We Stood Our Ground: Lexington in the First Years of the American Revolution

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We Stood Our Ground explains the shift during the 1760s and early 1770s from a passive to a radical town. It not only examines Lexington's religious, economic, social and geographical settings, but also describes its citizens' reactions to the Stamp Act crisis, the Townshend duties and the Intolerable Acts. More importantly, this work carefully examines the Lexington Training Band's mobilization on April 18, 1775, its defeat at the Battle of Lexington and its successful recovery during the British retreat to Boston. For the first time, the role of Lexington's citizens during the Siege of Boston is brought to light. Lexington's effort to clothe its own troops, the reaction to the "Bunker Hill Alarm," the suffering under the leadership of General Gerrish and the triumphs under Colonel Baldwin are all described in detail. Twelve appendices address a variety of aspects of the battle: a description of Lexington Common; lists of casualties on both sides; descriptions of eighteenth-century clothing, equipment and gear; depositions of Lexington militiamen who fought in the battle; the anniversary sermon of Reverend Jonas Clarke and much more. The bibliography is itself a vast resource of both secondary and primary material that includes journals, official declarations, resolves and reports, letters, depositions, minutes of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, militia laws, muster rolls and drills, newspaper advertisements and broadsides, sermons and legal treatises.

Alexander R. Cain

(2004), 2008, 5½x8½, paper, index, 182 pp. 

ISBN: 9780788425684

101-C2568