April 19, 1775

On April19th, 1775, British light infantry and grenadiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith and Marine Major John Pitcairn set out from Boston on the orders of General Thomas Gage to seize weaponry and ammunition stored by the colonial militias at Concord.

Unfortunately for the British, the Colonials had received notice of the plan, probably from General Gage’s American wife, and were able to send out riders on the night of April 18^th to warn the militia of the impending attack. This allowed the colonists to remove the stockpile and distribute the supplies around several neighboring towns.

On the morning of April 19^th the British advance guard, under Major Pitcairn met with a small band of colonial militia at Lexington, on the way to Concord. About 70 militia men faced down 250 British regulars, ordered by their commander, Captain John Parker to, "Stand your ground; don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here."

Pitcairn tried to break up the band shouting, "Disperse you rebels; damn you, throw down your arms and disperse!"

Parker told his men to disperse but before they could a shot rang out. To this day, no one knows which side fired that shot but it has since become known as “the shot heard round the world”.

On hearing the shot, the British opened fire. The Patriots returned a ragged volley with little affect. The skirmish descended into chaos as colonial troops fled and the British officers lost control of their men. Some of the regulars charged with bayonets and Captain Parker witnessed his cousin, Jonas ran through. The militia suffered 18 casualties before they escaped into the nearby woods.

Soon thereafter, the main body of the British force caught up with the advance guard and restored order. The British then continued on towards Concord.

They arrived in Concord and the Concord under command of Colonel Barret militia gave way without a fight, retreating onto surrounding hills. The British searched the town but found little. They burned a few gun carriages and through 550 lbs. of shot into the town’s mill pond (this shot was recovered the next day).

Colonel Barrett recognizing an opportunity moved his men onto a hill overlooking the Old North Bridge, a structure over which the British had crossed to enter the town. This hill and the bridge were owned by militia Major Buttrick who was present in the group. These men were quite literally about to fight on their own land. By this time the militia at Concord numbered about 500. The militia saw the smoke from the burning gun carriages and believed that the British were burning the town. They loaded their weapons.

A contingent of British troops numbering about 115 had been assigned to guard the bridge, and protect the British line of retreat and when they saw the colonials take the hill they retreated across the bridge and began pulling up the planks. Major Buttrick began shouting at the men to quit destroying his property. Both sides moved into fighting positions, the British in a column leading to the bridge and the colonials in a perpendicular line advancing towards the British column. Thus the lines of battle looked like a capital “T” with the Patriots forming the top and British the upright.

A British soldier fired, against orders and his shot was fired by a few other Regulars and then by a volley from the soldiers in the front part of the column. Several Patriots were killed but they continued to advance, holding their fire and waiting for orders. Finally Major Buttrick ordered them to fire. Unlike European soldiers, the militia targeted the enemy officers, wounding half of them in the first volley. Several British enlisted men were also killed.

The British realized that they were outnumbered and outmaneuvered. Their line broke and the British infantry, famed for its fearlessness and discipline fled under fire without orders.

Hearing the fire, Lieutenant Colonel Smith ordered troops from the main British force, at that time still in the town, to reinforce the guard at the North bridge. Coming to the bridge they met the scattered, fleeing rear guard.

The British officers left their men behind and went forward to see what was going on. They passed under the fire of the militia but in the words of one of the Americans, “If we had fird I beleave we could kild all most every officseer thair was in the front, but we had no orders to fire and their want a gun fird.” The colonial militias were not, as they are sometimes portrayed, ragtag bands of misfits with guns. Even after skirmishing with the British for half a day they still did not fire unless fired upon.

The offiers returned and the British regrouped in the town. They were able to make their way out of the town and began the long march back to Boston.

All along the way they were harassed and attacked by the American militiamen. The embattled British faced several major ambushes.

The first known as “The Bloody Curve,” consisted of about 200 Patriots positioned themselves behind a low wall and some trees on the outside of the curve and fired into the marching British. They were joined by another group which fired from the other side of the road and fresh troops which arrived from behind the British and fired into their rear. The British were able to escape by breaking into a run, the Patriots couldn’t keep up because they were moving through the woods on either side of the roads. Nevertheless, the British suffered heavy casualties.

Minor attacks continued up until the British again reached Lexington. The Lexinton Miltia, still under the command of Captain Parker had regrouped and been strengthened with additional men. These men, some of them bandaged, from the fighting earlier that morning prepared an ambush which they sprung only after Lieutenant Colonel Smith came into view. Smith was wounded and Pitcairn had to send his Marines out to drive back Parkers militia. This became known as “Parker’s Revenge.”

The Marines began clearing the hills around the town and during these actions, Pitcairn fell from his horse and injured his arm. Many of the British forces broke and ran. Officers had to threaten their own men with bayonets to make them reform their ranks.

It was now early afternoon and the British were in trouble. Fortunately for them 1000 reinforcements and two cannon under Lord Percy arrived to rescue them. Percy had originally been intended to follow closer but his orders had been misplaced by a servant. Smith’s men gratefully retreated behind the fresh forces which were able to disperse the pursuing militia with cannon fire.

Percy took command and was able to reform the British force, allowing them to rest around a tavern and have their wounds tended to. They then moved on back towards Boston.

They were continually under attack along the road. Militiamen with horses would dismount and fire into the British ranks, then mount and gallop ahead to repeat the maneuver. Other soldiers continued to hide behind cover and fire on the British. The longer range and superior accuracy of the Patriots’ weapons, which were primarily intended for hunting allowed them to engage from outside the enemy’s effective range.

The British made it to Menotomy only to come under attack from the town’s militia and many private residents who fired at the Regulars from their homes. Percy lost control of his men and the frustrated soldiers committed atrocities that were later used to inflame more colonists into open rebellion against the British.

The British continued moving and eventually made their way through Menotomy, then Cambridge and finally onto the road to Charleston. The British turn towards Charleston surprised the Patriots and allowed them to escape the continuous circle of fire that had plagued them throughout the day. The British moved onto the hills of Charleston and supported by the heavy guns of a warship in the harbor gained the better position.

The American forces declined to follow and the battle ended.

April 19^th is a day to remember the sacrifices or our ancestors and to be extra thankful for the freedoms their courage, ingenuity and blood won us. We should never forget the scenes of private citizens, armed with their own weapons defending their homes, land and property.