On morning of April 19, 1775, the biggest mystery in American history happened. The colonial militia and the British military met between the roads of Charlestown and Lexington. The British were on a mission to destroy colonial military stores, but the colonists heard about what the British were going to do, and weren't too happy about it. When the two armies met, someone from the colonial or British side fired a gunshot, and then everyone went into panic mode. There are sworn testimonies saying the colonists fired first, and then there are testimonies saying the British fired first. One side is lying. The British ended up killing 8 men, and injuring 9. I propose that the British fired the first gunshot, because they were not happy that the colonists figured out their plan to destroy the military stores, and they thought the angry colonists would shoot first, so they had to scare them away. .
The British tried to be as stealthy as possible, but when they realized the colonists found out, they were not happy. When the commander of the colonial militia, Captain John Parker, found out a large number of British soldiers were on their way to take the stores full of weapons and ammunition, he ordered his men to meet the British in Lexington. They only wanted to consult with the British; they did not want to cause a disturbance, or open fire on them.
Once the British soldiers were in sight, an officer on horseback shouted, "lay down your arms, you damn'd rebels, or you are all dead men" (Wood 1826). The British warned the colonists that if they didn't leave and drop their weapons, they will shoot and kill them. When the colonists didn't move fast enough, "they rushed [us] furiously, and [we were] fired upon and killed eight of our party, without receiving any provocation therefor from us" (Parker 1775). The colonists wanted to make peace with the British, so they could figure out a solution on what to do with the store full of weapons.
