2. At two o'clock in the morning, a company of one hundred and thirty minute-men assembled on the common at Lexington. No enemy appeared until five o'clock, when the British, under command of Pitcairn, came in sight. The provincials were led by Captain Parker. Pitcairn rode up and exclaimed: "Disperse, ye villains! Throw down your arms!" The minute-men stood still, and Pitcairn cried, "Fire!" The first volley of the Revolution whistled through the air, and sixteen of the patriots fell dead or wounded. The rest fired a few shots and dispersed. 3. The British pressed on to Concord; but the inhabitants had removed the stores to a place of safety, and there was but little destruction. While the British were ransacking the town, the minute-men encountered a company of soldiers who were guarding the North Bridge. Here the Americans fired, and two British soldiers were killed. The rest began a retreat through the town toward Lexington. For six miles the battle was kept up along the road. Hidden behind trees, fences, and barns, the patriots poured a constant fire upon the ranks of the enemy. The American loss was forty-nine killed, thirty-four wounded, and five missing; that of the enemy was two hundred and seventy-three. [Illustration: THE FIGHT AT LEXINGTON] 4. The battle of Lexington fired the country. Within a few days an army of twenty thousand men gathered about Boston. A line of intrenchments was drawn from Roxbury to Chelsea. John Stark came down with the New Hampshire militia. Rhode Island sent her men under Nathaniel Greene. Benedict Arnold came with the provincials of New Haven. Ethan Allen, with a company of two hundred and seventy patriots, advanced against Ticonderoga. Benedict Arnold joined the expedition as a private. On the evening of the 9th of May, the force reached the shore of Lake George, opposite Ticonderoga. [Sidenote: =Ethan Allen at Ticonderoga.=] 5. On the following morning, eighty-three men succeeded in crossing. With this mere handful, Allen made a dash and gained the gateway of the fort. He rushed to the quarters of the commandant, and cried out: "Surrender this fort instantly!" "By what authority?" inquired the officer. "In the name of the great Jehovah and the Continental Congress," said Allen, flourishing his sword. The garrison were made prisoners and sent to Connecticut, and vast quantities of military stores fell into the hands of the Americans. Two days afterwards Crown Point was also taken. 6. On the 25th of May, Generals Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne arrived at Boston. The British army was augmented to more than ten thousand men. It was now rumored that Gage was about to sally out of Boston to burn the neighboring towns and devastate the country. The Americans determined to anticipate this movement by fortifying Bunker Hill, which commanded the peninsula of Charlestown.