On This Day April 19, 1775 marked the start of the American Revolutionary War.
The events of that fateful day began when British troops marched from Boston to Concord to seize weapons and arrest rebel leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Paul Revere and other riders raced ahead to warn the colonial militia, known as minutemen, of the British approach.
At dawn, the British forces reached Lexington and encountered a group of about 77 minutemen on the town green. After a tense standoff, a shot rang out – it’s still unclear which side fired first. The British then opened fire, killing 8 Americans and wounding 10 more. This skirmish on Lexington Green was the first military clash of the Revolutionary War.
The British then continued on to Concord, where they were met by hundreds of colonial militiamen. After a brief battle at the North Bridge, the outnumbered British were forced to retreat back to Boston, with colonial snipers inflicting heavy casualties along the way.
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were a major victory for the colonial forces. It marked the start of the Revolutionary War and galvanized support for the patriot cause across the Thirteen Colonies. The militias that fought that day would soon be organized into the Continental Army, the military backbone of the American Revolution.
