Lexington was the Massachusetts town where the first battle of the American Revolutionary War began.
On April 19, 1775, British regulars marched from Boston toward Concord to seize colonial military supplies. At dawn, they encountered local militia on Lexington Common. Shots were fired, eight colonists were killed, and the British column continued toward Concord.
Fighting at Concord’s North Bridge and along the road back to Boston followed. Colonial militia from surrounding communities harassed the British troops throughout the retreat. The combined engagements are called the Battles of Lexington and Concord, so Concord is also central to the day’s history, but Lexington is the answer when the question asks for the first battle site.
The battles transformed political resistance into open warfare. The Second Continental Congress met soon afterward and created the Continental Army, with George Washington appointed commander in chief. The events are also remembered through the phrase “the shot heard round the world,” although that wording came from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s later poem “Concord Hymn.”