About an hour after sunrise, Concord and Lincoln militia assembled on a hill near the meeting house.²⁰ They formed the minute men on the right and the militia on the left and ²¹ marched down toward Lexington about a mile or mile and a half ²² to the end of Meriam’s Hill and saw the British troops coming down Brook’s Hill.²³ The militia halted.²⁴ The sun was arising and shined on their red coats and glistening arms.²⁵ The regulars saw them upon the heights. They halted a little before the first bridge at Meriam’s Corner to make a disposition to go up the hill, extending their right flank to the very edge of the hill and their left to the village of Concord.²⁶ The militia staid there until the British got within about 500 yards, then they were ordered to the about face and marched before the British ²⁷ to the liberty pole erected on the height opposite the meeting house, and made a halt.²⁸ The grenadiers took the lower road and the light infantry ²⁹ followed the militia ³⁰ on the hills that lay the length of the town ³¹ and halted in half gun shot of them at the pole.³²

About two hours after sunrise ³³ the militia saw the British troops coming up the road that led to the common. The sun shone very bright on their bayonets and guns.³⁴ Then the militia marched over the burying ground,³⁵ and retreated from the hill of the liberty pole and took a new post back of the town upon a rising eminence,³⁶ a hill about 400 yards back and the British troops took possession of the hill where the militia were first posted.³⁷The British marched into Concord after taking possession of the hill with the liberty pole, which was cut down. They expected the militia would have made a stand there but they did not.³⁸

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