[Sidenote: 1772] During the stay of the FIFTH in Ireland it was frequently engaged in the service of the revenue; and also in suppressing the outrageous proceedings of bands of armed peasantry called Whiteboys, Hearts of Steel, and Hearts of Oak, and particularly against the latter in 1772, at and near Guildford in the north, where the house of Richard Johnson, Esquire, was attacked and reduced to ashes, and a clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Meroll, was barbarously murdered by these misguided insurgents. [Sidenote: 1774] The regiment remained in Ireland until the unfortunate misunderstanding between Great Britain and her North American Colonies assumed an aspect so formidable, that it was deemed necessary to send additional forces to that country. The FIFTH was one of the corps selected to proceed on this service; and, having embarked at Monkstown near Cork on the 7th of May, 1774, it landed in the beginning of July at Boston, the capital of the state of Massachusetts, which had recently been the scene of violence and outrage, particularly of the destruction of an immense consignment of Tea by the provincials. After landing, the regiment was encamped near the town for some time; a body of troops was assembled at this place under the Governor of the province, General Gage, and several fortifications were constructed. [Sidenote: 1775] During the winter a determination to proceed to open resistance became general in the American States; they embodied a militia force, and in April 1775, a circumstance occurred which occasioned the display of these hostile designs. The occasion was the collection of some military stores at _Concord_, in Middlesex county, about eighteen miles from Boston; when General Gage sent the grenadiers and light infantry, including the companies of the FIFTH, under the orders of Colonel Smith, to destroy those stores. This detachment embarked in boats on the evening of the 18th of April, and, having proceeded a short distance up Charles river, landed on the marshes of Cambridge and proceeded to the village of _Lexington_, where it arrived at day-break and found a company of the militia formed up near the entrance of the town. These men were ordered to lay down their arms, but they did not comply; some desultory firing immediately occurred, which was followed by a volley from the troops which laid ten of the militia dead upon the spot, wounded several others, and dispersed the remainder: thus was the first blood drawn in this unhappy contest. After this skirmish, the troops continued their march to Concord, detaching six Light Infantry companies to take possession of the bridges beyond the town, while the remainder of the detachment effected the destruction of the military stores. In the mean time the country had been alarmed by the firing of guns and the ringing of bells: and a division of provincial militia was seen advancing towards the bridges, but they avoided committing any