 William Stacy was an active revolutionary from the beginning of the American Revolutionary War . By one account , he entered service on April 19 , 1775 , the day of the Battles of Lexington and Concord , and the opening day of the war . Another account has William Stacy rallying the militia at his home village of New Salem , in the western portion of the colony , on April 20 , 1775 upon receiving the news of Lexington and Concord . A memorial plaque was dedicated to Colonel Stacy in 1956 on the village common of New Salem . The story reflected on the plaque has been handed down for generations beginning with an early history in 1841 , and was included in the publication of the New Salem Sesquicentennial Committee in 1904 . The inscription on the plaque reads : 
