The Battles of Lexington and Concord are widely regarded as the first military engagements of the American Revolution commemorated by America250.
On April 19, 1775, British troops marched from Boston toward Concord, Massachusetts, intending to seize military supplies. Colonial minutemen confronted them at Lexington, where the first shots of the day were fired. The British continued to Concord, but colonial forces resisted there and attacked the returning column along the road to Boston.
The fighting transformed a political crisis into an open war. News spread rapidly through the colonies, encouraging militia mobilization and helping produce the siege of Boston. The phrase “shot heard round the world,” associated with Ralph Waldo Emerson’s later poem, made the opening clash especially memorable.
Lexington and Concord are sometimes treated as one battle, but the name refers to connected engagements at several locations. The Battle of Bunker Hill followed in June 1775, after the conflict was already underway.