On the night of April 18, 1775, approximately 700 British soldiers gathered on Boston Commons to prepare for a raid on American military supplies stored in nearby Concord. Informed of the British troop movement, Boston residents Paul Revere and William Dawes set out to warn their fellow colonists. Over the next twenty-four hours, a series of events took Massachusetts and the colonies a major step closer to independence. Casualties, first in Lexington, then in Concord, and finally on the road back to Boston, marked a turning point in a decade-old struggle. By the end of April 19, the Minute Men had surrounded Boston and laid siege to the port city. On July 2, 1775, George Washington, a planter from distant Virginia, took charge of the army. Eight months later, on March 17, 1776, British troops evacuated Boston. In Massachusetts the fighting was over, but the War for Independence had only begun.
