A Single Blow

The Battles of Lexington and Concord and the Beginning of the American Revolution April 19, 1775

Phillip S. Greenwalt, Robert Orrison

• Publisher: Savas Beatie
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781611213799
• eBook ISBN: 9781611213805
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Early American History
• Index: History

A concise history of the "shot heard round the world"—and the dramatic day that began America's war for independence. Includes maps and photos.
 
When shots were fired at Lexington and Concord on a spring day in 1775, few, if any, fully grasped the impact they would ultimately have on the world.
 
This concise book offers not only a guide to the historical sites involved but a lively, readable history of the events, a culmination of years of unrest between those loyal to the British monarchy and those advocating for more autonomy and dreaming of independence from Great Britain. On the morning of April 19, Gen. Thomas Gage sent out a force of British soldiers under the command of Lt. Col. Francis Smith to confiscate, recapture, and destroy the military supplies gathered by the colonists and believed to be stored in the town of Concord. Due to the alacrity of men such as Dr. Joseph Warren, Paul Revere, and William Dawes, utilizing a network of signals and outriders, the countryside was well aware of the approaching British—setting the stage for the day's events.
 
From two historians, this is an outstanding introduction to a momentous battle, and the events that led up to it.

“No People are More Determined for a Civil War”

CHAPTER ONE

General Thomas Gage was familiar with the colonials. An aristocrat by birth, Gage served in the French and Indian War and commanded all British forces in America since 1763. While serving in this post in New York City, Gage met his wife Margaret Kemble of New Jersey. Of all the British military leaders, Gage was the most experienced in working with the colonies. He was in England when news of the Boston Tea Party reached London, and he was called to London to discuss the situation and gave his advice to the King and the Prime Minister, Lord North.

The reaction in London was strong and swift. Too many times the colonies pushed back on British authority. Now they destroyed private property and committed an overt illegal act. Parliament passed a series of laws called the Coercive Acts. The intent was to punish Massachusetts and set a precedent of the authority of Parliament. When pressed on what these laws would incite in the colonies, Lord North said: “Whatever may be the consequences, we must risk something; if we do not, all is over.”

The Coercive Acts included first, the closing of the Port of Boston until the damaged tea was paid for and the King believed that order was restored in the colony. This punished everyone in Boston, not just those responsible for the destruction of the tea. It had a direct economic impact on Boston as the city made its living off of its docks and associated trades. The second act canceled the Massachusetts Bay colonial charter and replaced it with a stricter British government role. The upper house of the state legislature would now be appointed, where before it was an elected body. This act also limited the popular town meetings in Massachusetts to one meeting a year per town. The third part of the Coercive Acts called for any trials against royal officials to be held in Great Britain, not Massachusetts. Colonists believed this would shelter royal officials from proper justice. Royal authorities believed that trials like the one after the Boston Massacre were skewed heavily against them (even though those soldiers were successfully defended). Finally, the last act dealt with all the American colonies. It gave royal officials in the colonies authority to quarter British troops in buildings if the colonial government did not provide suitable housing. Typically, this meant large civic buildings and uninhabited buildings could be put into service for quartering troops. Though many feared this would lead to British soldiers being forced into private homes, at the time of 1774 that was not the case.

BOSTON 1775—Colonial Boston was a city built on an island connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus to the south. The city was in a great location to serve as a commercial harbor for New England. Since 1775, the areas of the harbor and Charles River have been mostly filled in to allow for city expansion. The configuration of the city of Boston today is vastly different than in 1775.

Dating from the mid-1600s, Boston Common is one of the oldest public parks in the country. A center of the Boston community, the park served various public uses. Most of the British soldiers were encamped here on April 18, 1775, before they crossed the Charles River. At that time, the river bank was near the intersection of Beacon and Charles Streets. (pg)

General Thomas Gage was an accomplished military man before coming to Boston. He served in the French and Indian War (alongside George Washington during the ill-fated Braddock expedition) and was the overall commander of British forces in America from 1763-1775. As military governor of Massachusetts, Gage was in a difficult position of enforcing strict British laws and keeping the peace. He was frequently frustrated trying to convince leaders in England that the situation in Massachusetts was much worse than they had believed. (Yale Center for British Art)

One of the many cemeteries located along the Freedom Trail is the King’s Chapel Burying Ground. One of the more famous people to be buried here is William Dawes, the often overlooked rider who, along with Paul Revere, was sent from Boston to Lexington to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock of the British expedition to Concord. (pg)

Many in Boston and—for that matter—across the American colonies, believed Boston should pay for the destroyed tea. But even after that gesture was accomplished, it had little effect on new British policies toward Massachusetts. Great Britain insisted on making an example of Boston—and ensuring all of the colonies were aware.

Not on the Freedom Trail, the site of the Liberty Tree is commemorated by a large plaque at the intersection of Washington and Essex Streets. The actual site of the tree is across the street (as seen by the relief embedded on the second floor of the commercial building). The large elm that was the Liberty Tree stood in front of a grocery store and here the Sons of Liberty often met. The tree became a symbol of British opposition and was cut down in 1775. (pg)

Gage, with intimate knowledge of how Parliament and the King wanted to deal with the colonies, as well as his direct connection to the colonies, was sent to Massachusetts to assume the governorship. He arrived in Boston in May 1774 to a very unheroic welcome. Though he was given the typical honors of a new governor, it was clear that his role in administering the Coercive Acts (or, as the colonists called them, the Intolerable Acts) diminished his once-popular stature that he had held in the colonies.

Faneuil Hall today still serves as a community meeting space and market area. The building, along with nearby Quincy Market, serves as commercial space for restaurants and shopping. The Boston National Historical Park has a visitor center and gift shop located in Faneuil Hall. (pg)

Outgoing governor Thomas Hutchinson was shocked about his removal. He returned to England with a belief that he would return to the colonies vindicated. Ineffective since the Stamp Act crisis, Hutchinson was loved by neither the colonists nor the British. Both saw him as too favorable to the other side, so in June he sailed to England to defend his record. Unknown to him at the time, he would never return to the American colonies.

Gage did not come alone to Boston. He arrived with four new British regiments. British soldiers had come and gone since the Stamp Act crisis, and some soldiers remained on Castle William Island. But these new arrivals demonstrated the King’s intentions to enforce his laws. Gage was not just the governor of Massachusetts, but he kept his post as the commander of all British troops in North America as well. As he began to consolidate his forces in Boston, he gathered nearly 4,500 men in 13 regiments in Boston by the end of 1774. Gage also received two more ships to enforce the closing of the Boston port. This increased the British naval strength up to seven ships. For a city that was surrounded by and depended on the water, the presence of the navy was a sure way to prove British might.

The Boston that greeted Gage was a city not new to turmoil. For over many years, the port city of 15,000 people was an epicenter of opposition to British policies. Formed in Boston to confront the Stamp Act, the Sons of Liberty served as an underground opposition group. Using an elm tree near the Boston Common as their rallying point, the men openly protested Royal authority as well as planned clandestine forays and propaganda. The tree served as a symbol to the colonial Whigs, not yet calling themselves “Patriots,” and became a symbol of American colonial opposition. The Sons of Liberty gave rise to the Patriot leaders of 1774—men like Paul Revere, Dr. Joseph Warren, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock. These men, with varying upbringings, education, and careers found common ground in opposing what they felt were British incursions into their liberties and right to self-rule.

Located at 630 Washington Street, this relief commemorates the original location of the Liberty Tree. (pg)

The site of the Boston Massacre is a highlight along the Freedom Trail. It is memorialized in stone along the sidewalk near the Old State House. (pg)

The Coercive Acts were different than previous British acts that caused discontent in Massachusetts. This time the acts directly repealed how the colonists ruled themselves, which was rooted in the Massachusetts charter of 1691. This did not just impact those in Boston and coastal cities, but everyone in the colony. From the countryside around Boston, to the western end of the colony, local towns created committees of safety and began to not only use political and economic ways to oppose British policies, but also began to arm themselves. As Gage wrote: “Affairs here are worse than even in the Time of the Stamp Act, I don’t mean in Boston, for throughout the Country. The New England Provinces, except part of New Hampshire, are I may say in Arms.”

Found along the Freedom Trail is one of Boston’s most historic cemeteries, Granary Burying Ground. Here, the victims of the Boston Massacre are buried in a common Grave. Christopher Seider, who was unintentionally killed 11 days before the Boston Massacre in a riot, is buried next to them. (pg)

As word reached the other colonies, the response was mixed. Most colonists believed Bostonians should pay for the ruined tea, but they were also overwhelmingly shocked by the harshness of the Coercive Acts. Support from across the 13 colonies began to pour into Boston. Using an already established “Committee of Correspondence” network created in the early 1770s, colonial leaders began to discuss a proper reaction. Boycotts on imports of British goods and tea especially were accepted broadly. But most importantly, 12 colonies (Georgia abstained) sent representatives to a “Continental Congress” in Philadelphia in September 1774. Unlike the previous Stamp Act Congress, the First Continental Congress was attended by the majority of American colonies. The Congress encouraged boycotts and also petitioned the King and Parliament to rescind the Coercive Acts. In response to their planned attendance, Governor Gage dissolved the Massachusetts Provincial Assembly before the Continental Congress met and called for new elections. This did not deter them from sending representatives (John Adams, Samuel Adams, Thomas Cushing, and Robert Treat Paine) to Philadelphia.

Off the beaten path—and no longer standing—is the location of the Province House, the primary home of the Royal Governors from 1716 to 1776. It was here that governor and General Thomas Gage lived and oversaw day-to-day operations of the colony. The house suffered a severe fire in 1864 and was demolished in 1922. (ro)

Back in Massachusetts, Gage became wearier of his situation and the possibility of open conflict with colonists. He was active in paying informants and gaining information from local Tories (those loyal to the British government). These sources informed Gage that the people of the countryside were beginning to arm themselves. In an effort to deny them use of the official Royal arms and powder stored across the colony, he began to collect these government-owned supplies. In colonial America, most men served in the local militia. Local towns had powder magazines to store the powder that would be used for training the militia or if the militia was called to defend a portion of the colony. Many of these powder magazines also stored a portion of gunpowder that belonged to the colonial government—the King’s powder.

The Granary Burying Ground also contains the grave of Samuel Adams. Adams, known locally as “The Father of the American Revolution,” retired from polit...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of Maps
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• TOURING BOSTON AND THE BATTLEFIELDS
• FOREWORD by J. L. Bell
• PROLOGUE: “Boston Harbor a tea-pot This Night!”
• CHAPTER ONE: “No People are More Determined for a Civil War”
• CHAPTER TWO: “A Tinder Box:” The Buildup to War
• CHAPTER THREE: “One Active Campaign”
• CHAPTER FOUR: “Lay Down Your Arms!” The Fight at Lexington
• CHAPTER FIVE: To Concord
• CHAPTER SIX: “For God’s Sake, Fire!”
• CHAPTER SEVEN: “As if Men Came Down From the Clouds”
• CHAPTER EIGHT: “They Were Monstrous Numerous”
• CHAPTER NINE: “Saving Them From Inevitable Destruction”
• CHAPTER TEN: “An Englishman’s Home is His Castle”
• EPILOGUE: “An Affair That Happened on the 19th Instant”
• APPENDIX A: First Blood: Regulars vs. Minute Men: By Robert M. Dunkerly
• APPENDIX B: The Authors and the American Revolution in Concord: By Jayne Gordon
• APPENDIX C: Historic Taverns of Boston: By Robert Orrison
• ORDER OF BATTLE
• SUGGESTED READING
• ABOUT THE AUTHORS