The Battle of Lexington and Concord occurred on April 19, 1775. This was the first battle of the American Revolution. The objective of British forces on this day was to seize gunpowder and arms from American militia.
In April of 1775, Thomas Gage, the Royal Governor of Massachusetts, began to crack down on rebelling colonists who defied British authority and began to arm themselves. He authorized the seizure of their gunpowder and weapons stored in Concord, Massachusetts. Before the British troops began their march to Concord, patriot riders such as Paul Revere, alerted Minutemen of the British plans.
700 British regulars departed Boston for a march on Concord. They encountered a militia company of seventy at Lexington, Massachusetts. A shot was fired, which resulted in the British forces firing a volley at the American militia and eight of them were killed. The Patriot forces dispersed and the British continued their march to Concord. They arrived there approximately three hours later and burned some supplies they found.
A British advancing party encountered approximately 400 American militia men in front of hills by the Concord River. The militia advanced down the hill and volleys of musket fire were fired on both sides. The British were overpowered and retreated back to town. By now, American militias mobilized into the thousands. Outnumbered even with reinforcements, the British regulars marched twelve miles back to Boston and are harassed by swarms of militia along the way.
In total, 3,900 American militia and 1,500 British regulars were engaged at Lexington and Concord. The Americans suffered 93 casualties (43 killed, 59 wounded, and 5 missing and captured) and the British suffered 300 casualties (73 killed, 174 wounded and 53 missing and captured). American militias mobilized to the size of 20,000 in Massachusetts and became part of the Continental Army.
Books about the Battle of Lexington and Concord
Revolutionary Boston, Lexington and Concord: The Shots Heard Around the World by Joseph Andrews
The British Are Coming: the War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777 by Rick Atkinson
American Spring: Lexington, Concord, and the Road to Revolution by Walter R. Boneman
Lexington and Concord: The Battle Heard Around the World by George Daughan
Michael Walsh is an Adult Services Librarian at the Will Library. He is currently reading Helter Skelter by Curt Gentry and Vincent Bugliosi.