Battles of Lexington and Concord

The Battles of Lexington and Concord, in Massachusetts, were the first military clashes of the American Revolutionary War. British General Thomas Gage sent troops from Boston to seize colonial military supplies stored at Concord and to arrest the patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Riders such as Paul Revere and William Dawes warned the countryside. At Lexington, a first shot of unknown origin led to a short exchange with local militia, and at Concord a larger fight took place at the North Bridge. The British column then had to retreat to Boston under constant fire from militia along the road. The fighting turned a colonial protest into an armed rebellion, and Ralph Waldo Emerson later called the first shot the shot heard round the world.

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