On this day in 1775, American militiamen fought the British forces in the first battles of the Revolutionary war. Battles were pitched in two small towns (Lexington and Concord) just west of Boston, Massachusettes. Noted poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson, called the first volley of gunfire,"the shot heard around the world."
Read the following story, make believe that you are the main character. Finish the story, make sure to use all your senses when describing the scenario.
I had been rousted from bed by Ma at 2:30 am, she handed me my coat, hat and my musket. My Pa and I ran six miles along with our neighbor Mr. Russel to confront the enemy for the first time. My shirt was soaked with sweat, I had a callus on my right hand from carrying the heavy musket all morning. It was now, 2:30 pm, the grass that was covered with frost this morning was now wet with dew. I had heard musket shots all afternoon in the near distance and now for the first time I could hear the shouting of British officers echoing throughout the valley. My father and I were traveling through the swamps and marshes working our way to the front of the column of British Grenadiers and Marines that were fleeing from Concord. The road from Concord to Lexington was as crooked as a snake, and we aimed to attack the approaching "Red Coats" at a bend in the road just west of Menotomy.
The small group of militia that my father and I had joined up with numbered about twenty men, most were farmers and were familiar with the swamps after years of hunting in them. We had been running through the woods trying to out flank the Red Coats, and now we were looking for a good place to set up an ambush. The road that the Redcoats were traveling down could be seen through the woods where we now stood. The trees were dense but they were still without leaves. There were buds just starting to emerge from the branches and the scent of lilacs could be smelt in the breeze. It seemed ironic that as the leaves were coming back to life, my father and my neighbors were plotting the deaths other men.
We split up into two groups of ten, one group crossed the road and headed up a small bluff and Pa and I found a dense thicket of bushes parallel to the road to hide behind. We laid down on the cold, damp ground and took off our hats so that the British could not spot us. We loaded our muskets, ramming the shot down the barrel, careful not make any noise. Within a few minutes we could hear the footsteps of about a hundred men, running quickly down the gravel road. Interspersed between the steps, we could hear the officers barking orders to stay in ranks. "Keep your wits about ya, the bloody yanks are all around us, be ready to present arms on my command!" yelled one of the Sergeants. Sweat began to drip from my nose, and my back ached as my muscled tensed up in fear. Then from the behind us I could hear footsteps running through the woods. I could tell it was British soldiers, because I could hear the jangling of their metal canteens against the buckels on their belts. Fallen branches broke under their boots, they trotted even closer. It seems as if the British had sent some light infantry into the woods to prevent us,Yankees, from setting up ambushes. The infantry was moving very fast and they were heading right toward me and Pa's position. I was laying perfectly still, praying that the Red Coats could not see into the thick bushes. Our brown and grey coats helped conceal us from the infantrymen but they getting just too dang close. I could see them but we remained undiscovered, their red coats flashed through the trees as they grew closer and closer. They moved to within thirty feet of our position when suddenly.....
