American War of Independence
 Source: National Park Service
Utilizing scattered tree lots, stone walls, piles of rail fence, and boulders, colonial Militia staged themselves around the Bay Road. In the distance the long column of weary and battered redcoats struggled toward Lexington; their ammunition nearly exhausted and ranks on the verge of collapse. As they climbed the winding road on Fiske Hill, Reading Minuteman Edmond Foster recalled; "The enemy were then rising and passing over Fiske's Hill. An officer, mounted on an elegant horse, and with a drawn sword in his hand, was riding backwards and forwards, commanding and urging on the British troops. A number of Americans behind a pile of rails raised their guns and fired with deadly effect. The officer fell, and the horse took fright, leaped the wall, and ran directly towards those who had killed his rider. The enemy discharged their musketry in that direction, but their fire took no effect." It is believed that sometime between Parker's Revenge, this encounter and meeting up with reinforcements, both senior commanders of the British expedition, Lt. Colonel Francis Smith and Major John Pitcairn, were wounded. Learn more about Fiske Hill (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov).
The exact origin of the word “Yankee” is obscure, but by the 1770s it referred to the English colonists, particularly New Englanders. A “doodle” was a silly person or country bumpkin. “Yankee Doodle” was a well-known song in the New England colonies before the battles of Lexington and Concord, but only after the skirmishes there was it appropriated by the American militia. Tradition holds that the colonials began to sing the tune as they forced the British back to Boston on April 19, 1775. Troops under the command of Brigadier General Hugh Percy played “Yankee Doodle” as they marched from Boston to reinforce British soldiers already fighting the Americans at Lexington and Concord. Whether sung or played on that occasion, the tune’s martial air was intended to deride the colonials.
There are numerous conflicting accounts of the origin of “Yankee Doodle.” Some credit its melody to an English air; others to Irish, Dutch, Hessian, Hungarian, and Pyrenean tunes; or to a New England jig. Its first American verses are attributed to British military surgeon Dr. Richard Schackburg. Tradition holds that Schackburg penned his lyrics in 1755 while attending a wounded prisoner of the French and Indian War at the home of the Van Rensselaer family. “Yankee Doodle’s” catchy tune has been adapted and expanded numerous times. It is documented that the Americans sang the following verse at Bunker Hill:
During the time that George Washington received his commission and took command of the nascent Continental Army on Cambridge Common, additional verses evolved and were incorporated. And there was Captain Washington,And gentlefolks about him,They say he’s grown so tarnal proud, By 1777, “Yankee Doodle” had become an unofficial American anthem. Following General John Burgoyne‘s surrender of British troops to the Continental Army on October 17, 1777, British officer Thomas Anburey wrote of the Yankees. “Yankee Doodle” is also said to have been played at Yorktown, along with “The World Turned Upside Down,” when Lord Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington at the end of the war. After the Revolutionary War, “Yankee Doodle” surfaced in stage plays, classical music, and opera. The writer, producer, and composer George M. Cohan adapted “Yankee Doodle” for his Broadway play Little Johnny Jones, the story of an American jockey who goes to England to win a derby. A portion of Cohan’s 1904 play was incorporated into the biographical 1942 film Yankee Doodle Dandy staring James Cagney as Cohan, and again into the 1955 movie The Seven Little Foys starring Bob Hope and Cagney. [Eddie Foy (1854-1928) was a vaudevillian who performed with his seven children.] “Yankee Doodle. “U.S. Navy Band, Great Lakes, IL (performer). Patriotic Melodies. Music Division
In this first battle of the American Revolution, Massachusetts colonists defied British authority, outnumbered and outfought the Redcoats, and embarked on a lengthy war to earn their independence. HOW IT ENDED American victory. The British marched into Lexington and Concord intending to suppress the possibility of rebellion by seizing weapons from the colonists. Instead, their actions sparked the first battle of the Revolutionary War. The colonists’ intricate alarm system summoned local militia companies, enabling them to successfully counter the British threat. IN CONTEXT Thomas Gage was appointed Royal Governor of Massachusetts in 1774 and tasked by the British Parliament with stamping out rising unrest caused by restrictive British policies. Gage inflamed tensions between the colonies and the mother country and practiced harsh enforcement of British law. He drafted the Coercive Acts, a series of laws intended to punish colonists for deeds of defiance against the King, such as the Boston Tea Party. By April 1775, Gage was facing the threat of outright rebellion. He hoped to prevent violence by ordering the seizure of weapons and powder being stored in Concord, Massachusetts, twenty miles northwest of Boston. But he underestimated the courage and determination of the colonists. Patriot spies got wind of Gage’s plan. On the evening of April 18, Paul Revere and other riders raised the alarm that British regulars were on their way to Concord. Minute Men and militias rushed to confront them early on April 19. Though it is uncertain who actually fired the first shot that day, it reverberated throughout history. Eight years of war followed, and those who stood their ground against Gage’s troops eventually earned independence from Britain and became citizens of the democratic United States of America.
British Lt. Col. Francis Smith assembles the 700 regulars under his command to capture and destroy military stores presumably hidden by the Massachusetts militia at Concord. When the King’s troops depart Boston for Concord on the evening of April 18, anti-British intelligence quickly informs patriot leader Dr. Joseph Warren about their intentions. Warren sends for riders Paul Revere and William Dawes to spread the alarm. Revere takes the short water route from Boston across the harbor to Charlestown, while Dawes rides out across Boston Neck. Revere and Dawes depart Boston around 10:00 p.m. At the same time, two lanterns briefly flicker from the Old North Church steeple, a prearranged signal designed by Revere to alert the patriot network that the British will row across Boston harbor instead of marching out over the Neck. On reaching the Charlestown shore, Revere mounts and begins his ride to Lexington. As he passes through the towns of Somerville, Medford, and Menotomy (now Arlington), other riders set out, guns fire, and church bells peal—all warning the countryside of the coming threat. Minute Men grab their weapons and head for town greens, followed by the rest of the militia. By the time the British cross the water, word of their imminent arrival has already reached Concord.
April 19. British troops march into the small town of Lexington at about 5:00 a.m. to find themselves faced by a militia company of more 70 men led by Capt. John Parker. When the vanguard of the British force rushes toward them across the town green, Parker immediately orders his company to disperse. At some point a shot rings out—historians still debate who fired it—and the nervous British soldiers fire a volley, killing seven and mortally wounding one of the retreating militiamen. The British column moves on toward Concord, leaving the dead, wounded, and dying in their wake. Arriving in Concord at approximately 8:00 a.m., British commanders Francis Smith and John Pitcairn order several companies, about 220 troops in all, to secure the North Bridge across the Concord River and then continue on another mile to the Barrett Farm, where a cache of arms and powder is presumably located. A growing assembly of close to 400 militia from Concord and the surrounding towns gather on the high ground, where they see smoke rising from Concord. Mistakenly assuming the Redcoats are torching the town, the militia companies advance. The Acton Company, commanded by 30-year-old Capt. Isaac Davis, is at the head of the column. When asked if his men are prepared to confront the British troops, Davis says, “I haven’t a man afraid to go.” As the Minute Men march down the hill, the British soldiers, intimidated by their numbers and orderly advance, retreat to the opposite shore and prepare to defend themselves. When Davis’s company comes within range, the Redcoats open fire, killing Davis and also Abner Hosmer, another Acton Minute Man. Major Buttrick of Concord shouts, “For God’s sake, fire!” and the Minute Men respond, killing three British soldiers and wounding nine others. This volley is considered “the shot heard round the world” and sends the British troops retreating back to town. Smith and Pitcairn order a return to Boston, which devolves into a rout as the British are attacked from all sides by swarms of angry Minute Men along what is now known as Battle Road. When they reach Lexington, Parker’s men take their revenge for the violence suffered that morning, firing on the British regulars from behind cover. For the next 12 miles, the British are continually ambushed by Minute Men shooting from behind trees, rock walls, and buildings. British reinforcements reach Smith and Pitcairn’s men on the eastern outskirts of Lexington, but the Minute Men pursue them as they retreat back to Boston.
The British conduct a running fight until they can reach the cover of British guns on ships anchored in the waterways surrounding Boston. The Patriots chase them but, having no clear orders, ultimately let them escape. In the wake of Lexington and Concord, Governor Gage finds Boston faced by a huge militia of men who have arrived from throughout New England to fight for liberty. Numbering 20,000, this resolute force will become part of the Continental Army.
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Massachusetts | April 19, 1775
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What happened in the city of Lexington on April 19 1775?
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