Which engagement on April 19, 1775, began the American Revolutionary War's fighting?

The Battles of Lexington and Concord began the American Revolutionary War's fighting on April 19, 1775.

British soldiers marched from Boston toward Concord to seize military supplies gathered by Massachusetts Patriots. Local militia confronted the regulars at Lexington, where the first shots were exchanged. The British then continued to Concord before retreating toward Boston under repeated fire from colonial forces.

The engagements were the first major military actions between the British Army and Patriot militias from the thirteen colonies. They followed years of political conflict over taxation, representation, imperial authority, and military occupation in Boston.

The event is often remembered through the phrase “the shot heard round the world,” although the exact circumstances of the first shot remain disputed. Bunker Hill followed several months later, but Lexington and Concord are conventionally treated as the opening battles of the war that produced American independence.