richard nixon did not have charisma, lbj did not have charisma, by jack kennedy had charisma. i think they could've had chari. i think that could have possibly tipped the balance in some people's minds. >> for our complete american history tv schedule, go to www.c-span.org. >> the shot heard round the world happened right here at the northbridge. we are in concord, massachusetts to learn more about the battle that started the american revolution. >> by the bridge, here the embattled farmers stood and fired the shot heard round the world. historicalational

park was established to celebrate the activities and events which took place on april 19 1775. behind me is northbridge. this is considered to be the beginning of the american revolution, because it was here that colonial militia and british regulars encountered one another, shots were fired, and lives were lost on both sides. more importantly, it was where the colonial militia was ordered to fire upon the king's troops creating in essence an act of treason. massachusetts was a royal colony. there have been tensions growing with the mother country cents the 70's -- with the mother country. was, asrted to happen the decade were on, the were a series of events that would take place including the boston massacre and the boston tea

party. the tea party was the destruction of private property. because of the destruction, the royal authority had to punish massachusetts bay colony. that included a series of acts called the "intolerable acts." so, you have the bringing in of a british governor, the closing of the port of boston, and the boston government was shut down. speopleant that any town in the colony, they were not allowed to me. so, you have a series of responses which take place. whicht those responses took place was the reactivation of the militia effort. that meant that men sitting is old to 26 result were required to show up for training and practice. then, there was the minutemen

reform which had younger men that were better equipped and expected to turn up in an minute's notice, hence the name. so, you have these minute training and preparing for something. so, they were aware of armaments being collected around the colony as well. canyon of ass particular incident which made its way out here to concord, the home of colonel james barrett where most of this was stored. because of tension rising, thomas gage wanted in april to sees these arms and armaments that were being collected. a veryed to do it in secretive fashion, but when he

gathered seven hundred some british soldiers to come on out to concord to collect these arms , it was not exactly the best kept secret. there was a system of alarm fromrs -- alarm riders boston to the colonies who spread the word of the british on the march now out. as the british army marches down from boston in the early morning of april 19, they encountered 77 militiamen on lexington green. no one knows who did it, but shots were fired that morning. we would eventually have seven or eight colonials would die on lexington common. the british would continue then to march towards concord. as they start to get closer to concord, the concord, linking, and that for militia -- lincoln gathered inmilitia

the morning, and when they saw the number of the british troops, they decided to pull back. would come into concord, and then they would enter into the northbridge area and across the river. they would gather in an area around the hill which is behind me to the left. the main colony -- the main column of the british army enters concord, and approximately 120 soldiers are dispatched to go towards the farm. another additional 90 soldiers are sent to guard the bridge and the roadway. we are leaving northbridge parking lot right now, and we are on her way to the farm. it is just under two miles. so, it was not in the center of town. it was certainly out a bit. on the morning of april 19, colonel barry was not in the farm -- colonel barret was not

in the farm. he was already out gathering the concord militia. this area would have been devoid of a lot of trees. some of the houses you see today -- are modern, but some are closer to the period. most of the people if they had the town, they would have an out building support the farm. so, the building coming up on my right is the barret farmhouse. have gotten out of the car, and we are underway to barret's farm. this is where general thomas gage had ordered his soldiers to look for governments presumably basement of the house.

hadver, colonel barrett secretive the arms -- had secreted the arms away before him. -- beforehand. so, the british forces came to search, and they received permission to search the house and property. nothing was found, and during -- this time p eriod, some of the british soldiers asked for food and drink. when they offered to pay her, she refused to accept any payment. after a thorough search of the property, the army gathered back up and began their march back towards concord.

at about 11:30, they encountered northbridge and saw that something had taken place there. back in concord, a lot of living implements used to carry tenants -- carry cannons were gathered and heard in the center of the town. the british were ordered to stop the fire, but over on the hill be gathering colonials whose strength is now up to about 400 see smoke rising from the village of concord. they do what most people assume when the house is on fire. , and they move on down with muskets loaded. just seen the colonials descending upon him, he panics and pulls the soldiers over to the side of the bridge. as they move over to the side of the bridge, some confusion occurs and a few shots are

fired. the fire upon the colonials, and they do kill two soldiers. one is a captain, and the other is a private. the americans and colonials fireback. -- the americans and colonials are given the order to fire back upon the british soldiers. he pulls his soldiers back. we are not far from the center of concord. lieutenant francis smith in , andrd starts to come up he encounters the british retreat back into concord. it is at this point that the colonials are not sure what to do, because some brain -- break ranks and others gather backup. quiet, point, there is a

a lull. this takes place at around 11:30 when the british return from the farm. they see that the thing has happened, and they see there are two dead british -- that something has happened, and they see that two british soldiers are dead. a rumor begins to spread that colonials are scalping british soldiers. the army starts to gather backup, and they will prepare for the long, arduous march back. been part have also of the british going into concord and coming back out of concord. onmight not be obvious, but your left hand side, there is a ridge that runs along this road. there is some houses and trees, but there is also a rich which helped serve as -- there is

is also abut there range which helped serve as cover. along the way, you have the militia gaining strength. by the time they are on the aboutside, there are 1000. now, the british are outnumbered. they were shocked by how well organized they were. i do not think a lot of the british soldiers realized the sheer number of soldiers who would turn out. and they just kept coming. now, we are coming up on marion's corner where we had a running battle right by the home of the marion family. we have arrived at the marion house.

is what the militia do gather over here as the british army starts arriving later in the afternoon. this is something that concerns lieutenant colonel smith, but he has to leave the area. there is a point in the road that became very narrow. on one side of the road it is very swampy, so they would have st across aree abrea bridge, a final point. they encounter the army that was -- across a bridge, a funnel point. -- they encounter the army that was gathered here. they begin firing upon each other. so from here to trials town, they have a moving battle which takes place. so from here back to charlestown, they have a moving battle which takes place.

there are some very panicky soldiers at this location, and at the same time, the colonial forces keep building in size and strength. by the end of the day, approximately 4000 colonial soldiers are starting to descend upon the king's forces who are now retreating back to boston. placettle that will take from this point all the way back to boston will claim the lives of nearly 300 british soldiers. that is killed, wounded, and missing. the colonial forces only had about 93 killed, wounded, or missing. this is the beginning of the siege of boston, the beginning of the american revolution. because of the bloodshed that took place on both sides and because the americans and colonials were ordered to fire on the british, and because the british broke and ran, this was considered the beginning of the

american revolution. it would not be for another couple of years before we declare our independence in 1776. it was first thought to be just a massachusetts issue, it was quickly found out to be more than just massachusetts as time would tell. staffs tour traveled to concord, massachusetts to learn more about its history. you can learn more about the cities we have visited on www.c-span.org/citiestour. you are watching american history tv on c-span3. americaweek, reel brings you archival films for today's outlook affairs issues. "our heritage" is an 1966

episode from the u.s. army big picture series. marking the july 4 holiday by telling the story of the declaration of independence. hosted by peabody award-winning journalists frank baxter. it visits historic sites in philadelphia and the and uses animated sequences to illustrate several key moments in the american revolution. ♪