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250yearsagonews.bsky.social
The events of exactly 250 years ago today (1775). A project in conjunction with America’s semiquincentennial. By Jon Blackwell, an editor at the Wall Street Journal. Also follow me @100yearsagonews.bsky.social
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April 20, 1925: A horseman re-enacts Paul Revere's ride for the 150th anniversary of the start of the Revolution. Harold Philbrick as the famed patriot rides from Revere’s home in Boston to Concord, Mass., where the American farmers battle the redcoats at the Old North Bridge.

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April 20, 1775: A trader writes to Connecticut Gov. Jonathan Trumbull after the shipment he tried to send of a dozen oxen was blocked because of the American boycott of Britain. Adam Babcock offers to try to obtain scarce gunpowder for the colony if he can be exempted from the trade ban.

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April 20, 1775: Woodbridge’s Regiment of Militia, named for its commander Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge, is formed in western Massachusetts. Under Woodbridge, who is said to be the wealthiest man in South Hadley, the regiment will fight at Bunker Hill and Saratoga.

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April 20, 1775: The South Carolina General Committee studies official correspondence that patriots have removed from an official pouch delivered by the London packet, and concludes that the British government holds “hostile designs” against the colonies. 1/2

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April 20, 1775: The British frigate Cerberus sails from Portsmouth for Boston carrying three major generals, all of whom are to play importamt roles in the war they aren’t aware has already broken out. They are William Howe, Henry Clinton and John Burgoyne.

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April 20, 1775: One day into war, the Massachusetts Safety Committee sends letters to all Provincial Congress members summoning them to Concord. Another communication goes to Connecticut Gov. Jonathan Trumbull “praying your Honours would afford us all the assistance in your power.” 1/2

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April 20, 1775: Israel Putnam, a prosperous farmer and well-regarded French and Indian War veteran, is working in the fields with his 15-year-old son in Brooklyn, Conn., when they get word of the Battles of Lexington and Concord a day earlier. In an instant he decides to head to the front. 1/3

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April 20, 1775: In defiance of the royal governor, the New York Provincial Congress calls itself into session in New York City. This is the first extralegal body to call itself representative of the whole colony; it includes members from every county but for three in frontier or disputed areas. 1/2

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April 20, 1775: Virginia’s governor Lord Dunmore orders marines to seize the stores of gunpowder kept in the center of Williamsburg. The royal official is acting in accordance with a circular from London calling for removal of arms from public places, to hinder rebellion. 1/4

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April 20, 1775: The American siege of Boston begins. Militia units that had inflicted painful losses on the redcoats in the first battles of the Revolution a day earlier surround the town on three sides and lay down fortifications. Gen. Artemas Ward is named commander of the besieging force. 1/5

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April 19, 1775: "JOSEPH HARE, begs Leave to inform his Friends and the Publick, that he has opened a SCHOOL in the Wardwick, where he teaches READING, WRITING, and ARITHMETICK; Also the Art of Writing SHORTHAND." Night classes are given from 6 to 8. (Derby Mercury)

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April 19, 1775: The casualties on the first day of the American Revolution: For the Americans: 49 killed, 41 wounded, 5 missing. For the British: 73 Killed, 174 wounded, 26 missing. 1/2

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April 19, 1775 (7:30 p.m.): In the darkness, the last of the British expedition reaches the safety of Bunker Hill across the water from Boston. Soldiers fling themselves to the ground in exhaustion and relief now that they are safe under the protection of naval guns. 1/2

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April 19, 1775 (Afternoon): Panic begins to sweep through the Massachusetts countryside with the march of the redcoats down the road to Boston. Mixed with the real threat of a hostile armed force is the fear that the colonists’ slaves might take this opportunity to revolt. 1/3

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April 19, 1775 (6:30 p.m.): With the sun setting, Gen. Earl Percy has had to decide down which road to take his exhausted British column: the road he came in on, via Boston Neck, or a straighter passage through Charlestown that will shortly afford him the protection of naval guns. 1/3

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April 19, 1775 (6 p.m.): The British force makes its way into Cambridge, nearing the end of their grim 18-mile march before safety awaits in fortified Boston. Four Americans who take cover behind a row of casks to ambush the redcoats are themselves killed by a flanking party. 1/2

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April 19, 1775 (5 p.m.) Jason Russell, 58 and lame, defends his house from the British expedition as it battles its way down the Boston Road in Menotomy. In the frenzy of a few minutes 14 people will die here—the heaviest toll in one place on a day of bloody fighting. 1/3

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April 19, 1775 (3:30 p.m.): The British resume their retreat from Lexington under the new command of Gen. Earl Percy. The next 15 miles of marching takes place under what he calls “an incessant fire, which like a moving circle surrounded and followed us wherever we went.” 1/6

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