The first shot of the battle was fired by the British according to the accounts of the sworn testimony of Thomas Fessenden, and the diary of Alice Stearns Abbot. As Thomas Fessenden states, the first was fired by the British because he witnessed 3 British officers on horseback approach a gathered group of colonists and called,” Disperse you rebels.” He saw the 2nd British officer fire into the crowd. This account is reliable because his account is a sworn testimony and when it’s sworn you can’t lie. As the official testimony and written down oath of John Parker, commander of the militia in Lexington states, the first shot was fired by the British because He was the Commander so he was in charge and witnessed and participated in the actions.
The British fired the first shot at the Battle of Lexington. For example, “...I believe between 200 and 300, formed in a common in the middle of the town….As we came near them, they fired one or two shots, upon which our men without any orders, fired and put them to flight” (Document A: Barker). Lieutenant John Barker was only one person in the British Army, and it is very unlikely that he was able to see, or hear, everything that was going on from his position on Lexington Green. As he approached the Green, he could have only been in earshot when the minutemen were firing in response to the British firing and not when the British first fired, or he thought the shot or shots were from the opposing side and not his own. Also, “While our backs
The British had fired the first shot of the Revolutionary War at the Battle of Lexington Green. The British fired the first shot because there are witnesses that were not in the war that stated that the British fired first and also British soldiers stating that they shot first as well as American colonist soldiers. The British fired the first shot of the battle, this is proven by eye witnesses that we're not fighting in the war as a soldier, this is proven my evidence from Document 4 state that “ I heard one of the regulars, whom I took to be an officer, say,’ damn them, we will have them’ and immediately. The regular shouted aloud, run and fire upon the Lexington company, which did not fire a gun before the regulars discharge them.” This
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.
Who fired first in the historical Battle of Lexington? Well there is no right answer history has shown people have come up with theses trying to prove what had happened but we just really don’t know. But I think I have found the the answer. I believe the colonist fired first because they have a history of antagonizing the british in some situation’s it has turned deadly. Also on many accounts of the events they had been found guilty of firing first.My reasons to support my thesis are from British Lieutenant John Barker’s personal diary of the day of the event and George Leonard a colonist who wrote to British general to tell him what he experienced. My rebuttal sources are Simon Winship’s official deposition in which he claims that the
“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).
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.
Though the Shot Heard 'Round the World began the Battle of Lexington, the Shot Heard 'Round the World was caused by the Boston Tea Party. Samuel Adams led the Sons of Liberty in a rebellion against the Stamp Act. They disguised themselves as Indians and dumped tons of
The British did indeed fire first but fell back when more and more militiamen showed up. By the time British soldiers were prepared to return back to Boston, almost 2000 militiamen arrived and more were arriving. Fighting had started yet again with militiamen hiding behind bushes in trees. British soldiers pulled back to Lexington where they had came into contact with more reinforcements of Redcoats. This didn’t stop the Patriots from continuing to resume attacks. The British tried and tried with Redcoats flanking and canon fire. The Patriots had a chance to finish the Redcoats off but were commanded not to. The British Redcoats retreated to Charlestown Neck. The Americans had won the battle, neither Samuel Adams or John Hancock had been taken and they only destroyed very little military supplies! By the end of the day Britain lost 293 soldier and the colonials 93. The colonial Patriots proved they were more than a group of unorganized colonial rebels.
Similar to the way that the colonial and British perspectives greatly varied for the Boston Massacre, their opinions are once again vastly different for the Battles of Lexington and Concord. In this event as well, both parties attempt to place the blame on the other which is not unusual due the nature of the sources. However, this highlights the large amount of bias evident in all of the accounts. For the colonial perspective, there are two statements, each from a member of a colonial militia that fought during the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Both of these sources place the blame on the British soldiers and claim that the British fired first, killing several colonists. One account, from the Battle of North Bridge, claims that the colonists were ordered to hold their fire and that they didn’t fire until the British opened fire upon them. The other account, from soldier who fought during the skirmish at the Lexington Green, states that the colonists did not even get a single shot off, at least not before the soldier whose account this is was wounded. This source also claims that the British commanding officers were yelling at and insulting the colonists as their ranks closed on the milita. Both these sources are very similar to the colonial perspectives of the Boston Massacre because they all place the blame on the British soldiers and attempt to make themselves appear as the victims.
Washington fires the first shot with a mortar hitting a house with British soldiers eating starting the siege. Cornwallis had to rely on his ten forts called redoubts to defend Yorktown. General Washington knew he had to take out redoubts nine and ten in order to get close enough to attack Cornwallis. On one moonless night with Jupiter and Venus glowing brightly 400 French soldiers attacked redoubt nine while 400 (with one soldier thinking it was the signal to attack) American soldiers attacked redoubt ten. In an attempt to turn the tide Cornwallis sent the British army to attack the nearest allied troops in an attempt to spike (to take a spike usually made of iron pounded into the hole where the fuse in the cannon goes requiring the army to have to drill it out damaging the weapon) or fill the cannons with dirt rendering them useless until the cannons can be cleaned. The attack was doomed form the start, and the British were pushed back after a brief battle, and the allied army shortly repaired the cannons and put them back into the fight. After a few days of fighting the Cornwallis ran away to hide in Yorktown’s cave. Not really inspiring for the British army to have their general run and hide in a cave for that is very embarrassing for a
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.
Bang! That was the sound of “the shot heard around the world.” British troops, under the command of the King George III faced off against a few citizens of Boston which became recognized as the start of the Revolutionary War. It is recorded that Patrick Henry said, “We should not forget that the spark which ignited the American Revolution was caused by the British attempt to confiscate the firearms of the colonists.” King George III influenced the Revolutionary war through his lapses in judgement, his overbearing hold on the colonies and his hunger for more power.
While the British were in the streets of Boston the colonists decided to protest the king. The colonists were protesting that the taxes that the kind had on the people were unfair. The colonists started with using verbal abuse, but eventually they started throwing things and beating the soldiers. The colonists were saying things like “Fire you bloody lobsters” and throwing things such as snowballs, pebbles, rocks, sticks basically anything they could find. Since the colonists were threatening the British they had a reason to fire. A report made shows that one colonist was physically beating one of the British guards. This colonist had no charges filed against him, but the British soldier was the one who fired the first shot. The British was put in jail for using self defense against the