Battle of Menotomy

What happened in Menotomy (now the Town of Arlington, Massachusetts) on April 19, 1775, can be regarded as both prelude and continuation of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, but it was by no means an anticlimax, at least in terms of scale. The original force of 700 British regulars had been met by reinforcements in East Lexington to form a combined force of 1700 men.[1] As for the colonial forces, a plaque placed at The Foot of the Rocks in Arlington Heights observes that “British Troops in retreat from bloody first skirmishes at Lexington and Concord were here opposed by colonial forces gathering from four counties and thirty towns. More men fell at the Foot of the Rocks and on the plains of Menotomy than in every other locale through which the adversary forces fought, that long day, April 19, 1775."[2]

Battle of Menotomy
Part of the American Revolutionary War
DateApril 19, 1775 (249 years ago) (1775-04-19)
Location
Menotomy, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Result American victory
Belligerents
Massachusetts Bay  Great Britain
Commanders and leaders
William Heath
Gideon Foster		 Hugh Percy
Strength
5,100
Casualties and losses
25 killed 40 killed

5,100 men from eastern Middlesex County and southern Essex County gathered in Menotomy to meet the retreating British troops on their way to Boston from Concord.[3][4] 25 rebels and 40 British troops were killed in this battle.[5] It was here in Menotomy that the first British soldiers were captured.[5][better source needed]

  1. ^ Battles of Lexington and Concord (introduction)
  2. ^ "Foot of the Rocks". Freedom's Way. Retrieved October 25, 2024.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference HistoryNet was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference ArlingtonHistorical was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference MenotomyMinutemenTrailGuide was invoked but never defined (see the help page).