<P> On the morning of April 18, Gage ordered a mounted patrol of about 20 men under the command of Major Mitchell of the 5th Regiment of Foot into the surrounding country to intercept messengers who might be out on horseback . This patrol behaved differently from patrols sent out from Boston in the past, staying out after dark and asking travelers about the location of Samuel Adams and John Hancock . This had the unintended effect of alarming many residents and increasing their preparedness . The Lexington militia in particular began to muster early that evening, hours before receiving any word from Boston . A well - known story alleges that after nightfall one farmer, Josiah Nelson, mistook the British patrol for the colonists and asked them, "Have you heard anything about when the regulars are coming out?" upon which he was slashed on his scalp with a sword . However, the story of this incident was not published until over a century later, which suggests that it may be little more than a family myth . </P> <P> Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith received orders from Gage on the afternoon of April 18 with instructions that he was not to read them until his troops were underway . He was to proceed from Boston "with utmost expedition and secrecy to Concord, where you will seize and destroy...all Military stores...But you will take care that the soldiers do not plunder the inhabitants or hurt private property ." Gage used his discretion and did not issue written orders for the arrest of rebel leaders, as he feared doing so might spark an uprising . </P> <P> On March 30, 1775, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress issued the following resolution: </P> <P> Whenever the army under command of General Gage, or any part thereof to the number of five hundred, shall march out of the town of Boston, with artillery and baggage, it ought to be deemed a design to carry into execution by force the late acts of Parliament, the attempting of which, by the resolve of the late honourable Continental Congress, ought to be opposed; and therefore the military force of the Province ought to be assembled, and an army of observation immediately formed, to act solely on the defensive so long as it can be justified on the principles of reason and self - preservation . </P>

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