Above image: Statue of the Minute Man, Concord, 1900, Detroit Publishing Company. Right: Image of the Battle of Lexington, Amos Doolittle. Date unknown, late 1700s, early 1800s. Images: Library of Congress.

Minute Man Then

It had been a year and one half since the Boston Tea Party and the British Government was not relenting. They passed Coercive Laws with penalties meant to recover the loss from that tea, they dissolved the semi-self rule Colonial Government and replaced it with a Governor, Thomas Gage, the Royal Governor, who would rule with strict interpretation. When additional British regular troops started to threaten a growing insurrection as the year of 1775 began, the Minute Men trained, in essence to protect the territory from French and Indians, but in actuality, to train to gain their freedom. It was a controversial tact, one not all agreed on, perhaps, all the way up to the time the first shots rang out at Concord's North Bridge and British blood was shed. After that, there was no doubt. A revolution had begun.

Minute Man Dates/Times of Importance

April 18, 1775 (9-10 p.m.) - Joseph Warren tells Paul Revere and William Dawes to ride to Lexington and warn leaders and militia that the British were mobilizing toward them.

April 18, 1775 (10 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.) - Revere, Dawes, Samuel Prescott, and up to forty men ride throughout the countryside between Boston and Concord, warning of the British approaching. Revere is eventually caught, but released without his horse.

April 19, 1775 (Dawn) - Battle of Lexington Green, outside National Park boundaries in town of Lexington. First action.

April 19, 1775 (11:00 a.m.) - Battle of Concord, North Bridge. First time colonists fired back and killed British regulars with Emerson's famous line "shot heard round the world" immortalizing the fight.

April 19, 1775 (Afternoon to Evening) - British regulars retreat toward Boston, engaging up to 2,000 militia in irregular skirmishes at locations like Brooks Hill and the Bloody Angle. By the next morning, up to 15,000 militia had surrounded Boston amd the American Revolution had begun.

Minute Man History - In many respects, it was the British government's fault that the men of the Massachusetts colony and the other colonies along the eastern seaboard were ready and able to fight as the dates of the revolution approached. All men from sixteen to sixty in Massachusetts had to belong to a militia in order to fight the enemies of the British; i.e. the French and the Indians. See French and Indian war only fifteen years before for the reason why. When loyalists were purged from the commanders of the militia by the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, and a portion of the militia segregated into new special companies, the Minute Men were born. They would be paid. They would train frequently. They would keep their arms by their side and be ready in a minute. When Paul Revere rode to explain that the British were coming to Concord and Lexington, they were ready in that minute.

How big were these towns in 1770s versus today? Not large. Boston, the big city, had only 15,500 people in 1765, the last census prior to the American Revolution. Lexington had 941 people in 1790.

Photo above: Another image of the Battle of Lexington. Source: Library of Congress. Below: Minute Man reenactors at Minute Man National Historic Park. Source: National Park Service.

Minute Man Now

The park moves like a ribbon of homes and historic sites along the Battle Road and the main roads from Lexington to Concord. It tells the story of the beginnings of the American Revolution with tales of the ride of Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott, plus others, who warned of the coming British storm, and the mobilization of thousands of men with revolution ties who would thwart them, in small skirmish battles, then surround them in Boston one day later. There are eleven witness homes in and around the park. Two visitor centers are located at each end; the main Minute Man Visitor Center in the east, and the North Bridge Visitor Center in the west. Ranger tours, the Road to Revolution film, and walks along the Battle Road give visitors a chance to recreate the times of these men who fought for freedom.