The Shot Heard Around the World

April 19, 2018 (Thursday)
From the History Channel website:
The American Revolutionary War was fought from 1775 to 1783. It was also known as the American War of Independence. The Revolutionary War began with the confrontation between British troops and local militia at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, on April 19,1775, 243 years ago today.

Tensions had been building for many years between residents of the 13 American colonies and the British authorities, particularly in Massachusetts. On the night of April 18, 1775, hundreds of British troops marched from Boston to nearby Concord in order to seize an arms cache. Paul Revere and other riders sounded the alarm, and colonial militiamen began mobilizing to intercept the Redcoat column. A confrontation on the Lexington town green started off the fighting, and soon the British were hastily retreating under intense fire. Many more battles followed, and in 1783 the colonists formally won their independence.

The American colonists and the British soldiers were nervous as they faced each other in a standoff on the Lexington town green. Individuals on both sides of the conflict were ordered to hold their fire. No one knows who fired first, but as tensions mounted, a shot rang out, and the battle began. On July 4, 1837, a monument to the brave heroes of that opening battle were honored with a monument, and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson composed a song for that occasion. The first verse follows: