North Bridge: First Forcible Resistance to the British Advance

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compared to their neighborsin Lexington, the citizens of Concord were already wide awake by the time the British began their approach. Theirs was a larger town with a small Tory minority; most citizens supported local militias and had anticipated British interference. When Concord’s pastor, William Emerson, heard the alarm raised by Dr. Prescott in the predawn gloom of April 19, 1775, he rushed to grab his weapon and get to Wright’s Tavern. Much to his pride, he was the first to arrive. Many more men from Concord and nearby Lincoln soon joined him. 

At daybreak, a scout arrived in Concord, reporting shots fired on Lexington Green. Major John Buttrick assembled the nearly 250 militiamen gathered and prepared to meet the approaching British. The militia positioned themselves around Concord’s hills, and fresh arrivals from the surrounding countryside bolstered their forces throughout the morning. The British reached Concord around 8:00 a.m., and under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith and Major John Pitcairn, continued their objective of seizing any stockpiled contraband. Far fewer munitions were found than expected, but they found casks of flour for the militia at Ebenezer Hubbard’s house and threw them into the millpond. The townspeople later retrieved and salvaged the flour.

Meanwhile, seven companies commanded by Captain Lawrence Parsons moved toward the North Bridge. On the opposite side stood the provincial militia — around 400 men strong and outnumbering the British two to one. 

Once across the bridge, Parsons divided his troops: One company remained at the western end of the bridge, facing the militiamen; four were dispatched to the farm of militia Colonel James Barrett, where significant munitions were believed to be stored; and the remaining two took up position along the road to the farm. 

Smoke from bonfires lit by Smith’s grenadiers alarmed the militiamen, and they moved off the hill, toward the bridge and town. Barrett ordered them to load their guns but not fire until fired upon. The British felt the vulnerability of their position and crossed back over the North Bridge, just in time to get some 100 men across and tear up a few planks as they went. 

The militia marched down the bridge in ranks of two, led by the Acton Company’s Captain Isaac Davis and the Concord Company’s Major John Buttrick. Barrett rode at the rear, repeating his order not to fire first. The British forces gathered at the end of the bridge in a confused jumble when the firing began. 

In the first British volley, Captain Davis and one of his men fell. Major Buttrick gave the order to fire, and this organized Patriot volley killed two British troops and wounded several. Halfway back to town from the bridge, the retreating British encountered reinforcements from Colonel Smith, far too late to be of any help, and they marched back into Concord to prepare for their final retreat. The North Bridge saw the first successful and organized resistance by an American force, unified under a commander, of the Revolution.