Before marching to the 2019 Commemoration of the North Bridge Fight in Concord, the Boxborough Minutemen marched to the Old Burying Ground in Boxborough to read the names of the men from Boxborough District who marched on the alarm of 19 Apr 1775.
17 of the men read out are relatives. Thank you to the Boxborough Minutemen for honoring all that marched and keeping alive the story of that day.
By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Hymn: Sung at the Completion of the Concord Monument, 19 Apr 1836, a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.
The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.
On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set to-day a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.
Spirit, that made those heroes dare,
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.