Battle of Lexington Common, April 19, 1775

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. This is not a history of the entire battle of April 19, 1775, for that extended over more than thirty miles of highway, from Lexington up to Concord, and back to Bunker Hill in Charlestown. The interested reader is referred to my larger work covering all, first published in 1912, now out of print, but to be found in quite a few public libraries. The opening contest was on Lexington Common, less than a half hour in time, and a little before sunrise. It was the real beginning of the American Revolution, and as such is of sufficient importance to merit an especial consideration.<br><br>I am glad to be able to publish a complete roster of Captain Parker's Company; of those who stood with him on that morning: and of the eight who returned the British fire. Up to this time no one has named so many as belonging to his Company on that day; nor until last year has any one attempted to give to the student in American history a list of those who were with him before sunrise on that April morning, and participated with him in that first little battle.