978-1-4222-3353-5

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The American Revolution

Words to UNDERSTAND IN THIS CHAPTER breastworks —chest-high defensive works, usually con- structed quickly by digging a trench and piling the soil in front of it. casualties —in warfare, the toll of soldiers who are killed, wounded, captured, or missing after a battle. Hessians —German professional soldiers hired by the British. Loyalist —a colonist who supported Great Britain during the American Revolution. redoubt —a strong, usually temporary fortification.

The Revolution Begins Blood was finally spilled on April 19. Seven hundred redcoats had been dispatched from Boston the previous night. Their mission was to seize gunpowder and other military supplies the Patriots were believed to have stockpiled in Concord. If possible, they were also to capture Patriot lead- ers Samuel Adams and John Hancock. The British mission was supposed to be secret. But Patriots found out about it. Militias were alerted. Shortly after sunrise, redcoats clashed with a small group of militiamen at the village of Lexington. Later, when the British reached Concord, Min- utemen from surrounding areas began converging on the town. Colonists routed a British detachment guarding Concord’s North Bridge. The British began a retreat. But swarms of militia ambushed them and conducted relentless hit-and-run attacks. The colonists kept up the fight even after a thousand-man relief column met the retreating redcoats at Lexington. Around dusk, the exhausted British finally reached safety just north of Boston. The British had suffered more than 70 dead and about 175