This Morng betw I & 2 o'Clock we w^r. [were] alarm'd by y^e ring of y^e Bell—& upon Exam[ination] fou[nd] y^t. y^e Troops, to y^e N^o. of 800, had stole y^r. March from Boston in Boats & Barg' [barges] from y^e Bottom of y^e Common over to a Point in Cambridge, near to Inman's Farm, & were at Lexington Meetingg House, half an Hour before Sunrise, where they had fired upon a Body of our Men, & (as we aftervd. heard) had killed several. This Intelligence was bro't us at f^st. [first] by D^r. Sam^ll. Prescott, who narrowly escap'd y^e Guard y^t were sent before on Horses, purposely to prevent all Posts & Messengers from giving us timely Information. He, by y^e Help of a very fleet Horse crossing several Walls and Fences, arriv'd at Concord at y^e Time abovemend [abovementioned].

When several Posts w^r. immed[iately] dispatch'd, that return^g confirm'd y^e Account of y^e Regulars Arrival at Lexington, & that they were on their Way to Concord. Upon this a N^o. of our Minitute [Minute] Men belong^g to ys [this] Town, & Acton & Lyncoln, with several others y^t. were in Readiness, march'd [o]ut to meet them: While y^e alarm Company w^r. preparing to receive them in y^e Town.—Cap^t. Minot who command[ed] y^m. tho't it proper to take Possess[ion] of y^e Hill above y^e Meeting house as y^e most advan[tageous] Situa[tion]. No sooner had y^e gain'd [it] than we were met by y^e Companies y^t. were sent out to meet y^e Troops, who inform'd us, y^t [they] were just upon us, & that we must retreat, as their N^o. was more than threbble to ours.—We then retreat'd fr[om] y^e Hill near [the] Liberty Pole & took a new Post back of y^e Town, upon a rising Eminince, w[h]ere we form'd into two Battalions, & waited y^e Arrival of y^e Enemy.

Scarcely had we form'd, before we saw y^e brittish Troops, at y^e Dista[nce] of a ¼ of a Mile, glittering in Arms, advancing towards [us] with y^e greatest Celerity. Some were for making a Stand, not ^w[ithstanding] y^e Super[iority] of y^r. N^o., but others more prudent tho't best to retreat till our Stren[g]th sh^d be equal y^e Enemy's by Recruits from neigh^g [neighboring] Town's y^t were contin[ually] com^g in to our Assistance Accordingly we retreat^d over y^e Bridge, when y^e Troops came into y^e Town,—set fire to several Carriages for y^e Artillery, destroy'd 60 Barrels of Flour, rifled sev[eral] Houses—took Possession of y^e Townhouse, destroy'd 500 lb of Ball[s] set a Guard of 100 Men at y^e N Bridge, & S sent up a Party to y^e Hou[se] of Col^o. Barrett, w[h]ere they were in Expecta[tion] of finding a Quan[tity] of warlike Stores; but these were happily secur'd just before their Arrival, by Transpor[tation] into y^e Wood' & other by-Places.

In y^e mean Time, the Guard set by [y]^e Enemy to secure y^e Pass at y^e N. Bridge, were alarm[ed] by y^e Approa[ch] of our People, who had retreated as men' [mentioned] before, & w^r. now advancing, with spec[ial] Ord' [orders] not to not to fire upon y^e Troops, unless fir'd upon.—These Orders were so punctually observ'd y^t we rec'd y^e Fire of y^e Enemy in 3 several & seperate Discharges of their Peices, before it was return'd, by our command[ing] Officer; the firing then soon beca [became] general for sev[eral] min' [minutes], in w^ch Skirmish two w^r. kill^d on each Side, & sev[eral] of y^e Enemy wounded:—It may here be obs^d [observed] by y^e Way, y^t we were y^e more cau[tious] to prevent begin [beginning] a Rupture w^th y^e. K' [King's], Troops, as we w^r. then uncert[ain] what had happ[ened] at Lexington, & knew [not?] y^t they had begun y^e Quarell there by f^st. firing upon our pp [people] & killing 8 Men upon y^e Spot.

The 3 Compa' [companies of] Troops soon quitted their Post at y^e Bridge, & retreat^d in g'est [greatest] Disord^r & Confu[sion] to y^e main Body, who were soon upon y^e March to meet them. —For half an hour y^e Enemy by y^t. Marches & counter Marches discov^d g^t Feekelness [great fickleness] & Inconstancy of Mind, sometimes advancing sometimes returning to y^r. former Posts, till at Len[g]th they quitted y^e Town, & retreated by y^e Wa[y] yy [they] came. In y^e Mean Time, a Party of our Men, (150) took y^e back Wa[y] thro' y^e g^t Fields into y^e E. q^r. [east quarter] & had plac'd 'ems' [themselves] to advantage, laying in Ambush, behind Walls Fences & Buildings, r[eady] to fire upon y^e Enemy, on their Retreat.

¹Mr. Emerson, a clergyman of Concord, was the grandfather of Ralph Waldo Emerson. He became a chaplain in the Continental Army and lost his life in the Ticonderoga expedition. His account is printed in J. L. Whitney's "Literature of the Nineteenth of April."

WASHINGTON'S APPOINTMENT AS COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF
LEXINGTON, CONCORD AND BUNKER HILL
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