Those Who Marched Before Us

By Rich Grady, April 2026

Whatever of true life there was in thee

Leaps in our age’s veins;

Wield still thy bent and wrinkled empery,

And shake thine idle chains;

To thee thy dross is clinging,

For us thy martyrs die, thy prophets see,

Thy poets still are singing

(Excerpt from “To the Past” by James Russell Lowell, 1843)

The Minutemen were hardened by steely resolve and patriotic fervor on their march from Acton to Concord in the early morning hours of April 19, 1775. They were solemn in their double file columns, and quiet except for the sound of their boots and the rhythmic beat of the snare drum and the shrill notes of the fife cutting through the stillness of the surrounding farmland and bordering stonewalls. They might have heard a galloping horse as a messenger approached with updates on the British advance. They were well-trained and committed to the cause of an emerging new nation, and they knew that British Army regulars stood in their path. These ordinary men – farmers and stonemasons, gunsmiths and blacksmiths, husbands and brothers – were on an extraordinary path.

I belong to the Boxborough District Minutemen Company, and we exist to keep the memory of the original Minutemen alive.  A big part of that in today’s world is volunteer work in the community to help where needed, but it also involves marching in parades and participating in commemorative events, and raising money for scholarships. Patriots’ Day weekend is a big deal for us, and this year I gave a lot of thought to what we were doing, and why.  In typical Socratic fashion, I came up with more questions than answers, particularly about the thoughts and motivations of the original Minutemen.

During the weekend, I tried to imagine what thoughts were going through Luther Blanchard’s head on the morning of April 19, 1775. Perhaps his concentration on hitting the right notes kept him focused and in the moment. Luther was the fifer in Captain Isaac Davis’s Acton Minutemen Company – the first unit to confront the British Army regulars at the North Bridge – and he was the first man wounded at the North Bridge. He survived his wound initially, and fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775, and was listed on the rolls of the enlisted men for the Continental Army in August of that year. Historians generally think that his wound became aggravated and eventually contributed to his death in September 1775 in Cambridge where General George Washington had his army headquarters. That is what his brother Calvin believed and told other family members – he was also serving in the Continental Army at the time, and had also fought in the Battle of Concord and the Battle of Bunker Hill. From all indications, they were raised with a strong sense of duty and liberty. Getting wounded or killed were possibilities that they were well aware of, but they were both committed to the cause.

Their father, Simon, was killed in 1759 at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, Quebec, during the French-Indian War. Luther (b. 1756) was 3 years old, and his brother Calvin (b. 1754) was 5 years old, when their father died. They were likely told of his courage and valor in battle and that he was a man of honor. The family farm was in a rural section of Littleton that is now part of Boxborough, which was not incorporated as a district until 1783, and as a town in 1835.  Luther is on Boxborough’s town seal, and also on our Minutemen Company’s flag. We honor his memory with a town festival in June every year, called Fifer’s Day (June 20th this year).

Leading up to the Battle of Concord, both Luther and Calvin were apprenticed to Deacon Jonathan Hosmer of Acton to become stonemasons – they were strong young men.  A monument marks where they answered the alarm and left for Captain Davis’s house on the morning of April 19, 1775. It is located on Prospect Street in Acton, where Hosmer’s farm used to be.  Deacon Hosmer’s son, Abner, was a friend of the Blanchards, and he was killed at the North Bridge along with Isaac Davis. The annual reenactment of this historic day starts at 5:30 AM with a short march along Hayward Road in Acton to the homestead of Isaac Davis, Captain of the Acton Minutemen in 1775. Like Luther, I marched with the Acton Minutemen, but I am not a fifer. At the homestead, we were met by townspeople, including descendants of Isaac Davis.  Many of these people marched along behind us as we continued onward with the 7 mile march to Concord after a brief ceremony at the homestead, which included a musket volley.

According to historic records, there were 37 Minutemen marching with Captain Davis on the morning of April 19, 1775.  Many of them had fought in the French-Indian War, so they had experience in warfare and had seen bloodshed. Some likely knew Simon Blanchard, and gave Luther and Calvin encouragement. Undoubtedly, they all had a heightened sense of alertness to their situation – they had all trained for this moment, for this day. A certain sense of pride probably coursed through their veins, knowing that they were first responders that others were relying on. And yet, no doubt there were fears of bad outcomes, whether for themselves or their brothers in arms. In all likelihood, a rider on horseback had reached them during their march with news of the deaths of fellow Patriots in Lexington from a battle with British Army regulars.

As for the modern day Minutemen, I can’t speak for all of them about how they felt about this day. In my case, I felt a solemn sense of purpose and humility as I retraced the footsteps of Isaac Davis, Luther Blanchard, and the others. When we got to what is now known as the Old North Bridge and fired a musket volley, I thought of the Redcoats retreating to Boston as the original Minutemen tended to the dead and wounded before giving chase. These Minutemen stood for liberty and government by the people – they opposed the tyranny of King George III – and they stood up to British Army regulars. They fought in a long bloody war – a revolution – to accomplish their dream of a new nation, and many didn’t make it to the war’s end, including Isaac Davis and Luther Blanchard. They were ordinary people who launched us on an extraordinary journey as a nation – a journey that needs to get back on course.