The Bell Rong at 3 o clock
Concord received news of the Regulars’ expedition about two hours before the firing on Lexington Common occurred. The Provincial militia and minute companies from Concord and Lincoln began to gather at the sound of the town bell. Several observers recalled the sight of the morning sun glinting on 700 muskets as the Regulars came into Concord center to the music of the fifes and drums of both the Provincials and the Regulars.
Lieutenant Colonel Smith sent some companies of Regulars out to secure the North Bridge and to search militia Colonel James Barrett’s house for military supplies. Three other companies were sent to secure the South Bridge, while Smith remained in Concord center with the rest of the troops. These troops threw some supplies of flour, musket balls, and cannon balls into the mill pond and piled up and burned some entrenching tools and gun carriages. The fire spread to the Town House.
Explore Spy Letters of the American Revolution, including an April 19th letter from Rachel Revere to her husband Paul Revere.
See the clothing and equipment typical of a minute company in 1775 through a slide show of Captain David Brown’s Concord Minute Company, a group of Revolutionary War reenactors from around the country, in their encampment at the Concord Museum on Patriots’ Day 2014. Photos by Sara Lundberg.
Listen to stirring Fife and Drum Music of the Revolutionary War.
Photo credits: David Bohl