Battle of Lexington

The Battle of Lexington took place on April 19th, 1775 and was the first battle of the American Revolutionary War. Warned by Paul Revere and William Dawes that a British garrison from Boston had been sent to capture arms and ammunition gathered by the colonists at Condord, John Parker and his company of 70 men had assembled on Lexington Common as the British approached. No one knows who fired the first shot of the war, but it was answered by British volleys leaving 8 of the colonists dead and 10 wounded. What had been a simmering dispute, had erupted in the first combat and deaths.

Source

The Encylopedia of Military History, Dupuy & Dupuy, 1979, Pages 708-709.