The Battles of Lexington and Concord were fought on April 19, 1775, beginning the major military conflict of the American Revolutionary War. British troops marched from Boston to Concord to seize colonial military supplies.
At dawn, British regulars encountered Massachusetts militia on Lexington Common. After the opening clash, the soldiers continued to Concord, where militiamen confronted them at the Old North Bridge.
The British column then retreated toward Boston while local militia fired from the surrounding countryside. The day’s fighting caused casualties on both sides and led to the siege of Boston.
The event is often described as the war’s first battle, although tensions and armed resistance had already been escalating. Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott helped spread warnings about the British expedition, while the famous “shot heard round the world” became a later symbol of the conflict.