Which April 1775 clashes are traditionally regarded as the opening battles of the American Revolutionary War?

The Battles of Lexington and Concord are traditionally regarded as the opening battles of the American Revolutionary War.

The fighting took place in Massachusetts on April 19, 1775. British regulars marched from Boston toward Concord to seize colonial military supplies, while colonial militia mobilized to oppose them. The first armed encounter occurred at Lexington.

After the confrontation there, the British column continued toward Concord. Militia resistance intensified at the North Bridge, and the British troops faced attacks during their retreat to Boston. The clashes transformed a political crisis into open warfare.

The battles preceded the Declaration of Independence by more than a year. They are sometimes described as the “shot heard round the world,” a phrase from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s later poem, though the exact origin of the first shot remains disputed.