<P> We Nathaniel Mulliken, Philip Russell, (and 32 other men ...) do testify and declare, that on the nineteenth in the morning, being informed that...a body of regulars were marching from Boston towards Concord...About five o'clock in the morning, hearing our drum beat, we proceeded towards the parade, and soon found that a large body of troops were marching towards us, some of our company were coming to the parade, and others had reached it, at which time, the company began to disperse, whilst our backs were turned on the troops, we were fired on by them, and a number of our men were instantly killed and wounded, not a gun was fired by any person in our company on the regulars to our knowledge before they fired on us, and continued firing until we had all made our escape . </P> <P> The regulars then charged forward with bayonets . Captain Parker's cousin Jonas was run through . Eight Lexington men were killed, and ten were wounded . The only British casualty was a soldier who was wounded in the thigh . The eight colonists killed were John Brown, Samuel Hadley, Caleb Harrington, Jonathon Harrington, Robert Munroe, Isaac Muzzey, Asahel Porter, and Jonas Parker . Jonathon Harrington, fatally wounded by a British musket ball, managed to crawl back to his home, and died on his own doorstep . One wounded man, Prince Estabrook, was a black slave who was serving in the militia . </P> <P> The companies under Pitcairn's command got beyond their officers' control in part because they were unaware of the actual purpose of the day's mission . They fired in different directions and prepared to enter private homes . Colonel Smith, who was just arriving with the remainder of the regulars, heard the musket fire and rode forward from the grenadier column to see the action . He quickly found a drummer and ordered him to beat assembly . The grenadiers arrived shortly thereafter, and once order was restored among the soldiers, the light infantry were permitted to fire a victory volley, after which the column was reformed and marched on toward Concord . </P> <P> In response to the raised alarm, the militiamen of Concord and Lincoln had mustered in Concord . They received reports of firing at Lexington, and were not sure whether to wait until they could be reinforced by troops from towns nearby, or to stay and defend the town, or to move east and greet the British Army from superior terrain . A column of militia marched down the road toward Lexington to meet the British, traveling about 1.5 miles (2 km) until they met the approaching column of regulars . As the regulars numbered about 700 and the militia at this time only numbered about 250, the militia column turned around and marched back into Concord, preceding the regulars by a distance of about 500 yards (457 m). The militia retreated to a ridge overlooking the town, and their officers discussed what to do next . Caution prevailed, and Colonel James Barrett withdrew from the town of Concord and led the men across the North Bridge to a hill about a mile north of town, where they could continue to watch the troop movements of the British and the activities in the center of town . This step proved fortuitous, as the ranks of the militia continued to grow as minuteman companies arriving from the western towns joined them there . </P>

What led to the battles of lexington and concord