115-580: Captain Peter Miles Riggal served with the Lincolnshire Regiment and was an expert in the use of explosives. He was recruited by SOE and worked as an instructor. Later in the war he was attached to Force 136 in the Far East, and instructed agents who were to be dropped into Japan to destroy key targets during the planned invasion of Japan. Their skills were not put into use as the war with Japan
230-404: A New England army of 18,000 colonial soldiers. On the morning of April 18, Gage ordered a mounted patrol of about 20 men under the command of Major Mitchell of the 5th Regiment of Foot into the surrounding country to intercept messengers who might be out on horseback. This patrol behaved differently from patrols sent out from Boston in the past, staying out after dark and asking travelers about
345-549: A crucial role in assembling a sufficient number of colonial militia to inflict heavy damage on the British regulars later in the day. Adams and Hancock were eventually moved to safety, first to what is now Burlington and later to Billerica . Around dusk, General Gage called a meeting of his senior officers at the Province House . He informed them that instructions from Lord Dartmouth had arrived, ordering him to take action against
460-474: A few weeks, they were sent to garrison neutral Iceland . They trained as Alpine troops during the two years they were there. After returning to the United Kingdom in 1942, when the division gained the 70th Brigade , they were earmarked to form part of the 21st Army Group for the coming invasion of France and started training in preparation. After two years spent on home defence, the 6th Battalion left
575-473: A gallop and told him that they were not only coming but coming in force and they were close. Captain Parker was clearly aware that he was outmatched in the confrontation and was not prepared to sacrifice his men for no purpose. He knew that most of the colonists' powder and military supplies at Concord had already been hidden. No war had been declared. (The Declaration of Independence was more than fourteen months in
690-642: A lieutenant-colonel in command. From this point, the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment had also provided an officer as Adjutant to the Bermuda Local Forces and Secretary to the Local Forces Board, beginning with Captain (later Major) Darby Robert Follett Houlton-Hart (according to the 13 January 1954, issue of The Bermuda Recorder newspaper, the reorganisation of the two units under a new common headquarters had begun operating unofficially since
805-542: A newly arrived Second BVRC Contingent, of one officer and 36 other ranks, who had trained in Bermuda as Vickers machine gunners . Stripped of their Vickers machine guns (which had been collected, for the new Machine Gun Corps ), the merged contingents were retrained as Lewis light machinegunners , and provided 12 gun teams to 1 Lincolns headquarters. By the end of the war, the two contingents had lost over 75% of their combined strength. Forty had died on active service, one received
920-470: A slight wound, the particulars of which were corroborated by a deposition made by Corporal John Munroe. Munroe stated that: After the first fire of the regulars, I thought, and so stated to Ebenezer Munroe ... who stood next to me on the left, that they had fired nothing but powder; but on the second firing, Munroe stated they had fired something more than powder, for he had received a wound in his arm; and now, said he, to use his own words, "I'll give them
1035-568: A state of rebellion existed: We ... find that a part of your Majesty' s subjects, in the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, have proceeded so far to resist the authority of the supreme Legislature, that a rebellion at this time actually exists within the said Province; and we see, with the utmost concern, that they have been countenanced and encouraged by unlawful combinations and engagements entered into by your Majesty's subjects in several of
1150-465: A trumpet were used for rapid communication from town to town, notifying the rebels in dozens of eastern Massachusetts villages that they should muster their militias because over 500 regulars were leaving Boston. This system was so effective that people in towns 25 miles (40 km) from Boston were aware of the army's movements while they were still unloading boats in Cambridge. These early warnings played
1265-577: A war footing. The battalion left Bermuda on 14 September aboard HMCS Canada , escorted by HMCS Niobe , which had arrived in Bermuda the day before bearing the Royal Canadian Regiment , for Halifax, Nova Scotia , where they arrived on 18 September. Departing from there again to cross the Atlantic, the battalion returned to England on 3 October 1914, and was sent to the Western Front as part of
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#17328631918501380-684: Is a large amount of information on codes, disguises, explosive tests, interrogation techniques and many other training aids. They are on display at the Combined Military Services Museum in Maldon , Essex. Lincolnshire Regiment The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army raised on 20 June 1685 as the Earl of Bath's Regiment for its first Colonel, John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath . In 1751, it
1495-456: Is that the first shot was fired by the British, one which killed Asahel Porter, their prisoner who was running away (he had been told to walk away and he would be let go, though he panicked and began to run). Historian David Hackett Fischer has proposed that there may actually have been multiple near-simultaneous shots. Historian Mark Urban said that after telling them to disperse, Pitcairn signalled his soldiers to move forward and disarm
1610-700: The 138th Brigade in the 46th (North Midland) Division in March 1915 for service on the Western Front. The 2/4th Battalion and 2/5th Battalion moved to Ireland as part of the 177th Brigade in the 59th (2nd North Midland) Division and took part in the response to the Easter Rising before landing in France in February 1917 for service on the Western Front. The 6th (Service) Battalion landed at Suvla Bay in Gallipoli as part of
1725-805: The 25th Brigade in the 8th Division soon after, arriving in France on 5 November 1914. McAndrew was killed on 10 March 1915. Major engagements included the Battle of Aubers Ridge in May 1915 where the battalion incurred heavy losses and the Battle of the Somme in Autumn 1916 where the second-in-command of the battalion, Major F. W. Greatwood, was injured. A contingent from the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps composed of Captain Richard Tucker and 88 other ranks
1840-586: The 33rd Brigade in the 11th (Northern) Division in August 1915 and, having been evacuated at the end of the year, moved to Egypt in January 1916 and then to France in July 1916 for service on the Western Front. The 7th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne as part of the 51st Brigade in the 17th (Northern) Division in July 1915 also for service on the Western Front. The 8th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne as part of
1955-536: The 46th Infantry Division , in April 1940; both served with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and managed to return from Dunkirk after the battles of France and Belgium . After returning to England, both battalions spent years in the United Kingdom on home defence anticipating a possible German invasion of the United Kingdom . The 2nd Battalion, remaining with the same brigade and division throughout
2070-588: The 63rd Brigade in the 21st Division in September 1915 also for service on the Western Front. The 10th (Service) Battalion (Grimsby, often known as the Grimsby Chums , landed in France as part of the 101st Brigade in the 34th Division in January 1916 also for service on the Western Front and saw action at the First day on the Somme in July 1916 and the Battle of Passchendaele in Autumn 1917. The Second World War
2185-554: The Battle of Alexandria in March 1801. The 2nd battalion then took part in the disastrous Walcheren Campaign in autumn 1809. Meanwhile, the 1st battalion embarked for Spain in 1812 for service in the Peninsular War and took part in the Battle of Castalla in April 1813 and the Siege of Tarragona in June 1813. Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Booth, KH , JP , a Peninsular War veteran and
2300-680: The British Parliament to punish the Province of Massachusetts Bay for the Boston Tea Party and other acts of protest. General Thomas Gage was the military governor of Massachusetts and commander-in-chief of the roughly 3,000 British military forces garrisoned in Boston. He had no control over Massachusetts outside of Boston, however, where the implementation of the Acts had increased tensions between
2415-447: The French and Indian War between 1754 and 1763 when they fought alongside British regulars. Under the laws of each New England colony, all towns were obligated to form militia companies composed of all males 16 years of age and older (there were exemptions for some categories) and to ensure that the members were properly armed. The Massachusetts militias were formally under the jurisdiction of
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#17328631918502530-580: The Glorious Revolution , it formed the garrison of Plymouth and defected to William III shortly after his landing at Torbay on 5 November 1688. After the outbreak of the Nine Years War in 1689, the regiment remained in Plymouth until the end of 1691, when it embarked for Ostend and saw action at the Battle of Steenkerque in August 1692, suffering 50 dead or wounded. During the 1693 campaign, it
2645-931: The Haldane Reforms , with the former becoming the Territorial Force (TF) and the latter the Special Reserve ; the regiment now had one Reserve and two Territorial battalions. These were the 3rd Battalion (Special Reserve) at Lincoln, with the 4th Battalion (TF) at Broadgate in Lincoln and the 5th Battalion (TF) at Doughty Road in Grimsby (since demolished). The regiment started the First World War with two regular battalions, one militia battalion and two territorial battalions. The 1st Lincolns were stationed in Portsmouth,
2760-770: The Kingdom of Great Britain and Patriot militias from America's thirteen colonies . In late 1774, Colonial leaders adopted the Suffolk Resolves in resistance to the alterations made to the Massachusetts colonial government by the British parliament following the Boston Tea Party . The colonial assembly responded by forming a Patriot provisional government known as the Massachusetts Provincial Congress and calling for local militias to train for possible hostilities. The Colonial government effectively controlled
2875-616: The New York Campaign in winter 1776, the Battle of Germantown in October 1777, the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778 and the Battle of Rhode Island in August 1778. In 1778, the 10th returned home to England after 19 years service overseas. In 1782, the regiment was linked to the county of Lincolnshire for recruiting. The regiment embarked for Egypt in 1800 for service in the French Revolutionary Wars and took part in
2990-640: The Northamptonshire Regiment to form the 2nd East Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's Own Royal Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire) which was later amalgamated with the 1st East Anglian Regiment (Royal Norfolk and Suffolk) , 3rd East Anglian Regiment (16th/44th Foot) and the Royal Leicestershire Regiment in September 1964 to form the Royal Anglian Regiment . The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment's paternal relationship to
3105-668: The O.B.E , and six the Military Medal . Sixteen enlisted men from the two contingents were commissioned, including the Sergeant Major of the First Contingent, Colour-Sergeant R.C. Earl, who would become Commanding Officer of the BVRC after the War (some of those commissioned moved to other units in the process, including flying ace Arthur Rowe Spurling and Henry J. Watlington, who both went to
3220-762: The Royal Artillery ) had been re-tasked as a company of infantry on the closure of St. David's Battery in 1953, it had been grouped with the Bermuda Rifles under a battalion-level headquarters company titled Headquarters Bermuda Local Forces (not to be confused with the Command Headquarters of the Bermuda Garrison , to which it was subsidiary, with Governor of Bermuda Lieutenant-General Sir Alexander Hood serving as Commander-in-Chief and Brigadier J.C. Smith, Royal Artillery, as Officer Commanding Troops) with
3335-538: The Royal Flying Corps ). Those surviving contingent members who had not already been sent home as invalids or transferred to other units were returned to Bermuda in several parties over the summer of 1919. At the end of the war in 1918, the 1st Lincolns, under Frederick Spring , and the 3rd Lincolns were sent to Ireland to deal with the troubles in the unrecognised Irish Republic . The 1/4th Battalion and 1/5th Battalion landed as landed at Le Havre as part of
3450-575: The Royal Fusiliers ), Lance-Corporal Louis William Morris, and Private Farrier. Wailes was repeatedly wounded and returned to Bermuda an invalid in April 1915. Morris was killed in action on 7 December 1914. Although commanders at the Regimental Depot had wanted to break the contingent apart, re-enlist its members as Lincolns, and distribute them throughout the Regiment as replacements, a letter from
3565-647: The Second Anglo-Sikh War . In 1857, at the outbreak of the Indian Rebellion , the Regiment was stationed at Dinapore , taking part in the failed first relief of the Siege of Arrah and going on to play an important role in the relief of Lucknow where Private Denis Dempsey won the Victoria Cross . The 1st Battalion, 10th Foot served in Japan from 1868 through 1871. The battalion was charged with protecting
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3680-787: The Second Boer War . The 3rd ( Militia ) battalion, formed from the Royal North Lincoln Militia in 1881, was a reserve battalion. It was embodied in May 1900, disembodied in July the following year, and later re-embodied for service in South Africa during the Second Boer War. 17 officers and 519 men returned aboard Cestrian , arriving in Southampton on 5 October 1902. In 1908, the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised under
3795-751: The Volturno Line and fought on the Winter Line and in the Battle of Monte Cassino in January 1944. The battalion returned to Egypt to refit in March 1944, by which time it had suffered heavy casualties and lost 518 killed, wounded or missing. It returned to the Italian Front in July 1944 and, after more hard fighting throughout the summer during the Battles for the Gothic Line , it sailed for Greece in December to help
3910-804: The new system had been tried during the Big Three Conference last month when all troops were under the command of Lt.-Col. J. R. Johnson of the Royal Welch Fusiliers ) posted to Bermuda from 1953 to 1957. In addition to serving as the Bermuda Command Adjutant and the Bermuda Local Forces Adjutant, Captain Houlton-Hart was also the adjutant of the Bermuda Cadet Corps. In 1960, the regiment amalgamated with
4025-467: The siege of Boston . Ralph Waldo Emerson describes the first shot fired by the Patriots at the North Bridge in his " Concord Hymn " as the " shot heard round the world ". The British Army 's infantry were nicknamed " redcoats " and sometimes "devils" by the colonists. They had occupied Boston since 1768 and had been augmented by naval forces and marines to enforce what the colonists called The Intolerable Acts of 1774, which had been passed by
4140-435: The 1751 reforms, when all British regiments were identified by numbers rather than their Colonel's name, it became the 10th Regiment of Foot . It then took part in the 1759–60 action to repel Thurot at Carrickfergus during the Seven Years' War . The regiment would next see action in the American Revolutionary War , fighting at the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775, the Battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775,
4255-500: The 1870s, which gave it a depot at the " old barracks " in Lincoln from 1873. The regiment moved to the " new barracks " further north on Burton Road in 1880. Nor was the regiment affected by the Childers reforms of 1881 – as it already possessed two battalions, there was no need for it to amalgamate with another regiment. Under the reforms, the regiment became The Lincolnshire Regiment on 1 July 1881. The Royal North Lincolnshire and Royal South Lincolnshire Militia regiments became
4370-421: The 1st Battalion of the Marines. Each company had its own lieutenant, but the majority of the captains commanding them were volunteers attached to them at the last minute, drawn from all the regiments stationed in Boston. This lack of familiarity between commander and company would cause problems during the battle. The British began to awaken their troops at 9 pm on the night of April 18 and assembled them on
4485-437: The 2nd Lincolns on Garrison in Bermuda , and the 3rd in Lincoln. The 4th and 5th Battalions were the Territorial battalions, based throughout Lincolnshire. The 1st Battalion landed at Le Havre as part of the 9th Brigade in the 3rd Division for service on the Western Front in August 1914. Notable engagements included the First Battle of Ypres in autumn 1914 and the Battle of Bellewaarde in May 1915, during which
4600-542: The 3rd and 4th Battalions, and the 1st and 2nd Lincolnshire Rifle Volunteer Corps became the 1st and 2nd Volunteer Battalions (a 3rd Volunteer Battalion was added in 1900). The 1st Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment was posted at Malta from 1895, and took part in the Battle of Omdurman in September 1898 during the Mahdist War . It was then stationed in British India , where it was in Bangalore until late 1902 when it transferred to Secunderabad . The 2nd Battalion embarked for South Africa in January 1900 and saw action during
4715-432: The 4th to create the 4th/6th Battalion. On 28 October 1948, the 2nd Battalion was amalgamated with the 1st Battalion. Between 1955–1957 the regiment fought in the Malayan Emergency . The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment and its successors maintained its relationship with the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps (renamed the Bermuda Rifles in 1949) after the Second World War. When the Bermuda Militia Artillery (a reserve sub-unit of
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4830-408: The 7th becoming 102nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery on 1 December 1941 and the 8th becoming the 101st Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery. The Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps again provided two drafts; one in June 1940, and a full company in 1944. Four Bermudians who served with the Lincolns during the war (three from the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps) reached the rank of Major with
4945-415: The Bermuda Rifles and the Bermuda Local Forces was continued by the 2nd East Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's Own Royal Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire) and the Royal Anglian Regiment until the three Bermudian company-sized units amalgamated in 1965 to form the Bermuda Regiment (from 2015 the Royal Bermuda Regiment ), with the relationship maintained since then between the Royal Anglian Regiment and
5060-498: The British area of occupation. Among other members of the 1940 contingent from the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps was Bernard John Abbott, a school teacher and pre-war Bermuda Cadet Corps officer re-commissioned into the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps’ Emergency Reserve of officers with the rank of Second-Lieutenant (Acting Major) in accordance with a War Office cable of the 4 May 1939, who joined 50th Holding Battalion, in Norfolk, which became 8th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment. He ended
5175-436: The King's troops at about 11:00 am, resulting in casualties on both sides. The outnumbered regulars fell back from the bridge and rejoined the main body of British forces in Concord. The British forces began their return march to Boston after completing their search for military supplies, and more militiamen continued to arrive from the neighboring towns. Gunfire erupted again between the two sides and continued throughout
5290-604: The Lincolnshires during the two world wars are displayed in the Bermuda Maritime Museum (part of the British Overseas Territory's territorial museum ) in the Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda . The regiment's battle honours are as follows: Victoria Crosses awarded to men of the Regiment were: 1888–1902: F.M. Prince William Augustus Edward of Saxe-Weimar , KP, GCB, GCVO Colonels of the regiment were: Regimental titles in italics indicate they were disbanded or renumbered before 1881. Battles of Lexington and Concord American victory The Battles of Lexington and Concord
5405-445: The Patriot Whig majority and the pro-British Tory minority. Gage's plan was to avoid conflict by removing military supplies from Whig militias using small, secret, and rapid strikes. This struggle for supplies led to one British success and several Patriot successes in a series of nearly bloodless conflicts known as the Powder Alarms . Gage considered himself to be a friend of liberty and attempted to separate his duties as governor of
5520-418: The Provincial Congress had organized local companies into regiments and brigades with designated commanders, units turned out piecemeal over the course of the day. Thirty towns from the surrounding area sent men into combat with many more on the way. By afternoon, many regimental commands were fundamentally present and acting in a coordinated manner. Several provincial generals were en route to the fighting during
5635-406: The Royal Bermuda Regiment. Currently, 674 Squadron Army Air Corps uses the sphinx as an emblem within its crest in honour of its local connections with the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment. The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment and Lincolnshire Yeomanry collections are displayed in Lincoln's Museum of Lincolnshire Life . Artefacts concerning the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps contingents that served with
5750-423: The United Kingdom, still as part of the 138th (Lincoln and Leicester) Brigade in the 46th Infantry Division, in January 1943 to participate in the final stages of the Tunisia Campaign . In September 1943, the battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel David Yates , took part in the landings at Salerno in Italy as part of Mark Clark 's U.S. Fifth Army , suffering heavy losses and later captured Naples , crossed
5865-412: The War Office ensured that the BVRC contingent remained together as a unit, under its own badge. The contingent arrived in France with 1 Lincolns on 23 June 1915, the first colonial volunteer unit to reach the Western Front. The Contingent was withered away by casualties over the following year. 50% of its remaining strength was lost at Gueudecourt on 25 September 1916. The dozen survivors were merged with
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#17328631918505980-436: The arrival in the colony on 17 November, of the command's new Adjutant, Captain D. R. F. Houlton-Hart, M.C., of the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment. The make-up of the new command is as follows:- Col. Astwood, Commanding Officer; Captain D. R. F. Houlton-Hart, Adjutant, one Regimental Sergeant-Major, one Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant, a Sergeant instructor for each unit and two medical officers . The same article also recorded that
6095-588: The battle: I ... ordered our Militia to meet on the Common in said Lexington to consult what to do, and concluded not to be discovered, nor meddle or make with said Regular Troops (if they should approach) unless they should insult or molest us; and, upon their sudden Approach, I immediately ordered our Militia to disperse, and not to fire:—Immediately said Troops made their appearance and rushed furiously, fired upon, and killed eight of our Party without receiving any Provocation therefor from us. Rather than turn left towards Concord, Marine Lieutenant Jesse Adair, at
6210-436: The civil authorities to keep order during the Greek Civil War . In April 1945, the 6th Lincolns returned to Italy for the final offensive but did not participate in any fighting and then moved into Austria for occupation duties. The Lincolnshire Regiment also raised two other battalions for hostilities-only, the 7th and 8th, created in June and July 1940 respectively. However, both were converted into other arms of service,
6325-508: The colonial alarms throughout the countryside caused the few officers who were aware of their mission to realize they had lost the element of surprise. At about 3 am, Colonel Smith sent Major Pitcairn ahead with six companies of light infantry under orders to quick march to Concord. At about 4 am Smith made the wise but belated decision to send a messenger back to Boston asking for reinforcements. The continental force included some 4,000 militia and local minuteman companies. Although
6440-444: The colonials. He also told them that the senior colonel of his regiments, Lieutenant Colonel Smith, would command, with Major John Pitcairn as his executive officer. The meeting adjourned around 8:30 pm, after which Earl Percy mingled with town folk on Boston Common . According to one account, the discussion among people there turned to the unusual movement of the British soldiers in the town. When Percy questioned one man further,
6555-399: The colonists' impotent response to the Powder Alarm . This system was an improved version of an old notification network for use in times of emergency. The colonists had periodically used it during the early years of Indian wars in the colony before it fell into disuse in the French and Indian War . In addition to other express riders delivering messages, bells, drums, alarm guns, bonfires and
6670-416: The colony and as general of an occupying force. Edmund Burke described Gage's conflicted relationship with Massachusetts by saying in Parliament, "An Englishman is the unfittest person on Earth to argue another Englishman into slavery." The colonists had been forming militias since the very beginnings of Colonial settlement for the purpose of defense against Indian attacks. These forces also saw action in
6785-481: The colony outside of British-controlled Boston . In response, the British government in February 1775 declared Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion. About 700 British Army regulars in Boston , under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith , were given secret orders to capture and destroy Colonial military supplies reportedly stored by the Massachusetts militia at Concord. Through effective intelligence gathering, Patriot leaders had received word weeks before
6900-409: The commanding officer of the battalion, Major H. E. R. Boxer, was killed. The Commanding Officer of 2nd Lincolns, Lieutenant-Colonel George Bunbury McAndrew, found himself acting Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial fortress of Bermuda in the absence of the Governor and General Officer Commanding, Lieutenant-General Sir George Bullock , and oversaw that colony's placement onto
7015-435: The day as the regulars marched back towards Boston. Upon returning to Lexington, Lt. Col. Smith's expedition was rescued by reinforcements under Brigadier General Earl Percy . The combined force of about 1,700 men marched back to Boston under heavy fire in a tactical withdrawal and eventually reached the safety of Charlestown. The accumulated militias then blockaded the narrow land accesses to Charlestown and Boston, starting
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#17328631918507130-580: The day but not in a position to assert overall command. General William Heath of Roxbury, Massachusetts exerted command of a phase of the fighting toward the day's end. The British force was organized into: Although often styled a battle, in reality, the engagement at Lexington was a minor brush or skirmish. As the regulars' advance guard under Pitcairn entered Lexington at sunrise on April 19, 1775, about 80 Lexington militiamen emerged from Buckman Tavern and stood in ranks on Lexington common watching them, and between 40 and 100 spectators watched from along
7245-544: The expedition that their supplies might be at risk and had moved most of them to other locations. On the night before the battle, warning of the British expedition had been rapidly sent from Boston to militias in the area by several riders, including Paul Revere and Samuel Prescott , with information about British plans. The initial mode of the Army's arrival by water was signaled from the Old North Church in Boston to Charlestown using lanterns to communicate "one if by land, two if by sea". The first shots were fired just as
7360-573: The formed British companies levelled its weapons and let fly a crashing volley. Witnesses at the scene described several intermittent shots fired from both sides before the lines of regulars began to fire volleys without receiving orders to do so. A few of the militiamen believed at first that the regulars were only firing powder with no ball, but when they realized the truth, few if any of the militia managed to load and return fire. The rest ran for their lives. We Nathaniel Mulliken, Philip Russell, [and 32 other men ...] do testify and declare, that on
7475-461: The future.) He also knew the British had gone on such expeditions before in Massachusetts, found nothing, and marched back to Boston. Parker had every reason to expect that to occur again. The Regulars would march to Concord, find nothing, and return to Boston, tired but empty-handed. He positioned his company carefully. He placed them in parade-ground formation , on Lexington Common. They were in plain sight (not hiding behind walls), but not blocking
7590-427: The guts of my gun." We then both took aim at the main body of British troops the smoke preventing our seeing anything but the heads of some of their horses and discharged our pieces. Some witnesses among the regulars reported the first shot was fired by a colonial onlooker from behind a hedge or around the corner of a tavern. Some observers reported a mounted British officer firing first. Both sides generally agreed that
7705-403: The head of the advance guard, decided on his own to protect the flank of the British column by first turning right and then leading the companies onto the Common itself, in a confused effort to surround and disarm the militia. Major Pitcairn arrived from the rear of the advance force and led his three companies to the left and halted them. The remaining companies under Colonel Smith lay further down
7820-428: The immediate threat of arrest. The Massachusetts militias had indeed been gathering a stock of weapons, powder, and supplies at Concord and much further west in Worcester . An expedition from Boston to Concord was widely anticipated. After a large contingent of regulars alarmed the countryside by an expedition from Boston to Watertown on March 30, The Pennsylvania Journal , a newspaper in Philadelphia, reported, "It
7935-406: The initial shot did not come from the men on the ground immediately facing each other. Speculation arose later in Lexington that a man named Solomon Brown fired the first shot from inside the tavern or from behind a wall, but this has been discredited. Some witnesses (on each side) claimed that someone on the other side fired first; however, many more witnesses claimed to not know. Yet another theory
8050-402: The last of his ancient family to be seated at Killingholme , served as commanding officer from 1830 until his death in 1841. In 1842, the 10th Foot was sent to India and was involved in the bloody Battle of Sobraon in February 1846 during the First Anglo-Sikh War . The 10th would also see action at the Relief of Multan in January 1849 and the Battle of Gujrat in February 1849 during
8165-450: The locals. The sight...of the Americans lowering their weapons and moving off touched [a] nerve...among the British soldiers. For months the local people had abused and taunted them. Instead of a deliberate, orderly walk forward, many [British soldiers] started shouting and cheering, running towards the Americans with...bayonets [still fixed]. Facing this onslaught, one or two of those villagers opened fire...Without orders from Pitcairn, one of
8280-434: The location of Samuel Adams and John Hancock . This had the unintended effect of alarming many residents and increasing their preparedness. The Lexington militia, in particular, began to muster early that evening, hours before receiving any word from Boston. A well-known story alleges that after nightfall one farmer, Josiah Nelson, mistook the British patrol for the colonists and asked them, "Have you heard anything about when
8395-683: The man replied, "Well, the regulars will miss their aim." "What aim?" asked Percy. "Why, the cannon at Concord" was the reply. Upon hearing this, Percy quickly returned to Province House and relayed this information to General Gage. Stunned, Gage issued orders to prevent messengers from getting out of Boston, but these were too late to prevent Dawes and Revere from leaving. The British regulars, around 700 infantry, were drawn from 11 of Gage's 13 occupying infantry regiments. Major Pitcairn commanded ten elite light infantry companies, and Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Bernard commanded 11 grenadier companies, under
8510-413: The militia. The companies under Pitcairn's command got beyond their officers' control in part because they were unaware of the actual purpose of the day's mission. They fired in different directions and prepared to enter private homes. Colonel Smith, who was just arriving with the remainder of the regulars, heard the musket fire and rode forward from the grenadier column to see the action. He quickly found
8625-484: The most likely objectives of the regulars' movements later that night would be the capture of Adams and Hancock. They did not worry about the possibility of regulars marching to Concord, since the supplies at Concord were safe, but they did think their leaders in Lexington were unaware of the potential danger that night. Revere and Dawes were sent out to warn them and to alert colonial militias in nearby towns. Dawes covered
8740-441: The nineteenth in the morning, being informed that ... a body of regulars were marching from Boston towards Concord ... About five o'clock in the morning, hearing our drum beat, we proceeded towards the parade, and soon found that a large body of troops were marching towards us, some of our company were coming to the parade, and others had reached it, at which time, the company began to disperse, whilst our backs were turned on
8855-535: The other Colonies, to the injury and oppression of many of their innocent fellow-subjects, resident within the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the rest of your Majesty' s Dominions ... We ... shall ... pay attention and regard to any real grievances ... laid before us; and whenever any of the Colonies shall make a proper application to us, we shall be ready to afford them every just and reasonable indulgence. At
8970-470: The overall command of Lieutenant Colonel Smith. Of the troops assigned to the expedition, 350 were from grenadier companies drawn from the 4th (King's Own) , 5th , 10th , 18th (Royal Irish) , 23rd , 38th , 43rd , 47th , 52nd and 59th Regiments of Foot, and the 1st Battalion of His Majesty's Marine Forces . Protecting the grenadier companies were about 320 light infantry from the 4th, 5th, 10th, 23rd, 38th, 43rd, 47th, 52nd, and 59th Regiments, and
9085-486: The principles of reason and self-preservation. The rebellion's leaders—with the exception of Paul Revere and Joseph Warren —had all left Boston by April 8. They had received word of Dartmouth's secret instructions to General Gage from sources in London well before they reached Gage himself. Adams and Hancock had fled Boston to the home of one of Hancock's relatives, Jonas Clarke , where they thought they would be safe from
9200-546: The provincial government, but militia companies throughout New England elected their own officers. Gage effectively dissolved the provincial government under the terms of the Massachusetts Government Act , and these existing connections were employed by the colonists under the Massachusetts Provincial Congress for the purpose of resistance to the military threat from Britain. A February 1775 address to King George III , by both houses of Parliament, declared that
9315-567: The rebels and to imprison the rebellion's leaders, but Dartmouth gave Gage considerable discretion in his commands. Gage's decision to act promptly may have been influenced by the information he received on April 15, from a spy within the Provincial Congress, telling him that although the Congress was still divided on the need for armed resistance, delegates were being sent to the other New England colonies to see if they would cooperate in raising
9430-737: The regiment: Major General Glyn Gilbert (later of the Parachute Regiment ), Lieutenant Colonel John Brownlow Tucker (the first Commanding Officer of the Bermuda Regiment , amalgamated from the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps and the Bermuda Militia Artillery in 1965), Major Anthony Smith (killed-in-action at Venrai, in 1944, and subject of an award-winning film, In The Hour of Victory ), and Major Patrick Purcell, responsible for administering German newspapers in
9545-558: The regulars are coming out?" upon which he was slashed on his scalp with a sword. However, the story of this incident was not published until over a century later, which suggests that it may be a family myth. Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith received orders from Gage on the afternoon of April 18 with instructions that he was not to read them until his troops were underway. He was to proceed from Boston "with utmost expedition and secrecy to Concord, where you will seize and destroy ... all Military stores ... But you will take care that
9660-434: The regulars began their 17 miles (27 km) march to Concord at about 2 am. During the wait they were provided with extra ammunition, cold salt pork , and hard sea biscuits . They did not carry knapsacks, since they would not be encamped. They carried their haversacks (food bags), canteens, muskets, and accoutrements, and marched off in wet, muddy shoes and soggy uniforms. As they marched through Menotomy , sounds of
9775-428: The road to Concord accompanied by Samuel Prescott . In Lincoln , they ran into the British patrol led by Major Mitchell. Revere was captured, Dawes was thrown from his horse, and only Prescott escaped to reach Concord. Additional riders were sent out from Concord. The ride of Revere , Dawes, and Prescott triggered a flexible system of "alarm and muster" that had been carefully developed months before, in reaction to
9890-468: The road to Concord. They made a show of political and military determination, but no effort to prevent the march of the Regulars. Many years later, one of the participants recalled Parker's words as being what is now engraved in stone at the site of the battle: "Stand your ground; don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here." According to Parker's sworn deposition taken after
10005-409: The road toward Boston. A British officer (probably Pitcairn, but accounts are uncertain, as it may also have been Lieutenant William Sutherland ) then rode forward, waving his sword, and called out for the assembled militia to disperse, and may also have ordered them to "lay down your arms, you damned rebels!" Captain Parker told his men instead to disperse and go home, but, because of the confusion,
10120-429: The route. Additional riders were sent north from Charlestown. After they arrived in Lexington, Revere, Dawes, Hancock, and Adams discussed the situation with the militia assembling there. They believed that the forces leaving the city were too large for the sole task of arresting two men and that Concord was the main target. The Lexington men dispatched riders to the surrounding towns, and Revere and Dawes continued along
10235-495: The same time we ... beseech your Majesty that you will ... enforce due obedience to the laws and authority of the supreme Legislature; and ... it is our fixed resolution, at the hazard of our lives and properties, to stand by your Majesty against all rebellious attempts in the maintenance of the just rights of your Majesty, and the two Houses of Parliament. On April 14, 1775, Gage received instructions from Secretary of State William Legge, Earl of Dartmouth , to disarm
10350-564: The side of the road. Their leader was Captain John Parker , a veteran of the French and Indian War, who had developed tuberculosis and was at times difficult to hear. Of the militiamen who lined up, nine had the surname Harrington, seven Munroe (including the company's orderly sergeant, William Munroe ), four Parker, three Tidd, three Locke, and three Reed; fully one-quarter of them were related to Captain Parker in some way. This group of militiamen
10465-576: The small foreign community in Yokohama . The leader of the battalion's military band, John William Fenton , is honoured in Japan as "the first bandmaster in Japan" and as "the father of band music in Japan". He is also credited for initiating the slow process in which Kimi ga Yo came to be accepted as the national anthem of Japan. The regiment was not fundamentally affected by the Cardwell Reforms of
10580-424: The soldiers do not plunder the inhabitants or hurt private property." Gage used his discretion and did not issue written orders for the arrest of rebel leaders, as he feared doing so might spark an uprising. On March 30, 1775, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress issued the following resolution: Whenever the army under command of General Gage, or any part thereof to the number of five hundred, shall march out of
10695-689: The southern land route by horseback across Boston Neck and over the Great Bridge to Lexington. Revere first gave instructions to send a signal to Charlestown using lanterns hung in the steeple of Boston's Old North Church . He then traveled the northern water route, crossing the mouth of the Charles River by rowboat, slipping past the British warship HMS Somerset at anchor. Crossings were banned at that hour, but Revere safely landed in Charlestown and rode west to Lexington, warning almost every house along
10810-524: The sun was rising at Lexington. Eight militiamen were killed, including Ensign Robert Munroe , their third in command. The British suffered only one casualty. The militia was outnumbered and fell back, and the regulars proceeded on to Concord, where they broke apart into companies to search for the supplies. At the North Bridge in Concord, approximately 400 militiamen engaged 100 regulars from three companies of
10925-432: The town of Boston, with artillery and baggage, it ought to be deemed a design to carry into execution by force the late acts of Parliament, the attempting of which, by the resolve of the late honourable Continental Congress , ought to be opposed; and therefore the military force of the Province ought to be assembled, and an army of observation immediately formed, to act solely on the defensive so long as it can be justified on
11040-399: The townspeople decided to remove the stores and distribute them among other towns nearby. The colonists were also aware that April 19 would be the date of the expedition, despite Gage's efforts to keep the details hidden from all the British rank and file and even from the officers who would command the mission. There is reasonable speculation that the confidential source of this intelligence
11155-439: The troops, we were fired on by them, and a number of our men were instantly killed and wounded, not a gun was fired by any person in our company on the regulars to our knowledge before they fired on us, and continued firing until we had all made our escape. The regulars then charged forward with bayonets. Captain Parker's cousin, Jonas, was run through. Eight Lexington men were killed, and ten were wounded. The only British casualty
11270-403: The war as a staff officer in the Far East, and The London Gazette of 25 December 1945 recorded “War Subs. Maj. H. J. ABBOTT .(108051) relinquishes his commn., 26th Dec. 1945, and is granted the hon. rank of Lt.-Col.”. After the war, the 4th and 6th battalions were placed in 'suspended animation' in 1946 but were both reformed on 1 January 1947. However, on 1 July 1950, the 6th was merged with
11385-767: The war, then spent the next four years training in various parts of the United Kingdom before taking part in the D-Day landings in June 1944. The battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Welby-Everard was then engaged throughout the Normandy Campaign , taking part in Operation Charnwood , Operation Goodwood , and throughout the rest of the Northwest Europe Campaign until Victory in Europe Day in May 1945. The 1st Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment
11500-433: The water's edge on the western end of Boston Common by 10 pm. Colonel Smith was late in arriving, and there was no organized boat-loading operation, resulting in confusion at the staging area. The boats used were naval barges that were packed so tightly that there was no room to sit down. When they disembarked near Phipps Farm in Cambridge, it was into waist-deep water at midnight. After a lengthy halt to unload their gear,
11615-545: The woods. We had a man of the 10th light Infantry wounded, nobody else was hurt. We then formed on the Common, but with some difficulty, the men were so wild they could hear no orders; we waited a considerable time there, and at length proceeded our way to Concord. According to one member of Parker's militia, none of the Americans had discharged their muskets as they faced the oncoming British troops. The British did suffer one casualty,
11730-801: The yelling all around, and due to the raspiness of Parker's tubercular voice, some did not hear him, some left very slowly, and none laid down their arms. Both Parker and Pitcairn ordered their men to hold fire, but a shot was fired from an unknown source. [A]t 5 o'clock we arrived [in Lexington], and saw a number of people, I believe between 200 and 300, formed in a common in the middle of town; we still continued advancing, keeping prepared against an attack though without intending to attack them; but on our coming near them they fired on us two shots, upon which our men without any orders, rushed upon them, fired and put them to flight; several of them were killed, we could not tell how many, because they were behind walls and into
11845-462: Was Margaret Gage , General Gage's New Jersey -born wife, who had sympathies with the Colonial cause and a friendly relationship with Warren. Between 9 and 10 pm on the night of April 18, 1775, Joseph Warren told Revere and William Dawes that the British troops were about to embark in boats from Boston bound for Cambridge and the road to Lexington and Concord. Warren's intelligence suggested that
11960-405: Was a soldier who was wounded in the thigh. The eight colonists killed were John Brown, Samuel Hadley, Caleb Harrington, Jonathon Harrington, Robert Munroe, Isaac Muzzey, Asahel Porter, and Jonas Parker. Jonathon Harrington, fatally wounded by a British musket ball, managed to crawl back to his home, and died on his own doorstep. One wounded man, Prince Estabrook , was a black slave who was serving in
12075-405: Was declared on Sunday, 3 September 1939 and the two Territorial Army battalions, the 4th and the 6th (a duplicate of the 4th), were called-up immediately. The 2nd Battalion embarked for France with the 9th Infantry Brigade attached to the 3rd Infantry Division commanded by Major-General Bernard Montgomery in October 1939. They were followed by the 6th Battalion, part of 138th Brigade with
12190-521: Was detached from the main Allied force prior to the Battle of Landen in July, then served at the Siege of Namur in July 1695 before returning to England in 1696. It escaped disbandment in 1698 by being posted to Ireland . During the 1701 to 1714 War of the Spanish Succession , the regiment fought at Blenheim in August 1704, Ramillies in May 1706, and Malplaquet in September 1709. Following
12305-474: Was detached in December 1914 to train for the Western Front. It was hoped this could join 2nd Lincolns, but 1 Lincolns' need for reinforcement was greater and it was attached to that battalion organised as two extra platoons of D Company (the 2nd Lincolns had recruited three Bermudians before it left the colony, including two Constables from the Bermuda Police , Corporal G. C. Wailes (who had previously served in
12420-451: Was ended by the use of the atom bomb. His Instructors notes and training information should have been destroyed at the end of the war. However, Riggal kept the notes, and they were forgotten for many years. The papers give a comprehensive insight into what agents were taught in the desperate war years. Amongst the items are a series of school exercise books with his notes on training sessions including assessments of trainee agents. Also there
12535-573: Was later amalgamated with the 1st East Anglian Regiment (Royal Norfolk and Suffolk) , 3rd East Anglian Regiment (16th/44th Foot) and the Royal Leicestershire Regiment to form the Royal Anglian Regiment . 'A' Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Anglians continues the traditions of the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment. The regiment was raised on 20 June 1685 as the Earl of Bath's Regiment for its first Colonel, John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath . Prior to
12650-679: Was numbered like most other Army regiments and named the 10th (North Lincoln) Regiment of Foot . After the Childers Reforms of 1881, it became the Lincolnshire Regiment after the county where it had been recruiting since 1781. After the Second World War , it became the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment , before being amalgamated in 1960 with the Northamptonshire Regiment to form the 2nd East Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's Own Royal Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire) which
12765-460: Was part of Lexington's "training band" , a way of organizing local militias dating back to the Puritans , and not what was styled a minuteman company . After having waited most of the night with no sign of any British troops (and wondering if Paul Revere's warning was true), at about 4:15 a.m., Parker got his confirmation. Thaddeus Bowman , the last scout that Parker had sent out, rode up at
12880-598: Was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross , the only one to be awarded to the Lincolnshire Regiment during the Second World War. The Territorials of the 4th Battalion, part of 146th Brigade attached to 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division , were sent to Norway and were among the first British soldiers to come into contact against an advancing enemy in the field in the Second World War. Ill-equipped and without air support, they soon had to be evacuated. Within
12995-831: Was stationed in British India and saw no active service until 1942. They remained in India and the Far East throughout the war and were assigned to the 71st Indian Infantry Brigade , part of 26th Indian Infantry Division , in 1942. fighting the Imperial Japanese Army in the Burma Campaign and during the Battle of the Admin Box , the first major victory against the Japanese in the campaign, in early 1944 where Major Charles Ferguson Hoey
13110-438: Was supposed they were going to Concord, where the Provincial Congress is now sitting. A quantity of provisions and warlike stores are lodged there. ... It is ... said they are intending to go out again soon." On April 18, Paul Revere began the "midnight ride" to Concord to warn the inhabitants that the British appeared to be planning an expedition. The ride was finished by Samuel Prescott . Upon hearing Prescott's news,
13225-555: Was the first major military campaign of the American Revolutionary War , resulting in an American victory and outpouring of militia support for the anti-British cause. The battles were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County , Province of Massachusetts Bay , within the towns of Lexington , Concord , Lincoln , Menotomy (present-day Arlington), and Cambridge . They marked the outbreak of armed conflict between
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