The FIRST SHOT! Story
Why does Lexington, Massachusetts claim to be the site of the first shot of the American Revolution? By April, 1775, there had already been several violent and deadly clashes between the forces of the British Crown and her American colonists such as the Boston Massacre in 1770 and the burning of the revenue cutter Gaspee off Warwick, Rhode Island in 1772. However, it was the expedition of April 18–19, 1775 by British Redcoats aimed at seizing military supplies being accumulating at Concord, Massachusetts, styled by historians the “Lexington Alarm,” that finally brought Crown and Colonies into open and continuous conflict.
The intention of General Thomas Gage, Royal Governor of Massachusetts and Commander in Chief of His Majesty’s forces in North America, in ordering the Concord raid was to preclude additional violence. His hope was that by depriving the colonists of the means of waging war they would turn to peaceful means of settling differences. Thus, on the night of April 18, 1775 an expedition numbering over eight hundred men left Boston, crossed the Charles River in boats and in the early morning hours of April 19 set out for Concord. The small farming town of Lexington lay eleven miles away directly on the line of march.
On Lexington Common, Captain John Parker had gathered a small group of militiamen, numbering about seventy when the Regulars arrived. What was their intent? Most likely to observe the Regular’s progress, but additionally perhaps to assert their right to stand under arms in defense of their town and to represent the legally constituted militia of the Massachusetts Commonwealth. Major John Pitcairn of the Royal Marines commanded the Redcoat advance, and believing the militiamen constituted a threat to his flank ordered them to lay down their arms. They refused, and instead were directed by Captain Parker to leave the field. At that point a shot rang out. Who fired first has never been established. However, the Regulars responded with two crushing volleys, killing eight and wounding nine militiamen. The retreating men of Lexington managed to fire only a few scattered shots wounding one Redcoat and grazing Major Pitcairn’s horse. Although over quickly, this small engagement would have a lasting and dramatic effect.
While there had been interludes of peace following previous violent incidents between Crown and colonists, this time there would be no respite, no peace, until America won her independence ― the Revolutionary War had begun! The thousands of colonial militiamen from Lexington and throughout New England who mustered that morning in response to the British raid and the violence on Lexington Common would become the nucleus of the American army that George Washington would eventually lead to victory. It was on Lexington Common where the conflict started, the first shots were fired, and the first blood was shed. It is for this reason that Lexington lays claim to having been the location where on that early April morning that first shot rang out and the American Revolution began.
The intention of General Thomas Gage, Royal Governor of Massachusetts and Commander in Chief of His Majesty’s forces in North America, in ordering the Concord raid was to preclude additional violence. His hope was that by depriving the colonists of the means of waging war they would turn to peaceful means of settling differences. Thus, on the night of April 18, 1775 an expedition numbering over eight hundred men left Boston, crossed the Charles River in boats and in the early morning hours of April 19 set out for Concord. The small farming town of Lexington lay eleven miles away directly on the line of march.
On Lexington Common, Captain John Parker had gathered a small group of militiamen, numbering about seventy when the Regulars arrived. What was their intent? Most likely to observe the Regular’s progress, but additionally perhaps to assert their right to stand under arms in defense of their town and to represent the legally constituted militia of the Massachusetts Commonwealth. Major John Pitcairn of the Royal Marines commanded the Redcoat advance, and believing the militiamen constituted a threat to his flank ordered them to lay down their arms. They refused, and instead were directed by Captain Parker to leave the field. At that point a shot rang out. Who fired first has never been established. However, the Regulars responded with two crushing volleys, killing eight and wounding nine militiamen. The retreating men of Lexington managed to fire only a few scattered shots wounding one Redcoat and grazing Major Pitcairn’s horse. Although over quickly, this small engagement would have a lasting and dramatic effect.
While there had been interludes of peace following previous violent incidents between Crown and colonists, this time there would be no respite, no peace, until America won her independence ― the Revolutionary War had begun! The thousands of colonial militiamen from Lexington and throughout New England who mustered that morning in response to the British raid and the violence on Lexington Common would become the nucleus of the American army that George Washington would eventually lead to victory. It was on Lexington Common where the conflict started, the first shots were fired, and the first blood was shed. It is for this reason that Lexington lays claim to having been the location where on that early April morning that first shot rang out and the American Revolution began.
