John Parker (captain)
| John Riley Parker | |
|---|---|
 This statue known as The Lexington Minuteman was originally meant to represent the common Minuteman, but has now become accepted as Captain John Parker. It is by Henry Hudson Kitson and it stands at the town green of Lexington, Massachusetts. It is not actually based on Parker's appearance, as no known likenesses of him survive today. |
|
| Born | July 13, 1729 |
| Died | September 17, 1775 (aged 46) Lexington |
| Allegiance | Massachusetts |
| Service/branch | Militia |
| Years of service | 1775 |
| Rank | Captain (military) |
| Battles/wars | French and Indian War *Siege of Louisbourg (1758) *Battle of the Plains of Abraham American Revolutionary War *Battles of Lexington and Concord |
| Other work | Farmer, Mechanic |
John Parker (July 13, 1729 – September 17, 1775) was an American farmer, mechanic and soldier who commanded the Lexington militia at the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Parker was born in Lexington to Josiah Parker and Anne Stone. His experience as a soldier in the French and Indian War (Seven Years War) at the Siege of Louisbourg and the conquest of Quebec most likely led to his election as militia captain by the men of the town. He was in poor health from consumption (tuberculosis) on the morning of April 19.
[edit] Lexington
On April 19 the British commander in Boston Thomas Gage despatched an expedition of around 700 regulars under Colonel Francis Smith to search the town of Concord for hidden supplies and weapons. Lexington lay directly on the road that Smith men's took to reach Concord.
When reports of the approach of a sizeable force of British soldiers reached Lexington overnight, men from the town and the surrounding area began to gather on the Common. Parker's Lexington company were not minutemen, as sometimes stated, but from the main body of Massachusetts Militia.[1] Parker was initially unclear exactly what was happening. Conflicting stories arrived and as the British regulars had spent much of the winter engaged in harmless route marches through the Massachusetts countryside their exact intention was far from certain.
When Smith became aware that the countryside had been alarmed and that resistance might be encountered, he sent a detachment of light infantry under Major John Pitcairn ahead of the main column. Pitcairn's advance guard reached Lexington first and drew up on the Common opposite Parker's men. Parker ordered his men to disperse to avoid a confrontation, but they either failed to hear him or ignored his instructions. Shortly afterwards firing broke out despite the fact that both sides had orders not to shoot. In the following fight eight militia were killed and ten wounded while one British soldier was wounded. The lopsided casualty list led to initial reports of a massacre, stories of which spread rapidly around the colony further inflaming the situation. There remains considerable doubt exactly what occurred during the fight at Lexington and a variety of different accounts emerged as to what had taken place and who had fired first. By the time Smith arrived with his main body of troops ten minutes later he had trouble restoring order amongst his troops who had chased fleeing militiamen into the fields around the town. Smith then decided, in spite of the fighting, to continue the march to Concord.[2]
Tradition reports Parker's order at Lexington Green to have been, "Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here." He witnessed his cousin Jonas Parker killed by a British bayonet. Later that day he rallied his men to attack the regulars returning to Boston in an ambush known as "Parker's Revenge".
[edit] Boston
Parker and his men participated in the subsequent Siege of Boston. He was unable to serve in the Battle of Bunker Hill in June, and died of tuberculosis in September.
[edit] Legacy
Parker's grandson donated his musket to the state of Massachusetts. It hangs today in the Senate Chamber of the Massachusetts State House.
The Parker Homestead formerly stood on Spring Street in Lexington. A tablet marks the spot as Theodore Parker's birthplace; Theodore, a relative (grandson) of Captain John, was a transcendentalist and minister who was good friends with Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. A copy of one of Rev. Theodore Parker's sermons, given to Abraham Lincoln by Lincoln's law partner, is the source of the "of the people, by the people, for the people" phrasing Lincoln used in his Gettysburg Address (the phrase comes originally from the writings of the 14th-century English scholar and religious reformer John Wycliffe)
John Parker had seven children.
[edit] References
[edit] Bibliography
- Coburn, Frank Warren, The Battle of April 19, 1775 in Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Arlington, Cambridge, Somerville and Charlestown, Massachusetts, Lexington Historical Society, Lexington, MA, 1922.
- Fischer, David Hackett, Paul Revere's Ride, Oxford University Press, New York, NY, 1994.
- Galvin, Gen. John R., US Army, The Minutemen - The First Fight: Myths & Realities of the American Revolution, Pergamon-Brassey's International Defense Publishers, Inc., Washington, D.C., 1989.
- Lexington Historical Society, Proceedings of Lexington Historical Society and Papers Relating to the History of the Town Read by Some of the Members, Lexington Historical Society, Lexington, MA, 1890.
- Parker, Theodore, Genealogy and Biographical Notes of John Parker of Lexington and his Descendants, Press of C. Hamilton, Worcester, MA, 1893. Reprinted 2010.
- Tourtellot, Arthur Bernon, William Diamond's Drum: The Beginning of the War of the American Revolution, Doubleday & Co., Inc., Garden City, NY, 1959.
