The+Battle+of+Lexington+and+Concord

=Lexington and Concord= April 1775
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American Commander
Captain John Parker

British Commander
Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith

On the night of April 18th, 1775, a British spy received word that Sons of Liberty leaders, Samuel Adams and John Hancock, were hiding in Lexington while colonists at Concord were hiding stolen British ammunition. The British sent 1,800 soldiers, led by Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, by sea to capture Adams and Hancock and confiscate the ammunition. However, the British weren't the only ones with spies. The colonists reported to the Sons of Liberty about the British soldiers marching to Concord. When they hear this, they dispatch two riders, Paul Revere and William Dawes, from Boston to warn Lexington and Concord of the British march.

Revere and Dawes took different paths in case one of them was caught.

Dawes was picked for this job because he had a talent for acting. Many times before this, he had gotten past the British patrols by pretending he was a Tori, or colonist in favor of the British. He even befriended some of the soldiers on patrol. After passing the patrols, he came across a patriot by the name of Samuel Prescott, who was curious on what he was doing. When Dawes explained, Prescott offered to accompany him on his mission.

Meanwhile, Revere's ride was undisturbed for the first 300 miles. He stopped to rest for a minute or two before setting out again. When he was about to get back on his horse, he heard a voice from behind him saying "Hold it right there, Yankee." He slowly turned around to find that five British soldier was pointing their musket at him.

As Dawes and Prescott rode, they too were stopped by British soldiers. Dawes instructed Prescott to hide as he talked to the soldiers and if he was captured, that he should finish the mission. As he talked to them, he finds out that Revere was tortured into giving away Dawes, being released afterwards. Dawes was captured, but the British soldiers didn't know about Prescott as he ran straight for Lexington, without disturbance.

When he arrived at one o'clock in the morning saying "THE REGULARS ARE COMING OUT!!!!", Adams and Hancock retreated to Concord as 79 Lexington citizens grabbed their muskets and stood out on their lawns until the British arrived.

The next morning the British showed up to see the citizens led by John Parker blocking the way to Concord and staying. The colonists did not intend on fighting. They brought out their muskets to show that they had them, and that they would use them if necessary. Lt. Col. Francis Smith ordered the colonists to back down and let them pass, but they wouldn't. Then he told them that they would hang if they didn't. That was what got them to move, but as they did, a shot was fired.

To this day, no one knows where the first shot came from. Was it a colonist? Was it a British soldier? Was it a citizen shooting from his house. We don't know, but the moment it was heard, more erupted.

The British opened fire on the colonists. They retreated into the forest as they shot. Eight militia were killed and ten were wounded, and of the many shots that were fired, only 8 were fired by colonists, only hitting and wounding one soldier. Smith ordered his men to stop firing and just to continue on to Concord.

Prescott was sent out again to spread the word of what had just happened. By the time he was done, "the shot heard 'round the world". Many more colonists arrived for revenge on what happened that day. The total was brought up at 3,763 colonists that came to help.

Parker led these men up next to the path through a forest that the British soldiers were taking into Concord. He instructed his men to hide in the bushes and trees and use guerrilla warfare, or hit and run attacks.

The British were surprised by this attack the moment the firsts shots were fired. They were outraged about how uncivilized the colonists' fighting style was and that they weren't using proper warfare. The British were so tired by this that they pulled back and retreated. In the end, 49 colonists were killed and 41 wounded, while 73 British soldiers were killed and 174 were wounded.