Benjamin Cutter, William R. Cutter, History of the town of Arlington, Massachusetts, ormerly the second precinct in Cambridge, or District of Menotomy, afterward the town of West Cambridge. 1635-1879 with a genealogical register of the inhabitants of the precinct.

[55] at Lexington Common; their men without any orders rushed on the Provincials, fired and put them to flight, and several of them were killed. They got behind walls and into the woods. The British had a man of the 10th Light Infantry wounded—nobody else hurt. The British then formed on the common with some difficulty—the men so wild they could hear no orders—waited a considerable time there, and at length proceeded to Concord—met with no interruption till within a mile or two of the town, where the country-people had occupied a hill which commanded the road; the light-infantry were ordered away to the right, and ascended the height in one line, on which the Yankees quitted it without firing, which they did for one or two heights more successively.—Four officers of eight at the Bridge were wounded (Lts. William Sutherland of 38th, Waldron Kelly of 10th—wounded again at Bunker Hill-Edward Gould of King's Own, and Edward Hall of 43d), three men killed, one sergeant and several men wounded.

Before the whole had quitted the town they were fired on from houses and behind trees, and before they had gone one half a mile were fired on from all sides, but mostly from the rear, where people had hid themselves in houses till we had passed, and then fired; the country was an amazing strong one, full of hills, woods, stonewalls, &c., which the Rebels did not fail to take advantage of; for they were all lined with people who kept an incessant fire upon us, as we did too upon them; but not with the same advantage, for they were so concealed there was hardly any seeing them: in this way we marched nine or ten miles, their numbers increasing from all points, while ours were reducing by deaths, wounds and fatigue, and we were totally surrounded with such an incessant fire as it is impossible to conceive; our ammunition was likewise near expended. In this critical situation we perceived the First Brigade coming to our assistance (4th, 23d and 47th Regiments, and a battalion of marines, with two fieldpieces, six-pounders). As soon as the Rebels saw this reinforcement, and tasted the field-pieces, they retired.¹ We formed on a rising-ground and rested ourselves; in about half an hour we marched again, and some of the Brigade taking the flanking parties we marched pretty quiet for about two miles; they then began to pepper us again from the same sort of places, but at an attack a greater distance.

We were now obliged to force almost every house in the road, for the Rebels had taken possession of them and galled us exceedingly; but they suffered for their temerity, for all that were found in the