Grave of British Soldier in Ye Old Burying Ground

A gravestone flanked by British flags in Lexington’s Old Burying Ground is a memorial to a British soldier who was wounded on April 19, 1775. While the identity of the soldier is not known, several wounded British soldiers were left at Buckman Tavern near the town common as their forces retreated to Boston.

Joseph Fiske, Lexington’s town doctor, recorded a bill for seven wounded soldiers he treated at Buckman Tavern the day after the battle. This soldier was likely one of them, but succumbed to his wounds in the following days. The simple granite slab was erected by the Lexington Historical Society in 1905.

The inscription reads:

THE GRAVE
OF A BRITISH SOLDIER,
WOUNDED APRIL 19,
DIED IN BUCKMAN TAVERN
APRIL 22, 1775.