Meriam's Corner Events Held This Weekend
Images from the warm up to next week's Patriot's Day events in Concord.
When I moved to Concord in 1997 I was delighted to see beyond my back yard a reenactment of the battle at Meriam's Corner. The town of Concord holds the Meriam's Corner events on the Saturday before the Patriot's Day weekend. They held the battle reenactment every year, when the weather was good, culminating in 2000 when they held the 225th anniversary of the actual battle. That day over 200 reenactors from all over the US and Britain fought for the glory of their ancestors.
The battle ground was set up as the British Regulars took their time in retreating back to Boston after they were driven off the Concord's North Bridge by the assembled Patriots. By the time the British got to Meriam's Corner Patriot minutemen and militia men from surrounding towns were reaching Concord with the purpose of killing the British soldiers. They killed more than 200 British troops before being driven back by British reinforcements in Lexington.
Soon after the huge 2000 battle reenactment, the park service moved all the battle reenactments to the Saturday and Sunday before Patriots Day and they moved the battle site to the Minute Man Park grounds in Lincoln. The original Meriam's Corner battle reenactment grounds is conservation land owned by the town of Concord that is leased to a local farmer. This land is often wet and muddy in April.
The town of Concord still holds a parade at Meriam's Corner on that Saturday the week before Patriot's Day. The event is called the Meriam's Corner exercise. It servers of a “warm up” for the big Patriot's Day Parade held eight days later that travels from Concord Center to the North Bridge and back.
The Meriam's Corner Parade runs from Concord's Ripley School to the Meriam's house grounds and back. This property is the beginning of the Minute Man Park's Battle Run Trail that goes from Concord to the Minute Man Visitor Center in Lexington.
When the parade and spectators arrive at the house grounds there are patriotic speeches songs, fife and drum music, and musket and cannot fire demonstrations. This year the weather was just right.
