Battles of Lexington and Concord

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The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first battles of the American Revolutionary War.[1] The battles were between British soldiers, who wanted to take away the colonists' weapons and to arrest John Hancock and Samuel Adams on the way to Concord, and American colonists on April 19, 1775. They were fought in two towns outside Boston, Massachusetts: Lexington, Massachusetts and Concord, Massachusetts. The Patriots found out long before that could happen, and they safely evacuated the place.

The first battle was fought on Lexington Green in Lexington. General Gage, along with 700 British soldiers, marched there to find and destroy hidden weapons. However, they were met by 70 minutemen. The battle lasted only a few minutes, but 8 minutemen died and 9 were hurt. Only 1 British soldier had been injured, and the soldiers then went to Concord to seize supplies like food, guns, and ammunition, which were stored by the militia.

On the way back to Boston, they were ambushed by 400 minutemen. This time, Britain lost 250 soldiers, and only 90 Americans died.

References[change | change source]

  1. "Today's Document from the National Archives". archives.gov. 2011. Retrieved February 19, 2011.