A Very Brief Description of the Battles of Lexington and Concord
(don't nitpick it for what's left out)

 

Shortly before midnight on April 18, 1775, about 700 British Army regulars, under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, set out from Boston to capture and destroy military supplies that were reportedly stored by the Massachusetts militia at Concord, some 20 miles away. Their orders were to destroy muskets, powder, cannon, and other provisions being stockpiled by the rebels on Colonel James Barrett's farm. The citizens had been warned that the Regulars were coming and were ready for them. As the column approached Lexington at dawn they found 77 militiamen formed up on the town green. The British officers ordered them to lay down their arms and disperse. Being outnumbered ten to one, Capt John Parker ordered his men to comply, but someone fired a shot, discipline broke down, and more shots were fired. When the smoke cleared, two militiamen were dead and several more wounded. News of the shooting at Lexington spread rapidly and militiamen from surrounding communities began to come to the line of march between Boston and Concord. In the meanwhile, the Regulars marched on to Concord arriving at the North Bridge few hours later.

The militia had already formed up on the far side of the Bridge, consisting of men not just from Concord, but many nearby towns who had come to defend their homes and lives. Smoke rises from the center of Concord. The militia believes the Regulars are out to burn down the town. The order comes to load their muskets. The men advance towards the Bridge in fine order to the astonishment of the Regulars. Retreating off the Bridge, the Regulars form into firing positions. As in Lexington, a shot rings out and the Regulars fire. Militiamen fall but they continue their advance. Then the order is given to the militia: "Fire, fellow soldiers, for God's sake fire!". For the first time the colonists fire a volley into massed British troops. "The shot heard round the world." Both militiamen and British Regulars die and are wounded at the bridge. The American Revolution had begun.

As the British retreat to Boston they are constantly fired upon by militiamen hidden along the roadside. By the time they finally get back to safety they have lost 275 men killed, wounded, or missing. The militia losses are less than 100.

Since the Regulars were in rapid retreat they neither buried nor carried their dead with them. As a result there are numerous graves of British Regulars buried by the colonists along Battle Road.

 

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Paul Revere and William Dawes left Boston shortly before the British Regulars to warn the colonists, particularly Samuel Adams and John Hancock, that the British Army was coming. Arriving at Lexington they gave the message to Adams and Hancock, then joined by Dr. Samuel Prescott, who they happened to meet, continued on towards Concord. Before arriving there they were stopped by a British patrol. Prescott jumped his horse over a stone fence and escaped. Dawes managed to escape also but fell off his horse while jumping a fence. Paul Revere was held for awhile, then his horse was confiscated and he himself was released. He walked back to Lexington. Dr. Samuel Prescott, who only fortuitously happened to be accompanying the other two, was the only one to get the message through to the militiamen in Concord.

Not much note was taken of "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" until the poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, written some 40 years after Revere's death. The legend of Paul Revere's ride comes mostly from that poem which contains many inaccuracies.