Who fired the shot heard ‘round the world?
The Revolutionary War began on the morning of April 19, 1775, as a small group of militia under Colonel John Parker stood on Lexington Green, nervously eyeing a column of British Regulars who had marched through the night. The Regulars were there to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock, both safely out of Lexington by the time the British arrived. Commanding the British troops on the scene was Major of Marines John Pitcairn. Pitcairn approached the American line (although it may have been another British officer on the scene, Army Lieutenant William Sutherland, reports vary) and ordered the militia to disperse.
According to John Parker’s deposition, given under oath after the battle, he ordered his men to disperse. This was not the first face to face confrontation between British troops and American militia, several had occurred and all ended without violence. With Adams and Hancock safe from British arrest, there was no reason for the Americans to escalate the situation. The militia began to break ranks and move away. Then someone fired.
Who fired the first shot? Parker swore that he had given the order not to fire, and as his men began to disperse the British opened fire and moved forward with the bayonet. Pitcairn likewise stated under oath that he had ordered his men to hold ranks and not fire. Once the first round was discharged the stunned Americans hesitated before several returned fire upon the British. According to American witnesses the British demonstrated a lack of discipline preventing their officers from restraining them, Pitcairn’s own report corroborates this allegation.
The British had been escorting a prisoner taken during their march from Boston, Asahel Porter. According to some, Porter took the opportunity to flee and it was a shot at him that started the brief melee on Lexington Green. Other witnesses, from within the British ranks, claimed that the first shot came from off of the Green, from a gunman concealed either in a building or behind a stone wall, rather than from the militia. The British troops, comprised of light infantry, followed their volley with a bayonet charge and were preparing to enter individual buildings when the rest of the British expedition arrived and restored order.
It will never be known who fired the shot which began the Revolutionary War. It really doesn’t matter, as by that spring morning the die had long been cast. The refusal of either side to back down meant that war was inevitable. Perhaps it is fitting that the responsibility for the first shot is unknown to history.