A Single Shot Sparked the Revolution; Yet, Many Patriots Were Prepared to Fight

American history reveals that a single shot ignited the American War for Independence, in 1775. In the Spring of that year, between the very late hours of April 18th and the wee morning hours of the 19th, Massachusetts men and boys got out of their beds with an intent to stand up to a formidable enemy. They gathered their powder horns, muskets, and shot and went out to Lexington Green. There they waited in the dark morning chill for the dreaded British troops who marched rapidly toward Lexington. Earlier, in the middle of the night, the cries of danger had swept through the Massachusetts countryside to warn citizens that the British troops were on the march.

On April 18th after dark, around 9pm, British General Thomas Gage dispatched a contingent of approximately 700 regulars to arrest Sam Adams and John Hancock in Lexington, and to seize a cache of gunpowder, ammunition, and weapons reportedly stored near Concord. Gen. Thomas Gage, the new military governor of the Massachusetts colony had dispatched the 700 British regulars to arrest two men: Adams and Hancock. Both men were wanted by the British government for their rebellious activities in and around the Boston area, and Adams was known to have organized the Boston Tea Party. So, after nightfall, Gage dispatched his contingent of troops to arrest Adams and Hancock in Lexington, and to seize the reported cache of guns, gunpowder, ammunition stored near Concord. American spies had already learned of the “secret plan” of the British overlords. The British had previously seized 250 half barrels of gunpowder. So, the confiscation of ammunition, guns, and powder was a primary objective. This oppressive endeavor failed in a most disastrous way for the British. The unique American response to the British military’s harassment of the people had been organized as the Americans had implemented contingency plans that succeeded. On the weekend prior to April 18th, Paul Revere had organized a plan to use lit lanterns hung in the tower of the Old North Church as critical signals. And, it was more than just Revere that had been organized into a contingent of riders with the purpose of warning the colonists that British troops would be marching and taking a land route or one by water. On that April evening, Paul Revere and William Dawes had been dispatched by Dr. Joseph Warren to warn Adams and Hancock they were targets.

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A whole cadre of volunteers were utilized to warn the rural people, and call the able-bodied to arms

A little after midnight, in the wee hours of April 19, 1775, Paul Revere reached the home of Rev. Jonas Clarke in Lexington where Hancock and Adams had been meeting with the famous patriot pastor. Dawes arrived at the home around 1 a.m. They both left rather quickly to set off to Concord to extend the warning to the patriot leaders there. By that time, however, the Americans had already moved most of the small arms and their ammunition to another area. And, though Revere and Dawes successfully made it to Lexington, neither of them made it to Concord. They met young Dr. Samuel Prescott who was to guide them to Concord not long after they left the Clarke home. However, within approximately 15 minutes of riding, all three were captured by a British patrol along the road. Dawes and Prescott got away, but Dawes was thrown by his horse, and eventually only Prescott made it to Concord. The contingency plans proved valuable. All of this was the prelude to the showdown at Lexington Common where the British would prevail in the skirmish with not quite 80 local militia men. There had been a race to alarm the people that their government had taken up arms against them. Although the history of “Paul Revere’s Ride” has been skewered a bit—in part by the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who took liberties in bypassing some important details of the calls of alarm throughout Massachusetts on April 18, 1775. Ironically, poets tend to get away with historical inaccuracies if their words stir passion or will, and Longfellow had a gift. Nevertheless, the ride of Paul Revere was more than he made of it, and he made it memorable. In fact, a whole cadre of volunteers were utilized to warn the rural people, and call the able-bodied to arms. The stories of some other riders that alerted fellow citizens the British regulars were marching on are also significant. As the cries of alarm spread “through every Middlesex village and farm, for the country folk to be up in arms,” as Longfellow reminded Americans in 1860, ordinary people responded. They rose out of their beds and braced themselves to face a formidable foe. [810]

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America was born when good, common people were willing to lay down their lives for the freedom of their children and the future generations

The primary plans, directives from the primitive Continental Congress to prepare local militias to meet the British threat, also worked. But, the shot heard ’round the world sparked warfare. A rag-tag band of men and boys made their way to Lexington Green to wait in the dark of a cool April morning. They would have been uncertain of what would happen next because it had never happened before. Certainly, these brave souls had not read a British military manual instructing them that it was futile to resist. They stood their ground, waiting. Some may have been wondering if they would get back home to their beds that day. Approximately, 38 – 77 citizens (accounts vary) stood their ground — against 700 feared Redcoats. America was born when good, common people were willing to lay down their lives for the freedom of their children and the future generations. Good, common people were willing to lay down their lives for the freedom of people whom they would never know. This is truly the deep and bloodstained reality of the birth of the Land of the Free. And, it is good and helpful to sort out the particulars of what led up to the “shot heard round the world” because a majority of Americans seem to have lost connection with that historic moment. The ensuing conflict was a long and hard fought war and many people lost their lives. Yet, the founding generation understood that freedom came at great cost. Those who embrace the value of Freedom must again be prepared to lay down their lives for the freedom of their children and future generations. Good, common people need to be willing to lay down their lives for the freedom of people whom they might never know. The Founders realized that people’s freedom had never been free. It was much more black and white in their day.