The 'Old Men' of Menotomy

Knowing that Percy and his troops would need to cross one of their bridges, the selectmen of Cambridge ordered the removal of the planks. Since the planks were only removed to a spot beside the river, Percy and his troops were able to cross, but the supply wagon was significantly delayed. Separated from the main column advancing ahead, the small groups of soldiers and their wagon became a vulnerable target.1 A message was sent ahead to Menotomy, alerting those remaining there that the wagon was on its way. 

Sources disagree about the actual leader of the group, crediting both the Chelsea Reverend Dr. Payson and David Lamson, a multiracial man from Menotomy.2 Both men were part of a group of approximately a dozen ineligible men who met at Cooper’s Tavern shortly after learning of the supply wagon’s anticipated arrival. Though ineligible for participation with the militia that day, the group included several individuals, including Lamson, who had engaged in active service during the Seven Years’ War. 

While the Patriots gathered the supplies and led the wagon to a place of safety, the British soldiers fled. Smith provides further details about the actions of the British soldiers after the initial conflict, which has been recorded by subsequent historians over time. Samuel Abbott Smith credits Dr. Benjamin Cutter as the source of information for his account. The soldiers, according to Smith, fled to Spy Pond where they disposed of their weapons. While there, they encountered an elderly woman, who was gathering dandelions, to whom they supposedly surrendered themselves. Leading them to the home of local militia captain, Ephraim Frost, Mother Batherick is purported to have said to the soldiers, “‘If you ever live to get back, you tell King George that an old woman took six of his grenadiers prisoners.’”4

The capture of the supply wagon is one of the very few incidents from Menotomy that made publication in the provincial newspapers published in the days after April 19, 1775. The Massachusetts Spy included the following narrative in one of the first publications to describe the battles of that day: “Whilst this was transacting a few of our men at Menotomy and, a few miles distant, attacked a party of twelve of the enemy, (carrying stores and provisions to the troops) killed one of them, and took possession of their arms, stores, provisions, etc. without any loss on our side.”5 Subsequent narratives have largely relied on these initial newspaper reports. While a marker remembers these individuals as the ‘Old Men of Menotomy,’ the full picture of their identities deserves further attention. Lamson, for example, was a multiracial individual, who was reportedly of Indigenous descent. Thus the capture was not just the first in the American Revolutionary War, it was accomplished with the assistance of a Patriot of color- a group often marginalized within the historical record. 

The story of Mother Batherick, however, remains less supported among contemporary accounts. The first mention of Mother Batherick occurs within Smith's West Cambridge 1775. Smith suggests that the story of Mother Batherick was widely spread amongst the English: “The squib went the rounds of the English opposition papers, ‘If one old Yankee woman can take six grenadiers, how many soldiers will it require to conquer America?’".6 Yet, historians since Smith have not been able to uncover any documents which support this claim, seeking both private and public correspondence. While the story itself is inspiring, it is largely unsupported based on the evidence. It is notable that Benjamin and William Cutter omit this specific event from their History of the Town of Arlington, published in 1880. Furthermore, while Batherick was supposedly a short distance from the main road, her location does not fully align with the vast majority of accounts, which suggest that women and children found shelter at greater distances from main roads. Additionally, even if the woman had not taken shelter at another home, it is somewhat suspicious that the woman would be engaged in gathering dandelions by the banks of Spy Pond during a moment of such great alarm.