n
the night of April 18th, 1775, approximately 700 British soldiers
gathered on Boston Common to prepare for a raid on American military
supplies stored in nearby Concord. Informed of the British troop
movement, Paul Revere and William Dawes, Boston residents, set
out to warn their fellow colonists.
Over the next twenty-four hours, a series of events ensued which took Massachusetts and the other twelve colonies a major step closer to Independence.
By the end of the day on April 19, the Minute Men had surrounded Boston and laid seige to the port city. On July 2, 1775, George Washington, a planter from distant Virginia, took charge of this army. Eight months later, British troops evacuated Boston. In Massachusetts the fighting was over, but the War for Independence had only begun.