The Lexington and Concord Battles

The British government realized that maybe the colonists were a real threat, and so General Thomas Cage was ordered to arrest John Hancock and Samuel Adams, two of the leaders in Massachusetts. If the order would have been received a day earlier, it would have been much easier to arrest the leaders because the entire Massachusetts Congress would have been in session. Adams and  Hancock were advised  to leave town immediately and decided to go to Lexington. Another troop was sent to seize all the stockpiled arms in Concord. 

This attack was supposed to be kept a secret, but by morning 70 Patriots had gathered in Lexington Green waiting for the troops. Somebody fired the first shot, known as "The Shot Hear Around The World". 8 Patriots died. 

Then the Redcoats (British soldiers) marched on to Concord. Minuetemen, or Patriot militia who earned their name from the quickness in which they got ready, were waiting in Concord and fired at the British. About 200 Redcoats were killed or wounded. Exhausted, the British troops finally got to Boston in the late afternoon. The Patriots seized the New England Colonies.