<P> The British began to awaken their troops at 9 pm on the night of April 18 and assembled them on the water's edge on the western end of Boston Common by 10 pm . Colonel Smith was late in arriving, and there was no organized boat - loading operation, resulting in confusion at the staging area . The boats used were naval barges that were packed so tightly that there was no room to sit down . When they disembarked near Phipps Farm in Cambridge, it was into waist - deep water at midnight . After a lengthy halt to unload their gear, the regulars began their 17 miles (27 km) march to Concord at about 2 am . During the wait they were provided with extra ammunition, cold salt pork, and hard sea biscuits . They did not carry knapsacks, since they would not be encamped . They carried their haversacks (food bags), canteens, muskets, and accoutrements, and marched off in wet, muddy shoes and soggy uniforms . As they marched through Menotomy, sounds of the colonial alarms throughout the countryside caused the few officers who were aware of their mission to realize they had lost the element of surprise . </P> <P> At about 3 am, Colonel Smith sent Major Pitcairn ahead with six companies of light infantry under orders to quick march to Concord . At about 4 am Smith made the wise but belated decision to send a messenger back to Boston asking for reinforcements . </P> <P> Though often styled a battle, in reality the engagement at Lexington was a minor brush or skirmish . As the regulars' advance guard under Pitcairn entered Lexington at sunrise on April 19, 1775, about 80 Lexington militiamen emerged from Buckman Tavern and stood in ranks on the village common watching them, and between 40 and 100 spectators watched from along the side of the road . Their leader was Captain John Parker, a veteran of the French and Indian War, who was suffering from tuberculosis and was at times difficult to hear . Of the militiamen who lined up, nine had the surname Harrington, seven Munroe (including the company's orderly sergeant, William Munroe), four Parker, three Tidd, three Locke, and three Reed; fully one quarter of them were related to Captain Parker in some way . This group of militiamen was part of Lexington's "training band", a way of organizing local militias dating back to the Puritans, and not what was styled a minuteman company . </P> <P> After having waited most of the night with no sign of any British troops (and wondering if Paul Revere's warning was true), at about 4: 15 a.m., Parker got his confirmation . Thaddeus Bowman, the last scout that Parker had sent out, rode up at a gallop and told him that they were not only coming, but coming in force and they were close . Captain Parker was clearly aware that he was outmatched in the confrontation and was not prepared to sacrifice his men for no purpose . He knew that most of the colonists' powder and military supplies at Concord had already been hidden . No war had been declared . (The Declaration of Independence was a year in the future .) He also knew the British had gone on such expeditions before in Massachusetts, found nothing, and marched back to Boston . </P>

Who was the leader of the small american militia force in lexington