While in Mass. we stayed near the Boston suburbs of Lexington and Concord as those are the two sites where the start of the Revolutionary War happened. I know very little about it – mostly the “Ride of Paul Revere” with the “1 if by land, 2 if by sea” signal, and the “Shot Heard Round the World”.
Jeff knew a lot more and is a history buff. In 1775 the British had been imposing harsh laws and tariffs upon the colonists and the Boston Tea Party and the Boston Massacre had already taken place. But, the colonists had not yet made a military stand against the British.
The militia was made up of every able-bodied man from 16 to 60 years old who were to carry arms and ammunition and supplies with them everywhere they went, in order to be prepared at a moments notice in case of Indian attack or other military needs. They trained once every few months, although pretty much every man knew how to use a firearm at that time. The Minutemen were the elite of the militia, they knew more military codes and trained much more frequently.
Many colonists were fed up with British rule and were rebeling quietly. They had stolen some rifles, ammunition and a cannon from the British outpost in Boston and had hidden them in a house in Lexington. When the British heard about these thefts, they decided to march to Lexington and disarm the population there.
The colonists heard about this plan to disarm the population and decided it was time to act. There were two possible routes from the British outpost in Boston to Lexington, one was across the narrow land-bridge connecting the island of Boston to the mainland via a south route, and one was to cross the Charles River by boat via a north route. Hence, the ‘1 if by land (the south land route) or 2 if by sea (the north route across the river). A man was designated to put lanterns (1 or 2) in the tower of a church and then previously designated riders, one of whom was Paul Revere, would ride out and warn the colonists between Boston and Lexington that the British were coming and which way they would be coming.
Paul Revere was captured during his ride, but several other riders got through, and as people were warned they sent more riders out. There were about 700 British that marched to Lexington and when they reached the “North Bridge” that would take them into Lexington, they were met with armed resistance by the militia and Minutemen. For a time they just stared and shouted across the short bridge, and then someone (it was never determined what side) fired the first shot. Then, it was a battle and both sides took casualties.
The resistance was so fierce that the British decided to retreat back to Boston. But, as the countryside was warned and militia came pouring in from everywhere, the British retreat was harassed the whole way by almost 20,000 men who sniped at them from the trees as they marched. They took heavy losses, and the war had begun!
Here are pictures of the North Bridge and a map of the two possible routes “1 if by land and 2 if by sea”:
