<P> On April 18 , 1775 , 700 troops were sent to confiscate militia ordnance stored at Concord . Fighting broke out , forcing the regulars to conduct a fighting withdrawal to Boston . Overnight , the local militia converged on and laid siege to Boston . On March 25 , 4,500 British reinforcements arrived with three senior generals ; William Howe , John Burgoyne and Henry Clinton . On June 17 , the British seized the Charlestown peninsular after a costly frontal assault , leading Howe to replace Gage . Many senior officers were dismayed at the attack which had gained them little , while Gage wrote to London stressing the need for a large army to suppress the revolt . On July 3 , George Washington took command of the Continental Army besieging Boston . Howe made no effort to attack , much to Washington 's surprise . After a plan to assault the city was rejected , in early March 1776 , the Americans fortified Dorchester Heights with heavy artillery captured from a raid on Fort Ticonderoga . On March 17 , the British were permitted to withdraw unmolested , sailing to Halifax , Nova Scotia . Washington then moved his army to New York . </P>
<P> On April 18 , 1775 , 700 troops were sent to confiscate militia ordnance stored at Concord . Fighting broke out , forcing the regulars to conduct a fighting withdrawal to Boston . Overnight , the local militia converged on and laid siege to Boston . On March 25 , 4,500 British reinforcements arrived with three senior generals ; William Howe , John Burgoyne and Henry Clinton . On June 17 , the British seized the Charlestown peninsular after a costly frontal assault , leading Howe to replace Gage . Many senior officers were dismayed at the attack which had gained them little , while Gage wrote to London stressing the need for a large army to suppress the revolt . On July 3 , George Washington took command of the Continental Army besieging Boston . Howe made no effort to attack , much to Washington 's surprise . After a plan to assault the city was rejected , in early March 1776 , the Americans fortified Dorchester Heights with heavy artillery captured from a raid on Fort Ticonderoga . On March 17 , the British were permitted to withdraw unmolested , sailing to Halifax , Nova Scotia . Washington then moved his army to New York . </P>
where did fighting first occur between the british and the american colonists
where did fighting first occur between the british and the american colonists
Concord
Concord