April 19, 1775 - Battle of Lexington and Concord
The British troops disembarked into waist deep waters of the Charles River. As they waited to receive their rations, ammunition and other supplies, they could hear the sound of church bells sounding in the distance as the colonials rang out the alarm. Sensing that they had lost the element of surprise, the British commander sent a messenger back to General Gage, requesting reinforcements.
The Militia Waits
French and Indian War veteran Captain John Parker had gathered about eighty militiamen at Lexington to await the British advance. Parker had gotten Revere's warning and had assembled his troops in the dead of night and the men waited in the dark, wondering if Revere's warning had been accurate. About 4:15 AM, a scout arrived with the word that British troops really were on the move and had advanced to a position near Lexington. Parker did not expect the confrontation to end in battle. He positioned his men so they would not impede the British advance and ordered his men to not fire unless the British fired first. The British had executed these types of operations before and he expected that they would come, search for supplies and then return to Boston.
The British Arrive
British troops arrived about 5:00 AM in the morning to find a body of militia lined up in the town common armed with muskets, blunderbusses or any other weapon they could find. One of the British officers rode along the line, ordering the colonials to disperse. Armed with muskets and bayonets, the British would have been an imposing force. The outnumbered colonials did not disperse, thus the two forces faced a brief standoff.
Battle of Lexington
No one has determined who fired the first shot. Both British and Colonials claimed the other fired it. A bystander, there were about two hundred onlookers, could even have fired it. Someone did fire the first shot that set off the long simmering war. After the shot, the foes exchanged a ragged volley, after which the British fixed bayonets and charged the colonials. Eight militiamen died in the attack. The men quickly scattered and ran.
Mustering in Concord
Colonel James Barrett had taken command of the colonial militia forming in Concord. Reports trickled in about the actions in Lexington. Barrett, with about 250 militiamen under his command, first took up a position along the road to defend the town. Hearing reports that indicated the approaching British numbered around 700, he withdrew to the town. After further consideration, he abandoned Concord and took up a position on a hill overlooking the town. During the time he waited, more militia arrived and the size of his force grew.
March to Concord
The resistance had rattled the British troops. After the officers regained discipline, they began their march to Concord. This march also proceeded with little opposition. Upon arrival, they found Concord undefended. The British commander ordered some his troops to move to secure the bridges into town, and then he began the search for munitions. Loyalist spies informed the British the location of the few military supplies remaining in Concord. The soldiers found three cannon, some shot, barrels of flour and other supplies. They burned the cannon carriages and damaged the weapons. The barrels of flour and shot they had thrown into the millpond. The colonials managed to recover these supplies after the British left.
Battle
Colonel Barrett's troops occupied a position above the North Bridge that the British were guarding. By now, his force totaled around 400 men while the British force guarding the bridge totaled only around ninety. He decided to attack. He ordered his men not to fire unless fired upon, and advanced toward the bridge. The British, seeing the appearance of a superior force, began an orderly retreat across the bridge. Some of the soldiers began pulling up planks in the bridge floor to retard the colonial advance; however, the officer in charge ordered them to stop. The colonials began advancing across the bridge in columns while the militiamen on the other side formed into a line. A British soldier fired a shot, followed by another ragged volley. Barrett ordered his men to fire and the battle began. It did not last long as the outnumbered British broke and ran.
The Retreat to Boston
By now, the colonial force had grown to almost 1000 men. The British commander, having found few supplies and by now concerned about his troop’s safety in light of the growing colonial force, ordered a return to Boston. The march to Lexington and Concord, except for the brief confrontation in Lexington, had been largely uneventful. The return to Boston turned into a nightmare for the beleaguered British soldiers. The colonial force continued to grow. Many of these men were experienced fighters, having served in the French and Indian War and as rangers fighting the Indians. They formed an effective, persistent fighting force that harassed the British all the way to Lexington. Here, they trapped the British briefly, until reinforcements from General Gage arrived. Thus reinforced, the hungry, exhausted British continued their retreat. They arrived back in Boston twenty-one hours after they left, exhausted, hungry and demoralized. Forty British soldiers died in the day's action, while the colonials lost twenty-five. Colonial wounded totaled around nine, the British eighty.
By the end of the day, the British found themselves besieged in Boston surrounded by a colonial force that would eventually total around 15,000 men from the surrounding area and many of the other colonies.
