Run up to the Revolution, VIII: The shot heard round the world

Although today we honor the battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, as the commencement of the Revolutionary War, we should recognize that the timing of the war’s onset was almost inevitable, as was its location, near Boston, epicenter of American resistance since the Tea Party of December 1773.

As the readers of prior columns know, the British reaction to the Tea Party was a series of Draconian measures, in particular to punish Massachusetts and the port of Boston. These strictures, in turn, gave reason for the First Continental Congress, held in Philadelphia in August-September 1774, which instituted a broad boycott of British goods and began militia preparations in hundreds of towns. When the boycott started to hurt British shipping, King George III and Parliament decreed additional tough measures. General Thomas Gage, head of all British forces in the colonies, pleaded with London for 20,000 soldiers, but the powers that be decided that number couldn’t be spared and sent far fewer.

That the “shot heard ‘round the world” would be fired in the early spring of 1775 was guaranteed three months earlier by two directives from secretary of state Lord Dartmouth.

The first instructed all provincial governors to prevent Americans from becoming delegates to the Second Continental Congress. The second tasked Gage with arresting and imprisoning all former delegates to the First Congress and likely delegates to the Second, and to seize powder, rifles, etc., that might be used in a rebellion.

By late March, due to bureaucratic and weather delays, these directives still had not arrived in America. Yet hordes of Tory colonists had by then fled the countryside to Boston for the protection of British soldiers from their neighbors’ growing animosity. Under their impetus, British troops tarred and feathered a local farmer/patriot, parading him through town in a cart while a band played and soldiers sang, “Yankee Doodle come to town/ For to buy a firelock;/ We will tar and feather him/ and so we will John Hancock.”

The wealthiest man in Massachusetts and the head of Boston’s safety committee and the colony’s provincial congress, Hancock was busy buying medicines and ammunition enough for an army of 15,000. However, his provincial colleagues thought him a bit trigger-happy and so passed an edict that Hancock was not to summon the militias unless and until Gage and 500 men “shall march out of the Town of Boston, with Artillery and Baggage.”

Hancock and John Adams, understanding that Gage would likely try to arrest them, left early for the Second Continental Congress, and kept moving around in Massachusetts to avoid detection. Readying to leave town, Hancock ordered his safety committee to steal four mounted cannon from the British, which they did.

In early April, Gage’s spies reported Hancock and Adams hiding in Lexington, and that the patriot arsenal was hidden in Concord. On April 14, the letters from London to Gage finally arrived and he sprang into action, sending out two forces, one to Concord to destroy the armaments and another to Lexington to arrest Adams and Hancock.

But the patriots also had spies and operatives, knowledgeable ones who understood the implication of small boatloads of soldiers debarking from moored men-of-war, and columns of Redcoats marching toward a muster point on Boston Common. Among these operatives was silversmith Paul Revere.

At ten o’clock on Tuesday evening, April 18, Dr. Joseph Warren — the leader of the safety committee in Hancock’s absence — sent for Revere and asked him to ride to Lexington to warn Hancock and Adams that Gage was coming.

Revere did. Hancock, on receiving the news, sent messages to gather militias to counter Gage’s troops. The bell of Lexington’s main church pealed all night, and its alarm, and similar ones in nearby towns, alerted militias from as far away as Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire, so that on the 19th of April, when the British arrived in Lexington and Concord (and Hancock and Adams hid in the fields to avoid capture) trained and armed Americans were out in force to meet them, and to take casualties, but to win the day and begin the American Revolution.

Salisbury resident Tom Shachtman has written many books, including three about the Revolutionary Era.

The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Millerton News and The News does not support or oppose candidates for public office.

Latest News

Back to school
Photo by Leila Hawken

AMENIA — The first day of school on Thursday, Sept. 4, at Webutuck Elementary School went smoothly, with teachers enthusiastically greeting the eager young students disembarking from buses. Excitement was measurable, with only a few tears from parents, but school began anyway.


Keep ReadingShow less
New Millerton police cruisers arrive to replace fire-ravaged vehicles

Millerton Police Chief Joseph Olenik shows off the new gear. Brand new police cruisers arrived last week.

Photo by Aly Morrissey

MILLERTON — The Millerton Police Department has received two new patrol cars to replace vehicles destroyed in the February 2025 fire at the Village Water and Highway Department.

The new Ford Interceptors are custom-built for law enforcement. “They’re more rugged than a Ford Explorer,” said Millerton Police Chief Joseph Olenik, noting the all-wheel drive, heavy-duty suspension and larger tires and engine. “They call it the ‘Police Package.’”

Keep ReadingShow less
Historical Society talk to explore the life and times of a Revolutionary Era loyalist

AMENIA — While the courage and perseverance of Revolutionary era patriots is well understood and celebrated, the stories of the fate of British loyalists in New York are not as clear.

Seen as the initial event in observance of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, the Amenia Historical Society will present a talk titled, “The Plight of a Loyalist in Revolutionary New York,” examining the journal of Cadwallader Colden, Jr., spanning the period of 1777-1779. The speaker will be noted author, genealogist and historian Jay Campbell.

Keep ReadingShow less
Townscape raffle reaches $7K pot

Erin Rollins of Millbrook in the Fashion Feed booth, open year round, at the Millbrook Antiques Mall. All proceeds from Fashion Feeds go to the Food of Life Pantry. As an interior designer by trade, Rollins designed this booth to evoke a high-end department store to align with the designer brands she carries.

Photo by Aly Morrissey

MILLERTON — The Townscape 50/50 raffle drawing has collected a pot of more than $7,000.

That raffle drawing will take place this Saturday at 2 p.m. in Veteran’s Park. The moment is not just about picking a winner, but also about reflecting on how far Townscape has come since its humble beginnings in 1998, when founder Catherine Fenn — alongside Renee Vollen and Jan Gilmor — first set out to beautify her beloved village.

Keep ReadingShow less