| The first shots were fired at Lexington, Massachusetts, starting the Revolution. On the evening of April 18th, the British troops were ferried across the Boston Harbor to start their march on Lexington. Paul Revere hung two laterns in the church steeple. Then Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Dr. Samuel Prescott rode to warn the colonists that the British were coming. The colonists had been expecting a fight with the British. They had organized a group of militia, called the Minutemen. When the British soldiers reached Lexington, Captain Jonas Parker and 75 armed Minutemen were there to greet them. The British soldiers fired, killing 8 Minutemen and injuring 10 others. Although Paul Revere was captured by British scouts before reaching Concord, other messangers managed to get through and warn the people. When the soldiers arrived at Concord, they were only able to destroy part of the supplies. The men and women of Concord had moved the ammunition to new hiding places in surrounding towns. As the British soldiers headed back to Boston, they were attacked by the Minutemen. By the time the soliders reached Boston, 73 British soldiers were dead and 174 more were wounded. In the days fighting, 49 Patriots were killed, and 39 more were wounded. |
