Jonathon Harrington, fatally wounded by a British musket ball, managed to crawl back to his home, and he died upon his doorstep. Major Pitcairn sent light infantry companies up the hill to clear out any militia sniping at them. Outbreak of War, 1775, Lexington and Concord, Second Continental Congress, Olive Branch Petition, American Revolution, Primary Sources for Teachers, America in Class, National Humanities Center. The British march to and from Concord was a terribly disorganized experience from start to finish. The British failed to maintain the secrecy and speed required to conduct a successful strike into hostile territory, yet they did destroy some weapons and supplies. On April 8, they instructed people of the town to remove the stores and distribute them among other towns nearby. There had been a liberty cap and unknown flag on a flagpole on a hill near the town, but it had been quickly chopped down by the British when they entered the town about an hour before.). The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. After a bot⦠Answers: 1 on a question: Now, you will conduct Internet research to collect information about the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Find one primary source and one secondary source on the topic. The militia (numbering about 4,000) were unprepared for this movement, and the circle of fire was broken. The Battles of Lexington and Concord signaled the start of the American Revolutionary war on April 19, 1775. Based on the word of Pitcairn and other wounded officers from Smith's command, Percy learned that the Minutemen were using stone walls, trees and buildings in these more thickly settled towns closer to Boston to hide behind and shoot at the column. The regular army soldiers escaped by breaking into a trot, a pace that the colonials could not maintain through the woods and swamps next to this spot in the road. Falmouth, MA: Nantucket Historical Society, 1976. Although many of the accounts of ransacking and burnings were exaggerated later by the colonists for propaganda value (and to get financial compensation from the colonial government), it is certainly true that taverns along the Bay Road were ransacked and the liquor stolen by the troops, who in some cases became drunk themselves. Sad alternative! But now they held high ground at sunset while supported by heavy guns from the HMS Somerset. He also told them that the senior colonel of his regiments, Lieutenant Colonel Smith, would command, with Major John Pitcairn as his executive officer. Other British colonists, hours later at the North Bridge in Concord, fought and defeated three companies of the king's troops. Smith's leading forces charged up the hill to drive them off, but the colonials did not withdraw. Web. It had information about the causes of the Revolution, the Battles of Lexington and Concord, other battles, primary sources, and the aftermath of the war. A formal Ball took place in the evening at the Agricultural Hall in Concord. The Lincoln militia arrived and joined in the debate. Upon hearing the sounds of muskets, Colonel Smith rode forward from the grenadier column. Percy took the land route across Boston Neck and over the Great Bridge. Fresh militia arrived in close array instead of in a scattered formation, and Percy used his two artillery pieces and flankers at a crossroads called Watson's Corner to inflict heavy damage on them. Known today as the Battles of Lexington and Concord, during the Revolution the event was often referred to as the Lexington Alarm; and that’s what it was, an alarm, brought on by the British march to Concord … The militiamen of Concord, uncertain of what had actually transpired at Lexington, were not sure whether to wait until they could be reinforced by troops from towns nearby, or to stay and defend the town, or to move east and greet the British Army f⦠Percy's men were often surrounded, but they had the tactical advantage of interior lines. The Battles of Lexington and Concord marked the start of open conflict between thirteen Colonists and the British. Unfortunately, once again only one copy of the orders were sent to each commander, and the order for the Marines was delivered to the desk of Major Pitcairn, who was on Lexington Common at the time. The rebellion's ringleaders—with the exception of Paul Revere and Joseph Warren—had all left Boston by April 8. The Lexington Militia in particular began to muster early that evening, hours before receiving any word from Boston. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. They could hear gunfire in the distance as they set up their cannon and lines of regulars on high ground with commanding views. âBattle of Lexington and Concord.â. Additional 1,000 reinforcement for the return to Boston (Percy). Secondary Sources. In truth, nobody knew then, nor knows today, who fired the first shot of the American Revolution. Step 6: Assessment: The following day, introduce the assessment activity.Place the students in pairs and have students complete the Puzzle Piece Timeline of Lexington and Concord ⦠Colonel Barrett's troops, upon seeing smoke rising from the village square and seeing only a few companies directly below them, agreed (after consultation) to march back towards town from their vantage point on Punkatasset Hill to a lower, closer flat hilltop about 300 yards (300 m) from the North Bridge over the Concord River. 2nd ed., rev. Revere and Dawes were sent out to warn them and alert Patriots in nearby towns. Many more battles followed, and in 1783 the colonists formally won their independence. Crossings were banned at that hour, but Revere safely landed in Charlestown and rode to Lexington, avoiding the British patrol and later warning almost every house along the route. By the Battle of Bunker Hill less than two months later, the song had ironically become a popular anthem for the colonial forces. Tours are available of the Jason Russell House in Arlington, Massachusetts on Sunday and Monday. The battles were fought on April 19, 1775 in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy (present-day Arlington), and Cambridge. They were presented to a sympathetic official and printed by the London newspapers two weeks before Gage's report arrived. They stood behind trees and walls in a rocky, tree-filled pasture for an ambush. Colonial forces on the road itself behind the British were too densely packed and disorganized to mount an attack. About 3 a.m., Colonel Smith sent Major Pitcairn ahead with the latter's ten companies of light infantry and ordered him to quick march to Concord. Beck, Derek W. The War before Independence, 1775-1776: Igniting the American Revolution. To cross the narrow bridge, the army column had to stop, dress its line, and close its rank to a mere three soldiers apiece. 25th anniversary ed. © 2021 Researching the American Revolution. Once a militia unit had fired its ammunition at the swiftly retreating Regular Army troops, they left, went home, and turned the job over to the militiamen of the next town along the road. We got all over the bay and landed on the opposite shore betwixt twelve and one o'clock and was on our March by one, which was at first through some swamps and slips of the Sea till we got into the Road leading to Lexington soon after which the Country people begun to fire their alarm guns light their Beacons, to raise the Country…. Guide the class by using all three sources to create a composite account. Percy wrote of the colonial tactics: "…the rebels attacked us in a very scattered, irregular manner, but with perseverance and resolution, nor did they ever dare to form into any regular body. View Battle of Lexington.ppt from HISTORY 103 at Redmond High School, Redmond. : Lexington & Concord : First Battles of the American Revolution. This is apocryphal at best, and few of the British troops would have understood the meaning of "The White Cockade" anyway, since the Scottish rebellion had been thirty years before. The Battle of April 19, 1775 in Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Arlington, Cambridge, Somerville and Charlestown Massachusetts. As they marched through Menotomy (modern Arlington), sounds of the colonial alarms throughout the countryside caused the few officers who were aware of their mission to realize that they had lost the element of surprise. Hide... Johnson, Justin. Print. Battles of Concord and Lexington (April 1775) The Struggle on Concord Bridge (1859) Retreat of the British from Concord (1874) Battle of Lexington (1856) Battle of Bunker Hill (June 17, 1775) View of the Attack on Bunker's Hill, with the Burning of Charles Town, June 17. The volley fired here at Concord two centuries ago, "the shot heard round the world," still echoes today on this anniversary. The Minutemen and militia advanced in column formation on the light infantry, keeping to the highway only, since the highway was surrounded by the spring floodwaters of the Concord River. Their organized, planned withdrawal had turned into a rout. The supplies at Concord were safe, after all, but they thought their leaders in Lexington were unaware of the potential danger that night. Concord [edit | edit source] The second of four engravings by Amos Doolittle from 1775, depicting the British entering ConcordThe militiamen of Concord and Lincoln, in response to the raised alarm, had mustered in Concord. To the best of my recollection about 4 o'clock in the morning being the 19th of April the 5 front Compys. In 1837, in his Concord Hymn, Ralph Waldo Emerson immortalized the events at Old North Bridge: (What he did was not to meant to disparage the events at Lexington Common [which would not be dubbed the more romantic "Lexington Green" until the 1850s] hours before, but rather to acknowledge that only at Concord were the colonists first able to fire back under orders of their own commanders at the regular army. Meanwhile the bulk of Smith's force proceeded along the road to Brooks Tavern where they engaged a single militia company from Framingham, killing and wounding several of them. Gross, Robert A. Smith was wounded in the thigh sometime on the way back to Lexington, and the entire British column was halted in this ambush supposedly known as "Parker's Revenge." Correct answers: 3 question: Now, you will conduct Internet research to collect information about the Battles of Lexington and Concord. They met Samuel Prescott at about 1:00 a.m. Eight Massachusetts men were killed and ten were wounded against only one British soldier of the 10th Foot wounded (his name was Johnson, according to Ensign Jeremy Lister of that regiment, present at this incident). Objectives- Students will work in groups and use a graphic organizer to compare and contrast patriot and loyalist perspectives on the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Facing the threat of rebellion, British General Thomas Gage hoped to prevent violence by ordering the seizure of weapons and powder being stored in Concord, Massachusetts, twenty miles northwest of Boston. It was nearly dark when Pitcairn's Marines defended a final attack on Percy's rear as they entered Charlestown. The Battles of Lexington and Concord April 19, 1775, in Massachusetts, marked the beginning of the Revolutionary War. The regulars found themselves trapped in a situation where they were both outnumbered and outmaneuvered. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. It was important to the early American government that an image of British fault and American innocence be maintained for this first battle of the war. Overview; Northern Campaigns. Of these militiamen, nine had the surname Harrington, seven Munroe, four Parker, three Tidd, three Locke, and three Reed. As for the "flag to April's breeze unfurled"...well, there were no flags at the North Bridge, April 19, 1775. Four of the eight British officers and sergeants at the bridge, leading from the front of their troops as officers did in this era, were wounded by the volley of musketry coming from the British colonists. Lexington, MA: Lexington Historical Society, 1922. The issue of which side was to blame grew during the early nineteenth century. For example, older participants' testimony in later life about Lexington and Concord differed greatly from their depositions taken under oath in 1775. The Minutemen and Their World. Recent speculation has focused on the possibility of a negligent discharge or of multiple, possibly unrelated "first shots" from both sides. Even George Germaine, no friend of the colonists, wrote, "…the Bostonians are in the right to make the King's troops the aggressors and claim a victory." To indicate a Primary Source page To indicate a Secondary Source page To Indicate a Student handout To indicate a Teacher resource Lesson Document Link on the page to the document Lexington and Concord: A Legacy of Conflict Page 1 of 19 Minute Man National Historical Park National Park Service They had also received details about British plans on the night before the battle, and information was rapidly supplied to the militia. Heath and Warren reacted to Percy's artillery and flankers by ordering the militias to avoid close formations which would attract cannon fire. In 1961, novelist Howard Fast published April Morning, an account of the battle from a fictional 15-year-old's perspective, saying that the colonists fired first in order to get the war going, has since been frequently assigned in secondary schools. Now the two principal leaders of the Concord expedition were both injured or unhorsed. Equality has matured in America. They did not carry knapsacks, since they would not be encamped. The primary source that I want to look at is a first-hand account of the battle of Lexington and Concord during the Revolutionary War, which was written by Lieutenant John Barker. A large militia force arrived from Salem and Marblehead. They were drawn from 11 of Gage's 13 occupying infantry regiments. They then passed sullenly over the bridge, unharmed by Buttrick's Minutemen. On the night of April 18th 1775, Lieutenant Colonel Smith marched with 700 British soldiers to Concord on a mission to disarm the rebels. eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'newworldencyclopedia_org-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_7',167,'0','0']));eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'newworldencyclopedia_org-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_8',167,'0','1'])); .large-mobile-banner-1-multi-167{border:none !important;display:block !important;float:none;line-height:0px;margin-bottom:7px !important;margin-left:0px !important;margin-right:0px !important;margin-top:7px !important;min-height:250px;text-align:center !important;}. Instead, they surrounded Percy's marching square with a moving ring of skirmishers at a distance in order to inflict maximum casualties at minimum risk to individual militiamen. The British began to awaken their troops at 9 p.m. on the night of April 18 and assembled them on the water's edge on the western end of Boston common by 10 p.m. At about 5 a.m., Smith's request for reinforcements arrived, and orders were sent for 1st Brigade consisting of the line companies of infantry (the 4th, 23rd, and 47th) and a battalion of British Marines to assemble. When they disembarked at Phipps Farm in present day Cambridge, it was into waist-deep water at midnight. Battle of Lexington and Concord - Map of Massachusetts This is a small clip art pack containing a map of Massachusetts showing Boston, Lexington and Concord in both color and black and white. The colonists were stunned by their success. A few mounted militiamen on the road would dismount, fire muskets at the approaching regulars, and then remount and gallop ahead to repeat the tactic. Such did not occur, however. They might have cut off Percy's route to Charlestown, but these men halted on nearby Winter Hill and allowed the British to escape. High quality images: 300 dpi. Jason Russell pleaded for his friends to fight alongside him to defend his house by saying, "An Englishman's home is his castle." Meeting in Watertown on April 22, 1775, following the April 18th incident in Lexington, the Second Provincial Congress of the Massachusetts Bay Colony: The Second Battle of Lexington was a minor battle fought during Price's Raid as part of the American Civil War. Step 5: Come together as a whole class and create a factual edition of what really happened at Concord and Lexington. Wounded regulars rode on the cannon and were forced to hop off when they were periodically fired at gathered militia. Gotta Have It: Shortly After Bunker Hill, Everyone Wanted a Picture of Israel Putnam. Questions range in level of difficulty and complexity. "Revolutionary War Battle of Lexington and Concord." Each man in Percy's brigade now had only 36 rounds, and each artillery piece only contained a few rounds in side-boxes. We then formed on the Common, but with some difficulty, the men were so wild they could hear no orders; we waited a considerable time there, and at length proceeded our way to Concord. Smith was concerned about the four companies which had been at Barrett's. When Percy questioned one man further, the man replied, "Well, the regulars will miss their aim," "What aim?" Colonel Francis Smith from Thomas Gage Primary Source Lieut. Earlier in the day, he had traveled first to Watertown to discuss tactics with Joseph Warren (who had left Boston that morning) and other members of the Massachusetts Committee of Safety. Town of Lexington. They were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of … Against the advice of his Master of Ordnance, Percy had left Boston without spare ammunition for his men or for the two artillery pieces they brought with them. Change ). Then he ordered them to advance. Primary Sources from Lexington and Concord Order Given to Lt. The militia army continued to grow as surrounding colonies sent men and supplies. Smith, leader of the British expedition, heard the exchange of fire from his position in the town moments after he had received a request for reinforcements from Laurie. The sculpture by Daniel Chester French, The Minute Man, was unveiled on that day. A few of the militiamen believed at first that the regulars were only firing powder with no ball, but then they realized the truth, and few, if any, in the militia managed to load and return fire. Only one British officer remained uninjured in the leading three companies. Both sides generally agreed that the initial shot did not come from the men on the ground immediately facing each other. The Battles of Lexington and Concord confirmed the alienation between the majority of colonists and the mother country, and it roused 16,000 New Englanders to join forces and begin the Siege of Boston, resulting in its evacuation by the British the following March. Murray, Stuart. The light infantry companies under Pitcairn at the common got beyond their officers' control. Upon hearing this, Percy quickly returned to Province House and relayed this information to General Gage. Percy proceeded to give orders to the flank companies to clear these colonial militiamen out of such places. Primary Sources from Lexington and Concord Order Given to Lt. 1775. N.p., n.d. The outnumbered soldiers of the British Army fell back from the Minutemen after a pitched battle in open territory. Speculation arose later in Lexington that a man named Solomon Brown fired the first shot from inside the tavern or from behind a wall. The Struggle on Concord Bridge is an engraving by W. J. Edwards. Colonel Smith, 10 th Regiment Foot Sir: Having received intelligence, that a quantity of Ammunition, Provision, Artillery, Tents and small arms, have been collected at Concord, for the Avowed Purpose of ⦠Leaderless, terrified at the superior numbers of the enemy, their spirit broken, never having experienced combat before, they abandoned their wounded, and fled to the safety of the approaching grenadier companies coming from the town center. Departing Boston late in the evening on April 18, 1775, the King’s troops marched into the small town of Lexington at around 5:00 AM. Pitcairn's horse was hit in two places. New York: Hill and Wang, 2001. Around 5:00 a.m., the Kingâs troops arrived in the small town of Lexington ⦠Because of information provided by Smith and Pitcairn about how the Americans were attacking, Percy gave orders for the rear guard to be rotated every mile or so, to allow some of his troops to rest briefly. Within four days of the battle, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress had collected scores of sworn testimonies from militiamen and from British prisoners. Some accused the commander of this force, Colonel Timothy Pickering, of permitting the troops to pass because he still hoped to avoid war by preventing a total defeat for the regulars. Percy regained control of the combined forces of about 1,900 men and let them rest, eat, drink, and have their wounds tended at field headquarters (Munroe Tavern) before their final march of the day. Students will analyze a variety of primary and secondary sources to try and determine the answer to those questions, and, since it is hard to determine what REALLY happened, they will learn a … This time, unlike during the Powder Alarm, the rumors of spilled blood were true, and the Revolutionary War had begun. From the early 1760s to 1775 American colonists complained bitterly about British policies that taxed them without representation. Even after a small skirmish, and with superior forces, the British colonists still did not fire yet unless fired upon, and this time the regulars did nothing to provoke them. The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. Retreat of the British from Concord is an engraving by James Smilie (1807-1885), who was born in Scotland, lived in Quebec, and eventually moved to New York City. In addition to other express riders delivering their message, bells, drums, alarm guns, bonfires and a trumpet were used for rapid communication from town to town, notifying the rebels in dozens of eastern Massachusetts villages that they should muster their militias because the regulars in numbers greater than 500 were leaving Boston. The Town of Concord invited 700 prominent U.S. citizens and leaders from the worlds of government, the military, the diplomatic corps, the arts, sciences, and humanities to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the battles. The battles marked the outbreak of open armed conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain ⦠He quickly found a drummer and ordered him to beat assembly. new York: Hill and Wang, 1976. Two regulars were killed and perhaps six wounded with no colonial casualties. He persuaded the town's selectmen to surrender all private weapons in return for promising that any inhabitant could leave town. This ridge ended near Meriam's Corner, a crossroads and a small bridge about a mile (2 km) outside of Concord. After these delays, Percy's brigade left Boston at about 8:45 a.m. His troops marched out to the tune of "Yankee Doodle" to mock the inhabitants of the city. I, John Parker, of lawful Age, and Commander of the Militia in Lexington, do testify and declare, that on the 19th Instant in the Morning, about one of the Clock, being informed that there were a Number of Regular Officers, riding up and down the Road, stopping and insulting People as they passed the Road; and also was informed that a Number of Regular Troops were on their March from Boston in order to take the Province Stores at Concord, 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. The Battles of Lexington and Concord marked the start of open conflict between thirteen Colonists and the British. Whoever looks upon them as an irregular mob, will find himself very much mistaken." These men, according to this account written only many years later, did not begin the ambush until Colonel Smith himself came into view. Coburn, Frank Warren. The Massachusetts Militia had indeed been gathering a stock of weapons, powder, and supplies at Concord, as well as an even greater amount much further west in Worcester, but word reached the Patriots that British officers had been observed examining the roads to Concord. His friends, depending on which account is to be believed either hid in the cellar, or died in the house from bullets and bayonets after shooting at the soldiers who followed them in. According to one account, the discussion among persons there turned to the unusual movement of the British soldiers in the town. The remaining companies lay behind the village meeting house on the road back towards Boston. "Concord Hill" remained before Lexington Center, and a few uninjured officers turned around and supposedly threatened their own men with their swords if they would not reform in good order. In the written words of a Minuteman behind that wall: "If we had fired, I believe we could have killed all most every officer there was in the front, but we had no orders to fire and there wasn't a gun fired." Then, you will complete a graphic organizer that includes the following items: a summary of each source the organization of each source (sequential, comparative, or causal) one fact from each source one opinion from each source At about 4 a.m., he made the wise but belated decision to send word back to Boston asking for reinforcements. This convoy was intercepted by a small party of older, former militiamen, still on the "alarm list" who could not join their militia companies because they were well over 60.
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