This week, Attorney General Pam Bondi launched a task force to eradicate anti-Christian bias — a laudable goal that is greatly appreciated. They will rightly look at how the rights of professing Christians have been threatened, but there are certainly more subtle varieties of anti-Christian bias. Notably, Christian faith and influence are being completely omitted from historical interpretations of those momentous events that launched us toward liberty 250 years ago.

As an example, one needs to look no further than the many news reports this past Saturday on the anniversary of the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World,” the battles between local patriot militia and British regulars at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, which marked the beginning of the War for Independence. Since this 250th anniversary was sandwiched between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, many Americans may have missed media reports recounting the history of the fateful events of April 19, 1775.

One video of interest was produced by Hillsdale College on behalf of the White House, the first in a series for their America 250th celebration. Wilfred McClay, professor of History, recounted much of the same information as the other news reports about Lexington and Concord, but the video was ultimately disappointing because of its huge omission: Nothing was said about the fundamental role the pastors played in both communities in raising the town militias that took on the world’s most powerful military in the British.

Some might claim such an omission was unintentional, done out of ignorance. Yet somehow all of the subject matter experts and historians who populated the news reports and videos I reviewed were silent. In fact, the CBS “Sunday Morning” piece, which was done on location in Lexington, went to extraordinary lengths to omit any information about Pastor Jonas Clark — even though the interview took place in his parsonage! When the CBS reporter interviewed Sarah McDonough of the Lexington Historical Society, she referenced the fact that Paul Revere made his famous “midnight ride” to this very home where Patriot leaders John Hancock and Samuel Adams had sought refuge from the British. While McDonough may have identified the parsonage off camera or she was edited out, CBS glaringly omitted the fact that Hancock and Adams stayed with Clark in the church parsonage, which was the destination of Paul Revere’s storied ride. Consequently, I believe this omission was indeed intentional.

That begs the question: if CBS, and indeed all the mainline media reports, left out that important bit of information from the discussion about the fateful events of April 18-19, what else was left out about this pastor and his influence on his town and even with these patriot leaders? Turns out it’s quite a lot. Now, some might call “time-out” at this point and ask: What’s the big deal about the patriot leaders staying in the home of the pastor of the Lexington church? After all, John Hancock’s grandfather served as pastor in that same church before Jonas Clark. Yet why would these patriot leaders seek refuge in Clark’s parsonage? Because, like Hancock and Adams, Rev. Clark was also an ardent supporter of American resistance to British tyranny.

Jonas Clark: Patriot Pastor of Lexington

A graduate of Harvard and only 20 years old when he assumed the reins of leadership as pastor at Lexington, Jonas Clark became a patriot. Not surprisingly, according to Historian Alice Baldwin, his parsonage became a “patriot hangout,” reporting that: “[P]atriots … gathered often at his home to discuss politics. … [H]e was… a statesman. … For years before the Stamp Act, he is said to have preached Sunday after Sunday and explained in many a town meeting the doctrines of natural and constitutional rights and right of resistance.”^[i]

From 1765 until 1775, when the first shots were fired in the shadow of his church, Clark drew up a series of reasoned responses to the British Parliament’s oppressive rulings. When the Stamp Act tax passed in 1765, he called it “a door to numberless evils.”^[ii] When the Quartering Acts passed in 1768 and the British quartered troops in the Colonies, he condemned it as “an infringement of their natural, constitutional, and chartered rights.”^[iii] When the Tea Act tax on tea and other goods passed in 1773, Clark argued that any citizen of Lexington who purchased or consumed British tea “should be looked upon as an enemy of the town.”^[iv]

When the other so-called “Intolerable Acts” were passed, Clark guided the town to prepare for war. It was he who prompted the town’s decision to raise and train militia for the purpose of defending their town should armed conflict break out. Historian George Bancroft records that in 1774:

“[A]t various town meetings, they voted: ‘to increase their stock of ammunition,’ ‘to encourage military discipline, and to put themselves in a posture of defence against their enemies.’ In December, they distributed to ‘the train band and alarm list’ arms and ammunition, and resolved to ‘supply the training soldiers with bayonets.’”[v]

Additionally, he preached biblical sermons like “The importance of Military Skill, Measures for Defense, and a Marshall Spirit in a Time of Peace.”^[vi] The town’s resolve is the voice of Clark: “We shall be ready to sacrifice our estates and everything dear in life, yea and life itself, in support of the common cause.”^[vii]

That brings us to the night of April 18, 1775, when the now 44-year-old Clark hosted John Hancock and Samuel Adams when Paul Revere arrived at about 11:30 p.m. On his famous ride from occupied Boston, Revere had been captured earlier but escaped to warn these patriots of the approaching British troops. Under orders from the military governor, General Thomas Gage, the 800 British troops marched under the command of Colonel Francis Smith with a two-fold mission: 1) apprehend these traitors to the crown and 2) seize the military arsenal hidden at Concord. In view of the immediate threat, these three patriot leaders huddled in the home of Clark, essentially asking him: “Will the men of Lexington fight?” Indeed, it could be answered that Clark had “trained them for this very hour.”^[viii] He believed his men would fight, and if necessary, die, to defend their families and their freedom.

A couple of hours later, the alarm sounded, about 135 mustered on Lexington green, but Captain John Parker ultimately sent them back home. However, just before dawn broke, the alarm sounded for a second time, and Parker assembled the minutemen into two lines on the Lexington green, around 70 men. One of them, Prince Estabrook, was an African American slave who fought that day, was wounded, and eventually won his freedom. Another African American, Peter Salem, joined the fight in Lexington later, but both white and black patriots took their stand for liberty that day. As the sound of the British drums and marching redcoats grew closer, Parker called out: “Stand your ground! Don’t fire unless fired upon. But if they mean to have a war, let it begin here!” Soon the shot heard round the world rang out right in the shadow of Clark’s church. Nearly every man in the militia attended Clark’s church. They drilled on the green before Clark’s church. The ammunition and gunpowder for the militia was stored in Clark’s church.

Yet the patriots soon found themselves outnumbered at this point — 400 to around 70 as the British continued to pour around both sides of their church meetinghouse and onto Lexington green. Parker ordered his men to disperse, but not everyone heard him as the British were shouting “Huzzah!” as they bore down on Parker’s men. In the confusion, Major John Pitcairn of the British Royal Marines yelled: “Lay down your arms … Ye villains, Ye Rebels! Disperse, damn you!” Clark, who recorded eye-witness battlefield testimony, claimed that it was one of the two mounted officers with the expedition who fired the first shot from a pistol as Parker’s patriots were dispersing. Pitcairn, brandishing a short sword, then pointing toward them, with a loud voice shouted to the troops: “Fire! By God, fire!” Clark reported that “order was instantly followed by discharge of arms from the … [British] troops and succeeded by a very heavy and close fire on our dispersing party so long as any of them were within reach.”[ix]

Caleb Harrington was killed as he exited the church meetinghouse as the skirmish started. Joseph Comee was wounded in the arm as he tried to exit the church building. Inside the meetinghouse, Joshua Simmons retreated to the upper room where the town’s supply of gun powder was stored, and he thrust his musket into a barrel of powder. If the regulars attempted to storm the building, he was determined to destroy it.^[x] A few patriots fired in return but with little effect, wounding only three British regulars. As the smoke cleared, eight of the Lexington militiamen lay dead, and seven were members of Clark’s church.

The British troops fired a victory salute and offered three cheers to the King, then marched off the green and on the road to Concord. As the redcoats left, wives, children, and spectators emerged from hiding and made their way onto the green. Many were overcome with emotion and grief at the sight of family members and neighbors lying dead or wounded on the green, including Clark. Those gathered helped treat the wounded and carried the dead into the church meetinghouse.

At 10:00 a.m., the pastor led a brief memorial service for those men who were killed. The bodies were then quickly buried in a common grave covered with brush for fear the gravesite would be desecrated on the return of the British regulars. One year later, in this 1776 anniversary sermon, Clark reflected after having buried seven men who were a part of his flock and declared: “From the 19th of April, 1775, we may venture to predict, in future history, the Liberty or the Slavery of the American World ...”[xi] Thus began the War for Independence in the shadow of a church, and a patriot pastor was at the heart of it.

William Emerson: Patriot Pastor of Concord

The British continued their march to Concord, which was the home of another patriot pastor. Like Clark, the Rev. Mr. William Emerson graduated from Harvard in 1761. He became pastor at Concord in February of 1765 at the age of 22 and stirred up his congregation, “not only to the service of God but to the defense of their political rights. For him the two were inseparable.”[xii] In the words of his renowned grandson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William “felt so deeply the cause of the Colonies that he made it the subject of his preaching and prayers and is said to have inspired many of his people with his own enthusiasm.”[xiii] When the Provincial Congress, in defiance of the royal governor, General Thomas Gage, met at Concord on October 11, 1774, they met in Emerson’s church, and he officiated as chaplain. Some two weeks earlier, a special town meeting had voted “to raise one or more companies to march at a minute’s warning in case of alarm.”[xiv]

On January 12, 1775, muster day for the Concord Minutemen Companies, Emerson wrote in his diary: “Preached from ‘To see Thy Power and Thy Glory.’ Training for the purpose of enlisting Minute Men.”[xv] On January 16, he notes that the number of the militia enlisted had grown to as many as 60. On January 29, he writes: “Extraordinary weather for warlike preparations. Much time spent in military manoeuvres.” On March 13, as the war clouds gathered, Emerson delivered a rousing sermon to the newly formed militia on the text “Behold God is with us for our Captain” from 2 Chronicles 13:12. He passionately exhorted his listeners to “put on the whole Armor of God. ... It is an additional honor to the best Man, to the brightest Christian, especially in this our Day, that he is a good Soldier…”[xvi]

Yet all the preaching came down to whether the men of Concord would stand and fight for their liberty in the face of tyranny. Between 1:00 and 2:00 a.m. the alarm bell rang in town, and the first to show up with his musket at the rally point for the militia was none other than the 32-year-old Emerson.[xvii] The force of British regulars — now 800 strong — was moving quickly, cover­ing the 20 miles from Cambridge to Concord in seven hours, ­including the action at Lexington. Yet by the time they reached Concord (approaching 11:00 a.m.), much of the munitions, such as the powder, cannon, and weapons that they were going to confiscate, had all been removed and hidden. The main body of redcoats stayed in Concord, while search parties went off in different directions to scour for munitions.

Thanks to Tory spies, they had a general idea of where to look. They confiscated three cannon pieces, set fire to several carriages for the artillery, dumped 500 pounds of musket balls into mill ponds and wells, rifled through sev­eral houses, tried to ruin 60 barrels of flour, and took possession of the courthouse and tried to burn it down. Worse still, Emerson later learned that they broke into the Concord church. He thundered: “With their unhallowed feet they trod the sacred Place, and took from thence the Book of God, with sacrilegious Hands and threw it in the Flames!”[xviii] Why burn the pulpit Bible? Because like the church at Lexington, the church at Concord was the center of biblical opposition to British tyranny.

It was at the old North Bridge in Concord that the day turned for the patriots. Seeing the superior number of 800 British redcoats approaching their town, the patriot militia — numbering only about 100 — had retreated to the far side of the bridge, under orders not to fire until fired upon. A detachment of British troops proceeded to the bridge where they met the patriot militia, whose ranks were rapidly swelling with every passing minute. The sight of the approaching redcoats unnerved a young minuteman named Henry (Harry) Gould. Emerson clapped the panic-stricken young man on the shoulder and admonished him: “Stand your ground, Harry! Your cause is just, and God will bless you!”[xix] Additionally, he reportedly shouted to all the men: “Let us stand our ground. If we die, let us die here!”[xx]

Hastily pulling back across the bridge, a few of the British panicked and fired, and the officer in charge ordered a volley. This cut down two of the patriot minutemen, wounding two others. Concord Historian Lemuel Shattuck reports that militia commander Major John Buttrick exclaimed: “Fire, fellow-soldiers, for God’s sake, fire!” discharging his own gun almost simultaneously.[xxi] His order was instantly obeyed. Shooting on both sides continued for a few minutes. A number of British soldiers were killed, as well as three officers: Lieutenants Sunderland and Kelley and Sergeant Gould.[xxii] The British immediately retreated about halfway to the Concord church meeting house. The British soldiers were shocked. These farmers and merchants had not scur­ried away at the first volley, they stood their ground and returned fire with deadly effect!

What began as an orderly retreat from Concord rapidly degenerated into an every-man-for-himself sprint. Panic gripped them now as strongly as pride had at the beginning of the day at Lexington. Their officers tried to rally them, but it was no use; their withdrawal soon became a footrace to see who could get back to Boston the fastest. But the minutemen, who knew the lay of the land, frustrated the British retreat. From Concord back to Lexington, the militia attacked like a swarm of hornets, shooting at the redcoats from behind stone walls, barns, hedges, and trees. All along the way, the minutemen kept up a steady fire on their flanks. Once the British reached Lexington, they met up with Parker and the Lexington militia in what is called “Parker’s Revenge.” Having been swept off their own green earlier that morning, the men of Lexington would not let that happen twice, and they took out 12 British troops with the first volley. Lt. Col. Smith was shot in the thigh. Major John Pitcairn, who had cursed and ordered the first shots fired on the men of Lexington, was unhorsed and injured. Two more Lexington militiamen were also killed — bringing the total to 10.

The patriot militia had the British regulars on the run. In the mad dash back to Boston, some threw away their muskets and equipment to lighten the load. Some deserted and went missing in action. Others dropped from sheer exhaustion. Once they made it to Lexington, they were reinforced by Brigadier General Hugh Earl Percy, who commanded four regiments consisting of an additional 1,200 troops, including two artillery crews. They fired a cannon, and seconds later, there was a crash of splintering wood as the ball crashed through the church meetinghouse, scattering militiamen in every direction.[xxiii] Why fire on a church meeting house? Again, because the Lexington church was the center of opposition to British tyranny!

Yet the patriot militia regrouped and continued to press. British General Percy noted that the homes looked like great places for rebel snipers and ordered them burned. British soldiers fired on the homes, stormed and looted them, then put them to the torch, beginning with Lexington church deacon Joseph Loring’s home, then moving on to burn six others.[xxiv] Yet the number of militia continued to grow and press the British until they continued their retreat back to Boston.

A God-Ordained Victory

In all, the British suffered some 273 casualties, with 73 killed, 174 wounded, and 26 missing. By contrast, patriot militia suffered 95 casualties, 49 killed, 41 wounded, and five missing. The numbers were not all that large, but the victory was no less impressive. The patriot militia had soundly beaten a superior British force of nearly 2,100 men when counting Percy’s reinforcements.

News quickly spread, and the ministers responded. Again, historian Alice Baldwin records how they persuaded their congregants to join the fight for liberty:

“Stephen Farrar, of New Ipswich, New Hampshire, left with ninety-seven of his parishioners. Joseph Willard, of Beverly, marched with two companies from his town, raised in no small part through his exertion. Rev. David Avery, of Windsor, Ver­mont, after hearing the news of Lexington, preached a fare­well sermon, then, outside the meeting-house door, called his people to arms and marched with twenty men. On the way he served as captain, preached, and collected more troops. David Grosvenor, of Grafton, left his pulpit and, musket in hand, joined the minute men who marched to Cambridge. … Pastor John Cleaveland is said to have preached his whole parish into the army and then to have gone himself.”

Rev. Zabdiel Adams declared: “It is better to be free among the dead, than slaves among the living.”^[xxv]

Mark well that the battles of Lexington, Concord, and beyond were no series of mindless, mob actions. Remember, these battles came after a “long train of abuses and usurpations,” as Jefferson put it in the Declaration, enumerating no less than 27 grievances that can be described as nothing short of “tyranny.” Taxation without representation and a host of other oppressive actions by Parliament, the royal governors, and their proxies led to colonial opposition, and colonial opposition, exemplified in the Boston Tea Party, led to British armed occupation in Boston.

In fact, when news of the British blockade of the city reached the other colonies in 1774, the pastors took to their pulpits. British leadership despised them and called them the “Black Regiment” because they wore black clerical robes and passionately preached biblical sermons against British tyranny. John Adams wrote Abigail from Philadelphia: “The Clergy here of every denomination … thunder and lighten every Sabbath” against the “Oppression” of King George and the Parliament.[xxvi] These black robed ministers were a menace to the British, so much so that the field commander of the British reinforcement detachment, Percy, declared: “No body of men are so extremely injurious to peace and tranquility as the clergy. They preach sedition openly from their pulpits.”[xxvii]

It would not be an overstatement to claim of these patriot pastors that their sermons inspired the American battlefield bravery that fought back against British tyranny. Consequently, the omission of all references to these Christian ministers and their influence on America’s founding is not only contemptible, but it must also be corrected. If we hope to pass on the torch of liberty faithfully to the next generation, they must understand that America’s founding principles flow from biblical truth proclaimed and fought for primarily by people who adhered to the Christian faith. That is the true history that must be told for America’s 250th celebration. Thankfully, it is not too late to get it right.

Notes: 

[i] Alice M. Baldwin, The New England Clergy and the American Revolution (New York, Frederick Unger, 1928, 1965), 94-95.

[ii] “Instructions from Jonas Clarke to William Reed, Esq., the Present Representative of Lexington, October 21, 1765,” in the Lexington Historical Society Archives. [The author viewed these archives in person under the supervision of Richard Kollen, then Archivist for the Lexington Historical Society].

[iii] “Declarations and Resolves, Town of Lexington, September 21, 1768,” as found in the Lexington Historical Society Archives.

[iv] “Report of the Committee of Correspondence adopted by the Town of Lexington, December 1773.” As found in the Lexington Historical Society Archives.

[v] George Bancroft, History of the United States of America, From the Discovery of the Continent, 10 Vols., (New York: D. Appleton, 1890), 7:291.

[vi] The title of one of Jonas Clark’s sermons as found in the Hancock-Clark House Archives. Again, my appreciation to Richard Kollen, Archivist for the Lexington Historical Society, for access to primary source material.

[vii] “Report of the Committee of Correspondence adopted by the Town of Lexington, December 1773,” as found in the Lexington Historical Society Archives.

[viii] Joel T. Headley, The Chaplains and Clergy of the American Revolution (New York: Charles Scribner, 1864), 79.

[ix] Jonas Clark, The fate of blood-thirsty oppressors, and God's tender care of his distressed people. A sermon, preached at Lexington, April 19, 1776. To commemorate the murder, blood-shed and commencement of hostilities, between Great-Britain and America, in that town, by a brigade of troops of George III, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Smith, on the nineteenth of April, 1775: To which is added, a brief narrative of the principal transactions of that day, (Boston: Powers and Willis, 1776), 3.

[x] David Hackett Fischer, Paul Revere’s Ride, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994), 198.

[xi] Jonas Clark, 30.

[xii] Paul Brooks, The Old Manse and the People Who Lived There (Concord, MA: Trustees of Reservations, 1983), 6.

[xiii] Ibid.

[xiv] Ibid.

[xv] William Emerson on April 19th, 1776 on the anniversary of the Battle of Concord as cited in Amelia Emerson, ed., Diaries and Letters of William Emerson 1743-1776 (Boston: Thomas Todd, 1972), 59.

[xvi] Ibid.,68.

[xvii] Aurthur B. Tourtellot, Lexington and Concord: The Beginning of the War of the American Revolution (New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1959), 151.

[xviii] Emerson, 93.

[xix] Ibid., 73.

[xx] Lemuel Shattuck, A History of the Town of Concord; Middlesex County, Massachusetts, From It’s Earliest Settlement to 1832 (Concord: John Stacy, 1835), 104-05.

[xxi] Ibid., 112.

[xxii] Ibid.

[xxiii] Alexander R. Cain, We Stood Our Ground: Lexington in the First Year of the American Revolution (Westminster, MD: Heritage Books, 2004), 77.

[xxiv] Ibid., 78.

[xxv] Baldwin, 162-164.

[xxvi] Letter from John Adams to Abigail Adams, 7 July 1775 found in Charles Francis Adams, ed., Letters of John Adams, Addressed to His Wife, 2 vols., (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1841), 1:50.

[xxvii] Letter from Lord Percy to the Duke of Northumberland, July 27, 1774 found in Charles Knowles Bolton, ed., Letters of Hugh, Earl Percy, from Boston and New York, 1774-1776, (Boston: Charles E. Goodspeed, 1902), 29.