Page:History of Barrington, Rhode Island (Bicknell).djvu/414

 330 THE HISTORY OF BARRINGTON. doors, and hastened to the possible fray, while the compan- ies of men from Concord and Acton and other towns, v/ho stopped the British march at the historical bridge, were mus- tered-in the night before from the plough and farm duties, and by a night's march found themselves confronting the trained soldiers of the Crown at Concord Bridge, where, as says Emerson, " Once the embattled farmers stood, And fired the shot heard 'round the world." Every able-bodied man in the Colony, says Arnold, was required to equip for service. The militia of every town was organized and Simeon Potter of Bristol was made Major- General of the whole body. Firearms were manufactured in Rhode Island, and the companies were supplied with home made muskets. April 3, 1775, a general muster was held in every town in the State. In the County of Provi- dence, two thousand men, besides a troop of horse, were under arms. Bristol County was on duty under the com- mand of Colonel Nathaniel Martin of Barrington, and Major Benjamin Bosworth of Bristol. Our Barrington Company was in the field, with full ranks, under Captain Lieutenant Matthew Allin. Enthusiasm for war ran high and was uni- versal. The storm was in the air. "There was the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees." All ears heard the on-coming without fear, all hearts felt the stir of the coming blast in the ominous portents that preceded it, without tremor. Barrington had at this date, 1775, eighty- three effective men for service. Add to these six slaves and several men over sixty who entered the service and we have about one hundred men capable of doing military duty. We may and should always include in the possible Bar- rington militia, a number of men of Rehoboth (now East Providence), who enlisted in the Barrington Company and performed military service in Rhode Island regiments. In addition to the usual equipments of the town militia, the town had, in February, ordered Mr. Thomas Allin to wait