Lexington and Concord March

The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. They 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, near Boston.

What do you know about the Battles of Lexington and Concord during the American Revolutionary War? Try the U.S. History Made Easy Trivia quiz. "Check Your Answers" at the end of the page.

1) The British Army's infantry had occupied Boston since 1768 and had been augmented by naval forces and marines to enforce the Intolerable Acts, which had been passed by the British Parliament to punish the Province of Massachusetts Bay for the Boston Tea Party and other acts of protest. What was the British Army's nickname?

• Redcoats
• Rebs
• Satan's

2) The colonists had been forming militias of various sorts since the 17th century, at first primarily for defense against local native attacks. These forces were also called to action in the French and Indian War in the 1750s and 1760s. They were generally local militias, nominally under the jurisdiction of the provincial government.

• True or False?

3) On April 14, 1775, General Thomas Gage received instructions from Secretary of State William Legge, the Earl of Dartmouth to disarm the rebels, who were known to have hidden weapons in Concord, and to imprison the rebellion's leaders. Besides Samuel Adams, who was also an important rebel leader?

• John Hancock
• John Miller
• Harry Lee

4) Who received orders from Gage on the afternoon of April 18 with instructions that he was not to read them until his troops were underway.

• Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith
• Lieutenant Colonel Malcolm Adams
• Lieutenant Colonel John Josephs

5) The rebellion's ringleaders, with the exception of one or two, had all left Boston by April 8. They had received word of Dartmouth's secret instructions to General Gage from sources in London long before they had reached Gage himself. Who was left in Boston?

• Paul Revere
• Samuel Clemens
• Barry Gibbs

6) Who covered the southern land route by horseback across Boston Neck and over the Great Bridge to Lexington?

• William Dawes
• Andrew Stewart
• Anthony Mix

7) Paul Revere first gave instructions to send a signal to Charlestown and then he traveled the northern water route. He crossed 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 to Lexington, avoiding a British patrol and later warning almost every house along the route. The warned men and the Charlestown colonists dispatched additional riders to the north.

• True or False?

8) The British began to awaken their troops at 9 p.m. on the night of April 18 and assembled them on the water's edge on the western end of Boston Common by 10 p.m. The boats used were naval barges that were packed so tightly that there was no room to sit down. When they disembarked at Phipps Farm in present day Cambridge, it was into waist-deep water at midnight.

• True or False?

9) After a lengthy halt to unload their gear, the regulars began their 17 miles march to Concord at about 2 a.m. During the wait they were provided with extra ammunition, and cold salt pork. What else where they given to eat?

• Pepperoni Rolls
• Hard sea biscuits
• Venetian Pizza

10) At about 3 a.m., Colonel Smith sent ahead six companies of light infantry under orders to quick march to Concord. At about 4 a.m., he made the decision to send a messenger back to Boston asking for reinforcements. Who did Smith send to command the troops marching to Concord?

• Major John Pitcairn
• Major Hugh Laurie
• Major Sean MacQueeny