The Battle of Lexington and Concord was the first military engagement of the American Revolutionary War. The battle took place on 19 April 1775 in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Bay province, in the cities of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy (now Arlington), and Cambridge. They mark the outbreak of armed conflict between the United Kingdom and its thirteen colonies in America.
In late 1774, the Colonial leaders adopted the Suffolk Resolves in opposition to the changes made to the Massachusetts colonial government by the British parliament after the Boston Tea Party. The colonial assembly responded by forming a provisional Patriot government known as the Massachusetts Provincial Congress and calling on local militias to train possible hostilities. The Colonial Government exercised effective control over colonies outside of Britain's controlled Boston. In response, the British government in February 1775 declared Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion.
About 700 British troops in Boston, under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, were given secret orders to capture and destroy the colonial military supplies reportedly kept by the Massachusetts militia in Concord. Through effective intelligence gathering, the Patriot leaders had received weeks before the expedition that their inventory might be at risk and had moved most of them to another location. On the eve of the battle, the warning of the British expedition was quickly sent from Boston to the militia in the area by several riders, including Paul Revere and Samuel Prescott, with information about the British plan. The initial mode of arrival of the Army by water is a signal from the Old North Church in Boston to Charlestown using lanterns to communicate "one if overland, two if by sea".
The first shot was shot just as the sun rose in Lexington. Eight militia were killed, including Ensign Robert Munroe, their third commander. Britain suffered only one victim. The militias were outnumbered and fell back, and still went to Concord, where they broke into a company to find supplies. At the North Bridge in Concord, some 400 militia members involved 100 regular customers of the three King's troop companies at around 11:00 am, resulting in casualties on both sides. The regular players who lost the number returned from the bridge and rejoined the main body of British troops in Concord.
British troops began their journey back to Boston after completing their search for military supplies, and more militias continued to arrive from neighboring towns. The shooting happened again between the two sides and continued throughout the day when regular players marched back to Boston. After returning to Lexington, the Lt. expedition Col. Smith was rescued by reinforcements under Brigadier General Hugh Percy, a future duke of Northumberland known as Earl Percy. The combined strength of about 1,700 people marched back to Boston under a huge shot in tactical withdrawal and eventually reached the security of Charlestown. The accumulated militia then blocked narrow land access to Charlestown and Boston, beginning the Siege of Boston.
Ralph Waldo Emerson described the first shot fired by the Patriots on the North Bridge in "Concord Hymn" as a "shot that was heard all over the world".
Video Battles of Lexington and Concord
​​â € <â €
British Army Infantry dubbed "red coat" and sometimes "demon" by the colonists. They have occupied Boston since 1768 and have been supplemented by naval and marine powers to uphold the so-called colonists of The Intolerable Acts, endorsed by the British Parliament to punish the Bay of Massachusetts Province for the Boston Tea Party and other opposing acts..
General Thomas Gage is the Massachusetts military governor and commander-in-chief of about 3,000 British military troops stationed in Boston. He has no control over Massachusetts outside of Boston, however, where the implementation of Acts has increased tension between the majority of the Patriot Whig and the pro-British Tory minority. The Gage plan is to avoid conflicts by removing military supplies from Whig militants using small, secret, and swift attacks. The struggle for this supply led to one British success and some Patriot successes in a series of near-bloody conflicts known as the Powder Alarms. Gage considers himself a friend of freedom and seeks to separate his duties as governor of the colony and as a general of the occupation forces. Edmund Burke described the relationship of the Gage conflict with Massachusetts by saying in Parliament, "An Englishman is an imperfect person on Earth to argue with other Englishmen as slaves."
The colonists have formed militia since the beginning of Colonial settlements for defense purposes against Indian attacks. These powers also saw action in the French and Indian Wars between 1754 and 1763 when they fought with British regular people. Under the laws of each New England colony, all cities are required to form a militia corporation composed of all males aged 16 years and older (there are exceptions to some categories), and to ensure that members are properly armed. The Massachusetts Militia was officially under the jurisdiction of the provincial government, but militia companies throughout New England elected their own officers. Gage effectively dissolved the provincial government under the provisions of the Massachusetts Government Act, and these existing connections were employed by colonists under the Massachusetts Provincial Congress for the purpose of fighting against the British military threat.
English government preparation
Address 1775 February for King George III, by both Parliamentary assemblies, declares that a state of rebellion exists:
We... found that some of the Noble subjects, in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, have gone so far as to oppose the highest Legislative authorities, that the current insurrection really exists within the Province; and we see, with the utmost concern, that they have been redeemed and encouraged by the unlawful combination and involvement perpetrated by your Noble subject in some other Colony, for the injury and oppression of many innocent peers, remaining in the Kingdom of Great Britain , and the rest of your Dominion Your Majesty....
We... must... pay attention and pay attention to the real complaints... that are in front of us; and every time there is a Colony will make the right application for us, we will be ready to pay them any fair and reasonable gratification. At the same time we... pleading Your Majesty that you will... Uphold obedience because of the supreme Legislative law and authority; and... it is our permanent resolution, at the dangers of our lives and possessions, to stand by His Majesty against all rebellious efforts in defending His Majesty's rights, and two Houses of Parliament.
On April 14, 1775, Gage received instructions from Secretary of State William Legge, the Earl of Dartmouth, to disarm the rebels and imprison rebel leaders, but Dartmouth gave Gage considerable wisdom in his orders. Gage's decision to act immediately may have been influenced by the information he received on April 15, from a spy in the Provincial Congress, telling him that although Congress was still divided on the need for armed resistance, the delegation was sent to another New England. colonies to see if they would cooperate in raising New England troops from 18,000 colonial troops.
On the morning of April 18, Gage ordered a patrol mounted about 20 people under the command of Major Mitchell of the 5th Leg Regiment to the surrounding country to intercept the messengers who might be out on horseback. This patrol behaves differently than patrols sent from Boston in the past, stays outside after dark and asks travelers about the location of Samuel Adams and John Hancock. It has an unwanted effect that worries many residents and improves their readiness. Lexington's militia especially began to gather early that night, a few hours before receiving a word from Boston. A famous story alleges that after the evening a farmer, Josiah Nelson, mistook the British patrol for the colonists and asked them, "Have you heard about when customers are out?" on which he slashed his scalp with a sword. However, the story of this incident was not published until more than a century later, which suggests that it may be more than just a family myth.
Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith received an order from Gage on the afternoon of April 18 with instructions that he would not read it until his troops were in progress. He will continue from Boston "with a complete expedition and secrecy to Concord, where you will seize and destroy... all the military stores... But you will be careful that the soldiers do not plunder the population or injure private property." Gage used his wisdom and did not issue written orders for the arrest of rebel leaders, because he feared doing so might trigger a rebellion.
American Preparation
On March 30, 1775, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress passed the following resolution:
Whenever the army under the command of General Gage, or his share of five hundred, would march out of Boston, with artillery and trunk, it should be regarded as a design to carry out the forced execution of Parliament's final act, an attempt which, with the determination of the Continental Congress honorable, should be opposed; and therefore the provincial military forces must be assembled, and observing forces immediately formed, to act only as a defense for as long as it is justified on the principles of reason and self-preservation.
Leaders of the uprising - with the exception of Paul Revere and Joseph Warren - all leave Boston on 8 April. They have received secret instructions from Dartmouth to General Gage from sources in London long before they reached the Gage itself. Adams and Hancock had left Boston to the home of one of Hancock's relatives in Lexington, where they thought they would be safe from immediate threat of arrest.
The Massachusetts Militia did collect weapons, powders, and supplies in Concord and further west in Worcester. An expedition from Boston to Concord has been widely anticipated. After most of the contingent still worried about the countryside with an expedition from Boston to Watertown on March 30, The Pennsylvania Journal, a newspaper in Philadelphia, reported, "They should have gone to Concord, where the Provincial Congress is now sitting in. A number of provisions and belligerent shops were put there.... This... said they would be out again soon. "
On April 18, Paul Revere embarked on a "midnight trip" to Concord to warn the population that Britain apparently planned an expedition. The trip was completed by Samuel Prescott. After hearing Prescott's news, the townspeople decided to move the stores and distribute them among other nearby towns.
The colonists also realized that April 19th was the date of the expedition, despite Gage's efforts to keep his details hidden from all ranks and rank of Britain and even from the officers who would lead the mission. There is reasonable, though unproved, speculation that this secret source of intelligence is Margaret Gage, General Gage of New Jersey's wife, who sympathizes with Colonial causes and friendship with Warren.
Between 9 and 10 pm on the night of April 18, 1775, Joseph Warren told Revere and William Dawes that the British troops would start by ship from Boston to Cambridge and the road to Lexington and Concord. Warren's intelligence shows that the most likely purpose of the customers' movements that night was the arrest of Adams and Hancock. They are not worried about the possibility of customers still marching to Concord, because supplies in Concord are safe, but they think their leaders at Lexington are unaware of the potential danger that night. Revere and Dawes were sent to warn them and alert the colonial militia in nearby towns.
Militia forces gather
Dawes closed the southern mainland route on horseback across Boston Neck and passed the Great Bridge to Lexington. The first Revere instructed to send a signal to Charlestown using a lantern hanging from the Old North Church church tower in Boston. He then traveled the northern water route, crossing the mouth of the Charles River in a rowboat, hurtling past the British warship HMS Somerset at anchor. The crossing was forbidden at that hour, but Revere safely landed in Charlestown and went west to Lexington, warning almost every house along the route. Additional riders are sent north from Charlestown.
After they arrived in Lexington, Revere, Dawes, Hancock, and Adams discussed the situation with the militia gathered there. They believe that troops leaving town are too big for the only task of catching two people and that Concord is the main target. The Lexington people sent riders to nearby towns, and Revere and Dawes continued on to Concord accompanied by Samuel Prescott. In Lincoln, they meet a British patrol led by Major Mitchell. Revere was captured, Dawes was thrown from his horse, and only Prescott fled to reach Concord. Additional riders are sent out of Concord.
The Revere, Dawes and Prescott journeys triggered a flexible "alarm and muster" system that had been carefully developed a few months earlier, in response to the invasive impotent response to the Powder Alarm. This system is an improved version of the old notification network for use in times of emergency. The colonists periodically used it during the early years of the Indian war in the colony, before falling into disuse in the French and Indian Wars. In addition to other express riders who delivered messages, bells, drums, alarm weapons, bonfires and trumpets were used for quick communications from city to city, told rebels in dozens of eastern Massachusetts villages that they had to collect militias as more than 500 regular customers left Boston. The system was so effective that people in the 25-mile (40 km) towns of Boston knew the movement of soldiers when they were still lowering cargo ships in Cambridge. These early warnings played an important role in gathering a number of colonial militias sufficient to inflict heavy damage on the UK's permanent customers in the future. Adams and Hancock eventually moved to a safe place, first to a place now called Burlington and then to Billerica.
The advanced British forces
Around dusk, General Gage summoned a meeting of his senior officers at the Provincial House. He told them that the instructions from Lord Dartmouth had arrived, instructing him to take action against the colonial. He also told them that his regiment's senior colonel, Lieutenant Colonel Smith, would rule, with Major John Pitcairn as his executive officer. The meeting was postponed at about 8:30, after Earl Percy mingling with city dwellers in Boston Common. According to one report, discussions among the people there turned to the unusual British army movement in the city. When Percy asked one more person, the man replied, "Well, the customers will still lose their purpose."
"What purpose?" Percy asked. "Why, the cannon in Concord" is the answer. Upon hearing this, Percy immediately returned to Provincial House and conveyed this information to General Gage. Stunned, Gage issued an order to prevent delegates from coming out of Boston, but it was too late to keep Dawes and Revere away.
The British permanent customers, about 700 infantry, were taken from 11 of 13 Gage occupation infantry regiments. Major Pitcairn led ten elite light infantry companies, and Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Bernard ordered 11 grenadier companies, under Lieutenant Colonel Smith's command.
Of the troops assigned to the expedition, 350 came from the grenadier company taken from the 4th (belonging to the King), the 5th, 10th, 18th Regiment (The Kingdom of Ireland), 23, 38, 43, 47, 52 , and 59, and the 1st Battalion of the Royal Armies. Protecting the grenadier company is about 320 light infantry from 4th, 5th, 10th, 23rd, 38th, 43rd, 47th, 52th, and 59th Regiment, and 1st Battalion of the Marines. Every company has its own lieutenant, but most of the captains who lead them are volunteers attached to them at the last minute, drawn from all the regiments stationed in Boston. Lack of intimacy between commander and company will cause problems during combat.
The British began to wake their troops at 9 pm on the night of April 18 and collect them on the waterfront at the western end of Boston Common at 10 pm. Colonel Smith was late arriving, and there was no organized ship loading operation, which caused confusion in the staging area. The boats used were naval ships packed so tightly that there was no room to sit. As they descend near Phipps Farm in Cambridge, it enters the waist-high water at midnight. After a long pause to disassemble their equipment, customers continue to travel 17 miles (27 km) to Concord around 2 am. During the wait they were given extra ammunition, cold salted pork, and hard sea biscuits. They do not carry backpacks, because they will not be camping. They carry their backpacks (canteen bags), canteen, muskets, and utensils, and line up in wet, muddy boots and wet uniforms. As they marched through Menotomy, the sounds of colonial alarms across the countryside caused some officers who were aware of their mission to realize that they had lost the element of surprise.
At about 3am, Colonel Smith sent Major Pitcairn the lead with six light infantry companies under orders to march quickly to Concord. Around 4 am Smith made a wise but late decision to send a messenger back to Boston asking for help.
Maps Battles of Lexington and Concord
Battle
Lexington
Although often battle style, in reality the engagement in Lexington is a small brush or small battle. When the guard troops remained under Pitcairn entering Lexington at sunrise on April 19, 1775, about 80 Lexington militia emerged from the Buckman Tavern and stood in a row in a public village watching them, and between 40 to 100 spectators watched from along the side of the road. Their leader is Captain John Parker, a veteran of the French and Indian Wars, who suffer from tuberculosis and is sometimes difficult to hear. Of the lined militias, nine had Harrington's surnames, seven Munroe (including the company's orderly sergeant William Munroe), four Parker, three Tidd, three Locke, and three Reed; Fully a quarter of them are related to Captain Parker in several ways. This militia group was part of Lexington's "training band", a way of organizing local militias dating Puritans, and not what was set up as a minuteman company.
After waiting most of the night with no sign of British troops (and wondering if Paul Revere's warning was true), at about 4:15 am, Parker got a confirmation. Thaddeus Bowman, the last scouts Parker sent, rode on the horse and told him that they did not just come, but came into force and they were near. Captain Parker clearly realized that he lost the confrontation and was not ready to sacrifice his men aimlessly. He knew that most of the powder and military supplies of the colonies in Concord had been hidden. No wars were announced. (The Declaration of Independence is a year in the future.) He also knew England had done such an expedition before in Massachusetts, found nothing, and returned to Boston.
Parker had reason to expect it to happen again. The Regulars would march to Concord, find nothing, and return to Boston, tired but with bare hands. He positioned his company carefully. He puts them in a land-parade formation, at Lexington Common. They were in sight (not hiding behind walls), but not blocking the road to Concord. They showed political and military determination, but there was no attempt to prevent the Regulars parade. Years later, one of the participants recalled Parker's words as what is now engraved on the rock at the scene of the battle: "Stand where you are: do not shoot unless fired, but if they intend to fight, let it begin here." According to deposition Parker's swearing taken after the battle:
I... ordered our militia to meet at Common at Lexington to consult what to do, and to conclude not to be found, or to interfere or make up with the Regular Forces (if they had to approach) unless they had to insult or abuse us; and, after their sudden approach, I immediately ordered our militia to disperse, and not to shoot: - Immediately said The troops made their appearance and rushed furiously, shooting and killing our eight parties without receiving any provocation from us.
Instead of turning toward Concord, Lieutenant Marine Jesse Adair, at the head of the guard, decided to protect the English side by first turning right and then leading the company to the Common itself, in a perplexing attempt to surround and disarm the militia. Major Pitcairn arrived from behind the predecessor's army and led the three companies to the left and stopped them. The remaining companies under Colonel Smith lay further down the road to Boston.
First shoot
A British officer (probably Pitcairn, but his report is uncertain, as may Lieutenant William Sutherland) then climbed forward, waved his sword, and called for the militias to come together to disperse, and perhaps also order them to "lay your arm, you damned rebels! "Captain Parker ordered his men to disperse and go home, but, out of confusion, screaming around, and because of the hoarseness of Parker's tuberculosis, some did not hear it, some left very slowly, and no one put them guns. Parker and Pitcairn ordered their men to shoot, but a shot was released from an unknown source.
[A] t the 5 hours we arrived [in Lexington], and saw a number of people, I believe between 200 and 300, formed in public places in the middle of town; we are still advancing, continuing to fight against the attacks even without intending to attack them; but when we got near them they fired at us two shots, upon which our men had no orders, rushed toward them, shot and flew them; some of them killed, we do not know how many, because they are behind the wall and into the forest. We had a man from the 10th Infantry who was wounded, no one was hurt. We then formed in the Common, but with great difficulty, the men were so wild that they could not hear the command; we waited long enough there, and finally went on to Concord.
According to one of Parker's militia members, no Americans were releasing their rifles as they faced upcoming British troops. The British did suffer one casualty, minor injuries, things corroborated by the deposition made by Corporal John Munroe. Munroe states that:
After the first fires from the regular customers, I thought, and so it was stated to Ebenezer Munroe... who stood beside me on the left, that they were not firing anything but powder; but at the second shot, Munroe declared that they had fired something more than a powder, for he had received a wound on his arm; and now, he says, to use his own words, 'I will give them the guts of my gun.' We then took aim at the main body of the British army, the smoke that prevented us from seeing anything. but head some of their horses and run out our pieces.
Several witnesses among visitors reported the first shot fired by a colonial audience from behind a fence or around the corner of a tavern. Some observers reported a British officer who fired first shot. Both sides generally agreed that the initial shots did not come from people on the field who were in direct line of sight. Speculation emerged later in Lexington that a man named Solomon Brown fired the first shot from inside the tavern or from behind a wall, but this has been discredited. Some witnesses (on each side) claim that someone on the other side fired the first shot; However, many witnesses claimed not to know. Yet another theory was that the first shot was a single shot by the British, who killed Asahel Porter, their escaped prisoner (he had been told to leave and he would be released, despite his panic and start running). Historian David Hackett Fischer has proposed that there are actually several simultaneous shots. Historian Mark Urban claims that Britain is soaring ahead with bayonets that are ready in an undisciplined manner, provoking multiple shots scattered from the militia. In response the British troops, without orders, fired a devastating volley. The lack of discipline among these British troops has a key role in the escalation of violence.
Witnesses on the scene described several intermittent fires fired from both sides before the lines kept firing shots without taking orders to do so. Some militia members believed in the beginning that regular customers only fired ballless powder, but when they realized the truth, few succeeded if the militia managed to load and return fire. The rest ran for their lives.
We Nathaniel Mulliken, Philip Russell, [and 32 other men...] testified and declared, that on the nineteenth day in the morning, were told that... a body went from Boston to Concord... About five Mornings , listening to our drum rhythm, we proceeded to the parade, and soon discovered that a large number of troops marched towards us, some of our company came to the parade, and others had reached it, at which time, the company began to disperse, while our backs were turned on troops, we were shot at by them, and some of our men were instantly killed and wounded, not the guns fired by anyone in our company to our regular customers to our knowledge before they fired at us, and kept firing until we all made our escape.
Customers remain charged forward with bayonets. Cousin Captain Parker, Jonas, run. Eight Lexington people were killed, and ten wounded. The only British victim was a wounded soldier on the thigh. The eight colonies killed were John Brown, Samuel Hadley, Caleb Harrington, Jonathon Harrington, Robert Munroe, Isaac Muzzey, Asahel Porter, and Jonas Parker. Jonathon Harrington, who was badly wounded by a British rifle, managed to crawl back to his home, and died in front of his own home. An injured man, Prince Estabrook, was a black slave serving in the militia.
The companies under Pitcairn's command were out of control of their officers partly because they were unaware of the true purpose of the day's missions. They shot in different directions and prepared to enter private homes. Colonel Smith, who had just arrived with other regular customers, heard gunfire and drove forward from the grenadier column to see the action. He quickly found a drummer and ordered him to beat the assembly. The grenadiers arrived shortly afterward, and after the order was restored among the soldiers, a light infantry was allowed to fire a volley, after which the column was reformed and walked toward Concord.
Concord
Responding to the raised alarm, Concord and Lincoln militia gathered in Concord. They received reports of the shooting at Lexington, and were unsure whether to wait until they could be strengthened by troops from nearby towns, or to stay and defend the city, or to move east and greet the British Army from a better field. A militia column marched on the road to Lexington to meet Britain, traveling about 1.5 miles (2 km) until they met with an approaching fixed column. Because of the fixed number of about 700 and the militia currently numbering only about 250, the militia column turned and marched back to Concord, ahead of fixed customers with a distance of about 500 yards (457 m). The militia retreated to the ridge overlooking the city, and their officers discussed what to do next. Careful wins, and Colonel James Barrett resigns from Concord city and leads people across the North Bridge to a hill about a mile north of the city, where they can keep an eye on the movement of British troops and activities downtown. This step proved unintentional, as the militia ranks continued to grow as small companies coming from western towns joined them there.
Search for militia supplies
When British troops arrived in the village of Concord, Lieutenant Colonel Smith divided them up to carry out the Gage command. The 10th of grenadiers regiment secured the South Bridge under Captain Mundy Pole, while seven light infantry companies under Captain Parsons, numbering about 100, secured the North Bridge, where they were seen throughout the cleared fields to the assembly militia companies. Captain Parsons took four companies from the 5th, 23rd, 38th and 52nd Regiments on the 2 mile (3.2 km) road outside the North Bridge to find Barrett's Farm, where intelligence shows inventory will be found. Two companies from the 4th and 10th Regiments are stationed to guard their return routes, and one company of the 43st keeps the bridge itself. These companies, which were under the captaincy of relatively inexperienced Captain Laura Walter, realized they were significantly outnumbered by the 400-plus militia. Captain Laurie sent an envoy to Lieutenant Colonel Smith asking for reinforcements.
Using detailed information provided by spy Loyalists, grenadier companies are looking for small towns for military supplies. When they arrived at the Ephraim Jones store, near the prison on South Bridge Street, they found the door closed, and Jones refused to enter. According to reports provided by local Loyalists, Pitcairn knew the cannons had been buried on the property. Jones was ordered at gunpoint to show where the weapons were buried. This turned out to be three large pieces, firing a 24-pound shot, which was too heavy to use defensively, but was very effective against a fortress, with sufficient reach to bombard the city of Boston from other parts of the nearby land. The grenadius destroyed the trunnion of these three weapons so they could not be installed. They also burned several guns found in the village meetinghouse, and when the fire spread to the meetinghouse itself, local resident Martha Moulton persuaded the soldiers to help in a bucket brigade to save the building. Nearly one hundred barrels of flour and salty food were thrown into the mill, just like 550 pounds of rifle balls. The damage done, only what was done for the cannon was significant. All shots and lots of food were found after England left. During the search, regular customers are generally meticulous in their treatment of the locals, including paying for food and beverages consumed. This overpowering politeness is exploited by the locals, who are able to mislead searches from some of the smaller militia supply places.
Barrett's Farm had been an armory a few weeks earlier, but there were few weapons left now, and according to family legend, it was quickly buried in the groove to look like a planted plant. The troops sent there found no inventory of consequences.
North Bridge
Colonel Barrett's troops, having seen smoke rise from the village square as the British burned the cannon wagon, and saw only a few light infantry companies just below them, decided to march back toward the city from their strategic point on the Punkatasset Hill to the lower place , closer. a flat hill about 300 meters (274 m) from the North Bridge. As the militia advanced, the two British companies of the 4th and 10th Regregates who held positions near the road retreated to the bridge and handed the hill over to the Barrett people.
Five companies full of Minutemen and five more militia from Acton, Concord, Bedford, and Lincoln occupied this hill as more groups flowed in, at least 400 against the light infantry companies Captain Laurie, an army of 90-95 people. Barrett ordered the Massachusetts men to form a long line of two parallel on the highway to the bridge, and then he asked for more consultations. While facing North Bridge from the top of the hill, Barrett, Lieutenant Colonel John Robinson of Westford and the other Captain discussed possible action. Captain Isaac Davis of Acton, whose troops arrived late, declared his willingness to defend a city not theirs by saying, "I am not afraid to leave, and I do not have a man who is afraid to leave."
Barrett tells people to load their weapons but not to shoot unless fired, and then orders them to move forward. Laurie ordered the British companies guarding the bridge to back down on it. An officer then tried to pull a loose bridge board to block colonial progress, but Major Buttrick started yelling at the regular customers to stop damaging the bridge. The Minutemen and militia of Concord, Acton and several Westford Minutemen, advanced in a column formation, two by two, led by Major Buttrick, Lieutenant Colonel Robinson, then Captain Davis, on a light infantry, guarding onto the road, surrounded by the spring river flood Concord.
Captain Laurie then made a bad tactical decision. Since the summons to ask for help had not yet paid off, he ordered his men to form a "road fired" position behind the bridge in a column perpendicular to the river. This formation is appropriate for sending large quantities of fire into narrow alleys between city buildings, but not for open roads behind bridges. Confusion is rampant when the riders who retreat on the bridge try to shape the firing position of the other troops. Lieutenant Sutherland, who was behind the formation, saw Laurie's mistake and ordered people to send. But since he came from a company different from those under his command, only three soldiers obeyed him. The rest try their best in confusion to follow orders from superiors.
A shot was heard. It was probably a warning shot fired by a panicked and exhausted British soldier from the 43rd, according to Captain Laurie's report to his commander after the fight. Two other permanent employees fired immediately afterwards, gunfire splashed in the river, and then the narrow group in front, probably thinking that the order to shoot had been given, unleashed a rough volley before Laurie could stop them.
Two of Acton Minutemen, Private Abner Hosmer and Captain Isaac Davis, who were at the forefront marched to the bridge, beaten and killed instantly. Rev. Dr. Ripley recalled:
The Americans started their marches in a double file... In a minute or two, America moved quickly and within ten or fifteen bridge sticks, one pistol was fired by a British soldier, who marked the road, passing under Colonel Robinson's arm and slightly injured the side Luther Blanchard, a fifer, at the Acton Company.
Four more men were injured. Major Buttrick then shouted to the militia, "Fire, for God's sake, fellow soldiers, fire!" At this point the line is separated by the Concord River and the bridge, and is only 50 yards (46 m) apart. Some of the colonists' front rows, bound by roads and blocked from forming a line of fire, managed to shoot the heads and shoulders of each other in the regular mass gathered on the bridge. Four of Britain's eight officers and sergeants, who led from their troops, were wounded by gunfire. At least three soldiers (Thomas Smith, Patrick Gray, and James Hall, all four) were killed or seriously injured, and nine wounded. In 1824, Reverend and Minuteman Joseph Thaxter wrote:
I am an eyewitness to the following facts. The people of Westford and Acton, some of Concord, were the first to confront the British at the Concord Bridge. The British placed about ninety men as guards at the North Bridge; we then did not have certain information that someone was killed in Lexington, we saw England destruction in the city of Concord; proposed to advance to the bridge; in Colonel Robinson, Westford, along with Major Buttrick, led; strict orders were given not to shoot, unless the British fired first; when they advanced about half way, the British fired a pistol, a second, a third, and then the whole body; they killed Colonel Davis, of Acton, and Mr. Hosmer. Our people then shoot each other's heads, in long columns, two and two; they killed two people and wounded eleven people. Lieutenant Hawkstone, said to be the greatest beauty of the British army, had a badly wounded cheek that was very damaging to his body, and he complained bitterly. On this, the British escaped, and gathered on the hill, north side of Concord, and impregnated their wounds, and then began their retreat. As they descended the hill near the road that came out of Bedford, they were chased; Colonel Bridge, with several people from Bedford and Chelmsford, came in, and killed several people.
Customers continue to find themselves caught in situations where they are outnumbered and invincible. The lack of effective leadership and fear of the superior number of enemies, with their devastated spirit, and the possibility of never experiencing a previous battle, they left the wounded, and fled to safety from an approaching grenadier company coming from the city center, isolating the Captain Parsons and companies looking for weapons at Barrett's Farm.
After the fight
The colonists were stunned by their success. Nobody really believes that the two sides will shoot to kill the other. Partly advanced; many more retreat; and some go home to see the safety of their homes and families. Colonel Barrett finally began to restore control. He moved several militants back to the top of the hill for 300 yards (274 m) and sent Major Buttrick with the others across the bridge to a defensive position on a hill behind a stone wall.
Lieutenant Colonel Smith heard the exchange of fire from his position in the city shortly after he received a request for reinforcements from Laurie. He quickly assembled two grenadier companies to lead to the North Bridge itself. As these troops marched, they met with the ruined remains of three light infantry companies running towards them. Smith worried about the four companies in Barrett, because their route into town is now unprotected. When he sees Minutemen in the distance behind their wall, he stops his two companies and moves forward only with his officers to take a closer look. One of the Minutemen behind the wall observed, "If we shoot, I'm sure we can kill almost every officer up front, but we have no command to shoot and no weapons are fired." During the tense tension lasting about 10 minutes, a mentally ill local man named Elias Brown walks through both sides that sells hard apple cider.
At this point, the detachment remained sent to Barrett's farm line up from their unsuccessful search in the area. They passed the now almost deserted battlefield, and saw dead and wounded comrades lying on the bridge. Someone saw them as if he had been skinned, which infuriated and shocked the British soldiers. They crossed the bridge and returned to the city at 11:30 am, under the watchful eye of the colonists, who continued to defend their defensive positions. Customers continued to search and destroy colonial military supplies in the city, lunch, re-assemble for marching, and leave Concord after noon. This departure delay gave the colonial militia from the outlying towns to reach the road back to Boston.
Back in line
Concord to Lexington
Lieutenant Colonel Smith, concerned about the safety of his subordinates, sent flankers to follow the ridge and shielded his troops from some 1,000 colonies who were now on the field as England marched east out of Concord. The ridge ends near Meriam's Corner, a crossroads about a mile (2 km) outside the village of Concord, where the main road comes to the bridge across a small river. To cross the narrow bridge, the British had to pull back the defenders into the main column and the ranks close to only three parallel army. The colonial militia companies coming from the north and east have gathered at this point, and present a clear numerical advantage over the regular customers. Britain is now witnessing once again what General Gage wants to avoid by sending the expedition in secret and in the dark: the ability of the colonial militia to rise up and gather with thousands of people as British troops leave Boston. When the last English column was lined up on the narrow bridge, the British troops pushed and fired at the colonial militia, who had been shooting irregularly and ineffectively from a distance but now closed in range of fire. The invaders returned fire, this time with deadly effects. Two people remain dead and maybe six are injured, without colonial victims. Smith sent troops flanking him again after crossing a small bridge.
At Brooks Hill (also known as Hardy Hill) about 1 mile (1.6 km) past Meriam's Corner, nearly 500 militia members gathered south of the road, waiting for an opportunity to shoot the English column on the street below. Smith's troops attacked the hill to drive them out, but the colonists did not retreat, causing significant casualties on the invaders. Smith withdrew his men from Brooks Hill, and the column continued to another small bridge to Lincoln, at Brooks Tavern, where more militia companies intensified attacks from the north side of the road.
Customers keep reaching the point on the road now called the "Bloody Spot" where the road rises and sharply curves to the left through a lightly forested area. Here, the Woburn militia company has positioned itself on the southeast side of the bend on the road in a rocky and light field. The extra militia flowing parallel to the road from the engagement in Meriam's Corner positioned itself on the northwest side of the road, capturing England in a firefight, while other militia firms on the road were closed from behind to attack. Around 500 meters (460 m) further, the road takes another sharp turn, this time to the right, and again the English columns are captured by the great forces of other militia who are firing from both sides. In passing these two sharp curves, British troops lost thirty soldiers killed or injured, and four colonial militia were also killed, including Capt. Jonathan Wilson of Bedford, Captain Nathan Wyman of Billerica, Lt. John Bacon of Natick, and Daniel Thompson of Woburn. The British soldiers escaped by breaking into a cart, a move that the colonials could not conserve through forests and swampy terrain. The colonial troops on the road itself behind Britain were too dense and irregular to carry out more harassing attacks from behind.
As militia troops from other cities continued to arrive, the colonial army had risen to about 2,000. The road is now straightened eastward, with clean fields and gardens along its sides. Lieutenant Colonel Smith sent back flanking people, who managed to trap some militia from behind and inflicted casualties. British casualties also escalated from this engagement and from continuous long-range shootings from militia, and exhausted British ran out of ammunition.
As the British colony approached the border between Lincoln and Lexington, they found another ambush from a road-facing hill, set by Captain John Parker Militia militia, including some of those bandaged from meetings in Lexington the previous day. At this point, Lieutenant Colonel Smith was injured on his thigh and thrown from his horse. Major John Pitcairn took over the effective command of the column and sent light infantry companies up the hill to clean up the militia forces.
The light infantry cleared two additional hills as the column continued east - "The Bluff" and "Fiske Hill" - and took more casualties from ambushes by new militia companies joining the battle. In one of the shotgun rifles from the colonial army, Major Pitcairn's horse jumped in terror, throwing Pitcairn to the ground and injuring his arm. Now the two main leaders of the expedition were injured or unprotected, and their people were tired, thirsty, and exhausted their ammunition. Some people surrendered or were arrested; some formations now broke and ran toward Lexington. In the words of a British officer, "we started to run rather than back down in order... We tried to stop the people and formed them two in, but there was no purpose, the confusion increased rather than diminish.... Officer arrived in front and presenting their bayonets, and telling the people if they go they must die, and after this they begin to form under the great fire. "
Only one British officer remained unharmed between the three companies at the head of the English column as he approached the Lexington Center. He understands the dangerous situation in the column: "There are very few people who have the ammunition left, and so tired that we can not let the party float, so we have to put down our guns, or be picked up by Rebels at pleasure - closer to - and we can not keep them away. "He then heard further cheers ahead. A full brigade, about 1,000 people with artillery under the command of Earl Percy, have arrived to rescue them. It was about 2:30 pm, and the English columns have now been marching since 2 am. Westford Minuteman, Pdt. Joseph Thaxter, wrote about his story:
We chased them and killed some people; when they got to Lexington, they were so chased and exhausted, that they had to surrender immediately, if only Mr. Percy had met them with great help and two field pieces. They fired them, but the ball floated high above our heads. But no cannons have ever done more executions, stories like that their effects have been propagated by the tories through our troop, which start now more than the pursued. We chased to Charlestown Common, and then retired to Cambridge. When the army gathered in Cambridge, Colonel Prescott with his regimentary troops, and John Robinson, Lieutenant Colonel, was immediately at their post.
In their later accounts, British officers and soldiers alike noted their disappointment that the colonial militia fired at them from behind trees and stone walls, rather than confronting them in large linear formations in the style of European warfare. The image of an individual colonial farmer, a gun in hand and a fight under his own command, has also been fostered in the American myth: "Pursuing a red coat down the road/Then crossing the field to reappear/Under the trees in turn from the street, stop to shoot and load. "Instead, starting at the North Bridge and across Britain, the colonial militia repeatedly operated as coordinated companies, even when scattered to take advantage of protection. Reflecting on the British experience of the day, Earl Percy understands the importance of American tactics:
During the whole affair, the Rebels attacked us in a very irregular way, but with perseverance & amp; resolution, also never dared to form a regular body. Indeed, they know exactly what is appropriate, to do so. Anyone who views them as an irregular mass, will find himself very wrong. They have people among them who know exactly what they are about, have been employed as Rangers against Indians & amp; Canada & amp; the country is heavily covered with wood, and hilly, very profitable for their battle methods.
Percy rescue
General Gage had anticipated that Lieutenant Colonel Smith's expedition might require reinforcement, so Gage drew up orders to strengthen the unit to gather in Boston at 4 am. But in his obsession with secrecy, Gage had sent only one copy of the order to the 1st Brigade aide, whose servant then left the envelope on the table. Also around 4 am, the English column is within three miles of Lexington, and Lieutenant Colonel Smith now has a clear indication that all elements of the shock have been lost and the alarm spread throughout the countryside. So he sent the rider back to Boston with a request for reinforcements. Around 5 am, motorists reached Boston, and the 1st Brigade was ordered to assemble: the 4th, 23rd, and 47th-century Infantry line companies, and the Royal Marines battalion, under the command of Earl Percy. Unfortunately for England, once again only one copy of the order was sent to each commander, and an order for the Royal Marines was sent to the table of Major John Pitcairn, who had been in the Lexington Common with Smith's column at that hour. After this delay, the Percy brigade, about 1,000, left Boston around 8:45 am, headed for Lexington. Along the way, the story is told, they march to the song "Yankee Doodle" to mock the residents of the area. With the Battle of Bunker Hill less than two months later, the song would be a popular song for colonial troops.
Percy took the land route across Boston Neck and through the Great Bridge, which some quick-thinking colonists have stripped off the board to delay England. His subordinates then went to a dazed teacher at Harvard College and asked which way to take them to Lexington. The Harvard man, apparently unaware of the reality of what was going on around him, showed him the right path without thinking. (He was then forced to leave the country for inadvertently supporting the enemy.) Percy troops arrived in Lexington around 2:00 pm. They could hear gunshots in the distance as they set up cannons and scattered regular lines on the plateau with views of the city commander. Colonel Smith's men approached as the masses escaped with complete colonial militia in close formation pursuing them. Percy ordered the artillery to open fire at extreme distances, dispersing the colonial militia. Smith's men collapsed with exhaustion after they reached Percy's safe line.
Against the advice of his Master of Ordnance, Percy left Boston without backup ammunition for his men or for the two artillery they were carrying, assuming the additional carriage would slow it down. Everyone in the Percy brigade has only 36 rounds, and each artillery is given only with a few rounds done in the side boxes. After Percy left town, Gage directed two carts of ammunition guarded by one officer and thirteen people to follow him. The convoy was intercepted by a small group of older veteran militia members still on the "alarm list," who could not join their militia company because they were over 60 years old. These men got up and demanded the delivery of the car, but the customers kept ignoring them and riding their horses. The old men opened fire, shot the main horses, killed two sergeants, and wounded the officer. The surviving Englishmen ran, and six of them threw their weapons into the pool before they surrendered.
Lexington to Menotomy
Percy took over the combined power of about 1,700 people and let them rest, eat, drink, and their injuries tended to the field headquarters (Munroe Tavern) before continuing the parade. They depart from Lexington at about 3:30 pm, in formations that emphasize defenses along the sides and back of the columns. The injured team rode the cannons and were forced to leave when they were fired upon by militia meetings. The Percy people are often surrounded, but they have the tactical advantage of interior lines. Percy could move his unit easier to where it needed, while the colonial militia was asked to move beyond the outside of his formation. Percy placed the Smiths in the middle of the column, while the 23rd Regiment companies formed the columns behind the columns. Because of the information provided by Smith and Pitcairn about how Americans attacked, Percy ordered the rear guard to rotate every mile or so, to allow some of his troops to rest for a while. The floating company is sent to both sides of the road, and strong Marines force acts as the front guard for clearing the way ahead.
During a break in Lexington, Brigadier General William Heath arrived and took over the militia command. Earlier in the day, he had made his first trip to Watertown to discuss tactics with Joseph Warren, who had left Boston that morning, and another member of the Massachusetts Security Committee. Heath and Warren reacted to Percy's artillery and flinter by ordering the militias to avoid a close formation that would pull the cannon fire. Instead, they surrounded Percy's square with a circle of distant combat troops moving to inflict maximum casualties with minimal risk.
Some of the militia members on the streets will come down, shoot the rifles to the closing customers, then repeat and rush forward to repeat the tactics. Countless militia will often shoot from a distance, in hopes of hitting someone in the main army column on the road and surviving, as both the British and the Colonials use the rifles with an effective combat range of about 50 yards (46 m). Infantry units will put pressure on the sides of the English columns. As it moves out of range, the units move and move forward to re-engage the column beneath the path. Heath sent a messenger to intercept the arriving militia units, directing them to worthy places along the way to engage the regular customers. Several cities dispatched supply cars to help feed and rearm the militia. Heath and Warren did lead the skirmisher in small actions into the battle itself, but the presence of effective leadership that might have the greatest impact on the success of this tactic. Percy writes about colonial tactics: "The rebels attacked us in a very dispersed, disorganized way, but with perseverance and resolution, also never dared to form ordinary bodies.Indeed, they know very well what is proper, to do So whoever regard them as an irregular mass, will find themselves very wrong. "
The fighting intensified as Percy's men crossed from Lexington to Menotomy. The new militia pours shots into the British ranks from a distance, and homeowners begin to struggle from their own property. Some homes are also used as sniper positions, turning the situation into a soldier's nightmare: fighting from house to house. Jason Russell pleaded with his friends to fight with him to defend his home by saying, "The house of an Englishman is his castle." He lives and is killed on his doorstep. His friends, depending on which account they can trust, either hide in the basement, or die at home from bullets and bayonets after firing on soldiers who follow them. Jason Russell's house still stands and contains bullet holes from this fight.. One militia unit that attempted to ambush Russell's gardens was captured by flanking people, and eleven people were killed, some were suspected after they surrendered.
Percy lost control of his men, and British troops began to commit atrocities to retaliate on suspected alleged scalps in the North Bridge and to their own victims at the hands of distant, often invisible enemies. Based on the words of Pitcairn and other wounded officers from Smith's command, Percy had learned that Minutemen were using stone walls, trees and buildings in these denser towns closer to Boston to hide behind and shoot in columns. He ordered the wing companies to clear the colonial militia from such places.
Many of the young officers on the wing parties had trouble stopping exhausted and ferocious people from killing everyone they found inside these buildings. For example, two innocent drunkards who refused to hide in the basement of a diner in Menotomy were killed only because they were suspected of being involved with the events of the day. Although many accounts of raids and arsons were exaggerated by the colonists for the value of propaganda (and to obtain financial compensation from the colonial government), it is true that the taverns were searched and liquor stolen by the troops, who in some cases became drunk on their own. A communion of silver communion was stolen but later rediscovered after being sold in Boston. The aging Menotomi population, Samuel Whittemore killed three permanent men before he was attacked by the British contingent and left to die. (He recovered from his wounds and then died in 1793 at the age of 98.) All told, more blood was being shed at Menotomy and Cambridge than elsewhere that day. The colonists lost 25 people dead and nine wounded there, and Britain lost 40 dead and 80 wounded, with the 47th Leg and Marines suffering the highest casualties. Each was about half the victims that day.
Menotomy to Charlestown
British troops crossed the Menotomy River (known today as Alewife Brook) to Cambridge, and the fighting fiercered. The new militia arrived at very close distance rather than in dispersed formations, and Percy used two of his artillery and flangers at a junction called Pojok Watson to inflict heavy damage on them.
Earlier in the day, Heath had ordered the Great Bridge to be demolished. The Percy Brigade was about to approach a damaged bridge and a river bank full of militia as Percy steered his troops down a narrow lane (now Beech Street, near Porter Square now) and onto the road to Charlestown. The militia (now numbering about 4,000) is not ready for this movement, and the fire circle is broken. American troops moved to occupy Prospect Hill (in modern Somerville), which dominated the street, but Percy moved his cannon forward and dispersed them with his last round of ammunition.
Major militia troops arrived from Salem and Marblehead. They may have cut Percy's route to Charlestown, but these people stopped at Winter Hill nearby and got back
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments