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British Response to the Battles of Lexington and Concord in Sept. 1775 Massachusetts Newspaper
British Response to the Battles of Lexington and Concord in Sept. 1775 Massachusetts Newspaper
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British Response to the Battles of Lexington and Concord in Sept. 1775 Massachusetts Newspaper

Several months after "the shot heard 'round the world," this American newspaper from Newburyport published several items of British reaction to and British accounts of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, as well as much other revolutionary content.

[REVOLUTIONARY WAR.] The Essex Journal or New-Hampshire Packet, September 5, 1775 (Vol. II, No. 87). Newburyport, Massachusetts: John Mycall and Henry-Walter Tinges. 4 pp., 10" x 15.25". With masthead attributed to Paul Revere, including images of a Native American and a ship.

This issue begins with Number XI of The Crisis from London (p1/c1-3). The Crisis was a British defense of American rights issued weekly as a pamphlet published in London from January 1775 to October 1776 and eventually reaching ninety-two issues. Number XI was first published on April 1, 1775.

Excerpts
"Shall then the present Sovereign and his Ministers be exempted from a strict and nice inquiry into their conduct, because they have effected in one method, the very despotism which was opposed in James, who was deservedly drove into exile, for attempting it in another. Forbid it heaven! and every thing that is dear to Englishmen." (p1/c3)

"With what astonishment people are struck at reading an article in the Gazette, published by authority, and as it were under the eye of Majesty, calling the murder of upwards of 150 British subjects, A SKIRMISH! Good God! At what times are we arrived, when our fellow subjects, blood of our blood, and flesh of our flesh, are set to murder and destroy one another; and upon the loss of so great a number, we read (published by authority) that it is 'a skirmish between some of the people in the province of Massachusetts Bay, and a detachment of his Majesty's troops!' That this bloody business may fix some right honourable heads on Temple bar, seems to be the most zealous wish of the whole kingdom." (p2/c1)

"General Gage, having received intelligence of a large quantity of military stores being collected at Concord, for the avowed purpose of supplying a body of troops to act in opposition to his Majesty's government, detached, on the 18th of April, at night, the grenadiers of his army and the light infantry, under the command of Lieut. Col. Smith of the 10th regiment and Major Pitcairne of the Marines, with orders to destroy the said stores; and the next morning eight companies of the 4th, the same number of the 23d and 49th, and some Marines, marched under the command of Lord Percy, to support the other detachment.
"Lieut. Colonel Smith finding after he had advanced some miles on his march, that the country had been alarmed by the firing of guns and ringing of bells, dispatched six companies of light infantry, in order to secure two bridges on different roads beyond Concord, who, upon their arrival at Lexington, found a body of the country people drawn up under arms on a green close to the road; and, upon the king's troops marching up to them, in order to enquire the reason of their being so assembled, they went of[f] in great confusion, and sever guns, were fired upon the King's troops from behind stone walls, and also from the Meeting house, and other houses, by which one man was wounded and Major Pitcairne's horse shot in two places. In consequence of this attack by the rebels, the troops returned the fire, and killed several of them; after which the detachment marched up to Concord, without any thing further happening, where they effected the purpose for which they were sent, having knocked off the trunnions of three pieces of iron ordnance, burnt some new gun carriages, and a great number of carriage wheels, and thrown into the river a considerable quantity of flour, gun powder, musket balls, and other articles. Whilst this service was performing, great numbers of the Rebels assembled in many parts, and a considerable body of them attacked the light infantry posted at one of the bridges, on which an action ensued, and some few were killed and wounded.
"On the return of the troops from Concord, they were very much annoyed, and had several men killed and wounded, by the Rebels firing from behind walls, ditches, trees and other ambushes; but the brigade was under the command of Lord Piercy having joined them at Lexington, with two pieces of cannon, the Rebels were for a while dispersed; but, as soon as the troops resumed their march, they began again to fire upon them from behind stone walls and houses and kept up in that manner a scattering fire during the whole of their march of fifteen miles, by which means several were killed and wounded; and such was the cruelty and barbarity of the Rebels, that they scalped and cut off the ears of some of the wounded men who fell into their hands.
"It is not known what number of the Rebels were killed and wounded; but it is supposed that their loss was very considerable." (p2/c3)

Historical Background
General Thomas Gage was the military governor of Massachusetts and commander-in-chief of British troops in North America, with approximately 3,000 soldiers garrisoned in Boston, supported by the British navy. In the spring of 1775, through rapid strikes from Boston, he sought to destroy supplies stockpiled by Patriot militias.

On the night of April 18, "Grenadiers and Light infantry marched for Concord," approximately 16 miles northwest of Boston, "where were Powder and Ball, Arms, and Cannon mounted on Carriages." Meanwhile, Paul Revere and William Dawes left Boston to warn Patriot leaders in Lexington of the British expedition. While traveling further west, accompanied by Samuel Prescott, to warn Patriots in Concord, Revere and Dawes were stopped by a British patrol that arrested Revere. Dawes fled back to Lexington, and Prescott escaped to continue to Concord.

At sunrise on April 19, the advanced British forces "met an incredible Number of People of the Country in arms against" them on Lexington Common. Neither side was prepared to engage, but "Col. Smyth of the 10th Regiment ordered us to rush on them with our Bayonets fixed; at which time the Peasants fired on us, and our Men returning the Fire, the Engagement began; they did not fight us like a regular Army, only like Savages, behind Trees and Stone Walls, and out of the Woods and Houses." The conflict left eight Lexington men dead and ten wounded before the British forces continued to Concord. There, the militiamen of Concord and Lincoln were soon reinforced by minutemen that streamed in from towns further west. The British forces found and disabled three cannon and threw 550 pounds of musket balls into the millpond. Patriot militia engaged a smaller detachment of British regulars at the North Bridge over the Concord River, driving them back toward the center of town, where the British soldiers completed their search for military supplies, ate lunch, and began their march back to Boston.

During that march, Patriot militia repeatedly ambushed the column. The British were running out of ammunition by the time their reinforcements reached Lexington, around 2 p.m. After a brief rest, they resumed their march back to Boston, facing continuing attacks from the colonial militia. By sundown, when the British reached the safety of Charlestown, they had lost 300 men killed, wounded, and missing. Colonial losses totaled fewer than 100 men. By the next morning, more than 15,000 colonial militia had arrived to surround the British, beginning the Siege of Boston, which lasted for nearly a year before the British were forced to evacuate in mid-March, 1776.

Additional Content
This issue also includes a proclamation by Governor Thomas Gage requiring all persons with firearms in their possession to surrender them at the courthouse (p2/c3); news that a revolutionary committee in North Carolina forbid any persons from having contact or correspondence with Royal Governor Josiah Martin (p3/c1); the removal of cannon from the battery in New York by revolutionary forces (p3/c2); news of the beginnings of the American siege of Boston (p3/c2); a recipe to make saltpeter (for gunpowder) (p4/c1); the public apology of merchant Abraham H. Van Vleck for shipping goods to Nantucket, against the recommendations of the Continental Congress and his announcement that he would give his ship Henry to four trustees for the benefit of the poor of New York (p4/c2); and a variety of other revolutionary content, notices, and advertisements.

The Essex Journal or, New-Hampshire Packet (1773-1777) was published in Newburyport, Massachusetts, for distribution there and in nearby New Hampshire. Isaiah Thomas and Henry-Walter Tinges established the newspaper, and Isaiah Thomas obtained the masthead design, with a Native American at the left and a ship at the rightm from Paul Revere, who cut the design in an alloy of lead, antimony, and tin. Thomas was soon replaced by Extra Lunt, who was replaced in 1775 by John Mycall. By 1776, Tinges had left, and Mycall continued to publish the newspaper alone until February 1777.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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