Dakota Viking Sends: This is No ... (A DV Twofer)

Students in the Damage Control "A" School of the Naval Technical Training Center, Treasure Island,
fight a fire on a simulated flight deck during a training session.
(US Navy Photo)

So there I was … 

GQ called away …  Form up, lock down …  Trainers milling about …  “Missile hit in repair 5, JP-5 rupture(JP-5 is jet fuel!) Look through the “bullseye” in the door shows the “trainers” have covered the glass with a rag …  “Guess we have smoke” … 

Instructor on my side of the door says “Repair 5 is flooded with burning JP-5 …  They’re gone …  Watch’ya gonna do? “

I dig deep for my “voice”  …  “Get me A triple F (Aqueous film forming foam, for fighting class Bravo fires) (Liquid fuel) lined up to all nozzles!”

The trainer is writing notes …  I flake out a hose and thread it into a sounding tube fitting in the bulkhead above the water tight door to Repair 5. “A triple F on this hose Right Now!” We’re simulating flooding AFFF into the aft salad bar, (repair 5)

“Now We’re going to flood our area with Foam” up to our waists at least. Trainer scribbling more notes.

We go through the motions of “spraying” AFFF into our space, all under the quizzical eye of the trainer

Request goes out to Damage Control Central(DCC) to breach a Water Tight Door (WTD)  to attack the fire …  granted.

The waist high AFFF was to extinguish any burning fuel flowing into our space. I made that known to the trainer. The foam we were pumping into the space through the sounding connection would knock down some of the flames.

Two hose teams line up, “Get a 4’ applicator on Greg!” (He’d be opening the door to the burning compartment) #2 nozzle pushed his hose with applicator forward to create a water barrier between the breach man and the flames.

Clank … door open, press forward into the space (exactly like the picture, same door). Advance …  the training team finally notices us (un-expected again) “Fire & smoke” waving red and gray rags at us. “our trainer” still scribbling notes. “Fight” our way forward to the far corners of the space “covering “everything with foam. Fires out, secure from GQ … 

Next day was the “Mass Conflagration event.”

General Quarters! Get to the locker and set condition zebra, start to gear up … 

The trainers showed up in our locker area and passed out red and gray rags …  “Ok, you guys are good, today you are Fire and smoke. The main missile hit will wipe you out. We’ll direct you” With that we got to burn down half the ship … 

While “fun” I’d rather have been fighting the fire.

I had my name read over the 1MC (all stations) 3(?) times. My performance as an E-5 locker Chief was one of those times. Must have made an impression on someone.

1987, Naval Firefighting school, Treasure Island, San Francisco Bay.

So there I was …

We’d just watched “Fire on the Forrestal … learn or burn” “Trial by Fire” -

We went through the aircraft firefighting, burning vats of JP-5 under a “jet” mockup …  Wheee! Spray some foam, move on.

Now on to the Berthing fire …  fuel soaked pallets in a low roofed building, some how I was #1 nozzle, pushing into the flames, not really sure what was going on. Ok we knocked this down.

Now the briefing for the Boiler room fire.

Everyone on board ship is a firefighter … 

The Marine Detachment Lt. was joining the ship, and going through the firefighting training like everyone else. Short little Fireplug of a Marine, everything about him “Hard Core”. Poster Boy. No doubt he could have taken out half the class before the other half knew what was going on. The Instructors gave him some deference. Offered him #1 nozzle for the boiler room fire. Told him he could pick his #1 hoseman, He turned and surveyed the crowd of squids, his eyes were at my nipple height …  he looked up and saw my “High and Tight” nodded, pointed, and said “I want him” So there I was … 

We gear up, charge our OBA’s, climb up then down into the Boiler room dragging live hoses. I’m gripping the hose just behind the #1 nozzle (Marine Lt.) My job was to make it easier for him to maneuver the nozzle, like a dance, I had to feel and anticipate his movements. Can't. See. A. Thing. Vats of JP-5 burning real fire and real smoke …  they weren’t kidding …  this was a deadly environment.

Lt. is sweeping the nozzle, I’m helping him swing.

Suddenly he stops and jerks back on the hose a couple times, and closes the bail, shutting off the water!. The hose jumps in my hands. He turns, wide eyes lock onto mine! …  he pushes the nozzle into my hands. Exaggerated blink, slight nod, two slaps on my shoulder, and boom,  he’s gone out the side safety tunnel.

Shit!, I’m it …  I still have a hoseteam baking on the ladder above me. I have to advance and get them out of the furnace, or I start losing hosemen.

BRACE! Slam the bail back: hose blasts and jumps, hang on, that’s real fire! Spraying back and forth, step, step, sweep. The heat is REAL! Damn!

Trainer yelling in my ear, where to direct the water, I can’t see a thing. So much smoke,  can’t see anything … Swing the nozzle in the “right?” direction? So much confusion, just focus on what is in front, even if you can’t see it. Honestly, I never saw the last of the fires. The instructors had to tell me to stop, the fire was out … 

The post-training de-brief, The Marine Lt. had an OBA failure (He couldn’t breathe) Many possibilities for this, I’ve experienced it, you can panic. He didn’t. Breathing is good.

That’s why we train for this, he got to safety and passed the “fight” to the backup. Glad I never had to do it for real, you really don’t know what’s going on.

An Unexpected Journey

OAFS Photo

Now that I'm retired, The Missus Herself and Your Humble Scribe have a lot more flexibility as to going places and doing things than when I was a working man.

So when The Nuke asked us to "come on down" for unexpected trips out of town for her and Tuttle, we couldn't say no. No reason to do so.

The fact that we love Maryland didn't hurt.

So without a "by your leave" we packed up the car and headed south on Tuesday morning. Going from mid-60 to low-70° temperatures to 80° temperatures fast by the Chesapeake Bay. Believe me, I was surprised how much these old bones appreciated the higher temperatures.

OAFS Photo

Their house is a riot of blossoming things right now, in Little Rhody that was just starting up, here south of the Mason-Dixon line things are in full grunt, flower-wise.

OAFS Photo

Hope you all have been enjoying Dakota Viking's offerings, I have been. From the looks of things there will be more, DV has found his Muse. He has some great stories and he tells them well. Thanks, DV!

Now as some of you may recall, I was facing the prospect of having to cut my own grass this year (see this post). Even though the powers that be (The Missus Herself) authorized the purchase of a riding mower, the cheap sumbitch (that would be me) didn't want to spend the cash needed to purchase such a beast. That, coupled with the absence of a place to store the doggone thing, led to the purchase of a self-propelled mover of the "follow me!" variety.

For various reasons I decided to go electric on both a new mower and a string trimmer. Altogether the pair set me back over a grand, but I am very pleased with the results so far.

The two machines are so quiet I can actually hear myself think! (Hhmm, that may or may not be good, YMMV.)

After the long dormant tradition of the 最初 の 草刈り の 式典 (Ceremony of the First Mowing - first covered here), I found myself not as tired as I had expected to be. Seems, to me at any rate, that the loudness of the gasoline powered implements contributed mightily to the fatigue felt in former days after mowing the lawn.

So I've got that going for me.

But for now, it's Grandma and Grandpa Sarge watching the grandkids for a few days. Beautiful weather, precious grandkids, I'm content.

Be seeing you.

Dakota Viking Sends: Air Attack!

Watercolor painting by Dwight Shepler of the USS South Dakota in action with Japanese planes during the Battle of Santa Cruz which took place October 11-26, 1942.
Source

General Quarters! General Quarters! All hands man your battle stations! Air Attack!

Trotting (you couldn’t really run) pulling on his dungaree shirt, making his way down the passageway to the plant. Thud-booom … the 5” guns were starting up, God already? How close were those planes?

Down into the plant do a quick turnover with the junior watchstander and he scrambles off to his battlestation. Take an assessment of his watchstation … the Boiler fronts, He is now responsible for keeping the fires lit and steam pouring out to the main turbines , and the ships turbine generators for electrical power.

Check the stack periscope… still burning clean… the trick will be keeping a clear stack while changing burner sizes and forced draft blower speeds.

5” guns keep up a steady bass riff, the turbines whining out their one note song. Then the 40mm quad mounts open up like a snare drum.

They are close.

The deck shifts hard to starboard, the engine order telegraph rings out Back Full from ahead full… CRAP! things just went sideways… The basic version of what happens is a highly efficient high speed steam turbine has just been reversed into a much less efficient “backing engine”

“Torpedoes in the water!”… hence the breaks and turn …

The abrupt change from ahead to astern caused a dynamic change in temperatures and pressures in the steam system. The deaerating feed tank, hit with a slug of hot condensate and lower Aux steam pressure … Reached that point that all the water feeding the main feed booster pumps flashed to steam. Loss of feed!

The Main feed pumps tripped on low pressure, they had seconds …

Secure the Burners, stop the fire, without water the boiler tubes will melt, if water is returned to a hot empty boiler it’s a bomb …

Machinist Mates scramble to get feed restored, Pumps up, Pressure, slow, slow … His boilers are down, 20mm AA is now ripping out its staccato sound.

He might have heard the torpedoes whirr by but he was busy.

Engine order telegraph rings up “ahead flank” … Steam pressure is dropping fast.

Quick, like a bunny, pull a heavy burner out and grab a light spray starter nozzle…Slide in, lock in place, one quick look into the bullseye on the boiler and sees the back wall refractory is still glowing red … maybe … He slams open the fuel valve and the atomized fuel oil hits the hot refractory “THROOOM!” and blooms into a beautiful yellow flame. He’d just saved the time of a full lightoff procedure.

Cut in burner after burner, Pressure coming up nicely … Hard roll to port, speed up, Still calling Flank.

Pull the starter nozzle and start replacing “full” nozzles with “med” nozzles. Pressure good steady state steaming … except for the AA gunfire and crazy turns. He watches the color of the fire, temps. &press, and the smokestack periscope, to adjust combustion to optimal… at least until the load on the plant changed.

The .50 cals are firing now, they’re so close.

You can hear and “feel” bombs hitting farther away at other targeted ships. Our AA is firing nonstop, it’s even hard to pick out individual 5” gun shots, the noise is constant, a ripple of percussion. Hard to starboard! Deck tilting, Engine order telegraph rings “all stop” Quick! shutoff 2 burners and throttle back on the forced draft blower.

The two Med. Nozzles he just secured he replaced with full spray nozzles because he knew it was coming… He thought he heard high speed screws but wasn’t sure … “clang, clang” Ahead Flank!”

He cut in the full nozzles and watched his pressure. Down… steady… slow rise, swap a med for a full, crank up the blower, and ready the mediums again. Back to pressure … KRUMP! Shudder. Somewhere forward we got hit … Calls over the all stations of damage reports.

Hard starboard roll, AA never slowing down, “What was going on up there?!?”

He makes his way to the much needed coffee pot, fills his chipped and stained mug, takes a beautiful deep sip … and BOOOM shudder … another hit. Scan the boilers all’s well, another sip.

Chief comes by, they exchange basic info, (neither knows much of what’s going on) Chief wanders off to a watchstation that might need a little help.

Orders go out to start #11 turbine driven fire pump, we hardly ever run her, this might be serious.

The rumor mill kicks in, all sorts of terrible calamities were befalling us … boarded by IJN marines, IJN battleships in gun range, 4 IJN carriers attacking with all planes. The last one was the most plausible as our AA fire was insane.

The .50’s and 20’s slowed and stopped. We’re ahead flank no maneuvering. I shout out to the lower level watch to start the eductor and let’s get every bit of water out of the bilge … good for him he had started that right after we restored feed.

The 20mm AA started up again, another hard starboard, there go the .50’s … Close concussions and shockwaves. Lights flicker then go out. Battle lanterns are turned on. Duty Electricians swarm the switchgear readying a return of power. Adjust the burners and blowers for the sudden loss of load and get ready to bring the turbine generators up.

MM’s reset the turbine generators bring them up to speed and the electricians parallel the generator to the rest of the electrical system, online …

Slow roll to port, still Flank, Still every caliber AA gun is firing. Thuds, crumps, and thuds were heard and felt all over, from near misses to farther targets.

BOOM … shudder … we just took another hit.

Cut out a burner, watch the pressure … Cut the burner back in. Still slow rolling to port, still firing every AA gun. .50’s stop … 20’s stop …

Rudder midships, drop to ahead full. 40mm stop. 5” gunfire slows to a final ,spiteful twin burst … then the guns are silent. The plant is humming along nicely … Secure from General Quarters! Ahead standard … The junior watchstander returns and resumes his watch, The “senior” (by what 2 years?) goes back to berthing and crawls into his rack. He wrings the sweat out of his socks, and tries to find his cleanest dry t-shirt. He has a 6 hour watch coming  up two hours from now.

Dakota Viking Sends: A Sea Story (For Real!)

Source

Time for a Sea story?

So there I was … this ain’t no … (you know the rest).

“Number one nozzle! You just broke your leg! What do you do!?” Yelled the disembodied voice out of the dark and smoke.

“I’m down! Number one hoseman take over!” Voices always sounded strange in an OBA (oxygen breathing apparatus)

I slump to the deck, (didn't have far to fall as we always low “duck walked” the hoses) I held the Vary nozzle up to the hoseman shuffling forward, and proceeded to try and stay out of the way.

“Broken leg! You are panicking and fighting the men helping you!“

Me, "Okaaaay … here goes …"

I start thrashing and screaming stuff like “Get off me!, Don’t let me burn!” and forearm crawl (broken leg) to the ladder out. Never did see the voice in the smoke.

How did I get here?

First two Westpac deployments, Cold War before the breakup of USSR, for General Quarters I was in unit locker 53 one watertight bulkhead aft of repair Locker 5. Our unit locker was responsible for the area below the hangar deck, including the aft galley on 2nd deck, the machine, welding and motor rewind shops on the 3rd deck, and as needed assist the #2 main machinery room personnel as needed. (4th deck to the bilge).  

Constantly training at least one or 2 GQ’s a day. Can’t remember which training entity was testing us. But it was kind of a big deal.

“General Quarters, General Quarters, All hands man your battlestations. The route to GQ is as follows: up and forward starboard, down and aft port, Now GQ!” followed by the countdown to set condition Zebra … button the ship up and shut all water tight doors and hatches.

I arrive at the locker, and start the many ton armored hatch to #2 MMR on its way into place and dog it down, leaving the center scuttle open for stragglers into or out of the space.

Climb the ladder up to where the 2nd-3rd deck non-armored hatch was two other sailors are waiting for me to get clear, then they drop it into place (scuttle open) The guys from the MMR were supposed to drop the port side hatches.

Looks like we’re almost all here, time to dog down all the doors and scuttles left for access. We’re now locked in.  Locker officer LtJg. Taking a muster and takes his position at the damage control board near the phonetalker who was busy putting on his sound powered phone set.

I was throwing on an OBA when I heard the clank of a door shutting (shouldn’t be any open)

I gathered up my heavy thick firefighting gloves, Steel pot helmet (painted red), battle lantern and helmet light checked. Stepped out to see three officers wearing training armbands and talking with the locker officer

“Petty officer 'Viking'! We will be charging hoses! And running OBA’s with canisters!” Couple light grumbles. (A bitching sailor is a happy sailor).

I go to my “voice,” “Listen up! We will charge hoses!” more grumbles. “So, Nozzlemen, keep those bails shut, and don’t soak anyone that doesn’t deserve it.” Quiet chuckles.

Charged hoses meant a fight with the water weight and bending those stiff hoses through tight spaces.

OBA’s with canisters meant we’d be breathing dry chemical-smelling (tasting) air the whole time. Then having to manage the O2 production so the rubber “lung” bags didn’t overfill and stop the reaction, causing you to have to retreat to fresh air to “jump start” the reaction or get a new canister with a fresh “candle” in it. All while “fighting the fire”. Don’t ask about disposing of these hot awkward canisters.

The trainers dropped down a deck. Now we wait. Announcements of battle damage, one “missile?” hit near our locker.

“Scouts OUT!”

 Designated sailors started checking for “damage.”

Portside scout returns immediately without his fire extinguisher, “Smoke and fire in the weld shop!”

We start flaking out the hoses to attack across to the port side and down.

Starboard scout sprints up the ladder from the machine shop and pops out of the scuttle “Smoke! heavy smoke coming from the rewind shop!”

I bark out to Doug, (#2 Nozzleman), “Get your hose team to port and get a hose on those Oxy & acetylene bottles down there. Keep them cool with a 4’ applicator and set up another hose team. You lead the second down and hit the weld shop, I’ll set a second hose on this side and they can follow me down."

Electricians secured power to the spaces, we started charging hoses, fill slowly, get the kinks out, then shut the firemain isolation … the man said charged, not live.

Firing up our OBA’s now: lanyard tab flipped out, pull the cover off the foil seal, slide my hand down the side of the canister lanyard pops and dangles, shove the canister into place, quick last check of the mask seal, pull up the bail, fumble for the lanyard string, pull, snap, raise the lanyard up to the facemask and tap the lanyard to both see and hear the cotter pin, all in 15 seconds.

The smoke of the candle burns my nostrils until it goes out and the chemicals take over after a minute or so.

I turn on my headlamp and start down the ladder with my hose team. Nice, they have smoke machines.

Wrestling the hose and switching on the battle lantern on the deck at my feet. I squat down, heat rises, so while kicking the lantern along the deck in front of me, I advance quickly into the space to get my guys off the ladder.

Can’t see a thing, honestly the smoke was so thick I couldn’t see the light from the lantern or the nozzle in my gloves. My second team is clattering down behind us. (Where’s the training team? They usually watch our space entry.)

I get to the rewind shop’s open non-water tight door and smack into it with the nozzle I can’t see.

I think I hear “Oh shoot, oh fudge,” or something similar. I really think they thought it would take us longer to attack from two sides.

Out of the smoke, a voice. “Nozzleman, how well do you know this space? What is flammable in here?"

I gave a detailed inventory of what I’d remembered seeing the last time I’d been in there, where the shelves of insulating paper were, the rolls of wire, I told him my greatest concern were the vats of dipping varnish, told him there was a closet in the back corner with bales of rags.

Because I knew I aced his questions and couldn’t stop myself … added, “And from the sound of your voice, you are seated at the desk with the wooden top, next to the refrigerator.”

The silence was deafening.

I think that’s how I got there, or, it could have been planned.

Editor's Note: Almost nothing the Old AF Sarge loves more than a sea story. Especially when it's real! Thanks, DV!

Busy, busy, busy

Well….Since this past week has been something of a fiction writer’s club review here at Sarge’s Blog, I guess I better come up with some fiction. I like short stories so here goes.

I just won the lottery! 5 Brazzilion schmackers. I’m loaded!

The end.

Tolja it was fiction and a short story! And…I’m just pulling their legs. I’ve enjoyed their stories immensely and wish I had their talent. But…alas!

😉

Well...Screwed that one up badly.  Had today's post written on my computer, went to proof it on my iPad where I'd written an outline of what I wanted to post, but hadn't used that to write it.  Added a comment to that version and voila'!  My post was replaced.  Feces occurs!

So...As the song goes...Off we go!

 Porch

Made some progress on the rebuild of the porch, although it's been extremely windy around here (40 Knots day before yesterday) which makes handling a 10' x 1x6 extremely fun.  Thought I might get a solo flight again.  But, it did calm down a bit and progress was made.

 

Looks pretty good, just got that one post on the left to sheath, so soon, weather permitting (which is a big factor lately).

Gardening

Mrs J has gotten her green thumb back in season, so I have renewed my acquaintance with a shovel and the schlep and carry of 40 pound bags of mulch.   I've missed that sooooo much!

 

 

But the end result was pretty nice!

We did have a bit of a water problem.  Hard water and water valves have a difficult relationship.  I hate to waste water!

 

But, all in all, things are progressing.  Hope all is well with all y'all.  I promise next week I won't delete my post prior to posting.

No really! I promise!

He Is Risen!

John Blackshoe Sends: Serendipity History - Some context for the historic events of 250 years ago at Lexington & Concord.

Our great country has a lot of historic sites. Visiting those locations adds immeasurably to appreciation of where we are and how we got here.  Sarge’s recent visit to Gettysburg confirms that, but there are many places and their stories are often deeper than most people realize. Every American should visit those sites, preferably after studying the events or at least with an excellent tour guide who can explain the events. Feel free to recommend your favorite sites in the comments.

Concord’s North Bridge. Minute Man monument on far side. Provincial military supplies were stored a few hundred yards further right.  British casualties fell near where the photo was taken.

Author photo

The opening shots of the American Revolution were exchanged on 19 April 1775, first around sunrise on the village green of Lexington, Massachusetts and a few hours later at Concord’s North Bridge over the Concord River.  This is celebrated as “Patriot’s Day” in Massachusetts. But, there is a lot more history there than just the April 19th “shot heard around the world.”

Most Americans know the basics. British forces, which had been making practice marches out of Boston into the countryside, set off to seize military supplies the colonists had been accumulating in case they might be needed by the Militia to resist Royal forces.  A composite force of about 700 infantry and grenadiers was gathered from several different regiments, many freshly arrived and very few with any combat experience in their careers.  They used small boats to cross from the Boston peninsula to march toward Lexington & Concord. 

Their plans became known to the Patriots, and Paul Revere, James Dawes and others saw the signal lanterns in the Old North Church.  After 1860, Henry Longfellow’s poem popularized “Listen, my children, and you shall hear. Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere.” But Revere was only one of several riders who rode out into the countryside to spread the alarm to Minute Men companies.  These were select portions of the regular militia, mostly younger and energetic and expected to march instantly upon an alarm, while the regular militia would follow hours or days later.  Minute Men were a key part of Massachusetts militia back to nearly the earliest colonial times, not (as I had erroneously believed) something started in the early 1770s.

Minute Men assembled during the night and briefly confronted the Brits as they reached the town green in Lexington.  No one knows who fired the first shot, but there was an exchange of fire, leaving 8 colonists dead and 9 wounded.  Some Brits continued on to Concord where cannons, artillery carriages, flour, tents, gun powder and ammunition had been hidden.  Before the Brits arrived, locals moved most of the supplies, and destroyed some supplies which could not be hidden or moved in time.

Arriving at Concord’s North Bridge, about 100 Regulars guarded the south end of the bridge, with a small party continuing a few hundred yards past the bridge, to James Barrett’s farm, location of many of the supplies.  As the Brits worked destroyed supplies, nearly 400 Minute Men and Militia gathered nearby.  Here, three shots were fired by the panicking Regulars amidst contradictory orders from different officers.  Militia Major John Buttrick ordered “Fire, for God’s sake, Fire!” and the shots were heard around the world.  Two Americans were killed and four wounded, while three Brits were killed and nine wounded.  Barely regaining control the Brits retired expeditiously back through Concord towards Boston.

The “Old Manse” adjacent to the North Bridge, from which Rev. William Emerson and his family observed the events of April 19th, 1775. Initial grave site of the three British dead in foreground.

Author photo

By that time several thousand militia men from outlying areas were arriving along the path of the British retreat, and commenced a general harassment from the stone walls and wood lots along the route, adding to British losses.  Despite reinforcements from Boston, the Brits barely maintained discipline during the retreat under fire.  Arriving back in Boston this began the “Siege of Boston.” 

About 8 weeks after Lexington and Concord, the Brits tried another expedition from Boston, with a formidable force against newly constructed militia entrenchments on Breed’s/Bunker Hill on June 17th.  

Of the 3,000+ British engaged, 226 were killed and 828 wounded.  The roughly 2,400 patriots from all over New England engaged suffered 115 killed and 305 wounded. This was a pyrrhic victory for the Brits as the colonists held their ground against two charges by well trained professional army until they ran out of ammunition during the third attack and were forced to abandon their positions. The Brits soon returned to Boston, and Militia forces kept the Brits in place, bolstered by Henry Knox’s bold trip to Ft. Ticonderoga provided artillery to strengthen Colonial forces. 

Battle of Bunker Hill by Don Troiani, America’s premier military artist.
Source

Eleven months after Lexington and Concord, the Brits recognized the inability to hold Boston while besieged on all sides, and left for New York.  “Evacuation Day” on March 17, 1776, has been a state holiday in Massachusetts ever since. 

Rev. William Emerson’s “Manse” or “parsonage” was adjacent to the North Bridge, and he was more than just a bystander.  In mid March, he had given a fiery speech to Concord militia men:

"Arise! my injured countrymen! and plead even with the sword, the firelock and the bayonet, plead with your arms the birthright of Englishmen, the dearly-purchased legacy left you by your never-to-be-forgotten Ancestors..." (Source)

He had been Chaplain to the insurgent Massachusetts Provincial Congress, and became a chaplain in the Continental Army, dying from dysentery at age 33, on October 20, 1775 while on his way home from Fort Ticonderoga.  His widow remarried shortly afterwards to another minister, who then lived in the Manse.  

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) was grandson of Rev. William Emerson, and both had entered Harvard at age 14 and graduated when 18 years old.  Kids were smarter then, I guess. In 1834 Ralph moved to the Manse to assist his ailing step-grandfather, mere yards from the bridge site, although the bridge had been washed away.  Ralph was a prominent American writer, poet, lecturer, and philosopher who led the Transcendentalist movement in the mid-19th century. He was a Unitarian minister who left the ministry to pursue writing and public speaking becoming quite wealthy in the process. So, around 1842 he purchased a fancy house in downtown Concord.

In 1836 residents approved a marble obelisk at the bridge site, bearing the inscription below.

Monument erected at the North Bridge site in 1836.

Author photo.

The dedication ceremony included singing of “The Concord Hymn” written by Ralph Waldo Emerson, to the music of a popular tune of that era.

The Concord Hymn

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,

Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,

Here once the embattled farmers stood,

And fired the shot heard round the world.

Ralph Waldo Emerson - 1836

In 1842, the Manse was rented to author Nathaniel Hawthorne, who lived there for three years after his marriage. Emerson’s friend Henry David Thoreau prepared a garden for the Hawthornes.  Emerson supported Thoreau and encouraged him both in his trips on the Merrimac and Concord Rivers, and Emerson also owned the land containing Walden Pond.  After 1845 moved elsewhere and the Manse reverted to the Emerson-Ripley family until 1939 when it became a historic site, and it is open to visitors today.

Emerson was a poet, but the events of April 19th were personal to him. His family’s farm was adjacent to the famous bridge, where the British made their approach to seize military stores a few hundred yards across the bridge.  His poem was used again on the base of Daniel Chester French’s iconic “Minute Man” statue on the centennial of the April 19, 1775 events.

The Minute Man monument at Concord Bridge, bearing Emerson’s “Concord Hymn.”

British tourist¹ in front, pondering how a bunch of hick farmers could possibly have stood up to the world’s finest army 250 years ago.

Author photo.

Concord residents wanted a grand monument for the 1875 centennial of the events, and began planning several years in advance.  Daniel Chester French was a 21 year old sculptor from Concord and this was his first “big job.”  After a few attempts, his proposed “Minute Man” design was approved, and he prepared the full size model.  Originally intended to be made of marble, Congress approved donation of ten condemned bronze cannons which were then used by the Ames Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts to cast the seven foot tall statue. Ames was a leading manufacturer of all types of metal products for most of the 19th century.

The ceremonial unveiling of the statue featured President Grant and other dignitaries. Local author Louisa May Alcott attended, but was dismayed when denied participation in the parade as women required a male escort. Freedom was not quite universal yet.

The events of April 19th have been oversimplified into “government agents trying to seize private guns.” But, in reality that was merely the proximate cause. American unhappiness with the usurpations of their freedoms went back more than a decade. In 1765, struggling to pay debts from the Seven Years War (French and Indian War to the colonists) the Stamp Act was passed, but repealed after colonial protests.  In 1767 Boston was occupied to stifle unrest and enforce British rule.  In 1770 the “Boston massacre” took place where frightened soldiers opened fire killing five Americans.  (John Adams, later President, was a defense attorney for them.) In 1773, the Boston Tea Party interfered with British revenue collection under the Tea Tax. In 1774 Parliament responded with the Coercive Acts, closing the port of Boston and revoking the Massachusetts Charter. The locals set up an opposition government as the Provincial Congress and began stockpiling arms and military supplies.  These set the stage for confrontations on April 19, 1775.

Fighting escalated along the British retreat from Concord back to Boston, with lots of shots fired by both sides.  Many accounts were written at the time, and later, but memories and words are often imperfect or just fantasies.  Over the last few years, historian/archaeologists Joel Bohy and Doug Scott have done extensive research along “Battle Road” heading back to Boston resulting in a just released book, “Bullet Strikes From the First Day of the American Revolution.”

Source

Mowbray Publishing (located in Little Rhody) blurbs this as “Using forensic techniques straight out of CSI, the authors have located the surviving bullet holes and bullet-struck artifacts from the battle that started the American Revolution. Learn what these violent scars of conflict and patriotism can tell us about what really happened on that fateful day when the redcoats marched on Lexington and Concord. The whole route back to Boston, as the British fled their defeat at North Bridge, was riddled with musket fire. Dramatic scenes unfolded in places like Concord, Lincoln, Lexington, and Arlington that can still be visited today. The fighting turns out to have been much more fierce than had previously been thought, and this colorful new book tells the whole exciting story.”

 

Even better than the book is Joel Bohy’s description of their project and findings, a presentation which was captured on video about two weeks ago.  It will be released to the public on Ian McCollum’s outstanding Forgotten Weapons site on 23 May 2025.  It is a really interesting presentation, and carries the legacy of 250 years into today, and the future.  

“Murica, Yeah!”

Besides visiting the actual historic sites of the Lexington green and North Bridge, I highly recommend stopping at the Concord Museum.  They have quite a few April 19 related artifacts as well as some nice displays related to local history, including Ralph Emerson's library. All well worth seeing.  Ignore the occasional bit of wokeness they sneak into some of the displays. Emerson's fancy house is right across the street. 

And, as long as you are in the area, the fantastic American Heritage Museum, in nearby Hudson, MA, run by the Collings Foundation is truly superb. It is a must see for anyone who appreciates military history, especially tanks, aircraft or vintage cars, and worth several hours to fully appreciate. Sarge visited it five years ago when they first opened, and I suspect they have added a bit since then. Some of the occasional automated theatrical dramatic stuff is not to my liking, but YMMV.

 

¹ Jonathan Ferguson, Keeper of Firearms and Artillery at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, England.

Author's Note: History is written by the winners.  The losers have their own version of events on the highly recommended British National Army Museum website.