WQED Weekly
Reenactment Battles at Lexington and Concord
Clip | 6m 53sVideo has Closed Captions
This segment features a reenactment of the battles of Lexington and Concord by grade school children
This segment of WQED Weekly features a reenactment of the battles of Lexington and Concord performed by fifth and sixth graders from Memorial School for the American Bicentennial. The children interviewed talk about the bicentennial, what they like about reenactment, and what they think they can learn from experiences like this. This segment is reported and narrated by Frank Gardner.
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WQED Weekly is a local public television program presented by WQED
WQED Weekly
Reenactment Battles at Lexington and Concord
Clip | 6m 53sVideo has Closed Captions
This segment of WQED Weekly features a reenactment of the battles of Lexington and Concord performed by fifth and sixth graders from Memorial School for the American Bicentennial. The children interviewed talk about the bicentennial, what they like about reenactment, and what they think they can learn from experiences like this. This segment is reported and narrated by Frank Gardner.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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We're going to go around behind the busses.
So company number one down here is going to lead out.
Trouble has been brewing here in the Shenick township for several months.
The sixth graders at Memorial School formed a ragtag militia they called the Minutemen.
British authorities watched the revolutionary forces gain strength, decided to march into Concord to seize their supply of weapons.
Murder!
The redcoats from the fifth grade first confronted the Minutemen here at Lexington Commons.
For some unknown reason, a shot was fired.
Then the British let loose with a hail of gunfire that killed eight minutemen and wounded ten more.
After that skirmish, the British Army continued their march to Concord, while the Minutemen broke ranks and boarded a bus so they would have time to regroup before the Redcoats arrived.
Michelle, what do you think about all this business?
I like it.
It's fun.
Why do you like it?
I don't know.
It's just fun.
Why are you doing this?
Well, we're doing it.
I'd like to share that.
We love America.
For our bicentennial.
What do you think?
What is the bicentennial all about?
Well its to honor America.
I guess.
Oh, my back.
Outside Concord, a band of minutemen delayed the British Army for a while, but both groups marched in the town without further incident.
While the British soldiers conducted a house to house search for weapons.
The growing force of colonists gathered here at the north Bridge on the other side of town.
In their enthusiasm, the redcoats chopped down the Liberty Pole and started a bonfire with it.
When the Minutemen saw the smoke, they moved back toward Concord, thinking the Redcoats had set fire to their town.
We're not here to make trouble.
And we're not going to run away from here either.
We can't let them burn our home.
Alone by the number of Minutemen approaching the bridge.
Oh, don't give the man.
No word.
Hold your fire man.
We do not want to repeat of Lexington Then another mysterious shot was fired.
A tense situation quickly developed into bloody warfare.
Three British soldiers were killed and eight others were injured.
That mysterious shot could develop into the shot.
That'll be heard around the world.
And while Colonel Smith decided what to do next.
Everyone took a lunch break.
What do you think this all really means?
Well, it's to celebrate our country's 200th birthday and how it Lexington and Concord.
What really happened 200 years ago.
That's why the kids learning about all this.
Well, I think they'll learn a lot.
Like, I didn't even know who William Diamond was.
And so they said you'd be William Diamond.
So I said okay.
And all the kids they didn't know like who was on Pitcairn or Lord Percy.
But now they've got a lot of information I think is really good.
Who are you in this whole thing?
Well, I'm part of the light infantry, the first company.
And we marched in the front or just on the soldiers.
And that's what we were.
What's it like?
Well, at first, when they tell you about it, you think, oh, wow.
You know.
But, you know, after a while you have to get really into the role and think that you are there.
How are the kids reacted to all of this?
Very well.
Very well.
They've had an awful lot of fun doing it, and I think they've learned a lot of history in the process, too.
They've put a lot of hard work into this.
We've tried to put them in the right frame of mind.
We've given them the background as to how the Minutemen felt, how the British felt, what was going through their mind that day.
And that's the way were trying to get them back.
After lunch, Colonel Smith decided his best move was a retreat to Lexington.
The Grenadiers kept to the road, the infantry flank left, and right.
But about a mile out of town, where the road narrows at Marion's corner, the British were ambushed.
The Minutemen showered the redcoats with bullets, and the British fired back in vain, targets they couldn't see.
The British soldiers were ambushed again and again all the way to Lexington.
The road was a literal gantlet of gunfire.
All right, let's go.
Get out of here!
As the British finally caught sight of Lexington, they broke ranks and ran for the safety of Lord Percy's relief column.
Percy fired several cannon shots, and the Minutemen came no closer.
Once the British troops regained their composure, they formed ranks and headed back to Charleston.
The Minutemen, following at a safe distance.
It's been quite a day here in the Shenick township.
The colonists repelled the British advance into Concord and proved their will to fight.
Now a revolution seems imminent.
Frank Gardner for WQED Weekly.
Somewhere between Concord and Lexington in the Shenick township.
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