The American Revolution began on April 19, 1775, on a village green in Lexington and at a wooden bridge in Concord, Massachusetts. In a single day, a few hundred farmers and tradesmen stood up to the most powerful army in the world, and the long road to independence began. Here is what really happened that day, who was there, and the old banner that tradition says flew at “the rude bridge”: the Bedford Flag.
Why the British Marched on Concord
By the spring of 1775, Massachusetts was a powder keg. British troops occupied Boston, and colonial militias across the countryside had been drilling and stockpiling arms. General Thomas Gage, the royal governor, learned that the colonists had stored cannon, muskets, powder and supplies at Concord, about 18 miles west of Boston.
On the night of April 18, Gage sent around 700 British regulars under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith and Major John Pitcairn to seize and destroy those stores. Patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock were staying in Lexington, right on the army’s route, and they had good reason to fear arrest.
The Midnight Ride: Revere, Dawes and Prescott
The Patriots were ready. Two lanterns hung in the steeple of Boston’s Old North Church signaled that the troops were crossing the Charles River by boat. Paul Revere and William Dawes rode out by different routes to warn Adams and Hancock and to rouse the militia. At Lexington they were joined by a young doctor, Samuel Prescott. When a British patrol stopped the three riders on the road to Concord, Revere was captured, Dawes escaped on foot, and Prescott jumped his horse over a wall and carried the alarm to Concord.
Across the countryside, church bells rang and alarm guns fired. Minutemen, militia companies trained to turn out at a minute’s notice, grabbed their muskets and headed for the road.
The Battle of Lexington
At dawn on April 19, the advance companies of British troops marched into Lexington and found about 77 militiamen lined up on the town green under Captain John Parker, a veteran of the French and Indian War. The militia were badly outnumbered, and Parker seems to have meant them as a show of resolve rather than a fighting line. Words later attributed to him are still carved in stone on the green: “Stand your ground; don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.”
British officers ordered the militia to disperse, and some began to leave. Then a shot rang out. To this day, no one knows who fired it. The British troops answered with volleys and a bayonet charge. When the smoke cleared, eight Americans lay dead and ten were wounded. The regulars cheered and marched on toward Concord.
The North Bridge and “The Shot Heard Round the World”
At Concord, the British searched for the hidden supplies while three companies of regulars guarded the North Bridge over the Concord River. Meanwhile, militia from Concord and the surrounding towns of Acton, Bedford, Lincoln and others gathered on the high ground above the bridge, about 400 men in all. When they saw smoke rising from the town, they feared the British were burning Concord and marched down toward the bridge.
The regulars fired, killing Captain Isaac Davis of Acton and Private Abner Hosmer. Major John Buttrick of Concord shouted for his men to return fire, and for the first time, American militiamen fired an organized volley at the King’s troops. The outnumbered regulars broke and fell back into town.
Sixty-two years later, Ralph Waldo Emerson immortalized that moment at the North Bridge in his “Concord Hymn” of 1837:
By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.
Many people connect “the shot heard round the world” with Lexington, but Emerson was writing about the fight at Concord’s North Bridge.
The Bloody Road Back to Boston
By noon, the British began the long march back to Boston, and the countryside exploded. Thousands of militiamen from dozens of towns poured in, firing from behind stone walls, trees and houses along what is now called the Battle Road. The fighting was fiercest in Menotomy (today’s Arlington). Only the arrival of a relief brigade under Lord Hugh Percy saved Smith’s exhausted column from destruction.
By the end of the day, the British had lost about 73 killed and more than 170 wounded, while the Americans lost about 49 killed and around 40 wounded. Within days, some 15,000 New England militiamen had surrounded Boston and placed it under siege. The war for independence had begun.
Did the Patriots Carry a Flag at Lexington and Concord?
It’s a great question. The Stars and Stripes didn’t exist yet. Congress did not adopt the first official American flag until June 14, 1777, more than two years later. The militia companies that turned out on April 19 were local town units, and very few carried banners of any kind.
One flag, however, has long been honored as the banner of that day: the Bedford Flag.
The Story of the Bedford Flag
According to tradition, the Bedford Flag was carried by Nathaniel Page, the cornet (flag bearer) of the Bedford Minutemen, when his company marched to Concord on April 19, 1775. The flag is much older than the Revolution itself. Historians believe it was made in England around 1705 for a mounted militia troop in colonial Massachusetts, and it passed down through the Page family.
The flag is made of crimson silk damask and shows an armored arm reaching out of a cloud and gripping a sword. Above it is the Latin motto Vince aut Morire, meaning “Conquer or Die.” Unlike most modern flags, it is nearly square.
The Bedford Flag is widely considered the oldest complete flag surviving in the United States. The original, carefully restored, is preserved by the Bedford Free Public Library in Bedford, Massachusetts.
Patriots’ Day
The anniversary of Lexington and Concord is still celebrated as Patriots’ Day, a state holiday in Massachusetts and Maine observed on the third Monday in April. Reenactors gather before dawn on Lexington Green and at the North Bridge, and the Boston Marathon is run that same day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who fired the first shot at Lexington?
No one knows for certain. Both sides claimed the other fired first, and historians still debate it. What is clear is that the British then fired volleys into the militia, killing eight men.
What is “the shot heard round the world”?
The phrase comes from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 1837 “Concord Hymn.” It refers to the first organized volley fired by American militia at British troops, at the North Bridge in Concord on April 19, 1775.
What flag was flown at Lexington and Concord?
The American flag did not exist yet in 1775. By tradition, the Bedford Flag, carried by Bedford Minuteman Nathaniel Page, was flown at Concord, and it is the flag most associated with the first battles of the Revolution.
How many people died at the Battles of Lexington and Concord?
About 49 Americans were killed and about 40 wounded. The British lost about 73 killed and more than 170 wounded, most of them during the long retreat to Boston.
Who rode with Paul Revere?
William Dawes rode a separate route from Boston to warn the countryside, and Dr. Samuel Prescott joined them at Lexington. Prescott was the only one of the three to reach Concord with the warning.
What does “Vince aut Morire” mean?
It is Latin for “Conquer or Die,” the motto on the Bedford Flag.
Fly the Flags of 1775
Honor the minutemen who stood their ground with an authentic reproduction of the Bedford Flag, also available in its historic near-square proportions as a dyed nylon outdoor Bedford Flag. You’ll also find the Culpeper Minutemen Flag, the Grand Union Flag and many more in our Revolutionary War flags collection.
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