Minutemen stood ready in Lexington. Riders, including Paul Revere, had warned troops that British redcoats were headed toward their town. It was dawn on April 19, 1775.

The minutemen planned to hold their ground. They wanted to keep British soldiers from moving forward. The redcoats told them to disband. Someone fired a shot. No one knows who it was. That shot is known as the shot heard round the world. Eight minutemen died in the fight. One redcoat was wounded. It marked the start of the American Revolution.

The British marched on to Concord. Again guns were fired on each side. As the British marched back to Boston, minutemen took shots at them. The minutemen hid behind walls and trees. It was the hit and run style of fighting. The redcoats were only used to fighting in straight lines.

The patriots lost about 50 men in the fights. They felt they had won. They stood firm against the well-trained British troops. Troops from nearby colonies arrived to help the Massachusetts minutemen. The battles at Lexington and Concord were the first of the war.