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Battles of Lexington and Concord From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigationJump to search "Battle of Lexington" redirects here. For the American Civil War battles, see Battle of Lexington (disambiguation). Battles of Lexington and Concord Part of the American Revolutionary War Battle of Lexington, 1775.png Romanticized 19th-century depiction of Battle of Lexington Date	April 19, 1775 Location Middlesex County, Massachusetts

Lexington: 42°26′58.7″N 71°13′51.0″WCoordinates: 42°26′58.7″N 71°13′51.0″W Concord: 42°28′08.54″N 71°21′02.08″W Result Strategic American victory

British forces succeed in destroying cannon and supplies in Concord Militia successfully drive British back to Boston Start of the American Revolutionary War Belligerents Massachusetts	 Great Britain Commanders and leaders John Parker James Barrett John Buttrick John Robinson William Heath Joseph Warren Isaac Davis †	Francis Smith John Pitcairn (WIA) Hugh Percy Strength Lexington: 77[1] Concord: 400[2] End of Battle: 3,960[3]	Departing Boston: 700[4] Lexington: 400[5] Concord: 100[6] End of Battle: 1,500[7] Casualties and losses 49 killed 39 wounded 5 missing[8]	73 killed 174 wounded 53 missing[8] vte Boston campaign 1774–1776 The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War.[9] The battles were fought on April 19, 1775 in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy (present-day Arlington), and Cambridge. They marked the outbreak of armed conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and its thirteen colonies in America.

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 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 Colonial government exercised effective control of the colony outside of British-controlled Boston. In response, the British government in February 1775 declared Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion.

About 700 British Army regulars in Boston, under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, were given secret orders to capture and destroy Colonial military supplies reportedly stored by the Massachusetts militia at Concord. Through effective intelligence gathering, Patriot leaders had received word weeks before the expedition that their supplies might be at risk and had moved most of them to other locations. On the night before the battle, warning of the British expedition had been rapidly sent from Boston to militias in the area by several riders, including Paul Revere and Samuel Prescott, with information about British plans. The initial mode of the Army's arrival by water was signaled from the Old North Church in Boston to Charlestown using lanterns to communicate "one if by land, two if by sea".

The first shots were fired just as the sun was rising at Lexington. Eight militiamen were killed, including Ensign Robert Munroe, their third in command.[10] The British suffered only one casualty. The militia were outnumbered and fell back, and the regulars proceeded on to Concord, where they broke apart into companies to search for the supplies. At the North Bridge in Concord, approximately 400 militiamen engaged 100 regulars from three companies of the King's troops at about 11:00 am, resulting in casualties on both sides. The outnumbered regulars fell back from the bridge and rejoined the main body of British forces in Concord.

The British forces began their return march to Boston after completing their search for military supplies, and more militiamen continued to arrive from neighboring towns. Gunfire erupted again between the two sides and continued throughout the day as the regulars marched back towards Boston. Upon returning to Lexington, Lt. Col. Smith's expedition was rescued by reinforcements under Brigadier General Hugh Percy, a future duke of Northumberland styled at this time by the courtesy title Earl Percy. The combined force of about 1,700 men marched back to Boston under heavy fire in a tactical withdrawal and eventually reached the safety of Charlestown. The accumulated militias then blockaded the narrow land accesses to Charlestown and Boston, starting the Siege of Boston.

Philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson describes the first shot fired by the Patriots at the North Bridge as the "shot heard round the world." This "shot" is what began the American War of Independence.

(First Shot Paragraph)

This lack of discipline among the British troops had a key role in the escalation of violence.[58]

Witnesses at the scene described several intermittent shots fired from both sides before the lines of regulars began to fire volleys without receiving orders to do so. A few of the militiamen believed at first that the regulars were only firing powder with no ball, but when they realized the truth, few if any of the militia managed to load and return fire. The rest ran for their lives.[59]

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.[48]

By the time the British soldiers retreated to the safety in Boston, forty-nine Americans and seventy-three soldiers of the Royal Army laid dead.

On April 18, Paul Revere began the "midnight ride" to Concord to warn the inhabitants that the British appeared to be planning an expedition. Paul Revere never shouted the legendary phrase(“The British are coming!”) as he passed from town to town during his midnight ride. The operation was meant to be conducted as discreetly as possible since scores of British troops were hiding out in the Massachusetts countryside. Furthermore, colonial Americans at that time still considered themselves British. The ride was finished by Samuel Prescott. Upon hearing Prescott's news, the townspeople decided to remove the stores and distribute them among other towns nearby.[26]