Elijah Johnson
HIST 156
Primary Analysis
Parker, John. Deposition Concerning the Battle at Lexington, April 25, 1775. Deposition. Massachusetts State Papers, Papers of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789; https://docsteach.org/documents/document/john-parker-lexington
(accessed October 13, 2023)
Captain John Parker was the Commander of the militia forces in Lexington. In this deposition the captain describes how he and his militia were assembled when they heard news of a British force moving in. The British soldiers were harassing people as they moved towards the town to capture stores who were supposedly stockpiling weapons and supplies. The captain told his men to stand their ground and to not fire unless provoked first. It is than described that the soldiers fired first upon sight of the militia. This was handwritten and presented to the Continental Congress. The deposition is biased only speaking from the behalf of the militia who make it seem as if the British soldiers just fired for no reason upon sight of these men.
The following deposition is a vital to my topic due to it involving the very beginning of the war. The Battles of Lexington and Concord were some of the leading military engagements leading up to the Revolutionary War. What makes this so vital to my topic is that these were early decisive victories for the colonies, that were won completely by militia men. What the deposition does not mention is that the British did not fire first but gave warning the militia men. It is still unknown who fired the first shot but after the British volley, 8 militia men were dead. The British than burned down what they could find before being pushed back by the nearby militia force of almost 2000. This is a decisive victory as everyday men were able to show that they could unite and push back a professional army giving the colonies hope that if united, they could prevail over the British threat.
