Grave of Thaddeus Blood

Grave of Thaddeus Blood

Beth van Duzer

Quick Facts

Location:

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery

Significance:

Thaddeus Blood took part in the fighting at North Bridge in Concord, MA, on April 19, 1775, as part of Nathan Barret’s Company.

Designation:

Grave

MANAGED BY:

Town of Concord Public Works’ Cemetery Operating Unit

On April 19, 1775, hundreds of minute men and militia assembled in Concord, Massachusetts, to take up arms against their motherland. Thaddeus Blood, a Concord local participated in Nathan Barret’s Company of militia. On that chilly April morning, Blood recalled,

"about 2 o' clock in the morning I was called out of Bed by John Barriit[sic] a Sergt of the [Militia Company] to which I belonged. (I was 20 years of age the 28th of May next following). I joined the company under Capt. Nathan Barrett... at the old court house about 3 'oclock and was ordered to go into the court house to draw amunition[sic]. After the company had all their amun. we were paraded near the meeting house."

When news of gunfire in Lexington reached the growing crowd, Blood and the other milita moved toward the eastern part of Concord where they witnessed a long column of British soldiers marching in their direction. Blood continued,

“The sun was arising & shined on their arms & they made a noble appearance in their red coats & glising[sic] arms-- we retreated in order over the top of the hill to the liberty pole erected on the height opposite the meeting house & made a halt; the main Body of the British marched up in the road & a detachment followed us over the hill & halted in half gun shot of us, at the pole; we then marched over the Burying ground to the road…”

As the regulars followed closely behind, Lt. John Barker of the 4th Regiment of Foot recalled [we] “march’d into the Town after taking possession of a Hill with a Liberty Pole on it and a flag flying which was cut down; the Yankies had that Hill but left it to us…” 

Unaware of the slaughter in Lexington earlier that morning, the growing force of provincial militia retreated across the North Bridge in Concord and posted on a rise of high ground across the River. Thaddeus Blood and his comrades continued "over the Bridge to Flint's Hill, or punkataisett, so called at that time, & were followed by two companies of the British over the Bridge."

From the high ground Blood remembered,

"About 9 o'clock we saw a smoke rise at the court house. It was proposed to march into town.. [our companies] were drawn up.. Col. James Barrett...rode along the line & having consulted with the officers was observed, shouted not to fire first... upon our beging[sic] to march the company of British formed first on the cosway[sic] in platoons. They then retreated over the Bridge & in retiring took up 3 plank, and formed part in the road & part on each side, our men the same time marching in very good order, along the road in double file. At that time an officer rode up & a gun was fired. I saw where the Ball threw up the water about the middle of the river, then a second & a third shot, & the cry of fire, fire was made from front to rear. The fire was almost simultaneous with the cry, & I think it was not more than 2 minutes if so much till the British run & the fire ceased-- part of our men went over the Bridge & myself among the rest, & part returned to the ground that had left-- after the fire everyone apeared[sic] to be his own commander it was thot[sic] best to go to the east part of the Town & take them as they came back each took his own station, for myself I took my stand south of where Dec Minot then lived, & saw the British come from Concord their right flank in the meadows, their left on the hill when near the foot of the hill, col. Thomeson of Billerica came up with 3 or 4 hundred men and there was a heavy fire but the distance so great, that little injury was done on either side, at least I saw but one killed. Number of wounded I know not."

As the British soldiers retreated from Concord, Blood and his fellow militia pursued, firing their muskets from behind stone walls, trees, and buildings. At the end of the day, 273 British soldiers were killed, wounded, or captured; about 96 Provincials the same. Thaddeus Blood survived the first battle of the American Revolution. After the war he remained in Concord and died in 1844, nearly 70 years after the battle. When the minute and militia companies retreated from the center of town on the morning of April 19, 1775, they did so over the same land where Thaddeus Blood is buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. 

Many individuals who participated in the historic events of April 19, 1775 were laid to rest in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts. Today, the known locations of veterans’ graves who fought on April 19, 1775, are noted with an American flag, serving as a poignant and powerful reminder of the sacrifices made on that day.



Sources:
Kehoe, Vincent J-R. 1974. "We were there!": April 19th 1775: The American Rebels. [Chelmsford, Mass.]: [The author], pages 98, 177, 203-204.

Kehoe, Vincent J-R. 1974. "We were there!": April 19th 1775. [Chelmsford, Mass.]: [The author], pages 104