hardly a man is now alive
who remembers that famous day and year.
He said to his friend,
"If the British march by land or sea from the town tonight
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch of the North Church tower as a signal light.
One if by land
And two if by sea
And I on the opposite shore will be
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm
for the country folk to be up and to arm."))
When the British reached the town of Lexington, they found it protected by about seventy colonial troops. These citizen soldiers were called "Minute Men." They had been trained to fight with only a minute's warning. Eight colonists were killed.
Each side accused the other of firing the first shot in that first battle of the American Revolution. It became known as "the shot heard 'round the world."
From Lexington, the British marched to Concord, where they destroyed whatever supplies the colonists had not been able to save. Other colonial troops rushed to the area. A battle at Concord's north bridge forced the British to march back to Boston.
It was the first day of America's war for independence. When it was over, almost three hundred British troops had been killed. Fewer than one hundred Americans had died.
The British troops had marched in time with their drummers and pipers playing "Yankee Doodle." A Yankee Doodle was a man who did not know how to fight. The song was meant to insult the Americans. But in the end they were proud of it.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25