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Two maps of Minute Man National Historical Park in Massachusetts. Both maps show troop movements in red, blue, green, or purple across beige terrain. Yellow starbursts dot the pathways, and waterways are shown in blue.

Extended Description

The maps cover the same terrain from Concord to the west and, moving east, Lexington, Menotomy, Cambridge, Charlestown, and Boston. The Mystic River winds toward Charlestown and the Charles River toward Boston. Charlestown and Boston are peninsulas almost entirely surrounded by water.

The maps appear side-by-side. The left map is titled British Expedition and Patriot Messengers, April 18-19, 1775. The right map is titled British Return from Concord, April 19, 1775. This description will give more detail about the left map first and then the map on the right.

Left Map: British Expedition and Patriot Messengers

Starting in the east, most of the arrows begin in Boston and point west. The uppermost line is blue and represents Paul Revere’s route. It begins at Old North Church in Boston, where a note on the map reads “10:30 pm, April 18, Revere departs Boston.” The line crosses the water to Charlestown and then meets the mainland near a red dash with a note reading “Revere eludes British patrol.” It jogs northwest to the town of Mystic (Medford), just across the Mystic River, and then travels southwest to Menotomy (Arlington). There it joins the red and green lines.

The red line, Smith’s Route to Concord, begins on Boston Neck in south Boston near a note reading “11:00 pm, April 18, Expedition departs Boston.” The red line crosses the Charles River and lands on the mainland at Lechmere Point. It continues west to where it meets the blue and green lines near Menotomy.

The green line, William Dawes’s route, departs from near Boston Neck as well. It travels south across Back Bay to Roxbury. The line turns west to pass Brookline and cross the Cambridge Bridge before running alongside the red line for a distance before the blue, red, and green lines meet.

After Menotomy, all three lines pass Pierce’s Hill and Munroe Tavern before arriving at the first yellow starburst in Lexington at “Dawn, April 19.” A note above reads, “12 midnight, April 19: Revere arrives in Lexington before the British leave Lechmere Point. Dawes arrives at 12:30 am. Prescott joins them after they leave for Concord.” Five black squares representing sites are in or near the yellow starburst but three are labeled: Buckman Tavern, Harrington House, and Hancock-Clarke House. Blue text near the starburst reads “Capt. Parker & Lexington Militia.”

The three lines continue west and are joined for a short stretch by a purple line, representing Samuel Prescott’s route. A Red dash intersects the main red line shortly after all four lines join. The blue Revere line stops here, the green Dawes line turns back, and the red Smith line continues on. A note here reads “1:30 am, April 19: British patrol stops Revere, Dawes, and Prescott. Revere is captured, Dawes flees back to Lexington, and Prescott escapes to continue to Concord and beyond.”

The red and purple lines continue past the Meriam House and Meriam’s Corner to Concord. Here, the purple extends off the left edge of the map. The red line branches into a lowercase h shape. The trunk continues southwest over South Bridge, which spans the Sudbury River. The short leg of the h veers north to pass Old Manse, cross the North Bridge over Assabet River, and end at Barrett’s Farm. A note there read “7 am, April 19: Expedition arrives in Concord.” Black squares intermittently line the h shape.

A legend at the top left corner reads thus:

Red indicates British route to Concord.

Black text reads, “Patriot Messengers” and continues:

Dark blue indicates Paul Revere’s route.

Green indicates William Dawes’s route.

Purple indicates Samuel Prescott’s route.

Right Map: British Return from Concord

The right map represents movements on April 19, 1775. Red solid lines indicate British movements and red dashed lines indicate flanking parties. Blue lines indicate the Massachusetts Militia movements. Eleven yellow starbursts punctuate the routes. This description will move in the opposite direction from the previous, beginning near Concord, to the west, and travel east to follow the movements represented with arrows.

Near the left edge of the map, a red line passes Barrett’s Farm. A short blue line labeled Col. Barrett’s Militia passes the Buttrick House and both point toward the first starburst is on the North Bridge, which has a note reading “9:30 am.” A note in the bottom left corner of the map reads “Note: Col. Barrett’s Militia at North Bridge consisted of units from Concord, Lincoln, Acton, and Bedford.”

From the North Bridge, the red line ripples across the rest of the map in a mostly continuous line. The first, long section is labeled “Smith’s Return from Concord” and dashed red lines run alongside the solid line for most of its length. Another short red line crosses the South Bridge and points to the main route near Wright Tavern.

Six starbursts are spaced across the main red line. A short blue line labeled with the name of the militia points to each starburst to represent confrontations. An unlabeled blue line and one representing the Billerica & Reading Militia point to the next starburst at Meriam House and Meriam’s Corner at 12:30 pm. The blue Framingham & Sudbury Militia clash with British troops at Brooks Hill at 12:45 pm, and Maj. Baldwin & Woburn Militia at Bloody Angle at 1:00 pm.

British movements continue east past Hartwell Tavern to where Capt. Parker & Lexington Militia clash twice near Fiske Hill at 1:40 pm. Another blue line and the main red line pass Concord HIll before a skirmish at Lexington at 2:30 pm.

Here the solid red line of Smith’s Return from Concord breaks. Picking up the narrative necessitates shifting to Boston all the way to the east. A red line labeled “Percy’s Route to Lexington” begins in southern Boston, where it crosses the Boston Neck and heads to Roxbury. A note here reads “8:45 am, Percy departs Boston.” Percy's force meets up with the remnants of Smith’s force. As they retreated to Charlestown they clashed with Capt. Parker & Lexington’ Militia just west of Menotomy at 4:30 pm and with Dr. Warren, Gen. Heath & Danvers Militia near the Russell House. The Maj. Gardner & Brookline Militia sweep northwest from near the Cambridge Bridge to clash with troops at Watson’s Corner at 6:00 pm, and the Col. Pickering & Salem Militia sweep south from the Mystic River to a clash at Charleston at 7:00 pm, where a note reads “Expedition returns to Charlestown.”

Four cannon symbols represent British Artillery along Percy’s route between Lexington and Charlestown Neck, and a boat symbol represents the HMS Somerset between Charlestown Neck and Charlestown.

A legend at the top left corner of this map begins with red text reading “Red indicates British movements; dashed lines indicate flanking parties.” A black cannon symbol represents British Artillery, and the blue text below reads, “Blue indicates Massachusetts Militia movements.”