Shrewsbury
Historical Society
Established 1898
Mario - Fats - Caruso
1928 - 1993
Mario - Fats - Caruso
1928 - 1993
Lexington Alarm
April 19, 1775
On May 20, 1774, the Parliament of Great Britain passed the Massachusetts Government Act to better assert its authority over the unruly colony. The Act stated that on August 1, 1774, members of the Massachusetts Governor's Council could no longer be elected by the provincial assembly. They would be appointed instead by King George III. In early October 1774, Governor Thomas Gage dissolved the provincial assembly, as declared in the Government Act.
On October 7, 1774, at a meeting in Concord, delegates from several towns including Colonel Artemas Ward of Shrewsbury, reorganized themselves as the Massachusetts Provincial Congress and appointed John Hancock President. The congress assumed all powers to rule the province, collect taxes, buy supplies, and raise a militia. A committee of thirteen members was designated to regulate the militia.[1] One of the first actions of the committee was to appoint Colonel Artemas Ward as General and Commander-In-Chief of the colony’s militia.[2]
Originally, Shrewsbury had voted for three militia companies, but only two were established, one in the South Parish led by Captain Job Cushing and one in the North Parish (now Boylston, Massachusetts) led by Asa Brigham. All through the next winter, militia companies, in towns across the province, were quietly learning the ways of war, learning to send their shot straight to the mark and to waste no ammunition by false shots.[3]
The townspeople of Shrewsbury were well aware of the growing discontent with British rule. Messengers stopped regularly at the Cushing Haven Tavern on the Connecticut Road that passed through the center of Shrewsbury. The tavern was owned by Captain Job Cushing. John Adams is said to have visited a Shrewsbury tavern in 1774 and listened to the talk of rebellion by a group of men sitting near to him.[4]
Militia and Minutemen
In each town, nearly all men between the ages of 16 and 60 were required to serve and train in the militia. By law, they were required to have a flintlock rifle, 20 bullets to fit their gun, one pound of powder, 12 flints and a cutting sword. They were also required by law to train six days each year.
To become a minuteman required volunteering for service. Minutemen companies trained for two days every week, prioritizing training in maneuvers and the effective loading and firing of their flintlock rifles. Their drills included exercises in how to mobilize and respond quickly to alerts. They often received arms and equipment paid for by the town and were generally better equipped, often carrying cartridge pouches and bayonets.[5]
The Minuteman, Henry Hudson Kitson, 1900
On the 18th of April 1775, Paul Revere commenced his famous midnight ride. At about ten o’clock the next morning, a post rider galloped through Shrewsbury crying out, “To arms! To arms! The war has begun.” By one o’clock, Job Cushing’s Company of Minutemen had mustarded in front of the Cushing Haven Tavern. Unable to reach Lexington in time, like many others who were remote, they began the march which would eventually lead them to Cambridge.[6]
