Who Fired First Essay, Research Paper
On April 19, 1775 shots were fired at Lexington Green starting the revolutionary war. Nobody can seem to agree on who fired the first shot. Each account written by witnesses about what happened is different in it s own way. According to the evidence presented, the only sensible answer to this two hundred and twenty-five-year-old mystery is that the colonists must have fired first. The diary entry by Lieutenant John Barker, a British officer, is very strong evidence against the colonists. Also the report from Major Pitcairn, commander of the first British party o enter Lexington, which was addressed to General Cage, his commander in Boston, strongly indicates that the colonists were the first to fire. Contributing to this powerful evidence is the fact that the colonists, who were inexperienced and unorganized, may have been extremely nervous.
John Barker, British Lieutenant, wrote in his diary shortly after the shooting at Lexington. In this entry he wrote that upon marching towards the colonists, one or two shots were fired by the colonists. Since Lt. Barker was in the actual battle, there is little chance that his information was grossly wrong. Given the fact that he was writing in his diary, he would have little reason to make up the story. When writing in a diary to yourself, there is a very small chance that you would make anything up. The diary entry was very detailed in saying the time and the number of people that were there. There was one man wounded in the shooting on the British side. Lt. Barker wrote what infantry the man was from. A person that would lie about which side fired first probably would not have added that part in the entry. The diary entry from Lieutenant John Barker is a solid piece of evidence convicting the colonists of firing first.
Major Pitcairn was the commander of the first party that entered the Lexington green. He led the troops in to the commons area upon what he says was about two hundred colonist rebels, a similar number to that which was stated in John Barker s diary entry, as his troops went towards the colonists there were shots fired from them. This caused the British to fire back killing several colonists. Major Pitcairn also stated that the man wounded was in the tenth infantry. Due to the fact that this letter was intended for his commander, who would eventually find out the truth anyway, there is little chance that Pitcairn would want to lie. In his letter he also states that he told the infantry not to fire, if his intentions were to lie to General Gage then he would probably not want to tell him how the troops disobeyed the repeated orders. This report is another strong piece of evidence that the British have on their side.
The group of colonist rebels, who gathered in the Lexington Green, were unorganized and inexperienced. They had just gathered hours before the British troops had arrived. They were not trained well and had never fought together before. Given all of these factors, it is easy to see that the colonists were most likely extremely nervous. To make matters worse, the colonists had several hundred British troops, who were well trained and organized with more experience, marching directly at them. Under these conditions, just about anyone would be nervous. In this nervous state, it is likely that one or more of the colonists fired at the British troops. It is hard to overlook the important fact that the colonists would be in this highly nervous state, where many things could go wrong. The fact that they would be so nervous points the finger towards the colonists.
Given all of the evidence, the only logical answer is that the colonists fired the first shots of the revolutionary war. The diary entry of Lieutenant John Barker is unlikely to be untrue, because of the fact that he is writing it to himself. The report written by Major Pitcairn also points towards the colonists. The similarities between these two documents along with fact that the colonists would be extremely nervous, it is clear that the colonists wee the ones to fire first.