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The Battles of Lexington and Concord

Under a stone bridge outside of Lexington, Massachusetts Colony, 4 am, April 19, 1775: first person account by Prince Estabrook.

I, Prince Estabrook, tried my best to hide all sense of fatigue. I, with my fellow militiamen, listened to Captain John Parker and his orders. Captain Parker was a local farmer turned commander, from Lexington, and had been appointed the leader of our militia. I was an emancipated slave from Ashby, Massachusetts, a town 40 miles away from Lexington. I had traveled down to Lexington a few months ago so I could become a minuteman and fight for America’s freedom. Our militia had been spending months prior to this event preparing. Captain Parker had led us through some basic drills that taught us how to use a rifle. Earlier in the morning of April 19th, 1775, at around one am, we heard Paul Revere ride in from Concord warning that the British were marching to Concord and we would have to delay them as they passed through the Lexington Common. We were instructed to try and delay the British so that fellow colonists at Concord would have enough time to hide the supplies that the British were trying to destroy. All the supplies were to be distributed among neighboring towns and then collected once the British departed. It had been a chaotic night and Revere was trying to gather another militia so that they could defend the village. In our Province of Massachusetts Bay, a third of all men between 16 and 50 were ready to bear arms and defend the colonies at a minute’s notice. This is how we were able to pull together a militia with such immediacy. We continued waiting, and just as Captain Parker told us to go home, we heard the sound of British marching troops.

At 5 am, an hour after we assembled under the bridge, our small militia of 60 men began moving toward the Lexington Common. Soon after, we saw the redcoats arrive. There were about 1,000 British soldiers: a wall of bright red approached. We were a militia made up of men that had been trained for only a few months, and we were fighting against the most powerful army in the world. All of us feared for what could happen next. My heart pounded heavily during the preparation for the fight as I, an emancipated slave from Ashby, began to assemble all my supplies for the fight. I thought about my family and everything that was at stake. The atmosphere grew more and more tense as it overflowed with soldiers running around – the Common was alive with all different kinds of feelings. Some people were anxious to fight, while others, like me, were beginning to wonder why they were here. Our militia had been up all night, yet we still itched with excitement to finally get the chance to fight for freedom. The sun slowly rose, the horizon glowed with orange, and the silhouettes of all the soldiers bobbed up and down.  But who was I to stand up against our commanders? I was just a single soldier fighting for the colonies in a rivalry against the British, in the attempt to address all things political, social, and economical. We were no longer fighting for what we wanted individually, but we were fighting for the country. We as individuals wanted less taxes, but the country wanted freedom. It was a standoff between the two sides, British and American. The field was silent, and all we could hear were the sounds of insects waking up.

“Stand your ground; don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here,” Parker hollered. We stood, nervously staring at the other side, knowing that we were at disadvantage, and that the British could destroy us at any moment. Sweat from the intensity of the stare down caused the gun to begin slipping out of my hands. Suddenly, a shot from someone somewhere was fired, and that’s when all hatred flooded out of our bodies like a river though a dam. British General Pitcairn rode forward waving his sword around ordering his men to charge. Thus, the giant fleet of redcoats ran forward, yelling and thrusting their bayonets in the air. The scene was so intimidating and we all stood frozen, like deer staring at an approaching buggy. Suddenly, Captain Parker yelled, “Disperse you rebels; throw down your arms and disperse!” Having been commanded by Captain Parker thus, we all ran for our lives into the forest behind us. I ran for my life, but could not outrun the bullets. Soon after I entered the forest, I was hit. The bullet, despite being so small, flung me to the ground as I grabbed my shoulder in pain. Blood oozed out. The bleeding fueled by my hate and the desire to break free became stronger. The physical challenges became clearer as we had our first taste of war. The tipping point became reality, and the hatred between the two sides grew stronger. Before most soldiers and militiamen knew it, the American Revolution was underway.     

The American Revolution occurred from 1775-1783 and was the war that gave America independence, forming the sovereign state of the United States. But the war did not just happen. It occurred slowly, and one of the root causes was the French Indian War. The French and Indian War lasted nine years and ended in 1763. It was a British victory, but it cost them a great deal. The British were $132 million in debt (equivalent of tens of trillions of dollars today), but the colonists were just $2 million dollars in debt. The British had no other way to regain the money, they thought, than to tax the colonists. For the next 10 years, all sorts of acts, such as the Townshend Act, which taxed glass, paint, oil, lead, paper and tea, and the Stamp Act, taxing all paper items, were put in place in order to get money out of the colonies. Many colonists argued that it was not fair that they were taxed without being represented in Parliament.

The colonists were made up of patriots and loyalists. Patriots wanted independence, but loyalists wanted to remain loyal to Great Britain. These two points of view were contradictory. Even though they were taxed unfairly, the loyalists argued that they were only paying 1/27th of what the British in Great Britain had to pay, which was true. This still made the patriots furious. King George III then passed acts in addition to taxing that also restrained the colonies, such as the Quartering Act, enforcing colonists to house British soldiers upon command. Acts like these were a misuse of power as Great Britain had the strongest military and navy in the world at the time, and the colonies were still developing. The colonists suffered through years of mistreatment and invasion of privacy, suffering in silence, all the while yielding to British demand. The colonies were very evenly split. Some wanted to go to war with Britain and fight for independence, but some saw that as an idiotic idea because of how powerful Britain was. The First Continental Congress was established in Philadelphia, on September 5, 1774, and had representatives from each colony. How could the Continental Congress agree that revolution was the only way forward when they had many very different and contradicting views? But more importantly, how were the colonies able to pull together and somehow, against all odds, overcome adversity and defeat the greatest empire in the world when they were made up of nothing more than militias, constituted from civilians, or untrained soldiers?

The Americans were taxed, yet they had no representation in Parliament. They had no say in the way the British governed them, and even when they thought it was unfair, they weren’t allowed to speak up for themselves. It was almost like a dictatorship. They felt an overwhelming misuse of power by King George III and they felt that their basic human rights were being abused. Colonists believed that people who were elected without their input shouldn’t tax them. The colonists needed representation in Parliament. The British had full control over everything the colonists did: they even controlled their trade. When King George III passed the Navigation Act, he restrained the colonists’ trading options by only allowing them to trade with Britain. Colonists also suspected that King George III had set up a corrupt government. He was suspected of being guilty in judicial bribery as he adjusted the salaries of judges solely depending upon how well they interpreted the laws in favor of Britain. The Boston Massacre is perhaps the best example of this: despite killing five innocent civilians, the British soldiers were ruled not guilty, following a request from King George III.

The loyalists, also called royalists, had a very strong argument. They knew that Britain was the strongest empire in the world, not only militarily, but economically as well. Many feared the power of Britain and therefore remained loyal. Britain was the prime buyer of American raw materials and agricultural products. Loyalists knew that if they were to go to war, that their economy would crash, win or lose. They would not have any trading partners because Britain was literally their only customer. Britain’s navy was also very beneficial to colonial trade. The British Navy protected their ships, as there were many pirates and privateers preying on shipping lanes. In addition to protection on the sea, the British also provided protection on the land. British troops defended the frontier along the Appalachian Mountains from the Native Americans. The colonists certainly didn’t want to lose the protection they got there as well.

However, many also thought that it would not be smart to keep listening to Britain’s commands. They wished to stick up for themselves and form a new nation. Even before the real revolution began, there was already disagreement amongst the colonies. How were they going to beat Britain when they didn’t even agree among themselves?  The most important advantage for the colonists was their communication system of messengers on fast horses. If their communication had not been as efficient, then the colonists wouldn’t have had their militias organized on time.

This strong communication system gave the colonists enough information prior to the Battle of Lexington and Concord, the battle that would start the eight-year Revolutionary War. The British began planning to confiscate weapons hidden by the patriots in Concord on April 14, 1775, five days prior to the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, when Colonial Secretary William Legge commanded General Thomas Gage to find and destroy the weapons. Paul Revere and Joseph Warren intercepted the message to Gage thanks to Margaret Gage, the wife of the General. Late on the night of April 18^th, Paul Revere rode to Concord and warned the patriots that British soldiers were coming. In order to prevent loss of supplies, the townspeople decided to redistribute everything to towns nearby and recollect them later. Between 9 and 10 pm on April 18^th, one day prior to the battle, Joseph Warren told William Dawes and Paul Revere to warn the town, so they set out on their famous Midnight Ride and warned everyone about the British troops. Once Revere, Dawes, Hancock and John Adams arrived in Lexington, they organized the militia for the battle. Revere, Dawes, and Samuel Prescott were sent to Concord, but on the way there, Revere was captured and Dawes was ambushed. But because of a system that had been set up months before, they still got enough people to fight at Concord. The system was a network of notifications that would get the militia organized very quickly. The system was so effective that people within 25 miles of Boston would know about the enemy’s movement while they were still unloading boats in Cambridge (Boston).

Concord Village Common, Province of Massachusetts Bay, 9 AM April 19, 1775: first person account by Mark Gallagher.

Having been warned through our communication system, we were able to set up a militia to defend Concord. Numbering about 250, our militia marched on the road towards Lexington, seven miles away.

“Mark Gallagher, prepare the others for a retreat, I indistinctly see the redcoats marching towards us, and from the looks of it, we have no chance,” Colonel Barrett barked. After marching for a short while, we suddenly spotted about 700 British troops. We were all shocked by the overwhelming size of the British, and knew that there was no way we could defeat them. Thus, we retreated back to Concord and took up our positions on a ridge overlooking the town. We sat there, looking at the town. We studied the scene. The morning light dawned on us and the smell of plants and life arose – this was not a scene that anyone would expect to have a war in. We looked over the town, and when the huge British army entered the village, we retreated again. We abandoned Concord to buy some time by retreating to Punkatasset Hill. We moved frantically but remained cautious, aware that there were British troops very near. We all knew that one misplaced person could give away the entire militia’s position. Punkatasset Hill was about a mile to the north of Concord. From there, we were able to watch over all activity in Concord. While we were waiting up on the hill, we quickly gathered militiamen from nearby towns. We needed more militiamen if we hoped at having any chance in defeating the British army.

As we gathered troops, we continued watching the British. The British did not find the supplies they were searching for. They searched through every single building in the village but couldn’t find anything. We looked down on them and laughed at them, for we had hidden all the supplies they were searching for in nearby towns. The British were now very frustrated, so they destroyed whatever they could find, including some cannons. What was the most devastating was the fact that they were burning houses. But luck was on our side, for I could see some woman who appeared to convince the British to put out the fires, and they did, saving the courthouse. In the meantime, our militia, under Colonel Barrett, decided to leave our location on Punkatasset Hill, arriving at a lower hilltop close to the North Bridge in Concord. Our militia now had about 400 men. Once we arrived at the hilltop, Colonel Barrett decided to advance with loaded weapons. We lined up, received our guns, and began advancing to Concord. Colonel Barrett ordered us not to fire, except in self-defense. We crossed the North Bridge and due to a poor defensive strategy by Captain Laurie, a British captain, the British troops were put into a disadvantageous position. The ensuing firefight saw the British outnumbered and outmaneuvered, and they fled, abandoning the wounded, to the safety of their own lines, barely making it out alive. It was a horrific scene: dead and wounded soldiers lay everywhere, and I had the urge to help them until I realized that they were British and my anger returned. We were stunned by our success. We had not imagined defeating the British, yet we defeated them so easily and quickly. We realized that it wasn’t about the amount of power an army had, but that tactics were vital, along with how willingly you fought. We moved on, knowing that it was not the end of the battle. We quickly gathered on the hilltop 300 yards from the bridge and another half of our militia gathered across the bridge.

British Lieutenant Colonel Smith had heard the exchange of fire and rushed reinforcements to help Captain Laurie and his men, and they continued searching and destroying military supplies of the militias. The British left Concord in the afternoon, and this delay gave us more time to gather more men and cut off the road back to Boston.

The next challenge the British faced was to cross a small bridge outside of Concord. The narrow bridge forced the troops to cross three soldiers at a time. They struggled by, barely making it over the bridge, and as soon as they stepped onto the bridge, we fired at them and about two British troops were killed every time. The 500 of us had gathered near the woods on Brooks Hill further down the road from the bridge. When the British troops reach a curved road through a wooded area, we remained in the woods and fired upon the British from both sides of the path.

Our militia continued to grow, eventually amounting to around 2,000 men. Though we had gained a huge advantage, we were running short of ammunition and were tired. Some of the British troops surrendered, and the rest ran forward. The possibility of the British surrendering was becoming more and more likely, when suddenly Earl Perch, a British General, arrived with a brigade of 1,000 men, with artillery reinforcing them.

Brigadier General William Heath took control of our militia and changed tactics. We scattered and were commanded to snipe from a distance because this could cause maximum damage with least risk. We would also ride ahead on horses, wait until the British came within range, fire, and then disperse. We kept flanking the British. By next morning, we had a huge militia of more than 15,000 men surrounding Boston.

The Battles of Lexington and Concord were fought between a militia that had only been training a few months against the strongest military in the world. The battle of Lexington was declared a British victory, but the battle of Concord was declared an American victory. But overall, the Battles of Lexington and Concord were an American victory. In total, there were 273 British casualties, and only 94 colonist casualties. These statistics were enough to turn some loyalists into patriots, as happened one year later while the Continental Congress was deciding on the appropriate steps forward.

The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first battles of the American Revolution, and made many colonists believe that it would be possible to win. They had doubted their militia, thinking that they would definitely lose, but these successes brought new hope. Throughout the Revolution, the British won more battles than the colonists, but the colonists won the important ones. Perhaps the one person that deserves the most credit was General George Washington, the commander in chief of the Continental Army. If it wasn’t for him, then the colonists may have lost the revolution. The colonists also had support from France. France not only supported the colonists economically, but also busied the British. They were also fighting Britain, and in war with a neighboring country, supplies and soldiers are quickly drained. The British were spread out throughout the world, and their ultimate authority was two months away by boat. Furthermore, the colonists’ fighting strategies and supplies were more advanced than the British. The British kept to their traditional fighting style of wearing bright red coats, standing in a rigid, straight format, and firing upon command, whilst the colonists wore camouflage and normal clothes, hid behind trees, firing freely. The British weaponry was also very inaccurate because of how the guns were not rifled, which was a method of making grooves on the barrel of a gun to provide a spin to the bullet, stabilizing it. Britain’s guns were so bad that it was almost impossible to hit an intended target from more than 30 feet away.

A little more than one year after the Battles of Lexington and Concord, Lee’s Resolution, the resolution of fighting for independence, authored by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, was presented to Congress on June 7th, 1776. However, from the start, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and South Carolina were unwilling to approve it. Thus, they delayed the vote until July 1. During that time, Congress appointed the Committee of Five: John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, Robert R. Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson was known to be the best writer in the group, so he was appointed the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, and they presented the document to Congress on June 28th. Congress continued debating the resolution, and thought it would have to be a unanimous vote if they were to fight the strongest empire in the world. Thus, they delayed the final vote to July 2nd while they waited for New York to finally decide. One of the strongest arguments the patriots used were the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill. In the Battle of Lexington and Concord, the casualty count was 273–94 in favor of the colonists. In the Battle of Bunker Hill that took place on June 17, 1775, the casualty count was 1,150–450 in favor of the colonists. These statistics showed the Congress that even though they only had militias, that they could defeat the British. When New York finally approved the resolution, the delegates of Congress all signed the Declaration of Independence, marking the beginning of the political battle between Britain, and the future United States of America.