Historical Timeline April 1775
Many events happened 250 years ago this month: Source: https://www.americanhistorycentral.com/entries/american-revolutionary-war-timeline-1775-january-june/
1775, April 1 — The New York Assembly required all males of military age to enlist in the New York Militia.
April 5 — The Massachusetts Provincial Congress adopted 52 Articles of War, which were based on the 1765 British Articles of War. It also organized the New England Army, also known as the Provisional Army. It included 30,000 men from the New England Colonies, along with captured British cannons. Soon after, troops from New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island started to gather at Concord, New Hampshire.
April 8 — Josiah Martin, the Governor of North Carolina, dissolved the North Carolina Assembly. Soon after, he left North Carolina and sailed to New York.
April 14 — General Thomas Gage received the instructions from Lord Dartmouth authorizing the use of military force in Massachusetts and directing him to arrest leaders of the Patriot Cause.
April 14—In Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush established The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage at Philadelphia. It was the first Abolition Society in America.
April 15 — General Thomas Gage started to prepare to send an expedition to Concord, Massachusetts to seize and destroy military supplies hidden in the town. He issued orders to the Boston Garrison to select 700 light infantrymen and grenadiers from the elite flank companies for the mission. Despite Gage’s effort to keep the expedition a secret, the movements of ships and troops were noticed by the Patriot Spy Network in Boston and reported to Joseph Warren, head of the Committee of Safety.
April 16 — Paul Revere’s First Ride to Lexington- Joseph Warren sent Paul Revere to Lexington with a message for John Hancock and Samuel Adams, warning them the British were planning to send troops to Concord. On his ride back to Boston, Revere stopped in Charlestown, where he told Patriots he would hang lanterns in the steeple of the North Church to signal whether the British were moving by land (one lantern) or by sea (two lanterns).
April 16 — Following Revere’s ride to Lexington, the Patriots in Worcester, Massachusetts, relocated military supplies hidden in their town.
April 18 — Lexington Alarm and the Midnight Rides Essex and Middlesex Counties, Massachusetts — On the night of April 18, General Thomas Gage issued orders to Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith to lead the expedition to Concord, where he was to seize and destroy military supplies hidden in the town. When the Patriot Spy Network in Boston learned abou the expedition, Joseph Warren sent two Express Riders— Paul Revere and William Dawes — to warn Patriot leaders in Lexington and Concord. Revere and Dawes raised the “Lexington Alarm” along the way and were joined later by Samuel Prescott. They were apprehended by a British Patrol. Revere was captured. Dawes escaped but lost his horse, and Prescott escaped and made it to Concord, where he warned militia leaders that the British were on the way.
April 19 — Battles of Lexington— Lieutenant Colonel Smith sent Major John Pitcairn ahead of the main body so he could occupy the bridges in Concord. Upon arrival in Lexington, Pitcairn found Captain John Parker and the Lexington Militia assembled. Pitcairn ordered them to disperse. As they did, a shot rang out, and Pitcairn’s men opened fire on the Americans. After order was restored, the British expedition continued to Concord.
April 19 — Concord Fight— At Concord, militia forces from several towns gathered on a hill overlooking the town. The British carried out the search for military supplies and burned some of what they found. The Americans, believing the British were burning the town, organized and marched to the North Bridge. The British forces guarding the bridge fired on them (see Major John Buttrick to return fire — the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World.” The British were routed and withdrew to the center of town.
April 19 — East of Concord, Massachusetts — Lieutenant Colonel Smith organized his men and started the march back to Boston. About a mile east of Concord, American militia forces attacked en masse at Meriam’s Corner. From that point on, the Americans harassed the British, firing at them from behind walls, trees, and buildings.
April 19 — West of Lexington, Massachusetts — After the British left Lexington, Captain John Parker assembled his men just west of town and waited for the British to return. When the British column came into sight, the Americans opened fire. The British made their way to Lexington, where they were joined by reinforcements led by General Hugh Percy. Both Smith and Pitcairn were wounded, so Percy took command of the march.
April 19 — Menotomy, Massachusetts Percy led the march through West Cambridge, where the most intense fighting of the day took place. At least a dozen men lost their lives at the Jason Russell House, and elderly Samuel Whittemore was bayoneted and left for dead by British troops. Whittemore survived and lived until 1783.
April 19 — Siege of Boston— American forces, under the command of General William Heath, remain in the around Boston, most gathering in the area of Cambridge. With Boston Neck blocked, the British were effectively cut off from leaving by land.
April 20 — Upon hearing the news of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, General Israel Putnam rode from Connecticut to Cambridge. The legendary ride covers 100 miles in 18 hours.
April 21 — General Artemas Ward assumed command of the Provincial Army gathering at Cambridge, Massachusetts, with General William Heath and General John Thomas as his primary officers. It is estimated that 13,000–14,000 men congregated around Boston.
April 21 — Colonel John Stark and his New Hampshire Militiamen arrived at Cambridge, Massachusetts, and joined the Siege of Boston.
April 21 — Williamsburg, Virginia — In Virginia, Governor John Murray, Lord Dunmore, ordered Royal Marines to remove gunpowder and military supplies from the storehouse in Williamsburg. Virginians did not know hostilities had started in Massachusetts (see Virginia Gunpowder Incident).
April 21 — Charleston Magazine Raid— Patriots known as the “Secret Committee” seized military supplies from a storehouse in Charleston. This was the first act of resistance against the British government in South Carolina.
April 23 — Acting on suggestions from General Artemas Ward, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress formally organized the “Army of Observation” to keep the British trapped in Boston. John Thomas, Joseph Warren, and John Whitcomb serve as Major Generals under Ward.
April 23 — New York Raid— Upon hearing about the Battles of Lexington and Concord, Lieutenant Colonel Marinus Willett led a contingent of New York Militia in a raid on the public arsenal. Willett and his men seized and removed weapons.
April 28 — Colonel Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys gathered at Castleton in present-day Vermont. Together, they discussed going to Fort Ticonderoga to capture the fort and seize the artillery and cannons.
April 29 — The Massachusetts Provincial Congress sent copies of its official report about the Battles of Lexington and Concord to England via the ship Quero.
April 29 — Major Benedict Arnold and his contingent of Connecticut Militia arrived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to join the Siege of Boston.