When word leaked out a week after the battle that Gage was sending his official description of events to London, the Provincial Congress sent a packet of these detailed depositions, signed by over 100 participants in the events, on a faster ship. This convoy was intercepted by a small party of older, veteran militiamen still on the "alarm list", who could not join their militia companies because they were well over 60 years of age. The colonial assembly responded by forming a Patriot provisional government known as the Massachusetts Provincial Congress and calling for local militias to train for possible hostilities. The unmounted militia would often fire from long range, in the hope of hitting somebody in the main column of soldiers on the road and surviving, since both British and colonials used muskets with an effective combat range of about 50 yards (46m). [79], Captain Laurie then made a poor tactical decision. [34], Around dusk, General Gage called a meeting of his senior officers at the Province House. So he sent a rider back to Boston with a request for reinforcements. [83], The colonists were stunned by their success. The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first battles of the American Revolutionary War. The Jason Russell House still stands and contains bullet holes from this fight. In April 1925, the United States Post Office issued three stamps commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Battles at Lexington and Concord. This lack of familiarity between commander and company would cause problems during the battle. Smith sent out his flanking troops again after crossing the small bridge.[91]. 354355. This system was so effective that people in towns 25 miles (40km) from Boston were aware of the army's movements while they were still unloading boats in Cambridge. Barrett ordered the Massachusetts men to form one long line two abreast on the highway leading down to the bridge, and then he called for another consultation. This page was last edited on 24 June 2023, at 00:35. [92] Smith's leading forces charged up the hill to drive them off, but the colonists did not withdraw, inflicting significant casualties on the attackers. American Revolution: Battles of Lexington and Concord - ThoughtCo [40] Although the Provincial Congress had organized local companies into regiments and brigades with designated commanders, units turned out piecemeal over the course of the day. The American militia were armed with muskets, blunderbusses and any weapons they could find. [132] Paintings portrayed the Lexington fight as an unjustified slaughter. Join Jim Percoco as he details the history behind "the shot heard 'round the world." Also check out the results of a recent archaeological project on the battlefield . "[83] At this point the lines were separated by the Concord River and the bridge, and were only 50 yards (46m) apart. The Battles of Lexington and Concord, also called the Shot Heard 'Round the World, were some of the leading military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. Seventy-three British soldiers were killed and over 200 were wounded. [93] At this place, the militia company from Woburn had positioned themselves on the southeast side of the bend in the road in a rocky, lightly wooded field. Jonathon Harrington, fatally wounded by a British musket ball, managed to crawl back to his home, and died on his own doorstep. [128], The day after the battle, John Adams left his home in Braintree to ride along the battlefields. The Battles of Lexington and Concord were of minor military significance but of world-historical importance in the modern era. When it moved out of range, those units would move around and forward to re-engage the column further down the road. About 700 British Army regulars, under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, were ordered to Lacking effective leadership and terrified at the superior numbers of the enemy, with their spirit broken, and likely not having experienced combat before, they abandoned their wounded, and fled to the safety of the approaching grenadier companies coming from the town center, isolating Captain Parsons and the companies searching for arms at Barrett's Farm. Lexington and Concord Battlefields - American Battlefield Trust [108], Against the advice of his Master of Ordnance, Percy had left Boston without spare ammunition for his men or for the two artillery pieces they brought with them, thinking the extra wagons would slow him down. Because of information provided by Smith and Pitcairn about how the Americans were attacking, Percy ordered the rear guard to be rotated every mile or so, to allow some of his troops to rest briefly. Lt. John Barker, The King's Own Regiment, "Diary of a British Soldier". 1 Rev War | Historic Site Old North Bridge Concord , MA 2 Rev War | Historic Site Buckman Tavern Lexington , MA 3 As these troops marched, they met the shattered remnants of the three light infantry companies running towards them. [139] The American Battlefield Trust and its partners have saved one acre of the battlefield at the site of Parker's Revenge.[140]. Parker had every reason to expect that to occur again. Both Paul Revere and William Dawes were members of a company of riders known as the "Sons of Liberty.". [119], In the morning, Boston was surrounded by a huge militia army, numbering over 15,000, which had marched from throughout New England. On the march back to Boston, the British encountered ambush after ambush by militia groups from other towns, firing behind trees, bushes, and houses. As the regulars numbered about 700 and the militia at this time only numbered about 250, the militia column turned around and marched back into Concord, preceding the regulars by a distance of about 500 yards (457m). Yet another theory is that the first shot was fired by the British, one which killed Asahel Porter, their prisoner who was running away (he had been told to walk away and he would be let go, though he panicked and began to run). Both sides generally agreed that the initial shot did not come from the men on the ground immediately facing each other. A militia unit that attempted an ambush from Russell's orchard was caught by flankers, and eleven men were killed, some allegedly after they had surrendered. Based on the word of Pitcairn and other wounded officers from Smith's command, Percy had learned that the Minutemen were using stone walls, trees and buildings in these more thickly settled towns closer to Boston to hide behind and shoot at the column. Davis responded, "I'm not afraid to go, and I haven't a man that's afraid to go. A Revolution begins - A Nation is born. According to one account, the discussion among people there turned to the unusual movement of the British soldiers in the town. [114] It was nearly dark when Pitcairn's Marines defended a final attack on Percy's rear as they entered Charlestown. Barrett asked Captain Isaac Davis, who commanded a company of Minutemen from Acton, if his company would be willing to lead the advance. [citation needed][113], Percy lost control of his men[citation needed], and many[quantify]regulars began to commit atrocities[further explanation needed] to repay for the supposed scalping at the North Bridge and for their own casualties at the hands of a distant, often unseen enemy. [62], We Nathaniel Mulliken, Philip Russell, [and 32 other men] do testify and declare, that on the nineteenth in the morning, being informed that a body of regulars were marching from Boston towards Concord About five o'clock in the morning, hearing our drum beat, we proceeded towards the parade, and soon found that a large body of troops were marching towards us, some of our company were coming to the parade, and others had reached it, at which time, the company began to disperse, whilst our backs were turned on the troops, we were fired on by them, and a number of our men were instantly killed and wounded, not a gun was fired by any person in our company on the regulars to our knowledge before they fired on us, and continued firing until we had all made our escape. One wounded man, Prince Estabrook, was a black slave who was serving in the militia. Battles of Lexington and Concord - Students | Britannica Kids Legend became more important than truth. For example, older participants' testimony in later life about Lexington and Concord differed greatly from their depositions taken under oath in 1775. When they disembarked near Phipps Farm in Cambridge, it was into waist-deep water at midnight. A February 1775 address to King George III, by both houses of Parliament, declared that a state of rebellion existed: We find that a part of your Majesty' s subjects, in the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, have proceeded so far to resist the authority of the supreme Legislature, that a rebellion at this time actually exists within the said Province; and we see, with the utmost concern, that they have been countenanced and encouraged by unlawful combinations and engagements entered into by your Majesty's subjects in several of the other Colonies, to the injury and oppression of many of their innocent fellow-subjects, resident within the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the rest of your Majesty' s Dominions George E. Downey, A History of the First Parish of Westford, Town of Westford, 1975, page 27. Battles of Lexington and Concord - Wikipedia [105], Percy took the land route across Boston Neck and over the Great Bridge, which some quick-thinking colonists had stripped of its planking to delay the British. [58] Speculation arose later in Lexington that a man named Solomon Brown fired the first shot from inside the tavern or from behind a wall, but this has been discredited. Captain Parsons took four companies from the 5th, 23rd, 38th, and 52nd Regiments up the road 2 miles (3.2km) beyond the North Bridge to search Barrett's Farm, where intelligence indicated supplies would be found. The concerned Captain Laurie sent a messenger to Lt. Col. Smith requesting reinforcements. Four of the eight British officers and sergeants, who were leading from the front of their troops, were wounded by the volley of musket fire. [66], When the British troops arrived in the village of Concord, Lt. Col. Smith divided them to carry out Gage's orders. According to one member of Parker's militia, none of the Americans had discharged their muskets as they faced the oncoming British troops. Lexington and Concord, Battles of (1775).The political dispute between Britain and its American colonies flared into open conflict on 19 April 1775 at two towns outside Boston, Massachusetts. [87], At this point, the detachment of regulars sent to Barrett's farm marched back from their fruitless search of that area. Battles of Lexington and Concord - HISTORY Edmund Burke described Gage's conflicted relationship with Massachusetts by saying in Parliament, "An Englishman is the unfittest person on Earth to argue another Englishman into slavery. The outnumbered regulars fell back from the bridge and rejoined the main body of British forces in Concord. In late 1774, Colonial leaders adopted the Suffolk Resolves in resistance to the alterations made to the Massachusetts colonial government by the British parliament following the Boston Tea Party. The Battle of Lexington and Concord: The American - WorldAtlas At the same time we beseech your Majesty that you will enforce due obedience to the laws and authority of the supreme Legislature; and it is our fixed resolution, at the hazard of our lives and properties, to stand by your Majesty against all rebellious attempts in the maintenance of the just rights of your Majesty, and the two Houses of Parliament. Dr. Ripley in his published account of 1827, Hodgman, Rev. Allen French, Historic Concord, Cambria, 1942, pages 66 and 68. The war that became the American Revolution began with the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. Major Pitcairn arrived from the rear of the advance force and led his three companies to the left and halted them. General Heath studied the position of the British Army and decided to withdraw the militia to Cambridge. [134], After 1860, several generations of schoolchildren memorized Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "Paul Revere's Ride". Both Parker and Pitcairn ordered their men to hold fire, but a shot was fired from an unknown source. Battle of Lexington and Concord | Encyclopedia.com At this point, Lt. Col. Smith was wounded in the thigh and knocked from his horse. American Revolution: Battle of Lexington and Concord - Ducksters Marksmen were also concealed in some homes, forcing the British to clear their path of retreat house by house, a soldier's nightmare. The American Revolution began on April 19, 1775, with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. All of the shot and much of the food was recovered after the British left. On Brooks Hill (also known as Hardy's Hill) about 1 mile (1.6km) past Meriam's Corner, nearly 500 militiamen had assembled to the south of the road, awaiting an opportunity to fire down upon the British column on the road below. [132], The issue of which side was to blame grew during the early nineteenth century. Protecting the grenadier companies were about 320 light infantry from the 4th, 5th, 10th, 23rd, 38th, 43rd, 47th, 52nd, and 59th Regiments, and the 1st Battalion of the Marines. [17], On the morning of April 18, Gage ordered a mounted patrol of about 20 men under the command of Major Mitchell of the 5th Regiment of Foot into the surrounding country to intercept messengers who might be out on horseback. Colonial militia companies arriving from the north and east had converged at this point and held a clear numerical advantage over the regulars. (He was later compelled to leave the country for inadvertently supporting the enemy. Thaxter served as a Minuteman under Lt. Col. Robinson on the Concord Bridge, April 19, 1775, Muster rolls for the militia and minute companies converging at this point are included in, Both the British and the local militias were armed with smooth-bore muskets that had an effective range of aimed fire of only 80-100 yards (75-90 m), although the musket ball could have serious effect at a greater distance, if it happened by chance to hit a person. Battles of Lexington and Concord - Simple English Wikipedia, the free The major events of the battle are very well known. In response, the British government in February 1775 declared Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion. The colonists lost 25 men killed and nine wounded there, and the British lost 40 killed and 80 wounded, with the 47th Foot and the Marines suffering the highest casualties. [59] Some witnesses (on each side) claimed that someone on the other side fired first; however, many more witnesses claimed to not know. Some advanced; many more retreated; and some went home to see to the safety of their homes and families. [145][146][147] Re-enactments of Paul Revere's ride are staged, as are the battle on the Lexington Green, and ceremonies and firings are held at the North Bridge. 10 Facts About the Battle of Lexington and Concord Joseph Thaxter, wrote of his account: We pursued them and killed some; when they got to Lexington, they were so close pursued and fatigued, that they must have soon surrendered, had not Lord Percy met them with a large reinforcement and two field-pieces. Department of the Army, Lineage and Honors, 101st Engineer Battalion, Scott's United States Stamp Catalog: First Day Covers, alterations made to the Massachusetts colonial government, 23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welch Fusiliers), His Grace Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland, There are only thirty current units of the U.S. Army with colonial roots, Re-enactments of Paul Revere's ride are staged, as are the battle on the Lexington Green, and ceremonies and firings are held at the North Bridge, Lexington-Concord Sesquicentennial half dollar, List of American Revolutionary War battles, American Revolutionary War#Early engagements, "In Provincial Congress / Concord, March 24, 1775", "The Concord Fight and a Fearless Isaac Davis", Minuteman National Historical Park Things To Do, Department of the Army, Lineage and Honors, 125th Quartermaster Company, "Remarks at the Old North Bridge, Concord, Massachusetts", "160,000 Mark Two 1775 Battles; Concord Protesters Jeer Ford", "Martha Moulton's testimony and reward, 4 Feb 1776", "NPS Museum Collections "American Revolutionary War": Riflemen", "Wisconsin Public School Observance Days", "The following was received yesterday, hand-bill, by express / Philadelphia April 24, 1775", National Park Service site for Minute Man National Historical Park, Buckman Tavern Lexington Historical Society, Why We Remember Lexington and Concord and the 19th of April, Animated History of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, Lexington Alarm Letter at Van Gorden-Williams Library & Archives, Statements of American combatants at Lexington and Concord, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battles_of_Lexington_and_Concord&oldid=1161633274, British forces succeed in destroying cannon and supplies in, Militia successfully drive British back to.

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