West Point graduate shares excitement of being Battle of Lexington re-enactor

LEXINGTON – As the Lexington Minute Men prepare to re-enact the Battle of Lexington and Concord this weekend, one Army veteran reflected on why he participates.

Steve Delity, a 1985 United States Military Academy graduate, moved to Lexington, Massachusetts, in 2007.

“I went to the re-enactment that year, and it profoundly moved me,” he said. “I was honored and humbled to be on the ground where it all began. I gained a deep appreciation for the courage the Lexington Militia had to stand up to the advancing British troops.”

He attended every re-enactment in Lexington since then and joined the Lexington Minute Men company last fall.

“I didn’t join early because I didn’t think I could devote the necessary time, but my children are now grown, and my appreciation for what happened in Lexington has only expanded,” the former Army captain said. “Last summer, a friend who’s in the group convinced me that joining was overdue and that I had time to join, get trained up and participate in the 250th anniversary events. I’m so grateful I finally joined.”

Daniel Harrington

Delity portrays Daniel Harrington. On April 19, 1775, Harrington, 36, was on Lexington Green. He served as the clerk of Capt. John Parker’s Lexington Militia Company, which stood their ground against British Regulars that marched toward Concord to seize weapons and gunpowder. Harrington saw three family members die that morning, his father-in-law, Robert Munroe, his cousin, Johnathan Harrington Jr., and another more distant cousin, Caleb Harrington. He and his wife, Anna Munroe, had nine children.

Harrington’s house faced the Village Green. His house no longer stands but during the re-enactment, Delity will start from the land where the house originally stood and retreat to the same property.

“I feel incredibly fortunate to portray someone who was there that morning,” he said. “I am committed to adding to what the company knows about his life. I’ve concentrated on learning more about what he did after April 19.”

Delity learned that Harrington served off and on in different militia units, the most notable was with a Massachusetts Regiment raised and sent to Saratoga, New York, to reinforce the Continental Army under Gen. Horatio Gates. His unit was in both major battles within the Battle of Saratoga.

He said when people are attending the Battle of Lexington and Concord events this weekend, he wants them to know just how honored the re-enactors are to represent the people who fought.

“I want them to know how truly honored I am, and we all are, to portray the common people of the day that had the enormous courage to defend their ground and set in motion the eventual Independence,” he said.

Camaraderie

Excited to relive the Battle of Lexington and Concord, Delity said training with the re-enactors has given him the sense of camaraderie he had when he served in the Army from 1985 to 1990 as a combat engineer in Korea and Fort Ord, a former Army post on Monterrey Bay, California.

“My fellow re-enactors have assisted me in getting my gear such as my authentic period clothing, musket and equipment and in learning the 1764 Manual of Arms that they use,” he said.

Delity said he looks forward to seeing the crowd reactions to their re-enactments.

“I look forward to it,” he said. “I recently marched with the LMM in Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. We stopped and fired our muskets more than 30 times during the parade. I was astonished by how loud the crowd roared and how frequently they went into chants of, ‘USA, USA.’ I can only imagine how I’ll feel after portraying the Militia that stood on the ground that fateful morning.”

Call to serve

Delity, a history buff, went to West Point, to serve his country, build lifelong friendships and earn a great education.

“It felt noble, serious and necessary,” he said. “I was patriotic. I knew I would be given responsibilities that I would have to live up to. I knew it would be good for me.”

He served in the 2nd Infantry Division in Korea and later in the 7th Infantry Division at Fort Ord in forwardly deployed combat engineer assignments, including the Western Corridor, Republic of Korea.

“My actions included conducting patrols in the [Demilitarized Zone], clearing a Korean War era minefield that was discovered by a Korean civilian farmer and demolishing with explosives an old bridge just south of the DMZ,” he said.

He learned that his military heritage included family that served in the Civil War and Revolutionary War.

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