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A History | Revolutionary War Battles |
The Battle of Lexington and Concord - April 19, 1775
The Battle of Lexington and Concord - April 19, 1775
On April 19, 1775, British General Thomas Gage dispatched 700 British troops commanded by Lt. Col. Francis
Smith to Concord, Massachusetts, 16 miles northwest of Boston, to seize munitions that the Patriots had
been stockpiling. Word of the British departure from Boston was quickly spread by Paul Revere in his famous
ride, and by the time the British reached the village green at Lexington, through which they had to pass,
they found 70 Minutemen waiting for them under the command of Capt. John Parker . When ordered by the British
to disperse, The Shot Heard Round the World was fired and the American Revolution was begun. The British
then fired upon the Minutemen, killing 8 and wounding 10. The British suffered 1 wounded.
The British continued the 6 miles to Concord and the Americans retreated to the North Bridge just outside
the town. While the main body of soldiers accomplished their mission of seizing the gunpowder, a small
contingent of British troops skirmished again with the colonists, now numbering several hundred. 3 British
soldiers and 2 Americans were killed in this battle. As they returned to Boston, the British were under
constant assault from Massachusetts militiamen, who inflicted 273 casualties.
The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere
The opening engagements of the American Revolution, April 19, 1775. After the passage (1774) of the
Intolerable Acts by the British Parliament, unrest in the colonies increased. The British commander at
Boston, Gen. Thomas Gage, sought to avoid armed rebellion by sending a column of royal infantry from
Boston to capture colonial military stores at Concord. News of his plan was dispatched to the countryside
by Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott. As the advance column under Major John Pitcairn reached
Lexington, they came upon a group of militia (the minutemen). After a brief exchange of shots in which
several Americans were killed, the colonials withdrew, and the British continued to Concord. Here they
destroyed some military supplies, fought another engagement, and began a harried withdrawal to Boston,
which cost them over 200 casualties.
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