Captain Parker’s Company of Militia

Captain Parker’s Company roster numbered approximately 152 men, at least eighty-one of whom responded to the sound of William Diamond’s drum on the morning of April 19, 1775 and defied the order to “lay down your arms.”

  • Capt. John Parker
  • Lt. William Tidd
  • Ensign Robert Munroe
  • Ensign Joseph Simonds
  • Clerk Daniel Harrington
  • Orderly Sgt. William Munroe
  • Sgt. Francis Brown
  • Cpl. John Munroe
  • Cpl. Samuel Sanderson
  • Cpl. Ebenezer Parker
  • Cpl. Joel Viles
  • William Diamond, Drummer
  • Jonathan Harrington, Fifer
  • Jacob Bacon
  • Timothy Blodgett
  • Ebenezer Bowman
  • Thaddeus Bowman, Esq.
  • John Bridge, Jr.
  • James Brown
  • John Brown
  • Solomon Brown
  • John Chandler
  • John Chandler, Jr.
  • Joseph Comee
  • Robert Douglass (Woburn)
  • ​Isaac Durant
  • Joseph Estabrook
  • Prince Estabrook
  • Nathaniel Farmer
  • Isaac Green
  • William Grimes
  • Samuel Hadley
  • Thomas Hadley, Jr.
  • Micah Hagar
  • Caleb Harrington
  • Daniel Harrington
  • John Harrington
  • Jonathan Harrington Jr.
  • Moses Harrington, 3rd.
  • ​Moses Harrington Jr.
  • Thaddeus Harrington
  • Thomas Harrington
  • Isaac Hastings
  • Samuel Hastings Jr
  • Samuel Hastings Sr
  • John Hosmer
  • Amos Locke (Woburn)
  • Benjamin Locke
  • Ebenezer Locke (Woburn)
  • Reuben Locke
  • Abner Meade
  • ​Nathaniel Mulliken
  • Ebenezer Munroe, Jr.
  • Edmund Munroe
  • Jedediah Munroe
  • John Munroe, Jr.
  • Nathan Munroe
  • Stephen Munroe
  • ​William Monroe, 3rd
  • Isaac Muzzey
  • John Muzzey
  • Jonas Parker
  • Jonas Parker, Jr.
  • Nathaniel Parkhurst
  • Solomon Pierce
  • Joshua Reed
  • Joshua Reed, Jr.
  • Nathan Reed
  • John Robbins
  • Phillip Russell
  • Benjamin Sampson
  • Elijah Sanderson
  • Joshua Simonds
  • John Smith
  • Phineas Smith
  • Simeon Snow
  • Phineas Stearns
  • Jonas Stone, Jr.
  • John Tidd
  • Samuel Tidd
  • Joseph Underwood
  • Benjamin Wellington
  • Enoch Wellington
  • Timothy Wellington Jr.
  • ​John Winship
  • Thomas Winship
  • Sylvanus Wood (Woburn)
  • James Wyman
  • Nathaniel Wyman

*Robert Douglass, Amos Locke, Ebenezer Locke and Sylvanus Wood heard the alarm bell from Woburn Precinct and came to Lexington. Although they were not members of the Lexington militia, they were asked to join the assembly.

The battle was really a brief skirmish. Neither Captain Parker nor Major Pitcairn had intended to fire. However, during the confrontation shots were fired. One of the regulars was wounded while 7 members of the militia were killed along with Asahel Porter from Woburn who had been held prisoner by the Regulars. Many of those killed or wounded were shot while dispersing from the Common.

Killed: Ensign Robert Munroe (on the Common), Isaac Muzzy (on the Common), Samuel Hadley and John Brown (leaving the Common), Jonas Parker (killed by bayonet after being wounded and firing one shot), Jonathan Harrington (wounded on the Common, died at his doorstep), Caleb Harrington (at the meetinghouse), Asahel Porter (prisoner from Woburn, killed while escaping).

Wounded: John Robbins, Solomon Pierce, John Tidd, Joseph Comee, Ebenezer Munroe Jr., Thomas Winship, Nathaniel Farmer, Prince Estabrook, and Jedediah Munroe.

Only a few of the militia were known to have returned fire.

Among those known to have fired: Solomon Brown, Ebenezer Lock, Ebenezer Munroe, Jr., Cpl. John Munroe, Nathan Munroe, Jonas Parker, Lt. William Tidd and possibly Benjamin Sampson

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