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uring the wait they were given extra ammunition cold salt pork and hard sea biscuits because they would not be encamped they carried no knapsacks they carried their haversacks food bags canteens muskets and accoutrements and marched off in wet muddy shoes and soggy uniforms as they marched through menotomy sounds of the colonial alarms throughout the countryside caused the few officers aware of their mission to realize they had lost the strategically significant element of surprise 41 at about 3 am colonel smith ordered major pitcairn to quick march to concord with six companies of light infantry at about 4 am smith made the wise but belated decision to send a messenger asking for reinforcements back to boston 42 battles lexington battle of lexington redirects here for the american civil war battles see battle of lexington disambiguation battle of lexington april 19 1775 new york public library although often styled a battle the lexington engagement was only a minor brush or skirmish 43 as the regulars advance guard under pitcairn entered lexington at sunrise on april 19 1775 about 80 lexington militiamen emerged from buckman tavern and stood in ranks on lexington common watching them between 40 and 100 spectators watched from the side of the road 1 44 the militiamen were part of lexington s training band a local militia organization method dating back to the puritans and not a minuteman company 45 the militia leader captain john parker a veteran of the french and indian war had tuberculosis and his raspy voice could be difficult to hear after waiting most of the night with no sign of british troops and wondering if revere s warning was accurate at about 4 15 a m parker got confirmation 46 thaddeus bowman the last scout sent out earlier by parker rode up and told parker that regulars were coming in force and were nearby 47 parker positioned his company in parade ground formation on lexington common in plain sight not behind walls but not blocking the road to concord the militiamen made a show of determination but no effort to prevent the regulars march 48 parker was aware that his company was outmatched and did not intend to sacrifice his men for no purpose he knew that most of the colonists powder and military supplies at concord had been hidden and no war had yet been declared he also knew the british had gone on such expeditions before found nothing and marched back to boston 49 many years later isaiah thomas one of the militiamen recalled parker s words as those now engraved in stone at the battle site stand your ground don t fire unless fired upon but if they mean to have a war let it begin here 50 according to parker s sworn deposition after the battle he concluded after consulting others that the militia gathered on the common should not engage with the regulars when the regulars approached he ordered the militia to disperse and not fire he testified that when the british appeared they immediately rushed the militia and fired without provocation killing eight of his men 51 52 british marine lieutenant jesse adair leading the advance guard decided to protect the british column s flank by first turning right and then leading the companies onto the common itself in a confused effort to surround and disarm the militia major pitcairn then arrived from the rear of the advance force pitcairn led his three companies to the left and halted the remaining companies under colonel smith were further down the road 53 although pitcairn probably ordered the regulars to advance on the militiamen at least one account states that the officer in the lead was lieutenant william sutherland who ordered the patriots to disperse and lay down your arms you damned rebels another patriot account stated that three british officers led the charge with the foremost giving an order to fire amid the confusion caused by considerable yelling some patriots did not hear parker s raspy command to leave the field and left slowly as the british charged none threw down their arms 54 first shot conflicting accounts the first of four engravings by amos doolittle from 1775 doolittle visited the battle sites and interviewed soldiers and witnesses contains controversial elements possibly inaccuracies fire from the militia may have occurred but is not depicted see also shot heard round the world british and patriot soldiers accounts from lexington and analyses by later historians differ on who fired the first shot and whether any definite conclusion can be made modern historian david hackett fischer wrote that both british commander pitcairn and patriot commander parker ordered their men to hold their fire but a shot was fired from an unknown person 55 some witnesses on each side claimed that someone on the other side fired first however many more witnesses claimed to not know which side fired the first shot 56 some men on both sides stated that the initial shot did not come from the men immediately facing each other at the common 57 fischer has proposed the possibility of multiple near simultaneous shots 58 fischer wrote that while a few militiamen thought the regulars were only firing powder but not ball when they realized the regulars were firing ball few if any of the militiamen managed to load weapons and return fire the others ran for their lives 59 historian mark urban wrote that british soldiers cheered and ran at the militiamen who lowered their weapons instead of moving in at an orderly walk to disarm them according to urban one or two villagers opened fire and then without orders from pitcairn one formed british company levelled its weapons and let fly a crashing volley 60 some british troops stated that the first shot was fired by an american onlooker from behind a hedge or around the corner of a tavern lieutenant john barker of the 4th regiment of foot claimed that when his regiment came upon his estimate of 200 to 300 militiamen rather than the 80 formed in the middle of town his regiment advanced without intending to attack the militia formation he wrote that the militia fired two shots at the regiment then the regiment rushed upon the militia fired and put them to flight 61 in a subsequent deposition taken later that year 34 militiamen testified that at about 5 00 a m on april 19 after hearing their drum beat they went to the parade ground and spotted large numbers of regulars marching toward them they claimed that some men of their militia company were still coming to the parade ground when the militia began to disperse and that the regulars fired on them while their backs were turned in their testimony the militiamen stated that a number of their company were instantly killed and wounded but that nobody in the militia company opened fire before they were fired on and that the regulars kept up their fire until all militiamen had fled the scene 51 british advance to concord after the shots were fired the regulars charged forward with bayonets eight lexington men were killed and ten were wounded the only british casualty was a soldier who was wounded in the thigh one wounded man prince estabrook was an enslaved black man serving in the militia 62 pitcairn s companies got beyond their officers control in part because they were unaware of the purpose of the day s mission they began firing in different directions and preparing to enter private homes colonel smith who was arriving with the remaining regulars heard musket fire and rode forward to see the action he found a drummer and ordered him to beat assembly the grenadiers arrived on the scene soon thereafter order was restored among the british soldiers and the column reformed and marched toward concord 63 concord the second of four engravings by amos doolittle from 1775 depicting the british entering concord upon receiving the alarm militiamen of concord and lincoln mustered in concord they were told about shots fired at lexington initially they were unsure whether to wait for reinforcements and to stay to defend the town or to move east and engage the british from superior terrain a column of militia did march toward lexington to meet the british traveling about 1 5 miles 2 km until they approached a column of regulars as the regulars numbered about 700 and the militia only numbered about 250 the militiamen turned around and marched back to concord about 500 yards 457 m ahead of the regulars 64 the militia proceeded to a ridge overlooking the town and their officers discussed their next move they decided to be cautious patriot colonel james barrett led the men from the center of town across the old north bridge to a hill about a mile north where they watched british movements and activities in the town center this step allowed the militia s ranks to grow as minuteman companies arrived from towns to the west before they engaged the british 65 search for militia supplies colonel smith divided troops arriving at concord to carry out gage s orders to search for supplies the 10th regiment s company of grenadiers under captain mundy pole secured the south bridge while about 100 men from seven companies of light infantry under captain parsons secured the north bridge the militiamen could see the british at north bridge across cleared fields captain parsons took four companies from the 5th 23rd 38th and 52nd regiments up the road 2 miles 3 2 km beyond the north bridge to search barrett s farm where intelligence indicated supplies could be found 66 two companies from the 4th and 10th regiments were stationed to guard their return route and one company from the 43rd remained to guard the bridge itself these companies under relatively inexperienced commander captain walter laurie were significantly outnumbered by the 400 plus militiamen the concerned captain laurie sent a messenger to smith requesting reinforcements 67 using detailed information from loyalist spies grenadier companies searched the small town for military supplies when they arrived at ephraim jones s tavern by the jail on the south bridge road they found the door barred shut and jones refused them entry according to loyalists reports pitcairn knew cannon had been buried on the jones property jones was ordered at gunpoint to show where the guns were buried these were three massive pieces that fired 24 pound shot the guns were much too heavy to use defensively but quite effective against fortifications 68 the grenadiers smashed the trunnions of these guns so they could not be mounted they also burned gun carriages found at the village meetinghouse when the fire spread to the meetinghouse itself local resident martha moulton persuaded the soldiers to help in a bucket brigade to save the building 69 the british threw most of the barrels of confiscated flour into a local millpond rather than smashing them they also threw 550 pounds of musket balls into the millpond only the damage done to the cannon was significant all of the shot and much of the flour was recovered the flour on the edges of the barrels had effectively caulked the barrels and preserved the remaining flour general gage had explicitly instructed colonel smith that you will take care that the soldiers do not plunder the inhabitants or hurt private property thus the regulars were generally scrupulous in their treatment of the civilians during the search including paying for food and drink the locals used this excessive politeness to advantage they were able to misdirect british searches from several smaller caches of militia supplies 70 barrett s farm had been an arsenal weeks before but few weapons remained on april 19 according to family legend these were quickly buried in furrows to look like a planted crop the british troops found no supplies of consequence there 71 north bridge the reconstructed north bridge in minute man national historical park concord colonel barrett s troops saw smoke rising from the village square as the british burned cannon carriages seeing only a few light infantry companies directly below barrett ordered his men to march toward town from their vantage point on punkatasset hill to a lower closer flat hilltop about 300 yards 274 m from the old north bridge as the militia advanced the two british companies from the 4th and 10th regiments which held the position near the road retreated to the bridge yielding the hill to barrett s men 72 five full companies of minutemen and five more of militiamen from acton concord bedford and lincoln occupied the hill at least 400 patriots confronted captain laurie s light infantry companies totaling 90 95 men barrett ordered his men to form one long line two abreast on the highway leading down to the bridge then while overlooking north bridge from the top of the hill barrett lt col john robinson of westford 73 and the other captains discussed advancing on the bridge barrett asked captain isaac davis who commanded a company of minutemen from acton if his company would be willing to lead the advance davis responded i m not afraid to go and i haven t a man that s afraid to go 74 75 the third of four engravings by amos doolittle from 1775 depicting the engagement at the north bridge barrett ordered the men to load their weapons but not to fire unless fired upon then he ordered them to advance laurie ordered the british companies guarding the bridge to retreat across it one officer then tried to pull up the loose planks of the bridge but militia major buttrick yelled at the regulars to stop the minutemen and militia advanced on the bridge in column formation two by two led by major buttrick and lt col robinson they kept to the road because it was surrounded by the spring floodwaters of the concord river 76 not having been reinforced laurie ordered the british to form positions for street firing in a column running perpendicular to the river behind the bridge this formation was useful for sending a large volume of fire into a narrow alley between buildings but not for firing on an open path from behind a bridge confusion reigned as regulars retreating over the bridge also tried to form up in the street firing position lieutenant sutherland who was in the rear of the formation saw laurie s mistake and ordered flankers to be sent out but as he was from a company different from the men under his command only three soldiers obeyed him the others tried their best to follow the orders of the superior officer 77 a 1909 artist s version of the fight at the north bridge a shot rang out according to captain laurie s later report the shot was likely a warning shot fired by a panicked exhausted british soldier from the 43rd two other regulars then fired shots that splashed into the river next the narrow group up front possibly thinking an order to fire had been given fired a ragged volley before laurie could stop the firing 78 two acton minutemen at the head of the line marching to the bridge were killed instantly four more were wounded major buttrick then yelled to the militia fire for god s sake fellow soldiers fire 79 at th...