19 April 1775
The Shot Heard Around the World
About 700 British Army regulars in Boston, under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, were given secret orders to capture and destroy Colonial military supplies reportedly stored by the Massachusetts militia at Concord. Through effective intelligence gathering, Patriot leaders had received word weeks before the expedition that their supplies might be at risk and had moved most of them to other locations. On the night before the battle, warning of the British expedition had been rapidly sent from Boston to militias in the area by several riders, including Paul Revere and Samuel Prescott, with information about British plans. The initial mode of the Army’s arrival by water was signaled from the Old North Church in Boston to Charlestown using lanterns to communicate “one if by land, two if by sea”.
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.[10] The British suffered only one casualty. The militia were 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 11:00 am, 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 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 Hugh Percy, a future duke of Northumberland styled at this time by the courtesy title 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. The accumulated militias then blockaded the narrow land accesses to Charlestown and Boston, starting the Siege of Boston.
Ralph Waldo Emerson describes the first shot fired by the Patriots at the North Bridge in his “Concord Hymn” as the “shot heard round the world”
Ref-Wiki
Better late than never. The rest, as is said, was history.
Category: America
Always good to remind people how this nation was founded, and how for the very first time in the history of modern man that a group of rich and powerful men actually risked everything up to and including their lives for an ideal that everyone rich and poor deserved to be treated the same under the law.
Never happened before, hasn’t happened since really.
There are those who will always find the flaws in those men and those times they lived in, they certainly were flawed men and the times had a fair bit of ugly reality to them as well. It simply proves the reality that none of us are ever actually perfect, but all of us are capable in any moment of not only doing the right thing but supporting an ideal that we ourselves are not capable of living up to at that moment.
As with all things we have evolved past some of that ugliness, we certainly try to treat more people equally under the law than was done previously. And we have our own ugliness to deal with in our own era, because we are indeed still far from perfect.
But the world knew then and to some degree still knows now that the ideal of this nation is something unique, and that something unique is worth risking a great deal to be part of in order to live your best life.
My country tis of thee, indeed.
of thee I sing…
Land where my fathers died…
“….Let Freedom Ring!”
(skipped the rest of it, went to the most important part!)
Them lobsterbacks found themselves in some hot water and had to claw their way back to safety. It’s odd how the Colony that fired the FIRST shots for liberty is now a freedom oppressing bastion that does not have the wealth of the common person as its primary purpose.
“…that such men lived.” Aim small, miss small.
Thanks for the post Bro!
Glad to, thanks. Got a gentle reminder from David on another post, but it was already the 20th so I waited until morning to post up.
Patriot’s Day was always on the 19th when I was a youth and made the hike from Acton to Concord (and got a certificate to prove it). Now, like so many of our holidays, it’s flexible in search of that 3 day weekend.
Men left their homes, businesses and families, to walk all night to meet the world’s preeminent fighting force on the field to be tested.
What Men were these? Giants? Champions? Demigods?
No, these farmers, coopers, blacksmiths and merchants were regular, God-fearing folks who wanted to live free and would pay any price to do so.
Every day is 19 April, or else.
How times change, and not for the better. We’ve gone from a group of men who pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to be free to people who cry and seek a safe space when they hear or see something that offends them.
Were it nor carved in stone, Millennials would imagine such fortitude “hurtful” to their little feelings:
one could imagine pelousy and her liberal peeps at the time trying to stop the Colonists from owning Assault muskets. That guy Paul was really Revered by his peeps after his famous ride.
Sorry to hijack the thread here but I’m sure everyone has heard of this by now.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/gunman-kills-16-people-in-canadas-deadliest-ever-mass-shooting
thebesig put this up as a stand alone post.
Both of my great-great-great-great-great grandfathers fought in the Continental Army. One was a German immigrant and the other from Ireland.
Family lore tells of the lure of a bounty-land warrant for 160 acres for military service. My German grand-pappy lived on his Pennsylvania farm until his death in 1840 at the age of 90. I’m hoping for similar longevity.
Of course, taxation may kill me off long before any coronavirus.
A couple of my great (6x) grandfathers were in the militia (patriot side). One of them served with their father, great (7x) grandfather. There could be more, but this is what I’ve found with my family tree search. Their ancestors came over starting from the beginning of the colonial period. Mostly from England.
The father son team descended from German colonials in Pennsylvania.
From April 1775 to July 1776, it was a fight for the colonials’ rights as Englishmen. Effective the signing of the Declaration of Independence, it was 13 newly declared nations operating under a joint congress/military command fighting for their independence. There was a 14th newly declared nation that also fought for its independence.
‘Merica, because the Brits tried gun control. Just sayin’.
Yes, but the Redcoats objective for “gun control” wasn’t to reduce “gun crime.” If they were like our dissembling D-rats of the present day, they would have claimed they were merely attempting to prevent robberies by highwaymen.
Of course, most of us here don’t think present day “gun safety” has anything to do with safety or preventing gun crime. It is pretty obvious why the progs took “control” out of what they call their morass of new gun laws.
Next, they declare they are here to “liberate” us, to implement a “more free” way.
Fix bayonets!
I’m waiting patiently for those magazine loading times. Won’t need a bayonet for quite a while.