Made some images to share. Which one do you like best?

If any of you guys want to repost this anywhere, I included this summary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord with mine. Hopefully, someone will be educated.





The Battles of Lexington & Concord

On April 14, 1775, General Thomas Gage began moving to secure the Patriot militias military arms and supplies when orders arrived from the Secretary of State, the Earl of Dartmouth, commanding him to disarm the rebellious militias and to arrest key colonial leaders. Believing the militias to be hoarding supplies at Concord, Gage made plans for part of his force to march and occupy the town.

On April 16, Gage sent a scouting party out of the city towards Concord. While this patrol gathered intelligence, it also alerted the colonials that the British were planning to move against them. Two days after sending out the patrol, Gage ordered Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith to prepare a 700-man force to sortie from the city of Boston. Despite Gage's efforts to keep the raid secret, the colonists had long been aware of the British interest in Concord.

As a result, many of the supplies at Concord had been removed to other towns. Around 9:00-10:00 that night, Patriot leader Dr. Joseph Warren informed Paul Revere and William Dawes that the British would be embarking that night for Cambridge and the road to Lexington and Concord. Slipping out of the city by different routes, Revere and Dawes made their famous ride west to warn that the British were approaching. In Lexington, Captain John Parker mustered the town's militia and had them fall into ranks on the town green with orders not to fire unless fired upon.

Around sunrise, Smith's advance force, led by Major John Pitcairn, arrived in Lexington. Riding forward, Pitcairn demanded the militia to disperse and lay down their arms. Suddenly, a shot rang out from an unknown source. This led to an exchange of fire which saw Pitcairn's horse hit twice. Charging forward the British drove the militia from the green. When the smoke cleared, eight of the militia were dead and another ten wounded. One British soldier was injured in the exchange.

Departing Lexington, the British pushed on towards Concord. Outside of the town, the Concord militia, unsure of what had transpired at Lexington, fell back through the town and took up a position on a hill across the North Bridge. Smith's men occupied the town and broke into detachments to search for the colonial munitions. As the British began their work, the Concord militia, led by Colonel James Barrett, was reinforced as other towns' militias arrived on the scene. While Smith's men found little in the way of munitions, they did locate and disable three cannon and burned several gun carriages.

Seeing the smoke from the fire, Barrett and his men moved closer to the bridge and saw around 90-95 British troops fall back across the river. Advancing with 400 men, they were engaged by the British. Firing across the river, Barrett's men forced them to flee back towards Concord. Unwilling to initiate further action, Barrett held his men back as Smith consolidated his forces for the march back to Boston. Throughout the morning, word of the fighting had spread, and colonial militias began racing to the area.

Aware that his situation was deteriorating, Smith deployed flankers around his column to protect against colonial attacks as they marched. About a mile from Concord, the first in a series of militia attacks began at Meriam's Corner. This was followed by another at Brooks Hill. After passing through Lincoln, Smith's troops were attacked at the "Bloody Angle" by 200 men from Bedford and Lincoln. Firing from behind tree and fences, they were joined by other militiamen who took up positions across the road, catching the British in a crossfire.

As the column neared Lexington, they were ambushed by Captain Parker's men. Seeking revenge for the morning's fight, they waited until Smith was in view before firing. Seeking to inflict maximum casualties, Colonial commander Brigadier General William Heath endeavored to keep the British surrounded with a loose ring of militia for the remainder of the march. In this fashion, the militia poured fire in to the British ranks, while avoiding major confrontations, until the column reached the safety of Charlestown.

In the day's fighting, the Massachusetts militia lost 50 killed, 39 wounded, and 5 missing. For the British, the long march cost them 73 killed, 173 wounded, and 26 missing. The fighting at Lexington and Concord proved to be the opening battles of the American Revolution. Rushing to Boston, the Massachusetts militia was soon joined by troops from other colonies ultimately forming a force of around 20,000.