The Battle of Lexington and Concord was the first battle of the
American Revolution (1775–83). It was fought in the towns of
Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, and the roads in between on
April 19, 1775.
In the years leading up to the war, Great Britain had imposed a series of laws that displeased the colonists. In 1774, the colonists gathered
in the First Continental Congress to explore how to react to Britain’s
colonial policies. (See Continental Congress, First.) The Congress and
various colonial communities passed resolutions telling Great Britain
that they would not continue to accept British policies unchallenged.
In 1775, Great Britain prepared to respond to possible rebellion in
America. Ministers in London imposed embargoes on (blocked) the
shipment of arms and ammunition to America. General Thomas Gage
(1721–1787), who was governor of Massachusetts and commander-inchief of British forces in America, made plans to seize gunpowder supplies held by the colonists.
Midnight rides
After nightfall on April 18, 1775, Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith
(1723–1791) and Major John Pitcairn (1722–1775) assembled British
troops in boats at their fort in Boston to cross Boston Harbor. Their destination was a colonial gunpowder storage in Concord. Colonists monitoring British movements saw the British troops, triggering the famous
midnight warning rides of men like Paul Revere (1735–1818) and
William Dawes (1745–1799) to assemble colonial forces.
As Smith’s men marched on a road toward Lexington, Smith realized
the colonists were aware of their movements. He sent a message back to
Gage asking for reinforcements while sending Pitcairn ahead with a
small force of men to take control of a bridge over the Concord River.
Pitcairn and his men reached Lexington in the early morning hours
of April 19, 1775. A group of colonial militia men led by Captain John
Parker (1729–1775) was assembled on the village green, off the main
road. Pitcairn diverted his men to the green, where they fired on the
colonists, killing eight and wounding ten more. According to an account
by American printer Isaiah Thomas (1770–1802) published on May 3,
1775, the colonists were dispersing as ordered by the British when the
British fired on them.
The British troops continued to Concord to destroy the gunpowder
supplies. They arrived around eight o’clock in the morning. The
colonists had managed to remove some of their supplies to safety. After
destroying some supplies, flour stores, and buildings, the British retreated toward Lexington around noon as a crowd of four hundred militiamen approached. The British suffered many casualties throughout the
day as they marched through Lexington back to Charleston,
Massachusetts, where they crossed the bay back to Boston. Colonial
militiamen hiding along the road fired upon the British during the retreat.
At the end of the day, the British had 273 casualties out of 1,800
men who had been involved in the day’s activities. American casualties
totaled 95 men. Americans considered it an early victory in what became
a war for independence.