Lt. Ebenezer Munroe

1752 - 1825  (73 years)

• Name	Ebenezer Munroe  [1, 2, 3]
  Prefix	Lt.
  Born	19 Apr 1752	Lexington, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, USA   [3]
  Gender	Male
  Died	25 May 1825	Ashburnham, Worcester Co., Massachusetts, USA   [4]
  Person ID	I1186	Munro
  Last Modified	14 May 2008

  
  

  Father	Lt. Jonas Munro,   b. Abt 1707, Lexington, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, USA ,   d. 7 Nov 1765, Lexington, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, USA  (Age ~ 58 years)
  Mother	Rebecca Watts,   b. 17 Apr 1727, Chelsea, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts, USA ,   d. 9 Mar 1799, Ashburnham, Worcester Co., Massachusetts, USA  (Age 71 years)
  Married	Marriage int. dated 7 Feb 1751 [5]
  Family ID	F1389	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Lucy Muzzey,   b. Abt 1762, , , Massachusetts, USA ,   d. 28 May 1839, Ashburnham, Worcester Co., Massachusetts, USA  (Age ~ 77 years)
  Married	10 May 1781	Woburn, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, USA
  Children	+ 1. Charles Munroe,   b. 12 Sep 1781, Ashburnham, Worcester Co., Massachusetts, USA ,   d. 27 Oct 1834, Ashburnham, Worcester Co., Massachusetts, USA  (Age 53 years) + 2. Lucy Munroe,   b. 21 Mar 1783, Ashburnham, Worcester Co., Massachusetts, USA ,   d. 3 Apr 1833, Fitchburg, Worcester Co., Massachusetts, USA  (Age 50 years) + 3. Ebenezer Munroe,   b. 25 Feb 1785, Ashburnham, Worcester Co., Massachusetts, USA ,   d. 31 Jul 1844, Westminster, Worcester Co., Massachusetts, USA  (Age 59 years) + 4. Jonas Munroe,   b. 27 May 1790, Ashburnham, Worcester Co., Massachusetts, USA ,   d. 9 May 1849, Rindge, Cheshire Co., New Hampshire, USA  (Age 58 years) + 5. John Munroe,   b. 4 Oct 1793, Ashburnham, Worcester Co., Massachusetts, USA ,   d. Yes, date unknown   6. Rebecca Munroe,   b. 7 Jun 1798, Ashburnham, Worcester Co., Massachusetts, USA ,   d. Yes, date unknown   7. Herrick Munroe,   b. 1 Nov 1801, Ashburnham, Worcester Co., Massachusetts, USA ,   d. 14 Dec 1844  (Age 43 years)
  Last Modified	20 Jan 2009
  Family ID	F552	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Ebenezer was a member of the Lexington minute men, ready to do battle on the 19th of April in freedom's cause. He was wounded in the elbow in the morning, but mounted his horse riding from town to town, alarming the people and rousing them into action, until too exhausted by the loss of blood. He claimed to have fired the first gun on the American side. The testimony of others proved that he did return the fire. He performed other duties in the Revolution, being one of those who joined the campaign in the Jersey's in 1776. At the close of the war he moved to Ashburnham, Massachusetts, where he was a lieutenant. A deposition made by Ebenezer on 2 Apr 1825 reads: I, Ebenezer Munroe, of Ashburnham, in the county of Worcester and the common- wealth of Massachusetts, in the seventy-third year of my age, on oath depose and say, that I was an inhabitant of Lexington in the county of Middlesex in the year 1775; that, during the night of the 18th of April of that year, I was alarmed by one Micah Nagles, who stated that the British troops were on their march from Boston, and that Lieutenant Tidd requested myself and others to meet on the common as soon as possible. I accordingly repaired to the common, the usual place of parade, where I found Captain Parker, and, I should think, about forty of the company had collected. The weather being rather chilly, after calling the roll, we were dismissed, but ordered to remain within call of the drum. The men generally went into the tavern adjoining the common. In the mean time, persons were sent towards Boston to get some intelligence, if possible, of the regulars. The last person sent was Thaddeus Bowman, who returned between day-light and sun-rise, and informed Captain Parker, that the British troops were within a mile of the meeting-house. Captain Parker immediately ordered the drum beat to arms. I was the first that followed the drum. I took my station on the right of our line, which was formed from six to ten rods back to the meeting-house, facing south. About seventy of our company had assembled when the British troops appeared. Some of our men went into the meeting-house, where the town's powder was kept, for the purpose of replenish- ing their stock of ammunition. When the regulars arrived within eighty or one hundred rods, they hearing our drum beat, halted, charged their guns, and doubled their ranks, and marched up at quick step. Captain Parker ordered his men to stand their ground, and not to molest the regulars, unless they meddled with us. The British troops came up directly in our front. The commanding officer advanced within a few rods of us, and exclaimed "Disperse, you damned rebels! you dogs, run! Rush on my boys!" and fired his pistol. The fire from their front ranks soon followed. After the first fire, I received a wound in my arm, and then, as I turned to run, I discharged my gun into the main body of the enemy. As I fired, my face being toward them, a ball cut off a part of my ear locks, which was then pinned up. Another ball passed between my arm and body, and just marked my clothes. The first fire of the British was regular; after that, they fired promiscuously. As we retreated one of our company, Benjamin Sampson, I believe, who was running with me, turned his piece and fired. When I fired, I perfectly well recollect taking aim at the regulars. The smoke, however, prevented my being able to see many of them. The balls flew so thick, I thought there was no chance for escape, and that I might as well fire my gun as stand still and do nothing. I am confident, that it was the determination of most of our company, in case they were fired upon, to return fire. I did not hear Captain Parker's orders to his company to disperse. When the British came up in front of the meeting-house, Joshua Simonds was in the upper gallery, an open cask of gunpowder standing near him, and he afterward told me, that he cocked his gun and placed the muzzle of it close to the cask of powder, and determined to "touch it off," in case the troops had come into the gallery. After our company had all dispersed, and the British troops had done firing, they gave three cheers. After they had marched off for Concord, we took two prisoners who were considerably in the rear of the main body. I carried their arms into Buckman's tavern, and they were taken by some of our men, who had none of their own. I believed at the time, that some of our shots must have done execution. I was afterward confirmed in this opinion, by the observations of some prisoners, whom we took in the afternoon, who stated, that one of their soldiers was wounded in the thigh, and that another received a shot through his hand. Ref: Clan Munro files - Coombs, Judith - Elder, Charlotte - Mady, Ashley Nicole - Yard, Prof. F. L. Dixon Mackenzie p. 564 places Ebenezer as a child of Jonas and his first wife, Joanna Locke. Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA [6]

  
  

• Sources

  [S247] History of the Munros of Fowlis, Alexander Mackenzie, M.J.L., (Published in Inverness, Scotland by A & W Mackenzie (1898)), p. 564, 570 (Reliability: 3). [S354] Clan Munro files - Moore, Paul Arlon, Paul Arlon Moore, Membership application for Paul A. Moore dated 23 Aug 2004 (Reliability: 3). [S100] Lexington Munroes, Richard S. Munroe, (privately published in Florence, Massachusetts (1986)), p. 16 (Reliability: 3). [S247] History of the Munros of Fowlis, Alexander Mackenzie, M.J.L., (Published in Inverness, Scotland by A & W Mackenzie (1898)), p. 570 (Reliability: 3). [S100] Lexington Munroes, Richard S. Munroe, (privately published in Florence, Massachusetts (1986)), p. 15 (Reliability: 3). [S247] History of the Munros of Fowlis, Alexander Mackenzie, M.J.L., (Published in Inverness, Scotland by A & W Mackenzie (1898)), p. 564 (Reliability: 3).