Next month, Massachusetts Grand Lodge is recreating the famed events of the Battle of Lexington and Concord in honor of the 250 anniversary. Before exploring Grand Lodge’s plans, let’s dive into the history of Lexington and Concord.
After years of harsh taxes by the Crown to pay for the Seven Years’ War and the French and Indian War, the Massachusetts Bay Colony was in turmoil. Discontent with the taxes led the colony to revolt, destroying $1.7 million in tea, tarring and feathering tax collectors, and pushing for rebellion. Outside of Boston, known agitators John Hancock and Samuel Adams were amassing a storage of weapons and ammunition to go to war. Rumor spread that British Officials were searching for the cache and that Regulars were coming.
Next month, 250 years ago the Regulars did indeed come. Colonial preparation was set off on the night of April 18, as spies had told them that April 19 was the day the Regulars were marching on the Concord and Worcester caches. As Boston was still an isthmus at this point, the only options in and out of the city were either by boat in the harbor or by the narrow Boston Neck, so Paul Revere devised a plan to signal neighboring Charlestown should colonial messengers not arrive on time. Two lanterns were hung in the steeple of the Old North Church, showing Charlestown colonists that the British were departing by sea. Meanwhile, Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott rode for Lexington and Concord to warn the militia that the Regulars were coming.
Despite being intercepted by Regulars, the message made it to Lexington and Concord such that they were prepared when the Regulars arrived. At Lexington, the militia was routed but were able to regroup and repel the Regulars in Concord. This “shot heard around the world” was the first bullets fired for the American Revolution and the first time a colonial force fought back against a Crown’s authority.
In honor of the anniversary, Grand Lodge is recreating the lighting of Old North Church on Friday, April 18, 2025, then traveling to Lexington and Concord the morning of Saturday, April 19, 2025, for the reenactment. More details can be found in the last edition of the Trowel.
