Sometimes even the Liberals get it right.
http://www.schoolhouserock.tv/Shot.html
School House Rock used to educate kids about the history of our country every Saturday morning. Yep, back in the early 70’s even the liberal media had some pride in our country, or at least they knew enough to ACT like they did.
Patriot’s Day is today, April 19, and marks the anniversary of the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World”.
On April 14, 1775, Gage received instructions from Secretary of State William Legge, Earl of Dartmouth, to disarm the rebels, who were known to have hidden weapons in Concord, among other locations, and to imprison the rebellion’s leaders, especially Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Dartmouth gave Gage considerable discretion in his commands.
On the morning of April 18, Gage ordered a mounted patrol of about 20 men under the command of Major Mitchell of the 5th Regiment of Foot into the surrounding country to intercept messengers who might be out on horsebackSensing that things weren’t as settled as they would like, the British marched to Lexington/Concord to seize the arms of the local citizens from the armory. Arms that had been collected into a central location for ‘security’ made the British army feel confident they could walk/march in and seize the armory without incident. Well………. to quote one of my favorite movie lines from Indiana Jones and the Final Crusade – ‘He(They) chose poorly’. The residents of Massachusetts Colony were watching the troop movements and were ready to act. On the night of April 18th Paul Revere and Samuel Dawes rode out from Boston to alert the locals of the British troop movement. Spirited calls of ‘The Regulars are coming’ put the colonists on alert and approximately 40 more riders assisted in spreading the word.
Around sunrise the British forces entered Lexington and found about 80 Lexington militiamen emerged from Buckman Tavern and stood in ranks on the village common watching them, and between 40 and 100 spectators watched from along the side of the road. As the British forces moved through the town common a shot rang out and the battle was engaged. More than a year before the formal Declaration of Independence the militia of Lexington engaged the British army in the first battle of the American Revolution. While there is much debate about who fired that first shot, be thankful it happened. Around 700 British Regulars confronted 80 Lexington militiamen and the militiamen dispersed upon the initiation of hostilities. To this day, no one knows for sure about that fateful shot.
When the troops arrived in the village of Concord, using detailed information provided by Loyalist spies, the grenadier companies searched the small town for military supplies. Their goal was to disarm the colonists and since they knew from their spies where the location of the arms were…….. they planned an easy day of tyranny. Again, they chose poorly………….
At the North Bridge five full companies of Minutemen and five more of militia from Acton, Concord, Bedford and Lincoln occupied this hill as more groups of men streamed in, totaling at least 400 against British Captain Laurie’s light infantry companies, a force totaling 9095 men. A shot rang out, and this time there is certainty from depositions taken from men on both sides afterwards that it came from the Army’s ranks. It was likely a warning shot fired by a panicked, exhausted British soldier from the 43rd, according to Laurie’s letter to his commander after the fight. Two other regulars then fired immediately after that, shots splashing in the river, and then the narrow group up front, possibly thinking the order to fire had been given, fired a ragged volley before Laurie could stop them. The regulars found themselves trapped in a situation where they were both outnumbered and outmaneuvered. Lacking effective leadership and terrified at the superior numbers of the enemy, with their spirit broken, and likely not having experienced combat before, they abandoned their wounded, and fled to the safety of the approaching grenadier companies coming from the town center.
Militiamen continued to harass the British forces on their retreat to Boston and in the morning(April 20), Boston was surrounded by a huge militia army, numbering over 15,000, which had marched from throughout New England. Unlike the Powder Alarm, the rumors of spilled blood were true, and the Revolutionary War had begun. The militia army continued to grow as surrounding colonies sent men and supplies. The Second Continental Congress adopted these men into the beginnings of the Continental Army. Even now, after open warfare had started, Gage still refused to impose martial law in Boston. He persuaded the town’s selectmen to surrender all private weapons in return for promising that any inhabitant could leave town.
Think about the bravery of those militia volunteers, willing to leave their homes and families and confront the greatest military force in the world. Why? Because they were being subjected to undue taxes and regulation from an unsympathetic and uncaring government. If you look at the government today you will see much of the same uncaring nature. We need to rise up and make changes according to our Constitution, restoring the limited scope of government as defined by our Founding Fathers. Hopefully, we can peacefully sway the direction of our elected officials and convince them to follow the limited nature outlined in the constitution, if not then we need to use our best option and vote them out of office.
Will you stand up and vote? Will you study the candidates, their background, their beliefs and their policies? Will you take a stand for limited government, lower taxes, fiscal responsibility and personal responsibility? If not then maybe Ted Nugent is correct. Barak Hussein Obama told the Russians to give him some space and after he gets re-elected he will have more flexibility. I submit that flexibility will include rounding up all of (his) the enemies of the (him) state to prevent the loss of his power. We may end up in jail or dead……….
If I am Ransom Revere and post through the blog-o-sphere:
The Socialists are coming, The Socialists are coming. Wait, the Socialists are ALREADY here and are currently occupying the white house and controlling the bureaucracy in DC.
Will YOU take action? Will YOU search fro the truth? Will YOU hold the politicians accountable for their actions?
Remember Patriot’s Day. Don’t let the hard work and sacrifice of our Founding Fathers be in vain.
Read and study, get good information, contact your representatives and senators.
Educate yourself and VOTE!!!!