The American Revolution...

...started 250 years ago this week
British authorities in Boston had learned that colonials had obtained two cannons and ordered their surrender by April 15th. On the 17th, a force was assembled to march out and seize the arms. The British Army shut down all traffic out of Boston to keep the mission a secret, but a network of spies had pre-arranged for a signal to be sent from the tallest steeple in Boston. One light if the troops would march to Concorde or two if they took the water route

West of Boston, hundreds of men searched their souls, as they were about to take up arms against their God-appointed King. Scores of them wouldn't survive the next few days.

In 1774, every man between the ages of 16 and 60 was part of the militia, although few men over 30 drilled regularly. On paper, there were about 16,000 militia members but roughly half were thought to be Crown supporters.
That year, a column of British troops raided Concorde and confiscated many militia weapons. The militia response was so slow that a new formation- the Minute Men was created. Composed of younger, more militant men, the Minute Men were 4,000 strong by 1775, and unlike the main militia, were all supporters of the Colonists. The regular militia was trained to report to an assembly spot and follow the Officers into action. Minute Men were trained to ride to the emergency and take action as needed. Many Minute Men were also secretly members of the Sons Of Liberty.

OK, I'll add in here....

In doing title research I once found a guy in my chain of title I had to do some research on, probably for death details. Anyhow, they guy was at Valley Forge. He took a musket to an arm. The bleeding meant that he had to have that sleeve cut off. Since they were short of bandages they had to cut the other sleeve off as well. He spent all winter, sleeveless.

Ever walk from your car to the entrance at King of Prussia Mall in winter? How bad that is! Imagine all winter, sleeveless.

It's the difference between the Sunshine Patriot and the Winter Soldier
I was about eight when I first visited Valley Forge and still remember the living conditions those men endured. Most people don't realize the Revolution lasted from 1775 until 1783, and Valley Forge was just one of the winter camps.
Imagine having to choose between keeping your only shoe to walk in the snow or boiling it for dinner.

Quote: billryan

Imagine having to choose between keeping your only shoe to walk in the snow or boiling it for dinner.

Without it we probably wouldn't have Campbell's soup today.

Quote: DRich

Quote: billryan

Imagine having to choose between keeping your only shoe to walk in the snow or boiling it for dinner.

Without it we probably wouldn't have Campbell's soup today.
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And we'd be speaking English.

Quote: billryan

...started 250 years ago this week
British authorities in Boston had learned that colonials had obtained two cannons and ordered their surrender by April 15th. On the 17th, a force was assembled to march out and seize the arms. The British Army shut down all traffic out of Boston to keep the mission a secret, but a network of spies had pre-arranged for a signal to be sent from the tallest steeple in Boston. One light if the troops would march to Concorde or two if they took the water route

West of Boston, hundreds of men searched their souls, as they were about to take up arms against their God-appointed King. Scores of them wouldn't survive the next few days.
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Continues to be a big deal around these parts. Reenactments at Lexington and Concord, plus the Boston Marathon.

Paul Revere went on to become a successful silversmith and one of the wealthiest men in Boston, but that was all in the future.
Revere's business had suffered under the British tariffs, and he took on work as a paid courier for the shadow government the colonies were forming. He was often trusted with delivering messages to New York City and Philadelphia.
On the afternoon of the 18th, a British regiment was ordered to prepare to march. It was assumed they would attempt to arrest Sam and John Adams in Lexington before advancing on to Concord to seize the illicit arms. In truth, there were no arrest warrants.
The British had two routes: the land route that would bring them into Lexington after breakfast, or by taking a boat across the harbor, they could save a few hours.
By evening, boats were being assembled so after dark, Revere and his companion managed to cross the bay unseen and borrowing two horses, they set out for Lexington. A dozen other riders headed out to various towns and as many as forty men took part in alerting the multiple towns.
William Dawes and Revere split up, taking different routes to Lexington. Word of the British had already reached Concorde, and the Action Company was already assembling and headed to Lexington. The Regular Militia would assemble at daybreak and await orders.
While changing horses, Revere was approached by a Dr. Prescott, who revealed himself as an agent for the Sons of Liberty.
The three set out for Concord but ran into a British patrol. Revere was captured, but his companions escaped and rode into Lexington.
Revere was held and questioned, but eventually was released, and his horse was taken from him.
800 British troops marched all night, and dawn found them passing through the hamlet of Concord. Off to the side, on the Village Green they saw the local militia assembled. A company of regulars was dispatched to investigate, with orders not to engage.

As the British Commander saw he had lost the advantage of secrecy, he sent word back to Boston for reinforcements.

Captain Parker stood on the Green with his men. The War had not yet begun, and he was determined not to be the one to start it.
He told his men to stand and not fire. The British were forty yards away and advancing at bayonet point. At twenty yards, he was about to order his men to fall back when a shot ran out. No one knows who fired it, but in the next few seconds, multiple shots were fired and a number of the militia were killed or wounded.
With the militia scattered, the British continued on their journey, not appreciating that they'd kicked a hornet's nest that they would be passing through on their way back.

In Concord, most of the arms had been removed, with some left for the British to find. A force of 400 Minute Men was positioned north of town, while another group of 250 MM and a hundred local militia were southeast of town.
The Yankees' blood was up, and their officers were having a hard time restraining their men.

While the British were aware of a subgroup of the militia, they were not aware of its capabilities. While the regular militia was a protective force against the Indians, the Action companies were trained to fight the British Army.
The British arrived at Concord and found that the opposition had fled, taking most of their arms with them. Assigning 150 men to guard each of the two roads out of town, the rest spread out, gathering up what had been left behind, and they started a bonfire.
North of town, the Minute Men saw the smoke and thought the town had been set afire. Without orders, they began closing in on the British guarding the North Bridge. The outnumbered redcoats withdrew over the bridge, but when the Yankees continued to close in, they fired an ineffective volley. The Minute Men charged the bridge, and the British commander decided it was a good time to declare victory and leave. He was ten miles from Boston, and thousands of angry Yankees were in between.
The first ambush was just a mile out of town, and from that point on, it seemed like there was a minute man behind every tree.
The last major attack was just outside of Lexington, as Captain Parker and his militia, joined by hundreds of newcomers, fought not only the original column, but also the newly arrived 1,000-man relief force.
With no one in command, dozens of groups of Yankees fought and harassed the retreating army to Boston and were stopped only by cannon from ships in the harbor.
The British closed the city of Boston, shutting down all travel, but they failed to place troops on the high ground surrounding the city, and thousands of ill-organized rebels promptly besieged them.

I have also seen some excellent commentary and perspective from HEATHER COX RICHARDSON on this topic lately.

I was pretty disappointed by the nation's reaction to our 200th Birthday. I'm hoping our 250th goes better.

Quote: billryan

I was pretty disappointed by the nation's reaction to our 200th Birthday. I'm hoping our 250th goes better.
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I was six years old during the bicentennial and was very excited about it thanks to all the marketing hype, especially the stackable 7UP cans that made a picture of Uncle Sam!

I was a Senior in high school in 1976, and several key events in my area were cut back due to general apathy.
Operation Sail, with its parade of Tall Ships, was spectacular, and the fireworks were extra special that night over the Lady in the Harbor.

Quote: billryan

I was pretty disappointed by the nation's reaction to our 200th Birthday. I'm hoping our 250th goes better.
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I think that one problem was, they were starting the celebrations quite a bit in advance. For one, CBS would air something called the Bicentennial Minute every night starting in early 1975, just before 9:00 PM Eastern, describing something that happened exactly 200 years earlier. (There was a bit of a controversy over whether or not President Ford would be allowed to present the one for July 4, 1776, because of equal time concerns involving his Presidential campaign; in the end, Betty Ford did it.) People just got tired of all of the hype. There isn't nearly as much hype yet for the 250th, which has the added advantage of not being during a Presidential election year.

Another thing that might have affected the celebration: the TV networks pretty much had to divide themselves between the celebrations and covering the raid on Entebbe in Uganda that happened that morning. Meanwhile, something that was supposed to happen didn't; the first Viking probe was supposed to land on Mars on July 4, but was delayed for some reason.

The National mood wasn't right. Vietnam and Nixon soured a lot of people on anything government related and the economy sucked.
NYC was broke and had to scale back on a lot of planned activities

Quote: smoothgrh

Quote: billryan

I was pretty disappointed by the nation's reaction to our 200th Birthday. I'm hoping our 250th goes better.
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I was six years old during the bicentennial and was very excited about it thanks to all the marketing hype, especially the stackable 7UP cans that made a picture of Uncle Sam!
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I was 5… The only things I remember are that my kindergarten pictures had a “76” logo, and when I went outside to show off my new red, white, and blue tank top, I wasn’t the only kid on the block with that exact shirt. I don’t know if I even understood what the bicentennial was until I had my first American History textbook (probably the following year).

I bought Gabe Kaplan's 1976 single on 45, "Up Your Nose (with a Rubber Hose)," which I thought was hilarious back then. It is still slightly amusing.

The B side is "Bye Centennial Minutes," which I gave a listen to a few years back. It is not worth the 2:15 of your life to hear.

Over the days after Lexington and Concord, hundreds of Americans took up arms and established a camp on the heights outside of the City. At first, the English tried to man the outer defenses but quickly withdrew from Charlestown into Boston proper.
Martial law was declared in the city, and 2,000 weapons were confiscated. Many Loyalists fled into the city, afraid of their neighbors, and a large percentage of Boston's population left.
Without heavy cannons, the Colonials couldn't attack the entrenched forces in Boston or fight the Navy in the harbor.
The opening salvo had been fired, and many wheels were being set in motion.
Militias from all the colonies were headed to Boston, and representatives were en route to Philadelphia for the Second Continental Congress.