19 April 2025

Lexington and Concrord April 19th, 1775

From History we get the story of the shot heard round the world. American Revolution begins at Battle of Lexington

April 19, 1775: At about 5 a.m., 700 British troops, on a mission to capture Patriot leaders and seize a Patriot arsenal, march into Lexington to find 77 armed minutemen under Captain John Parker waiting for them on the town’s common green. British Major John Pitcairn ordered the outnumbered Patriots to disperse, and after a moment’s hesitation, the Americans began to drift off the green. Suddenly, a shot was fired from an undetermined gun, and a cloud of musket smoke soon covered the green.

Things didn't go well for the Americans. When the British got to Concord, there was a different outcome.

When the British troops reached Concord at about 7 a.m., they found themselves encircled by hundreds of armed Patriots. They managed to destroy the military supplies the Americans had collected but were soon advanced against by a gang of minutemen, who inflicted numerous casualties. Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, the overall commander of the British force, ordered his men to return to Boston without directly engaging the Americans.

On the 16 mile march back to Boston, the British were beset by marksmen shooting at them from behind cover.

By the time the British finally reached the safety of Boston, nearly 300 British soldiers had been killed, wounded or were missing in action. The Patriots suffered fewer than 100 casualties.

These were the opening shots of the American Revolution.

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