The "Lexington Alarm"
April 19, 1775
The first shots of the American Revolution were fired in Massachusetts,
and before the smoke had cleared a number of Stebbins had taken up arms
in the Patriot cause. By the early spring of 1775, Lieutenant General
Thomas Gage, commander in chief of British forces in North American and
Royal Governor of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, found his authority
effectively limited to the reach of his Boston-based troops in a province
seething with rebellious activity. On April 19, 1775, he dispatched a
picked force of elite light infantry and grenadiers from Boston to Cambridge
to seize gunpowder and weapons the colonists were collecting there. The
operation was planned as a surprise raid, but Boston Patriots discovered it
almost immediately and dispatched express riders, including the celebrated
Paul Revere, galloping off in all directions to raise the alarm and call out
the militia.
When the Redcoats reached Lexington, they found the local militia company
drawn up on the village common. Someone unknown to history fired a shot and
the British responded by dispersing the militia with a single volley and a
bayonet charge, killing 8 militiamen and wounding 9 more. A short time later,
at Concord, several militia companies confronted the British at North Bridge and,
firing the "shot heard 'round the world", repulsed them. Responding to what
became known as the "Lexington Alarm", more militia companies poured in from
surrounding towns, and the British, finding themselves heavily outnumbered by an
armed and thoroughly aroused populace, promptly countermarched to Boston.
All along their route they were harassed by militiamen, firing into their flanks
and rear. By the time they reached the security of their Boston enclave, they had
suffered the loss of 73 officers and men killed, 174 wounded, and 26 missing.
As near as can be determined from records maintained by the Massachusetts Archives,
14 Stebbins from 5 towns responded to the "Lexington Alarm", serving in 8 different
companies, 5 of minute-men and 3 of militia, as follows:
From Northfield:
Captain Eldad Wright's Company of Minute-Men
Cyrus Stebbins
Elisha Stebbins
Thomas Stebbins
From Springfield:
Major Andrew Colton's Minute-Men
Medad Stebbins
Lieutenant David Burt's Company of Militia
Ebenezer Stebbins
Thomas Stebbins
From West Springfield:
Captain Enoch Chapin's Company of Minute-Men
Benjamin Stebbings
From Wilbraham:
Captain Paul Langdon's Company of Minute-Men
Sergeant Noah Stebbins
Corporal Aaron Stebbins
Joel Stebbins
Captain James Warriner's Company of Militia
Sergeant Enos Stebbins
Calvin Stebbins
From Monson:
Captain Freeborn Moulton's Company of Minute-Men
James Stebbins
Captain Reuben Munn's Company of Militia
Jesse Stebbins
It does not appear that any of these companies arrived on the scene in time
to take part in the fighting, but most of them took up the pursuit all the way
to Boston before disbanding and returning home. These 14 Stebbins are therefore
properly remembered as being among the very first Patriots of the American Revolution.
There is some debate as to whether any of these companies carried flags, but
if they did they most likely carried some variation of the so-called "Pine Tree Flag".
In its simplest form, this is a white flag bearing the image of a green pine tree in
the center. A common variation of this flag, sometimes called the "New England
(or Massachusetts) Battle Flag", was a red banner with a white canton containing a
green pine tree.
April 19 is still observed in several New England states as Patriot's Day, and in Massachusetts its an official State Holiday.