Md. Riday Khan

· 05 Dec 2021

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Why is the battle of Lexington and Concord important?

The Battles of Lexington and Concord were fought on April 19, 1775, and were the initial actions of the American Revolution (1775-1783). After several years of mounting tensions that included the occupation of Boston by British troops, the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, and the Intolerable Laws, Massachusetts's military governor, General Thomas Gage, began moving to secure supplies. colony military to prevent patriot militias. A veteran of the French and Indian War. Gage's actions received official sanction on April 14, 1775, when orders came from the Secretary of State, the Earl of Dartmouth, ordering him to disarm the rebel militias and arrest key colonial leaders.

This was prompted by Parliament's belief that a state of rebellion existed and the fact that much of the colony was under the effective control of the extralegal Massachusetts Provincial Congress. This body, with John Hancock as president, had been formed in late 1774 after Gage dissolved the provincial assembly. Believing that the militias were stockpiling supplies in Concord, Gage made plans for part of his force to march and occupy the city.

British preparations
On April 16, Gage sent a scouting party out of town for Concord. While this patrol gathered intelligence information, it also alerted the settlers that the British planned to act against them. Mindful of Gage's orders from Dartmouth, many key colonial figures, such as Hancock and Samuel Adams, left Boston to seek safety in the country. Two days after the initial patrol, another 20 men led by Major Edward Mitchell of the 5th Infantry Regiment left Boston and scouted the field for Patriot couriers and also inquired about the location of Hancock and Adams. Mitchell's party activities further aroused colonial suspicions.

In addition to dispatching the patrol, Gage ordered Lt. Col. Francis Smith to prepare a force of 700 men to leave the city. His mission directed him to go to Concord and "seize and destroy all artillery, ammunition, provisions, shops, small arms, and all military warehouses, whatever. But you will see that the soldiers do not loot the inhabitants or harm private property ". " Despite efforts Gage to keep the mission secret, including the prohibition Smith read his orders to leave the city, the colonists had been aware of British interest in Concord and the news of the British raid quickly spread.

As a result, many of the supplies in Concord had been moved to other cities. Around 9: 00-10: 00 that night, Patriot leader Dr. Joseph Warren informed Paul Revere and William Dawes that the British would embark that night for Cambridge and en route to Lexington and Concord. Leaving the city by different routes, Revere and Dawes made their famous journey west to warn that the British were approaching. At Lexington, Captain John Parker rallied the city's militia and had them fall in rows on the city's green with orders not to fire unless they fired.

In Boston, Smith's force met by the water on the western edge of the Common. As little provision had been made to plan the amphibious aspects of the operation, confusion soon ensued on the boardwalk. Despite this delay, the British were able to cross into Cambridge in tight naval barges where they landed at Phipps Farm. Arriving ashore through waist-deep water, the column stopped to refuel before beginning its march to Concord around 2:00 a.m.

First shots
Around dawn, Smith's advance force, led by Major John Pitcairn, reached Lexington. Riding forward, Pitcairn demanded that the militia disperse and lay down their weapons. Parker partially complied and ordered his men to go home, but to keep their muskets. As the militia began to move, a shot rang out from an unknown source. This led to an exchange of fire in which Pitcairn's horse struck twice. The British charged forward and drove the militia off the green. When the smoke cleared, eight of the militiamen were dead and another ten wounded. A British soldier was wounded in the exchange.

Concord
Leaving Lexington, the British advanced on Concord. Outside the city, the Concord militia, unsure of what had happened in Lexington, fell back through the city and took a position on a hill on the other side of the North Bridge. Smith's men occupied the city and divided it into detachments to search for the colonial munitions. When the British began their work, the Concord militia, led by Colonel James Barrett, was reinforced when militias from other cities arrived on the scene. Although Smith's men found little ammunition, they located and disabled three guns and burned several chariots.

Seeing the smoke from the fire, Barrett and his men approached the bridge and saw between 90 and 95 British soldiers retreating across the river. Advancing with 400 men, they were attacked by the British. Firing across the river, Barrett's men forced them to flee toward Concord. Unwilling to take further action, Barrett stopped his men while Smith consolidated his forces for the march back to Boston. After a short lunch, Smith ordered his troops to withdraw around noon. Throughout the morning, word of the fighting had spread and colonial militias began to rush into the area.

Bloody road to Boston
Aware that their situation was deteriorating, Smith deployed flanks around their column to ward off colonial attacks as they marched. About a mile from Concord, the first in a series of militia attacks began at Meriam's Corner. This was followed by another at Brooks Hill. After passing through Lincoln, Smith's troops were attacked at the "Bloody Angle" by 200 men from Bedford and Lincoln. Firing from behind trees and fences, they were joined by other militiamen who took up positions on the other side of the road, catching the British in the crossfire.

As the column approached Lexington, they were ambushed by Captain Parker's men. Seeking revenge for the morning's fight, they waited until Smith was in sight before firing. Tired and bloodied from their march, the British were glad to find reinforcements, led by Hugh, Earl Percy, waiting for them in Lexington. After allowing Smith's men to rest, Percy resumed the retreat to Boston around 3:30. On the colonial side, the general command had been assumed by Brigadier General William Heath. In order to inflict maximum casualties, Heath strove to keep the British surrounded by a loose circle of militias for the remainder of the march. In this way, the militia fired on the British ranks, while avoiding major clashes, until the column reached the safety of Charlestown.

Aftermath
In the day's fighting, the Massachusetts militia lost 50 dead, 39 wounded and 5 missing. For the British, the long march cost them 73 dead, 173 wounded and 26 missing. The fighting at Lexington and Concord turned out to be the opening battles of the American Revolution. Rushing to Boston, the Massachusetts militia soon joined forces from other colonies that eventually formed a force of around 20,000. Situated in Boston, they fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775, finally taking the city after Henry Knox arrived with arms from Fort Ticonderoga in March 1776.

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