Lexington Battle Green Tour
Buckman Tavern
Stop 1
Buckman Tavern today
Buckman Tavern Tap Room
Early in the evening of April 18th, 1775, Elijah Sanderson raced breathlessly into the smoky taproom at John Buckman’s Tavern. He had news that armed British officers on horseback were patrolling the roads between Lexington and Boston. The Tavern would play a pivotal role in the earth shaking events of the next 24 hours.
Captian John Parker
The night before the battle, Lexington Militia Captain John Parker made Buckman Tavern his headquarters. As many as thirty members of the Militia may have spent the night here before facing the British at dawn.
John Hancock's Trunk
While militiamen were lining up on the Common, Paul Revere came to the Tavern on a mission to retrieve John Hancock’s trunk, full of secret papers that had to be kept from the British. Revere and Hancock’s secretary, John Lowell, carried the trunk from the tavern just moments before the Battle began.
Musket ball hole in the tavern’s door
During the Battle, the Tavern was in the thick of the fighting. British Lt. William Sutherland reported that three rebels fired at his men from a corner of the building. William Munroe saw one of his fellow militiamen fire at the Redcoats from the front of the tavern. A musket ball hole in the tavern’s original door, on display inside, offers testimony that the British fired back.
In Their Own Words:
“We went into Buckman’s tavern and inquired the news about the alarm. Some said the British were coming, others said they were not coming. In about fifteen minutes after we entered the tavern, a person came to the door and said the British were within half a mile. I then heard Captain Parker call his drummer and order him to beat to arms.”
--Robert Douglas of Woburn
“We went into Buckman’s tavern and inquired the news about the alarm. Some said the British were coming, others said they were not coming. In about fifteen minutes after we entered the tavern, a person came to the door and said the British were within half a mile. I then heard Captain Parker call his drummer and order him to beat to arms.”
--Robert Douglas of Woburn
Directions to next stop:
The next stop is the Captain Parker Statue, stop #2 on your map. To get there, turn around and cross Bedford Street using the crosswalk.
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