LexingtonThe battle of Lexington marked the start of the American Revolution. U.S.History.org mentions, "Britain's General Gage had a secret plan. During the wee hours of April 19, 1775, he would send out regiments of British soldiers quartered in Boston. Their destinations were LEXINGTON, where they would capture Colonial leaders Sam Adams and John Hancock, then CONCORD, where they would seize gunpowder. But spies and friends of the Americans leaked word of Gage's plan. Two lanterns hanging from Boston's North Church informed the countryside that the British were going to attack by sea. A series of horseback riders — men such as Paul Revere, — galloped off to warn the countryside that the British troops were coming." An interesting fact, Paul Revere did not shout the famous phrase, "The British are coming!". First of all, many colonists still considered themselves British. It would only be confusing for them. Second, the minutemen were trying to be discreet. Riding on horseback early in the morning, shouting "The British are coming!", now that just doesn't seem very discreet.
The battle of Lexington started at dawn on April 19. Some 700 British troops arrived in Lexington and came upon 77 militiamen gathered on the town green. A British major yelled, “Throw down your arms! Ye villains, ye rebels.” The heavily outnumbered militiamen had just been ordered by their commander to disperse when a shot rang out. To this day, no one knows which side fired first. Several British volleys were subsequently unleashed before order could be restored. When the smoke cleared, eight militiamen lay dead and nine were wounded, while only one Redcoat was injured. (www.history.com) Imagine the colonists militia, consisting of mostly untrained farmers, against the red-coated army of British soldiers. The fight seemed impossible for the colonists to win. |
Concord"We set off for Concord, and were overtaken by a young gentleman named Prescot, who belonged to Concord, and was going home. When we had got about half way from Lexington to Concord, the other two stopped at a house to awake the men, I kept along ....
In an instant I saw four of them, who rode up to me with their pistols in their bands, said ''G---d d---n you, stop. If you go an inch further, you are a dead man.'' Immediately Mr. Prescot came up. We attempted to get through them, but they kept before us, and swore if we did not turn in to that pasture, they would blow our brains out, (they had placed themselves opposite to a pair of bars, and had taken the bars down). They forced us in. When we had got in, Mr. Prescot said "Put on!" He took to the left, I to the right ... Just as I reached it, out started six officers, seized my bridle, put their pistols to my breast, ordered me to dismount, which I did." – Paul Revere, "Account of Midnight Ride to Lexington" (1775) (ushistory.org) Isn't this account chilling? After the battle of Lexington, "the British then continued into Concord to search for arms, not realizing that the vast majority had already been relocated. They decided to burn what little they found, and the fire got slightly out of control. Hundreds of militiamen occupying the high ground outside of Concord incorrectly thought the whole town would be torched. The militiamen hustled to Concord’s North Bridge, which was being defended by a contingent of British soldiers. (www.history.com) The U.S. won their first battle, due to the British retreating.
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Elise Bennett
Julian Charter School
Date of Publication : January 9, 2015
Date Last Edited : January 9, 2015
Julian Charter School
Date of Publication : January 9, 2015
Date Last Edited : January 9, 2015