This interactive timeline presents the story of April 19, 1775, the day that the “shot heard round the world” was fired, beginning the American Revolution.
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On the evening of April 18, 1775, Provincial leaders in Boston learn that General Gage is sending British Regulars to seize a stockpile of military supplies in Concord.
Provincials: Residents of colonial New England
Regulars: Members of the British Army
You will March with the utmost expedition and Secrecy to Concord, where you will seize and distroy all Artillery, Ammunition, Provisions, Tents, Small Arms, and all Military Stores whatever.
Having received intelligence, that a quantity of Ammunition, Provisions, Artillery, Tents and small Arms, have been collected at Concord, for the Avowed Purpose of raising and supporting a Rebellion against His Majesty, you will March with a Corps of Grenadiers and Light Infantry…with the utmost expedition and Secrecy to Concord, where you will seize and distroy all Military Stores whatever.
At 10:30 PM, Paul Revere arranges for two lanterns to be lit in the belfry of the North Church, signaling that the Regulars, 700 strong, are heading out of Boston by water.
…it was supposed, that they were going to Lexington, by the way of Cambridge River, to take them, or go to Concord, to distroy the Colony Stores.
I was sent for by Docr. Joseph Warren…When he desired me, ‘to go to Lexington, and inform Mr. Samuel Adams, and the Honl. John Hancock Esqr. that there was a number of Soldiers, composed of Light troops, & Grenadiers, marching to the bottom of the Common…it was supposed, that they were going to Lexington, by the way of Cambridge River, to take them, or go to Concord, to distroy the Colony Stores.
Paul Revere, William Dawes, and additional alarm riders set out to warn the local militias of the advancing British Regulars. Provincial leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock are notified in Lexington. The Regulars have lost the element of surprise.
By the time the advance companies of British Regulars reach Lexington, approximately 60 Lexington militiamen have gathered on the Common, summoned by drum.
Militiamen: Self-trained and self-armed companies of Provincials, relied upon by New England towns for defense since the 1600s.
Minutemen: Special companies ready to fight “in a minute”, created in 1774 as friction with the British government intensified.
…as I passed I heard the commanding officer speake to his men to this purpose, “Lett the troops pass by, and don’t molest them, with out The [They] begin first”.
I saw the Ministeral Troops from the Chamber window. We made haste, & had to pass thro’ our Militia, who were on a green behind the Meetinghouse, to the number as I supposed, about 50 or 60, I went thro’ them; as I passed I heard the commanding officer speake to his men to this purpose, “Lett the troops pass by, and don’t molest them, with out The [They] begin first.”
Despite orders on both sides not to shoot, firing breaks out on Lexington Common. Eight Provincials are killed.
…on our approach they dispersed, and soon after firing began; but which party fired first, I cannot exactly say.
On our arrival at that place, we saw a body of Provincial Troops armed, to the number of about sixty or seventy men; on our approach they dispersed, and soon after firing began; but which party fired first, I cannot exactly say.
The skirmish is over quickly and the British troops continue their march to Concord, arriving in the town at 7:30 in the morning.
The British Regulars enter Concord in search of supplies the Provincials have been stockpiling to create an army of 15,000.
We saw the brittish Troops at the distance of ¼ of a Mile, glittering in Arms, advancing toward us with the greatest Celerity.
This Morning between 1 &2 O’clock we were alarmed by the ringing of the Bell, and upon Examination found that the Troops, to the No. of 800, had stole their March from Boston… & were at Lexington Meeting House, half an hour before Sunrise, where they had fired upon a Body of our Men & (as we afterward heard) had killed several. Several Posts were immediately despatched, that returning confirmed the Account of the Regulars arrived at Lexington & that they were on their Way to Concord….Upon this a Number of our Minute Men belonging to the Town & Acton and Lyncoln, with several others that were in readiness, marched out to meet them….We saw the brittish Troops at the distance of ¼ of a Mile, glittering in Arms, advancing toward us with the greatest Celerity.
The Regulars find and destroy some of the supplies hidden in Concord homes and the Town House, dumping many in the millpond.
Food
318 Barrels of Flour
7 Loads of Salt Fish (17,000 pounds)
47 Hogsheads and 50 Barrels of Salt
116 Tierces of Rice (35,000 pounds)
80 Barrels of Beef
47 Firkins and 2 Barrels of Butter
20 Bushels of Oatmeal
20 Casks of Raisins
18 Casks of Wine
Several Hogsheads of Molasses
Supplies
174 Tents
27 Hogsheads of Woodenware
1 Hogshead of Matches
14 Chests of Medicine
113 Iron Spades
51 Wood Axes
201 Bill-Hooks
19 Sets of Harness
24 Boxes of Candles
14 Chests of Medicine
1 Bundle of Sheet Lead
1 Quantity of Linen
Quantity of Oil
Weapons
20,000 Pounds of Musket Balls and Cartridges
29 Half-Barrels of Powder
5 Iron Worms for Cannon
50 Reams of Cartridge Paper
The Powder and flower must be shook out of the Barrels into the River, the Tents burnt, Pork or Beef destroyed in the best way you can devise…
The Powder and flower must be shook out of the Barrels into the River, the Tents burnt, Pork or Beef destroyed in the best way you can devise. And the Men may put Balls of lead in their pockets, throwing them by degrees into Ponds, Ditches &c., but no Quantity together, so that they may be recovered afterwards. If you meet any Brass Artillery, you will order their muzzles to be beat in so as to render them useless.
Barrels of flour, salt fish, ammunition, and tools are burned.
Then your petitioner did put her life, as it were, in her hand, and ventured to beg of the officers to send some of their men to put out the fire; but they took no notice, only sneered….
…On the 19th day of April, 1775, in the forenoon, the town of Concord, wherein I dwell, was beset with an army of regulars, who, in a hostile manner, entered the town, and drawed up in form[ation] before the door of the house where I live. Your petitioner, being left to the mercy of six or seven hundred armed men, and no person near but an old man of eighty-five years, and myself seventy –one years old, and both very infirm… When all on a sudden they had set fire to the great gun carriages just by the house, and while they were in flames your petitioner saw smoke arise out of the Town House higher than the ridge of the house. Then your petitioner did put her life, as it were, in her hand, and ventured to beg of the officers to send some of their men to put out the fire; but they took no notice, only sneered…. Knowing that all the row of four or five houses, as well as the school house, was in certain danger, your petitioner … ventured to put as much strength to her arguments as an unfortunate widow could think.… At last, by one pail of water after another, they sent and did extinguish the fire.
Continuing on their mission to destroy military supplies, the British Regulars divide up: three companies to the South Bridge; four to Colonel James Barrett’s farm; and three to the North Bridge, where 450 Provincials have gathered.
Heeding the alarm, minutemen and militia from Concord, Acton, Bedford, Lincoln, and Westford have gathered before the 100 British Regulars securing the North Bridge. Seeing smoke in the distance, the Provincial militias believe Concord is burning.
Midnight Lexington, Cambridge, Arlington,Brookline, Watertown, Medford, Malden, Roxbury
1:00 am Lincoln
1:30 am Concord, Bedford
2:00 am Acton, Woburn, Billerica
2:30 am Chelmsford
3:00 am Sudbury, Dedham, Newton
4:00 am Needham, Framingham
5:00 am Reading
7:30 am Lynn
8:00 am Danvers
9:00 am Beverly
…we wair all orded to Load and had strickd orders not to fire till they fird firs….
“When we was on the hill by the Bridge their was about 80 or 90 B came to the Bridge and their made a halt, after a while they begun to tair the plank of the Bridge. Mager Buttrick said if we wair all of his mind he wood drive them away from the Bridge, they should not tair that up. We all said we wood go. We then want loded we wair all orded to Load and had strickd orders not to fire till they fird firs, then to fire as fast as we could.”
The Regulars fire three warning shots, then turn their muskets on the Provincial soldiers who return their fire.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
(Sung at the Completion of the Battle Monument, July 4, 1837)
By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And
fired the shot heard round the world.
The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.
On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set today a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.
Spirit, that made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.
…we received the Fire of the Enemy in 3 several and separate Discharges of their Pieces, before it was returned.
The Guard set by the Enemy to Secure the Passage at the North Bridge, were alarmed by the approach of our People, who…were now advancing with Special Orders not to fire upon the Troops, unless fired upon. These orders were so punctually observed that we received the Fire of the Enemy in 3 several and separate Discharges of their Pieces, before it was returned.
Two Provincials and three Regulars are killed in the skirmish. Outnumbered, the Regulars abandon the bridge.
The Regulars begin their return to Boston and are met by a British relief column near Lexington.
As the exhausted British Regulars return, they face continuous fire by a growing number of Provincial minutemen and militia converging from neighboring towns.
…there was not a stone wall, or house, though before in appearance evacuated, from whence the rebels did not fire upon us.
As it began now to grow pretty late and we had 15 miles to retire, and only 36 rounds, I ordered the grenadiers and light infantry to move off first; and covered them with my brigade sending out very strong flanking parties which were absolutely very necessary, as there was not a stone wall, or house, though before in appearance evacuated, from whence the rebels did not fire upon us.
A column led by Lt. General Lord Percy comes to the aid of the returning British troops as they pass through Lexington. He brings two cannon that offer some relief from the Provincials’ constant assault.
I immediately ordered the 2 field pieces to fire at the rebels, and drew up the brigade on a height. The shot from the cannon had the desired effect, and stopped the rebels for a little time.
His Majesty’s troops who were retiring, overpowered by numbers, greatly exhausted and fatigued, and having expended almost all their ammunition—and at about 2 o’clock I met them retiring through the town of Lexington — I immediately ordered the 2 field pieces to fire at the rebels, and drew up the brigade on a height. The shot from the cannon had the desired effect, and stopped the rebels for a little time.
Eventually outnumbered two to one, the Regulars face some of the harshest fighting of the day near present-day Arlington.
It seemd Necessary to retire to some place of Safety till the Calamity was passd…the roads filld with frighted women & children…but what added greatly to the horror of the Scene was our passing thro the Bloody field at Menotomy.
Nor can she yet forget, nor with old Time ever erase the horrors of that midnight Cry…when we were rousd…by beat of drum & ringing of Bell…It seemd Necessary to retire to some place of Safety till the Calamity was passd…the roads filld with frighted women & children…but what added greatly to the horror of the Scene was our passing thro the Bloody field at Menotomy…we met one Affectionate Father with a Cart looking for his murderd Son & picking up his Neighbours who had fallen in Battle….
Having lost 243 men killed, wounded, and missing, the Regulars barely make it back to Boston by sundown.
On April 19, 1775 a network of Provincial troops mobilized at a moment’s notice. The shots they fired in Concord that morning were indeed heard far and wide. They were a call to others to join the fight, and the beginning of what became an eight-year war for independence.
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