Lymes' Militia Men Answer the Call to Arms: April 1775

TO ARMS!  TO ARMS!  THE WAR HAS BEGUN!

So was the cry brought to our streets in 1775 by Minuteman Israel Bissell as he rode from Watertown, Massachusetts to New York City, informing patriots along his route that British had fired upon American militia men at Lexington, and battle was engaged.  The Revolution had begun. 

About 100 men of Lyme (which at that time included Old Lyme) marched to Lexington the dawn of April 21, 1775 after the Bissell’s arrival just hours before. At 1am, Bissell knocked frantically at the door of  Reverend Stephen Johnson, minister of the First Congregational Church. Bissell woke the minister and thrust the alarm from Lexington in his hand which stated:

TO all friends of American Liberty, be it known, this morning before break of day, a Brigade, consisting of about 1000 to 1200 men, landed at Phipps Farm at Cambridge and marched to Lexington, where they found a Company of our Militia in Arms, upon whom they fired without any provocation and killed 6 men and wounded 4 others—By an express from Boston we find another Brigade are now upon their March from Boston, supposed to be about 1000—The Bearer, Israel Bissel, is charged to alarm the Country quite to Connecticut, and all Persons are desired to furnish him with fresh Horses, as they may be needed—I have spoken with several who have seen the dead and wounded---J. Palmer, of the Committee of S--- Y----.

Reverend Johnson’s neighbor John McCurdy signed off on the alarm as a member of Lyme’s Committee of Correspondence, and Bissell continued his frantic horse ride, alerting militias along the Northeastern coastline.

The men of Lyme were ready that April morning. In order to defend themselves, organized volunteers in towns including Lyme trained as militias and kept locked stores of arms and ammunition on hand.

And so it began with the initial group of militia men who answered the call to arms the morning of April 21, 1775. Many of the names are familiar ones in Old Lyme, forever honored with streets and neighborhoods named for them, or even with descendants still contributing to our community.

Lyme Men who Answered the Alarm.

Bissell’s minuteman ride continued, and he arrived in New York City on the morning of April 23.   Over the course of four days, Bissell had covered 240 miles—an extraordinary feat at a time when such a journey would take eight days or more in the best of conditions.  Bissell crossed multiple rivers and bad roads, riding day and night. Even more remarkably, he continued on to Philadelphia where he completed his ride on the 24th.  Though Israel Bissell had no Longfellow to commemorate his feat as did Paul Revere, Bissell’s ride was if anything even more impressive and important than the famed silversmith’s.  

As the British searched for the local militia’s hidden arms in Concord, they were soon stunned by the thousands of well-trained militia men that poured in from all corners of New England to confront them. The British beat a humiliating retreat back to Boston.   While many patriots returned to their homes after the British were rousted from Lexington, some stayed in Cambridge and many more immediately returned, including Lyme’s Samuel Holden Parsons and the 51-year-old Reverend Stephen Johnson as part of Connecticut’s 6th regiment.   They would soon engage the British in the Battle of Bunker Hill.