The deed had been done. In the book, April Morning by Howard Fast, Adam Cooper had his name submitted to the muster roll of men who were brave and willing to fight for their country and their lives. His father had been there; his father, wishing no embarrassment, grimaced and allowed his first step to manhood. Adam had been bursting at seams with joy. However, he was fairly shocked. For because of this action, he would now be standing on fighting grounds until victory or until death.
It was April 19, 1775 in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington and Concord. It was here that the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War took place. It was here history was made, it was here first blood was shed between a mother country and her child, it was here heard the first shot: "the shot heard 'round the world."
The first shot rang out, and there was Adam, alone and frightened. About 700 trained British Army regulars, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, were mercilessly firing rapid shots at under trained men and young boys, due to secret orders directly from the king himself whom had received word through a traitor among Freedom-Fighters about inside news about the colonies. The regulars were to arrest John Hancock and Samuel Adams, and later continue "The Famous Ride" to Lexington to capture and destroy military supplies that were reportedly stored by the Massachusetts militia at Concord. Through effective intelligence gathering, Patriot colonial towns had received word of this weeks before the event had even occurred. Just a few weeks before that April Morning, Adam's town too had received news, word and alert.
700 Redcoats marched through the night of April 18, 1775, reaching Lexington near dawn. Awaiting them were 77 Minutemen, including Adam and his father, - farmers and laborers trained to be "ready in a minute." One musket went off as the first ray of dawn shone. Historians still debate which side fired first, but within seconds, eight colonists lay dead on Lexington Green, and among these unfortunate souls, was no other than Adam Cooper's father himself. Adam, frightened, hid in a shed through most of this. He and other men, whom we may call cowards, waited until the next day break to march on with the survivors. Through that early morning, being smart and sadly outnumbered, the remaining of 77 men, who were the "strong and brave" militia, retreated for they saw no victory on the dreadful April morning.
However, being "strong and brave," these "men were unprepared to admit defeat." (78) So onward they marched to Concord. Along the way other men joined in to help fight. By the end of the march, there had been an amazing increase in numbers. Over 400 Minutemen exchanged gunfire with 120 Redcoats at the North Bridge. Pealing church bells spread the alarm and colonial numbers grew to 5,000. The British would have been massacred, but reinforcements arrived as they fled back to Boston. April 19, 1775 … the war had begun!
Adam had done as much as he could have. He had also lost a lot of his ignorance, naivety, and almost all of his innocence all within seven days. This scene had reminded me of a previous story I had encountered, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. In this book, all the characters had lost their innocence or their lives by the end and all within a weeks time. This is just what had happened in April Morning. Adam Cooper had left as an innocent boy seeking adventure and had returned as a grown man who had felt, seen, and heard to much.
Just because a father had not wanted embarrassment by his son, he had accepted death and made his little boy into a grown man. This little boy had changed; a small amount of ink had killed, matured, and taught this little boy, who really wasn't so young anymore. A name had been written on paper, many names had been erased from the face of earth, but many more had been written down in history.
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| Pretty Sweet, Right!!! :) |
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