April 18, 1775
10:30 pm
On the evening of April 18, 1775, Provincial leaders in Boston learn that General Gage is sending 700 British Regulars to raid a stockpile of military supplies in Concord. Paul Revere arranges for two lanterns to be lit in the belfry of North Church, signaling that the Regulars are heading out by water.
Lantern, Boston, MA, 1765-1770. One of the two used as a signal, April 18, 1775.
| Concord Museum Collection, Gift of Cummings E. Davis; M400a.1.10:30 pm - 12:00 am
Revere and William Dawes, another alarm rider, set out, while British Regulars cross the Charles River. Both the lantern signal and additional riders serve to spread the alarm in all directions. Provincial forces begin to mobilize around the countryside.
April 19, 1775
12:00 am
Provincial leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock receive the news and leave Lexington to avoid the Regulars. Revere and Dawes then race toward Concord but are captured by a British patrol. A new rider, Samuel Prescott, carries on and alarms the people of Concord.
Buckman Tavern, Lexington, MA.
| Public domain. Library of Congress2:00 am - 4:30 am
The Regulars, still on the banks of the Charles River, have lost the element of surprise. They begin their march to Concord, which will take them through Lexington. Meanwhile, Lexington’s militia await their arrival at Buckman’s Tavern.
The Battle of Lexington. By Amos Doolittle.
| Public domain. Library of Congress5:00 am
Drumbeats summon Lexington militia to gather on the Lexington Common as the British approach. Major John Pitcairn’s advance companies of 100 Regulars encounter Captain John Parker and his 60 men. Despite orders on both sides not to engage, a shot rings out. In response, the Regulars open fire. Seconds later, eight Provincials lay dead and ten more wounded.
The advance companies regroup and rejoin the main column of Regulars. Together, the soldiers resume the march to Concord.
7:30 am
The British Regulars arrive in Concord. By then, 450 Provincial militia and minutemen have assembled near the North Bridge. The Regulars split up to secure the town’s bridges and destroy military supplies. Luckily, the Provincials had relocated most of the stockpile shortly before the raid. The Regulars set on fire or throw in the mill pond what little they find.
Cropped version of the engagement at the North Bridge in Concord, April 19, 1775. Plate III from “The Doolittle engravings of the battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775.” By Amos Doolittle.
9:00 am
The Provincials stationed above the North Bridge are alarmed to see smoke rising from the center of Concord. Believing that Regulars are ransacking the town, they ready for combat and march toward the bridge.
The 100 British Regulars at the bridge open fire, killing two Provincials: Isaac Davis and Abner Hosmer. Major John Buttrick orders his men to return fire – the famous “shot heard round the world.” Three minutes later, three Regulars are dead and several more wounded.
The Retreat of the British from Lexington. T.F. Donnelly, Barnes’s Primary History of the United States, 1885
| ©istock.com/campwillowlake12:00 pm
Having accomplished their mission, the Regulars begin marching back to Boston. However, their path is impeded by Provincial forces who keep up an encircling fire on the main column. The march turns into a 15-mile long battle.
2:00 pm
In Lexington, the returning Regulars are joined by a relief column of 1,000 Regulars. By this point, the Provincial forces have grown to over 1,500 men, a number that continues to increase as militiamen from all over Massachusetts join the fray.
Grave of the British Soldiers
| ©istock.com/bpperry4:30 pm
Eventually, outnumbered two to one, the British face some of the harshest fighting of the day near present-day Arlington. Many Regulars abandon their arms to lighten their load on the return to Boston. By now, Provincial forces total 3,600 men.
7:30 pm
With 243 men killed, wounded, and missing, the Regulars barely make it back to Boston by sundown. The Siege of Boston begins.
An alarm system that began with two lit lanterns summoned 20,000 Provincials from across the region. This massive force confined the British Army to Boston for 11 months, a siege that ended with George Washington’s capture of Dorchester Heights. The occupying British troops left Massachusetts in March of 1776, never to return.
Visit Concord Museum’s permanent exhibition “April 19, 1775” and visit DiscoverConcordMA.com and Shotheardroundworld.org for more information.
*This article made possible with the support of the Concord250 Corporation, an independent non-profit organization
