This being April 19th, it is a good day to remember the anniversary of these battles.

Here's a website with a good description of the events:

http://theamericanrevolution.org/battledetail.aspx?battle=1

A video presentation:

http://www.earlyamerica.com/shot_heard.htm

Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, of the British Army, was ordered to take 700 men and proceed to Concord to seize weapons.  The American militia were alerted and met the regulars at Lexington, where the Americans were driven from the field; outside Concord, where the British finished their mission of destroying military supplies; and in a rolling ambush of the British column all the way back to Boston.

Battle map:




On the green at Lexington:




Captain Parker's orders at Lexington:




British forces repulsed at Concord's Old North Bridge:




British retreat to Boston marching on the road under fire:




Memorial to British dead:




The beginning of a long struggle for independence:

Hail to the brave men that stood and fought for what would become this nation. Th

May their names be spoken, and their stories not forgotten.

RIP, My Brothers and Sisters.

May we forever remember what you sacrificed for freedom, and may we not be found wanting in keeping it.

In all my travels I've never seen those battlefields where the Patriots rose against King George III and changed it from a war waged by words on paper to a shooting match.

I took my wife to the bridge a few years ago.  I didn't tell her we were going there or once we got there what is all was about.  (We happened to be in the area visiting my parents)   She knew we were in Concord and we were standing on the damned thing and she had no idea what it was.  So much for the American public school system.