The First Shots Fired in the first revolt against the British Empire: Lexington and Concord -- 250th Anniversary April 19

So far, no official observance -- Perhaps "We The People" should take care of it

Although this month marks the 250th anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord, when dissent among British North American colonies turned into a shooting war that led to a Declaration of Independence, there is no sign of any official commemoration. President Biden had a low-key commission working on it, and I shuddered to think what they would come up with. President Trump seems too busy stumbling around in the dark, trying to make America great with misbegotten tariff mis-steps, to take note of how we got a United States of America in the first place.

But perhaps We The People of the United States of America should commemorate the occasion without reference to our decrepit political leadership and degenerate Two Major Parties.

There are a couple of misconceptions to get out of the way. One was enunciated by Patrick Buchanan during his campaign for president in 2000: "This country was built by white folks, basically." The other is spouted on social media and in public performances by some Americans of African descent in June and July every year: "July 4 isn't my independence day. My people were freed on Juneteenth." Both are wrong. Both mis-statements disrespect the memory of 5000 men of African descent who served in the Continental Army, usually for much longer terms of service than "white" soldiers. Both overlook how much the American Revolution did to free a substantial number of enslaved Americans, and to make slavery politically controversial for the first time in human history.

Without July 4, there would have been no Juneteenth. July 4 will hit a 250th anniversary next year, in 2026, because the Declaration of Independence was issued in 1776. But the battles at Lexington, Concord, and Breed's Hill (the original orders were to fortify Bunker's Hill) were in 1775. A conflict had been building for several years. The Boston Massacre resulted from a series of confrontations in 1770, which included British troops occupying Boston. The Boston Tea Party in 1773 had resulted in coercive acts and military occupation by British authorities. Everyone knew that colonial militia were stockpiling guns, artillery and ammunition, and in April 1775 General Thomas Gage sent troops to seize all they could find.

Who opposed them? Lt. Colonel Michael Lanning described them as "a rag tag black and white militia company." Within days they would be joined by a company of Stockbridge Indians, while General Gage raged that "the Rebels have brought all the Savages they could against us here." George Quintal Jr. identified 16 Native Americans, from the Mohegan, Hassanmisco, Mashpee, Pequot and Tunxis people in the initial battles.

In the course of the day, a total of 3,960 militia confronted 1500 regular British army soldiers, with roughly 93 American casualties and 300 British casualties. Most British casualties were taken along Battle Road as they tried to march back to Boston under constant fire. William H. Hallahan in "The Day the American Revolution Began: April 19, 1775," writes of "that intense emotional moment when word of Lexington and Concord abruptly tore open the lives of many diverse people." This happened not only across the American colonies, but in England, where close to half the population sympathized with the revolution going on across the Atlantic. Hallahan also notes, "Nor were our founding fathers the giants of the earth that boosters such as Parson Weems painted. Mixed among men of stature were smugglers, slave owners, street thugs, arsonists, hack politicians, hypocrites, opportunists, self-servers, liars, spies, traitors, double dealers, and cowards."

In October of 1774, with the threat of war looming, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress recommended that towns raise “…companies of fifty privates; at the least, who shall equip and hold themselves in readiness on the shortest notice…” These were the minutemen, volunteer soldiers ready at a minute’s notice. By January of 1775, the town of Concord alone raised two companies of minutemen, 52 men each, and agreed they should turn out to “learn the art military” (drill) “two half day[s] in a week, 3 hours in each half day.” They would be paid “one shilling and four pence” for each half day. Captain David Brown commanded one company and Captain Charles Miles the other. The town also had two militia companies commanded by Captain Nathan Barrett and Captain George Minot — not minutemen, but able to assemble at a somewhat slower pace when called.

Many books have been published about these battles. Perhaps the most detailed account that makes for an entertaining read from recent years is Walter R. Borneman's American Spring: Lexington, Concord and the Road to Revolution. Captain John Parker had about 70 militia assembled at Lexington, when a much larger British force came into view. The Massachusetts militia had standing orders to "Lett the troops pass by, and don't molest them, without They being first.” Perhaps there would have been no guns fired at Lexington, if one or more British light infantry companies had not turned down the wrong road, bringing them close up to the militia. Parker had added to the standing orders, "Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon. But if they mean to have a war let it begin here.”

Among those in Parker's company was Prince Estabrook, 40 years old, a Lexington native who had been born into slavery, and inherited by Benjamin Estabrook from his father. They were about the same age, and may have shared some sort of friendship. At any rate, Benjamin had encouraged Prince to drill with the militia for over two years. He was one of nine wounded by the first British volley at Lexington. He served in the Continental Army, and returned to Lexington a free man, but little is known about his personal life. Eight more were dead. The British marched on to Concord, which was their real objective, the place where military supplies were stored.

At Concord, a much larger, more disciplined, well-drilled militia force also had orders not to fire unless fired upon, but an extensive contest developed over two bridges north of the town, and eventually a shot rang out, fired by nobody knows who. A ragged volley of gunfire from the British lines set off an exchange of volleys. After about two hours of restrained maneuvering, the British marched out of Concord back toward Boston, and the militia about noon went from limited defense to all-out attack. It was on the route known afterward as "Battle Road" that the British took their heaviest casualties.

Companies turned out from at least 27 towns. Records of every town in Massachusetts record their contributions. Like Concord, Newton had its minutemen -- one company -- and two other companies totalling 218. Which soldiers among them were men of African descent has been documented in the greatest detail in George Quintal Jr.s Patriots of Color: A Peculiar Beauty and Merit. Peter Ayres, Caesar Bailey, Fortune Burnee, John Chowen, Titus Coburn, Jeffrey Hemenway, Prince Johonnot and Peter Salem were Minute Men on 19 April 1775 — the elite soldiers trained and committed to turn out on short notice while the rest were assembling. A total of 21 served among at least eleven militia companies -- some free, some even holding public office, and some slaves.

Why would an enslaved man take up arms with the militia alongside his owner-of-record? That sounds odd to the 21st century eye. It doesn't look right through the intervening fog of the Civil War era. Weren't people who held title to slaves afraid to let them anywhere near a weapon? But for most of human history, that was not such a common pattern. In hierarchical cultures, monarchies, empires, feudal estates, things were very different.

Retainers were expected to follow lords and masters to war. Peasants, slaves, serfs, tenants, squires (to be sure squires were a higher order of subordinate, who hoped to become knights some day) were expected to fight for the interests of their overlords. Africans in Massachusetts were generally treated like other servants, or apprentices, except their servitude was "for life" unless freed. So it was more or less normal for the adult males in a man's household to report for militia duty with him. That included slaves.

And after all, Great Britain was the dominant power in the slave trade. Men and women who had been transported in British ships, or whose parents or grandparents had, between 1720-1780, might well take any opportunity to strike a blow against the British Empire. Whether free, servants, or slaves, the overwhelming majority among New England's population of African descent were staunch patriots.

A good anecdotal example can be found in the report of two officers sent out toward Worcester by British General Thomas Gage in February 1775: "a little out of [Watertown] we went into a tavern, a Mr. Brewer's, a whig, we called for dinner, which was brought in by a black woman, at first she was very civil, but afterwards began to eye us very attentively... we observed to her that it was a very fine country, upon which she answered so it is, and we have got brave fellows to defend it, and if you go up any higher you will find it is so... we resolved not to sleep there that night..."

While abolition of slavery was never contemplated as a goal of the revolutionary war, by the 1790 census, there were no slaves in Vermont, Maine, or Massachusetts, where 271, 538, and 5463 "free persons of color" were enumerated. (Slavery had been prohibited by the earliest settlers of Vermont, among whom two families were people of African descent.) Rhode Island reported 948 still held as slaves, and 3407 free, New Hampshire 158 enslaved and 630 free. Connecticut lagged badly: although 2808 free persons of color were counted, another 2764 remained in slavery. The last person enslaved in Connecticut died in 1848.

At the end of the day, fifty of the militia were killed or mortally wounded, and another 39 injured. The losses were spread among the militia of twenty-three towns — evidence that the resistance had a well developed alarm system, and that people from all over the region would respond. British forces lost 74 dead, 174 wounded, and twenty-six missing, although reports of exact numbers varied. Lord Hugh Percy, one of Gage's officers, wrote "I never believed, I confess, that they wd have attacked the King's troops, or have had the perseverance I found in them yesterday."

Written dispatches were sent within days to every colony. A packet of newspapers and a dozen affidavits were sent on a fast sailing ship to England, so sympathizers with the colonial cause, and the general public, would hear the American side of the story first. John Wilkes, the Lord Mayor of London, was among the staunch supporters of the colonial cause. He would later by jailed for sedition. The account was circulating for two weeks before General Gage's official dispatches followed.

In London, and in Philadelphia, it was clear that an open armed conflict had begun. The only question was how to handle it. Abigail Adams, in her usual direct way, wrote to her husband on June 18, "The Day — perhaps the decisive day — is come, on which the fate of America depends."