MA, USA
Jonathan Harrington
1727–1775 · Militiaman · Farmer
1727–1775
Militiaman · Farmer
Jonathan Harrington lived in a house facing Lexington Green. When he joined his neighbors in militia formation that morning, his family could have watched from their windows.
During the British volley, Harrington was shot through the body. Mortally wounded, he reportedly crawled across the Green toward his home. His wife Ruth watched as he dragged himself to their doorstep, where he died at her feet.
This image—a man dying within sight of home, reaching for his family—became one of the battle's most poignant symbols. It personalized the sacrifice: this was not abstract warfare but neighbors dying in their own community, watched by those who loved them.
Harrington's death was commemorated in various artistic depictions of the battle. His home no longer stands, but its approximate location is marked near the Green.
In Lexington
- Apr 1775Battle of Lexington(Militiaman)
The first military engagement of the American Revolution. Approximately 77 Lexington militiamen, led by Captain John Parker, assembled on Lexington Green before dawn to face the approaching British column of about 700 soldiers under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith and Major John Pitcairn. As the British formed up and demanded the militia disperse, a shot was fired—by whom remains unknown. In the ensuing chaos, the British fired volleys into the militia. Eight Americans were killed (Jonas Parker, Samuel Hadley, Jonathan Harrington, Robert Munroe, Isaac Muzzey, Caleb Harrington, John Brown, and Asahel Porter) and ten wounded. Only one British soldier was injured. The brief, lopsided engagement lasted perhaps ten minutes, but its consequences were revolutionary.
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