After the bloody events at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, the New England militia began to encircle Boston, placing the British garrison under siege. Before the American Revolution, troops in Boston relied heavily on local farmers for fresh provisions. General Thomas Gage would be forced to depend upon a long and tenuous supply line to Nova Scotia and England if these local supply sources were disrupted. Massachusetts leaders understood that it was unlikely that they could entirely cut off the flow of supplies to the British army. Still, if they could significantly cut into it, they might starve the British out of Boston.
