For our last Revolutionary War history lesson, we headed to the North Bridge, a place often referred to as the location of the "shot heard 'round the world," and the beginning of the American War for Independence.
On the morning of April 19, 1775 , Colonial Militia from Concord and surrounding towns exchanged gunfire with British regulars guarding the critical river crossing. Although the fighting at the North Bridge lasted only a few seconds, it marked the beginning of a massive battle that raged over 16 miles along the Bay Road from Boston to Concord, and included some 1,700 British regulars and over 4,000 Colonial militia. After admiring the beauty of the area, we attended a very thoroughly ranger talk sharing the magnitude of the happening here.
On 1875, on the 100th anniversary of the action at Concord, Daniel Chester French's Minuteman statue, the symbol of today's National Guard, was dedicated. As part of the ceremony, Ralph Waldo Emerson's poem The Concord Hymn was read honoring the men who "fired the shot heard round the world" which began the Revolutionary War. Today's National Guard is the direct descendent of those militia and Minute Men who stood their ground to protect their homes and freedoms. History is truly everywhere.
Speaking of Mr. Emerson, our next stop was at the Sleepy Hallow Cemetery, Concord’s most prominent and only active public cemetery. Consecrated in 1855 with opening remarks by Ralph Waldo Emerson, the burial site was inspired by the 19th-century Garden Cemetery Movement and has a long history.My destination was Authors' Ridge (the highest and most prominent section of the cemetery) which is the final resting place for many famous Concord writers like Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, and others.Independent thinkers come to pay their respects at the rough marble boulder that belongs to Ralph Waldo Emerson.Many enthralled by Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women come to visit her grave. Her gravesite features a U.S. Veteran marker and flags honoring her service as a Civil War nurse.Her family members are buried nearby. She rests alongside her father Amos Bronson Alcott, mother Abigail May Alcott, sister Elizabeth S. Alcott, and sister May Alcott Nieriker.Interestingly, while Nathaniel Hawthorne died on May 19, 1864, and was originally laid to rest here, it wasn't until 2006 that the remains of his wife, Sophia Peabody Hawthorne, and his daughter, Una Hawthorne—who were previously buried at Kensal Green Cemetery in London—were exhumed and reinterred next to Nathaniel.Naturalists and conservationists leave votive offerings and pencils at the headstone of Henry David Thoreau. He is buried in a family plot that includes his parents (John and Cynthia), his brother John Jr., and his sisters Helen and Sophia.Less well know was Harriett Lothrop, an author also known by her pseudonym Margaret Sidney. She became famous in the 1880s for her Five Little Peppers and How They Grew books. In addition to writing popular children's stories, she ran her husband Daniel Lothrop's publishing company after his death. After they bought The Wayside country house (mentioned yesterday), they worked hard to make it a center of literary life.Tis had nothing to do with literature but my childhood was changed by Ephraim Wales Bull (1806–1895), the creator of the famous Concord grape (my jelly of choice). His headstone is famously etched with the bitter words: “He Sowed, Others Reaped”. Bull spent years cross-breeding native wild fox grapes (Vitis labrusca) by planting over 20,000 seedlings to develop a cold-hardy, sweet fruit. While he introduced the Concord grape in 1849, he failed to control commercial scaling or patent the variety, leaving him in poverty while others profited. So sad.Yesterday, I had visited Louisa May Alcott's home without purchasing a book. I regretted it so we returned today for me to get a very special edition of Little Women.
I think most people know the importance of this place. This was our final stop in Concord and surprisingly, most places were explored today were literary landmarks. How very, very cool. Walden Pond is a historic 64-acre kettle hole lake located in Concord. It is famed for inspiring writer Henry David Thoreau's classic 1854 work, Walden; or, Life in the Woods.Thoreau lived in a self-built cabin on its shores from July 1845 to September 1847.
It was this simple life, and this setting, that helped launch the American conservation and Transcendentalist movement through Thoreau's observations.Thoreau wrote, "We need the tonic of wildness..." After all the harsh lessons we learned of the battles fought nearby, being here, in nature, in this magical place, was the perfect tonic for our last day in Concord.
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1 comments:
Oh, this was a favorite of mine post for sure. History, nature, and literature all rolled into one !
I can relate needing to go back somewhere to get a book:)
I’m enjoying traveling along with you, even if it’s only reading about it.
K
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