Lexington and Concord

The Shot Heard Around the World was fired!! It took place in Lexington, Massachusetts. It all started when Thomas Gage sent 700 soldiers to destroy weapons and ammunition that the colonists were hiding in Concord. Also, the British had planned to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock. However, there was a brave man called Paul Revere, who with the company of two other men, went on horseback to alert John Hancock and Samuel Adams. On the evening of April 18th, 1775, British troops started to march towards Lexington. Before this movement took place, all colonists were alerted that British troops were coming. As a result, Samuel Adams and John Hancock managed to escape. Colonists were expecting a fight with the British, therefore they created a militia group that was known as the minutemen. The fight began and Captain Jonas Parker attacked British soldiers with 75 armed minutemen. At the end, 10 minutemen soldiers were injured and 8 were killed.

When the battle had finished, Paul Revere was caught by the British soldiers when he was reaching Concord to alert people that the British were coming. However, Paul Revere had messenger friends and they were the ones that managed to go to Concord and warn the people. The messengers plan consisted in alerting the people of Concord, taking as much ammunition as they could carry, and going to their hiding places. When British soldiers arrived they were only capable of destroying a small part of the supplies. Suddenly, a miracle occured and the colonists were able to surround the British and forced them to retreat. This plan's success can be attributed to the minutemen's quick response time and their ability to respond to messenger warnings. It is worth noting that the smoke from the burning supplies was attracting curious farmers and townspeople. The British killed 49 Patriots and injured 39, however the colonists were able to kill 73 British soldiers and injured 174.

British troops spent 4 hours in Concord searching and destroying the ammunition they were able to rescue. The colonists took advantage of this time and used the soldiers as a distraction to prepare for the battle. When the British arrived in Boston, 2,000 minutemen were prepared and ready for the battle. However, the minutemen were hiding in places such as: trees, stone walls, houses and sheds. They were not really prepared for the battle and this was evident when they weren't able to contain the British forces. Something interesting about this battle was that the British were called regulars because they wore red uniforms. The leader of the militia in Lexington was called Captain John Parker, and 25% of his army was composed by his relatives. The day after these battles took place, around 15,000 minutemen surrounded Boston.