At the first general fire from the British,
Captain Davis and Abner Hosmer, a private in Davis' company, were
killed. Almost instantly the fire was returned, and one British
soldier was killed and several were wounded. The engagement was at an
end.
The two parties seem to have been equally confused by the fight. The
Provincials manifested no fear, but the contest so long anticipated
had actually taken place,--blood had been shed,--men had fallen on
both sides. The responsibility of the moment was very great. In
contemplation of law they had resisted the British Ministry, they had
attacked the British throne.
The regulars retired to the village, and, the divisions of troops
having joined each other, they commenced a retreat which for several
miles was a precipitous flight.
Hayward fell mortally wounded at Lexington in a personal recontre with
a British soldier. It was fatal to both, though Hayward survived
several hours. With a religious patriotism he assured his father that
the day's doings gave him no regret.
Patriotism is one of the most exalted virtues. It is not, as some
would have us believe, a mere excitement, or even a passion. It is
high among the virtues which men in this state of existence may
exhibit. Patriotism is not merely a barren attachment to the country
in which we were born, nor is it that narrow yet holy feeling which
leads us to look with affection upon the spot of our nativity,--upon
the hills over which we have roamed in childhood and youth; but a large
and noble view of the entire nation,--a regard for its institutions,
social, moral, civil and religious, crowned by a manly spirit which
leads its possessor to peril all in their defence.
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