Which battle is considered the first military engagement of the Revolution?

The Battles of Lexington and Concord are considered the first military engagement of the American Revolution.

Fighting began on April 19, 1775, when British troops marched from Boston toward Concord, Massachusetts, to seize colonial military supplies and possibly arrest Patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Colonial riders, including Paul Revere, warned local militias, allowing them to assemble before the British reached Concord.

At Lexington Common, British troops and about 80 local militiamen confronted one another. A brief exchange of fire killed or wounded Americans, although historians still debate who fired first. At Concord’s Old North Bridge, colonial militia later forced British troops to withdraw. Militiamen attacked the column repeatedly during its return to Boston, turning the expedition into a costly retreat.

The battles launched the siege of Boston and transformed political resistance into open war. The phrase “first battle” can be slightly misleading because Lexington was a brief skirmish and the day involved several engagements along the road. Together, however, Lexington and Concord are conventionally treated as the war’s opening military action.