the Chaplain of the Revolution
Pat Williams
of John Hancock , and he farmed sixty acres in addition to his duties as the shepherd of his Christian flock . Clarke was a community leader as much as a spiritual leader , and he regularly denounced tyranny and extolled liberty from his pulpit . He offered his church as a meeting place for revolutionary leaders — and he offered his home as a place of refuge .
The Lexington militia was headed by Captain John Parker , one of Clarke ’ s deacons . When word went out that the British regulars were coming , Parker assembled his militiamen on the lawn of the church and had them load their guns . When it was time to assemble on Lexington Green , the signal was given by the staccato beat of drums and the pealing of church bells , rung by Clarke .
The militiamen demonstrated Christian restraint . They had been taught by Clarke to shoot only in self-defense . They held their fire until they heard the shot from an unidentified gun . Historian George Bancroft records what happened next .
“ In the disparity of numbers , the common was a field of murder , not of battle ; Parker , therefore , ordered his
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