From Concord to Conquered

Commemorating the 1875 centennial of the original 'Shot Heard Round the World,' this Minuteman statue in Lexington, Massachusetts, was cast in bronze from melted-down Civil War cannons. The young sculptor was Daniel Chester French, who in 1920 gave us the great statue of Abraham Lincoln, sitting in the Lincoln Memorial. 

 April 19, 2025, marks the semiquincentennial of Battle of the Old North Bridge and the dawn of America. On that date back in 1775, about 400 minutemen and militia routed 90 British Army troops. 

 "The Shot Heart Round the World" is a line in Ralph Waldo Emerson's Concord Hymn, written in 1837 to mark the 200th anniversary of the town of Concord, Massachusetts. Emerson could see the bridge from his "manse."

 Tyranny is timeless, whether it is imposed by King George III or King Cotton. Confederates justified their 19th-century rebellion against the United States with grievances draped in their forefathers' patriotism—while side-stepping the Jeffersonian ideal that "all men are created equal." 

    A Confederate chaplain named Father Abram Joseph Ryan even ripped off the "Concord Hymn" with a poem called the "Conquered Banner," romanticizing the Stars and Bars.

    Here are some other ways the events of 1775 echoed through Stoneman's Raid.

   "You Are the Man Who Caused All This Trouble?" A rebel captured by Stoneman's Raid claimed to have loaded the other "shot heard round the world." 

   "Remember When N.C. Voted to Save the Union?"  As we deal with a polarizing presidency and a fractured society, here's a refreshing history lesson.

   "Reasons for the War? How Quickly They Forget." Confederate leaders left no doubt that slavery was the reason for secession. 

   "Tear it Down? Or Can We Reconcile With It?" A case study from Anderson, S.C., reveals how we might deal with Confederate monuments.

   "Abraham Lincoln and the Horn of Freedom." Speaking of anniversaries, this summer will mark the 74th season of "Horn in the West," an outdoor play in Boone, N.C., that dramatizes the American Revolution through the legend of Daniel Boone. "Horn" will be on a limited schedule this summer, while awaiting repair work in the theater.