attle Road 2000 was the 225th anniversary of the Shot Heard Round the World, which is the first battle of the American Revolution, April 18-19 1775. In this century, this is celebrated on Patriot's Day every April 19, but to be honest, it's really only that part of the state of Massachusetts (and of that, mostly Boston, Lexington, and Concord) which celebrate at all. BUT, there is a re-enactment event every year and this year was expected to be the biggest and best Revolutionary War re-enactment ever. And indeed it was.

Two separate websites were devoted to managing this massive and complex event, one for the public and the other to provide very useful information for re-enactors. This second site was essential because the organizers were being very strict about the clothing and accoutrements that people could wear and bring with them. Some clothes people are used to wearing at certain Revolutionary War events, such as the wrap-around fringed coat called the frock coat, w as not seen in Concord and Lexington in 1775, therefore it would not be allowed at this re-enactment.

We Rangers were not allowed to be there as King's Rangers, because the King's Rangers were not raised until 1779. My group, therefore, had to appear as something other than Rangers, and so we latched onto the 2nd Massachusetts Regiment. This is a Colonial Regiment, so we were in the unusual position of fighting FOR the Americans rather than against them, which we normally would do as King's Rangers and members of the British Brigade. The King's Rangers were Loyalists, provincials fighting for the crown. (As an aside, the families of Robert Rogers and his brother James, and thousands of other Loyalists fought for the British, and because of that or simply because of their political beliefs, were forced to flee to Canada.) Of course, it was all new to me, but the other Rangers, who have done this for years, joked about being on the wrong side. It meant, of course, that I couldn't wear regimentals, and came therefore as simply a patriot. That's me in my big brown blanket shirt, with a light brown waistcoat and white kneebreechs, and colonial shoes. (The most comfortable shoes I have ever worn. By the way, I'm not wearing it here but during the day, I was sporting my brand new and exceptionally wonderful engraved powder horn, made by musket-maker and fellow LOTM fan Bill Rooks).

The groups were divided into three battalions (the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions). The 2nd Mass was part of the 1st Battalion, and so on the schedule of activities, we were slated to be the first group at the Old North Bridge at 6:00 am Saturday morning, to appear later with the other two battalions at a full battle at Meriam's Corner, and then to join the full forces again at Hastings Park. The other two battalions were at other locations during parts of the day when we were not all together (please see the schedule on either of the other websites).

Because we had to appear at the bridge at 6:00am, we were up at 4:00 to muster at 4:30. It was cold and of course it just got colder as the night approached dawn. By the time we were near the bridge, and were formed up and sized into companies, platoons, and squads (that is, increasingly smaller units), the sun was up. But we were still really cold. Eventually, it was time to approach the bridge. But before we marched, we were read a prayer and the 23rd Psalm ("The Lord is my shepherd..."), probably as was done 225 years ago. Then we marched onward to the sound of fife and drum. At that point, I thought I was going cry, as I was really feeling moved!! But it only got better, because we came down a small hill, rounded a bend and there, on the crest of the arched bridge, was a line of redcoats! That's when I really had to blink back the tears. (Some of my fellow rangers/patriots told me later they were doing the same thing at that moment!). A crowd had apparently gathered at the bridge and I could hear someone speaking over a loadspeaker, but I don't think I ever saw them nor saw anything but the bridge and our objective.

In the picture above, taken by someone else, the photo on top shows the Minute Men marching down Groton Road to the North Bridge at Minuteman National Park, early in the morning as you can see from the long shadows of the men. (My company and I have already marched by, on our way to the bridge.) The picture below is of the British Regulars on the road beyond the North Bridge.

The photo below was also taken by someone else on the far side of the bridge. My little group, which was at the front of the line and thus the only ones to see the Brits on the bridge, had already crossed over and headed into the woods by the time this photo was taken.

After crossing over the bridge, we started to run and left the public space to run into a wooded area. We were told to climb up a rise and fire on the British as they marched through the road within the woods. Several of us did climb the ridge and stayed to fire on the redcoats. At one point, a few of them came up the rise but then retreated to stay with their troops, marching along the road toward Meriam's Corner. The handful of patriots who stayed to fire down upon the British were separated from their units and we made our way along through the woods as best we could. I fell in with 6 others, only one of whom was in my original company, and we sneaked across a corner of a field to ambush the British, who were engaged in full battle with the patriots. We got our men, but as we hustled through some trees along the edge of the field, we ran into a platoon of redcoats and the six of us died. That meant we turned our muskets upside down and walked out to their ridicule and derision, but at least we then were able to return from the dead and live to fight again at Meriam's Corner.

On to the Battle at Meriam's Corner
Chauncey Goodrich, Patriot and Minuteman