on the north part of said Concord, was guarded by regular troops, being a spectator of what had happened at said bridge, declare, that the regular troops stationed on said bridge, after they saw the men that were collected on the westerly side of said bridge, marched towards said bridge, then the troops returned towards the easterly side of said bridge, and formed themselves, as I thought, for regular fight: after that they fired one gun, then two or three more, before the men that were stationed on the westerly part of said bridge fired on them. "TIMOTHY MINOT, JUN." LEXINGTON, April 23, 1775. "I, James Barrett, of Concord, colonel of a regiment of militia, in the county of Middlesex, do testify and say, that, on Wednesday morning last, about day-break, I was informed of the approach of a number of the regular troops to the town of Concord, where were some magazines belonging to this province, when there was assembled some of the militia of this and the neighboring towns, I ordered them to march to the north bridge (so called) which they had passed and were taking up. I ordered said militia `to march to said bridge and pass the same, but not to fire on the king's troops unless they were first fired upon. We advanced near said bridge, when the said troops fired upon our militia, and killed two men dead on the spot, and wounded several others, which was the first firing of guns in the town of Concord: my detachment then returned the fire, which killed and wounded several of the king's troops. "JAMES BARRETT." LEXINGTON, April 23, 1775. "We, Bradbury Robinson, Samuel Spring, Thaddeus Bancroft, all of Concord; and James Adams, of Lexington, all in the county of Middlesex, all of lawful age, do testify and say, that on Wednesday morning last, near ten of the clock, we saw near one hundred of the regular troops, being in the town of Concord, at the north bridge in said town (so called) and having passed the same, they were taking up said bridge, when about three hundred of our militia were advancing toward said bridge, in order to pass said bridge, when, without saying any thing to us, they discharged a number of guns on us, which killed two men dead on the spot, and wounded several others; when we returned the fire on them, which killed two of them, and wounded several, which was the beginning of hostilities in the town of Concord. "BRADBURY ROBINSON, WORCESTER, April 26, 1775. "Hannah Bradish, of that part of Cambridge, called Menotomy, and daughter of Timothy Paine, of Worcester, in the county of Worcester, esq. of lawful age, testifies and says, that about five o'clock on Wednesday last, afternoon,' being in her bed chamber, with her infant child, about eight days old, she was surprised by the firing of the king's troops and our people, on their return from Concord. She being weak and unable to go out of her house, in order to secure herself and family, they all retired into the kitchen, in the back part of the house. She soon found the house surrounded with the king's troops; that upon observation made, at least seventy bullets were shot into the front part of the house; several bullets lodged in the kitchen where she was, and one passed through an easy chair she had just gone from. The door of the front part of the house was broken open; she did not see any soldiers in the house, but supposed, by the noise, they were in the front. After the troops had gone off, she missed the following things, which, she verily believes, were taken out of the house by the king's troops, viz: one rich brocade gown, called a negligee, one lutestring gown, one white quilt, one pair of brocade shoes, three shifts, eight white aprons, three caps, one case of ivory knives and forks, and several other small articles. Province of the } "HANNAH BRADISH.” Massachusetts-Bay, Worcester, ss. April 26, 1775. "Mrs. Hannah Bradish, the above deponent, maketh oath before us, the subscribers, two of his majesty's justices of the peace, for the county of Worcester, and of the quorum, that the above deposition, according to her best recollection, is the truth. Which deposition is taken in perpetuam rei me moriam. “THOMAS STEEL, : CONCORD, April 23, 1775. "I, James Marr, of lawful age, testify and say, that in the evening of the eighteenth instant, I received orders from George Hutchinson, adjutant of the fourth regiment of the regular troops stationed at Boston, to prepare and march to which orders I attended, and marched to Concord, where I was ordered by an officer with about one hundred men, to guard a certain bridge there; while attending that service, a number of people came along, in order, as I suppose, to cross said bridge, at which time a number of the regular troops first fired upon them, "I, Edward Thoroton Gould, of his majesty's own regiment of foot, being of lawful age, do testify and declare, that on the evening of the eighteenth instant, under the orders of general Gage, I embarked with the light infantry and grenadiers of the line, commanded by colonel Smith, and landed on the marshes of Cambridge, from whence we proceeded to Lexington; on our arrival at that place, we saw a body of provincial troops armed, to the number of about sixty or seventy men; on our approach, they dispersed, and soon after firing began, but which party fired first, I cannot exactly say, as our troops rushed on shouting, and huzzaing, previous to the firing, which was continued by our troops, so long as any of the provincials were to be seen. From thence we marched to Concord. On a hill near the entrance of the town, we saw another body of provincials assembled; the light infantry companies were ordered up the hill to disperse them; on our approach, they retreated towards Concord; the grenadiers continued the road under the hill towards the town. Six companies of light infantry were ordered down to take possession of the bridge, which the provincials retreated over; the company I commanded was one three companies of the above detachment went forwards about two miles; in the mean time, the provincial troops returned, to the number of about three or four hundred: we drew up on the Concord side of the bridge, the provincials came down upon us, upon which we engaged and gave the first fire; this was the first engagement after the one at Lexington; a continued firing from both parties lasted through the whole day; I myself was wounded at the attack of the bridge, and am now treated with the greatest humanity, and taken all possible care of by the provincials at Medford. VOL. I. EDWARD THOROTON GOULD, Lieut. 9 Province of Massachusetts Bay, } Middlesex county, April 25, 1775. "Lieu. Thoroton Gould, aforenamed, personally made oath to the truth of the foregoing declaration by him subscribed, before us, "THAD. MASSON, Justices of the peace, for the county aforesaid, quorum unus.' Province of Massachusetts-Bay, Charlestown, ss. "I, Nathaniel Gorham, notary and tabellion public, by lawful authority duly admitted and sworn, hereby certify, to all whom it doth or may concern, That Thadeus Masson, Josiah Johnson, and Simon Tufts, esqrs. are three of his majesty's justices of the peace (quorum unus) for the county of Middlesex; and that full faith and credit is, and ought to be given to their transactions, as such, both in court and out. In witness whereof, I have hereunto affixed my name and seal, this twenty-sixth day of April, Anno Domini, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five. "NATHANIEL GORHAM, Notary Public." (L. S.) (All the above depositions are sworn to before justices of the peace and duly attested by notaries public, in manner of the last one.) IN PROVINCIAL CONGRESS, WATERTOWN, April 26, 1775. To the inhabitants of Great-Britain. "FRIENDS AND FELLOW-SUBJECTS, Hostilities are at length commenced in this colony by the troops under the command of general Gage, and it being of the greatest importance, that an early, true, and authentic account of this inhuman proceeding should be known to you, the Congress of this colony have transmitted the same, and from want of a session of the hon. Continental Congress, think it proper to address you on the alarming occasion. 66 By the clearest depositions, relative to this transaction, it will appear that, on the night preceding the nineteenth of April instant, a body of the king's troops, under the command of colonel Smith, were secretly landed at Cambridge, with an apparent design to take or destroy the military and other stores, provided for the defence of this colony, and deposited at Concord-that some inhabitants of the colony, on the night aforesaid, whilst travelling peaceably on the road between Boston and Concord, were seized and greatly abused by armed men, who appeared to be officers of general Gage's army-that the town of Lexington by these means was alarmed, and a company of the inhabitants mustered on the occasion-that the regular troops, on their way to Concord, marched into the said town of Lexington, and the said company on their approach began to disperse that notwithstanding this, the regulars rushed on with great violence, and first began hostilities, by firing on said Lexington company, whereby they killed eight and wounded several others-that the regulars continued their fire until those of said company, who were neither killed nor wounded, had made their escape-that colonel Smith, with the detachment, then marched to Concord, where a number of provincials were again fired on by the troops, two of them killed and several wounded, before the provincials fired on them, and that these hostile measures of the troops produced an engagement that lasted through the day, in which many of the provincials, and more of the regular troops were killed and wounded. "To give a particular account of the ravages of the troops, as they retreated from Concord to Charlestown, would be very difficult, if not impracticable; let it suffice to say, that a great number of the houses on the road were plundered, and rendered unfit for use; several were burnt; women in child-bed were driven, by the soldiery, naked into the streets; old men peaceably in their houses were shot dead; and such scenes exhibited as would disgrace the annals of the most uncivilized nations. These, brethren, are marks of ministerial vengeance against this colony, for refusing, with her sister colonies, a submission to slavery; but they have not yet detached us from our royal sovereign. We profess to be his loyal and dutiful subjects, and so hardly dealt with as we have been, are still ready, with our lives and fortunes, to defend his person, family, crown, and dignity. Nevertheless, to the persecution and tyranny of his cruel ministry we will not tamely submit-appealing to heaven for the justice of our cause, we determine to die or be free. We cannot think that the honor, wisdom, and valour of Britons will suffer them to be long inactive spectators of measures, in which they themselves are so deeply interested :-Measures pursued in opposition to the solemn protests of many noble lords, and expressed sense of conspicuous commoners, whose knowledge and virtue have long characterized them as some of the greatest men in the nation:-Measures executing contrary to the interest, petitions and resolves of many large, respectable and opulent counties, cities, and boroughs in Great-Britain :-Measures highly incompatible with justice, but still pursued with a specious pretence of easing the nation of its burthens:Measures which, if successful, niust end in the ruin and slavery of Britain, as well as the persecuted American colonies. "We sincerely hope, that the great Sovereign of the Universe, who hath so often appeared for the English nation, will support you in every rational and manly exertion with these colonies, for saving it from ruin; and that in a constitutional connexion with the mother country, we shall soon be altogether a free and happy people. 'Per order, JOSEPH WARREN, President, P. T." Ordered, That the secretary have the above depositions and the address to the inhabitants of Great-Britain published. Resolved, N. C. D. That the Congress will, on Monday next, resolve itself into a committee of the whole, to take into consideration the state of America. Ordered, That the letter from the provincial Congress of Massachusetts-Bay be referred to that committee. Adjourned till to-morrow at ten o'clock, and from thence to Saturday. SATURDAY, May 13, 1775. The Congress met according to adjournment. The Congress being informed that doctor Lyman Hall attended at the door, as a delegate from the parish of St. John's, in the colony of Georgia, and desired to know whether, as such, he may be admitted to this Congress Agreed unanimously, That he be admitted as a delegate from the parish of St. John's, in the colony of Georgia, subject to such regulations as the Congress shall determine, rélative to his voting. Mr. Lyman Hall being accordingly admitted, produced his credentials, which were read and approved, and are as follows: To the honorable gentlemen of the Congress, designed to be held at Philadelphia, on May A. D. 1775. "The address of the inhabitants of the parish of St. John's, in the province * GENTLEMEN, of Georgia. "To give a particular detail of our many struggles in the cause of liberty. the many meetings thereby occasioned and held in this parish, the endeavours we have used to induce the rest of this province to concur with us, the attendance of our committee on the provincial conventions, held at Savannah, in this province, and particularly that of the 18th of January last, with their proceedings, and the reasons of our dissent from them, we think would be tedious you, and therefore send a summary abstract, which, with the account, that to may be given by Lyman Hall, esq. appointed a delegate to represent and act for this parish in the general Continental Congress, to be held in May next, and the testimonies of the honorable delegates from South-Carolina, we hope will be satisfactory. "Immediately upon our being honored with an answer to the representation of our case transmitted to the honorable Congress, which sat at Philadelphia last with a copy year, of the association there entered into, we had a meeting, and our proceedings then and since that time, will, in brief, appear from the following abstracts of an address from this parish to the committee of correspondence in Charleston, South-Carolina, which is as follows: "GENTLEMEN, "Herewith will be communicated to you, the several steps taken by this parish in their endeavours to conform, as near as possible, to the resolutions entered into by the other colonies: and the particular measures now adopted, for carrying into execution the continental association, which we embraced the earliest opportunity of acceding to, by subscribing it; on condition that trade and commerce with the other colonies be continued to us the subscribers; and thereupon should have immediately sent to you for your approbation and indulgence, but were delayed by a summons to attend a provincial Congress in Savannah, on the 18th of January last, for the purpose, as we understood, of a general association with the other colonies, and chusing delegates: at which time and place we attended, and acquainted the other parishes, assembled on that occasion, that we had already acceded to the general association, on condition as abovementioned, and earnestly requested them to do the same. Had they acceded fully to the general association, we should have had no occasion to trouble you with this address; but, as they did not, we now apply to you, to admit us, the subscribers, to an alliance with you, requesting that you will allow trade and commerce to be continued to us, the same to be conducted under such regulations and restrictions, as shall be consistent with the continental association, and which, on our part, we engage, with all possible care; to keep inviolate. As we of this parish are a body detached from the rest (i. e. of this province) by our resolutions, and sufficiently distinct by local situation, large enough for particular notice, adjoining a particular port, and in that respect, capable of conforming to the general association, if connected with you, with the same fidelity as a distant parish of your own province; we must be considered, as comprehended within the spirit and equitable meaning of the continental association, and hope you will not condemn the innocent with the guilty, especially when a due separation is made between them. "Give us leave to add only, that we wait your answer, shall be glad of your advice, and are with esteem, St. John's, 9th February, 1775. "Gentlemen, yours, &c." To which we received the following answer: ́ GENTLEMEN, "Your letter, accompanying sundry papers, having been laid before a very full committee of this colony, and undergone the most mature deliberation, I am, by their desire, to acquaint you, that they have the highest sense of your arduous struggles in favour of the common cause of America; and most sincerely lament your present unhappy situation; but would recommend a continuance of your laudable exertions, and the laying a state of your case before the ensuing Continental Congress, as the only means of obtaining relief, and to put you in the situation you wish, which this committee apprehend to be entirely out of their power to do; as it is their opinion, that the parish of St. John, being a part of the colony of Georgia (which, by not acceding to, has violated the continental association) falls under the 14th article of the said association, no part of which any committee can presume to do away, &c." |