Percy’s Arrival, Lexington

At around 2:30 p.m., British Brigadier General Lord Percy with about 1,000 Regulars arrived just south of Lexington and went into a line of battle on this ridgeline perpendicular to the road. From here, they could see the remnants of Smith’s column fleeing across Lexington Green. Percy ordered his artillery to open fire to keep the provincials back from Smith’s men. It must have been a shocking sight for all involved in that morning’s engagement to see the line of red coats and cannon. Percy told Smith to assemble his command around Munroe Tavern.

Percy ordered his artillery to open fire to keep the provincials back from Smith’s men who could be seen fleeing across Lexington Green, faces blackened with powder and with many walking wounded. It must have been a shocking sight for all involved in that morning’s engagement to see the line of red coats and cannon assembled along the ridgeline. Percy told Smith to assemble his battered command around Munroe Tavern where they would rest and eat for the first time in many hours. “I had the happiness of saving them [Smith’s command] from inevitable destruction,” was what Brig. Gen. Hugh Lord Percy had to say of the affair.

Galvin, The Minute Men, 200