Fall’s in the air, with the leaves beginning to turn (and the leaf-peepers beginning to turn up) and the early autumnal weather casting its usual irresistible spell. This utterly beautiful season is the perfect time to escape to the Inn at Hastings Park in Lexington, Massachusetts, the “Birthplace of American Liberty,” and delve into its famous Revolutionary War heritage.
The Battles of Lexington & Concord: The Opening Salvos of the American Revolution
The first skirmish that ushered in the American Revolutionary War took place in Lexington and in nearby Concord, a running battle between British Regulars and Patriot Minutemen and militia members that took place on April 19, 1775. With the Minute Man National Historical Park and heritage sites maintained by groups such as the National Park Service and the Lexington Historical Society just a stone’s throw from your Relais & Châteaux accommodations here at the Inn at Hastings Park, you’re ideally set up to explore this momentous story amid the swoony sunshine and fall colors of autumn.
The context for the Battles of Lexington and Concord was concern on the part of Thomas Gage, the Royal Governor of Massachusetts, and other British officials about rising anger and resistance among Massachusetts colonists. This unrest, in turn, had been spurred by onerous British policies such as the Coercive Acts.
In April 1775, intent on heading off a potential rebellion at the pass, Governor Gage ordered British forces to march from Boston to Concord, where, it was supposed, munitions and powder were being stockpiled at Barrett’s Farm. Thanks to the work of Patriot spies, an intricate communication system, and the warning transferred by night-riding Paul Revere, colonial militias (maintained by law in each town) and Minutemen (volunteer forces trained to be ready “at a minute’s warning”) were alerted to the approach of the British regulars.
Early in the morning of April 19th, Captain John Parker’s 70-odd militia confronted British soldiers on Lexington Common—now the Lexington Battle Green, just a short stroll away from our Inn. Who fired the first shot—the colonial militia or the British Regulars—is a matter of debate, but it provoked a volley from the Redcoats that saw a number of militia members fall.
The British continued on toward Concord, where nearly 400 Minutemen awaited. Shooting by the Redcoats that resulted in the death of Captain Isaac Davis, head of the Acton Company of Minutemen, and Abner Hosmer, one of the company’s members, prompted a return volley by the Patriots: this the so-called “shot heard round the world” that killed three Regulars and injured a number of others.
The British retreated, and Minutemen and militia fighters hounded them back through Lexington and all the way to Boston. The outcome of the Battles of Lexington and Concord saw some 273 British casualties (including 73 killed) and 96 American ones (including 49 killed), and sparked the Revolutionary War, with the huge numbers of colonial volunteers mustered as a result helping form the foundation of the Continental Army.
Experience Revolutionary War History on a Lexington Getaway to the Inn at Hastings Park This Fall
From the Hancock-Clarke House, where Paul Revere galloped up around midnight on April 19, 1775 to spread the alarm about approaching British Regulars, and the Lexington Battle Green where the first shots were fired to Concord’s Old North Bridge and Lexington’s Munroe Tavern, which served as a makeshift hospital for retreating British troops, you can visit some remarkable nearby historical sites during your stay at the Inn at Hastings Park.
Museums, interpretive sites, and battle reenactments are among the attractions at Minute Man National Historical Park, and Revolutionary War educational activities are among the many fantastic experiences we offer our guests here at the Inn. Come join us this fall and transport yourself back to one of the formative days in American history when you do!
