Academy1770 to 1775: From Boston to the Continental Army
Lexington, Concord, and the Siege
This lesson takes 13 minutes.
Objectives
- Date 19 April 1775, and the eight militia killed on Lexington Green
- State that who fired the first shot is unknown
- Use the National Park Service totals: 73 British killed and 49 provincials killed
- Date the start of the siege of Boston and the taking of Fort Ticonderoga on 10 May 1775
Lesson
Before dawn on 19 April 1775, British regulars reached Lexington Green. Militia were formed on the green. A shot was fired. Who fired it is unknown. The National Park Service says the shot came from an unknown source, in the confusion. Eight militia were killed on the green. The column went on to Concord, where militia at the North Bridge forced a detachment back. The regulars then retreated to Boston under fire for the rest of the day.
The National Park Service totals for the day are British casualties of 273, of whom 73 were killed, 174 wounded, and 26 missing, and colonial casualties of 95, of whom 49 were killed, 41 wounded, and 5 missing. Those are day totals, not the eight dead on the green alone. After 19 April the New England militia closed the land roads into Boston. That closing is the start of the siege of Boston. On 10 May 1775, the same morning the Second Continental Congress met, New England forces took Fort Ticonderoga, on Lake Champlain, and its cannon.