# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Battles of Lexington and Concord are considered the first battles of the American Revolutionary War, and according to Ralph Waldo Emerson, the first shot of the battle was the "shot heard round the world"

Podcast: Download (Duration: 31:09 - 22.0MB)

I closed our last episode with a quote from Emerson, which stated the shot first fired at Lexington was the "shot heard round the world..." Lexington was the first official clash of American Colonial Forces and the British military, and while the events were slightly unorganized and mismanaged on both sides of the field, it was enough to plunge the two countries into a full-blown war. This episode marks the first major battles of the Revolutionary War, so let's jump right in...

Lexington

When we last left off Paul Revere and William Dawes had performed their midnight ride to alert colonials that British troops were coming. Those troops lead by Lt. Col. Francis Smith and Major John Pitcairn were approaching the town of Lexington. Inside the town, alerted to troop movement, local militia commander Captain John Parker, a veteran of the French and Indian War, had mustered his militia forces on the town green shortly after Revere rode into town earlier that morning. The men waited for about an hour in the chill of the April morning with no clear idea why they were gathering. Parker himself later recounted that he had assembled everyone so that they may decide what they should do. The consensus that standing in the dark and cold was doing no good. He agreed to allow the men to fall out and await developments. Men that lived closed to the green returned to their homes while others took refuge from the morning chill in Buckman's Tavern. Parker had cautioned his men to be ready to form quickly at the beat of a drum.

Thaddeus Bowman, one of the scouts Parker had sent out, galloped into town around 4:30am with news that the regulars were near. Parker ordered the men to assemble on the green and the confusion was almost immediate. Some men failed to hear the drums ordering them to assemble, some ignored them, and some men without ammunition rushed to the meeting-house where it was stored before mustering as ordered. Capt. Parker soon had control of his men and lined them in two ranks of a little over 70 men. The men were positioned on the road to Concord, which ran along the base of the green. It's interesting to see what Parker did here. The men were positioned in parade-ground formation, in plain sight, not blocking the road to Concord. Parker knew that he was outmatched and was not prepared to sacrifice himself or his men for no purpose. He knew that most of the colonists powder and military supplies at Concord were already moved or hidden, there had been no formal declaration of war and he also knew that the British had gone on such expeditions in Massachusetts before, found nothing, and marched back to Boston. Capt. Parker had every reason to expect this to occur again.

Many years later, one of the participants of the battle recalled Parker's words as being what is now engraved in stone at the site of the battle:

"Stand your ground; don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here."

Major Pitcairn and his advance light infantry, six companies in column formation, soon marched into view. The regulars stood out with their bright scarlet coats, white breeches, and bayonets glistening in the early morning sun. Pitcairn ordered his men into the conventional battle formation, a single line of three ranks divided into two sections or platoons. As the regulars transitioned into formation there was shouting and huzzahing from the rear of the ranks as they rushed forward to take up position.

Not surprisingly more than one militia man was unnerved watching this larger, disciplined force deploy in front of them, one said "There are so few of us, it is folly to stand here..." Parker would not have this in his ranks and spoke "The first man who offers to run will be shot down."

After Pitcairn's forces had deployed, he and two or three officers (accounts vary) rode to within a hundred feet of the militia and ordered: "Lay down your arms, you rebels and disperse!" Capt. Parker, again not wanting to pick a fight he couldn't win, ordered his men to fall out and his men turned and began to leave the green, with their muskets in hand. Major Pitcairn was not satisfied and called again for them to lay down their arms, cursing and shouting at them to just lay down their arms. To set the scene of the battlefield...it's confusing: the soliders are amped up and anxious, yelling with nervous energy at each other, the officers of each side are yelling back and forth, it's loud and to a degree organized chaos.

The events that followed next are not clear, and probably never will be, but a shot was fired. American eyewitnesses accuse a British officer of taking a shot, British eyewitnesses deny that any regular fired first. Apparently however, a British officer, after hearing the first shot, gave the order to "Fire by God! Fire!" and one of the platoons delivered a volley into the half dispersing/half assembled Colonial forces. Pitcairn tried to stop the firing, but the second platoon fired off a volley before he regained control. The return fire from the militia was weak, and the regulars charged into their line. Total time was less than 5 minutes and the battle was over.

There are several interesting theories as to the "origin" of the first shot of the battle. One is that the British killed Asahel Porter, a prisoner, whom they had told could go free if he walked away, he panicked and ran and was shot. Historian David Hackett Fischer has proposed that there may have been multiple near simultaneous shots. Historian Mark Urban claims that the British surging forward to form a line formation with their bayonets affixed could have appeared to be a charge, which spooked the colonials into firing first.

Regardless of what actually happened the lack of discipline in the British troops played a key role in the escalation of violence that day. Pitcairn's companies got beyond his control partly because they were unaware of the actual mission they were performing. Typically this type of movement would be followed by house to house searches for weapons, etc... but putting his troops in a line formation facing off against a colonial regiment, could have confused the troops as to their actual purpose.

Colonel Smith arrived with the rest of the forces and heard the gunfire, he quickly ordered a drummer to beat assembly. Once the grenadiers arrived and order was restored among the British soldiers, the light infantry were permitted to fire one more "victory volley" and then the troops formed a column and marched towards Concord, making no effort to hide they march, the illusion that they could conceal their mission was completely shattered now.

The Battle of Lexington was actually nothing more than a minor brush or skirmish, but it does hold significance as it is the first time that British forces and Colonial militia have lined up and exchanged gunfire (albeit minimal). Parker's disposition after the battle stated the following:

"I ... ordered our Militia to meet on the Common in said Lexington to consult what to do, and concluded not to be discovered, nor meddle or make with said Regular Troops (if they should approach) unless they should insult or molest us; and, upon their sudden Approach, I immediately ordered our Militia to disperse, and not to fire - Immediately said Troops made their appearance and rushed furiously, fired upon and killed eight of our Party without receiving any Provocation therefor from us."

To summarize Lexington by the numbers:

The local militia forces, lead by Captain John Parker, numbered around 77 men while the British forces, lead by Major John Pitcairn and Lt. Col Francis Smith, although Pitcairn was primarily in charge during the battle as Smith was bringing up the rear, numbered around 700
After the battle eight militia were dead, ten were wounded while only one British private was injured when a musket ball grazed him.

Concord

Pitcairn and Smith marched their forces towards Concord, along the way alarm guns could be heard in the distance which would summon local militia for miles. Rider's were leaving Concord to summon other militia forces and by the end of the day forces as far away as Worcester would start out for Lexington and Concord.

Smith and his men arrived around 7:00 AM, with their main objective being the house of Colonel James Barrett, where most of the munitions were rumored to be hidden. The road to Barrett's home took them past a meetinghouse and several taverns and twenty to thirty other houses. The road passed along a ridge about sixty feet high, then cut to the right along a second ridge at right angles to the first. From the end of the second bridge it swung to the left across the North Bridge, over the Concord river, and then continued on to Barrett's home. Overlooking the North Bridge was Punkatasset Hill, around 200 feet high.

In Concord, the mustered militiamen were still unsure of a course of action. One company marched towards and set up on the first ridge, Smith sent light infantry towards them and they retreated with no shots fired. As the British forces approached the center of town another militia company marched down the road, saw Smith and his forces and turned to fallback to the second ridge. Smith and his men soon marched towards and occupied the second ridge as well. The colonial militia forces withdrew and fell back to Punkatasset Hill.

The forces on this hill were under the command of Colonel James Barrett, another veteran of the French and Indian War. Through the course of the morning the men would build to over 400 in number and include companies from Acton, Bedford, Lincoln, Westford and countryside volunteers. Barrett was aware that the troops had come from Lexington, but the full story of shots being fired hadn't made it's way to him yet.

While Barrett and his troops were assembling on Punkatasset Hill, Smith sent three light companies over the North Bridge to Colonel Barrett's home to conduct the search for munitions and posted another three companies on the bridge itself. Smith ordered his grenadiers to search the houses, taverns and other buildings in the town. Nothing of tremendous value was found during the search and the search itself proved to be disastrous, either by accident or deliberately the blacksmith shop and the courthouse were set on fire.

On Punkatasset Hill, the men could see the smoke from the burning buildings in town and became agitated. Joseph Hosmer, Barrett's adjunct asked, "Will you let them burn the town?" Barrett answered "No" and resolved "to march into the middle of the town for it's defense or die in the attempt." Barrett began to march his men from their position on Punkatasset Hill to another, lower hill about 300 yards from the North Bridge. As he advanced two of the three British companies deployed near the bridge fell back across the river. At this point Barrett has positioned his force of 400 men between about six companies of British troops. Three are further down the road at Barrett's home, and three are now across the North Bridge, blocking his access into the town of Concord. Barrett told his men to load their weapons, but not to fire unless fired upon and he advanced towards the bridge.

The three companies at the North Bridge were under the command of a relatively inexperienced Captain Walter Laurie. In total Laurie commanded just shy of 100 men, or a quarter of what faced him across the bridge. He, erroneously, ordered his men into a "street-fire" formation. Which was a line formation of narrow width designed to focus fire down alley's between buildings. His intent was to focus fire on the troops coming across the bridge, but he cut his effective forces by a third. Due to the terrain and the fact that the shoreline of the river was covered with spring floodwaters, he had to stack his three units, which means that the front company could fire, but the other two could not (not without risking killing the men in front of them).

A shot was fired, more than likely a warning shot, from an exhausted British soldier (according to Captain Laurie's report to his commander). Two other regulars fired, missing their target, and then the narrow group, in street fire formation, thinking that the order to fire had been given, fired a ragged volley before Laurie could stop them. Two militiamen were killed and another was wounded. The Colonial Militia, more spread out than the British troops and now roughly 50 yards from the British, fired a volley which took a heavier toll, killing three men, and wounding nine others.

The Regulars, shocked at the results of the American fire, and outnumbered almost four to one broke and retreated hurriedly, so much so, that they left behind their dead and one wounded man. The Colonial forces behaved only slightly better, they crossed the North Bridge, milled about and couldn't fully get their ranks reformed until they were almost into town. This confusion among the colonial forces allowed the British companies from Barrett's farm to slip over the bridge, maneuver around the colonial forces and rejoin the main body. It was now around 11:00 am. Lt. Colonel Smith knew that he was done and by noon had assembled all of his forces and began the march back to Boston.

Smith and his forces were able to make it a mile before they ran into the militia, at a place called Meriam's Corner. This was not so much a battlefield as it was an exercise in running the gauntlet. For sixteen miles and never more than three or four hundred yards away and on some occasions as close as 50 yards, the colonial militia would harass the retreating British troops. The militia troops poured fire into the marching column or sniped at it from behind trees, rocks and occasionally buildings or fences. The regulars answered fire as well as they could from a column formation. While the colonial militia had an advantage in numbers, cover, and knowledge of the terrain, they eventually lost their advantage as they lost control of the units and the fight began to be fought by groups of individualists vs. a cohesive force.

When the British troops reached Lexington, they were ragged, beaten, bruised and demoralized. They attempted to reform on the outskirts and then again on the green (where they had skirmishes with colonial forces earlier that morning). Fortunately for Smith, around 2:30 in the afternoon, Brigadier General Percy arrived with a relief brigade of roughly 1,000 men and artillery. Smith ordered his men to rest an hour while Percy deployed his artillery and fired upon the militia. An hour later the column set out once more, now under the command of Percy, and was unmolested until they reached Menotomy where the militia men from Concord caught up to them as well as fresh militia troops from other local towns. The fighting here became more brutal and savage as British bayonet squared off against colonial hatchet and club. The British commanders also made no attempt to stop their men from pillaging, plundering, burning, and smashing to civilians and civilian buildings.

At Cambridge, Percy was able to lose the pursuing militia forces and pushed his men on towards the safety of Charlestown, shortly after sundown. The battle of Concord, was finally over.

To summarize Concord by the numbers:

The local militia forces, lead by Captain James Barrett, numbered around 400 men in and around Concord, but grew as the day went on and more local units joined, some estimates put it as high as 3,000 men. while the British forces, lead by Lt. Col Francis Smith and later Brigadier Gen. Percy, started with around 100 men fighting on the North Bridge, but total forces (including Percy's reinforcements) were around 1,500 men.
After the battle 95 militia were dead and around 275 British soldiers had been killed.

The battles of the Lexington and Concord were unlike any other in the Revolution, it was the only battle that would feature a battlefield sixteen miles long. And while the battles in the Revolution were typical of the time, with armies facing off on a battlefield, it was the one of the first times that we see civilian enlistment vs. career soldiers, as well as the British negotiating how to subdue not just another army, but a populace that was in rebellion as well.

As I wrap up this episode I'd like to take a minute to express my gratitude to all of you who are listening, have followed me on facebook or twitter or left feedback for the episodes that you've heard. It's a very humbling experience and I'm glad that you like it. A listener named Dennis mentioned me on Twitter and said the podcast was "a welcome addition to the history podcast ranks". Dennis, thank you so much for your kind words! If anyone else has feedback to share, please do so in iTunes and make sure to rate the podcast! Thanks so much for your support! The facebook page is closing in on 500 likes, if you haven't liked it yet, please do, let's hit that big 5-0-0!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Battle of Lexington and Concord - American Military History Podcast

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Battles of Lexington and Concord are considered the first battles of the American Revolutionary War, and according to Ralph Waldo Emerson, the first shot of the battle was the "shot heard round the world" Podcast: Download (Duration: 31:09 - 22.0MB) I closed our last episode with a quote from Emerson, which stated the shot first fired at Lexington was the "shot heard round the world..."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In an effort to raise funds to pay off debts and defend the vast new American territories won from the French in the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), the British government passes the Stamp Act on this day in 1765. The legislation levied a direct tax on all materials printed for commercial and legal use in the colonies, from newspapers and pamphlets to playing cards and dice.

Though the Stamp Act employed a strategy that was a common fundraising vehicle in England, it stirred a storm of protest in the colonies. The colonists had recently been hit with three major taxes: the Sugar Act (1764), which levied new duties on imports of textiles, wines, coffee and sugar; the Currency Act (1764), which caused a major decline in the value of the paper money used by colonists; and the Quartering Act (1765), which required colonists to provide food and lodging to British troops.

With the passing of the Stamp Act, the colonists' grumbling finally became an articulated response to what they saw as the mother country's attempt to undermine their economic strength and independence. They raised the issue of taxation without representation, and formed societies throughout the colonies to rally against the British government and nobles who sought to exploit the colonies as a source of revenue and raw materials. By October of that year, nine of the 13 colonies sent representatives to the Stamp Act Congress, at which the colonists drafted the "Declaration of Rights and Grievances," a document that railed against the autocratic policies of the mercantilist British empire.

Realizing that it actually cost more to enforce the Stamp Act in the protesting colonies than it did to abolish it, the British government repealed the tax the following year. The fracas over the Stamp Act, though, helped plant seeds for a far larger movement against the British government and the eventual battle for independence. Most important of these was the formation of the Sons of Liberty-a group of tradesmen who led anti-British protests in Boston and other seaboard cities-and other groups of wealthy landowners who came together from the across the colonies. Well after the Stamp Act was repealed, these societies continued to meet in opposition to what they saw as the abusive policies of the British empire. Out of their meetings, a growing nationalism emerged that would culminate in the fighting of the American Revolution only a decade later.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In an effort to raise funds to pay off debts and defend the vast new American territories won from the French in the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), the British government passes the Stamp Act on this day in 1765.