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In connection with the "wido Abigal1 Sheds thirds allusion is made to "apil, loces, ockwood, chire and plum tres" being injured.

An Account of Damage done by the ministerial Troops in their Excursion on the 19 April 1775 to the Estate of Samuel Shed

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2 15 4

To 11 Acres of pasture Laid open all the season of the summer for which i was offered by Mr Honeywill

And carried of a quantity of stone wall to the amount of 20 Load as nigh

as I can tell

Charlestown April 2 1776

Jeremiah Snow 1

70 windows broke at Lexington fight.

1 City Hall Archives, Vol. II, pp. 81, 82, 85.

"this is to Sartefy the Selectmen of Charlestown that I, Esther Spafford,1 inhabitant of Charlestown, have lost in the time of Concord fight one Bed and Beding valed at ten pounds Lawfull money, two low Cases of Draws, one pound sixteen shillings Lawfull money

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In addition to the above there is a list of losses occasioned by the "Rugalars" on the "17th" of April to the estate of Richard Foster, Esq., which, from the nature of the items, probably has reference to June 17th. Also "Envantaries" made the following February at Andover by Samuel Hutchinson of "things Lost in Charlestown by Reson of the Kings troops in April last &c" and another by Susannah Hutchinson, which appear to have reference to a later date. Joshua Hooper at Haverhill on the same date sums up "what I left in Charlestown last April." Abigail Parker dates from the same town, the following month, respecting the "principle things I left in Charlestown in April last." Nath. Souther had already entered a claim from Haverhill in December to the same effect. Many must have taken flight that April day never to see their homes again until after the firing of the town at the time of the Bunker Hill fight, and so necessarily have been unable, like the widow Esther Rand, to separate their statements. From John Stanton's return we get a notion 1 City Hall Archives, Vol. II, p. 88.

of the cost of removal. In his case, "carting my goods to

the edge of Woburn

up to Worcester

8 .18" etc.

The Malden Company1 were witnesses of the risk attending the gathering of loot, coming, as they went along the foot of Prospect Hill, upon a dead redcoat lying on the grass before a house which he was about to enter when checked by a shot through the window, and bayoneted. Lieutenant Wm. Tay, Jr.,2 of Woburn had been roused from sleep very early in the day and had kept up the pursuit the whole stretch of the way from Concord to Charlestown. Here at the end of the afternoon, he says, as he and others were passing a house they were fired on from within by three of the "ministerial troops." Two redcoats fell by the return fire and Tay, rushing into the house, seized the survivor, Matthew Hayes,3 sergeant of the 52d Regiment, in his arms and, in his own words, "gave him sundry cuffs" so that he straightway surrendered. While busy securing his prisoner Tay lost sight of his captured arms and could not learn in the bustle what became of them. Understanding later that they had come into the possession of Lieutenant Joseph Howard of Concord, he made an attempt in May, and again in September, to establish a prior claim.

1 History of Malden, 747. Corey.
2 Siege of Boston, 368-9. Frothingham.
3 Mass. State Archives, Vol. 180, p. 144.

CHAPTER V

E

CHECKED BY THE CHARLES AT NIGHTFALL

VERY moment now was regarded as precious and the

2

3

Patriots pressed close on the British heels for a parting shot. At this point Colonel Bernard1 of the Royal Welsh was struck by a ball and wounded in the thigh, "which," to quote a soldier's letter, "all the regiment was sorry for." Lord Percy also had a narrow escape, a middle waistcoat button being shot away, the ball coming, it was supposed, transversely and glancing off again. A private letter from an officer on board the Somerset given in the London Chronicle (May 30-June 1) says Lord Percy likewise "very narrowly escaped being taken by the corps assembled from Marblehead." A naval lieutenant, Philip D'Auvergne, Duke of Bouillon, from the Asia, who had volunteered to go on the expedition, was also all but taken prisoner. Lord Percy, throughout the day, is said to have behaved with great spirit and coolness and "shown himself a worthy descendant of the race of soldiers from whom he came.' He wrote to General Harvey in London, "I have myself, fortunately, escaped very well, having only had a horse shot [one, by the bye, for which he had paid the excessive price of £45]. Poor Lt. Col.s Smith and Bernard are both wounded, but not badly." During the retreat the soldiers had enclosed Percy and General Haldiman on all sides, serving as a body guard.

1 Intercepted Letters. Essex Gazette, May 12, 1775.

The London Chronicle, June 10-13, 1775.

3 Historic Mansions, 358. Drake.

4 Mass. His. Soc. Pro., March, 1890.

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5 History of Middlesex County, III, 179. Hurd. "Arlington," by James P. Parmenter, A.M.

"History of Arlington, 82. Cutter.

174

Captain Charles Miles,' of the Concord Company, was wounded about this time in the hand; and Major Buttrick' and others of that town spent the night at Charlestown. Charlestown had had an anxious day of it; that afternoon General Gage had sent and warned the Hon. James Russell 3 that if a single man went out armed the most disagreeable consequences might be expected, for in truth the towncontaining perhaps 250 houses would be laid in ashes. When the judge had announced this threat in front of his mansion house in the Square, one of the bystanders swore, "I'll go out and fight the regulars if Gage does burn the town!" As the afternoon wore on it became known that the Cambridge bridge had been taken up and that the troops were bound to return through their midst. At once the alarmed inhabitants thought of seeking shelter elsewhere, "some ran along the marsh" towards Medford; and at Penny Ferry, along the line of the present Malden bridge, many boat-loads crossed the Mystic River to the farther shore. Those living at the further end of the town rushed toward the Neck. As the late Dr. Prince of Salem was standing in the midst of an armed group at this point, a person wrapped in a cloak rode up on horseback and asked the news. He did not pause for an answer, but immediately put spurs to his horse, the animal started forward suddenly, the rider raised his arms and, the cloak thrown out of place, revealed a uniform. The men levelled their guns and would have fired, but Prince struck them up exclaiming, “Don't fire at him, he is my friend Small, a fine fellow." It was Major Small, riding as express from the army, who thus daringly got safely through to Boston. The Morning Chronicle and London Advertiser of June 21st states that Major Small was dangerously wounded in the neck during the day; "they have not put him among the wounded in

1 American Archives, IV, 4th ser., 1378. Force.

'Harper's Magazine, May, 1875.

Siege of Boston, 79. Frothingham.

3

History of Charlestown, 318. Richard Frothingham, Jr. Boston, 1845.

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