Text Box:      London Gets the News of Lexington and Concord             Thanks to John Derby When the Battle of Lexington and Concord ended the redcoats had lost over 270 men. The Minutemen’s losses were closer to 90. While neither the British nor the Americans realized it at the time, the American Revolution had begun.    No sooner had the dust settled than argument broke out over who had fired the first shot. The Americans were convinced that General Gage would want to send word to England giving his version of the battles. While the events at Lexington and Concord had clearly escalated the antipathy between Britain and the colonies, many Americans still hoped to avoid an all-out war. To do this, they could ill afford to have Gage's version of Lexington and Concord reach England before theirs did. If they were to counteract Gage's version, they needed to have their version get to England first. The Provincial Congress of Massachusetts met three days after the battles to appoint a committee to go to Lexington and Concord to take depositions, from which an accurate account of the events would be written and sent to England on the first ship from Salem.    While the committee did its work the leaders of the Provincial Congress went about finding a vessel. Richard Derby, the wealthy Salem shipping merchant, offered the use of one of his vessels, the schooner Quero. He also volunteered his son John to command the ship, and to serve as diplomatic courier to carry the dispatches to England. John was the brother of Richard's more famous son, Elias Haskett Derby, the man who would one day become America's first millionaire..    John Derby immediately began recruiting a crew for the sleek 62-ton Quero. The sailors were told only that the mission was one of absolute secrecy. No one but Derby knew the destination until the ship was out at sea. The only thing they were told was that the mission was of a patriotic nature on behalf of the Provincial Congress. One sailor, on boarding, claimed he'd heard a rumor that the Quero was en route to Lisbon.    The depositions took a few days to complete, as the committee members strove for completeness so as not to be faulted for inaccuracy or distortion of the facts. They wanted to include the accounts of all possible eyewitnesses. The members of the Provincial Congress began to worry about the time this was taking and many grew impatient, fearing that valuable time was being lost by this excessive attention to detail.    Then word reached the Provincial Congress that the report of British Lieutenant-Colonel Smith was being carried by a Lieutenant Nunn on the ship Sukey that had sailed to England on the 24th of April. This confirmed the worst fears of many members of the Provincial Congress. Was it already too late? Perhaps, but they still had to try. The Quero was considered sleeker and faster than the Sukey. Fortunately, the committee completed its report just as some members of the Provincial Congress were on the point of sending anything, just to get to England before Nunn. An address to the people of Great Britain was written clearly setting forth the grievances of the Colonists, stressing that their devotion to the King was in no way diminished by the expression of these complaints. "Nevertheless," it added, "to the persecution and tyranny of his cruel ministry we will not tamely submit."     The Provincial Congress also addressed a letter to Benjamin Franklin, its Colonial Agent in London, urging him to arrange for the immediate printing and dispersal of the address and the depositions throughout every town in England. A special request was also made to communicate the address and depositions to the influential Lord Mayor of London.    On April 27, 1775, the Provincial Congress directed Captain Derby to sail to Dublin or any other port in Ireland and from there to go to Scotland or England and on to London with all due haste. This circuitous route was ordered so that Derby and his ship could avoid detection by the British Navy or any other enemy officials who might try to interfere with the mission.    The following morning the Quero set sail out of Salem. Captain Derby carried with him the letter from the Provincial Congress, the depositions, and several other documents, which explained the event of the 19th. He also carried several copies of the Salem Gazette, which contained a detailed account of the events at Lexington and Concord.    Once out to sea, Captain Derby resisted the temptation to reveal the destination to his crew. He didn't tell them they were going to England until they'd reached the banks of Newfoundland.    The trim Quero was fortunate in benefiting from a following wind much of the way across the Atlantic, and they reached the coast of Ireland sooner than any of them had expected. The crossing was exceptionally fast for the time, and Derby and Brigham began to hope that, despite having left Massachusetts four days after the larger, but slower Sukey, they still might have a chance at reaching London first. Of course, the thought did occur to them that the Sukey might also have had the benefit of a following wind, but they knew the Quero was an inherently faster ship, so they remained optimistic that they at least had a chance.    It was on reaching the Irish coast that Derby made the first of what proved to be several lucky—or wise—decisions, depending on which you prefer to believe. His instructions were to head for the nearest port in Ireland and from there to find his way to Scotland or England, and then on to London. Since leaving Salem he'd thought of nothing else than the implications of arriving in London too late. Now, with the benefit of the Quero's swift crossing, he realized that, if he gambled and ignored Dublin and headed directly for the English Channel, they might reach London first. While he'd made excellent time crossing the Atlantic, he still had no way of knowing if he'd beaten the Sukey. Prudence told him that he was probably behind, so he had little to lose by heading straight for the Channel.    On May 27 the Quero dropped anchor off the Isle of Wight, just 29 days since leaving Salem. Captain Derby collected his documents and proceeded to Southampton on the mainland. Before leaving the ship he instructed one of his officers to take the ship to Falmouth and to wait for him there ready to set sail on a moment's notice. Upon reaching Southampton, Captain Derby inquired if anyone had heard of the fighting at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts Bay Colony. The answer was a resounding no. No one had heard a thing about the conflict. Derby couldn't believe his ears. Could it be that the Quero had beaten the Sukey? The possibility only heightened his sense of urgency, and he immediately paid for a seat in a post-chaise headed for London, even though it was Sunday. His Puritan conscience told him he shouldn't travel on the Sabbath. At each stop along the way he made the same inquiry, and each time he received the same answer, "No, we've heard nothing of it."    London was eighty miles away, and Derby traveled all-day before reaching London, tired, but eager to meet with Dr Franklin. He went directly to Franklin's home and was told that Franklin had returned to America and that Arthur Lee had taken his place.    Derby hurriedly filled in Lee as to what had happened and then handed over the dispatches he'd brought with him. Lee fully grasped the significance of what he'd been told and sent Captain Derby to Lord North, the prime minister. Derby spent two hours with Lord North, a man who inwardly felt that he didn't have the heart to wage war against British provincials. He'd tried more than once to resign, but King George wouldn't hear of it. In the meantime, Lee went about arranging for the printing and distribution of the address.    By the following afternoon, London became aware that there had been an armed conflict between British troops and American Colonials and that a number of men on each side had been killed. Runners were posting handbills on street corners, and the British public was for the most part sympathetic to the Provincials. Opinion had swung back in favor of the Americans after the brief negative reaction to the Tea Party just a year ago.    Sentiment against the government ran strong. British officials tried in vain to turn the tide of public opinion against the Americans, claiming that the story brought to England by Captain Derby was not to be believed. Handbills and cards were distributed denying the accuracy of what the Americans claimed had occurred. Arthur Lee responded with handbills and cards of his own and referred doubters to the Mansion House of the Lord Mayor where affidavits affirming the account were available for all to see.    The Privy Council had Captain Derby brought in for a lengthy examination. Derby handled himself well and left many convinced of his honesty and integrity. Some were even inclined to accept the accuracy of his report. Some but not enough.    British government officials had for years misjudged the situation in the American colonies, and this time was no exception. The most cynical of the ministers considered the American colonies insolent provincials who needed to be taught a lesson. The most sympathetic ministers hoped that the outbursts on the other side of the Atlantic were little more than the frustrations of immature settlements lashing out from time to time when they didn't get their way. Perhaps it was arrogance. Or perhaps the vast distance. Whatever it was, neither group fully appreciated the significance of the conflict at Lexington and Concord—that it marked the beginning of what the Provincials would call the American Revolution. □                  

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