The shot heard around the world The Shot Heard Round The World: Battle Breaks Out At Lexington Engraving of the Battle of Lexington. April 19, 1775. New York Public Library. Meanwhile, after the British forces waited two hours for additional supplies at their ships, the British continued on their journey to Concord. At the town of Menotomy, Smith decided to send an advance force commanded by Major John Pitcairn to gain control of the bridges at Concord. Pitcairn was given six companies of light infantry while Smith sent a soldier to request reinforcements from Boston. Soon, Pitcairn’s troops would arrive in Lexington and meet up with the first wave of colonial minutemen. A Shot Was Fired Following Revere’s warning to the Patriots, Captain John Parker began assembling minutemen to meet the British. After rousing approximately 137 men, they waited for the British to arrive. However, because it had taken the British two hours to receive supplies earlier in the evening, the minutemen were way ahead of schedule. Parker requested that the minutemen retire to nearby taverns until further notice while sending a few scouts from Lexington to approximate the arrival of the British. Many of these scouts were not seen again due to British arrest. One scout, Thaddeus Bowman, did return; he had narrowly escaped arrest by British soldiers and Pitcairn’s advance troop was only half a mile behind him. Captain Parker hastily assembled his minutemen again. When Pitcairn’s forces and Parker’s minutemen met, there were 77 minutemen prepared to fight nearly 250 British soldiers. A shot was fired; although it’s not clear which side fired first. More shots ensued. After the fight came to a close, eight Americans were dead and ten were wounded. This is in comparison to one wounded British soldier and several bullet wounds in Pitcairn’s horse. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Minutemen The Minutemen playing a crucial role not only in the Revolutionary War, but in earlier conflicts. Although the terms militia and minutemen are sometimes used interchangeably today, in the 18th century there was a decided difference between the two. Militia were men in arms formed to protect their towns from foreign invasion and ravages of war. Minutemen were a small hand-picked elite force which were required to be highly mobile and able to assemble quickly. Minutemen were selected from militia muster rolls by their commanding officers. Typically 25 years of age or younger, they were chosen for their enthusiasm, reliability, and physical strength. Usually about one quarter of the militia served as Minutemen, performing additional duties as such. The Minutemen were the first armed militia to arrive or await a battle. hh

How it happened The Battles of Lexington and Concord, fought on April 19, 1775, kicked off the American Revolutionary War (1775-83). Tensions had been building for many years between residents of the 13 American colonies and the British authorities, particularly in Massachusetts. On the night of April 18, 1775, hundreds of British troops marched from Boston to nearby Concord in order to seize an arms cache. Paul Revere and other riders sounded the alarm, and colonial militiamen began mobilizing to intercept the Redcoat column. A confrontation on the Lexington town green started off the fighting, and soon the British were hastily retreating under intense fire. Many more battles followed, and in 1783 the colonists formally won their independence.

Paul Revere Although most familiar as the hard-riding hero of Longfellow’s poem, Paul Revere’s claims to historical significance rest even more on his talent as a craftsman and on his industrial perspicacity. The son of a Huguenot silversmith, Apollos Rivoire, and Deborah Hitchbourn, Revere received a rudimentary “writing-school” education before turning to his father’s trade. Upon the latter’s death, Paul at nineteen assumed artistic responsibility for the family’s shop. Over the next twenty years, he became one of the preeminent American goldsmiths–a term that encompassed every phase of the eighteenth-century precious-metals craftsman’s art. Besides silver bowls, utensils, pots, and flatware (many of which are museum pieces today), Revere and his apprentices and journeymen turned out a variety of engravings: pictures, cartoons, calling cards, bookplates, tradesmen’s bills, and even music. As a sideline, he practiced what passed for dentistry in his day, developing as well a rudimentary form of orthodontia.

The Battles of Lexington and Concord, fought on April 19, 1775, kicked off the American Revolutionary War (1775-83). Tensions had been building for many years between residents of the 13 American colonies and the British authorities, particularly in Massachusetts. On the night of April 18, 1775, hundreds of British troops marched from Boston to nearby Concord in order to seize an arms cache. Paul Revere and other riders sounded the alarm, and colonial militiamen began mobilizing to intercept the Redcoat column. A confrontation on the Lexington town green started off the fighting, and soon the British were hastily retreating under intense fire. Many more battles followed, and in 1783 the colonists formally won their independence.

The colonists did not show great marksmanship that day The colonists did not show great marksmanship that day. As many as 3,500 militiamen firing constantly for 18 miles only killed or wounded roughly 250 Redcoats, compared to about 90 killed and wounded on their side. Nevertheless, they proved they could stand up to one of the most powerful armies in the world. News of the battle quickly spread, reaching London on May 28. By the following summer, a full-scale war of independence had broken out.

https://reinsteinrevolutionper4. wikispaces.com/file/view/lexcon600.jpg/287642578/lexcon60 0.jpg http://www.bostonteapartyship.com/the-shot-heard-round- the-world Sources http://www.ushistory.org/people/minutemen.htm http://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/battles-of-lexington-and-concord