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- A soldier in the Revolutionary War, a member of Capt. Davis' company fr om Acton, that marched to Concord on the memorable 19th of April, 1775. * T he inhabitants of Acton took a prominent part in the struggle for indep endence, and in 1775 there were three companies of militia. The pride o f the town, however, was the company commanded by Capt. Isaac Davis, an d ineluded the young men of that place. The captain was only thirty yea rs of age, a young man in the flush ofearly manhood. This company, of w hich David Forbush was a member, was paid by the town for drilling twic e a week, and was to be ready for dutv upon a moment's notice, and was k nown as the company of minute-men. Week after week during the long wint er months, the company met in some barn and practiced the art of war, t o he ready to stand in the breach and do honor to (heir town if the awf ul arbitrament of arms should come; but probably having little thought t hat a tilt at arms with the troops of King George was really imminent. O n the morning of April 19, 1775, before the dawn of day, a messenger ar oused the inhabitants of Acton to arms. When the sun was half an hour h igh Capt. Davis' minute-men were on their way to Concord, where they ar rived at the North Bridge at 9 o'elock; the company took the left of th e line of the provincial troops-he being the youngest captain-which wer e marshaled on the heights overlooking that spot. A hurried debate ensued. What they ought to do seemed uncertain. There w as no sure knowledge that the British had committed hostile acts. To go f orward might precipitate civil war, most of the officers objected. Capt . Davis had not a man who was afraid to go. Finally the orders were giv en to march and it is said Davis' company led the line. Near the bridge t he British fired into the town; the Americans continued to advance, the n came a shot or two, finally a volley, and Capt. Davis and Aimer Hosme r of the Acton company fell; the Americans returned the fire, and three o f the redeoats were killed and nine wounded. The fight continued until t he British retreated. It was here "By the rude bridge- that arched the flood, Their flags to April breeze unfurled; Here once the embattled farmers stood. And fired the shot heard round the world." According to the inscription on the monument at Acton, erected by the t own and State in honor of Capt. Davis and men. is this: "On the morning o f that eventful day (Apr. 19, 1775), the Provincial officers held a cou ncil of war near the old North Bridge in Concord; and as they separated D avis exclaimed, 'I haven't a man that is afraid to go,' and immediately m arched his company from the left to the right of the line, and led in t he first organized attack upon the troops of George III in that memorab le war which, by the help of God, made the thirteen colonies independen t of Great Britain, and gave polictical being to the United States of A merica."
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Puffer Genealogy
1739 - 1819 (79 years)