paul Revere's Ride by the incomparable David Hackett Fischer. His Washington's Crossing is even better. Fischer is that rare historian who can thrill and inform armchair readers at the same time he dazzles his fellow academics. Huzzah.

Read PR Ride and loved it.......have not read Washington's Crossing.....

 

[Blueconn]

I like to think that Abel did indeed had the desire to go but he did not enlist until March 1, 1777

I like to think that Abel did indeed had the desire to go but he did not enlist until March 1, 1777

I like to think that Abel did indeed had the desire to go but he did not enlist until March 1, 1777

1777. Did Abel march north in 1777 to join in resisting, and finally whipping the "vaporing Burgoyne" ? Did he join Woodbury, Connecticut's Seth Warner early in the summer and fight a desperate rearguard action at Hubbardton, Vermont ? Was he within earshot when Warner, realizing that his men had done all that was possible, shouted out "Scatter and meet me at Manchester " ? Or did he join Warner weeks later for the spectacular American success at the Battle of Bennington ? On the day of battle did he hear John Stark say "There are the Tories and Redcoats. And today they are ours, or tonight Molly Stark sleeps a widow." Was he in Sillwater on the day Gentleman Johnny surrendered to American forces he'd earlier called "a rabble in arms" ? 1777.

 

[Blueconn]

Read PR Ride and loved it..have not read Washington's Crossing.....

If you loved Paul Revere's Ride, then Washington's Crossing will [you choose the words after reading] ...

Was a bookseller, in charge of history section, for 27 years. Even in my early dotage I'm still proud and astonished at the American story. If you're lucky enough to have an early edition hardcover of McCullough's John Adams, please read what the author wrote for the back-side dust jacket. It'll blow the dust off your soul.

And remember Churchill; "You can always trust the Americans to do the right thing; after they've tried everything else."

 

[ABachelor6CR]

1777. Did Abel march north in 1777 to join in resisting, and finally whipping the "vaporing Burgoyne" ? Did he join Woodbury, Connecticut's Seth Warner early in the summer and fight a desperate rearguard action at Hubbardton, Vermont ? Was he within earshot when Warner, realizing that his men had done all that was possible, shouted out "Scatter and meet me at Manchester " ? Or did he join Warner weeks later for the spectacular American success at the Battle of Bennington ? On the day of battle did he hear John Stark say "There are the Tories and Redcoats. And today they are ours, or tonight Molly Stark sleeps a widow." Was he in Sillwater on the day Gentleman Johnny surrendered to American forces he'd earlier called "a rabble in arms" ? 1777.

As Abel the reenactor, I have done all of those battles.......the real Abel joined the 6th Connecticut Regiment and was most likely in Peekskill or West point in 1777

 

[Blueconn]

As Abel the reenactor, I have done all of those battles..the real Abel joined the 6th Connecticut Regiment and was most likely in Peekskill or West point in 1777

May have seen you reenacting ! (I was the balding fellow wearing a UConn WBB cap) The great thing about the Hubbardton, Bennington, and Saratoga sites is that they're so pristine.

About 10 years ago, at Saratoga, I stopped at the Rev War cemetery...just that morning 3 soldiers from the fighting in '77 had been laid to rest. They'd been found on/near Bemis Heights but the forensic/history experts couldn't determine if they were American or British. Talk about an eery, stirring, experience.

 

[Nuyoika]

They should have the FF in Boston again. That's all I have to add here.

 

[ABachelor6CR]

May have seen you reenacting ! (I was the balding fellow wearing a UConn WBB cap) The great thing about the Hubbardton, Bennington, and Saratoga sites is that they're so pristine.

About 10 years ago, at Saratoga, I stopped at the Rev War cemetery...just that morning 3 soldiers from the fighting in '77 had been laid to rest. They'd been found on/near Bemis Heights but the forensic/history experts couldn't determine if they were American or British. Talk about an eery, stirring, experience.

I THOUGHT that was YOU!! If you went to the 225th Anniversary of these battles, I was at all three. Wish I had heard about this. Would have loved to pay tribute to those men, even if they were Brit....

 

[JoePgh]

Why is this tragic news? More tragic for the Redcoats than for us, if you ask me. I even saw some of them wearing orange uniforms!

 

[Blueconn]

I THOUGHT that was YOU!! If you went to the 225th Anniversary of these battles, I was at all three. Wish I had heard about this. Would have loved to pay tribute to those men, even if they were Brit....

Re the 225th: Richard M. Ketchum was my friend, neighbor, and good customer. Had the great fun of giving title to his last book. Absolutely wonderful guy. His 1997 Saratoga: Turning Point of America's Revolution is still the best account of that very scary, very violent summer. I occasionally read the last page just to get stirred up about the meaning of the Rev and feel proud of those guys from New Connecticut...er, Vermont. In 2002 the nice folks at Saratoga National Historic Park asked Dick to lead a vip group on a tour of the battlefield. He begged off saying "I'm 80 and refuse to be the last casualty."

Once asked him what made his writing and the writing of others from his generation so elegant, easy, and graceful. I mentioned McCullough, who was Dick's subordinate at American Heritage during its glory years. He smiled and asked where I'd gone to college. I answered UConn. His smiled turned to a chuckle and he said "Basketball and beer. We went to Yale and learned to write a proper English sentence."

And I never forgot his answer when I asked why someone like Joseph Plumb Martin was willing to continue to serve and suffer for so long during the war. Ketchum pointed to a nearby book that had a portrait of General Washington on its cover. "Him." Seemed like an insubstantial answer at the moment...but in time I came to understand that, in the words of James Flexner, George Washington really was the Indispensable Man.

BTW: his Victory at Yorktown is perhaps also the best on that subject. To get a sense of Ketchum's sincerity and how he felt about the people he studied for so many years, one might go to page 317 and read his footnote about the needless death of Alexander Scammell just moments after the Yorktown ceasefire:
"With Scammell's death I felt that I had lost an old friend. I had been with him from Bunker Hill through the rest of the war and had nothing but admiration for him."

ENOUGH about the 18th c. Alas, the 21st century intrudes.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Gives me goosebumps...

God bless these United States of America...

I knew at lest ONE Connecticut Yankee got goose bumps ---you probably still do when you hear the Star Spangled Banner sung! God Bless you and every damn Yankee who ever wore the Uniform of the USA and Stars and Bars (they too fought for their State and Country) . You'll see as much history in Mass/R.I./Ny / Ct cemeteries as you will in those in the South.

 

[ABachelor6CR]

Why is this tragic news? More tragic for the Redcoats than for us, if you ask me. I even saw some of them wearing orange uniforms!

That is true. We also gave them a bloody victory at Bunker Hill (actually Breeds Hill) but that would not last. The Continental Army was defeated at Brooklyn Heights, Kips Bay, White Plains.......chased across New Jersey.......There would be more defeats than victories.

Why is it "Tragic news"? Because there was still hope that the Colonies and the mother country could settle their differences. Hence the Grand Union flag of red and white stripes and the Union Jack in the corner. With the spilling of blood, it seemed less likely that would happen. The Colonies would now face the most feared and respected army in the world. No one knew what the outcome would be, that is why it was tragic news. John Adams once said that 1/3 supported the King, 1/3 supported the Continental Congress, and 1/3 did not care.

 

[BigBird]

When I was teaching in England, I took part in several interesting conversations with the British cousins about our problems with George III. Their view is that we were just a bunch of uncivilized tax dodgers who refused to help pay to the crown a share of the colony's "security" costs. The amusing thing to me is their eventual concession that had ANY monarch other than George III been on the thone, we would not have had war, as any reasonable king would have seen the necessity for negotiation. They readily admitted that George was mad.

 

[BroadwayVa]

That is true. We also gave them a bloody victory at Bunker Hill (actually Breeds Hill) but that would not last. The Continental Army was defeated at Brooklyn Heights, Kips Bay, White Plains..chased across New Jersey..There would be more defeats than victories.

Why is it "Tragic news"? Because there was still hope that the Colonies and the mother country could settle their differences. Hence the Grand Union flag of red and white stripes and the Union Jack in the corner. With the spilling of blood, it seemed less likely that would happen. The Colonies would now face the most feared and respected army in the world. No one knew what the outcome would be, that is why it was tragic news. John Adams once said that 1/3 supported the King, 1/3 supported the Continental Congress, and 1/3 did not care.

Every rag tag, untrained, ill equipped REVOLUTIONARY army starts with "defeats" (your defeat is my victory) it is part of the learning curve from Washington down. Brooklyn Heights was a tactical victory for Washington--he escaped with most of his army and learned what it meant to be FLANKED--he used that often later on. His victory at Trenton if he had today's TV media commenting--he would have quit and gone home.
When anyone tries to put actions, beliefs, laws, of the past in the moral temper of today's world, unless you look deep, --one is bound to make errors in judgement. (generalized comment)

 

[BroadwayVa]

Re the 225th: Richard M. Ketchum was my friend, neighbor, and good customer. Had the great fun of giving title to his last book. Absolutely wonderful guy. His 1997 Saratoga: Turning Point of America's Revolution is still the best account of that very scary, very violent summer. I occasionally read the last page just to get stirred up about the meaning of the Rev and feel proud of those guys from New Connecticut...er, Vermont. In 2002 the nice folks at Saratoga National Historic Park asked Dick to lead a vip group on a tour of the battlefield. He begged off saying "I'm 80 and refuse to be the last casualty."

Once asked him what made his writing and the writing of others from his generation so elegant, easy, and graceful. I mentioned McCullough, who was Dick's subordinate at American Heritage during its glory years. He smiled and asked where I'd gone to college. I answered UConn. His smiled turned to a chuckle and he said "Basketball and beer. We went to Yale and learned to write a proper English sentence."

And I never forgot his answer when I asked why someone like Joseph Plumb Martin was willing to continue to serve and suffer for so long during the war. Ketchum pointed to a nearby book that had a portrait of General Washington on its cover. "Him." Seemed like an insubstantial answer at the moment...but in time I came to understand that, in the words of James Flexner, George Washington really was the Indispensable Man.

BTW: his Victory at Yorktown is perhaps also the best on that subject. To get a sense of Ketchum's sincerity and how he felt about the people he studied for so many years, one might go to page 317 and read his footnote about the needless death of Alexander Scammell just moments after the Yorktown ceasefire:
"With Scammell's death I felt that I had lost an old friend. I had been with him from Bunker Hill through the rest of the war and had nothing but admiration for him."

ENOUGH about the 18th c. Alas, the 21st century intrudes.

1. While your friend at 80 could give up a wealth of READING knowledge the first person dissertation's have long past.
2. yet, he could provide a glimmering of days gone by and patriotic fever of those who picked up a pick or musket.\
3. (don't know how these number got here and didn't intend to use them). I would have had more interest in the Native American/first peoples/indian raids in Vermont--people forget the horrors of the indian raids and the brutality associated with the raids and the death along the trails of the captives--.