On the morning of April 19, 1775, John Parker, a veteran of the French and Indian War and captain of the Lexington militia, stood with roughly seventy local militiamen on Lexington Green as British regulars marched toward Concord at the opening of the Battles of Lexington and Concord.
Parker, ill with tuberculosis but determined to defend his town, reportedly instructed his men not to initiate violence, giving the famous order: “Stand your ground. Don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.”
As British troops advanced and confusion spread on the green, a shot was fired from an unknown source, triggering a brief but deadly exchange in which eight Lexington militiamen were killed and ten wounded, marking the first bloodshed of the American Revolutionary War and forever associating Parker and his resolute command with the moment the conflict began.
