Battle of Bloody Angle

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Battle of Bloody Angle
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6/24/2012 6:21:02 PM

Memorial to the British that died at Bloody Angle
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6/24/2012 6:21:46 PM

Battle Trail Road in Minuteman National Historical Park
42.454144°N 71.294703°W

The Battle Trail Road in Minuteman National Historical Park which runs for five miles. 6/24/2012 6:16:58 PM

Routes of the British Expedition

Bloody Angle was the largest battle of the Lexington and Concord skirmishes. While British forces were retreating from Concord, 200 well concealed Minutemen opened fire on them at this curve in what is referred to now as Battle Trail Road in Minuteman National Historical Park. Estimates place the British dead at 30 while the Minutemen lost only 4 men. By the time the British made it through Bloody Angle, more than 2,000 Minutemen and Colonial soldiers had amassed in the area. It could have been much worse for the British had it not been for the arrival of Earl Percy's rescue force of about 1,000 men sent from Boston by General Thomas Gage.

On April 18, 1775, General Thomas Gage sent Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith with about 700 regulars from Boston to confiscate guns and ammunition rumored to be in Concord. The Revolutionary War began at Lexington on April 19th, 1775, when a small skirmish broke out between patriots and Colonel Smith’s men. Smith continued to move on toward Concord where they located a few cannon buried by the Colonial Army.

Colonel James Barrett commander of the Colonial Army with only 250 men surrendered the town of Concord to the approaching British and set up defenses outside of town on hills to the west of North Bridge. Smith ordered Captain Parsons to secure North Bridge while other British regulars searched the town. By the time the bridge was secured, Minutemen from around the countryside were swarming into the ranks of the Colonial Army after word spread of the fighting. There were more than 400 of them at North Bridge by the time the first shots were fired. The British decided to retreat back to Boston.

Near Meriam's Corner (named after the nearby Miriam home), the ranks of the Minutemen had swelled to more than 1,000 as news of the Lexington and North Bridge engagements spread. Fighting at Meriam’s Corner resulted in 2 British regulars killed and 6 more wounded. When the British had retreated to a point now referred to as Bloody Angel, they met more than 200 Minutemen from Bedford and Lincoln well hidden behind trees and walls along the road. They caught the British in a classic crossfire killing about 30 British soldiers while losing only 4 Minutemen. The British soldiers broke into a fast jog and escaped because the Colonials could not keep up in the swamps and brush. There were additional skirmishes all along the route back toward Boston.

By this time, Gage received messages that his troops were under attack and sent more than a 1,000 regulars under the command of Earl Percy in support of Smith. Once Percy reached Smith’s men around Lexington he assumed command and marched back to Cambridge under continued harassment from Colonials. Meanwhile, Brigadier General William Heath arrived to take charge of the Colonial Army and instructed his men to attack from concealed positions and not engage directly.