Lexington is where the American Revolution became real—where abstract principles of liberty met musket balls and bayonets. Before dawn on April 19, 1775, approximately 77 militiamen assembled on Lexington Green to face nearly 700 British regulars. What happened next remains disputed: someone fired first. When the smoke cleared, eight Americans lay dead and ten wounded. The British continued to Concord, but Lexington's sacrifice had already transformed a political crisis into a war for independence.
PEOPLE
KEY EVENTS
PLACES TO VISIT
STORIES
HISTORICAL VOICE
Prince Estabrook: A Wound and a Question
We know three things for certain about Prince Estabrook. He was enslaved. He was at Lexington. He was wounded. Everything else is inference, imagination, or silence. Why was he there? The historical...
HISTORICAL VOICE
Jonathan Harrington: The Distance Home
The distance from where Jonathan Harrington fell to his own doorstep was perhaps one hundred feet. It might as well have been a hundred miles. Shot through the body in the first British volley, Harri...