Exhibition Review

"Battle Road 2000." Organized by Battle Road Committee and Lexington 2000 Commission.

It has become a commonplace to note that historical sites develop histories of their own, as different constituencies constantly redefine the meaning of past events and negotiate their own positions in the commemorative landscape. Recent events celebrating the 225th anniversary of the start of the American Revolution demonstrated those dynamic processes of remembering the past and showed how one group has used the medium of public performance to make a claim for its particular interpretation of history at the iconic sites of Lexington and Concord.	1
Local traditions have long marked the events of April 19, 1775, when British regulars first encountered organized military resistance from colonials. Every twenty-five years, the usual civic parades, reenactments, and ceremonies on Patriots' Day are expanded by organizers seeking to reach a broader, often national audience. The impetus for a large-scale celebration for April 2000 came from a coalition of regional Revolutionary War reenactors who convened a "Battle Road Committee" and spent three years in intensive fund raising and planning for what they billed as "the largest Revolutionary War reenactment ever."	2
The centerpiece of the weekend was a mammoth outdoor performance re-creating the daylong running battle between the British regulars and colonial militiamen. Beginning at dawn on Lexington Green, the reenactors traveled (a few on foot, most by military transport provided by the National Guard) to North Bridge in Concord, then to four other sites in Lincoln and Lexington, staging what were in effect six connected reenactments in a twelve-hour period. The setting encompassed much of Minute Man National Historical Park, the downtown areas of both Concord and Lexington, and several miles of busy roads in Boston's affluent northwestern suburbs. The more than 1,500 reenactors included enough in British uniform that it was possible to portray the redcoats' column at almost its original strength of 700 men. Peripheral events included reenactments of Paul Revere's ride and capture the night before the battle, a host of musical and interpretive presentations at sites throughout the area, and a rededication of Lexington Battle Green, which used Civil War reenactors to help re-create the centennial celebration of 1875. Good weather and efficient publicity resulted in crowds of over a hundred thousand spectators.	. . .