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The Mohawk Valley Path Through History begins with the Revolutionary War - the sites and events related to this period in history.
The American Revolution begins
In the early hours of April 19, 700 British troops, on a mission to capture Patriot leaders and seize a Patriot arsenal, march into Lexington to find 77 armed minutemen under Captain John Parker waiting for them on the town's common green. British Major John Pitcairn ordered the outnumbered Patriots to disperse, and after a moment's hesitation the Americans began to drift off the green. Suddenly, the "shot heard around the world" was fired from an undetermined gun, and a cloud of musket smoke soon covered the green. When the brief Battle of Lexington ended, eight Americans lay dead, 10 others were wounded. Only one British soldier was injured, but the American Revolution had begun.