The Minutemen and Their World

Chapter Five arrives as the book’s defining moment: the battle between British Regular forces and colonists centered around Concord’s North Bridge. The chapter begins by examining the character of Thomas Gage, the governor of Massachusetts, and his thought process leading up to the opening events of the Revolution. Spies were sent to Concord and other Massachusetts communities to judge the mood there; since tensions were high, Gage was concerned that certain actions would be impossible without prompting an attack by colonists.

There were many calls for preemptive attacks by colonists in the month leading up to war. In early April, the Provincial Congress decided to raise an army of 18,000 soldiers. In mid-April, Gage received orders from the British Secretary of State for America to arrest the leaders of the colonial resistance and encourage Tories to take up arms in expectation of the arrival of reinforcements from Britain. Though Gage believed himself to be operating in total secrecy until the final moments before the confrontation, “Gage’s plan was, as noted, what every well-informed colonist had been anticipating for weeks. The only question was when the governor would move, not where” (113). It was a natural move for Gage to attempt to destroy the stockpile of weapons and supplies at Concord—British spies had already delivered detailed information on what the colonists had and where they were storing it.