All right so here we are just over the border from Lincoln, just across the
airport road that leads to Hanscom Air Force Base today. So over there is
Lincoln and then crossing the road continuing on the old Battle Road we're
now in the town of Lexington. So we're really standing right on the town border,
and actually where the crosswalk is approximately there was a bridge called
Nelson bridge, because a lot of this area was owned by the Nelson family back in
the 18th century. And the bridge crossed a small brook or seep that came down
from the uplands, and actually still is there today, and it continues underneath
the road. So right there was a bridge. So we're in Lincoln, you cross the bridge,
you're in Lexington. Now this is the site of one of the most stirring stories from
April 19 1775, at about 1:30, somewhere between 1:30 and 2 o'clock in the
afternoon. We call it Parker's Revenge. And so in this area is where the
Lexington militia company under the command of Captain Parker went out and
engaged the British in the afternoon as the British were retreating from Concord,
through Lincoln and into Lexington. Now the primary accounts of this battle are
somewhat lacking. We have an account written about 50 years later by Nathan
Monroe who said "at the middle of the forenoon Captain Parker collected part
of his company" and he "being with them." And he said they marched out to meet the
Regulars, and they met the Regulars in the "bounds of Lincoln, we fired upon them
and continued to do so until they met their reinforcements in Lexington." So
that's not a lot to go on. It does give us an area, so right in this border area.
But where did it happen? So if you're looking around looking for a place to
ambush 700 British soldiers where might you do that? And if you said right up on
that rocky outcrop you would be in very good company. Historians going all the
way back to the early 20th century from Frank W Coburn and then later historians
said that that's where the fight occurred; right up on that rocky outcrop.
But there's some troubling aspects to it. First of all now if the British were to
come right at it - yeah it's a great piece of ground. But the problem is they're not
going to do that. We talked about flankers earlier.
So those flankers, as soon as they're across that bridge, they're probably
gong to fan out into this woodlot; I mean it was wooded at the time, and approach
it from the flank. And if that happens there's no way off that hill and you're
going to be trapped between the flankers and the British column in the road. So
there are a lot of questions and not a lot of evidence. And so in 2013 the
Friends of Minute Man National Park funded an archaeological investigation,
working with the National Park Service. And they hired Dr. Meg Watters to be the
project archaeologist; and volunteers as well came out. We did some selective
clearing and metallic sweeps, you know, or using metal detectors scientifically. So,
full disclosure, if you come out to a national park site, a battlefield, and
you start swinging around a metal detector and digging up artifacts you
will be prosecuted and go to jail. That is a crime. This was done scientifically
under the supervision of the Park Service so that we can learn something
from the context. So let me talk a little bit about what we found. Now first of all
they didn't find any evidence that there was a fight on that hill, but if you look
to the left of the hill that ridge; it was wooded. was dotted with
large boulders, and it is also within striking distance of that bridge. So
again the colonists using a choke point. So what we think happened is the British
column ,their lead element, called a vanguard, came off of the road and came out
into these woods started to fan out and
faced off against the Lexington militia just up there, continuing their
deployments as they're running out
knowing that the column is right behind them and they've got to deal with this
threat. So what they found were sort of a line of musket balls of mixed caliber
all along here between the seep, you can see right in front that wet ground, and
the road over there. You know different sized balls because remember the
colonists are carrying, you know, civilian sporting arms called fowling-pieces,
older military muskets a big mix. And up on that Ridge among the trees and the
boulders they found fired musket balls all of military caliber, about 68 caliber
on the ridge and then heading back that way north and east, which is probably the
way that the Lexington militia had left after firing upon the British. So once
the British deployed their line they took fire from the hill right up
there from the Lexington militia who then began to file off and head off to the
next ambush site. And the British light infantry would have then, with bayonets
fixed, started marching
in extended order, good social distancing if you're in the light infantry, up this
hill that the militia had just vacated,
and held this ground as the column passed through. What's remarkable about
this place, when you think about what happened to the Lexington company early
in the morning of April 19th of 1775,
they got-they got slaughtered; you know eight killed. ten wounded in the space of a
couple of minutes. But looking at this position they could do a lot of damage,
and it was clear once it was discovered that this is where they were. they
weren't going to let what happened to them in the morning happened to them
ever again.