Shot Heard Round the World Redux

| February 18, 2025

be-the-revolution

We all should know what the  “Shot Heard Round the World refers to, right? April 19, 1775, just a bit under 250 years ago, colonists unhappy with the redcoats engaged in some lead-slinging that, while not a clear-cut victory for the colonists, started in motion a revolution that, for better or worse, put them on a course to separate from Great Britain and become the United States of America.

The first shots were fired just as the sun was rising at Lexington. Eight militiamen were killed, including Ensign Robert Munroe, their third in command. The British suffered only one casualty. The militia was outnumbered and fell back, and the regulars proceeded on to Concord, where they broke apart into companies to search for the supplies. At the North Bridge in Concord, approximately 400 militiamen engaged 100 regulars from three companies of the King’s troops at about 11:00am, resulting in casualties on both sides. The outnumbered regulars fell back from the bridge and rejoined the main body of British forces in Concord.

The British forces began their return march to Boston after completing their search for military supplies, and more militiamen continued to arrive from the neighboring towns. Gunfire erupted again between the two sides and continued throughout the day as the regulars marched back towards Boston. Upon returning to Lexington, Lt. Col. Smith’s expedition was rescued by reinforcements under Brigadier General Earl Percy. The combined force of about 1,700 men marched back to Boston under heavy fire in a tactical withdrawal and eventually reached the safety of Charlestown.  Wiki

History as poetry. Paul Revere, redcoats, irregular militias…all the good stuff.

Well, here’s a challenge:

According to a Feb. 10 article by Cowboy State Daily, at 8:30 a.m. April 19, members of the California Rifle and Pistol Association (CRPA) plan to shoot their guns to commemorate those battles’ opening shot.

Damnit! GREAT idea. And someone in California thought if it first?

Kevin Cox of Utah has organized an event for April 19, when gun owners in all 50 states will fire their guns at the same time on the 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War.

“If California can do this, of all the states in the union, then the rest of us should get busy and see what we can organize,” Cox told Cowboy State Daily.

If the idea of firing shots at gun ranges across the country that day catches on, dealing with multiple time zones could make things complicated, Cox said in the article.

So rather than trying to pull off a simultaneous volley from coast to coast, it might work better to have the event roll through the different time zones, he said. Volleys could be fired at 8:30 a.m. in each time zone.  Buckeye Firearms

I’m liking it. I freely admit I will cheat, as I have a backstop and range in the back yard, so dragging out a muzzle-loader (hey, for this you almost HAVE to fire a muzzle loader, right?) and letting loose a big sulfurous cloud from the Holy Black is easy for me. It’s a Saturday, so no doubt your local ranges may need to be persuaded to open a bit early. But you have two months to talk to folks, hype it up a bit, maybe put it on social media, get the kids and grandkids excited about it – this could genuinely be something cool and unique.

 

Category: We Remember

27 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
2banana

The American Revolution started by the government trying to seize firearms and ammo.

Amateur Historian

Yep, it was the spark that set the powder keg off. During our insufferable time under Brandon, I wondered if we were sitting on a similar powder keg that was waiting for the right spark.

Last edited 1 month ago by Amateur Historian
SFC D

I’m a daily reader of Cowboy State Daily. The rest of the nation could learn a great deal from Wyoming. Teton County has been lost to the liberals, but the rest of the state fights on!

Fyrfighter

Sounds like a darn good idea! I’ll be cheating like you David. I’ll hoist the flag and fire off the front porch!

26Limabeans

No muzzle loading here but the .444 Marlin makes a pretty
big bang. Oh, what the hell, might as well empty the AR too.

RGR 4-78

I might just do a mag dump from my VR 60.

KoB

Just to be historically correct, and to pay Honors to the Ancestry of Clan McC of Rev War Fame, I wilst don yon tri-corner hat and touch off some rounds thru my .36 calibre Flintlock.

26Limabeans

History aside, I’ll bet you drag that howitzer out of the shed.
You know you want to.

KoB

I admit nothing…call my lawer. Pay no attention to that Earth Shattering…KA-BOOOOM!.

Fyrfighter

Once upon a time I had a tri-corner hat, from visiting the liberty bell, but sadly, it was one of the items downsized on one of my parents moves..

Retired Grunt

I have muzzleloaders, I would be more than willing to fire a few rounds at exactly 0830 Central from the woods of Minnesota in celebration. I went to one of the capital protests yesterday. I’m really surprised that about 850 or so came out in -15 temps for a gathering that truly had no unifying message. They just chanted a bunch of slogans. It was weird for me.

SFC D

It’s gonna sound like a Muslim wedding reception for a few hours.

Fyrfighter

Other than the lack of goats, and people yelling “Aloha Snackbar”…

SFC D

Goats? You mean the bride?

Fyrfighter

And the bridesmaids..

Sam
Sam

This is a test post: VIMEO video from the Cowboy State Daily:

https://player

Prior Service (Ret)

Sounds cool, but I’m a little bit embarrassed for the guy who thinks “time zones” are an insurmountable barrier to firing a simultaneous volley. Dude, it’s April 2025, not 1775. (Truthfully a rolling volley is probably better, but not because time-zoning is too hard.)

Prior Service (Ret)

I suspect getting ranges to open up early for a “shot heard ‘round the world” wouldn’t be a hard sell if the organizers wanted it to be a simultaneous volley. (And as a former tanker, I’m all about massed volleys!) On the other hand, maybe that’s my 35 army years assuming civilians are malleable….

26Limabeans

The whole world needs to be on Zulu time.
And no more “daylight savings” bullshit.

SFC D

Rioters, traitors, bootleggers, tax evaders, gun runners, counterfeiters, and spies. Don’t forget rustlers, cutthroats, murders, bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, con men, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers, buggerers, bushwackers, hornswagglers, horse thieves, bull dykes, train robbers, bank robbers, ass kickers, shit kickers, and… METHODISTS!

Odie

I didn’t get a harrump from him…..

Reddawg_03

harrump harrump

11B-Mailclerk

(Whistling “the world turned upside down”)

Roh-Dog

Nice image.

I will fly the banner of treason against an authoritarian gov’mint and drink whiskey, all this year and next.

America, dare…

Slow Joe

Can we all agree to shoot the biggest gun we have?
Humm. Should I use my delicious 12 gauge semiautomatic magazine fed tactical shotgun or one of the long range toys?
Decisions, decisions.