246 yrs ago today

[Vaquero]

April 19th 1775..........
246 years ago today the Battles of Lexington and Concord, fought on April 19, 1775, kicked off the American Revolutionary War.

Tensions had been building for many years between residents of the 13 American colonies and the British authorities, particularly in Massachusetts.

On the night of April 18, 1775, hundreds of British troops marched from Boston to nearby Concord in order to seize an arms cache. Paul Revere and other riders rode through the night and sounded the alarm, and colonial militiamen began mobilizing to intercept the Redcoat column.

At dawn on April 19, some 700 British troops arrived in Lexington and came upon 77 militiamen gathered on the town green. A British major yelled, “Throw down your arms! Ye villains, ye rebels.” The heavily outnumbered militiamen had just been ordered by their commander to disperse when a shot rang out.

To this day, no one knows which side fired first. Several British volleys were subsequently unleashed before order could be restored. When the smoke cleared, eight militiamen lay dead and nine were wounded, while only one Redcoat was injured.

The British then continued into Concord to search for arms, not realizing that the vast majority had already been relocated. They decided to burn what little they found, and the fire got slightly out of control. Hundreds of militiamen occupying the high ground outside of Concord incorrectly thought the whole town would be torched. The militiamen hustled to Concord’s North Bridge, which was being defended by a contingent of British soldiers. The British fired first but fell back when the colonists returned the volley. This was the “shot heard ‘round the world” later immortalized by poet Ralph Waldo Emerson.

After searching Concord for about four hours, the British prepared to return to Boston, located 18 miles away. By that time, almost 2,000 militiamen—also known as minutemen for their ability to be ready on a moment’s notice—had descended to the area, and more were constantly arriving. At first, the militiamen simply followed the British column. Fighting started again soon after, however, with the militiamen firing at the British from behind trees, stone walls, houses and sheds. Before long, British troops were abandoning weapons, clothing and equipment in order to retreat faster.

When the British column reached Lexington, it ran into an entire brigade of fresh Redcoats that had answered a call for reinforcements. But that did not stop the colonists from pressing their attack. The British, for their part, tried to keep the colonists at bay with flanking parties and canon fire. In the evening a contingent of newly arrived minutemen from Salem and Marblehead, Massachusetts, purportedly had a chance to cut off the Redcoats and perhaps finish them off. Instead, their commander ordered them not to attack, and the British were able to reach the safety of Charlestown Neck, where they had naval support.

The colonists had begun their long hard fight for their independence.


Happy 2nd Amendment Reason Day.

God Bless America !


RP

[fortyshooter]

Big AMEN to that! Thanks for posting. Our city got the name of Colonial Heights during battles around Petersburg area when the one of the Redcoats replied...."Look the Colonials are up on the heights!" We are up on a hill across the river from Petersburg. Several of the old buildings are still standing.

[fortyshooter]

Map showing the hills above Petersburg at top across the river.

[Vaquero]

That's cool, thanks for adding it.

RP

[cooperhawk]

Been there. We visit old battlefields whenever we can. We both love history.