Lexington to Concord

Step back in time with us today.

The date April 19, 1775, the american colonists got news that the British were going to parade with 700 men from Boston to Concord to gather ammunitions that the minutemen having been gathering.

Paul Revere and William Dawes leave Boston on horseback in the dead of night to alarm the countryside that the British are coming.

The lantern from the North Church in Boston alerted the minutemen to which direction the Red Coats would go.

The minutemen scrambled to Lexington to make a stand against the British army and gathered at the Battle green right downtown of the village.

They all gathered at the Buckman Tavern right across the street to decide what to do.


The British arrive, 700 against some 80 colonists, no one knows who took the first shot but it was the fatal shot to start the Revolutionary War. 8 colonists and 1 Red Coat die before the leaders get things settled down and the colonists step aside.

The Red Coats continue down the Battle Road toward Concord, 18 miles from Boston to Concord, all the while the word is getting out that the British are coming.

Paul Revere did not make it all the way to Concord, he was captured about halfway from Lexington to Concord, here they took away his horse and detained him for some time. However a Doctor whom he had recruited along the way did escape and hurried onto Concord to give the warning.

Here is the spot Paul Revere made it to.

Along the way the British marched proudly by the Hartwell Tavern.

Colors were pretty today.

When the British arrived in Concord they were ordered to search everyhouse and take any guns or ammunition. Meanwhile more and more colonists were gathering on the North Ridge above the town.

When the British got to the North Bridge the minutemen met them on the bridge with orders not to shoot until the British shoot first and that did not take long. By now there were over 1500 colonists and more were arriving from all around, the British start to retreat but the colonist give chase. By the time they got back to Merian corner there are over 4000 colonist and a bloody battle ensues along the Battle road. The Brits are joined by 1000 more troops in Lexington but still they are no match to the colonists and are driven right back to Boston, and life in America was never the same.

The Emmerson house was just 500 feet from the north bridge and they watched the fighting from their windows, what an ugly scene that must have been.

As you can tell we had a wonderful day and I learned lots.