Lexington and Concord: First Shots of the Revolution
British regulars marched from Boston toward Concord on April 19, 1775, to seize colonial weapons caches. At Lexington Green, they encountered 77 militia men. Someone fired a shot, still unknown from which side. Eight militia were killed. The regulars continued to Concord, where they found most of the weapons had been moved. At the North Bridge, colonial militia fired on the retreating British in what Ralph Waldo Emerson later called "the shot heard round the world." The march back to Boston became a running battle as 3,800 militia fired from behind stone walls, trees, and buildings. British casualties exceeded 270; colonial losses were 95. The battles ended any possibility of reconciliation and marked the beginning of the American Revolutionary War.
April 19, 1775
251 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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