Death on a Pale Horse (B)

On April 19, 1775, Hezekiah Wyman was celebrating his 55th birthday.  He was a French and Indian War veteran but too old to be included in the local militia.  Word came to his town of Woburn, Mass. about the gunfight at Concord that day and the subsequent movement of the British troops to Lexington.  Mr. Wyman was angered by the news because he had many friends and family in the area.  He gathered his rifle and gear and against his wife's wishes he took off on his white mare toward the British troops.

 

Mr. Wyman came face to face with the British troops and stopping about 250 yards away dismounted, took aim over the saddle of his horse, and fired, dropping his first redcoat.  Mr. Wyman would wait until the British were within range of him at about 100 yards and under a hail of gunfire ride out and set up again.  They became absolutely terrified of this one man, who's tall gaunt figure, long gray hair, and white mare, were so easily identifiable.  Mr. Wyman rode their flanks disappearing and re-appearing over the hills. When he stopped and dismounted the British knew there was nothing they could do except die because his aim was true.  David Hackett Fischer, author, wrote my favorite description of Mr. Wyman "a grim gray-headed messenger of mortality, mounted on death's pale horse." 

 

Mr. Wyman savaged the British all the way to Charlestown Neck where they had naval support.  He pursued them to the very boats they scrambled into to escape his deadly wrath.  Once the British soldiers were safely cowering aboard the HMS Somerset Mr. Wyman returned to his wife and home.

Letters recovered from British soldiers wrote of Mr. Wyman and his deadly marksmanship.  They referred to him as "Death on a pale horse."

 

An important note regarding Mr. Wyman's rifle; a major advantage that Whigs had against the British were their rifles and their marksmanship.  Gunsmiths in America were very common and they were very good at what they did.  The long rifles they produced were specifically designed for hunting, were lightweight, and could kill from over 200 yards in the hands of an experienced user.  In comparison, the British rifles and muskets effective range was approximately 100 yards, which gave the Whigs a tremendous advantage at range.  The downside was they took longer to load.