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It’s been a while since I’ve talked to you. It seems like we’ve had a bit of an eventful summer, hasn’t it? Behind the scenes, I’ve been deep in the weeds of professional obligations to my day job, a busy writing schedule for American Rifleman, and of course my family. A few times, especially in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, I wanted to vent some feelings- but withheld. That’s not really my wheelhouse.
That said, the events of the last several months got me thinking heavily about the purpose of The Everyday Marksman. I wanted to consider who I write for, and the purpose of it. While my core mission of helping regular people learn military skills as a path for self improvement is the same, I think there’s something to be said about the looming prospect of old age.
Looking Back at Some History
It’s April, 1775. Thomas Gage, the Governor of Massachusetts, bears task of stomping out the growing civil unrest among the colonists. Appointed by British government, Gage has a nasty reputation for harsh enforcement of British law known as the “Intolerable Acts.” Included in these laws were closure of the Boston Port (retaliation for the Boston Tea Party), limiting of public gatherings and town meetings, revocation of the ability for colonists to hold trials, and the Quartering Act- which allowed the governor to house British soldiers in colonist homes.
As you are no doubt aware, these acts did not sit well with the colonists. The embers of rebellion were quickly becoming flames. To head off the ability of the colonists to openly revolt with force, Thomas Gage ordered the British Regulars to march twenty miles northwest of Boston to a small town of Concord where the colonists have a store of weapons, cannon, and powder.
Spies got wind that the raid would happen on April 19th. The night before, patriots like Paul Revere, Samuel Prescott, and William Dawes rode around the countryside alerting others to the impending action.
Led by British Lt. Col Francis Smith, 700 Regulars begin the march from Boston to Concord the evening of April 18th. An advance party led by British Major John Pitcairn arrived at Lexington Green at approximately 5:00 AM. At Lexington, the Regulars face a group of 77 militiamen emerging from the Buckman Tavern across the street and forming up on the triangular Lexington Green.
The Green is a mere 2.1 acres in size, about two football fields.
Captain John Parker
The leader of the militia group was 45 year old Captain John Parker. He was a veteran of the French and Indian War, and by April 19, 1775 he was dying from tuberculosis.
His men had trouble hearing him speak, yet history remembers his words,“Stand your ground. Don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.”
Tempers flared at Lexington, and the two sides exchange a volley of fire. The militiamen retreated, and the British Regulars move on to Concord to capture the weapons. Captain Parker survived the battle day, and went on to participate in the Siege of Boston before succumbing to tuberculosis in September 1775 at the age of 46.
Captain John Brooks
The British Regulars arrived at Concord at about 8:00 AM. By this point, the militia had already removed and hidden most of the small arms. The exception were two large cannons suitable for use against fortifications. The British Grenadiers smashed the trunnions and burned the gun carriages at the town center. The fire accidentally spread to a nearby meetinghouse.
Smoke billowed high into the air, visible for miles all around. Just a bit to the northwest, the mustered militia stood in a field gathering forces. They saw the smoke rising from Concord, and assumed that the British must be burning the town. Enraged, hundreds of militiamen began flooding down from the muster field towards the Old North Bridge.
The two sides exchange more fire, with the British Regulars becoming more and more startled by the accuracy of militia fire. In all, over 2,000 militiamen would flood the countryside. Upon seeing the force advancing on them, the British Regulars retreat and rally at Meriam’s Corner- about one mile east of Concord. It was noon.
Seeing an opportunity to attack an unprotected flank, Militia Captain John Brooks, age 23, led the Reading Massachusetts militia to assault the British formation. This was the first official offensive action of the Revolutionary War. This attack forced the British Regulars into a hasty retreat down what we now call, “Battle Road.”
John Brooks also survived the day, and the war, and went on to become the 11th Governor of Massachusetts from 1816 to 1823.
Hezekiah Wyman
For a harrowing 5 miles, the militia hounded the British Regulars along Battle Road. Along the way, militiamen from all over the region took positions ahead of the retreating British columns and set ambushes. Captain John Parker took his revenge at about 1:30 PM when he ambushed the British column along Bay Road.
Among the militia was a gentleman named Hezekiah Wyman of Woburn, Massachusetts. Born April 19th, 1720, the the events on April 19th, 1775 happened to be his 55th birthday. Also a veteran of the French and Indian War, Hezekiah was a tall and gaunt man with long white hair he let flow in the breeze. When word spread of Lexington skirmish, Hezekiah mounted his white horse and set out with rifle in hand- one of the few actual rifles (not muskets) in the area.
Hezekiah Wyman was too late to join the battle of Lexington and Concord, but arrived just in time to participate in harassing the Regulars on their retreat down Battle Road. He employed an entirely different tactic of stopping about 250 yards ahead of the approaching British column, laying his rifle across the seat of his horse’s saddle, and carefully firing a shot- dropping British soldiers or officers with alarming frequency.
When the column drew within 100 yards, Hezekiah mounted his horse again and rode ahead for a ways, dismounted, and repeated the procedure. The British did not know who this apparition was, but they knew that each time this pale man on a white horse appeared, they took casualties. The British soldiers who survived the march called him, “Death on a pale horse.”
Hezekiah ran out of ammunition several times during the attack, and stopped to resupply as needed. Then he would appear at seemingly random times on a flank, or in front of the column- signaling his presence with deadly accurate fire and his white horse.
Hezekiah survived the day, pursuing the British all the way down to Charlestown. He returned home unscathed, and later died in 1779.
Menatomy and Samuel Whittemore
The retreating British reached Lexington at about 3:00 PM. To their relief, they met with an additional 1,000 reinforcements led by Lieutenant General Hugh Percy. At 3:30 PM, under cover of General Percy’s fresh troops and 6 lb field guns, the march back to Boston continued.
Along the retreat, the reinforced British passed through a village called Menotomy, today called Arlington. A crossroads town, it made a logical place for militia to assemble as they arrived from surrounding areas. They gathered and took up positions all along the road from Lexington to Boston.
26 year-old Lieutenant Gideon Foster led his company from Danvers over 16 miles in just four hours.
Lining one part of the road was stone wall near Jason Russel’s house. Foster’s men took up ambush positions, along with Jason Russel himself, age 58, and his 42 year-old neighbor Ammi Cutter- who earlier in the day captured three British supply wagons. Ammi urged his friend Jason to flee, to which he shook his head and and said, “An Englishman’s home is his castle.”
Both men stayed to fight.
The British Regulars arrive at about 4:00 PM. Fearing more snipers like Hezekiah Wyman, Lt. Col Smith split his forces into squads as they entered the town and ordered them to attack every building up close, while also sending flankers around to clean up anyone who ran.
Russel and the group at his wall were among the first to see contact. Flanking parties appeared and pinned the men down. Those not immediately shot made a dash for Russel’s house. Jason Russel died in his own doorway, hit with two separate shots. The Regulars closed in, and fighting devolved into hand-to-hand combat with fist and bayonet within the walls of the house. The British gave no quarter.
On the other side of the road, the British troops encountered Samuel Whittemore. Born July 27th, 1696, Samuel was 78 years old on this day. Prior to operating a small farm outside Charlestown, Samuel had served in several prior conflicts including the War of Austrian Succession (1744-1748) when he was 44 and again in the French and Indian War when he was 64.
As the fighting broke out in Menotomy, Samuel Whittemore crouched behind a stone wall on the north side of the road armed with a musket, two dueling pistols, and a ceremonial saber. When the flankers came upon him, Samuel killed one Grenadier with his musket, then drew his pistols and continued firing- killing at least one more soldier and wounding another in the process. He then raised his saber and pressed to attack. The British forces fell upon him, shooting him in the face and bayonetting him 13 times as revenge for their harrowing experience.
After the British moved on from Menotomy, the bloodiest battle of the day, militiamen found Samuel Whittemore still alive. He lay on the ground in a pool of his own blood, still attempting to reload his musket and continue the fight. The militiamen took him to Dr. Cotton Tufts of Medford, Massachusetts. Dr. Tufts took a look at Samuel’s condition and gave no hope for survival.
Against all odds, Samuel Whittemore survived that day and went on to live for 18 more years, dying at the age of 96.
Get to the Point, Matt
Several years ago, a small unit tactics instructor once told me, “Combat is a young man’s game.” I was about 33 at the time, and was clearly getting into the “old man” territory by this instructor’s perspective. Now, he was at least 15 years older than me, but his point was that there’s a reason militaries leverage the youth, enthusiasm, and aggression of men in their early to mid 20’s for the bulk of combat operations.
While this is true for modern peer to peer sustained combat operation, I happen to believe that nobody is truly free of an obligation to be ready to fight. Many of the officers from April 19, 1775 were indeed young- but many were experienced and capable old men who were ready to stand to and support their countrymen in times of need.
As we get older, we may not be as fast as we once were, nor as strong. The complications of old age and injuries are sure to catch us eventually- but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t always strive to be as capable as we can be. Staying fit and skilled gives us purpose. It gives us something to pass on to those young bucks who have plenty of motivation but not a lot of know-how.
As David Mamet (supposedly) put it, “Old age and treachery will always beat youth and exuberance.“
Should the day come that you are facing down Scenario-X in your own neighborhood, you are the natural leader of the community.
I’m Not Teaching Civil War
The Everyday Marksman sits in a strange position in the gun sphere. On one end, you have the popular gun blogs that churn out reviews and product updates several times per day. They have a stable of writers and contributors to keep things coming, and they hyper focus on one topic: guns. Sometimes they talk about news and politics, but mostly guns.
On the other end, you have many writers who specialize in preparing for unconventional warfare. These guys are usually one or two-man shows, and they have a depth of experience in topics that I cannot possibly hope to match.
I am on neither of these ends. I’m in that boring middle.
A Commitment to Long-Term Excellence
To wrap this up, let me once again explain who I’m here for. The Everyday Markman exists primarily as a path to provide regular people a roadmap to personal excellence. The way we do that is through enhancing your confidence and ability to survive in difficult situations. Our chosen tools for that include martial skills like marksmanship, physical fitness, useful skills, and of course the supporting tools required for success. I want all of you to be Dangerous Old Men willing and able to stand up and aid your community in times of need.
Nobody really knows what the future of warfare looks like, much less what it might look like during a new civil war within the United States. I suspect that it would look a lot like Ukraine, and would heavily feature drones and automated warfare. To be frank, I’m in no position to be teaching any of that.
What I can hope to do is help people like you become physically and mentally stronger so that you can adapt to new situations. I can provide you with the tools and advice to develop personal skills that serve you on the range and in emergencies. Lastly, I can be a signpost for where you might want to explore next. In the end, I’m here because I believe in the things I say and do, and I want others to come along with me.
Today’s discussion made me think of an older news item and discussions … The Rittenhouse event. That detractor’s usually focus around two themes: “He should not have been there ~ that was stupid tactically.” “He had had no reason to be there ~ it wasn’t ‘his’ fight.” To the first, I agree only to the point that he should have recognized the HUGE risk he was assuming. However, that IS his right. To the second, I counter that it was as much “his fight” as it was the fight of the protestors. Further, the violent participants acting with violence and destruction had NO rights to be there ~ they were simply criminals. But tangentially to today’s discussion, apply those two sentiments to the Militiamen’s participation: Although they were more tactical, they too were assuming great risk. The militia responding from nearby towns were not exactly involved in “their own” fight, but were responding to the call of neighbors. Of course, the Revolution MADE it their fight going forward. Although I don’t glamorize nor condone Rittenhouse for his “participation”, I look at his willingness to be involved as his right as a citizen to come to his neighbor’s aid. The actual armed conflict then became a right of Self Defense. It reminds me, that I am glad the Militia were willing to step into the fray to defend their neighbors. Recent news stories of people like Daniel Penny in New York give me hope that there are still people willing to… Read more »
Matt, The “ old folks” abilities are a great story. I turn 81 this January, but make every effort to keep up the needed skills. I am a regular on the shotgun fields and will be returning to more active handgun practice in the coming year.
There is a corollary to this in some Oriental cultures. The little grey-haired old man next door who happens to be a karate master (think Mr. Miyagi from the Karate Kid movies). Not only would he teach martial arts to the young’uns but also proper manly behavior, which he modeled by example.
Oh…and being 67 myself, I continue to do whatever I can to stay as fit as I can and keep up with the shooting practice….plus a little wax-on-wax-off.
Appleseed participant spotted.
In a much more recent context, it’s also worth bearing in mind that the bulk of Ukrainian soldiers in the Russo-Ukrainian War is somewhere around 40-45 by most estimates — partly because Ukraine has more old men than young, and partly because it doesn’t want to destroy its demographics longer-term. Russian soldiers are much younger.