nes, commanded by Lieutenant-colonel Smith, embarked in the boats
at the foot of Boston Common and crossed to Lechmere Point, in
Cambridge, whence they were to march silently and without beat of drum
to the place of destination.

The measures of General Gage had not been shrouded in all the secrecy
he imagined. Dr. Joseph Warren, one of the committee of safety, had
observed the preparatory disposition of the boats and troops, and
surmised some sinister intention. He sent notice of these movements to
John Hancock and Samuel Adams, both members of the provincial
Congress, but at that time privately sojourning with a friend at
Lexington. A design on the magazine at Concord was suspected, and the
committee of safety ordered that the cannon collected there should be
secreted and part of the stores removed. On the night of the 18th, Dr.
Warren sent off two messengers by different routes to give the alarm
that the king's troops were actually sallying forth. The messengers
got out of Boston just before the order of General Gage went into
effect, to prevent any one from leaving the town. About the same time
a lantern was hung out of an upper window of the north church, in the
direction of Charlestown. This was a preconcerted signal to the
patriots of that place who instantly despatched swift messengers to
rouse the country.

In the meantime, Colonel Smith set out on his nocturnal march from
Lechmere Point by an unfrequented path across marshes, where at times
the troops had to wade through water. He had proceeded but a few miles
when alarm guns, booming through the night air, and the clang of
village bells, showed that the news of his approach was travelling
before him, and the people were rising. He now sent back to General
Gage for a reinforcement, while Major Pitcairn was detached with six
companies to press forward and secure the bridges at Concord.

Pitcairn advanced rapidly, capturing every one that he met or
overtook. Within a mile and a half of Lexington, however, a horseman
was too quick on the spur for him, and galloping to the village, gave
the alarm that the redcoats were coming. Drums were beaten; guns
fired. By the time that Pitcairn entered the village about seventy or
eighty of the yeomanry, in military array, were mustered on the green
near the church. The sound of drum, and the array of men in arms,
indicated a hostile determination. Pitcairn halted his men within a
short distance of the church, and ordered