April 19 Battle for Freedom
Posted by Tony on 19 Apr 2009 at 09:22 am | Tagged as: Greater Lowell, History, Lowell, Lowell-2009
For many of us Patriot’s Day means a marathon and baseball game and that’s great…but its different for me. Several years ago I became fascinated with the happenings of April 19, 1775. I’ve thought about why and concluded …the reason is proximity. The streets we drive on are some of the same roads that 234 years ago carried minuteman to Concord to begin the fight for freedom. And many Merrimack Valley men fought in the battle on April 19 that began the birth of our country. Yes, the first shots were fired in Lexington and then Concord, but the battle on April 19, 1775 extended well beyond these two communities and well beyond the “shot heard around the world”.
Captain John Parker of Lexington died of tuberculosis five months after the battle on the Lexington Green.
As part of a well planned alarm system, Paul Revere and William Dawes rode through the countryside warning colonists that the British were on the move. Additional riders and warning signals webbed the alarm through the Merrimack Valley.
Dracut’s Joseph Varnum was elevated to Captain at the young age of 18.
Captain John Trull of Tewksbury fired his musket from his bedroom window around 2:00AM, signaling Dracut’s Captain Varnum the British were marching to Concord. Captain John Harden of Wilmington marched a company of men to Concord to fight.
The Westford Homestead of Col John Robinson
Often over-looked is the fact that Westford’s Col John Robinson was the highest ranking officer and actually led the assembled minuteman across the North Bridge in Concord on April 19, 1775. Minuteman from Tewksbury, Wilmington, Chelmsford, Billerica and Dracut didn’t make it in time to fight at the North Bridge, but they did meet the British in the bloodiest engagement of the day at Merriam Corner.
Just think…local Patriots were fighting for American freedom more than a year before Thomas Jefferson even wrote the Declaration of Independence. To convince the other colonies to accept Independence, Boston’s John Adams argued that while Congress sat in Virginia “discussing” freedom, Massachusetts Patriots had already begun “fighting” for it. It is truly exciting to think that within a twenty-five mile radius of the Merrimack Valley America began its fight for Freedom.
Captain Trull’s training area is now a golf course.
I live in Tewksbury, near the Trull Brook Golf Course. A monument honoring Captain John Trull sits directly across the street from my home. He trained his minuteman in the field which is now part of my back yard. I love to brag about it. Sometimes I look out across that field in complete awe.
This vast Nation began it’s fight for “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” right here. And many of those that first raised arms to secure the liberties that Jefferson so eloquently articulated lived in the Merrimack Valley.
Tony - Thank so much for this piece reminding us of the importance of our part of the Merrimack Valley as we celebrate Patriot’s Day. I’ll certainly have different thoughts as I drive down River Road past the golf course! The families of these environs gave many and much for the country and for democracy… the Varnums, the Trulls, the Reades, the Abbotts, the Parkers, the Kearneys, the Meehans, the Shaughnesseys, the Scondras, the Arcands, the Boules… RIP.
For my daily commute, I travel up route 4/225 through
Chelmsford, Billerica, Bedford right up to and beyond the Lexington Battle Ground. Many, many times I’ve thought of those men coming from in from the surrounding towns —From Chelmsford, it’s about a 16 mile drive. One morning I passed by the Green where men and women of our current military forces were being honored for their service. It made for a memorable sight. And as just a side note,I was in a discussion this past year with some folks about the Lexington Minuteman sculptor — Turns out the sculptor, Sir Henry Hudson Kitson was English born April 4/9/1865 and migrated to the US in 1880.
(Now isn’t that quite a turn of events!) His home known as Santarella in Tyringham,MA is available as a rental for events or private accomodations, just in case one would like to add another dimension of history to their visit to the Berkshires!
Allow me to toot Dracut’s horn a bit regarding Rev. War involvement. I have heard that Dracut sent the highest proportion of its population to the Battle of Bunker Hill and can claim that battle’s last surviving veteran as a resident.
The aforementioned Capt. Varnum had quite a career. He would go on to serve in both chambers of the Massachusetts General Court and as a high-ranking state judge. He ran unsuccessfully to be our first Representative in the US House, losing to Elbridge Gerry (of “gerrymander” fame). He would later succeed Gerry in the US House and eventually become Speaker. He was elected to the US Senate and was chosen President Pro Tempore. By this time Elbridge Gerry was James Madison’s Vice President, but he died in office. By the laws of succession then in effect, the President Pro Tempore was next in line after the Vice President and this was before the 25th amendment provided for filling a Vice Presidential vacancy. What this means is that had James Madison died between Gerry’s death and the end of Varnum’s term as President Pro Tempore, then Joseph Bradley Varnum, a man from DRACUT, would have become President of the United States!
Family members Parker Varnum and James Mitchell Varnum also had their share of political and military service. It’s too bad that most Dracut residents probably don’t know how notable some of their early fellow residents were.
Thanks Christopher…that’s great information about Joseph Varnum. Our area is incredibly rich with Revolutionary War history. Here is another lesser known fact…According to historian Frank Coburn when the British marched to Concord on April 19, 1775 they were looking for gun powder AND John Hancock and John Adams. Hancock and Adams escaped as the British approached the Lexington Green taking refuge in the home of Amos Wyman in “Billerica”.