The Minute Men stood defiant and still. Pitcairn discharged his pistol at them and shouted to his men: "Fire!" The first volley whistled through the air, and sixteen of the Minute Men fell, dead or wounded. The rest fired a few random shots and dispersed. The English pressed on to Concord. The people had quietly removed most of the ammunition, and the English found but little worth taking. They started to sack the town. While they were doing this the Minute Men had rallied and began to assemble from all quarters. A company of English guarded the bridge over Concord River. They were attacked by the Minute Men and two English soldiers were killed. The Minute Men captured the bridge, and the enemy began a retreat into the town, and then on the road to Lexington. On every side the patriots assembled. For six miles the battle waged. Every tree, every house and barn sheltered the patriots, who poured a murderous fire into the ranks of the retreating English. Had it not been for the arrival of reinforcements under Lord Percy, the English army would have been completely routed. The fight continued right up to Charlestown, and only ceased because the people feared the fleet would burn the city. The first battle had been fought. The English had suffered a loss of two hundred and seventy-three, while the patriots lost only eighty-three in dead and wounded. The battle of Lexington fired the country. Within a few days an army of twenty thousand men had gathered round Boston. New Hampshire sent its militia, with John Stark at its head; Rhode Island sent her quota under the leadership of Nathaniel Greene. New Haven was not behind, for a regiment was dispatched from that city with Benedict Arnold as leader. All this news was conveyed to Ethan Allen by Eben Pike, who had been dispatched on the dangerous mission to Boston to find out what the Provincials meant to do. No more trusty messenger could have been found than the young scout of the Green Mountains. "What shall we do?" asked Baker. "Fight!" was Allen's curt reply. "Shall we join the patriots at Boston?" "No; Connecticut has offered a thousand dollars toward the expenses of capturing Ticonderoga, and that reward we will win." To capture the fort with its treasures would be to strike a blow at England's supremacy which would tell more than any concerted action at Boston. "Call the roll," ordered Allen. Two hundred and seventy men answered the call, and Allen shouted for joy. "Men of the Great Mountains, we are strong, because a mountain boy is worth ten men of the valleys. We shall capture Ticonderoga. I cannot offer you life; many may be killed, more wounded; but remember we have fought for our homes, we must now fight for our country. We have driven the Yorkers out of the Green Mountains, we must now drive the English out of America, or compel them to recognize our right to govern ourselves. Will you follow me?"