As the British march up to Lexington green, they
find a small group of
minutemen. They have been hearing reports of men forming on Lexington
green for a while now and there have been rumors that there are 100+
men waiting for them. But there was in actuality only 70 or so. So the
British form up opposite of the minutemen and the two men who were
captured before (Thomas Robins and David Harrington) were released from
the British. Then Captain Parker gave his famous order to the minutemen
"Stand your ground! Don't fire unless fired upon! But if they mean to
have a war, let it begin here!" Then Pitcairn rode in front of the
minutement and shouted "Lay down your arms, you damned rebels and
disperse!"
That is when a single shot rung out and both sides fired
upon each other. One British fell, though only wounded, and the British
light infantry proceeded with a bayonet charge. One minuteman, Jonas
Parker, though wounded, fell to his knees and tried to reload. Before
he could finish he was run through with a bayonet. Then a British
officer quickly found the drum major and ordered him to play assembly.
Quickly the soldiers formed up once again, and as the smoke cleared
they could see that eight minutement had died and ten more were wounded.
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