Concord and Lexington, April 19, Noon | 2:30 p.m.

The Road was Bloody

The Regulars at the North Bridge returned to Concord center, as did the other troops who had gone out to Colonel Barrett’s house and to the South Bridge. After sending their wounded officers ahead, the Regulars left Concord about noon on their way back to Boston. Two miles down the road at Merriam’s Corner, the Concord, Acton, and Lincoln men met up with men from Bedford, Billerica, and Reading. The joined forces fired on the column of Regulars, killing several and wounding several others. From this point until the end of the day, the Provincials kept up an encircling fire on the Regulars, with companies from Sudbury, Woburn, and Lexington joining the pursuit.

Surrounded by Provincials and running out of ammunition, the Regulars, after marching under fire with hardly a pause for fifteen hours, were nearly desperate by the time they got back to Lexington.