7
FIGHTING FOR I N D EPE N D E NC E
O n the n igh tofApri l 18.1775. 700 Britishsold iers
m arched silentlyouto f Bosto n.Thei rorder swere to
.scizc w ea ponsandam mun itio nthatrebellious
colo nistshadstoredIIIConco rd.a nearb y[O\ ", T I.
13 mth e colo nis ts we re w a rne dth at th e so l d ie rswere
corning.Signalligh tswerehu ng fro mth e spireo f
Bo sto n 'sralles rchurch andrwo fast ride rs,Paul
Reve reandWillia mDawt"S.jum pcdm ro their
sadd lesandgallopedo ff with then ew s.
In th e villageofLex ingto nth e B rit ish fo un dscvclHy
Americanm iliti am e n ,fa r me rs andtrades m en.
barri ngth eirway.Thesepar t-rim e soldie rs were
k nown as"Minu rcm cn.v-Tbis was becau seth eyhad
prom isedto rake u p ar ms immcdiarcly-cina
minutc-w he neverrhl')' were need ed.
T he Brit ish commanderorderedth eMin utemento
returntoth eir homes.T hey refused.T I1l'nso meon e,
no b odyknowsw ho ,ti reda shot.O ther sho ts carne
fromthe linesofB riti sh soldiers.EightMin utemen
fell dead.The fi rstsh o ts had been fin-dIIIw h atwas
tobecom e theA me rica nWar o f l nd cpcnd cncc.
The Bri tish soldier sreached C o ncord<Ifewhours
laterand destroyed someofth e weapo nsand
g un po w derthere.But by th e ti me theysetoffro
retur ntoHo sron hu nd redsmore Min utem en had
g athered. Fro m the th ickwoodso n each sideo f the
Bo stonro adth eysho tdo wn.one b yone, 273Bri ti sh
soldiers.T he soldiers werestill und er arrack w hen
theyarrivedback in Bosto n.A rin gofarmed
A meri can sgatheredroundthecity.
T hen extmon th.M ay1775,a secondConti nent al
Cong ressm etin Ph il ad elph ia andbegantoanas an
A meri cann atio nalgovernment.It set u p anarmyof
17,000m enund erthecomma n dofGeorge
Washing ton.Wash ingtonw asaVirgin ialandow ner
and sur veyo rwith"experienceo f fightin g inth e
Fren ch an dInd i an War. T heCont inental C on gr es s
alsosent r ep resent atives roSC1.,kaid fromfrien d ly
Europeannations - especiallyfro mFrance,Brit ain 's
o ldenem y.itr;,i,l,joIJ ;.-nfiri..g" ",II.. .\f;ru'lno,m" Il1.>:i".I:'"''i ..liiS.:\
(ourm 'pomrymgr" ";".1:Nsdorr", ktubbya"tyt· ..·;,,,..u,