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John Parker (July 13, 1729 – September 17, 1775) was an American colonial farmer, smith, soldier, and colonial militia officer who commanded the Lexington, Patriot, colonial militia at the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775.

Early life

John Parker was born in Lexington, Massachusetts to Josiah Parker and Anna Stone. He was a descendant of Deacon Thomas Parker, founder of Reading, Massachusetts.^[1] John Parker was also the grandfather of reformer and abolitionist Theodore Parker.^[2] John Parker's experience as a soldier in the French and Indian War (Seven Years' War), at the Siege of Louisbourg and the conquest of Quebec, most likely led to his election as militia captain by the men of the town. He was dying from consumption (tuberculosis), on the morning of April 19, 1775, and had not quite five months left to live.^[3]

Battle of Lexington

On April 19, 1775, the British commander in Boston Thomas Gage dispatched an expedition of approximately 700 army regulars under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith to search the town of Concord for hidden rebel supplies and weapons caches.^[4] Lexington lay directly on the road that Smith's men took to reach Concord.

When reports of the approaching British force reached Lexington overnight, men from the town and the surrounding area began to rally on the Common. Parker's Lexington company were not minutemen, as sometimes stated, but from the main body of Massachusetts Militia.^[5] Parker was initially uncertain as to exactly what was happening. Conflicting stories arrived and as the British regulars had spent much of the winter engaged in harmless route marches through the Massachusetts countryside their exact intention was far from certain.^[6]

When Smith became aware that the countryside had been alarmed and that resistance might be encountered, he sent a detachment of light infantry under Major John Pitcairn ahead of the main column. Pitcairn's advance guard reached Lexington first and drew upon the Common opposite Parker's men. Parker ordered his men to disperse to avoid a confrontation, but they either failed to hear him or ignored his instructions. Shortly afterward firing broke out despite the fact that both sides had orders not to shoot. In the following fight, eight militia were killed and ten wounded while one British soldier was wounded. The lopsided casualty list led to initial reports of a massacre, stories of which spread rapidly around the colony further inflaming the situation. There remains considerable doubt as to exactly what occurred during the fight at Lexington, and a variety of different accounts emerged as to what had taken place and who had fired first. By the time Smith arrived with his main body of troops ten minutes later, he had trouble restoring order amongst his troops, who had chased fleeing militiamen into the fields around the town. Smith then decided, in spite of the fighting, to continue the march to Concord.^[7]

One of Parker's company, many years later, recalled Parker's order at Lexington Green to have been, "Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here." Paul Revere recalled it as having been "Let the soldiers pass by. Do not molest them without they begin first".^[8] During the skirmish Parker witnessed his cousin Jonas Parker killed by a British bayonet.^[9] Later that day he rallied his men to attack the regulars returning to Boston in an ambush known as "Parker's Revenge".^[10]

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Old Burying Ground is Lexington's oldest cemetery; the earliest graves date from 1690.

The entrance to the Old Burying Ground is on the corner of Harrington Road and Massachusetts Avenue, just across the street from the Battle Green. A house shares the driveway, which is marked with a small sign and the large stone shown below.

The cemetery contains the graves of many prominent early Lexington settlers, as well as soldiers from the Revolutionary War and the Civil War - even a British soldier who was injured in the fighting on the Battle Green and died a few days later in Buckman Tavern.

The Minutemen who fell on the Battle Green were originally buried here but were disinterred and reburied on the Battle Green. A monument just off Massachusetts Avenue marks their graves.

Captain John Parker was suffering from tuberculosis when he led the Minutemen on April 19, 1775, and he died on September 17, 1775. Many believe he is buried in the Old Burying Ground, but no gravestone has been found for him. There are, however, two memorials to him in the graveyard.

Cemetery in Lexington

Aliyah Hansen

Battle of Lexington

The Battle of Lexington and Concord took form before dawn on April 19, 1775. Having received word that the regular army had left Boston in force to seize and destroy military supplies in Concord, several dozen militiamen gathered on the town common, and then eventually went to the tavern to await the arrival of the British troops. Definite word reached them just before sunrise, and Captain Parker's company of militia left the tavern to assemble in two ranks on the common. Following the arrival of the army, a single shot was fired; by whom, it is still unknown. With this shot, the American Revolutionary War began.^[5]^[6]

Although best known as the headquarters of the militia, Buckman Tavern is also noteworthy as perhaps the busiest of Lexington's 18th-century taverns. It housed the first village store in Lexington, and later, in 1813, the first town post office.