{"id":20000,"date":"2023-12-01T13:07:19","date_gmt":"2023-12-01T13:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/freedomsway.org\/staging\/6553\/?post_type=place&p=20000"},"modified":"2024-07-08T13:45:35","modified_gmt":"2024-07-08T13:45:35","slug":"grave-of-the-british-soldiers","status":"publish","type":"place","link":"https:\/\/freedomsway.org\/staging\/6553\/place\/grave-of-the-british-soldiers\/","title":{"rendered":"Grave of the British Soldiers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Located at the North Bridge<\/a>, the Grave of the British Soldiers marks the final resting place of the first British soldiers killed on April 19, 1775, during the Battle of Concord.<\/p>\n

The remains of the original small grave markers rest on the northern side of a stonewall, accompanied by a small stone slab inscribed \u201cGrave of the British Soldiers.\u201d The stone was added by Concord<\/a>\u2019s superintendent of public grounds in 1870 in preparation for the centennial anniversary of the battle at a cost of $25.00.<\/p>\n

Author Nathaniel Hawthorne<\/a>, who lived for a time in the nearby Old Manse<\/a>, wrote about the site in his 1846 collection Mosses from an Old Manse<\/em> describing the memorial as \u201ca humbler token of the fight, more interesting than the nearby granite obelisk\u201d with a grave \u201cmarked by a small, moss-grown fragment of stone at the head, and another at the foot.\u201d As records of the battle are scare, it is difficult to know for certain the identity of the two British soldiers buried here.<\/p>\n

A granite post and chain were installed by the town in 1877. In 1910, a marker, inscribed with a section of James Russell Lowell\u2019s poem \u201cLines,\u201d written after a visit to the site with Hawthorne in 1849, was added.<\/p>\n

The grave is cared for by Minute Man National Historical Park<\/a> (National Park Service) in partnership with the Town of Concord. Each April, on the annual commemoration of the battle, it is decorated in a ceremony conducted by British reenactors.<\/p>\n

The inscription reads:<\/p>\n

Grave of the British Soldiers<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThey came three thousand miles, and died,<\/em>
\nTo keep the Past upon its throne;<\/em>
\nUnheard, beyond the ocean tide,<\/em>
\nTheir English mother made her moan.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

April 19, 1775<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t
\n\t\t\tThis story is featured in <\/em>How<\/span> We<\/span> Remember<\/span>: Monuments, Memorials & Markers in the Freedom\u2019s Way National Heritage Area<\/strong>, part of our semiquincentennial initiative, Freedom’s Way 250<\/a>, made possible with support from the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati and the National Park Service.<\/em>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Established in 1724, Arlington\u2019s Old Burying Ground lies behind the First Parish Unitarian Church in the center of town. The earliest gravestones date to 1736 and most of those buried that year were children.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":20001,"template":"","tag":[64,92,113],"class_list":["post-20000","place","type-place","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-revolutionary-stories","tag-historic-sites","tag-monuments-memorials"],"acf":{"website_url":"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/places\/grave-of-british-soldiers-at-the-north-bridge.htm","vw_url":"https:\/\/freedomsway.visitwidget.com\/places\/grave-of-the-british-soldiers","location":"Monument Street, Concord, MA","slider":false,"select_experience":[{"ID":1864,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2021-09-01 17:34:03","post_date_gmt":"2021-09-01 17:34:03","post_content":"","post_title":"Places to Go","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"places-to-go","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2021-09-01 17:34:03","post_modified_gmt":"2021-09-01 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