Which April 1775 battles are recognized as the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War, remembered in America250 history?

The Battles of Lexington and Concord are recognized as the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. They took place in Massachusetts on April 19, 1775, after British troops left Boston to seize colonial military supplies in Concord.

Patriot riders, including Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott, warned local militias that British forces were approaching. At Lexington, British regulars encountered colonial militiamen on the town common. The British then continued toward Concord, where local forces confronted them at the North Bridge.

The British column eventually withdrew toward Boston under sustained fire from colonial militiamen gathered along the road. The day’s fighting helped turn political resistance into open war and began the Boston campaign of the Revolution.

The name refers to two connected engagements rather than one single battle. The identity of the person who fired the first shot at Lexington remains unknown, although the clash became associated with the phrase “the shot heard ’round the world.”