Happy Patriot's Day

militia Captain John Parker and his men await the 'pleasure' of his Majesty's troops at Lexington-19 April, 1775

240 years ago today militia Captain John Parker and his men stood on the Lexington Massachusetts common at dawn waiting on 700 British regulars to form a line of battle in front of them. Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, a rather heavy man and a mediocre commander, the regulars had been sent by General Thomas Gage who had given Smith secret orders to seize and destroy militia arms and gun powder in Concord and to capture Patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock.
Approaching Lexington, ahead of the main body of British troops, a detachment of light infantry under Major John Pitcairn  formed up approximately 50 yards in front of Parker's men. Parker ordered his men to disperse. From eye witness accounts the militia did not hear him. Pitcairn shouted for Parker's men to "lay down your arms you rebels!" Someone fired a shot and then there was a ragged volley from Pitcairn's men. Mistaking his commander's intent one of the British junior officers ordered a bayonet charge. The British Army's standard issue bayonet was approximately two feet long. Ever had a group of men charge you with bayonets affixed to their rifles? I have, but only in a reenactment. Even when you know that it's not for real and that the reenactors will stop before they skewer and kill you it still makes your skin crawl imagining what two feet of cold steel would feel like in your guts.
Several of Parker's men were shot and bayoneted on the field. The rest, including Parker, were chased by the Brits into neighboring fields (they managed to escape). One man was able to crawl back to his home trailing blood and intestines and died on his own doorstep in the arms of his wife. John Parker died six months later of Tuberculosis never seeing his country's independence.
Thus, over a year before the Declaration of Independence by Jefferson and the Continental Congress, the First American Revolution began in a small village with farmers and professional soldiers opposing each other. Not much of a beginning you say? It was enough because Ralph Waldo Emerson described it some years later as "the shot heard round the world."
"Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here."
[Captain John Parker's order to his men as the British drew up in front of the Lexington militia as recalled by one of his men.]
Soon it will be your turn to man-up and stand firm against Leviathan.
Patriot, what say you?

"The chair is against the wall. The chair is against the wall. John has a long mustache. John has a long mustache."
Another day closer to victory Patriots.
Tempus fugit

Patriots: Organize, Prepare, Train!