“Patriots' Day”

Battles of Lexington and Concord (“Patriots' Day”)

The American Revolution began on April 19, 1775, with the battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. The anniversary of the “shot heard round the world” was historically observed as Patriots' Day, although this observance declined significantly in the late 20th century. The state holiday was established in 1894 to settle rival celebrations in Lexington and Concord. The holiday was observed on the anniversary date until 1969, when it was moved to the third Monday of the month. It is also observed in five other states. Florida and Wisconsin continue to celebrate on April 19, while Connecticut, Maine, and North Dakota observe the holiday on the third Monday.

Massachusetts was tense in the spring of 1775. Since the previous year the province had languished under the so-called Intolerable Acts, which were imposed by the British Parliament in retribution for the Boston Tea Party of December 16, 1773. England ordered the port of Boston closed until the colonists paid for the shipment of tea, which had been destroyed to protest taxation by Parliament. The governor's powers were increased to the detriment of local autonomy, and royal officials were put beyond the jurisdiction of provincial courts in capital cases.

The royal government's actions provoked a hostile response in the Massachusetts Colony. In October 1774, Massachusetts set up a provincial congress, an extralegal legislative body with revolutionary tendencies. Committees of Correspondence communicated the incendiary message of Massachusetts' experience to the other American colonies. Militia units drilled with special intensity, and the colonials seized British military stores in Boston and Charlestown and accumulated their own supplies in Concord and Worcester.

General Thomas Gage, the British commander in chief in America, who had taken over the governorship of the unruly province in 1774, received authorization on April 14, 1775, to take decisive action to regain control of events. Determined to seize the colonists' supplies in Concord, he kept the mission a secret, waiting until the last minute to inform Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, the commander of the expedition, of his objective. Despite all of Gage's precautions, the watchful and suspicious Americans became aware of the plans. Brigadier General Hugh Percy learned that the colonists were expecting trouble and told the governor, but Gage thought it too late to turn back.

At about 10 P.M. on April 18, the colonial leader Joseph Warren dispatched William Dawes to warn their comrades at Concord. As Dawes was going by way of Boston Neck, Warren shortly afterwards sent Paul Revere by another route across Charlestown Neck. The two riders reached Lexington and then set out for Concord. Between 1 and 2 A.M. they ran into a British patrol assigned by Gage to intercept messengers. Dawes escaped, but the soldiers seized Revere, whom they released shortly thereafter. The poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow made Revere and his ride known to the world; Dawes is remembered only by historians.

Lieutenant Colonel Smith and his second-in-command, Marine Major John Pitcairn, had an elite British force of approximately 700 men, making up eight infantry and eight grenadier companies, at their disposal for the mission. At dusk on April 18 they assembled their men on Boston Common, and in the darkness they made their way to a spot near what is now Park Square, where the men boarded boats. The oars were muffled as they silently rowed to Phips Farm, now East Cambridge. Wet and uncomfortable, the redcoats landed before midnight and spent two hours awaiting extra provisions. The column then began its march, crossing a waist-deep ford to avoid using a noisy wooden bridge.

Pitcairn led the advance guard of six light companies. His men encountered the patrol that had captured Revere. These men passed on the false report, which Revere had invented for their benefit, that 500 militiamen were waiting at Lexington. Pitcairn proceeded slowly, allowing Smith's men to catch up in case he needed reinforcements, and reached Lexington at about 5 A.M.

At sunrise on April 19, Captain John Parker and a small force of about 70 armed men were assembled on Lexington green, while other minutemen were retrieving gunpowder from the meetinghouse where they had hidden it. Pitcairn formed his numerically superior force in a battle line and ordered the colonists to lay down their arms. Tradition relates that Captain Parker had instructed his men: “Don't fire unless fired upon! But if they want a war, let it begin here.” Actually, the captain was more prudent. Recognizing that resistance would be futile, Parker ordered his men to disperse. Suddenly, however, gunfire crackled and a quick fight ensued, leaving eight Americans dead and ten wounded; only one British soldier was injured.

Who really fired “the shot heard round the world”? Nineteenth-century American historians, such as George Bancroft, blamed the British; John Fiske went so far as to claim that Major Pitcairn personally fired the first shot. Twentieth-century scholars are less certain, because it seems that the militiamen on the green did not fire and that Pitcairn did not give the order to shoot. Most likely the culprit was an American spectator or an impetuous or nervous British soldier.

Smith and Pitcairn proceeded from Lexington to Concord, six miles away. The British searched the town and Barrett's Farm for provisions, but they found little, since the colonials had removed most of the supplies. The delay, however, permitted about 400 militiamen under Major John Buttrick to close in on the British companies stationed at Concord's North Bridge. A battle between the Americans and British ensued. Each side suffered several casualties as the colonists drove the British regulars back in disorder.

Smith regrouped his men and left Concord about noon. The retreat was bloody as Americans hidden behind fences, bushes, and buildings sniped at and ambushed the British column. The unorthodox tactics exacted a high number of British casualties. Some 1,400 reinforcements under General Percy joined the disheartened column at Lexington, and both contingents set out for Boston. The return was just as bloody as the colonials continued their sniping, and the British, in retaliation, looted and burned houses along the road and killed all of the male inhabitants. By dusk the British had reached Charlestown Neck and the protection of their naval guns. Overall, nineteen officers and 250 enlisted men had been killed or wounded that day.

The battle aroused the people of the colonies. Those in New England resolved to confine the British army to Boston. New Hampshire voted to raise 2,000 men; Connecticut, 6,000; Rhode Island, 1,500; and Massachusetts, 13,600. The city was soon encircled by colonial troops. The news spread from colony to colony. Arms and ammunition were seized, provincial congresses were formed, and before the end of the summer the power of the royal governors had been completely destroyed.

"Patriots' Day." National Park Service, 24 Apr. 2024, www.nps.gov/mima/planyourvisit/patriots-day.htm. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.

Powel, James. "Patriots' Day 2024: The Revolutionary War Holiday Is About More than the Boston Marathon." USA Today, 14 Apr. 2024, www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/04/14/patriots-day-2024/73265024007/. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.