Patriots Day - a day late

I had intended to say something about Patriots Day when it was still Patriots Day, especially this year as the official state holiday (Massachusetts and Maine, anyway) which is one of those always on a Monday things actually fell on April 19 this year.

April 19 is Patriots Day, not because of the OKC bomb or the Waco inferno, but because of the Minutemen who, thanks to the timely warning system devised by noted silversmith Paul Revere, assembled at Lexington and Concord to prevent the regular army from seizing the military stores of the militia. This was the actual beginning of the armed conflict stage of the struggle for American independence.

That series of skirmishes on a chilly spring night in the British North American colony known as Massachusetts Bay was seen as the beginning of a significant war at that time. The Second Continental Congress established the Continental Army less than two months later and appointed George Washington of Virginia a major general and commander-in-chief of the army.

Patrick Henry had already made his famous speech to the Virginia House of Burgesses in favor of independence a month before Patriots Day and by August of that year was colonel commanding the 1st Regiment of the Virginia militia and led them in fighting troops loyal to Governor Dinsmore over war materiel.

General Washington took the initiative to send out armed ships to attack and capture British supply ships and Congress followed suit by establishing the Continental Navy in October. The following month, the first Marine Corps units were formed as naval infantry.

So, we had an army, a navy and war for them to fight months before we had a an official declaration of what it was they were fighting for - independence, and not merely a return to the status quo ante.