This Day in History 1775

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.

The Old North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts, was the site of the first real skirmish of the American Revolution. Earlier on the morning of April 19, 1775, British soldiers opened fire on a company of militia down the road in Lexington, but that hardly qualifies as a skirmish. The colonial militia at Lexington didn’t intend on fighting the redcoats, who outnumbered them about 700 to 80, and were better equipped and better trained. The famous “shot heard round the world,” is still a bit of a mystery, as to who fired on whom. Tensions were so high however, that upon hearing the shot, the British fired into the colonists, a few returned fire, the British charged and wisely, the colonists ran, leaving eight of their own dead and ten wounded on the field.