So far but few acts of violence had taken place. Nothing could be
more virulent than the language of the newspapers of both parties
against their opponents, but beyond a few isolated tumults the peace
had not been broken. It was the lull before the storm. The great
majority of the New England colonists were bent upon obtaining
nothing short of absolute independence; the loyalists and the English
were as determined to put down any revolt by force.
The Congress drilled, armed, and organized; the English brought over
fresh troops and prepared for the struggle. It was December when
Harold returned home to his parents, and for the next three months
the lull before the storm continued.
The disaffected of Massachusetts had collected a large quantity of
military stores at Concord. These General Gage, who commanded the
troops at Boston, determined to seize and destroy, seeing that they
could be collected only for use against the Government, and on the
night of April 19 the grenadier and light infantry companies of the
various regiments, 800 strong, under command of Lieutenant Colonel
Smith of the Tenth Regiment, and Major Pitcairne of the Marines,
embarked in boats and were conveyed up Charles River as far as a
place called Phipps' Farm. There they landed at midnight, having a
day's provisions in their haversacks, and started on their march to
Concord, twenty miles distant from Boston.
The design had been discovered by some of the revolutionary party in
the town, and two of their number were dispatched on horseback to
rouse the whole country on the way to Concord, where the news arrived
at two o'clock in the morning.
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