Remembering Patriot's Day

By Elaine Marie Cooper


Since I grew up near Boston, Massachusetts, I can never think about the week of April 19th without pausing to reflect on its meaning for our country. It was the day in 1775 when the first battles took place at the onset of the American Revolution.

As children, we all loved Patriot's Day. Parades were held in the city and the suburbs commemorating the event. A rider dressed like Paul Revere would carry the news that "The Regulars are coming!" Of course, we weren't too concerned in the 20th century about British soldiers coming down Mass Ave. If they did, we'd have likely cheered them on instead of fleeing. :)

But it was both a celebration and a memorial to the brave men—simple farmers—who made a stand against the greatest army in the world of that time. The outcome shocked the world and birthed the great country of the United States of America.

When I was young, it didn't occur to me that the very road down which the bands played and the floats sailed upon, was the very route that the British Army actually trod. It was a journey that began an eight year war.

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Beginning in Boston the night of April 18, 1775, over 1,000 British soldiers marched their way to Concord where supplies of Colonial gunpowder were hidden. On the way, they were confronted by the brave men of Lexington. The first shots were fired and the first fatalities occurred.

Buckman Tavern, Gathering Place of the Lexington Militia

The soldiers continued their march to Concord and were surprised by the increasing numbers of Colonial militia who were bent on stopping the King's Army. Two British soldiers were killed and then buried near Concord Bridge.

The aggressive Minute Men intimidated the British forces the entire way back to Boston. Fighting Indian-style, the American militia hid behind stone walls and trees and killed numerous enemy soldiers along the way. The King's Army became more enraged by the moment. By the time they reached Menotomy Village (now Arlington, MA), reinforcements for the Brits had arrived. The worst Battle of the day occurred at the home of farmer Jason Russell.

Jason Russell House, Arlington, MA

More deaths occurred at this site than any other battlefield that day, April 19, 1775.

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When I was a child celebrating Patriot's Day every year, I never knew that the house on the corner just one block away from my home, held the story of the worst battle that occurred that first day of the Revolution.

I often thought about that house after I grew up and decided to discover the secrets that lay within its walls. The story that I uncovered was an amazing and heartbreaking tale of love, loyalty and demise. It was an incident hidden from the history books, just waiting to be revealed. I decided to be the storyteller of the Russell family and the community that took a stand for freedom from tyranny.

And thus was birthed Fields of the Fatherless, Winner of the the 2014 Selah Award for YA Fiction; Winner of the 2014 Next Generation Book Award, Religious Fiction; and Winner of the 2014 Moonbeam Children's Book Award, Best YA Religious Fiction.

To celebrate Patriot's Day, I am giving away two gifts—a signed copy of Fields of the Fatherless and a box of eight cards of the Doolittle prints that depict the battles of April 19, 1775—to a reader who leaves a comment on this blog. I will do a drawing for those who leave their email address and announce the winner on Friday, April 22.

Hidden in the History Books: The Battle of Menotomy

April 19, 1775

2:00 AM

It seemed only a few moments before an unfamiliar sound thrust her upright once again. Her heart took on a new beat as the strange and rapid thumping sound grew louder. It stirred her blood with a chill that sent its icy prickle from her feet all the way to her neck.

Soon, the candleholder on her small table danced, reverberating to the increased pounding on the road. She clutched the unlit lamp, lest it fall to the floor, placing it on the soft mound of her bedding to keep it steady.

Betsy fought the grip of nausea in her belly and forced her stiffened legs from under the covers. Stepping gingerly and with an unsteady gait, she crouched down and made her way to the open window. Standing to the side so she could not be seen, she peered carefully around the edge of the window jamb. The scene below sent ripples of terror through her body and mind. It was unlike anything Betsy had ever imagined in the deepest recesses of her fears.

Pounding the muddy road right next to their stone wall, soldiers of the king’s army—splendid and frightening in their royal red uniforms—trudged in unison, four abreast. Their faces were stoic and determined in the moonlight, and their beaver hats made them look as tall as Goliath. The most frightening image, however, was the silvery row of gleaming bayonets. Situated in perfect array on the shoulders of the regulars marching in expert time, the flowing wave of exposed steel weapons rippled like a smooth river in the moonlight. It was both beautiful and terrifying.

                          —Excerpt from Fields of the Fatherless

Before the British troops ever arrived at Lexington and Concord, they first made their way through Menotomy Village, Massachusetts.  Now known as Arlington, it was the town that I grew up in, a place that left an old house standing for over 200 years in remembrance of the terrible battle that occurred there that first day of the American Revolution. It was a battle long overshadowed by the events at Concord Bridge and the Lexington green. Yet more soldiers—both British and American—died in Menotomy Village than any other town that day.

Growing up as a youngster, I never understood the historical significance of my hometown nor the Jason Russell House that stood as a memorial on the corner up the street from my own home. I’d walk by the old dwelling frequently and my big brother tried to scare me with tales of “blood on the floor.”

Long after I grew up and moved away, I learned the sad story of my hometown that happened to stand along the route of the British retreat to Boston; the village that suffered the consequences of an enraged, out-of-control army that took out their revenge on the citizens of Menotomy. It was a story of both terror and bravery. It was a story that begged to be told. I feel so privileged to be able to share that story in “Fields of the Fatherless.”

So on this April 19 known as Patriot’s Day in Massachusetts (celebrated this year on April 21) please remember the nearly-forgotten citizens of Menotomy Village, Massachusetts. And say a prayer of thanks for the freedoms we hold dear in these United States. Let us not forget the sacrifice of so many who laid down their lives for the freedoms we hold dear. 

Patriot's Day: Remembering the American Revolution

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,

Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,

Here once the embattled farmer’s stood,

And fired the shot heard round the world.

—  from “Concord Hymn” by Ralph Waldo Emerson

I remember a dawn drive to the Old North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts many years ago with my older sister, Christine. I was too young to drive, but she was not. Confiscating the family car keys, we stole away through the early morning, giggling at our historical adventure.

Upon our arrival at the wooden bridge that creaked beneath our sandals, a reverent stillness overtook us. We were the only ones there—save the spirits immortalized on this landmark. Through the morning mist, we envisioned lines of soldiers intent upon victory. And through the hushed stillness, we felt their pain and fear as those shots fired in bitter vitriol materialized in our minds and hearts.

We hushed at the hallowed ground beneath us—and silently walked back to our car.

April 19, 1775—the day the first shots of the American Revolution were heard throughout the world.

This date, so tenderly described in Emerson’s poem, lives on in celebration of America’s freedom from England every year in both Massachusetts and Maine. It is memorialized as Patriot’s Day and is a state holiday on the third Monday of every April. (Not to be confused with Patriot Day, held every September 11)

In Wisconsin, April 19^th is a special observance day for schools, when they are required to teach about the events of the birth of our country.

In both Massachusetts and Maine, parades and reenactments abound, especially along the route between Boston and Concord. This was the 20-mile journey travelled by Paul Revere where on that fateful, moonlit night, the rider screamed the words of warning to the Colonists: “The regulars are coming! To arms!”

Through the years, I often heard the words quoted as, “The British are coming.” However, most Colonists thought of themselves as British—Englishman—so the context and accuracy of those words are flawed.

Regardless of the words of warning, the entire countryside that had prepared for this attack was awakened, first by the riders and then by pealing church bells. Minutemen that had trained for months, grabbed their muskets and congregated on their local greens, then marched towards the scene of the action. By the time the 1,000 British regulars had reached Concord to confiscate weapons (that had already been hidden by the patriots), word had spread about the killings in Lexington, just to the east of Concord.

The enraged patriot’s confronted the British in Concord and killed two enemy soldiers at the North Bridge. Revolution had begun. Fighting like the Native Americans, the Colonists hid behind stonewalls and trees, picking off one British soldier after another, while the formally-trained King’s Army marched in lines down the road.

This retreat of the British army back to Boston cost them 73 men killed and 174 wounded. The American militia had suffered 49 fatalities and 41 wounded.

The war that had been brewing for several years was now a reality.

When I was a child in Massachusetts, I remember going to parades on what is now called Massachusetts Avenue (the route of Paul Revere’s ride). Early on, I learned an appreciation for this history—the founding of our country that was won through the blood of those who came before me.

Since I grew up, both Colonial and British militia re-enactors have staged mock warfare for public education and amusement. These provide stirring portrayals of the battles that occurred that day, all the way from Concord to Lexington to Arlington (then known as Menotomy Village), my hometown. One of these Aprils, I will find my way back to my hometown to see these re-enactments myself.

In the meantime, I have obtained permission from the Lexington Minutemen to use the wonderful photos from their website for this post. Click here for their website.

Here is a 12 minute video that you might find interesting. Click here for video.

I highly recommend the Hallmark movie entitled “April Morning” which so movingly portrays the events of April 19, 1775. Click here for Amazon link.

Spirit, that made those heroes dare,

To die, and leave their children free,

Bid Time and Nature gently spare,

The shaft we raise to them and thee.