The leaders of the American colonies decided they wanted to fight against Britain. King George said the colonies were breaking the rules, so he sent soldiers to help the ones already in Boston. General Thomas Gage was told to take the weapons from the colonists and arrest their leaders, like John Hancock and Samuel Adams. Gage learned about a big stash of weapons in Concord, 20 miles away from Boston, so he sent 700 soldiers to take them.

The colonists knew the British soldiers were coming, so they hid most of their weapons before the soldiers arrived.

As the British soldiers got ready, Dr. Joseph Warren told two men, Paul Revere and William Dawes, about the plan. Dawes went to warn Hancock and Adams, and Revere rode through the countryside shouting, "The Redcoats are coming!" By the time the British soldiers reached Lexington, about 70 local men, called minutemen, were waiting for them.

When the British soldiers arrived, someone fired a shot, and nobody knows who fired it. That shot started the battle. The British soldiers shot back and charged at the minutemen with their bayonets. Eight minutemen were killed, and ten were hurt. More minutemen arrived as the British soldiers marched toward Concord.

In Concord, the British soldiers destroyed some weapons, but the minutemen fought back and stopped them at a bridge. The British soldiers had to go back. As they walked back to Boston, the minutemen hid behind trees, rocks, and other places to shoot at them. The British soldiers were upset because they couldn’t see the minutemen.

By the time the British soldiers got back to Boston, 73 were dead, and 174 were hurt. This was the start of the American Revolution.