The Lexington and Concord collection (22 items) contains 20 depositions given by participants and spectators of the skirmishes at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. The depositions were ordered by the Massachusetts Provincial Congress for the purpose of establishing the claim that the British fired first. The committee made several signed copies of the depositions. One set was dispatched to the Massachusetts agent in London, while other sets were sent to neighboring colonies.
This set of 20 depositions, signed by 94 men between April 23 and 25, was sent by the Cambridge Committee of Safety to the Albany Committee. Thirteen of the depositions relate to Lexington and the other seven relate to Concord. Chairman of the Cambridge Committee, Richard Devans, enclosed the depositions in a letter dated May 7, 1775. Also present is a list of men killed and wounded in the conflicts. Commissioned by the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, the document lists the casualties' names, residences, and conditions (killed or wounded).
On August 19, 1775, Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, under the orders of British General Thomas Gage, secretly led a large group of British troops to the town of Concord, Massachusetts, with the purpose of destroying the Massachusetts militia's store of arms and military supplies. Patriot organizers learned of the expedition and moved the stores to safe locations. The local militia, the Minutemen, faced the British at Lexington early in the morning on April 19th, but were outnumbered; they retreated after a brief firefight. The Minutemen attacked again at Concord and forced the British to retreat, with Patriots inflicting heavy casualties on the British as they marched back to Boston. The conflicts initiated the Siege of Boston, and are considered the first battles of the American Revolution. After the skirmish, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress ordered the taking of official depositions from many witnesses present at the fight, in order to establish that the British fired the first shot. The question of which side fired the opening salvo is still unanswered.