 Editor in Chief Bill   | 30 Sep 2015 10:52 a.m. PST |
Archeologists using 21st-century technology are mapping out the exact spots British soldiers and Colonial militiamen were standing as they fired at each other during a pivotal skirmish on the first day of the American Revolution.Parker's Revenge, as the fight is known, occurred on April 19, 1775, after the battles of Lexington and Concord as the redcoats retreated to Boston. Capt. John Parker, commander of the 77-member Lexington militia, had met the 700-strong British column on the green at 5:30 a.m. Eight of his men were killed and 10 wounded… link |
| Supercilius Maximus | 30 Sep 2015 3:06 p.m. PST |
I thought this might have been Peter Parker, the British naval commander who had his breeches shot off during the bombardment of Charleston, SC in 1776. And as if that wasn't bad enough, he got bitten by a spider…… |
| Old Contemptibles | 30 Sep 2015 3:26 p.m. PST |
On his ship HMS Green Goblin. |
| Winston Smith | 30 Sep 2015 4:25 p.m. PST |
Didn't he pick a peck of pickled peppers?
Or was that the other guy? |
| epturner | 30 Sep 2015 6:43 p.m. PST |
Well, I'm from there and I've never heard it called that before… Eric |
| ezza123 | 01 Oct 2015 3:00 a.m. PST |
Another news report on Parker's Revenge: link Also a bit more information on the project: link Ezza |
| FreemanL | 01 Oct 2015 5:04 a.m. PST |
Now I've always thought and read that the first contact on the green was "the shot heard round the world". Parker's Revenge was during the retreat to Boston. This was also noted in the great book on the battle by David Hackett Fischer. I've put on a game about the retreat and it is a very tight affair and worth doing. Percy really does save Smith and Percy's handling of his men and the survivors is worthy of note. He was a good commander who not only knew how to fight his men but he also had an intuitive feel of what to do. My case in point here was the box formation on the retreat and the fact he took the longer route back to the Neck, taking the chance that it would not be as heavily watched as the original path – and he was right. Had Gage sent another "Smith" to rescue Smith, I think it would have been a disaster for the British.
Larry |
| Supercilius Maximus | 01 Oct 2015 10:31 a.m. PST |
Percy's regiment, the 5th Foot, was well trained and he had instituted a series of marksmanship and good conduct badges for the rank-and-file. After Bunker Hill, Percy also paid for the passage back to England of the widows and children of the dead and provided them with a little extra money to get back to their home parish. A great shame he fell out with the higher-ups – he would have been a great asset in the Philadelphia and Southern campaigns. |
| Redcoat 55 | 01 Oct 2015 11:02 a.m. PST |
Percy was pretty thorough. I vaguely recall reading some records once where he came over to a completed redoubt or something and told the men to tear it down, and rebuild it a little further away. :) What caused the falling out? |
| Supercilius Maximus | 02 Oct 2015 4:18 a.m. PST |
@Redcoat, Percy and Howe did not get along, almost from the get-go; in spite of being a very generous man (as a landlord, as well as a CO), Percy had a notoriously bad temper – possibly a result of suffering from gout and painful eye problems. I think Percy, as well as being a Whig, was very much in agreement with Clinton in terms of strategy – hence both were sent off (exiled might be a better term) to capture Rhode Island at the end of 1776. There was later a disagreement over some hay, and finally Howe (who was by then Colonel of the 23rd) got the hump over the 5th wearing their unofficial bearskin caps (from the action at Wilhelstahl in the SYW) at a major parade, whereas the 23rd could not get their official Fusilier caps out of storage in time. |
