Perishing Three Thousand Miles From Home...

During the fighting that transpired at the North Bridge in Concord on the 19th of April 1775, the first British casualties of the American Revolutionary War occurred. As the continental Militia fired on the British as they were trying to take the bridge, three British regulars fell. These brave men died in battle, not while fighting to protect a cause they believed in, but because they were ordered to fight by their superiors. They were sent to the colonies from Britain; some three thousand miles from their homes and families, accross the Atlantic Ocean, aboard leaky wooden transport ships. They had no choice in the matter of if they fought or not; virtual slaves to the battle plans of Parliament and the King. Instead, they lined up in their ranks as they were told, and marched off to trade musket fire with an enemy that had every reason in the world to fight against them. Their counterparts weren't ordered to fight by some "king" or governmental body. They fought on their own accord; driven foward by their beliefs in the American cause. It is very sad to think of all the British soldiers that had fell during the American fight for independence. They didn't wish to be here. Surely they would have rather been in their own familar homes with their own loving families, than on a dirty smoke filled battlefield risking their lives in a war that they might not have necessarily agreed with. I think, as patriotic Americans; if ever stumbling upon one of these "Redcoated Warriors'" graves, we should take a moment to reflect on the bravery and dedication to King and Country that these men have proven to have had during a war they most likely didn't want to fight. In respect to those men, I offer up an "HUZZAH"!

The Graves of the British Soldiers that fell during the Battle at the North Bridge in Concord on April 19th 1775