The American Revolutionary War began at Lexington and Concord
On this day · 19 April 1775
At dawn on April 19, 1775, militia and British regulars exchanged the first shots of the American Revolution on Lexington Green.
Around 5 a.m. on April 19, 1775, roughly 700 British regulars marching to seize colonial arms at Concord met about 70 militiamen waiting on Lexington Green. A shot rang out — no one knows from which side — and a volley followed. Eight militiamen lay dead and ten wounded; a single British soldier was hurt. It was the opening of the American Revolutionary War.
The regulars pressed on to Concord, but the patriots had moved most of their stores. At the North Bridge, militia turned the column back, and the long retreat to Boston became a running fight along the Bay Road.
By nightfall the toll told the story: 273 British casualties against 93 American. The day’s fighting spanned roughly 16 miles and drew in over 1,700 regulars and some 4,000 colonists. Ralph Waldo Emerson would later call it the “shot heard round the world.”
Sources & references
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