We are quickly approaching the 250th Anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The official date is April 19th, 1775.
A member of our Cincinnati Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution – Compatriot Stephen McClanahan, answered the call to write an article commemorating this key event in our country’s struggle for independence and is seen as a catalyst for the colonies involvement.
The Battle of Lexington and Concord
April 19, 1775
Thomas Gage was appointed Governor of Massachusetts, arriving in Boston on March 13, 1774. To forestall armed rebellion, Gage envisioned a series of operations to seize and destroy patriot militia stockpiles. Two such operations (at Somerville and Salem) failed to return much to the British but did add fuel to the fires of rebellion.
Gage was determined to carry out another raid and appointed Francis Smith to lead an expedition to Concord. Early on April 18, an expedition of 800-900 men began the sixteen-mile march to Concord. A mounted patrol was ordered to intercept any patriot messengers coming out of Boston. The British seized Paul Revere and several other patriot messengers riding the Lexington Road. By then, the patriots had already alerted much of the countryside, including Lexington, which sat on the road to Concord.
Smith ordered Major Pitcairn to move ahead, and with 238 men, marched into Lexington.
About seventy Lexington militiamen, led by John Parker, were assembled in the northwest corner of the Common. It is unclear which side fired first, but a shot was fired, followed by several more, and then an eruption of a British volley without any orders. The volley was followed by a bayonet charge. The British fired in all directions. The return fire was ineffective and the British only suffered one casualty.
Around 7 am, the march to Concord resumed. As the British approached, they observed a band of militiamen posted on Arrowhead ridge, lining the eastern entrance to Concord. With the militia having abandoned the town, the British marched into Concord unopposed around nine in the morning but not much was found. Most of the militia stockpiles had been removed before their arrival.
The militia began to march into town; one hundred fifteen British soldiers faced off against about four hundred militiamen. As the militia came within firing range, the British soldiers fired, killing two and wounding four. The militia returned fire, killing three privates and wounding nine. Both sides declined further engagement; the militia withdrew west across the bridge and the British fell back to the town center. Nearly two hours later, the British departed Concord, and began the march back to Boston. During this time, the militia headed back to the Lexington Road to cut off Smith’s retreat.
For two and half hours over the course of six miles, the British were subjected to unrelenting fire. Smith’s men were repeatedly ambushed. The mobile and dispersed militia attacked from all sides. By midnight the British were back in Boston, after suffering 273 casualties; 73 killed, 174 wounded, and 26 missing. An estimated 3,700 Americans took part in the battle The Americans suffered 93 casualties; 49 killed, 39 wounded, and 5 missing.
And thus began the American revolutionary war.
Acknowledgement: The telling of this history used the Honors Thesis of Mario E. Lucio, Texas State University, Dec 2012. All credit belongs to him and the numerous references he cites therein.
