| Revision as of 10:03, 18 April 2023 edit2601:196:180:dc0:2dde:a626:2e4b:2bd3 (talk) →The Battle: Fix named-reference format← Previous edit | Revision as of 10:07, 18 April 2023 edit undo2601:196:180:dc0:2dde:a626:2e4b:2bd3 (talk) →The Battle: Content/citeNext edit → | ||
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| While the fighting was going on in Lexington and Concord, 5,100 militia men from thirteen towns arrived in Menotomy from ] and ] Counties. These men took up positions in and around houses, stone walls, fields and barns along the road the British troops would take on their retreat to Boston. The British column stretched for an entire mile.<ref name=ahs/> | While the fighting was going on in Lexington and Concord, 5,100 militia men from thirteen towns arrived in Menotomy from ] and ] Counties. These men took up positions in and around houses, stone walls, fields and barns along the road the British troops would take on their retreat to Boston. The British column stretched for an entire mile.<ref name=ahs/> | ||
| Orders were given for the British troops to eliminate snipers. Homes were ransacked, plundered, and set ablaze. Finally, the American militiamen were set off.<ref name=ahs/> | Orders were given by British commanding general Hugh Percy<ref>, Concord Museum</ref> for the British troops to eliminate snipers. Homes were ransacked, plundered, and set ablaze. Finally, the American militiamen were set off.<ref name=ahs/> | ||
| Wrote author Thomas Fleming, "What followed was a bloody running fight, a kind of serial ambush that surprised and bedeviled the British, hardened the rebellious Americans’ resolve and spawned the legend that the Continentals fought “unfairly” like Indians, hitting and running and sniping from concealed positions."<ref name=hnet>{{Cite web|url=https://www.historynet.com/battle-of-menotomy-first-blood-1775.htm|title=Battle of Menotomy – First Blood, 1775|date=2010-05-06|website=HistoryNet|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-15}}</ref> | Wrote author Thomas Fleming, "What followed was a bloody running fight, a kind of serial ambush that surprised and bedeviled the British, hardened the rebellious Americans’ resolve and spawned the legend that the Continentals fought “unfairly” like Indians, hitting and running and sniping from concealed positions."<ref name=hnet>{{Cite web|url=https://www.historynet.com/battle-of-menotomy-first-blood-1775.htm|title=Battle of Menotomy – First Blood, 1775|date=2010-05-06|website=HistoryNet|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-15}}</ref> | ||
Revision as of 10:07, 18 April 2023
Early battle of the American Revolutionary War | It has been suggested that this article be merged into Battles of Lexington and Concord. (Discuss) Proposed since April 2023. |
| Battle of Menotomy | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the American Revolutionary War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Massachusetts Bay |
 Great Britain | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
William Heath Gideon Foster | Hugh Percy | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 5,100 | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 25 killed | 40 killed | ||||||
The Battle of Menotomy was an action on April 19, 1775 (the day of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, popularly regarded as the opening day of the American Revolutionary War), in what is now Arlington, Massachusetts. 5,100 men from eastern Middlesex County and southern Essex County gathered in Menotomy to meet the retreating British troops on their way to Boston from Concord. 25 rebels and 40 British troops were killed in this battle. It was here in Menotomy that the first British soldiers were captured.
Prelude
The village of Menotomy (today's Arlington, Massachusetts) lay on the busy Concord Road (now Massachusetts Avenue) between Boston and Lexington. On April 18 the Revolutionary body, the Committee of Safety, met there at the Black Horse tavern, in arms over oppressive British policies. At 3 a.m., the following day the British troops marched through town en route to Concord to destroy the military stores collected there, rousing the Committee from its sleep.
The Battle
While the fighting was going on in Lexington and Concord, 5,100 militia men from thirteen towns arrived in Menotomy from Middlesex and Essex Counties. These men took up positions in and around houses, stone walls, fields and barns along the road the British troops would take on their retreat to Boston. The British column stretched for an entire mile.
Orders were given by British commanding general Hugh Percy for the British troops to eliminate snipers. Homes were ransacked, plundered, and set ablaze. Finally, the American militiamen were set off.
Wrote author Thomas Fleming, "What followed was a bloody running fight, a kind of serial ambush that surprised and bedeviled the British, hardened the rebellious Americans’ resolve and spawned the legend that the Continentals fought “unfairly” like Indians, hitting and running and sniping from concealed positions."
Ultimately, the bloodiest fighting of the first day of the American Revolution took place inside a single house as the British cleared a path for their retreat.
Of the 25 militia men killed in Menotomy, 11 died in the the Jason Russell House. During the fighting in Menotomy, 40 British soldiers were killed.
References
- Thomas Fleming (March 6, 2019). "Battle of Menotomy — First Blood, 1775". HistoryNet. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
- ""The Battle of Menotomy"". Arlington Historical Society. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
- ^ ""Menotomy Minutemen Trail Guide"" (PDF). Retrieved April 14, 2019.
- ^ "The Battle of Menotomy", Arlington Historical Society
- "Menotomy, April 19, 3:30 p.m. | 7:00 p.m.", Concord Museum
- ^ "Battle of Menotomy – First Blood, 1775". HistoryNet. 2010-05-06. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
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42°24′58″N 71°09′11″W / 42.416°N 71.153°W / 42.416; -71.153