“Throw down your arms! Ye villains, ye rebels” (1775, 04/19: Battles of Lexington and Concord. (2007, June 26). The militiamen, who were greatly outnumbered, were ordered to leave when a shot rang out. No one really knows who fired first, but the British, hearing the shot, fired upon the small group of militia, killing eight and wounding 10 (1775, 04/19: Battles of Lexington and Concord. (2007, June 26). When the smoke cleared the British began their march to Concord to search for weapons. They planned to burn any weapons they found and march the 18 miles back to Boston. As the British troops marched, they heard the alarms sounding and they knew the colonist were aware they were coming. Once in Concord they found very little and …show more content…
He ordered his men to take up “street firing” positions. He was preparing his men to attack the oncoming rebels. The Redcoats set up their street firing positions from behind the bridge perpendicular to the river. Captain Laurie was inexperienced and called the wrong tactical maneuver for the situation. The street firing tactic was appropriate for sending a large volume of fire into a narrow alley between the buildings of a city, but not for an open path behind a bridge. Confusion ensued as the Redcoats started retreating over the bridge in an attempt to form up in the street-firing position. Redcoat Lieutenant (LT) William Sutherland, who was in the rear of the formation, knew that maneuver was not adequate for the situation and ordered flankers to be sent out. LT Sutherland was from a different company and only four soldiers obeyed him. The remainder of the troops, despite the confusion, followed the orders of the superior officer. (1775, 04/19: Battles of Lexington and Concord. (2007, June 26). Once the Redcoats were set up to the best of their ability, the militiamen continued to move forward. As the militiamen closed in the British fired the first volley, Private Abner Hosmer and Captain Isaac Davis were at the head of the march and were killed instantly. That volley was the start of the Revolutionary War and is now known as the “Shot Heard around the World”. The militiamen
These indiscreet signals alerted Paul Revere and William Dawes to spring to a gallop and ride away to Lexington and Concord, warning all the towns along the way that there was a Royal Force on its way. When the regular force reached Lexington, about 1000 men strong, they encountered a small band of militiamen on the village green. The regular column halted once they marched onto the green. The commander of the regulars sent a messenger out who told the colonists to disperse or we will shoot. Neither side moved. Suddenly, a shot rang out. Not knowing from which side the shot came, the regulars let out multiple volleys with little return fire. The force of about 77 colonists dispersed immediately. When all the smoke cleared, there were 9 colonists wounded and 8 dead, while the regulars had no casualties. Then, according to Isaiah Thomas, “The troops then laughed, and damned the Yankees, and said they could not bear the smell of
The Battle of Lexington was the beginning of the Revolutionary War and where the colonists first stood up for their rights. According to the accounts the first shots were most likely fired by the British soldiers. As document A was written by a soldier who claimed he thought the “first one or two” shots came from the minutemen. It was also stated that after those alleged shots the British militia (in a state of panic) began to shoot back wildly without being ordered too. Which seems unlikely as the soldiers had been trained and should have been prepared to handle the situation calmly. Document B had thirty-two recorded account days after the battle, with men under oath, that stated “to their knowledge they did not shoot until they were fired
The question who fired the first shot in Lexington is hard to answer. but I know that the colonist fired first on April 19, 1775. Which created the revolutionary war that liberated the colonist from the British. The cause of this conflict between the British and colonist is due to the British’s acts they put on the colonist. For example, the intolerable acts which made the colonist angry towards the British.
He believed that they needed about 20k soldiers to scare the colonists in to obeying their rule. Whig leaders knew that Massachusetts should remain defensive. Then General Gage ordered “the troops… marched over the people’s land—some where their grain sown—and gardens; broke down their fences, walls.” Then the Battle of Lexington and Concord took place. “An assault on unresisting militiamen at Lexington common, a military confrontation at Concord’s North Bridge, and a classic guerrilla action by ill-disciplined provincials, drawing on Indian fighting experience to harry the Britain retreat to Charles-town on the bloody Battle Road.” Americans then met the British soldiers at the east end of the bridge. Shots’ begin to ring off killing Abner Hosmer and Isaac Davis. The battle was about two to three minutes
The first shots of the Revolution rang out April 19 1775 at Lexington green. Reports say the British fired first killing eight patriots. I believe these reports to be true. There was a lot of controversy surrounding this, since none of us were there, no one can be certain on who fired first. Evidence shows the British fired first. I think based on the evidence provided it was very easy to see the British were the first to fire the shot of the revolution.
The soldiers lined up, facing the crowd to try and dissolve the problem but the people were not backing down. Bostonians continued to taut the soldiers, yelling at them to fire their weapons. Not long after, shots were fired killing five Bostonians and wounding six others. The big question still unanswered today is whether or not Captain Preston yelled for the soldiers to fire or not.
On April 19th, 1775 British troops were marching to Lexington where many militia were already awaiting their arrival. The British were after the ammunition of the militia. Paul Revere had warned the militia ahead of time so that they could be prepared. They removed their stockpiles of ammunition from their hiding places and moved them to a new shelter. When the British arrived at Lexington, the militia were lined up, ready to defend themselves. The British stopped, prepared to face the militia. They
British soldiers patrolled the area. People say the soldiers pounced first, but others beg to differ. This story told as from Revere reveals the dark side of the soldiers. It was MArch, 1770 and another protest had formed this time harassing the soldiers. Then a fire was shot and as from an engraving this was now the “Bloody Massacre.”
On an “unremarkably clear and pleasant” day in April 19, 1775, the shot that was said to had been able to be heard around the world was fired. (A Guide to Battles) This began the battles in which we know as Lexington and Concord, and the war we know as the Glorious/American revolution. It was fought between the British whom had feared American retaliation for some time, and the American Colonies whom were tired of feeling oppressed by the British. General Thomas Gage advised his British superiors to prepare for war, but this advice was refused and when the time finally came, they were not prepared for the fight at hand. (History of AM Rev) Many events, rules, and regulations helped to lead up to the retaliation of the Americans.
Men will always fight to defend their property and their independence. This was evident in the Battle of Lexington and Concord which was one of the first battles of the Revolutionary War and the first step towards America’s independence. This battle was fought between the sophisticated British Army, also known as the Redcoats, and local the colonist men also known as minutemen. The colonies were overmatched in size and equipment however that did not stop them from fighting for their weapons and most importantly their rights.
Most people did not expect the colonists with their under trained militia to last long against the British superpower. The colonists did just that. In the night of June 16, 1775, a detail of 1200 troops under orders from Artemas Ward, and led by William Prescott was supposed to entrench themselves on the rise on Bunker Hill, but instead misunderstood the instructions and went to Breed’s Hill by mistake. The next morning, the British were shocked to see Americans threatening them. In the 18th century, British military custom urged that the British soldiers attack the American soldiers, even though the Americans were in a superior position. Major General William Howe, leader of the British forces could easily have surrounded the Americans with his ships, but chose to march his troops up the hill; to the Americans. Howe might have believed that the Americans would retreat in the face of a smashing, head-on attack. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how a person looks at it, William Howe was wrong. The Americans stood their ground, dug in their heels, and stood firm. In the first wave, the Americans waited until they were within forty meters, then opened fire. The British force retreated with their wounded for a second wave. The British rushed up yet again. Again they retreated, suffering a great number of casualties. By the time the
Ralph Waldo Emerson’s poem, “Concord Hymn” supports that the first shot was fired at the North bridge in Concord, Massachusetts. The first stanza of the Concord Hymn is, “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.” Although, Emerson suggest that it was in Concord where the “shot heard around the world” was fired, desendents of the towns Lexington and Concord still debate this fact today. On Wednesday, April 19, 1775 at the village green in the village of Lexington in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay. Captain John Parker and around 60 militia men, many of the men being related to Parker faced off against 240 redcoats under General Gage’s comand. John Parker was a farmer and had previously fought along side the british. The militia men were not near as well trained or well equipt as the british regulars. There were over one hundred onlookers at the battle of Lexington. Both John Parker’s milita men and Gage’s redcoats were under orders to hold their fire. Nobody is exactly sure who fired the first shot at Lexington, some people believe that it could have been a spectator. Regardless of who fired the first shot.
I think that the colonists fired first because they felt threatened.The redcoats were approaching them, and they got scared and maybe one fired. "...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..."(Resource Sheet #1)This shows how maybe the colonists fired because they felt threatened by the soldiers.I also think that Resource Sheet #2 is a lie because it's the only one out of the 5 that says anything remotely like it.The text states, "...who rode up to us, mounted and armed, each having a pistol in his hand, and after putting pistols to our breasts, and seizing the bridles of our horses, they swore, that if we stirred another step, we should all be dead men, upon which we surrendered ourselves.They detained us until Two o'clock the next morning, in which they searched and greatly abused us..."(Resource Sheet #2)I also think that the last resource isn't entirely true.The text states,"...she was surprised by the firing of the king's troops and our people, on their return from Concord. She being weak and unable to go out of her house, in order to secure herself and family, they all retired into the kitchen, in the back part of the house. She soon found the house surrounded with the
“Redcoats”, stormed into Concord in order to seize a weapons cache. That very same night more
The Boston Massacre is considered by many historians to be the first battle of the Revolutionary War. The fatal incident happened on March 5 of 1770. The massacre resulted in the death of five colonists. British troops in the Massachusetts Bay Colony were there to stop demonstrations against the Townshend Acts and keep order, but instead they provoked outrage. The British soldiers and citizens brawled in streets and fought in bars. “The citizens viewed the British soldiers as potential oppressors, competitors for jobs, and a treat to social mores”. A defiant anti-British fever was lingering among the townspeople.