Lexington and Concord

Lexington and Concord 

cities in the state of Massachusetts, USA, near which the first battles of the American War of Independence (1775–83) took place on Apr. 19, 1775.

A 2,000-man detachment of British forces under Lieutenant-Colonel F. Smith left Boston for Concord (30 km to the north-west) with the aim of capturing a store of arms from the rebellious American colonists. During the march, the British troops were attacked on the road between Lexington and Con-cord by the colonists. The colonists were in loose order and fired from behind cover. The British detachment lost about 300 men and succeeded in returning to Boston only with the help of reinforcements. The Americans lost 100 men out of 400. The battles showed the advantage of using riflemen in loose order against infantry in linear battle formation.