Left image
Militia Soldiers Drill
Credit: NPS Photo
Right image
British Light Infantry march
Credit: NPS Photo
Warlike Preparations
On October 7, 1774 delegates from many Massachusetts towns met in Concord to form an illegal Provincial Congress aimed at seizing control of the political situation across the colony. With the infamous “powder alarm” fresh in their memories the congress established stockpiles of military supplies and directed Militia forces to reorganize in anticipation of war the following spring. Between October 7, 2024 and April 17, 2025 Minute Man National Historical Park will be conducting programs and events about the preparations for war during the winter of 1774/1775.
Historical Context:
On September 1st, the same day General Gage sent troops to retrieve powder from the magazine in Charlestown, he also issued writs to convene the Massachusetts legislature at Salem. On September 28th however, Gage suddenly reversed course and decided not to convene the session. His stated reasons were the “many tumults and disorders which have since taken place...” and the incendiary resolves of the county conventions. By then, many Massachusetts towns had already chosen their representatives.
On October 5th, ninety of the chosen representatives met at Salem in defiance of General Gage’s order. They elected John Hancock to serve as chairman, and on October 7th they resolved to form themselves into “a Provincial Congress...to take into consideration the dangerous and alarming situation of public affairs in this province, and to consult and determine on such measures as they shall judge will tend to promote the true interest of his majesty, and the peace, welfare and prosperity of the province.” The establishment of the Provincial Congress was essentially a coup d'état: a sudden, violent, and unlawful seizure of power. The royal government, headed by General Gage, was now isolated and virtually powerless except for the presence of the army and navy in Boston.
The new Provincial Congress adjourned to Concord the following week to begin planning. With the memory of the infamous “powder alarm” fresh in their memories, the delegates set about assessing the military situation. They appointed a committee to consider “what is necessary to be now done for the defence [sic] and safety of the province.” Upon the committee’s report, the congress allocated more than 20,000 pounds to procure arms and ammunition. They also established a Committee of Safety to oversee the organization of the militia. By the end of October the congress had recommended the towns form companies of soldiers who “shall equip and hold themselves in readiness, on the shortest notice...”
From this point on, despite the ongoing effort at an economic boycott, a military confrontation between the British Regular Army and the provincials grew increasingly likely. Responding to the Provincial Congress’ recommendation, many towns began to raise special volunteer companies that would train at least twice per week and be ready to answer an alarm at a minute’s warning. With each meeting, the Provincial Congress moved closer to the organization of a standing provincial army. By the end of year 1774 the congress’ Committee of Safety began to procure supplies to be used in case of a conflict with the Regular forces garrisoned in Boston. Magazines (supply depots) were established for these supplies in places like Concord and Worcester.
By February the congress instructed the Committee of Supplies to purchase “all kinds of warlike stores, sufficient for an army of fifteen thousand men to take the field.” In case of a sudden move by the British Army to seize the military supplies, the Committee of Safety established a network of observers to keep watch on the British and carry the alarm into the countryside, particularly to the principal magazines like Concord and Worcester. By early April 1775, the congress adopted Rules and Regulations for the proposed Massachusetts Army. Town militia and “minute man” companies trained on their town commons as their communities scrambled to make sure they were all properly equipped for actual service. Military preparations progressed throughout the winter and spring as a formidable fighting force took shape.
General Gage became increasingly worried about the provincial military preparations. Writing to his superiors in London, Gage asked for more money and soldiers arguing that such resources were necessary to disrupt the provincial military preparations and prevent a larger, more expensive conflict. He claimed a larger military force would terrify the government’s opponents and convince loyal subjects to rally to the King’s banner. His request was denied.
In February and March Gage sent spies into the Massachusetts countryside to gain valuable information about roads, possible encampment sites, and the location of military supplies. In Boston, the Patriots also had spies keeping watch on Gage’s actions. Paul Revere was among a group of about 30 “mechanics” (skilled laborers who worked with their hands) that kept watch on the British Regulars in Boston.
Acting on the intelligence he was gathering, General Gage made several moves to disrupt the rebel preparations. In December 1774 he prepared to send an expedition to Portsmouth NH to remove artillery and powder before local militiamen could do so. Before the British Regulars arrived, the militia attacked Fort William and Mary and quickly overran the small garrison. Shots were fired but no casualties inflicted. In February Gage sent a detachment to Salem to retrieve artillery stored in that town. Again, the townspeople acted before the Regulars arrived and pulled up the drawbridge into town. After a tense standoff in which a British soldier scratched a local man with his bayonet, the parties reached a compromise and the Regulars returned to their ship emptyhanded.
On April 14th, a secret dispatch arrived for Gage from London. It was written by William Legge, the Earl of Dartmouth, Secretary of State for the American Colonies. In it, Dartmouth expressed displeasure at General Gage’s seemingly lax and ineffective response to the people’s rebellious actions and urged him to act. “...it is the opinion of the King’s servants, in which His Majesty concurs, that the essential step to be taken toward re-establishing government would be to arrest and imprison the principal actors and abettors in the Provincial Congress, whose proceedings appear in every light to be acts of treason and rebellion...”
He assured Gage that “if steps taken upon the occasion be accompanied with due precaution, and every means to be devised to keep the measure secret till the moment of execution, it can hardly fail of success, and will perhaps be accomplished without bloodshed. He also stated that “any efforts on their part to encounter a regular force cannot be very formidable, and though such a proceeding should be, according to your idea of it, a signal for hostilities, yet...it will surely be better that the conflict should be brought on upon such a ground, than in a riper state of rebellion.”
Bell, John Leonard. The Road to Concord: How Four Stolen Cannon Ignited the Revolutionary War. Yardley PA: Westholme Publishing, 2016.
Force, Peter. American Archives: Fourth Series, Containing a Documentary History of the English Colonies in North America from the King's Message to Parliament of March 7, 1774 to the Declaration of Independence of the United States. Washington D.C.: M. St. Clair Clarke and Peter Force, 1837.
French, Allen. General Gage's Informers: New Material Upon Lexington & Concord. Benjamin Thompson as Loyalist & the Treachery of Benjamin Church, Jr. United States: University of Michigan Press, 1932.
Hosmer, Jerome Carter., De Bernier, Henry. The Narrative of General Gage's Spies, March, 1775: With Notes. United States: Reprinted from the Bostonian Society's Publications, 1912.
The Journals of Each Provincial Congress of Massachusetts in 1774 and 1775: And of the Committee of Safety, with an Appendix, Containing the Proceedings of the County Conventions-narratives of the Events of the Nineteenth of April, 1775-papers Relating to Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and Other Documents, Illustrative of the Early History of the American Revolution. Boston: Dutton and Wentworth, Printers to the state, 1838.
Shattuck, Lemuel. A History of the Town of Concord, Middlesex County, Massachusetts: From Its Earliest Settlement to 1832 : and of the Adjoining Towns, Bedford, Acton, Lincoln, and Carlisle, Containing Various Notices of County and State History Not Before Published. United States: Russell, Odiorne, and Company, 1835.
Events & Programs:
250th commemoration events October 7, 2024 - April 17, 2025.
Other Events and Programs
Follow the links below for other special events and programs at Minute Man National Historical Park in 2024 & 2025.
