and Concord. One of the minutemen, Paul Revere, a silversmith with a shop in Boston, was captured outside of Lexington and later released.
MORE DEATHS AT CONCORD
British Troops Withdraw in Face of Growing Militia
Concord, Massachusetts: Apr. 19, 1775. Hostilities between British occupational forces quartered in Boston and rebel militia on the Massachusetts mainland exploded early this morning when British troops slipped off the Boston peninsula under cover of darkness and marched 16 miles northeast to the town of Lexington where they attacked a small group of local militiamen, killing eight and wounding several others.
The British then marched six miles north and invaded the town of Concord where local militia had reportedly hidden a large cache of arms and gunpowder.
Militiamen from the towns of Acton, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Westfield and Littleton, led by a full band of fife and drummers, advanced on the British just outside of Concord. They halted out of British musket range, wheeled around and taunted the invaders back through Concord to the tune of “Yankee Doodle Dandy.”
The rebels crossed North Bridge and formed ranks on Punkatasset Hill, as British troops ransacked the nearly deserted town and searched surrounding areas for weapons.
The first skirmish took place when a group of militia advanced on six light infantry companies attempting to destroy the North Bridge. British infantry fired into the militiamen, killing two Acton men and badly wounding the Acton fifer. Militia returned fire, killing three British and wounding seven others, including four officers.
Three pieces of cannon, several gun carriages and 100 barrels of flour were hauled to the Concord green and put to flames by the grenadiers. Apparently, the fire spread to the Concord meeting house. Mrs. Martha Moulton, a 71-year-old widow, was seen pleading with British officers to save the structure which was close to her own small house. Major Pitcairn ordered a bucket brigade and the fire was extinguished. One thousand additional British troops were seen marching out of Boston to reinforce the grenadiers and light infantry who are now receiving heavy gunfire from rebel militia. Estimates of the number of rebels vary between several hundred and several thousand.
In related news, it was learned a flotilla of troopships, with 3,000 British regulars, embarked from England for the colonies earlier this month. The troops will reinforce the 4,000 troops in Boston, under Commanding General Thomas Gage. It is rumored that Major Generals William Howe, Henry Clinton and John Burgoyne are to accompany the British troops.
“The barbarous murders committed on our innocent brethren ... have made it absolutely necessary that we immediately raise an army to defend our wives and children from the butchering hands of an inhuman soldiery who, incensed at the obstacles they met with their bloody progress, and enraged at being repulsed from the field of slaughter will, without a doubt, take the first opportunity in their power to ravage this devoted country with fire and sword.”
Massachusetts Committee of Safety at Cambridge
To Surrounding Towns
April 28, 1775
BRITISH ON THE RUN!
Militia Give Chase, Surround Boston
Thus for a few trifling stores, the Grenadiers and light Infantry had a march of about 50 miles ... through an enemy’s country, and in all probability must every man have been cut off if the Brigade had not fortunately come to their assistance; for when the Brigade joined us there were very few men had any ammunition left, and so fatigued that we could not keep flanking parties out, so that we must soon have laid down our arms or been picked off by the rebels at their pleasure.
Lt. John Parker, British Officer
April 19, 1775
Boston, Massachusetts: Apr. 20, 1775. An estimated 4,000 armed but disorganized militia routed four British brigades returning to Boston after an abortive raid on a rebel armory near Concord yesterday morning. Early reports indicate the British suffered over 300 casualties as they retreated to their barricades in Charlestown, four miles northwest of the Boston peninsula.
Hampered by fatigue and 85-degree temperatures, the outnumbered British raiding party was an easy target for local militia who set up several ambushes along the 16-mile march. Rebel tactics of firing at the British rear and retreating into wooded areas before the brigades could return fire were branded as “cowardly behavior” by some British officers.
Other British officers who had fought with the rebels in the French and Indian wars are privately criticizing their superiors for underestimating the militia. Lord Percy, who commanded the infantry and grenadiers who rescued the retreating brigades, was quoted as saying, “Whoever looks upon (the rebels) as an irregular mob will be much mistaken. They have men amongst them who know very well what they are about.”
Many in the rebel camp voiced displeasure with their command, or lack of it. Of the estimated 75,000 rounds of ammunition fired at British troops, less than 300 hit their mark. Several militiamen contend that the British raiding party was out of ammunition when they retreated back from Concord and could have been destroyed. But no militia officer would give an order to advance on the town. Lord Percy’s brigades marching from Boston arrived in time to relieve their beleaguered comrades.
The rebels suffered less than 100 casualties. Local rebels have been joined by militia from all of Massachusetts and from towns in Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. Rebel troops, estimated at 9,000, have virtually cut off British occupational troops in Boston from the Massachusetts mainland.
A CONVERSATION WITH A REBEL LEADER
Samuel Adams
New Jersey: Apr. 1775. Samuel Adams, a short, stocky, plain dressed (when not in Congress, Mr. Adams wears homespun clothing) gentleman in his mid-fifties, who until a short time ago practiced law in Boston, is credited with organizing the “Sons of Liberty,” a loose-knit association of radicals claiming thousands of members throughout the colonies.
A Harvard graduate and Massachusetts delegate to the rebel Continental Congress, Mr. Adams is considered a fugitive by English Parliament. He recently evaded capture when British troops invaded Lexington where he and John Hancock, another fugitive, were in hiding.
In the course of our conversation, when a subject came up that particularly excited Mr. Adams, his head would move back and forth and his hands seemingly trembled out of control. His general countenance and the calming tone of his voice, however, allayed any suspicion that Mr. Adams was not entirely in control of his faculties.
Mr. Adams, we’ve learned that General Gage is considering a pardon to all Americans taking part in the recent events at Lexington
