A single blow: the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the beginning of the American Revolution

“I have now nothing to trouble your Lordship with, but an affair that happened on the 19th instant . . .”

General Thomas Gage penned the above line to his superiors in London, casually summing up the shots fired at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775.

The history of the Battles of Lexington and Concord were the culmination of years of unrest between those loyal to the British monarchy and those advocating for more autonomy and dreaming of independence from Great Britain in the future. On the morning of April 19th, Gage sent out a force of British soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith to confiscate, recapture, and destroy the military supplies gathered by the colonists and believed to be stored in the town of Concord.

Due to the alacrity of men such as Dr. James Warren, Paul Revere, and William Dawes, utilizing a network of signals and outriders, the countryside was well-aware of the approaching British, setting the stage for the day’s events.

When the column reached the green of Lexington, Massachusetts, militiamen awaited their approach. The first shots of April 19th would be fired there. The rest of the day unfolded accordingly.

Historians Phillip S. Greenwalt and Robert Orrison unfold the facts of April 19, 1775, uncovering the amazing history that this pivotal spring day ushered in for the fate of Massachusetts and thirteen of Great Britain’s North American colonies with A Single Blow.