The Battle of Lexington and Concord
The Battle of Lexington and Concord was made up of two battles that began on April 18th, 1775. The first shots starting the revolution were fired at Lexington, Massachusetts. On April 18, 1775, British General Thomas Gage sent 700 soldiers to destroy guns and ammunition the colonists had stored in the town of Concord, just outside of Boston. British troops were also sent to Concord to capture John Hancock and Samuel Adams, but both men had been already warned about the British attack. The night of April 18th, Paul Revere rode through Concord warning everybody about the British attack. So when the British came in to attack the Rebels, The colonists had been expecting a fight with the British. They had organized a group of militia, called the Minutemen, Americans who were "ready to fight in a minute," these men were waiting to attack at Lexington. The Americans were backing away since they were greatly outnumbered when someone fired a shot, and the British troops started to fire, killing 8 Minutemen and injuring 10 others. Till the present date nobody knows who shot first.
Although Paul Revere was captured by British scouts before reaching Concord, other messengers managed to get through and warn the people. While the British soldiers continued on their way to Concord, they found out that Hancock and Adams had escaped. So they marched towards Concord looking for ammunition but the men and women of Concord were busy moving the arms and ammunition to new hiding places in surrounding towns. When the soldiers arrived they were only able to destroy part of the supplies.
As the British went to look at a nearby farm for weapons, they ran into a group of minutemen at Concord's North Bridge. There was a big fight, and the Minutemen made the British retreat. By the end of the day, British troops had lost 273 soldiers, while the Colonists lost only 94. 18 of these Colonists had died during the battle at Lexington. The next step was the Revolutionary War.
"Don't fire unless fired upon. But if they want a war let it begin here" said Captain John Parker, commander of the Minutemen.
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