On this day 250 years ago at Lexington and Concord, and at Menotomy (now Arlington), Cambridge, Charlestown and every mile between, the first battle of the Revolutionary War was fought. The battle started before daybreak on the Lexington Commons where the badly outnumbered Lexington Militia, only 60 or 70 men, were defeated by the vanguard of the British Army, about 250 men. And the day ended with the British forces numbering 1500 men, defeated and driven from the field at Concord, Lexington, Menotomy and Cambridge by about 4000 Massachusetts Militia from more than 30 different towns. Fifty Massachusetts men lost their lives, killed or mortally wounded. And another 39 were wounded and 5 captured for a total of 94 American casualties (or maybe only 93, since many historians calculate only 49 deaths). In contrast the official British reports counted 300 casualties — 73 killed, 174 wounded, and 53 captured — although unofficial British reports indicated that British casualties may have totaled as many as 500.

Sources: Fischer, Paul Revere’s Ride; https://www.battlefields.org/learn/revolutionary-war/battles/lexington-and-concord

On this day in 2025, reenactments of this battle are occurring where they happened 250 years ago.

Sources: https://www.facebook.com/emergingrevwar

https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/concord-massachusetts-parade-250-watch-live/

https://www.masslive.com/galleries/XMUGB6WFDNENXF5MP32325HRKA/

https://www.lexingtonhistory.org/patriotsday#calendar-9fab3d23-df6c-4221-a44b-2a5da60b11da-event-m6i5nj93

There were many events before Lexington and Concord that lay claim to being the first battle of the Revolutionary War — the Battle of Golden Hill in New York and the Boston Massacre in 1770, the Battle of Alamance in North Carolina in 1771, the burning of the Gaspee in Rhode Island in 1772, as well as incidents that I have covered in this blog such as the Boston Tea Party in 1773, the Powder Alarm in Massachusetts in September 1774, the Battle of Point Pleasant in West Virginia in October 1774, the capture of Fort William and Mary in New Hampshire in December 1774, the Salem, Massachusetts Raid in February 1775, and the Westminster assault in Vermont in March 1775. But there are good reasons to argue that none of these incidents qualifies as the first battle of the Revolution. Although Alamance and Point Pleasant were unquestionably battles, in both cases the militia who would later become Patriots fought under the command of royal governors. The Boston Tea Party, Powder Alarm and Salem Raid did not involve physical violence and cannot be considered battles. There was certainly violence at Golden Hill, the Boston Massacre, the Burning of the Gaspee, and the Westminster assault and even some minor wounds among the defenders of the largely non-violent capture of Fort William and Mary, but none of these incidents involved opposing armed forces shooting at each other. The first time organized Americans forces were commanded by their officers to fire on British troops was on this day 250 years ago.

It is not clear who fired the first shot at Lexington 250 years ago, but what is clear is that the Patriot militia officers ordered their men not to fire on British troops at Lexington and Concord, and in all the prior incidents, unless the British fired first. Captain John Parker and his men stood their ground at Lexington until the British troops advanced, but Parker ordered his men to disperse before the British began firing. And at Concord, Colonel James Barrett and Lt. Col. John Robinson had ordered their men to advance across the North Bridge without firing, and only after the British guarding the bridge were ordered to fire a volley that killed two and wounded four of the militia, did Major John Buttrick order his men to fire. Two hundred and fifty years ago the Patriots were prepared to fight if the British wanted one, but the Patriots were determined not to start the War.

Immediately after the battle the Patriots recorded the names of all their men killed and wounded and ensured they are remembered and honored still today. Their are numerous stories of individual heroes from this day that I don’t need to repeat here but do want to recommend. Please read about Robert Munroe, Jonathan Harrington and the six other men killed at Lexington, Isaac Davis, Abner Hosmer, Jonathan Willson, James Hayward, Isaac Gardner, Jason Russell, and the many other Massachusetts Patriots who gave their lives for American Liberty that day. And also read about Samuel Whittemore, who at 78 years of age was the oldest man to fight in the Revolutionary War, but somehow survived being shot and stabbed multiple times with bayonets, and Prince Estabrook, an enslaved Black Patriot who was also wounded that day.

Sources: Fischer, Paul Revere’s Ride; https://hamilton.gilderlehrman.org/supporting-document/bloody-butchery-british-troops-1775; https://www.masshist.org/database/viewer.php?item_id=523&mode=large&img_step=1&&pid=36; https://lex250.org/the-minutemen-of-lexington/; https://boston1775.blogspot.com/2014/04/where-did-jonathan-harrington-jr-die.html; https://lex250.org/minutemen-of-lexngton-caleb-harrington; /https://www.nps.gov/people/captain-isaac-davis.htm; https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/three-men-acton; https://bedfordminutemen.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Capt-Willson-12192021.pdf; https://www.historynet.com/battle-of-menotomy-first-blood-1775/; https://emergingrevolutionarywar.org/2017/05/19/ankle-deep-in-blood-the-jason-russell-house/; https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/samuel-whittemore-the-oldest-bravest-and-maybe-craziest-american-revolutionary/; https://allthingsliberty.com/2017/06/bayonetting-untold-story-capt-samuel-whittemore/; https://www.nps.gov/people/prince-estabrook-of-lexington.htm

There are two vignettes from this day made an impression on me in reading the histories and I have chosen to feature them in this blog.

The bloodiest fighting of the day occurred at the Jacob Russell House in Arlington (then known as Menotomy). The Town of Danvers lost more men that day than any other town except Lexington, and all of them at this location. The Danvers Militia marched the 16 miles to Menotomy in time to intercept the British retreat after it had been reinforced by several hundred fresh troops under GeLord Percy. Some of the Danvers militia were firing at the retreating British column from behind a barricade in Russell’s yard when they were attacked from the rear by a British flanking company. They retreated into the house and there some were shot or bayoneted by the British after they surrendered. Seven Danvers men were killed in the Jacob Russell House: Samuel Cook, Henry Jacobs, Ebenezer Goldthwaite, George Southwick, Benjamin Deland, Perley Putnam and Jotham Webb. Samuel Cook was 35 but the rest of these young men were in their early 20s. Jotham Webb had been married only a few weeks earlier and he reported for duty dressed in his wedding clothes, proclaiming, “If I die, I will die in my best clothes.” The Town of Danvers erected a memorial to these fallen Patriots and there are memorials on five of their graves. But the gravesites of Jotham Webb and Perley Putnam are not known. All of these men from Danvers should be remembered and honored for their sacrifice this day 250 years ago.

https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/herald-citizen/2008/04/18/a-morning-in-danvers-april/39655660007/; https://constantgenealogist.blogspot.com/2014/10/seven-men-of-danvers.html

Early in the morning on this day250 years ago, the Menotomy Militia mustered and marched west to confront the British on the retreat from Concord, leaving behind the “alarm list” of militia who were exempt from active service because of age or infirmities. The alarm list were only called up in the event of an emergency. One of the exempt men left behind was a “mulatto” man named David Lamson of mixed Native American and African ancestry because the militia excluded men of his race even though Lamson had experience fighting in the French and Indian War. The 12 men of the Menotomy alarm list elected Lamson as their leader because of his experience.

That afternoon they learned that two slow moving British supply wagons guarded by 18 soldiers were rolling towards Menotomy following the British reinforcements who had marched through town earlier. Lamson led his squad in an ambush of one of the British wagons. A company from Chelsea, led by the Rev. Phillips Payson, attacked another wagon. They killed two of the redcoats, wounded and captured others, and also captured the wagons. Some of the British soldiers dropped their weapons and fled, reportedly surrendering to “an old woman” named Ruth Batherick who they found “digging dandelions.” The story may be apocryphal but Batherick supposedly turned them over to the militia telling the British soldiers “If you ever live to get back, you tell King George that an old woman took six of his grenadiers prisoner.”

In addition to David Lamson, historians have identified 19 other men of African descent and one Native American in the militia companies that fought on this day 250 years ago.

https://www.americanhistorycentral.com/entries/lexington-and-concord-patriots-of-color/; https://www.americanhistorycentral.com/entries/lexington-and-concord-arlington-militia/; https://boston1775.blogspot.com/2020/03/david-lamson-middle-aged-man-of-menotomy.html; https://monuments.freedomsway.org/monuments/old-men-of-menotomy-marker/; https://boston1775.blogspot.com/search/label/Ruth%20Batherick

Although the first battle of the Revolutionary War occurred 250 years ago today, the Revolution did not begin 250 years ago. John Adams famously asked and answered many years later

But what do We mean by the American Revolution? Do We mean the American War? The Revolution was effected before the War commenced. The Revolution was in the Minds and Hearts of the People.

Source: “From John Adams to Hezekiah Niles, 13 February 1818,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/99-02-02-6854

It is impossible to pin down when the Revolution occurred in the Hearts and Minds of the American people, but you can show when Americans began governing themselves. As I have tried to show in this blog, the American people in Massachusetts had already isolated the Governor in Boston and had taken control of all but one other town in the province from royal officials. Similarly, in New Hampshire, the governor was confined to his mansion in Portsmouth and to a fort in the harbor. In Connecticut, the elected governor and legislature were fully aligned with the Patriots. Similarly in Rhode Island the elected governor tried to be neutral between the Patriots and Loyalists effectively ceding control of the colony to the Patriots in the legislature. In Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, the royal governors had lost almost complete control of their colonies to the provincial congresses and conventions and local committees created by the Patriots. Only in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Georgia did the royal governments still exercise some control but in every colony were challenged at every step by the Patriots. The fighting began on this day in April 1775 but the Revolution began in 1774.